BLACK VIKING

Superb work EJ and I hope you feel better soon plus have a nice holiday with the Admiral. Looking forward to seeing your next update 
 
Martyn

Superb work EJ and I hope you feel better soon plus have a nice holiday with the Admiral. Looking forward to seeing your next update 
 
Martyn

It's been a slow build week. Busy at work, not feeling good and the natural slowness of planking. Still, progress has been made! May be slow on updates the next couple of weeks. The Admiral and I leave on vacation for 12 days on next Thursday and I have a lot of stuff to do between now and then. I'm hoping to get in another update before I go. 

Hi Mates
 
Minor detail update.
 
Worked out a "plan" to make the fore lower appear as if the parrels are "functional"
When all buttoned up it will be like this.
 
PS: Frank thanks for sharing - happy not to be the Lone Ranger.
 
Cheers,

 
 

So far I've only went and done a coarse removal of casting lines on the barrels.
 
They will get a nice proper rubdown with steel wool yet before priming and painting.
 
I've looked at some sample turned barrels and I'm not a big fan. There's apparently only one Polish company offering Scharnhorst turned barrels in this scale and their offer looks to me like they quickly redesignated some other barrels as Scharnhorst barrels to quickly cash in on this. They certainly don't look like a good match to the barrels in historic photographs to me. 
 
In any case, I expect after a proper cleanse, priming and painting these barrels will look their part well enough for now. Who knows what the aftermarket will release. We're only a few weeks into this multi-year-project :-)

Wow she is turning into a beast Greyhawk great update 
 
Martyn

After finishing up the roughing in of the stern mooring deck; I moved to the bow section which will have an elevated mooring deck one level above the main deck and have the same winches and fittings as the stern mooring deck. So I thought it would be wise to finish both decks at the same time with their winches and fittings. I decided to plank the bow section and finish up the inner container racks while still easy to handle since these ha d to be done before moving on to the bow mooring deck. I plan to finish up as much as possible on the bow section before joining it to the center section. 
 

 

 

 

 

 
I prefer using the automotive glazing putty because it is softer than wood, easy to sand and on the inner surfaces is scrapped with a square blade rather than sanded for easy cleanup. Works equally as well on bare wood and spray painted primer. Think of it as a thick primer and most will be sanded off. I does a great job of filling any deep sanding scratches and plank joints.
 
Now back to a couple of other projects that need attention.
 
 

I've made some pretty good progress the last few weeks, and have finished the first planking.  I didn't bother using planking bands, spiling, runs of planks, etc. since this area of the hull will be covered with copper plates and a few rows of ebony planks as a second planking.  But, that resulted in a little clinking, and hence some filler at the stem and stern.  The current ebony planking ends at the line of the wale, so I sanded the lime planking flush to it.  For this ship, the wale is marked by a thicker row of planks, so all I need to do is just add the ebony planks on top of the first planking and I'll have the wale.  For those planks, I'll certainly need to spile.


In the stern picture below, I stained the top area of the transom black as the planking for the transom is curved, and I was worried about gaps potentially showing if I don't get the curves perfect.  The counter is a little tricky because there are a lot of curves that end into it, including the name board which is the area between the counter and the black transom.  I thought it was really important to get the shape right, so rather than go plank by plank, I glued a bunch of planks together, traced the counter pattern from the plans, and then cut and sanded the counter to shape using the tracing.  That was much easier, and ensured an accurate and symmetrical counter.  Once glued to the hull, I was able to use the counter to help sand the hull to get the proper curves into the counter.
I think I'm going to go with the higher water line (thanks everyone for the recommendation), so mid-hull I probably only need three rows of second planking to get to the waterline.  My plan is to go a little below the waterline, and then sand the planks under the waterline to feather into the first planking.  I'm using 0.7mm ebony, so this shouldn't be too difficult.  
 
Thanks for looking in!  Hope my friends in Florida, etc. are staying safe with the hurricane.

More detail added to the area of the upper gun deck and the coat of arms applied to the stern (builders of the panart victory may recognise some of the stern decorations!)
 
 

take care all and have fun.
 
