BLACK VIKING

The mizzen sail rigging is completed 
 
I took this image as an example. The "where and how" all these ropes are attached on deck is purely on "feeling and good luck"  😇
General overview

Outrigger with rigging

 
Martnets and outrigger



Tack

Lift with crow's feet

Halyard and rope coils
Had an idea to put some attributes on the deck.
Nothing is glued yet, and it doesn't look like a good idea...

Thanks for following comments and likes

Work is still progressing slowly. Between painting, and picking away at one minute task after another (or more frequently bouncy between one microscopic task and another ignorer to preserve one's sanity). The "fun" thing I'm finding out is how to slot in the various PE detail parts into which step of the instructions, there's a lot of looking ahead (and prefabricating), then returning to the instructions to work out a slightly revised order of operations to ensure things go together smoothly. The latest bits concern the cockpit, specifically the control stand beside the pilot's seat. This wonderfully designed PE torture device replaces a nondescript moulded grey blob cast on the deck.
 

 
Lots of curves and counter curves to this little lovely. The top piece (where the control levers slot in) comes in two parts; a short forward piece with only one large-ish curve, and the aft piece with a weird wavy profile. Guaranteed the more complex aft one will snap off at the corner seam (the nearest vertical seam visible in the photo above). For anyone else building this kit, I suggest just going ahead and doing this anyway, as it makes bending the top profile easier. I inserted a styrene block inside the stand to provide a better glueing surface (which should be done anyway, even if you do manage this piece of Eduard Origami without breaking anything).
 
Oh yeah, the control levers.... they're small.... very small.... and fiddly.... and annoying... and easily lost/bent/mangled/transferred to another dimension. Six down, four more to go. Thankfully, with many of the smaller parts, Eduard does supply SOME extras.
 
Another little surprise to watch out for, the new control stand is larger than the grey blob. In order for things to fit, a portion of the pilot's seat needs to be filed off. You can kinda see here:
 

 
And somewhat here:
 

 
Thankfully, it should all be well hidden, and not noticeable. Most components are still only dry fit for testing/demonstration purposes. Still so much yet to do and paint, before any large assembly can take place.
 

 
When my eyes are too strained from microscopic PE parts, I will indulge with some more eye strain inducing detail painting. Picking out the aluminium frames in an appropriate colour paint. I find this can only be done in 15 to 20 minute intervals, as once the paint on the brush starts to get a little clumpy, it's best to stop before making too much of a mess. As it is, I will still have to go back and touch up some spots with the base colours. The Silver is Floquil Old Silver, which isn't too bad a match for the Tamiya Aluminium. In the forward area, I opted for Humbrol's Gunmetal colour, for something more subdued in keeping with the black, but maintaining a little metallic shine.
 
Over all, I'm still having fun with this build. It is definitely a challenge, but not impossible.
 
Andy
 
 

Good save, mate! (We've all been there one time or another).
 
Steven

Sorry for  this , well this is as  far as I got today, see you in a couple of days got some modeling to do lol,thanks again for showing me how

Post Eight
 
Dressing the dio.
No Galley display should be without a cook, and thanks to Chris Watton, a cook complete with wooden leg, at 1:48 scale, is available to give scale effect to the Galley Stove.
 
For this dio I will be painting the figure, not one of my favourite or best skilled talents, but needs must.
I have used Vallejo paints throughout.
 
The following pics show the figure after the colours have been blocked in, and the macro is used to torture myself with the deficiencies in my skill.

9064
I am using a fairly muted palette, the one splash of colour being the cook’s red headscarf.

9059
At this stage no washes, or highlighting has been applied, but overall, I am happy with the colour scheme applied.

9060
Still a way to go, the macro reveal where touch-ins are required.

9088

9090
The base of the figure will have been removed in the final version.
 
B.E.
30/10/2022
 

I continued with engine painting and assembly. 
All metallic tones are from AK's Extreme Metallic range, matte aluminum for the cylinders, polished aluminum for the ignition ring, stainless steel for the propeller shaft.
The only exception is Alclads Exhaust manifold, which was used exactly for these parts. It's my go to base for prop plane exhausts.
The black fairings were sprayed with Tamiya's semi-gloss lacquer black and then rubbed with steel pigments from Uschi van der Rosten by hand. The same treatment received the gear casing, which was sprayed gray and then got some pigments rubbed in, which enhances the casting appearance. Details like nuts and bolts and spark plugs were picked up by brush, using different LP metallic colors, black and racing white.
 
The first pic shows the usefulness of panel liner, left side with, right side without.




And this is where I am now. I'm still undecided, whether I use the braided line, which on top of the size issues darkens through sucking the CA up. Maybe I switch to lead wire. 
 

