BLACK VIKING

Hi.
A update as promised.
 
The dragons head is now in place.. No its not by my hand.. its a resin cast one.

 
Tiles covering the roof are now finished.

 

 
This is a test piece to check on the tile fixings. i will be using the black bottom pins as I think they look better. some 2400 in total...Wish me luck and retained sanity. With cocktail sticks in the centres.

 
Close up of the tiling.

 
And another.

 
Yet another...

 
Cannons in there carriages or boxes. Need to be finished and put into place on model when finished.

 
Close up of the carriages..Now you can see that they need finishing. 

 
Thanks for looking in.
 
Many thanks Antony.

Another tiny update:
 
Some color on the decorations

 
It's place:

 
Bronze cannon and ebony stain on the carriage

 
And while I'm waiting for the next parts to come I have some time with one of the other projects
 
Corel's Amphion

Small update:
 
Constructed the cannon:
 

 
Gun carriage to be painted red:
 

 
Tamiyas Gold leaf worked as a charm:
 

 
One more coat and I will paint the red, green and blues...

Evening folks.
 
Progress as follows...I decided, in the end, to fit the decks and let them follow the curvature of the rest of the frames, and just packed out the lower two to bring them up to the same level. Pinned down the centre and along both edged and allowed to set over night.
 
I've faired the ribs now, rather than wait until after the decks were planked. Then began the process of adding the bulwark waterways. Usually, I hate having to bend planks laterally as I've never had much success. But owing to the scale the planks used are only .6mm so are very forgiving.

Simply drew the general outline on a piece of spare wood, soaked the four planks and pinned them so they dried to shape. Aside from the odd hump here and there, it went pretty well.
 
I fixed to the decks using bulldog clips and scraps of wood to keep them flat whilst the glue dried, and this evening I have just fired up my very simple propellent based airbrushed and painted them white, as per the real ship currently in service.
 

On my return ,my first thought was to do the "Marina ll" ...... but as you can see I changed my  mind. When I purchased the Marina ll, I also bought this Red Dragon kit . Hobbylinc had a pretty good price on it, so I ended up getting both. Both are different from what I've been doing . The Red Dragon kit is really not an overwhelming
chore, as you can see from the photos of whats in the box. I'm not complaining, after all it's not an expensive kit.
I will say this though, A.L. really does a nice job of merchandising their kits. The material is decent, except for the basswood ply. I like basswood, but not for keels or frames. I think the Marina uses real ply. Well anyway,
I'll post a couple pictures just to get started with this log. I'll star posting some of the build as soon  as I straighten out the bend in the basswood keel .... as always thanks for look'n in....
 
Frank
 
 

 
 

 
 

Except for the ratlines on the shrouds, the standing rigging for the main mast is complete.  Some of the rigging for the foremast is done.

Hello Sjors,
 
good start on the "Sovereign of the Seas"......
 
And happy birthday...., enjoy your day
 
Nils

I have seen several topics about this, mostly on the old MSW, but also a couple here about the difficulties of staining basswood without splotching. It got me wondering just how tough basswood was to stain. So this weekend I went out and purchased some basswood strips and set about to staining them. 
 
One of the things I learned building and finishing cabinets and furniture over the years is that sanding plays a huge role in how your stain comes out. The stains available at most hardware and building stores are a pigment based product in an oil or water based carrier. The pigments lodge in the pores of the wood and in the scratches left by the sandpaper. The finer you sand the less nooks and crannies there are available for the pigments to lodge in. A lot of woods, Cherry, Maple and evidently basswood have inconsistencies in their structures and evidently some woods have variations in their sap content. This causes them to take stain unevenly or "splotch". 
 
One of the most common methods of combating this is to use a pre-stain conditioner. Its really nothing more than linseed oil thinned way down in mineral spirits. You can make your own by taking one part boiled linseed oil to 9 or 10 parts mineral spirits. Saturate the wood with it, let it set for 5-10 minutes and wipe up the excess. Apply you stain in the next hour, before it dries and you get a more even stain.
 
Another method and  my preferred method is a washcoat of thinned down finish. I usually use  1 pound cut of shellac. A one pound cut is simply 1 pound of shellac flake to one gallon of denatured alcohol. depending on the size of a project I may only make a quart at a time. 4oz of flakes to one quart of alcohol. brush it on, let it dry 30 minutes and scuff sand with 320, wipe off the residue with a tack rag and stain. You get a very even stain, although quite a bit lighter than if you stained on unsealed wood. 
 
