BLACK VIKING

Thank you, guys!  The hospital cleared him to go home yesterday.  His kidney function returned to normal, and he’s no worse for the wear.  Thank you for asking.

and here it is cleaned up.
 

 
I would like to thank all those builders whose logs helped me along the way, of course Thunder @Thunder who without his help, I would not have even started this build. There are too many others to mention them all.
The Cutter cheerful, which is pretty close to this cutter 'Speedy' was one of the designs that helped me a lot, so I must give a special thanks to Chuck and his very clean design and his prototype build log. Thanks @Chuck your design and build log have been an inspiration to me, and will continue to be so for the rest of my build.
Then of course there is Crazy Craig @iMustBeCrazy who is a constant help with his wisdom and know-how.
 
This forum / website is such a brilliant resource to have found.
Tim

The model is painted and sealed:
 



The base is also made.
 
It is time to add the decals and paint the figure.
 
Then I’ll seal the model again and figure out how I’m attaching the upper wing, lol.

According to the instructions, the upper deck gunholes are installed at a later stage. However, after some consideration, I have decided to attach all the wooden parts to the hull now, completing as many steps as possible at this point

Managed to get the shrouds installed today. Not too much rigging to do on this model. Time to start working on the sail. 


Tom
 

Leaning to this line drawing version of the GH with slight change with added bow ports, mini guns on main deck and swivil guns on the other decks.  The colour plate  looks good  but minus the extra mast.

Sheet materials (Part 2)
 













 
More soon...

I’m building a second Eddie Rickenbacker diorama for another friend of mine.
 
This time I am building Captain Rickenbacker’s Spad XIII, with which he got the majority of his kills.

A few notes about the kit.
 
This one has been a completely different experience than the Nieuport.
 
That one went together relatively well, except for the top wing.

This model, on the other hand, has been a stark lesson in adapt and overcome.
 
I am over 40 hours into this one and have just finished assembling/building the subassemblies, and priming the majority of the model black.



I painted the interior but ended up cutting most of the engine out to fit the top piece of the fuselage on the model:


I had the same problems that Modeller Masa did with parts fitting.
 
I actually deliberately broke the top piece of the fuselage to make it fit and then glued it together in place, after unwarping it failed.
 
The axles and some of the piping is made of wire and straight pins because the original plastic pieces were too short or made wrong.
 
When I get to the plastic struts, they will have steel pins put in them to attach the top wing to the bottom wing (lesson from the Nieuport).
 
However, the hard part is done now.  
 
It is time to paint the model after everything dries black overnight.

Oh, I don't think I ever showed the harpy box label. My step son, who works in marketing, asked if he could have a go, so most of this is him, a little more minimalistic than normal...

HMS Harpy 1796 by Blue Ensign – Vanguard Models 1:64 scale.
Since completing my Indy build my desire for ship modelling  has waned somewhat, partly I think because I have been struggling to find a subject to excite my interest.
That is until:
I looked at Chris’s forthcoming Harpy kit. Once again Mr W has piqued my interest as he did with Alert, Zulu, Fifie, Sphinx, and Indefatigable.
Harpy has all the elements that get my creative juices going;
Below deck detail, providing intriguing options to detail the cabin areas.
Fine lines and a hull length I can accommodate.
I am pleased to see at last a round-up to the Head ledges, something I have had to modify on all my builds.
I note also the Capstan step is included another authentic detail.
 
Apart from the schooner Pickle, I don’t have a two masted ship type in my collection, and a Brig sloop will fill that gap nicely.
I am also interested to try out Chris’s latest innovation in kit development, and as a bonus Mrs W has offered to buy it. (that's my Mrs W , not Chris's)
Not entirely altruistic on her part, I suspect; having me ensconced in my office, with my mind occupied, rather than prowling around the house getting under her feet, is a prime consideration.
I obtained the relevant plans from the NMM in advance of the kit release, but it’s never too early to start thinking about possible enhancements, and I do have the very clear photos provided by James in his excellent prototype build log.

0488
Plan ZAZ4491 = Lines and Profile.
Plan ZAZ4492 = internal detail, Upper and Lower deck plans.

0483
The deck plans include details of the cabin layouts and purposes which will be of great use for any modifications that may come to mind once I get into the project.
 
Looking forward to receiving this latest offering from Vanguard, but in the meantime I have been doing some of the preliminary research.
 
