BLACK VIKING

Sorry for the late response as I've had one heck of a year as I lost my mum last year and we have moved back to Kent to be near No1 son .
I have attached some pictures for you to look at to show what I have been up to. 
Thanks again for the comments and likes .
Martyn 

Hi all sorry I haven't posted for a while but life has certainly got in the way.  But anyway back to the build. 
The guns have been fitted on the gundeck and the sides. 
I have made some lanterns and some weird sticky up things on the stern and fitted some wooden teeth things on the beakhead. 
Next job making the main mast .
Stay safe all.
Martyn 
 

Hi all sorry I haven't posted for a while but life and stuff has got in the way.  I have been slowly working away on the FD . I have finished the hull and have now put some details on the stern galleries and the sides.  As I'm no good at carving I have used modelling clay to make the scary faces and strange fishy things and to make her look old and battered I have put some barnacles and clamy things on the sides. I need to find away of putting some smaller barnacles on the lower hull. 
Thanks for looking. 
Martyn 

These are such excellent  sculpts  Alan   -  lovely work.
 
OC.

I opened the box while I was waiting for some glue to set on the Argosy and somehow I started to fiddle with the bits - and here we are off again.

I'm trying a few ideas to see if I can make life easier. The weight of the parts makes it hard to get the components to adhere even if you leave the glue to almost set. If I paint the components separately and I'm gluing up the painted parts its really easy to spoil the paintwork; especially with epoxy glue. so I have drilled the neck and hands and added 0.5 mm brass rod which has been epoxied into place in one half of the joint and the fit and position checked satisfactorily for later.



 
A few more cast lines to remove on this one but nothing too bad. A lot more polished metal too and again I would rather polish the kit metal instead of painting it.
 
Based on a suggestion by @Jack12477 I decided to try a mini engraver / polisher and a few wooden shafted cotton buds.

With jewellers rouge they made quick work of it and got into the corners well.

Everything not polished then got a coat of Mr Metal primer hand painted on The polished parts of the body were masked and a coat of Mig One Shot black primer was air brushed on


Next will be the directional white primer to provide a base for the glazes.
 
Thanks for looking in and I hope you enjoy another metal figure. 
 
Alan
 
 
 
 
 
 

Build Log Index
Date: 01/09/2024
Time worked today: 3 hour.
Total time spent on build: 68 hours.
 
Cannon and Carronades Breach Rope Part 2
I have now completed the work with regards to the carronade’s breach rope rigging. They have now all be installed on the Adder’s deck.

The next photo shows the first stage of including the breach rope on the carronades. With an eyebolt seized at one end the breach rope is added to the carronades

After the position of the other eyebolt has been determined the carronade is held in the quad hands so the seizing can be added, as shown below.

With regards to the two cannons, I also decided to also the training tackle (inhaul tackle). The training tackle was used to haul the gun back inboard to the loading position.
 
Two 2mm single blocks are required for this, one is attached to an eyebolt located at the rear of the gun carriage, and the one is hooked to an eyebolt mounted on the deck some distance behind the gun, as shown in the photo below.

I am planning to add rope coils to complete the task. I have ordered some clear plastic counters so I can make a jig which will hopefully help me create the desired rope coils.

The starboard side is painted
And the threaded rods that make the rear castle narrower at the top are back in their place (I am too wide at the top and otherwise I will have problems with the standing rigging)

Now the outer standards, with a lot of fitting and measuring and cutting...

dry fit

The colours on the transom do not want to work 🤢 After 3 different schemes, which did not work. the "short pain" was chosen.
A new start, with a scheme that will look more like the Anthony roll

Hopefully the fourth time will look better 
 

The Spitfire is done!  Thanks to everyone for the likes, suggestions, and kind comments. 
 
Kotare makes an amazing kit.  This was the best engineered kit in terms of fit that I have ever built, and I love the thought they put into hiding seams.  I’m overall very happy.  I learned a lot. 
 
Only significant final problem was from my first experience with two-sided canopy masks.  The inner side according to the instructions was brown, but was painted interior green on all of the restored Mk.I pictures I could find.  Because the interior green paint I was using was a little translucent and I did not want a heavy layer of paint, I put down a coat of white primer first.  I did not expect this would be visible given I was painting the outside separately, but it turns out the canopy frame is thicker on the inside than the outside (or at least the mask was smaller) so it turned out that this is visible.  I think the recommendation for brown may have been for some sort of sealer or grommet between the glass and frame, and it would have looked right if there was a rim of brown visible.  There was also a little residue on the inner surface probably from the masking tape. It came off really easily with novus polish and a q-tip, so I was able to fix the front, but not the back where I could not reach.  I also forgot to remove one inner mask, which was a real challenge to get out with the canopy glued in place.
 
