BLACK VIKING

Fairing
 
Thanks for all the likes!
 
Before starting on the fairing marathon I tried out the various jigs that Chris has provided to maintain the shape of the bulwarks during subsequent operations. These all fitted perfectly, which suggests everything is well-aligned so far: 

 
I took the fairing very steadily, just a short session every day in between chores around the property, and I’m reasonably pleased with the result. The proof will be in the planking. 
 
The large number of bulkheads, the gunport frames and the extra shapes in the bow and stern sections make it fairly straightforward to sand down to the correct hull shape – along with constant testing with a planking strip to check.  
My only slight difficulties were in the bow and stern sections, and that was because I was too timid in sanding these off the model and consequently left myself with a lot to do after they were glued in place and access became more difficult. However with my new pen sander and a small drum sander on the Dremel I was able to get into the awkward places. Here’s the result: 


 
Here’s the tools I used for fairing: 

 
The next job was trimming the gunports. I did the initial work with a scalpel, then finished with a barrette file. The file’s triangular shape ensure you only cut the face you are working on, and not the adjacent sides. The way the gunports are framed in MDF makes trimming the inner bulwark patterns very easy:

 
Finally I cut up some of the 4mm MDF fret to frame the quarter gallery doors: 

 
Next job will be preparing and attaching the two upper hull side patterns. 
 
Derek 

I may have finished the decals today had it not been for an errand or two as well as a visit to the eye doctor for a yearly exam.
She's beginning to look very Royal Navy to me now. Need to finish my canopy (and some decals on it), pylons and weapons (decals on these too) before I can call it done. Will put a protective coat of satin varnish over everything before putting on the canopy.

I'm down for this one.....

Très cool was my first impression when I've first seen the Caudron C.561, what a design, completely different than other race planes of it's time. The design was not so much max power orientated, than sleek and aerodynamic. My last contact with the whacky racer were Hugault's paintings in the German version of the comic book 'Au-dela des nuages T1'.
 

 
I bought the kit a while ago, initially after I stumbled over it somewhere in the net, I couldn't resist the magnetizing box art. The producing company is from Hungary and they produce resin planes and accessories in 1/48 and 1/72 mainly.
 

 
When I opened the sturdy and beautiful designed box, I was up to my next wow. Securely packed where the grey resin parts for the airframe, including a quite detailed interior, along with a clear (and I mean clear) resin canopy, metal casted wheel struts, a PE-fret, including seatbelts, a dashboard, wheel covers and other detail parts, Kabuki canopy masks, decals, a manual and a separate four side color print.
 

 
The quality of the resin is perfect, there are no bubbles or blemishes, the whole kit oozes a 'build me' type of quality and as it is my first full resin plane build, I have to confess, all my fear was gone, after inspecting the kit contents.
Yesterday, with my USS Arizona build more or less in the books, I decided to use a good spare hour for removing the cast blocks (easy) and do some test fitting. What's to say, the first impression didn't exaggerate, the fit is almost perfect and it seems, filler will only be needed in small quantities on the bottom seam of the fuselage.
The parts design is absolutely clever, especially around the wing root to fuselage to engine cowling area and even includes guiding pegs, Chapeau S.B.S.
 

 

 
Another example for smart design are the wheel well covers, which are made from PE, which should be annealed and then press formed between the included resin punches.
 

 
This kit is a true gem, it doesn't happen very often to me, that I'm totally enthusiastic from first of the kit, through opening and inspecting the box and dry fitting and getting a grip for the kit.
 
Cheers Rob 

Bonaventure stay. I did the same thing with this (wet and glued the lanyards) as I did with the mizzen stay. Worked well. I wish I'd thought of this with the lanyards for all the shrouds - they would have been a lot tidier. Unfortunately this isn't a lesson I can use in future builds. If I do another ship with deadeyes on shrouds it will be at a bigger scale and I don't think I'll need to use this technique.
 
Top end and bottom end of stay. Held taut while the glue dried using weights, pegs etc. A bit fiddly, but worked ok.
 
  
And trimmed to length top and bottom.

 
And for those who are interested, here's the whole procedure I use in making a block. No sheave of course - far too small. The timber is pear wood, the glue is PVA (white glue).
 
  
  
  

 

And more . . .
 
Bonaventure stay being replaced. The collar on the mizzen mast under way. Note the small loop to take the lower section of the stay.

The stay with its deadeyes glued to the bonaventure mast just below the top, hanging free till the glue dries - I'll do the same as I did with the mizzen stay..

And the mainbrace and main sheet loosely in place.


   
 
Steven
 
 
 

The mast beyond the mast beyond the mast.... Looks like you've almost arrived, Steven!

