BLACK VIKING

The site I got these pictures from interpreted the two figures as Adam and Eve, and I got the impression that this is the academically accepted interpretation (though that doesn't by any means prove it!)
 
Steven

Luckily there's no history of Christians reinterpreting pagan imagery to suit their narrative.

Here's the mainsail with the bowlines added (I had to pull them out sideways so they'd be visible).

And far too late I realised I needed knights for the mizzen and bonaventure mizzen lateen halyards. I had to somehow drill holes in the deck past all the shrouds and other rigging.

Here are the knights dry fitted. I'll need to run the lanyards through them before I glue them in place. It won't be feasible afterwards.


But I have no idea how I'm going to do the halyards for the  lateen topsails. And Anderson's The Rigging of Ships in the Days of the Spritsail Topmast, for a change, is no help at all. I'm sure I'll figure something out.
 
Steven

Cartoon ships are perhaps more forgiving, but they look odd and disproportional. Supposed to look funny. Problem is making it into a 3d shape that'll resemble it. For the first time I realized how animators of modern 3d movies must struggle with this. Luckily it'll be hidden in a bottle. So if some display ship builders ever wonder why on earth would you stuff your model into a bottle, it's to hide the imperfections 😛
 
This is the scene that I hope to reproduce
 
And this was the two building up to it
    I have drafted the pirate ship in Onshape again, along with a wee fishing boat:      ×  

No less than 4 parts for the pirate ship. Keel, Starboard, Port, and the figure head on the bow: 

@Auger I'll leave that to him. The front label wanted to peel off, so I quickly did 2x coats modge podge. The hull and fishing boat is primed. Awaiting some paint. 
 
I'll have to get over my dislike of paint if I want to make this one look good....

You can easily build a serving machine with spare legos or a similar interlocking system.

I see Patrick beat me to this....  Just build one from scratch.   a couple of shafts, some gears, and some framing.  Doesn't have to be motor powered as a hand crank will work.

Ok here we start going a little sideways
The kit bulkhead is weak to be polite

 
it looks nothing like the Pearl’s Bulkhead shown here

 
So we print out some window frames and cut out four windows and a wider door into the kitbulkhead
cue the slippery slope to a lot more work coming🙄

 

 


test fitting the frames

 
then painted them up a bit, put some thinned white glue for windows

 
and Capt Jack can skip away happily on deck knowing he will have a more realistic bulkhead to his quarters

Day 11
It is all over. Thank you so much for all the thumbs ups. Really appreciated it.
Now back to and continue on the real model.

He’s been helping me with the seatbelts and harnesses. He finds anything I drop on the floor. And I mean anything. Then he attempts to eat it. 😀

Bang seats underway…tiny photo etch belts and straps all over the place.

Old fat spider spinning in a tree!
Old fat spider can’t see me!
          Attercop! Attercop!
               Won't you stop,
Stop your spinning and look for me?

Old Tomnoddy, all big body,
Old Tomnoddy can’t spy me!
          Attercop! Attercop!
                Down you drop!
You'll never catch me up your tree!

Lazy Lob and crazy Cob
are weaving webs to wind me.
I am far more sweet than other meat,
but still they cannot find me!

Here am I, naughty little fly;
you are fat and lazy.
You cannot trap me, though you try,
in your cobwebs crazy.
 
(Bilbo's song, from The Hobbit)
 
Some more cobwebs - main topgallant bowlines, running via blocks on the main topgallant stay to blocks on the fore topsail shrouds and belayed to the upper fore top. And sheets on the main topgallant sail.







Now I'm ready to add the main topsail.
 
Steven

Thanks Greg...
 
That is the FWD Model "B" 3 ton Artillery repair truck according to the manuals I have... A US Artillery battery, (4 guns) would have one of those in their train along with an artillery repair trailer....
 
Resicast produces a lot of the WWI British heavy artillery pieces that were turned over to the AEF.... (Mk I & II 9.2in howitzer, (no transport wagons though) the Mk VII 8In Gun -w- Limber, the QF 60 pounder 6" Gun,  the Mk I-IV 6 in howitzer, the 4.7 & 4.5 in guns, the artillery wagon several different limber and caisson sets...)
 
Pretty pricey, but they are the only source for these WWI artillery weapons/equipments....

And a bit more 

Because I’m in build mode, and
I’m probably not going to use it but I’m throwing together the 8” howitzer as well. Lots of gaps and running repairs needed so far. 

Finally, I’ve added the curtains that appear  on every one I’ve seen. Paint next. 

I’m now mopping up the cup of tea I just sprayed all over my iPad screen!!!

....more. As I've done quite a lot, I've very much abridged the number of photos for each stage.
 
Binnacle. This is smaller than those I've built for British vessels but identical in construction. The chimney is turned brass as per Indy, Sphinx etc. 