Another method I have used is to glaze. Seal your wood make your glaze and work it in. I have my doubts as to its applications in model ship building, its messy and all the details in a build make me think glazing is a recipe for disaster.
 
I started by simulating a deck or hull. I didnt bother cleaning off the glue since I wanted to see if it was possable to sand out a glue smudge.
 

 
I clamped them down overnight  

 
then removed the clamps

 
Next I started sanding, I sanded the entire board to 150, then 3/4 of the board to 220, half of the board to 320 and finally the last quarter to 400. Normally on a piece of furniture I would only go to 220, but with all the directional changes on a hull I felt 400 would be better. At that point you are getting to where the scratches are becoming close to the same size as the stain particles. 
I applied my washcoat to the center horizontal 1/3 of the board and minwax stain conditioner to the bottom 1/3. I left the upper 1/3 untreated. My stain was Varathane Golden Mahogany, just something I had in the garage. On the untreated portion the stain splotched pretty severely. On the conditioned side you can see an improvement, especially in the 320 and 400 bands. The wash coat is the most even, but considerably lighter.

 
Next I applied a couple of coats of Varathane Poly clear satin. 

 
After looking at my results I got curious. Dye stains can also be a great tool for splotch prone woods. Dyes color the wood on a molecular level so you get a very even color. You wont find dyes at your local home depot or hardware store. You need to go to a specialty wood working store like Rockler, Woodcraft, or my favorite, Homestead finishing. An internet search will turn all of these places up here in the USA. I am sure there are places in Europe and Australia, but I dont  know the names. One of my favorite brands is the transtint dyes. They will break down in any carrier; water, alcohol, lacquer, alkyd, oil, whatever. Thy are a bit pricey. $20 if I recall for 2 oz but the last a long time depending on how you use them.

 
I had some brown mahogany water based dye here so I mixed up a very small batch; 1/8 tsp in 4 oz of water. I sanded the entire board to 400, then applied the dye to the left side of another board and the same golden mahogany to the right side with both conditioner and washcoat.  The dyed side came out very even. although I dont know if this is a good color for basswood.

 
Then I applied 4 coats of blond shelac to the top half and 4 coats of linseed oil to the bottom half. Something really unexpected happened when I applied the shellac, the brown dye turned greenish brown. Also if you look closely at the bottom of the board you will see a small green blob that is a small spot of the clear poly I used on the other sample. Prompting  my use of the  linseed oil. This is a great example of why you should always do a test board when staining and finishing. I think a garnet shellac would offset the green but I would need to get some flakes and see. Also a light red dye would shift the green to a brown. 
 
[
 
After all of this I am starting to think that maybe the best solution is to either wash coat or not stain at all. One of the furniture makers I worked with years ago swore if you wanted a dark finish go with a dark wood. If you want a light finish go with a light wood and clear coat. 
 
I hope all this helps somebody, it seems like this question comes up frequently
 
Sam
 
 
 

Good Afternoon everyone..
Another, day, another dollar... Very good progress made today; the hull is planked and ready for good ol' Elmer's Wood filler.  I'll apply that tomorrow and let it dry overnight so Wednesday is final sanding of the hull day.;  Hope all is well with everyone else.
Best,
Jerry

That saves on ice for the G&T's.

Morning Gents,
 
Thank you all very much for your comments and for dropping in and thanks to all who hit the like button, all are very welcome and appreciated.
 
Piet and Brian welcome to the log guys, good to have you along.
 
I have an update guys which is pretty quick for me, just 17 days since my last one.
 
I think this is the correct time to apply a coat of W.O.P,  the colour change is quite evident, the wood was also very thirsty.

 
The Port and Starboard stern benches have now been fitted, the holes are for a pair of Belaying Pins, elbows can also be seen and are waiting to be fitted to the stern.

 
Forard stringer elbows made and ready for fitting and the forard locker cover fitted, all the elbows are made from Lime planks and have had cut down flathead pins pre-fitted, the locker cover is made from 2x2mm lime strip and 1x5mm walnut planks.

 
Aft elbows have now been fitted along with the rudder cap and tiller bar also the Swivel Gun Pedestals, the pedestals are 6x6mm Walnut square stock, the pedestals had to be shaped to fit the hull and cut out made for the Capping Rail. The tiller was a lot of fun trying to bend to shape, no matter what I tried it creased at the bend, in the end I sanded out a lot of the crease and settled for that, it's not too bad really. The Rudder Cap is a 10x10mm Lime block and the Tiller Bar is a 5x5mm Lime Stock. Lime is not the best of woods to work with.

