BLACK VIKING

Brilliant simply brilliant
 
B V

Thanks a lot for all of your advice.The thread is Caldercraft I presume it's natural.I tried wetting and glue but that didn't work so i'll do it again as you've suggested with wax etc.

Brilliant simply brilliant
 
B V

After a few weeks, I finally finished the deck planking.  Overall, I found it fairly straightforward - there were issues with my deck planks not all being the exact same width, so when planking around the coamings, things got out of sync.  Also, the nibbing notches were consistently difficult - some came out very good, others needed filling or other adjustments.
 

 

 

 
The planks were sanded prior to installation, but not stained.  I used a pencil to mimic the caulking, to reasonable effect.  There are a few uneven planks, but I'm not sure how to fix them - if I sand too aggressively, I'll erase the pencil caulking marks.  Also, a little red paint touch up will be done, likely after staining.
 
Speaking of staining, I'm looking for advice on order and technique - I plan on putting a pre-stain conditioner on first, then use a Minwax oil-based stain.  (Ipswitch Pine, 221)
Are there issues with gluing the rest of the deck furniture down over an oil based stain? Should I apply a wipe-on poly after the staining? I need to work the stain around the waterways and coamings - what's the best way to apply it tight spots?  Paintbrush? I also need to add some thicker deck planks over the windlass section, should I do that before or after staining? - I guess I'm concerned about glue still, but any advice on this is most welcome.  (I feel most of the builders here know this stuff intuitively, but no advice is too small for me - I don't really have any experience with this at all!)
 
Thanks in advance.
 
Andy.

Brilliant simply brilliant
 
B V

Brilliant simply brilliant
 
B V

Update - Transom lantern housing:
 
Seems like I've been working and re-working this little fixture for at least a month. Keeping a reasonable octagon shape and matching up the base with the windows and then the top was very frustrating.
 
Finally managed to tweek it enough to live with the results.... dry fitted as seen here.
 

 
My only concern is the overall height of the lantern housing, which is the result of my shaping the radius of the roof. My eye says it should be slightly flatter.
 

 
After looking at it for a few days, and before gluing the fixture in place, I'll decide whether to reshape it or not.
Meanwhile....any opinions and comments from the crew is welcome and appreciated, as always.

The following series of photos shows my method of representing treenails at this scale without drilling holes and making very thin wooden treenails. First I create the holes with a drafting divider.
 

 
Then I rotate a 5H pencil lead in the holes to create the illusion of wooden treenails.
 

 
Finally after sanding to remove any surface pencil marks,
you can see the result.
 

 
More to follow................

In this picture I am simulating plank endings using a modified straight razor blade to press cut the lines at the end of the planks.
 

 
This shot shows the completed simulated plank ends after removal of the reference lines.
 

 
Next step is to simulate treenails.
 
More to follow...............

Today the captain decided to visit the yard so it was necessary to mount the ladders

The beak deck is now rough planked with Holly planks ready for scraping and final finishing.
 

 
More to follow.............

Using Scandinavian Birch plywood, I have rough formed the decl substructure of the beak and glued it in place.
 

 
After the glue dried, I trimmed the excess from the edges and re-assessed the shaping of the beak head supports to give a pleasing transition from the hull to the beak. Every syupport received a reshaping to achieve this.
 

 
Scratch building these components to fit the vision in my mind and at the same time to conform to what is essentially the base of a Sergal kit can sometimes be challenging. In the end, it is my eye that takes over and adjustments are made to get close to the overall look I am trying to achieve. This takes more time but it is well worth it.
 
More to follow...............

I chose to begin the running rigging with the foresail halliard and the jib halliard and it's in haul and outhaul and then move on to the lower yard and it's rigging.
 
The one item of note on the halliards is the traveler to which the jib halliard is attached. This was made from a ring formed from wire, to which a small brass shackle was attached. The shackle was one of those odd bits that we collect over the years. Fortunately, I had remembered to place the traveler on the bowsprit before I had done any of the standing rigging to the bowsprit. It would have been much more difficult to make it up in place now, rather than simply sliding the completed part on when I did.
 
The lower yard had been made up and painted earlier, but still needed to be fitted out. This meant adding the foot ropes, the yard portion of the sling, the sheet blocks, the lifts, a truss, and the brace blocks and pendants. After these were all in place,  the yard was mounted to the mast on the pin that had previously been mounted on the mast. The truss was then completed, securely holding the yard to the mast. After that I added the sling portion around the masthead and then ran the lifts through blocks hooked to eyes on the mast cap.The braces won't be run until later.
 
I am now working on the topsail yard and it's rigging. 
 
Bob
 
 

Stunning work Bill . Will be following
 
B V

Stunning work Bill . Will be following
 
B V

I received a question about the shape of the beak cross members..... it reminded me that I had not yet stained the underside of those beams. Anyhow, I might as well take a quick shot of the construction whilst she was flipped over on the bench.

 
Leaving the black poster board used to form the patterns for the planking seen from above. Since they are not visible, they will be left because it seemed a little risky to try to dig them out at this point.

The bulk head supports are now modified to include the height of the side decorative panel and are now gently curving towards the beak where joined.
 

 
The forward edges of the supports are now being beveled to reflect the line of future planking and structural woodwork that will support the sculptures.
 

