BLACK VIKING

Thank for your kind posts.
 
Frank, from a previous post: Also for the metal straps Ferrari parts have come to the rescue. Vinyl self-adhesive strips that are leftover from an F40 that my son and I built from a 1/12th kit. We had fun. I will use that as well as those small cleats at the wrap ends. - Never throw anything away right (:-)
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-E.J: Thanks so much. We do indeed all learn from each other. I'm still "stretching" as a learner, but it's so nice when something that I may have done is inspirational for someone else as well. Your work is so excellent that your compliment is even more special. 
 
woodo: Again thanks - nice to have you on board.
 
George: You're always so kind with your comments and your Clicks" (:-)
 
Regards,
 
Michael

I take my hat off to your patience and eyesight,very nicely done
 
Rgd BV

Thanks to everyone who dropped by.
 
Well, after gun surround #4 found the scrap bin as it broke in two, I spent yesterday planking the side panel for the beak on the port side in preparation for mounting after the bulkhead ornamentation is completed. I carved a new surround this morning and it thankfully survived the process in one piece.
 

 
Here it is mounted on the bulkhead and the set of four is now complete.
 

 
More to follow...............
 
 

Stunning work as always Bil
 
Rgd BV

I take my hat off to your patience and eyesight,very nicely done
 
Rgd BV

Parrels.  Of course there was no mention of these in the kit plans, and I thought of omitting them.  Mainly because I couldn't see how I could make something so small, and still looked good and consistent from one to the next .  What I didn't want were parrels that were way out of scale or clunky looking.  For the smaller masts I needed parrel balls or trucks that were smaller than 2mm diameter.  Somewhere I saw a listing for 2mm trucks, but I wondered how rounded they really were, and there was nothing smaller, so probably wouldn't work.  As far as making them from scratch, I couldn't imagine how I could make them consistent in size and shape.
 
I got the idea of using Japanese round seed beads and that's what I used. The smallest sizes available are the #15 and #11 Miyuki beads.   The #15 Miyuki beads are 1.5mm diameter and I used these for the top main, top fore, mizzen, and spirit.  The #11 Miyuki's are 2mm  and I used these for the main and fore courses.  There are no opaque brown colored beads so I knew I'd have to color them somehow.  I chose the closest to a tan color I could find, as that would be good for a base color, and that was a Latte.  If you look in the supplies picture you will see that both Latte bead sizes are totally different in color, though they are from the same maker.  Anyway, it didn't seem to matter because when I applied the wood color gel stain, they came out pretty much the same color.  Usually when using a gel stain, you wipe off the excess, but here I just painted on some light coats with a small brush.  I found it easier to string them on a brass rod first before staining.  I was really surprised how the stain adhered to the beads, as they are slick glass, but it worked well.
 
For the ribs, I tried sanding down some walnut strip to about .4mm and drilling holes in it, but the thin strips kept splitting at the holes.  Or, if my holes were successful, they split while trying to round them off.  Since this wasn't going to work I had to come up with another idea. Since my parrel beads were kind of narrow in width, I knew thick ribs would look bad.  I used strip styrene shown in the supplies picture, since they were easy to shape and didn't break in the process.  To make them all the same length, I used a chopper tool that has a stop fence.  To mark the drill holes, I used a divider to keep them consistent.  For coloring the stark white styrene, I first painted them a tan base coat, then applied the stain, and a light clear finish on top.   I used some fine sandpaper to clean up any paint flashing, and used a brown Sharpie marker to touch up any areas needed.
 
The W. Mondfeld book shows thimbles and eye loops on the rope ends of the parrels, but I felt that with them so small and congested, I would just seize the lines and tie them off around the spar.  I don't regret that at all.
 
I thought this would be a very difficult task, but I was very happy the way my parrels turned out.  It came out better than I thought it would.
 
