BLACK VIKING

I only made one shield as they're out on a raid. The shield and weapons are from the only, to this point, fallen comrade.
 

Back to the head and tail. I knew I was going to have to cover the area where the figurehead stempost, and planking came together. I tried cordage, couldn't get it to lay right, leather, too thick, and metal, I'm not a good fabricator. Well the whole darn thing is wood. Why not wood?? I really like the way the head and tail came out. And it needed some bling right?!
 

Really like your work on this example - lot's of really nice details...nails look just right - yup not much under the planks, but was interested in the internal structure along
these lines -- but prob. overreach on my part. 
in any case Viking build will need to wait - one in between is up next - then to the 8th Cent.
 
Oh and your shield is just right !!!
 
Cheers,
 

Again thank you Michael. Yes that is one of the pictures I found to model my mast fish after! Haha.

Ok put together a few more details as time allowed...
 
Wheels on and body mounted...



Some of the finer details added to the engine compartment and rear ....


Decided that I will mount the M1919A4 gun and it's pedestal mount... I saw a lot of images of the Jeeps with the 101st on D-Day had the gun and the wire cutter so I will include both..... as far as the gun, it seems like the only pics taken were ones of them loading the thing on gliders, or in C-47's, none of them in actual use..... That's a shame cause for the first employment in europe the AB divisions primary artillery support was this gun..... Makes one think that the AB division didn't have anything other than what they jumped with... which is not correct at all... In fact they all didn't jump many battalions came in on gliders rather than jumping out of airplanes.... We always hear about the pathfinders and parachute infantry regiments, we never hear about the glider infantry regiments which in many cases took twice the casualties than their silk hung brethren...
 
Anyway, almost done.  Researched the Artillery rounds that came with the gun, they are M48 HE rounds 5 of them. in WWII in Europe they were delivered in wooden cases, two to a case and they were in protective tubes black in color with a yellow tape seal..... the only time there were shells out and about ws when there was firing going on, other than that they were never removed from their protective tubes..... So there is really no need for exposed shells in the back of the jeep..... although I may still make up a couple of crates and some of the other equipment used with the piece....... I guess the gun was meant for a diorama with a crew manning it...
 
Next up finishing the aft details, mostly grab handles, hood, windshield and weapons...
 
Onwards...

Dennis, I found these from a tour of the CAF's B-17 G with staggered gun position with the 600 rnd ammo boxes...
 
Port side looking forward....

Starboard side looking aft...

Overview looking aft....

As a comparison, here is the early B-17 waist position using 200 rnd ammo cans....

Of course there is pics of everything you would want to know about the Belle...
 
NMUSAF
 
380 shots of her some pretty good colors also......
 
The Belle was an "F" model didn't have staggered waist guns...
 
And another thing about the guns, the .50's used on the aircraft gunner positions on heavy bombers were not standard M2HB's... they could feed from any direction... on this ship I gave pics for above the port side gun feeds from the bottom, the starboard side gun feeds from the left side and if you look closely at the the bottom pic, the ones with ammo cans, they are feeding from opposite sides....
 
I don't know if that is going to help at this point.... I've been kinda out of the loop here for a while..... (sorry bout that My friend) The waist guns on the Belle fed from opposite sides the ammo boxes being astern of the guns. (like the "F" model with ammo cans) She did have the 600 rnd ammo boxes though

More progress this evening  -  I Painted and fitted the entrance ladder  - fiddly to fit  upside down  and get the drop right,  next I fitted the prop/spinners,   she is coming on  just a few touches left to do.
 
 
OC.

thanks OC..........it is what it is.  as I said.......it must have been the brand of masking.   I've seen no one else have this trouble,  but then again,  they aren't using enamels.  the thinner is what caused the problem.  it is nice that at least I was able to repair one of the pieces of glass as well as I did.   live and learn.......always buy the good stuff of brands you've used before.  of course this is my first time using them,  so what did I know?
 
I did some thinking about the ammo belts for the waist guns.......the port side is an ill fit as well.   then it hit me.....Mark sent me those aftermarket guns.  the guns and the ammo boxes supplied in the kit are pretty good.  so I took my snippers and cut off the belt on the starboard gun.  I had to trim the aftermarket belt down,  but it worked out very well........took hardly any effort at all.  
  
with this a success.......I did it to the port gun too.

it's supposed to wrap around the gun and feed on the same side as the starboard gun.   the belt was cut off of the box and it was cemented in place.........about the same location as the other one.

I didn't need to trim the belt........tried to give it a natural 'hang'
  
again....a big thanks to Mark for sending me those guns............now I'm happy!  
 