I also have a little bump at the junction of the two camouflage colors – I wasn’t sure how the seal would work, so had sprayed clear flat at the junction of the mask prior to spraying the color.  I think I can leave that out next time.
 
I think the problem I had with the Vallejo paint bleeding under the vinyl tape was the tape, not the paint.  It didn’t bleed under the cockpit masks or regular Tamiya tape.
 
Anyways – I really recommend the kit.  It was a really fun build, and I am very pleased with how it came out.

And I changed my mind about the sheets. Originally I'd had them just tied directly to the clew of each sail,with a sheet going off to each side. I decided that threw away mechanical advantage and that there should be a couple of blocks at each clew. But how to attach them? After a lot of thought I went back to the traditional Mediterranean method - a toggle through a loop. So I made two blocks for each sail, each with a loop at the end,

and passed the two loops through the cringle at the clew with a toggle to hold them in place. The pictures show all - in the last one (for the mizzen) the toggle hasn't yet been cut to length



And I've been adjusting the balance of forces acting on the yards, to get the sails in the configuration I want (for example, the fore end of the central yard was too low, so I had to cut off one of the tacks which I'd already cut to length, and replace it with another longer one so there was enough rope free so the fore end could be pulled up higher by pulling down on the brace/vang at the upper end of the yard (not sure that this explains it very well, but I know what I mean).
 
So here she is in her current manifestation. A bit more fiddle needed - tying off ropes and adding the truss for the fore-yard, things like that. And I'd like maybe to have another go at smoothing out the sails - they're a bit too wrinkled for my liking.

Then to finish off the anchors, add the steering oars, re-position one of the crew - and I do believe that will mean I've finished! (unless I've forgotten something!)
 
Steven
 

I've been doing some designing on a "portable" "workstation", something that can be taken off the wall (using french cleats to fasten to wall), and be either stored in a closet or taken to my woodshop where my hobby room is. Some place to build a model but still be in the house at night (more or less with family). But have all or most of my tools, paints, brushes, knives, etc. and still be able to close it up (with model inside) and place some where out of the way if need.

I'll probably build it out of 1/2" cabinet grade plywood or maybe 3/4" with an oak veneer. Stain and finish so it will look like a wall cabinet but like I said before with a french cleat, you can take it down really easy if needed.

Here are some drawings.  Sorry the freebie program won't let me share the drawings (can save but not share) so I took pictures of them on my phone.  Sorry if they’re bad.
 

 


   

Nearly finished first planking layer typically manage 2- 3 a planks day, slow, but waiting for glue to set slows down the process, not much sanding of bulkheads needed on this build

CDW, Egilman, and Shipman - many, many thanks for the very kind comments.  I've done a little more work.  I've sprayed with clear flat and installed the rudder and canopy door.  I agree she is a beautiful airplane, although I also really like the p-38 lightning and the corsair.  I'm in the home stretch and think I can finish this weekend.  I just need to paint the green and red wing lights, install the landing gear, and a few other pieces.  The moment of truth will be pulling off the canopy masks and seeing whether I had the same bleed through that I had under some of the vinyl tape.

Started on the underside, Tamiya neutral grey was the base colour over the primer and preshading. 


used a lightened NATO black to pre shade.

A light base coat. The paint splashed out of my airbrush next to No 1 engine, so had to minimise that and try fix it. 

I’ll do a dark grey with a bit of brown oil wash to help blend it in better. I did learn if the shades underneath aren’t defined enough and visible then the washes will show nothing. So balancing how much coverage is tricky! 
Hopefully I’ve got it right! The pics are taken under light that really shows the layers through, under sunlight I like how it looks and it is alot more subtle!

Ship update. Putting in ratlines. The graph paper is a guide. Every intersection gets a clove hitch knot. No plastic ratlines for this baby.

Decals done.  I've sprayed clear gloss over them. Not in the pictures, but I experimented a little with panel line wash.  I was going for subtle, so I tried Tamiya brown.  I didn't have any problem wiping off the excess over the Tamiya gloss - using same brand worked well and I didn't have the same problem as with the cockpit.  Unfortunately, the brown is very close to the camouflage brown and doesn't show up well against the green.  It ended up so subtle that it isn't really visible.  I don't plan to weather - I like the models looking like the ones in museums.  Plan is some flat clear tonight and completion soon.

Build Log Index
Date: 26/08/2024
Time worked today: 3 hours.
Total time spent on build: 53 hours.
 