 
 
A single ladder is now built for the deck hatch opening. 

 
 
Grecian will come with more armament than you'll actually need. This means that you will be able to choose the gun combination that you prefer, and we will supply options for you. These photos show the carronades and two sizes of cannon. All this before I actually plank the hull!









 
 
Until next time.

Finished the Mizzen shrouds.  Pictures include the futtock shrouds and the shroud cleats.  
 
I did the cleats by first gluing them to the shrouds, then lashing them.
 
Regards,

Greetings Fellow Modelers,
 
After a few weeks of being sidetracked, I finally put in the time to finish this shadowbox display.
 
Because the main door is partially open, a surface that extends beyond the wall to the “outside” is needed.  I decided that surface would be concrete and is made of hydrocal smeared on a piece of basswood.  This extension is 7/8” wide which is all the space available between the display module and the inside of the case.
 

 
 
The doorway needed two doors that swing out from the center.  I drew up what I thought looked appropriate and made them up.
 

 

 
 
The outside lights are white 5050 surface mount LEDs.  I started out thinking four would be enough, but then added two more and then another two.
 

 
 
They were mounted to a rectangle of styrene which was then bend downward over the doorway.  I lowered the lights up the point where they could almost be seen by the viewer looking out the doorway.  The two sticks of basswood were glued together at their crossing once the optimum downward bend was found.
 

 
 
The doors were positioned to minimize what could be viewed beyond the doorway. I don't want the inside of the shadowbox to be seen.
 

 
 
The rear window presented some difficulties due to the background image being so close to the window.  In fact, the image is 1/8” (3mm) from the back of the window.  I boxed off the window with 1/8” basswood strips and painted the surrounding area with a silver chrome for added reflectivity.  I then positioned five 5730 LEDs around the perimeter of the window with the side LEDs pointing inward toward the center.  Back when I installed the window, I had placed a grating over it and dirtied up the glazing so the view through it would be obscured.  This didn't work and just looked muddy and grubby, so I removed both and replaced it with clean clear acetate.
 

 
 
A background image was attached to a piece of styrene and the window box was closed up.
 

 
 
I placed clips inside the box to hold the display in and to make it easier to remove for swapping out the vehicle in the future.  Also, an image was glued to the inside wall of the box outside the doorway.
 

 
I spent considerable time balancing the lighting to get the look I was after.  Not a complete success by any stretch, but I'm satisfied with the result just the same.
 
The first three photos are with both interior and exterior lights on.
 

 

 

 
 
Then the exterior lights only.
 

 

 

 
 
The problem with having the interior lights only on, is that you can see the shadow cast by the window muntins on the background image. This is because the image is so close.  My other displays don't have this problem because the images are set back much further.
 

 

 
 
And that's it.
 

 

 
Thanks to everyone for taking a look and for all the likes.  And a special thank you to those who left comments of support and encouragement – I appreciate it very much.
 
Be safe and stay well.
 
Gary
 

Time to try and bring this idea to life (or an untimely death!).  I bought a 2 pound package of DAS air-dry modeling clay at Michael's, which is supposed to be good for beginners.  Then a friend told me I was making this way too difficult.  I should just go get a "Cranky the Octopus" Play-Doh set for this thing and be done with it!.  

Dang!  Why didn't I think of that.  But since I was so far down the road with my Youtube sculpting classes, etc, I decided to stick with the original plan.  Here's the modeling clay I got.
 
 
First step was adding a somewhat smooth layer of clay to the copper wire tentacles.  I didn't smooth it out completely as I think variations and imperfections will make it look more realistic.   
Next was figuring out what to do with the suckers.  First, I tried some beads, but I really did not like the way they looked.  Too perfect.  Too uniform.  One of the Youtube tutorials I watched had a person making coral.  They rolled the clay into little balls and made things that looked like suckers to me.  So I tried that and I liked them better than the beads.  Again, I wanted variation rather than uniformity.  Here's a side-by-side.
 
 
Once that decision was made, I spent a couple of hours rolling little clay balls of various sizes and indenting the centers.
 

And here's what the shortest tentacle looks like with suckers added.  I am using CA glue to attach them one at a time.  Gonna be a long process!
 

 
 
 

Wow, thank you everyone for the assistance. This is a huge help.
 
John, good to hear from you as well. Thanks that's  great idea & turns out I have a mate who's an upholsterer.
 