Keith
 

Really nice Mobbsie, I was not even aware of this kit until your build so nice to see something different, the stand is really subtle and discrete, love it.
 
As for the ensign, think you're good with the red duster as red, white and blue would still have been in use - and I believe the red was used for HM ships under admiralty orders, which I suspect a harbor gun boat would be....
 
Will look great anyway whichever way you go!

Hi Guys,
Back from the Hols this time and ready to finish this rather long winded log.
 
The next thing for me to ponder was the type of stand to put her on, I didn't want the kit stand as it seemed a bit chunky. I decided to make what I can only call "feet".
I cut a paper template and cut the feet from 6mm Swiss Pear, I quite like them as they are unobtrusive and they serve the purpose
 

 

The Bow "Foot" in place.

The stern "Foot" in place, I think they fit quite nicely and do not draw the eye.

Only remains to put all the parts together and complete the rigging, the rigging was very simple and did not take long at all, various ropes were used such as Morope, Caldercraft and the local haberdashery shop. Unfortunately I didn't take enough pictures of the methods used and so there is a big jump.
 

The mast has been stepped and fully rigged

This rig is really simple, no Ratlines ( lovely )
 


Bow on, all the little bits have been placed inside, none are fixed.

I've just noticed the ensign, it's the Red Ensign (Red Duster) which is for the Merchant Navy, I will have to get a White Ensign.

The knots on the Yard are correct and quick release.

The final picture, it's done, I did enjoy building this boat and would recommend it to anyone.
I hope you enjoyed what turned out to something of a long journey and I thank you for your patience.
 

Next up will be HMS Pickle, I love the story behind this little boat.
 
Be Good
 
mobbsie
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

I have been working on the running rigging: Jib Halliard, fore stay sail Halliard,

spreader yard

Brace pendants completed but not attached 

 
Beginning of the Brace collar for the jib boom 

 
 

I certainly agree with you, Dan, about experimentation, and experiment I will!  The results you achieved on the Sovereign are very good.
 
I'm glad you mention the darkening effect around the boltheads of Herbert's models.  I believe this effect is intended to represet the iron staining of the fasteners in the oak; a happy convergence of technique and intent.  
 
One of the things I will experiment with is lightly dry-brushing the through-bolt heads (at the scarfs and the transom knees, only) with some kind of dark grey, almost black color.  I think that, along with the staining residue left from the opaque wash will create a nice effect.
 
I will also probably use a more translucent wash coat, sparingly, to see what sort of depth that adds.  Even though the period of time I am trying to represent is relatively brief (1689-1692), and the ship was newly re-built, her hull would already have darkened considerably, just being on the water.  But then, a lighter sand base coat, would be another way of modulating the oxidation so that it is appropriate for the age of the new timber.
 
The other thing that I find interesting about Herbert's model of Hollandia (last two pictures) is the darkened band of the two lower wales, which I suppose would represent a protective coat of creosote, or black stuff.  On SR, this is always represented as being painted black, but might it be more realistic to indicate a darkened appearance?
 
I have likewise been debating, for example, whether to paint the wales, up to and just below the main deck guns, a near black, in a matte finish.  The argument for painting the wales is that, with so many through-bolt fasteners, the paint would effectively seal the area right around each bolt head.  But, then again, would a darkened creosote color be more appropriate?
 
All of these are points for debate!
 
In other news, Henry (Popeye2Sea) has very graciously agreed to send me the extra parts I need for my splice and dice experiments into broadening and lengthening the hull.  It is really heartening that this community is so supportive and helpful with their knowledge and advice, and spare parts!  Without it, I'm not sure what the status of this project would be.
 
Thank you, Henry!  And thank you, Dan and everyone else who stops by, weighs in, and likes this or that.  It is all greatly appreciated.

Thank you so much for the comments Michael really appreciated from such a talented builder like yourself as your Vasa is stunning 
 
Martyn

Wow thanks for the brilliant comments Anthony and EJ  
Butting up the strakes just wouldn't cut it oops sorry about the pun   but seriously I am really pleased with how it's gone, once there finished a light sand and a coat of varnish and that's it 

Looking superb Hennie loving the planking 
 
Martyn

Weekly update: I finished the top side of the hull on the port side. This means the partial double planking, cutting the canon ports and painting the top of the hull black. And again several mistakes on the plans. On the drawings you can see that they put the prefab gunport  strips on the wrong side!! All the strips of the port side do only fit on the star board side and vv.. So be carefull and take a good look on the plans.
 