New ropes on the ship’s wheel. These are fantastic to work with. I added a little CA glue  to hold
 
 

 
reference pic of The Pearl

Having built this ship the bulkheads are to narrow.  I built mine up with thin stripes on the edge and then faired the bulkheads 
Hope this helps 
Martyn 

Having built this ship the bulkheads are to narrow.  I built mine up with thin stripes on the edge and then faired the bulkheads 
Hope this helps 
Martyn 

May I gently suggest, before the planking begins in earnest, that you take a little more time to fair the bulkheads.  It is evident, on your first plank, that there is a not insignificant mid-ships dip.  If you are double-planking, you could fill depressions after the base layer, but if you are only single-planking,  these depressions will be very evident, if the under-framing has not been faired.

Thanks for the comment. You have right. I will take a extra look on this. I was little bit puzzled over this yesterday on how it will be. I have read somewhere that there might be a regression there, but I might be wrong.  This has also been an issue in the other build logs for this kit. Some of the bulk heads are very off on the same place. (See the Vasa log by Puckotred).
 

Hi all! 
 
It is some years ago i did the last upload here, 6 years.... But the build has never been cancelled. It has only been on hold because of other things in life. However, I feel that now is the time to take up the model ship building again. So here is a short update my Vasa just to show that I have started on the build again. The areas where the gun ports will have been sprayed with black color.
 

  
 
I have also already started to be annoyed on the fragile upper parts of the bulk heads that breaks all the time........

 
But I found the solution to prtect them with my childrens old wood toyes
And as you can see on the photos the planking has started!
 


This is all for now but at last I am on the way! 
 
 

I have zero knowledge about the rigging of the yard, but there is a notable presentation in the picture in post #2.   I am not sure if the picture is not the first one from the time that I have seen where the forecastle has a deck that is horizontal enough for a human (and not a chameleon) to stand on and do something other than hold on for dear life. 
The camber in those old pictures is usually absurd. 
 
For the rigging, perhaps you could do a mock up using the components  shown and see if there is a way to lead the lines to actually raise and lower the yard.

Here's a picture from 1457. It's from  "Hesperis" - a fantastical biography of the Italian nobleman Sigismond Malatesta.
 
The mainyard has been lowered. I had a look at the lifts; this is one of the few contemporary pictures that shows them in any detail. At first glance it looks very good. The lift goes from the outer end of the yard to a double-sheaved block (sister block) hanging from the masthead, and back down to the yardarm, plus the upper sheave has a rope passing from the masthead and back up again. But though I'm no rigging expert (that's for sure!) it seems to me that the artist has got it wrong - surely it can't work like that. The rope passing through the lower sheave doesn't seem to do anything - it's got no "fall" - nothing to pull on to adjust it. And the same applies to the rope going through the upper sheave - where are the "falls"? I suppose they might be among those vertical ropes coming down from the masthead.
 
But why have lower sheave in the sister block, with two fixing points on the yardarm? To reduce the forces involved, or possibly even them out? I dunno.
 
Any advice or explanation would be greatly appreciated.
 
Steven
 

OTOH, this detail from the Tavola Strozzi of 1465 shows lifts which seem to have a similar arrangement (if that's a rope going through a lower sheave - I can definitely see two lines there).
 

My hats off to you on one hell of challenging build👍 Hope all is well
 
Michael D.

To achieve a more subdued look, simply remove some of the panel line wash using Solvent 110. It seems this product is a refined, odorless white spirits but I have not experimented to find a generic equivalent of it. What I do know is that it works well to remove excess Tamiya or Mr Color wash that’s been applied over Mr Color lacquer paint without harming the paint in any way. Your results may vary over different paint types. On the opposite side of the model I used a dark gray panel line wash to compare to the black wash used on the first side. A slightly different look but not much different. I’ll end up using the black on both sides to keep everything consistent. The key is how vigorous the cleanup after application.
im going to try and find some photos that show the commonly used access panels so I can show some light wear around those. If you’ve run across any photos like this please share them with me.
 

Name  the song ……

So coming together now, a few days work to get the roof done now? Then I can do the other tractor 

With a really big engine ! 

So when I sanded down 50% of the interior of the tracked I stuffed up and added wrong tracks to each kit, and @Egilman pointed this out to me (I hadn’t noticed as I was probably a bit focused on the weathering), so I’ve been at work all afternoon and just got home after midnight and pulled them off and swapped them. 30 minutes of weathering the tracks tomorrow and I’m back on track. (He’s know, I’d know and it would just burn me up for stuffing it up. Thanks young man for saving me. Imagine if it was after I’d finished!!!

Verdigris painting time. Using the Citadel oxide overtop a gold
 

 
My test  cat heads



The gorgeous moulded  figurehead sprayed Tamiya gold 

 

 
Lamps too
 

 


She is beautiful

 

 

Dry brushed the tracks to bring out the worn bits and some rust wash 

Even though Mr Color Surfacer 1000 goes down very smooth, will wet sand gently with Tamiya extra fine sanding sponge before applying color coats.