 
Side view.
 

 
More to follow................

I'm continuing with the planking above the wales.  Things are temporarily looking very rough in these photos.  Some of the planks are partially sanded.  Other planks are not sanded yet.  Like Chuck, I only did the pencil caulking between planks in areas where it won't be hidden by the wales or trim pieces.  So, it looks a little odd at this stage.  The two red pieces of wood next to the ship are parts of the stern gun port framing I accidentally just broke off!  Grrr!  Thought I'd take a break, and snap a few photos . . .
 

 

 

 
Erik
 

There definitely is something to be said for measuring a bunch, checking things a bunch, and taking it slowly.  I've been concerned about getting the wales correct, and identical on both sides.  I think I pulled it off.  Both sides, to the best of my observation, have identical runs, and line up perfectly at both the bow and stern. 
 
I used the batten strip again to determine the run of the thin 3/64" x 1/16" plank that is located just below the gun ports and is higher at the forward most gun port.  I drew that plank run with a pencil.  Again, taking my time is key.  So, in other words . . . this baby will be launched some time in 2028! 
 

 

 

 
Erik

After the last bit of tweaking on the hull, I've started planking.  I attached the first layer of the wales on one side.  The run came out pretty well.  Not perfect, but it'll do.  I lightly sanded the wale, but since it will have a second layer over it, I didn't get to crazy with the sanding.  I'm hoping the other side is a match.
 

 

 
Erik

Thanks very much Steve, but after looking at your Victory and Apostol Felipe, I think it is you that need to put together a tutorial, and me to do the reading - very nice work!  I'm glad to hear that you're planning to put sails on your Constitution - that's one ship that will look fantastic with sails.  
 
Nice job by the way on the small boats on your Constitution.  I'm going to start the Charles Morgan as my next build (alongside the Corel Unicorn), and the small boats are constructed in a very similar way.  The Badger (and most other kits) use cast resin bodies for the small ships, which can be nice, but I like the idea of wood hulls.

Gun Ports?
 
The second planking is proceeding OK, but then, the first part is relatively easy. Obviously the thicker wood means bending is more problematic, but in all honesty my Modelcraft plank bender copes easily - perhaps a better purchase than I'd given it credit for (just don't leave it plugged in!).
 
Two things did occur to me; the gun ports positioning, and creation thereof. I thought I'd better have a look. Then came a shock; on placing the gun port template against the keel I was shocked to see it was miles out! Several of the ports would be fouled by the ribs!! Whichever way I positioned the template, and on whichever side of the hull, it was the same, the only way I could position the template and ensure (as far as I could) that every port is free of an offending rib, was position the template a good 1/2 inch out of its intended position.
 
My first thought was I'd seriously screwed up somewhere, but that doesn't really make sense as everything else fits perfectly. If the ribs were somehow out, the pre-cut decks wouldn't remotely fit, but they do, perfectly. Is this an imponderable, or will the truth be revealed later on, probably the latter, but there is little I can do but persevere.
 
The creation of the gun-ports now niggled more than ever, so I proceeded to create one! I was pleasantly surprised to find it was relatively easy, and more importantly the height etc was just right; the brass port frame temporarily in position really sets it off. With the upper (incomplete) gun deck temporarily in place, a gun (I previously created two, one of each of the two sizes) positioned in situ looks well.
 

 

 

 
But now back to the planking...
 
Bryan
 

Mark, some further thoughts below. I have been an avid follower of your beautiful work. 
 
Frank, also some thoughts below -I was thinking of your superb work with sails
 
Thanks Mates for your encouraging words.
 
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Ouch – here I go again; only looking at “what I want to see”
 
Turns out that the just installed four shrouds (not mast stays as I called them) L will have the correct hooks and blocks at the chainplates for attaching the tackles…..
 
BUT the just installed lines with double blocks should have been attached to fiddle blocks NOT double blocks - grrrrr. Mark I also feel your pain !
 
Now what should I do? Still thinking. Hmmmm.
 
My rigging may become the “Titanic” part of this build in any case. That said, I have for all intents-and-purposes nixed my “dreams” of adding sails. Skills are just not there. (I did buy the sail material) funny
 
OK done venting. Ha ha - After following those of you who have added sails to your beautiful Vasa CHEERS !  “I’m just not there”  
 
PS: Now if ONLY Vasa II got published, I might learn enough to “wing it” with sails, and certainly proper rigging.
 
PS 2: I SO appreciate all of your super nice comments, and I do feel comfortable as I have mentioned before with these posted bits of the build and, I do enjoy trying to create “ideas” for details that I have not yet seen visiting other builds.
 
I also plan, for example, to attempt building the main mast out of several main pieces a seen in Landtröm's book and from the museum mainmast plan sheet. I will try to give it the right perspective.
 
Michael

 
 

I chose boxwood for the deck planking.  The planks are 5/32" wide, 6 scale inches.  I need to fit the margin planks, add the treenails and then plank the exposed bulwark areas separating the decks with red heart.

today I got the bulwarks finished, and the garboard plank on one side done.  getting these thin planks to bend across grain is an acquired skill i find.  I think it would be easier if they gave sheets of veneer to let us cut our own spiled planks from scratch.