 

Thanks Joe. Yes there is always so much to do and way too little time.
 
Thanks Pat, always appreciated.
 
I've completed the breeching ropes and installed the rest of the guns.
 
Also you can see the chimney has been added too.
 

 
 
 

 
Now I have to do the gun tackles. 
 
You will also notice that there are numerous touch ups needed!
 
Thanks for stopping by.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Hi Pat, Thank you and thanks for stopping by.
 
Just a small update for now. 
 
The Carronades and long guns were sitting collecting dust so I’ve started to add the breeching ropes.
 

 
One down and thankfully only 11 more to go!
 
 

Thanks Steven, Nils, Sam, Ken, Richard and Carl for your interest, and also to the "likes" for looking in.
 
Fuselage Construction
 
Construction begins with the Fuselage. Here is a picture from the Instruction Manual of the overall completed assembly:
 

 
My first task was to cut a new piece for the fuselage base, replacing the kit-provided wood with Cherry of the same thickness (3/16”). Prior to cutting to shape, I laid out all the markings per the instructions and drilled the holes (4 x 2mm and 6 x 1mm diameter). I finished the surface with two coats of shellac and a coat of furniture wax. This is something I’ve picked up recently from doing some 1:1 scale woodwork. The advantage of shellac is that it dries very quickly, is dead easy to apply, and provides a repairable finish. It also highlights the natural beauty of the timber. Here are the prepared base and the kit provided part side by side.
 

 
Next up was making some cleats. The kit provides some stock wood cut roughly to shape and then instructs you to finish the shaping with files and stain them walnut. I replaced these with straight walnut, which again got the shellac/wax treatment after final shaping. Here’s a shot showing the raw kit parts and my finished parts:
 

 
The next step was to fit one cleat, four cable guides, two pulleys and the crankshaft. The cable guides are simply cotter pins, cut off so as not to protrude through the base to the other side. The pulleys are small brass parts that are secured with a small brass nail, again cut to length. The crankshaft is made from a piece of piano wire that is first bent to shape following a template in the instruction book. Four beads are glued in place on the crankshaft as seen in the pictures below. A small recess was filed into the fuselage base to allow the beads to seat and the crankshaft to sit flush against the fuselage. The two clamps holding the crankshaft in place were again replacement parts made from cherry, using the kit parts as templates for sizing.
 

 
Here’s another view using a different background:
 

 
Forming the Neck Ring is the next step. The kit provides some cherry veneer to this, which it then tells you to stain walnut. I used walnut instead. Two pieces of 1/64” thick by ¼” wide walnut strip are laminated by bending around a former cut from a scrap piece of 1/2" plywood, using a template provided in the kit. I wet these and then hit them with a heat gun to set some initial curve in them. Then I applied some PVA and re-clamped to the former and left them to set.
 

 
 
Next up is the Fulcrum Mount. Again, simply made from Cherry using the kit part as a template. The bottom edge is filed to a curve to match the Neck Ring. A large cotter pin is then then inserted in the centre of the top edge, and finally the cotter pin is wrapped in thread.
 

 

 
That’s as far I have progressed to date.

Thank you so much for the comments Michael really appreciated from such a talented builder like yourself as your Vasa is stunning 
 
Martyn

Wow thanks for the brilliant comments Anthony and EJ  
Butting up the strakes just wouldn't cut it oops sorry about the pun   but seriously I am really pleased with how it's gone, once there finished a light sand and a coat of varnish and that's it 

Wow she is turning into a beast Greyhawk great update 
 
Martyn

Hi Martin.
OK a change of mind.... I now like the blue.
Stunning work on fitting the strakes with scrafs joints.
Regards Antony.

She is looking good Martyn. I will echo the comment about your scarf joints that they are well made. I also like the paint you have done and agree with you to not go any lower. Looking forward to the next update!