 

 

 
Cheers Rob
 

For Halloween I decided to paint a pumpkin instead of rocks😁

Most of the Braces in place.
 
 
Spritsail Yard Braces and Spritsail Topmast Braces rigged in place.

 
Fore Yard Braces

 
Fore Topmast Braces

Fore Topgallant Braces

 
Main Topmast Yard Brace and Crossjack Brace.  Note how the Crossjack Braces cross each other.

Main Topgallant Brace.

 



 
I left the main yard braces loose for the moment as otherwise they will be a bit in the way when installing the Driver Gaff and the Driver Boom.  Now I have started work on the Driver Gaff and the Driver Boom which will also enable me to finish the main yard braces, the  mizzen topmast braces and the topgallant braces.  
 
At the moment the yard horses are haywire, going in every direction.  Whilst rigging I keep hitting them so I might as well leave them and adjust them, giving them that hanging effect,  when I have all the rigging finished.
 
Robert.

Thank you Dan, meanwhile I finalized the last preparations, before painting the engine. I glued on the spark plugs, cut flush from the resin sprue and added the oil? tubing on the top front of each cylinder. These are made from folded pe, which were left from my Corsair build 15 years ago. To let them appear more tube like, I applied CA glue with a toothpick to the folded front sides, to prevent a visible gap.
 
 
 
Cheers Rob

Thank you, Yves.
 
Post Seven
Making the display base.
I utilised part of the kit display base but decided to put it on a deck setting.

9025
The brick design is washed over with Vallejo Black/grey.

9036
It is glued to a 1.3mm thick rectangle of Boxwood, which will then be planked also using Boxwood strip.

9039
The planked base is glued a thicker 3mm piece of Boxwood sheet to counter any risk of curl.

9051
The basic display base, work in progress.

9066

9068
The deck boards are finished with wipe-on-poly.

9082

9084
The ‘rust’ element on the stove has been toned down.
 
Next time I will be looking at dressing the display.
 
B.E.
29/10/2022

In a naval ship, severe punishment would be meted out to any seaman polluting the bilges!

On HMS Victory there were four seats of ease at the heads to serve the needs of about 800 men. (The officers had their own arrangements.) If all the seats are used throughout the day and night that gives just over seven minutes on average for a seaman to finish his business. Given that many of them would be constipated because of the diet, and in rough weather only the two leeward seats would be in use, it is obvious that they would find alternatives such as the bilge or a bucket or leaning out at the channels. 
Photo below shows the seats on Victory, port side. 

On smaller vessels the Admiralty drawings often show a cupboard-like structure at the stern to port, tucked in the corner between the transom and the bulwark. It is labelled as the 'necessary' which was a common euphemism at the time. Occasionally the seat was left open to the air and any chance of modesty disappeared. 
 
The Simmons thesis, if I remember correctly, also mentions 'pissdales' which are holes through the bulwarks that the sailors could use to relieve themselves without having to open the gun ports. I suspect that there would also be a bucket nearby with strict orders, enforced by the crew, to empty it after you had used it. 
 
George
 

Further to Marks post, many lines were simply belayed to rails and timberheads prior to pins being used.
A contemporary model at Preble Hall is below as one example
Allan

Thanks guy's, after a little more reading, R.C Anderson does mention that when the bowsprit is centered the stay collar passed around both sides of the mast, particularly Dutch ships, there were  holes in the deck and beakhead bulkhead and then to the bowsprit, that makes sense to me but looking at some of the museum photos I do not see any evidence of a hole in the beakhead bulkhead and the wood looks to be original in that area of the ship so I'll rig the stay where it passes over the top of the bulkhead.
Starboard railings are just about done along with the Kevels, far from perfect but will look good in the end.
 
Michael D.

As mentioned... the crew outnumbered the seats of ease and when the weather was too bad or the line too long and they couldn't wait their turn or there was no room in the open grating they went below and "added to the ballast".  This was a chargeable offence so they had to be stealthy and quick about it.
 
Cleaning the bilges was a regular occurrence as the excrement would muck up the pumps.
I cannot imagine the disgust of the Captain seeing this flow out of a pump and across the deck.

Ha, yeah I bet
The answer is yes but its grown for the purpose of marine fitouts, many of the super yachts still use it although it's a 5mm veneer not solid so it goes further.
Anyone can correct me if I am wrong but nowadays there are products to keep teak in  good order instead of washing and scrubbing, and those that have it can afford to pay someone to look after it.
The burmese teak is what they use nowadays still (Tectona Grandis).
There is an alternative wood that has been used in place of it for several decades now and that is Iroko, its horrible stuff, we used some on a boat 20 years ago and its terrible to work, it also has dust that causes your throat to close, its very course grained and splintery stuff, it shares the oily nature of teak though which is why they use it.
Mahogony depends what species, their are over 30 species of mahogany, but the one i think you are referring to is Brazilian mahogany or Swietenia Macrophylla its been the staple for guitar builders for centuries for necks and bodies.
thier is also sepelle and many others which are still grown for the purpose but solid has become harder to get as veneer is seen as a better usage and less wasteful way of extracting the wood.
In Australia we have a few identical looking timbers that are actually better, Queensland maple being the most common, its beautiful stuff and you cant tell the difference. here is a chair I made with it, as you can see it looks like Mahogony.
Anyway I don't want to hijack this post.