B.E.
02/12/2024
 

Almost done with the project. I added lots of details to my main acts, like a syringe made from clear plastic sprue and metal rods and a tiny push disc, dipped into clear green. The mask of the pilot was hanging out of his cockpit by it´s tube made from an old guitar string and many more.
The threaded rod, holding the Neuspotter was painted in sand color and surrounded by dry grass from my garden to hide it a bit and simulate a hovering effect.
Then I glued the Kampfanzug in place on it´s stone and used AK´s desert sand paste to design the ground. With a wet brush, I formed the typical sand ripples and amassed the sand on the front right side, where the blasting storm came from. 
Next, I pressed the weapons, the pilots helmet and all the empty squeezed water bottles into the paste and added very fine real sand on top.

I used the sunny day to get some really harsh lighted outdoor shots, but will later add some from the photo box, when finished.







































Cheers Rob

This time I tried some new methods, such as sponge weathering and liquid masking. All of these methods were unsuccessful, so I'll try another ways next time.
 

Hope to enjoy your night flight.  
 

Looking good Andy I am doing the Trumpter 1/48 P-40B in the same camo the Middlestone in your first pic looked light to mine but your fourth pic we are dead on.The Dark Earth mine has a tad to much red in it used French Earth it looks ok.

Here is a pick of the first off (trial prints, not production) with the integrated fore and aft gratings - I had 2 files, one with and one without gratings, and I have chosen this one for production hulls. (Also has integrated coxwaines seats at the stern)
 
Next to the 2 test print hulls is the 14 foot yawl hull!

Thanks for the comments and likes guys.
I'm already finishing Six Pounders for the Qdeck...

 
 

Three good coats of matt varnish have now been applied. Before intalling the light switch and wall sockets it was time to complete the porthole. 

It's held securely place with four 20 mm dia. coach bolts that pass through the wall frames and are hidden on the outside by the cladding. The remaining ten holes in the flange need 'dummy' bolts for washers and domed nuts.
First task was to drill 3/4" dia. holes through the mounting holes into the cladding and underlying timber framing. I converted some short softwood offcuts into dowelling using a rotary plane....

.....and after adding a taper with a second, smaller, plane the domed nuts were twisted on and the dowels cut to length......


A wipe of PVA and these were tapped into place with a soft faced mallet.

Last task now is adjusting the aluminium that lines the recess. The thickness of the cladding has left a small gap and the whole thing needs the addition of some weather proof sealant. Persistant heavy rain, plus a bit of sleet, made this impossible today but the forcast is dry for the next three days so I hope to have this completed by the weekend.
Electrical work next......after a bit of a tidy up!

I'll be moving in soon 😁
Cheers,
Graham
 

Thanks friends for your replies 😉
 
I´m still doing the decoration,  and I´m very close to finish. I placed some small parts, but  there is so much decorations, that you can´t see there some changes😁
And the galion figurehead is placed, finally. 
There are catheads and gun carriages paced into the ship.
I´ll start with the armament very soon.
 
Jan

So I’m not sure if I’ll do it as a drip yet, I’ve got some figures in the mail 

The Big Reveal!
 
And so, just two days shy of two months from beginning to end, we reach the end of this journey. As is usual with Halinski kits, which have sometimes been described as 'over engineered', this model was quite a challenge to build and thus very rewarding to finish. It is not a kit for the faint of heart or neophyte card modeler, but its degree of detail and realistic artwork are matched by few other publishers in the hobby. On to the pictures!
 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Thanks for stopping in, and I'll catch y'all on the next one!

...And talking of boats, I have just had a couple of new renders for my 32 foot 'Shallop'. Looks like the laser and 3-d print files will be ready to send to me soon!
 
This would suit modellers who only wish to display one boat on their model, I think.

Forecastle update.
 
All frames are placed

A temporary support is placed at the top.
And there are 2 cannon ports. To place 4 according to the Anthony roll, the fore castle is too small in my opinion.

The interior finish is in the same line as the rearcastle.

The higher planking is according to the clinker method

Thanks for following

After evaluating different methods on clear spare parts, I decided to use Tamiya Extra Thin for my sand blasted windows. I used the supplied brush nearly dry and applied the cement very carefully. This is only preliminary, to check the effect and more effects will be added, especially for the front window.

 



Cheers Rob