 
Next step was for the Benches, Mast Seat, Mast Head, and Bench Elbows. I cut the Benches from Swiss Pear Boards, the size is 5x15mm, a 10mm hole needed to be made for the Mast seat and Bracing pieces fitted either side of the bench. The Mast Head was cut from a piece of Lime square stock, reamed out and pulleys fitted, I changed the small brass pulleys and made a couple of wooden ones from 6mm dowel. The seat elbows are made from Lime stock but I wasn't happy with these and changed them to Swiss Pear.

 
Next was to dry fit the stern Capping Rail and fit it around the Rudder Post. The Capping Rail is made from Swiss Pear, shaped and the outer edge decoration cut into it, this was then treated with Ebonising Solutions until the right colour was reached. The stern side rails were given the same treatment. The capping rail elbows were cut from a 10x10mm block of Swiss Pear stock, using a template made from the plans the shape was cut and sanded. These have now been dry fitted.

 
We have now a big leap ahead, All the capping rails have been fitted and I decided to put a length of rope (1mm Caldercraft) along the length of the decoration, more as a rubbing rope. The benches have been fitted along with the elbows, (I hate elbows). The Mast seat has been fitted underneath the bench and columns fitted beneath each of the other remaining benches. I cut the rowlocks from 6x6mm Walnut stack and shaped using my drum sander, they were drilled and pins fitted, these were then glued to the aping rail. the two Fairleads were cut from 6x6mm Walnut square stock these were also glued to the capping rail. 



 
 
I've reached the limit of this download gents so I will wait until my next update to post the rest.
 
I hope you enjoy this update and as usual all comments whether good or bad are always welcome.
 
Be Good
 
mobbsie
 
 
 

Made the buckets for both builds

 
In place on the deck

Thanks to everyone for their likes, remarks and input so far, it's much appreciated
 
Some more input needed here, I have made these two containers, (one for each build) and i am not sure what they are meant to represent as once again no mention of the name is made in the instructions
My thoughts are they are fuse containers for the touch holes on the cannons. Also i think that what they are should determine where they are placed on the deck
What do you guys think ?

The beak head with a little more finishing completed. 
 

 
More to follow......

The bobstays are now done. While a little fiddly, they were far easier than I expected. The first photo shows bulldog clips on the lashings to provide some tension. I left them over the weekend, then made any adjustments necessary to make them taught. Tying off the lashings was a bit awkward, but I have found wetting the thread here (and elsewhere) makes it far easier to handle.
 

 
Here they are, complete.
 

 

 

 
Meanwhile the ratline saga continues while I look for any excuse to avoid them. The port side is now done, those for the main and mizzen masts on the starboard side are yet to do.
 
 

Cargo Hatches finished and rabbet started
 
After sanding and priming the deck fill sheets blend in nicely:


 
Progress will be slow for a bit while I cut the rabbet for the bulwarks around the circumference of the main deck (given the size of the hull it works out over 4 linear feet). I was going to try using the Dremel tool but after practicing on scrap wood I discovered that while it can deliver accurate and consistent wood removal in one dimension, the second dimension is not as good so I’m going to go with the kit directions and take it slow with a hobby knife. Another reason for using the knife is that I want to angle the rabbet around the bow and stern so that the bulwarks will "tilt" out slightly and so be fair with the angle of the sides of the hull in those areas. The rabbet is 1/4” high and will be 1/16” deep.
 

Jud, I think you misunderstand my motivation for starting this thread. I'm not trying to 'judge' anyone, and I'm not saying a beginner can't complete a complex model (we've all seen it done). But in the pages of MSW 2.0, its predecessor MSW 1.0, the old Dry Dock Models forum, and the anecdotal evidence provided by manufacturers, we have overwhelming evidence that newbies regularly attempt more model than they are capable of handling. We don't send first-time skiers to the black diamond runs, and we don't let first-year medical students do heart transplants -- the same principle applies to ship models: try something commensurate with one's skills. I'm really not trying to turn people away -- I'm trying to help them make a choice of first model that will increase their chance of staying in the hobby. Success breeds more success. And haven't we all read about the much-bemoaned demise of the hobby? Hundreds (quite literally) of people quitting their attempts at building certainly doesn't alleviate that problem.

