BLACK VIKING

With this aircraft and many other WW2 US aircraft, you want the inner canopy frame colored zinc chromate. To achieve this, the canopy is first painted (on the outside) with zinc chromate. After the z.c. is dry, then a coat of the exterior color is painted on the canopy frame, in this case navy blue. 
Twice I glued on and subsequently knocked off the photo etched turret gun sight. Finally decided to wait until just before the turret glass was installed to glue it on for the last time.  
I have finally arrived at the time to join the fuselage halves.
 

I’ve been working on the cannon and carronades.

All barrels are glued to their carriages or sled as appropriate.
 
I made the jackscrews for the carronades.
 
I started making the iron banding.
 
I’ll make the eyebolts for the breeches on the cannon because of the diameter of the line that will be used for a breeching line.
 
I am using the Tichy eyebolts for the eyebolts going on the carriages.
 
I will install those after I finish all paint work.  As a quick side note, the deck block, which is part of the ship’s framing, will be getting repainted brown.
 
I did, however come to the decision to make the block and tackle systems, provided I have room.  

The guns going into the upper gun deck will only have breech ropes and inhaul tackle, but I am intending to fully rig the quarter and spar deck guns/carronades.
 
I bought the double blocks from Model Expo last week.

Hi all,   would you believe it I have spent 5 hours on this today  -  plan was to add some more piping  this I did using two thicknesses of fuse wire,  first one (thickest)  I placed along the upper section, then I added a couple of thinner pieces,   after  fitting these  I then turned my attention to the radio, this was made up  then painted nato black, I then picked out the details and added a bit of highlighting.
Next off was to work on the radio operators seat/back plate, this needed  reducing in height and straightening,  then  it was painted  (plate same colour as  floor/walls  and cushion a redish brown)    I finished off for today  by cutting out and fitting the pe  straps (fiddly little chaps)  I secured the top  then glued the assembly in place - then I pressed the  straps down onto the seat  with a dab of ca under the strap.
The ca straps are pre painted  so dont need painting  poss  just a bit of flat top coat to seal them.
 
OC.

Hello All,
The last things to do on the model were to fit the anchors and tidy up the paint work on the cross section and fit the photo etched knee brackets.
The first two photos show the cross section painted and the second the knees temporarily in place.
                            
                             
The anchors were made up from the kit parts and primed.
                             
They were then painted black and the puddening was added to the rings.
                            
They were attached to the anchor cable using a clinch knot which was seized with 0.10mm natural thread, they were then rigged and hung from the catheads.
                            
                             
Thanks for looking.

Hello All,
The catharpins were fitted next they were made from 0.75mm black thread with an eye formed in each end they are lashed to the shrouds and futtock staves at the fourth, fifth and seventh shroud, binding the port and starboard shrouds together. There are normally 4 catharpins, the fourth fitted to the ninth shroud, but seeing as this model only has 8 shrouds the fourth has been omitted.
                       
The rigging for the spritsail yard was set up next.
                       
                        
 There are two lifts on this yard the standing lift and the yard lifts. The standing lift which has an eye formed in each end, one end being lashed to the yard about 50mm from the slings and the other end lashed to a thimble in a collar on the bowsprit aft of the bees, it is made from 0.5mm black thread. The standing end of the yard lift falls has a hook seized to it which attaches to an eye bolt in the bowsprit cap, the running end reeves through a block on the end of the yard and the through the block on cap and runs down to belay on timber heads on the forecastle breast rail.
The cluelines also belay on timber heads on the forecastle breast rail.
The standing end of the spritsail yard braces is seized to the forestay just above the mouse and eye, the running end reeves through the brace block on the end of the yard and then up through two blocks fitted under the foretop and down to tie off on a timber head on the side rail.
                    
The jackstaff was the fitted to the bowsprit cap and rigged with it's halliard and stays which are anchored with eye bolts to the marines walk.
                    
Thanks for looking and the likes.

And now back to our regularly scheduled program:
 
 I have the gun carriages mostly painted.
 
 I am attaching the guns.
 
Once those are done, I will add eyebolts, and all remaining iron strapping, then finalize the paint.

A well deserved rum l must say, well done to you.
Best wishes as always, 
The Lazy Saint. 

Masa, so nice - happy that you found the build to your interest - thanks indeed
 
Finished up this work for now - will determine proper length after base of case has been finished. Returning to the Vasa for some fixes.
 