 

Totally new to wooden ship building, i am retired,75, and plenty of time to devote to a new endeavor, have done a lot of reading on the craft, from what i understand picking your first build is critical, so i guess my first question is how to go about choosing my first build. I have virtually no experience in model building, i built plastic car models as a kid, have a fair amount of tools, one of the kits that caught my eye doing my reading is a Essex by Oc cre , is this a good option for beginners, thanks for your time

Hi,  Kevin, our kits are quite different, it doesn't have half of what you're showing, mine is a much older version.
I’m making quite good progress on the planking. The first layer has been completed without any issues, it went on quite easily and looks like it will be a good base, in fact I could almost get away with just this one layer, the stern looks a bit of a mess as I built it oversize, the strips butt up tightly and are well fixed to the frame, it all just needs sanding. I’ll wait until I can do this outside, too much dust for inside the house.


 
Ken

Good Morning everyone;
 
Further to the above, see below a Navy Board proposal dated 1742, relating to flag sizes.
 
The height is given in 'brds', which is an abbreviation of 'breadths', being the width of a roll of the fabric used, when it was folded or cut in half. The fabric was called 'bewper', and was 22" wide. A breadth was 11", so an ensign of 34 breadths would be just over 31' high x 17 (half of the 34) yards (51') long. Note that the 'fly' of a flag is ambiguous, and can refer to both the free end of the flag, and its horizontal length.
 
There is also a list drawn up by Samuel Pepys in 1687 which lists the different sizes for five different rates.
 
All the best,
 
Mark P 

 
 
 
 

So first planking done

thanks for looking in everyone - planking continues- have dug out more strips of wood left over from billings builds as it bends easier for the stern- looks a bit rough n ready with three different thicknesses of planking but looks like i will get that tuck on the stern done😁  fingers crossed🤔.
 

 
take care all
 
Keith

Thanks Mark
 
Here, I remade fore ladder, which will be used as prototype for the two others...

Hi Mates,
 
I would like to acquire - see bad images below (from YouTube still framed) the two instruction manuals that are included in the current generation kit. I know that one of these is available as a pdf. but it does not enlarge well.
The actual booklets (both) would be much better. If you have built the Sergal SoS, and still have those two booklets lying around, and don't need them anymore please PM me -- I'll send you a check or cash for the two booklets, your time, and shipping costs.  I just go hold of an 1980s old "new in box" #787 --- kit has no booklets, no images, just very bad english text build instructions.
 
PS: All other plan sheets were indeed there along with many hundreds of metal decorative parts all in small bags - oh my! Thanks in advance for checking in.
 
Regards,
 

Michael - I no longer have the plans or that somewhat useless little instruction booklet,but I think those two booklets you have circled are just brochures about some of their products - basically mini catalogues.  Not really useful in building the ship.  I have a Sergal Cutty Sark in my stash & it has those same brochures in the box.   In fact,all the Sergal or Mantua kits I`ve done had those brochures.    Maybe someone who has built the new version could chime in about the actual instructions?    You might search the forum for someone who has built the newer version & check with them.      As far as all those bags of decorations,I think they are packaged according to where they are grouped on the ship.  If you just open all the bags & mix them together,it would be quite a job trying to determine where they all go.  There should also be a number of profiled brass strips that you will have to cut to size for all the borders between the decorations.
 
Mark

thank you folks for kindly dropping in   and the kind comments!  we're making progress.......but hey,  that's what it's all about.  I dunno.......I tried a dry fit of the open cowl flaps.......and those two tabs just don't look right.

look'in into it more....   could be a bad move.........maybe not........sitting here at my desk,  I chose to hand paint the fuselage.....the upper part is done.  I do plan on doing some fading as I did with the Wulfe Hound,  as well as the minor camo that the Belle has.   I was curious about the nose windows I had masked over.  removing the mask,  I was happy to see that only one of the windows had some paint seepage.  I used the X actor to lightly scrape it off.
   
I mentioned earlier that it appears like I'd have to drill a hole for the main landing gears.......I did.  according to the instructions for the tires / wheels,  1 mm or so needs to be cut off the axles........I had to redrill the hole a tiny bit larger anyway,  so I drilled a little deeper.  I'll wait for the gears to dry before the tires go on.  the light lenses are also installed in the wings.

lastly.......the front part of the engines were added.

these had injection tabs in the back of them that needed to be trimmed off.   more to report soon    
 

Good day all,   firstly   sincere thanks for all the likes and comments,    right  more progress  with the bomb bay area  -  I took a journey  for my Bombay Doors  and picked up a rather nice Ruby Murry  (only joking)    the doors needed  seperating down the middle, then the insides got a couple of layers of cockpit green  followed by the normal shading/highlighting  then a brush on top coat,   these were then glued in place.
 