I have built two or three model boats, probably with lots of mistakes, and I certainly consider myself a beginner.
I have completed these models only by reading members builds on this site and trying to learn from them.
However I firmly believe that if a model is classified as suitable for a beginner then the instructions and plans should reflect this. In my limited experience this is definitely not the case. Instructions are very sparse and the plans very complicated.
If manufacturers say a model is for beginners then instructions and plans should be written with the beginner in mind. If that was the case then maybe more models would be completed and more people would carry on with this hobby.

Francis, how many ship model kits have you built? An experienced modeler who would have built half of this kit or model would have finished it no matter how poor the contents were. Like I said in my previous post, no matter how good or bad a kit is really shouldn't make too much of a difference to an experienced modeler, who should have come across a number of kits great or poor before even attempting a model such as the Victory by which ever kit manufacture. They surely wouldn't have gotten it half built only to give it away due to poor materials to become someone else's problem, they would have replaced the poor quality components with better aftermarket components or scratch build your own materials. 
 
I'm not the best modeler in the world nor due I claim to be, but I could hold my own against most and up to now I have built about 30 ship models for myself as well as to sell and on commission basis. During this time I have come across most if not all of the major kit manufactures and I would admit that all of them have some issues. But all in all I have never come across a BAD kit from any manufacture no matter how cheap or expensive the kit cost. I have even built kits that were furnished to me that was found in dark wet basements from the 40'-60's and felt that for the time period they were good kits. But I also understand that a kit no matter who it's from is only a starting point and it is up to the modeler to take it and make as good a representation out of the subject chosen as possible.
 
mike       

Well, well, well, I should have checked this BEFORE I started installing the guns, but you know the old saying "would a, should a, could a, hind sight is 20/20. But once I started installing the upper cannon on the opposite side of the Monte, I quickly although not quickly enough realized that OcCre failed to supply enough of the smaller dummy cannon. I'm missing like 7 dummy cannon. But in it's place, I have an over abundance of standard length cannon of the same caliber as the small dummies. So what to do, what to do? I decided to back up and punt and made a MUCH larger hole inside of the cannon port so that I could slip the length of the full sized cannon into the gun port and then using 5 minute epoxy and bracing around the cannon as to make sure it points in the right direction and doesn't move while it dries. With this option, no one really knows about this punt except for me, wellllll and now you. The only difficult this about this is, you have to make sure and keep the same amount of gun barrel protruding out of the cannon port as you look down the side and make any adjustments BEFORE the epoxy dries.       

I would also like to mention here that the cannon carriages provided are not wood, they are preformed metal, which I do not care for and might look to replace them with wood carriages if I can find any suitable replacements. If not I will use what is supplied.
 
 
mike

OK, I got down to the nut and bolt of why I was shorted like 7 of the small caliber dummy cannon that were to be placed inside the upper gun deck. I contacted OcCre and was told that this kit when first manufactured was supposed to have dummy cannon on bother lower and upper decks, but they had received requests for the ability to actually use rigged cannon and carriages on the upper deck mid-ship where the center deck has been cut out. This is why there is a lot of full sized cannon and well as ample enough carriages provided to do this if you want. But the instructions don't give you this option, it shows dummies to be installed on both upper and lower decks. They offered to send me the missing dummy cannon at no charge even though I explained how I bought this kit second hand. They said it was most likely an older kit, which I have to agree. But either way, I like the look of the dummies and it saves a bit of time having to mount and rig the cannon and carriages in that area so no harm done.
 
I just want to make sure that if anyone who see's this build and buys this kit and wants to build it that there is two ways of doing it and it seems the manufacture is leaning more towards the 8 rigged and installed cannon mid-ship.
 
 
mike 

Good afternoon.
 
More progress on the launch. After removing the launch from the jig and sanding down the ribs, I began work on the outer hull. I started by giving a light coat of grey primer to help me see the areas that needed work first, then began the process of filling and sanding and filling and sanding.

I didn't want to go for a perfectly smooth finish, these boats were made of wood not fibreglass. The final coat of filler was diluted and brushed on.
After I was happy with the hull I began with the colour coats. Started with a mist base coat and gradually added very very light coats to build up the paint. Took about 4 very light coats in the end, lightly sanding between them.
 
I've not put the final topcoat on yet as I needed to fit the stabilizers.
 










 
Thanks for looking in.

Made the first of the tubs and buckets for both builds

 
Fitted to the deck