Hawse Hole Bolster, Ships Wheel, Drop Keel Winch and Ladders
First task today was to paint and then glue the two off hawse hole bolster to the hull.

Next task was to build and fit the ships wheel. There are several parts required for the ships wheel. After removing the laser char a test assembly was undertaken.

The next task was to paint the parts. I opted for a smoke black colour for the wheel assembly and black for the tops of the ships wheel side frames.

Next a dry fit of the ships wheel assembly on the deck. The 2mm dowel needs to be trimmed.

After trimming the dowel and then adding the thread the ships wheel was added to the deck. You will also note that I am in the process of test fitting the aft drop keel winch.

I have also done a test fit of the forward drop keel winch.

The final task of the day was to add the two ladders.

Latin yard is now completed, I am waiting for the delivery of my order for ropes and blocks to go at built's end :


 

The bottom row of the galion decoration is finished. Only small details an the galion figure are missing on the bow.
 
Jan

Primed with Tamiya surface primer in a can, re sanded and filled where needed and primed again.

Will let it dry well for a few days.
 

Build Log Index
Date: 23/08/2024
Time worked today: 3 hours.
Total time spent on build: 46 hours.
 
Carronade Eyebolts and Outer Stern Board
The eyebolts which are located on the inner bulwarks for the carronades were chemically blackened. The process I use for this works well and is as follows:
 
a)      Soak the PE parts in acetone and agitate the solution for a few minutes
b)      Transfer the PE parts to a soapy hot water solution. Agitate the solution for a few minutes
c)      Rinse the PE parts and repeat a) above.
d)      Rinse the PE parts in hot water and dry.
e)      Place the PE parts in the blackening solution
f)       Place the blackened PE parts on a paper towel and pat dry.
 
After fitting all the eyebolts I decided to dry fitted the various internal cleats and belay pin racks.

The next task was to fit the Outer Stern Board. Once that was done the two rudder post cheeks were then added. They did need to be trimmed to fit. The lower section of the rudder post cheeks were also painted white to match the hull.

 The stern gunwale pattern was soaked in hot water for a few minutes and then clamped to the stern board assembly. This will be left to fully dry out before moving on to add all the gunwale patterns.

thank you all
Meanwhile painting has started. And we just got back from vacation.
First mowing the lawn, weeding, cleaning the car, refilling the fridge...

Applying masking tape to the clinker planking is a hopeless task.
so everything will be "free hand" painting.


more later

I also started working on the chassis, as I need to plan for the couplers and their height:
 

 

 
The platforms on each end will have to be strengthened to be capable of accommodating some pulling. Again, OCCRE thought in terms of static model, here. The height of the platforms is also too large, due to the excessive size of the trucks. We will have to be creative....
 
Yves

Build Log Index
Date: 22/08/2024
Time worked today: 4 hours.
Total time spent on build: 46 hours.
 
Wales and External Rails
As indicated in my last post the soaked wale patterns had been clamped to the hull. Once they were released a coat of varnish was brushed on followed by two coats of black paint.

 Before fitting the wales I did add some tape to protect the bulwark patterns from any excess glue.

 After applying the wales with wood glue they were added to the hull. I did use some clamps to hold them in place as the glue cured.

The next job was to fit the lower rail patterns. After the laser char was removed they were giving a coat of wood glue and then clamped to the hull.

 After adding some tape to the bulwarks a coat of varnish was brushed on to the upper section followed by two coats of black paint.

 The final task was to add the upper rails.

I had the next boat file sent to me last night, for me to print and check - this time the 22 foot yawl (clinker planking again)

Ben from Ropes of Scale was kind enough to send me some samples of his excellent polyester and cotton ropes to help me decide on a way ahead for the rigging. Here is a picture of his 1mm polyester rope passing through the main masthead casting alongside an extract of drawing MSR 7 by Owain Roberts ( © Estate of John F. Coates, reproduced with permission) and a photograph of the full size ship. the polyester runs satisfyingly freely over my machined fairlead radii, which is nice... The photo of the full size ship shows shrouds in addition to the fore and backstays specified in the design by Owain (see discussion above). Interestingly while hemp was specified for the shrouds and stays, polyester rope was specified for the main yard lifts for safety reasons...

The next image shows images of Bens polyester rope and cotton rope made off onto the main bits.
 
I have some more experiments to do with sp;icing, rope coils etc. but I think I'm inclining towards polyester rope (although the slightly "furry" cotton, at 1:24 scale, looks quite like the full size hemp on Olympias in a lot of images...). Im also quite keen not to provide too much food for moths etc on my boat...