Randy

Brilliant work Bill the bulk head is stunning, looking forward to the next update
 
Rgd BV

Gun surround number two is carved and in place. I set one of the blanks for carving number three against the bulkhead to show the raw blank sketched and ready for carving.
 

 
Now for number three.
 
What Nigel said is an interesting take on what the extra gun ports might have been used for. I just have to decide whether I want to include them or not.
 
More to follow.............

I take my hat off to your patience and eyesight,very nicely done
 
Rgd BV

Hi all, thanks for the likes and comments
 
Quick update
Outer and inner hull side planked
Now for lots of sanding before sorting out the gun port linings
 


 

OUCH! NOOOOO!!!!   This'll go in the "What did you do today" topic as well. Last week I got a Yamaha amplifier/receiver from a neighbor for $100. 2 years old, normally sells for around $550. 7.1 surround, multi-zone, lot's 'o watts... I do all my work here in the garage (MAN-cave). I bought 7 Polk Audio shelf speakers and a massive bass speaker, mounted them on the walls, got an optical cable (fiber optics) and a new sound card for my computer. Optical out from the computer, into the amp...
 
It comes with a microphone you setup where you listen from and using program built into the amp, going through the TV, the speakers send sounds to the microphone and automatically adjusts itself to the ambiance of the room. The music program I use, Clementine has a built in EQ... Spent 2 FULL days tweaking the sound. Got it PERFECT. JUST what I like. Rebooted the computer and... Nothing. Not a sound. I'm a computer geek first, restore old cars second and touch anything made of wood and distant last. So I use this system called Linux, not Windows. It's not for the faint of heart. Could NOT remember what I did to get the music working in the fist place.
 
Spent the next 2 days screwing up my computer and fixing it again getting seriously frustrated. This is how I made a living! Finally got it all working again. I can reboot the PC and the music still works, I'm happy so... I think I'll clean the garage, right? I need to smoke a few cigars, have a few drinks and relax.
 
Moved the ship off the bench onto a small stand that's out of the way and did a bang up job, garage looked great. Then I bumped the little stand with my butt. Heard a crash. Felt the adrenaline hit the stomach. Sure enough, there's my little ship upside down, 32" below the stand where it was before I swung my butt around...
 
Tears in my eyes, slowly I picked it up, tenderly I turned it upright, eyes closed, worked up the courage to open my eyes... One of the catheads was busted off and 2 cannon's barrels were loose. That's it. Must have done something right in another life. Sure wasn't this one.

Main deck guns ready for action....

 
Pretty much done with the main deck guns.
 

 
Decide for yourself whether the kegs are filled with gun powder or rot gut rum.

 
 

Beautiful work Bill looking forward to the next update, following with great interest
 
Rgd BV

Beautiful work Bill looking forward to the next update, following with great interest
 
Rgd BV

Spring has sprung and so has my garden. It has taken several days to get it under control so not too much time for The Sovereign.  Here is a photo with sculpture number four completed and mounted on the model. Number Five is under way. Then I will look at the gunports and provision for the main stay.
 

 
More to follow..........

Hi all,
 
I've started work on the foremast and foretop.
 

 

 

 
It's all dry-fitted at the moment, and the top has more detail to go on. I want to try and assemble the whole mast, dry-fitted before the mast is stepped.
 
More soon
 
Rob

I take my hat off to your patience and eyesight,very nicely done
 
Rgd BV

any remarks and question very much welcomed...BFN

Well I have a little update. I am trying to explain my progress with remarks on the pictures themselves. but please if you have any remarks or questions are welcome....

a few more pic's for your enjoyment I hope....

I take my hat off to your patience and eyesight,very nicely done
 
Rgd BV

I take my hat off to your patience and eyesight,very nicely done
 
Rgd BV

I take my hat off to your patience and eyesight,very nicely done
 
Rgd BV

I take my hat off to your patience and eyesight,very nicely done
 
Rgd BV

I take my hat off to your patience and eyesight,very nicely done
 
Rgd BV