Keith, thank you, & yes I tried Ropes of Scale (after searching this forum, the name came up quickly). They don't seem to have white of the same weave. Their 'cable laid rope' is exquisite, but more complex in the weave. This is actually 3 strand, so visually quite simple. The hull might have been ballasted inside the hull or perhaps screwed onto the underside of the keel. The hull is screwed to the stand & I haven't removed it to look. The shape of the hull is 19C in yachting design, a real 'lead mine', or that's what I've heard them called: narrow beam with very deep hulls. It's quite hard to photograph her without distortion but I'll attach a bow shot lower down. Another option is that she was only sailed in light conditions, the 'lead mine' boats are known to heel quite a bit as the hull shape doesn't have much volume to support a lot of ballast nor much buoyancy righting moment from hull shape.
 
Hi Mark, good to meet you. Thanks for the link to Ropes Galore, that's also a very close match, & I can't resist the cheesy business name. Yes I've read a lot on the Balmain Bugs, which raced in the harbour for prize money, but I think (going from memory here, Steve Crewe's book on them is the one to read) that they started in that type from maybe the 30s. This model is (my estimate) 1900-1914. I believe that she would not be capable of sailing in the harbour without risking losing her. And I thin she was sailed for pleasure rather than races - why? There is no evidence that she could be tacked quickly. The Balmain Bugs were tacked in split second as they were self tacking, they just rowed up behind & pushed the boom across. This one has 2 jibs & a staysail - & only the one traveller bar for the headsails. I think that they had only one sheet, & the boat was set up for one tack across a pond (like Centennial Park, which was a popular place for it). The 2 foot Bugs also had a mast 8 or 10' tall, much larger than this.
 
Hi Roger, thank you as well. I looked up Cuttyhunk line & it is beautiful stuff. A bit thin, but a great idea. The one on the model is probably cotton, it is probably softer than linen. And I looked up the company you mentioned, they have one quite good, just a bit thin in diameter.
 
Jaager, thank you as well, & I agree with your comments on the model & the rigging. Make do, but she was well made.
 
I did find a couple of alternatives that are quite close, apart from the Ropes Galore option from Mark.
 
This one is close:

This is the bow view of the model. The side photo doesn't really show how dramatically slim she is.

 
Again, thank you everyone for your assistance, advice , comments.
 

Problem with ships having a port and starboard sides is that I need to make two jigs...
One benefit is that I can now work on both sides at once, which is speeding up production a bit (from my usual snails pace...)

Thanks again everyone for the kind comments and all the likes. It's been an "interesting" week or so....
The Ship Under Construction
The ship under construction is an important element in the diorama – after all, it is the reason for the existence of the Shipyard!
 
We begin with the Keel, which is provided in the form of three laser cut pieces – one cardboard central piece, and two outer veneers that include some laser scribing. The outer pieces are first given a light wash with AK 11110 (Leather Brown) – my substitute for Floquil Roof Brown – and then stained with chalk and alcohol.
 

 
The three pieces are then glued together, and some trim pieces added at stern and stem.
 

 
The keel supports are now added, building them up as needed to keep the keel relatively level.
 

 
The frames (or “ribs” as the instruction manual calls them) are made up of a three part lamination in the same way as the keel. Again, the outer pieces are stained prior to gluing up. The central pieces have a laser engraved number on them, but as this disappears once glued up, I took the sensible precaution of numbering the carrier sheet to ensure later positive identification.
 

 
We then start adding the frames to the keel notches. I had placed four of these when I had the thought that perhaps the ship would look better if the timber looked more like freshly cut wood, rather than the same weathered look of the buildings. While I was thinking on this, I had a PM from one of the people following my build suggesting exactly that and pointing me to a thread where he had done exactly that. So, there was nothing for it but to deconstruct the frames and keel supports and re-visit the colouration, starting with giving all the pieces a light sanding.
 
Following the example given in the discussion thread, the next step was to apply a base coat of AK11004 (Ivory) – my substitute for FLoquil Aged (Antique) White.
 
After a little trial and error, I then settled on a combination of Rembrandt 231.3 (Golden Ochre) and 234.3 (Raw Sienna) chalks. Once the alcohol/chalk treatment had dried, I went over all the pieces lightly with a steel bristle brush. This removed the excess chalk and ensured that any scratch lines followed what would be the line of the grain.
 
Here is the keel ready to go.
 

 
And here are the frames also ready to go.
 

 
During the week, my additional shingles arrived in the post (at last), so I was able to go back and complete the roof on the Yard Master’s Office. This included finishing the shingle laying, capping the roof, adding rafters and rafter tails, and adding the flashing at the rear of the roof where it will adjoin the Warehouse. I didn’t take any in-progress shots of these steps as these are simply repeats of earlier work. I was then able to join the Yard Master’s Office to the Warehouse/Main Building. I also decided to switch my photo background from black to white for these shots.
 

 

 
After taking these pictures, I realised that the rafters on the end of the Yard Master’s Office are not quite in the right position, so I may have to some delicate deconstruction/reconstruction tomorrow. I also now need to add the roof hardware (chimneys etc), which will be a challenge in its own right!