OC.

First side glued, and beginning of other...

I have mostly been adding the planks on the transom and I am almost finished. I faired the upper decks and some of the transom and have prepared the first hull plank.

Hey Gang ..  Did a bit more on the main Mast..  I got the Boom installed along with it's rigging today.. Had to have a couple of bashes at the Main Sheet Blocks (they refused to behave themselves  so I went away for an hour or two and when I returned , success    )
You can now get a much better feel for the Rig, as all its spars are in place and all that is left is the Shrouds/ Backstays and Guy Pendants, Oh and the Flag Halyard..
 
All The Best Folks and Thank You for taking the time to look in and comment or hit the like button, It is always appreciated !
 
Bye For Now
 
Eamonn
 

Fixed the Deliberate Mistake .. And the Other one too! (Both Double Blocks on the Mast for the Gaff were wrove through the bottoms..  )  I always try to take a good look at the photos shortly after I post them, potential mistakes not obvious at the time can show up after during a later visit ... Now if I could just get in the habit of checking the photos at the taking stage !!    I guess they don't call them Gaffs for nothing   
 
E
 

Hi Gang ..  
 
At long last I hear you say.. I have an actual Ballahoo Update  !
 
I have a few days off and decided to  get back at the Building Table .. have been assessing her this past few days in anticipation of the 'few days off' and saw that in reality Ballahoo is not too far from being finished ! (I know I know .. there is the rigging to do, but let's face it in comparison to many if not most of the builds on here Little Wee Ballahoo isn't the most 'Rigged' vessel on display 
 
Anyhoo .. To Business !
 
I tidied the rigging for the Guns and made up the Rope Coils, treating them with diluted pva to keep them in place and in shape.
Next up was the 'strops' for the Tiller (the lines to prevent it moving)   these proved to be somewhat tricky affairs as they needed to be tight and keep the tiller arm centered! easier said then done with my limited ability  (you may notice I have a small bulldog clip holding 2 pieces of flat wood each side of the rudder to prevent accidental knocks which would otherwise I'm sure rip the tiller from the Rudder Head, now that the Strops are in position)
Then I moved onto the various Blocks near the top of the Mast's, and the Cleats towards the deck..
 
The Masts are only dry fitted by the way but I'm quiet near the point where they will be permanently fitted so I can get on with the various Stays etc ..
 
Photo Time .. 
 
All The Best Folks and Thanks For Stopping By The Slooooowest Build on MSW 
 
Eamonn

It's time to plank.
 
    I mentioned earlier, an error in placing the big stiffener would potentially cause problems.  As we see, the first set of planking is set into a notch formed by the 2 ended arrow-head thing on the keel.  Prior to planking, a false keel is placed so as to be the same thickness as the planking.  When I test fitted the plank, I realized I installed the stiffener the wrong way.  No worries...I installed the false keel correctly.
 
 

 
 
    In the above photo you can see the false keel and difference due to the stiffener being reversed.  First planking started.
 
 

    The first plank assembly consists of one plank of the garboard strake, two of the broad strake and the entire third strake.  Placing the single plank of the garboard is easy.  Where do the ends of the third strake go?
 
 

 
 
    Ideally, I would use the tick mark reference lines on the bow and stern to place the plank, but since there may have been some error i placing those pieces, I was not sure.  If incorrect there will be a gap in the planking.  This pic is a little out of sequence...the original one was way out of focus.
 
 

 
 
    The plan was to install the garboard strake, then the broad and finally bring the floating wing into place.  The resulting photo did not turn out so well, nor did the planking.  Those wings flapping in the breeze kept getting in the way.
 
 
. 
 
    Plan B was to install the missing garboard and broad strake first (after carefully measuring where they should start, then install the assembly.  This turned out much better.
 
 

 
 
    The clinker planking starts on strake 4.  The planks are marked where the plank above it should go.  As Clare pointed out, it is very important to be right on that line.  Being off will affect how high the planking rides.  The nail crew on this part of the hull were fired shortly after this picture was taken.

 
 
    Clinker planking begins.
 
 

 
    This picture looks familiar.  Strakes 4 and 5 (clinker 1 and 2) complete. 
 
    At this point the instructions get a little funky.
 

I made mine almost the same, a bit lighter though, and bought a spinning centre for a lathe

 
It seems I didn't put it back on in the jigs section after the crash on MSW 1.0. Thanks for showing, now I know how I can add a rest for the chisel