As always thanks so much for dropping by, Likes and comments
 
Regards,
 

Hi all,     more progress today  in between cooking our sat  curry,    next stage  was to  construct the cockpit/cabin floor and  radio deck - these sit on top of the bomb bay,   so after  fitting these sections together - I painted the  radio ops leather cushion (for this I made up some semi brown colour)  then I painted  the floor and  and sections  the same green as the bomb bay, then a quick wash and  highlighted edges with flat alum paint dry brushed.
 
Also I took a pic of the PE  I brought  for it  (looks quite good).
 
OC.

After sanding and varnishing. Quite happy with the result 🙂

Denis: thanks, as always for dropping by and your kind posts. The plan, as it seems “today”, will be the following; see pics (case will hang flush against a wall and have a wood top cover as well.) – Location HAS been determined – but Admiral has not yet been notified - Might become a diplomatic mess haha
 
E.J.: Yes, this is a new area for both of us. Mine will be simpler than yours. Your idea seems promising. BTW you were the one who made me think about adding lights, and, I think that you were following my Vasa you decided to try adding  sails as well (;-))) PS: they look great!
 
Patrick: Yes, initially making the lantern housings, adding the LED’s and so on were the easy parts. This current bit is what got me a bit nervous. If some lights did not work – it would have been too late to go back within the decks to do fixes. Got lucky – so far.
 
Cheers,

 

Making the mail sail starts just like the jib with drawing the shape on the canvas (in this case poplin coton). I add 4mm at each side to make a border hem.

Before cutting, I brush some textile glue over the borders to prevent them of fraying out.

The sail is cut with a border of 4mm at each side.

I start to stitch parallel lines to show the different lanes of the sail. I use the small sewing machine on which my wife learned machine sewing some thirty years ago. Now she has another machine which is much to complicate for me to use.

 

 

After the lanes are stitched, I pin the edges of the sail.

Then they can be stitched as well.

The main sail is stitched.

I sew now the reefing cringles with a thimble in them. The main sail has two reefing levels.

The four cringles are done, now it is time to sew the leach around the whole sail.

 
Thank you for the likes
Thank you to follow
 
Till next week!

what a scare I got last night.........I put all my pictures and projects on memory sticks.  I don't use photo sites.....if I lose 'em,  I rather it be MY fault    I have 16 GB scandisk,  that I've had since 2009.......got at least 15 or so projects in folders and pictures.   my Nordkap.....the Cux 87.......the cutty........just to name a few.  I have another larger one that houses all the instructions I've downloaded and sent to me from Billing Boats.  I use them to follow folks with their builds,  back when I used to do customer service for Billing USA.  here on the site,  I read a comment from a gent who recently bough a Colin Archer model,  asking how the planking runs.  reaching for the right memory stick,  I grabbed the wrong one,  and it fell into my glass of Pepsi which was just below where I keep them.  I was horrified!....to say the least........the thought of all that content lost..........the admiral recently lost one to some glitch....I could revive it    now it's MY turn!   of course it sunk to the bottom....I quickly ran to the kitchen to pour the Pepsi into another glass,  so I could retrieve the stick before it became totally Pepsilogged!........the feeling of dread......I was too late,  I fear.  I'm shaking the stick against a paper towel to drive out the moisture.........the admiral looking up remedies for sunken disks.  she was reading them to me as I got the idea to take it apart,  which was relatively easy to do.  some had gotten in there and I patted the electronics dry.......swabbing the interior with rolled up paper towel.  it was read that it should be left to air dry for 24 hours,  but I reassembled it this morning,  after leaving it apart overnight.   impatient.......I plugged it in..........the light in the disk came on,  but the computer didn't recognize it    I pulled it back out,  and back in again....and it came up immediately!  clicking out of the program,  pulling it back out and then back in again,  brought it right back up.............I was relieved!  happy that it still lives  
 
  so this morning,  I got back to work on 'Wulfie',  adding the detail to the cowls...highlights to the engines.

last night I had tipped all the props with flat white,  not having a better way to paint the stripes on the blades

this morning I defined the stripes.......had to redo one blade though....

added them to the cowls,  cementing the retainer caps in the back.

before the assemblies can go on,  the turbos and exhaust needed to be painted

to me it looks sloppy,  but no different that what I did on the Nine o Nine........on the M. B. this detail will be much better....you'll see    the cowl assemblies were added to the wing at this point.

there's my scan disk all apart.  one saddened note...... as I worked on the wing,  a section of the wing walk came off,  leaving a break in the walk.  couldn't find it anywhere.  looking at the other wing,  the same area had the walk lifting.  I was going to get the decal set to lay it back down,  but without any striping left to fix the other wing,  I removed the lifted walk.  they both look the same now.

not quite in the same place,  but when fully assembled,  it won't be that noticeable.   more soon  

thanks OC and those who hit the like button.........added more decals to the top of the wings.   there are to be five fuel inlets..apparently this model had none.......no molded detail at all.  I pulled out the M.B. wings to see what they had for detail.......jackpot!