Hi, thnx for your feedback. Indeed, there are some challenges ahead. First part will be to get my head around painting and weathering. As stated before, I don't consider myself a painter, more of a smearer, so I'm going to have to up my game, especially concerning the technique of dry brushing. Not to worried abut the single plank, but I will need extra wood to cover for the modifications I intend to make, and as my favourite supply shop is roughly 2000 km away, I need to check out the local offerings. Just another part of the adventure, I guess 🙂
 
If you'd happen to have links to the scratch builds you mentioned, I'd be happy to have a look. Thnx for the hat tip already!

Sullom Voe

Shetland Bus
Norwegian Subchaser escorts a 'Shetland Bus' fishing boat passing Sumburgh Head 
w/c 16” X 11” 

Painting in some metal panels. I did an aluminium base, then several shades of red worn back with chipping fluid. I then have it a red filter. It looks filthy which I’m pretty happy with. I’ll give it a satin coat next before masking for the next lot of panels in another colour. 

Moving along here. This is one of those kits where you sit down and think "Oh I'll just add a couple of bits to the cab before I do some work in the garden" and three hours later you are still immersed in it. Lots of fun really
The gun is very intricate and the instructions don't always show exactly where some of the parts are attached. Quite a lot of looking at old photos and the box art for some guidance or reverting to logical options when in doubt.

It all went together
 

The kit provides black tank track like plastic for the gun wheel rims. It is quite nicely detailed but the strips are too short

I tried carefully stretching the track - and it broke without gaining any appreciable length. I glued them on and made up the gap with a piece of card of suitable thickness.
 

The cab is quite nicely done with the old acetylene lamps and horn


The caisson and remainder of the FWD went together without fuss so everything got a dose of Mig One Shot black primer


I'm starting to think about the colour scheme. The kit just gives a three colour scheme for American use in late war

The FWD Model B was in general use by the British and later the American forces and the howitzer (originally Vickers) likewise.
 
Per Wiki
The Four Wheel Drive Auto Company of Clintonville, Wisconsin launched the Model B in 1912, initial production was very slow with only 18 produced in 1913. The US was the first nation to show interest in the military potential of the vehicle, with the US Army testing one of the earliest production vehicles.[3][6]
The British Army became the first military customer on March 23, 1915, ordering 50 trucks to be delivered in only 40 days.[7] An American export agency was set up with a reception base in Liverpool and a repair depot in Islington to check and service incoming vehicles before handing them over to the Ministry of Munitions. A total of 2,925 Model Bs were purchased by the British Army, 1,599 of these were used in France on the Western Front, predominantly for heavy haulage of artillery, ammunition, and pontoon bridge supplies
 
For the small diorama I have planned I want a British gun and i also think the three colour scheme will be a bear on such a small and rather fragile model so I plan to duck that and go for a single colour British paint job. As usual with WW1 vehicle the problem is - what colour? Todays research seems to suggest that the Army would take trucks, tanks and guns in any colour except white. The main colours seem to be grey, brown or olive green / khaki. Tomorrows decision but I am leaning towards a green - brown shade
I ordered some 1/72 British infantry figures from Hat and Emhar and hope some can be adapted to be standing around and looking untidy
Thanks for looking in and the likes and comments
Alan
 
Alan
 
 
 

Hello,  I have painted the keel and I used putty for the tree nails, looks good ,I have no ideal how the putty will stand the test of time but it should stay like this for quite some time. Going to start my fences now, it's so much fun in the shipyard  lol

The kits are made up in batches, which my wife does, using a picking list drawn up by me. I can accommodate the odd change, but what I cannot do is offer an 'A La Carte' choice for each kit, as they have been developed from the start to be full kits. So, something like Indy (or even Sphinx) would become an absolute nightmare to produce if they were not all the same, there are just so many parts.

The cockpit is almost ready with only the leather headrest and messenger bag to add and of course the HGW seatbelts. Everything fits into the fuselage, where I had to do a lot of grinding with my last Corsair and the Brassin cockpit. With the supplied detail, there is no real need for resin substitutes. I'm actually considering, adding some lead wire, but I have to check how much can be seen afterwards.
 

 

 

 
Cheers Rob