BLACK VIKING

Frank: Using Chuck's at Syren as well as all of his blocks - (except those 6 big ones for the three mast stays those were Corel's).
At one time Syren also had pear wood blocks, that I really liked (miss those)- sorta blended the few that I had left over here-and there.
 
Regarding his ropes and blocks I find them to be superb. Order after order the quality stays 100%. And he ships right away. 
PS: his blocks out-of-the-box are excellent but "tweak" them just a bit. hardly needed (:-)
 
FYI: His company link is on the home page right side. I'm sure that you've seen it.
 
Kier - thanks SO much for your likes 
 
Zappto: thanks for your kind words.
 
Regards,
 

Finished planking the lower hull a few minutes ago! Some sanding to do but overall I'm happy with it. Now I will set her back right side up and continue the upward planking. Plus side is this is the easier planking as it is mostly straight runs with very little if any to bend. More to follow soon!

Thanks John. With P.O.B. kits I really need to stop trying to piece in the planking board by board for the first layer like I do on the second. The supports and frame structure are not very helpful for that style of planking. Instead, that first layer should be full length pieces which would give a much better appearance and smoother surface. Then I can plank piece by piece.
 
I remain stubborn on doing it the harder way mainly because it is practice for me. My ultimate goal is to only have to do one layer of planking so I keep practicing and with each build I get a little better. I'm making my way through those 99 ways to do something wrong in order to find that one way of doing it right!
 
I'm looking forward to being able to give her a good sanding and apply the finish coat. I did a small test sample and really liked the way t came out. Now I want to see it across the entire surface. Ready to see that wood coloring at it's best! Still a little way off but with the completion of the lower hull, it is a lot closer. 

The oil has certainly made the wood pop , very well done 
 
Martyn

Superb work on the main deck she is coming together very nicely ,well done my friend 
 
Martyn

I have been busily mapping out and drilling nail impressions in the deadworks.  I haven't put a caliper to the bit I'm using, but suffice it to say that it is near impossibly small.  There was some trial and error to arrive at a bit that left a plausible impression, and that didn't overheat and clog with melted plastic too quickly.  I still have to stop the Dremel and clear the bit every 15 holes, or so, but that's much better than the 5-8 range.
 
As a quide to my spacing, I am using the exposed timber heads of the caprail.  This works out to about 5/16", on center for the most part, but there are several instances where I'll have to run a row or two at 1/4" spacing, in order to maintain overall consistency.
 
In the waist, and for about six ports aft of the waist ladder, the nailing pattern runs perpendicular to the waterline.  With the hull half sitting on the table, I simply use a try square to align my blue painter's tape guide for keeping my lines nice and straight.  As the sheer rises, further aft, it has become necessary to skew my tape guides ever so slightly, by eye, so that my nailing pattern doesn't run too far askew of the gunport framing, with which it should remain parallel.
 
After much deliberation, I have decided to mimic the alternating nailing pattern that Dan Pariser used for his very thoroughly researched and excellent Queen Anne's Revenge.  I have known Dan for a long time now, and there is nothing he does without considerable thought and research.
 
Here are a few pics of my progress, so far.  They are hard to make out in the black plastic, and after priming and painting they should just barely show as faint impressions.
 

There you have a lot of rigging, i like it goes so smooth! Beautifull sails!

Hi Mates,
Apologies for the late thanks - for the likes, and super nice comments.
Denis, Martin – so overly kind indeed.
 
Frank, she’s actually my second build. There was a 40-year gap between the Santa Maria and this current Vasa. Again you are also so kind with your compliments.
         PS: Your HMAT Supply with its “years” of weathering and barnacled hull are way beyond my skill set. Love that build of yours!
 
Henry, Somehow I intuitively sorta new that that specific ramshead needed to be off center from the mast knowing that the mizzen mast stay would attach to the lower part of the main. It wasn’t knowledge – especially looking at the three plans that I was using. Nonetheless mounted the knight off center.
Thanks for your knowledgeable clarification –luck on my end.
 
Lower main yard is now attached. Added most needed lines as well; now onto the mizzen.
 
Cheers,

 

And some more pictures.....
 
 

Every time I look at this it gets better and better stunning work my friend 
 
Martyn

The oil has certainly made the wood pop , very well done 
 
Martyn

Thank you all for the likes and for looking in 
A little more work done on the deck furniture 
I have made the ladders and cat heads and painted the windows to the cabins 
Next job fitting the capping rails to the top of the bulwarks 
 
Martyn

The oil has certainly made the wood pop , very well done 
 
Martyn

Thank you all for the likes and for looking in 
A little more work done on the deck furniture 
I have made the ladders and cat heads and painted the windows to the cabins 
Next job fitting the capping rails to the top of the bulwarks 
 
Martyn

Hi Sjors, Coming along nicely. I like the finish that the oil gives and have thought of using it myself in the past, I was unsure though if it affected glueing parts onto the surface later. What's your experience on this, also will it sand ok.
 
Ken

Today i completed the second row of oarsmen benches. I found out that if you follow the plan to the letter, you might ended up with benches that do not fit well..
 

Then i started to work on main deck. Dry-fitting of main deck planks shows that a bit of a extra work has to be done. Basically few frames are lower than the others so i needed to add some blocks that will raise the height a bit.
 




This should be bringing the planks into nice, flat position once installed. Haven't started actual planking, this will be done tomorrow.
 
Woohoo, long weekend here i come..
 