I reserved ten of them for the model,  along with black striping for the wing walks.  the fuel inlets went Ok.......

....but the black striping didn't go so well.  losing a section,  it spelled the end for the striping    I even started to mask the wings to spray them on.....but I'd never get them that thin.  so,  I took what was left and cobbled some of it together.

then the stabilizers and ailerons were set up for the second round of shading....
faded 
the nacelles and props are next.......gotta paint on the white stripe on the props.  I thought of using a paint pen,  but but they fail to tell you that repeated use blunts the tip...it only made of felt. so that process is in the works at the moment

Finishing catheads and anchors......
 
Hennie
 
 
 

Hi all,   some good work  today  -  I  put  some  interior green down  then ran some washes  over it,   after I worked on the three sub frames - painted and washed, then when dry (quickly with a hairdryer)  I then did some highlighting   - lots more to do yet as it still needs the bomb rails and brackets.
 
OC.

Thanks, Denis, I was struggling with the term, if my brain would come out of the fog, I probably would have said capstan.  Anyhow, I do not like the capstan around the main mast, and this model pre-dates 'Pirates of the Caribbean'.  So, I am not sure if any ships were actually built like this.

I think it was put there for space reason  (but agreed a very unusual arangement)
 
OC.

real life,  it's not.  but we're talking about a movie......the idea of amphibious people is like too far fetched........    but if you listen to the right folks,  they'll tell you about an underground reptilian race that is trying to take over the world  

I love the finish and atmosphere you have created with this build oc.
 
Very well done, great result.
 
B.E.

Stunning job OC , love the pirates especially the one who has been on a bit of a diet lol
Martyn

The Lazy Saint, thank so much for your very kind thoughts – so appreciated.
 
Continuing with the lantern wiring, all secured into place, and the nine lanterns still light – big relief.  Finished the back part of the base. The wires will be well hidden that way.
 
To do; need to unspool the red and green wires then segregate them within those two heat-shrink tubing bits. I may solder them together along with the on/off switch.
I will have a better sense of that after the case has been made.
 Next – Back to lower yard to attach all the needed clew, bunt, leech lines, and securing yard to mast before working on lower shrouds and ratlines.
 

more was done on the Wulfe Hound's wings.......I started with the underside first.   I've been dying to get the decals on,  so I went there first.

the tires are on as well.   I will need to check......don't believe I saw it,  but I was unsure about the hub color.  the backside I left flat black,  but the front usually is painted the color of the plane....the color of the underbelly,  or some sort of decoration.   I have decals for the decoration aspect,  but I simply left them the same color as the plane.

the turbos will be painted later.....for more decal fun,  the wings were flipped over.  I noticed there the fuel covers are not detailed on the wings.  I will refer to the Memphis Bell wings for this detail,  because I have decals for them.  I have some repair work to do first though.......those touch ups I made when I did the deicing panels.
    first was to lessen the color difference of my black touch ups.  I also think I did the touch up too soon and the flat black mixed into the drab,  causing it.......but I still believe I used the wrong color green.  that's what happens when too many of these colors are on the table      it still makes me feel like an idiot for not thinking of the white ensign and Humbrol colors.   masking up the deicing panel,  I was able to dab some of the bomber tan over the offending blotches.



in retrospect,  I could have left them,  as an addition to the color hue and fading.  but I needed to fade the nacelles too,  so I did it    it looks better........I was thinking of doing it.........now I need to do the rest of the plane!  with the insignia decals.........it looks even cooler!  

 

Stunning job OC , love the pirates especially the one who has been on a bit of a diet lol
Martyn

Done a bit more  -  I decided to fit some pipework -  for this I used electrical fuse wire,   I  put a small  smear of ca down  then  layed  some  wire, with a hairdryer to set  It set in place - I then did the same to a run underneath.
 
I then painted both fuel tanks the brick Red colour  - for this I used Red Ocre,   after drying this I added a few coats of  dark wash  - very watery  then dried  in between each layer, the main green shade still needs to be applied.
 
OC.