Happy modeling.
 
 
 

Couple more from various angles
 

 
This one I think is cool

And one to compare to the real Victory.  This one of the pics I've been using as reference to see I close I could get  model looking like the real thing

 

Thanks Piet 
 
Here are the promises pictures with the tung oil.
In the mean while I've bin busy with some other stuff.
I have place the upper stern part.
Easy to glue 
Next thing are the top bow batten and bottom bow batten.
I hope it will work because I have to bend again.
But we shall see.
 
Sjors
 
 

Thanks Patrick...and I agree about losing the inside view.
So I plan to do them stowed to the railing.
 
A nice example of a trireme without a top deck with the canvas cover...


Triremes with a top deck (like the Olympias) only needed the curtains of course.
 
Robin 

Another interesting and good-looking piece of the rigging.  This is the foremast upper yard lift.
 
All of the elements you see are free to slide back & forth in the blocks, so getting it all even was something of an engineering challenge that required some planning regarding how to rig it up.  It's more difficult because the only point of downward tension on the large black horizontal stay was the tackle you see over the center of the three hatches.  That didn't provide enough tension on the right side of the rigging.
 
So I noticed that I had installed a block (per the original plans for that stay) that didn't seem to be on the yard lift diagrams, and it's also missing in the 3D pictures, so I "hijacked" it and installed the rigging on the right that runs down to the right hand hatch and provides downward tension to the right side of the rigging.  This gave me the support needed to put enough tension on the rigging that the "fans" look decent.  If it turns out I need that block, I can always cut that added tension line (it's attached to the hatch by hooks).
 
I tried to keep the upward bow out of the large black stay, but it's not really possiible to do that and get enough tension on the rigging -- and I noticed that there is some of it on the 3D pictures, so I guess it's OK.
 

I think this "fan shaped" rigging from the mizzen to the main shroud has a nice look to it.  Took some care to keep everything lined up on both sides of the main mast.

Thanks for the likes and for following .
 I have now finished fitting the cannons and rigging the in-hauls , yippee 
The crew have been recruited and have turned up. The captain and first officer with two of the sailors have been painted but a few more to go so will post pics when completed.
Next job fitting the rails to the upper side 
 
See you later 
Martyn

Hello,  Welcome aboard Archie and thanks for your thumbs up.
 
Not much to show yet as I'm just making up the blocks and dead eyes for the bowsprit so I thought I'd show you my small secondary work table.
 
I couldn't fit models on my bench and use it for a work area at the same time so I made this table up from an old office chair that I found at the tip. I took the seat off and replaced it with a 20mm piece of MDF, it's suitably heavy and stable but unlike a fixed table I can spin it around like a turntable and raise or lower it, it's especially useful for when rigging, oh and it didn't cost anything.
 
Ken
 

To get back to why I made a simple 2 dimensional ram instead of a highly ornate 3 dimensional cast ram.
The main reason I don't believe in cast rams on biremes is the weight of such rams. Biremes were very light ships, heavy rams will reduce the speed immensely. 
Additional reasons are the cost of such rams. Surely a very expensive gadget. Also...rams are hardly visible, because the point of the ram is below the waterline or skimming the waterline, so why bother? Last but not least...no archaeological find other than the trireme ram Messis showed (replicated on the Olympias) and the very basic Black Sea bireme ram.
 
So, what about the images of rams on Greek vases?
When we look at the vases there a couple of things to notice. One thing is...they're not scale drawings. Note how eyecatching items are blown up or stretched out. The crew...the steering oars and...the rams. These are artist impressions with exaggerated parts and details.
But what about the decorations we see? Yes...I see them also, but that still doesn't mean the rams are cast bronze statues.
I think some rams might have been painted, clad with additional sheet, or had hammered decorations, but fairly simple.
The eyes we see on them are probably  painted on the bow instead of on the ram...above the waterline for sure.
One more issue...the size of the ram. I think many wrongly think the pine tar painted bow (like on my build) is part of the ram...it isn't.

Clearly out of proportion, the ram is far too long, like the steering oars. The eye is the ship's eye low on the bow. Furthermore..a fairly good shape.
The ram looks 2 dimensional.

The ram here follows the shape of the vase, but even when straightened there is a waterline issue. Again...ram is oversized here also.
Despite the decorations, the ram still looks 2 dimensional and has a good shape.

This is the image many use to make a sculptured cast ram (the weight of such a thing?). Well okey, but another waterline issue. Good oar placement btw. Also note the second bireme with a plain ram and good placement of the eye.

Imho Daniel Dusek did it right. Shape, size and placement make sense.
Note how the black bow can be mistaken for being part of the ram...specially with a low placed ship's eye.

This is probably the best image I've seen on a vase. Apart from the oversized helmsman and steering oars, very good proportions and layout.
The only image where the waterline seems right. In the water instead of on top of the water. This shows how pointless it is to put a lot of effort in decorating the ram with eyes and what more.
 
I don't say what I did is the right way to do it...it's what I think makes most sense...after some study and added common sense.
It's something people will never agree about until we find at least half a dozen of bireme rams on the bottom of the sea.
I thought about my construction of the ram and I think it's a plausible solution.
 
Back to my bench to make some steering oars,
 
Robin 

Thanks John! 
 
The steering oars...



And the bronze green...

I think this is enough. I don't want it to be completely toxic green
Again...it's just 3cm long.
 
Next?
 
Those darn blocks I guess.
 
Robin