BLACK VIKING

Hi Bill - by all means, the log exists for exactly this purpose.  I am flattered that you would take the time to read through it at all.
 
The overwhelming majority of the model is hand-painted.  The only exceptions are my use of flat enamel rattle cans for my primer base, and the red interior and lower exterior (along the run of main deck guns), which I airbrushed.  Also, I airbrushed the gun carriages, but I still had to brush paint these to get complete coverage.
 
My process is very methodical.  For the upper bulwarks, for example, I masked off everything first, that wouldn’t be airbrushed red; this red is a difficult color to paint over and it would have adversely affected the blues.
 
Following red, I moved-on to paint the larger cerulean blue areas, trying not to make too much of a mess of the frieze elements.  Then, the ultra-marine, and finally the yellow ocher, finishing off with the metallics.
 
Actually, before the metallics, I do my light distress wash with the walnut ink because this cuts the intensity of these colors, while providing a sense of depth and shading to the recessed areas.
 
The paint looks like it does because I am extremely patient.  I thin my acrylics so that they are self-leveling, even if it necessitates as many as 5 passes to get the color saturation I need.  As the work progresses, I do several waves of touch-ups, when I notice flaws in the work.
 
My over-arching thought is that I have spent so much time fabricating parts, that it would be a disservice to those efforts, if I didn’t make the paint as absolutely clean as I am capable of.
 
The paint work takes me a very long time, but I have never regretted the extra effort and attention to detail.
 
The other aspect of this kind of hand-painting is that I have learned to control my breathing and I have figured out how to hold parts and the brush so that I have a stable, and steady base for picking out fine detail.  That is a difficult thing to describe, but something I have arrived at through years of trial and error.

OK, just had these renders of the almost complete second, and final, set of figures.
 
The is a Royal Marine officer and private, a ships cook, and 2 able seamen. I should have these ready within the next two weeks

Hey up a lot of posts about posts during my shuteye😁. When you get your book Keith (and well done getting out of the airport) there is a drawing of an 1845 royal navy binnacle/ compass. Not sure if you seen the post a couple of days ago regarding the wavertree which had a compass forward and both sides of the wheel - don't forget the helmsman would have been standing on the starboard side with the wheel off to his left side so the compass and binnacle in the book would look o.k. beside the skylight- but once they reached the arctic the "normal" steering compasses would have been removed and stored and navigation would have used the azzimuth steering compass (which is why i think the drawing shows the post only and the azzimuth compass would have been on a binnacle on top of that so the navigator could get his heading and keep an eye on the needle). The idea of having to climb on the table every time you wanted a bearing/ course plotted seems like hard work. Also when/  if the bridge was dismantled they could ship the post and still mount the compass on the table?... oh and guys don't forget the  average height in 1845 was around 5'6" or there abouts maybe even a couple of inches shorter!
 
Keith

Starting from the wingtip and working toward the inside are R-73E’s, R-77’s, and R-27ER’s. All these are A2A missiles.
Yes, behind the figure is an A2G, the KH-35. The other is the R-27ER
 

Almost forgot about this one until today, when I finally got word my Ranger premium sail sets are on their way to me. This particular hull shape is one of the easiest to plank.
 
Today I did this box art, I just have the manual to put together now, so this should be for sale in the next 3-4 weeks. This is the last of the historical fishing vessels of the British Isles for quite some time. For the next couple of years, all developments will have cannon...
 

Getting started on the weapons, a lot of details to add.
 

Very nice indeed 👏, feeling a bit seasick already looking at that scene! 🤢 pass the bucket!

HMS Churchill, RFA Tanker and Escort carrier in a bit of roughers! 
w/c 16" X 11" 

wow, incredible !!
 
Nils

Speaking of impressive miniatures, have you seen this?  It's the most amazing miniature art I've ever run across.  The Mount Rushmore carving is inside the eye of a needle.  The BMX rider carving is on the tip of a dog's hair.  The skateboarder is on an eyelash.  Yes, an eyelash!!      https://www.willardwiganmbe.com/
 

She’s got legs
 
 

To dress up the kit LG a bit, added brake lines from .5mm lead wire.
 
 

Not sure if he’s up to the task, but this pilot is in the driver’s seat.
 

Feels good to finally have the tail feathers glued on.
 
 

Glad to see you back at bench. I concur with your wife. "Damn the torpedoes, full steam ahead"!
 
Great job on the decaling,  Sabre looks great 👍 👌 

The bird looks better and better. Looking forward to your additions. 😄
 
Your wife is a wise woman. Give her a kiss from us. 😉

Update:
 
Well I went ahead and finished off the right side decals today...
 

Tomorrow I have some parts arriving for her, Landing Gear doors, Speed Brake Doors & Metal landing gear... She's now ready for an overall final coat of future and then attaching the wings to the fuselage... and finishing details...
 
Onwards....

Thanks everyone for the well wishes, it is much appreciated... The Admiral and I had a chance to talk out a few things this weekend and came to some resolutions....
 
As far as where I'm going to wind up, it is no different than before, it is where we all wind up eventually... Like Craig pointed out... And if I so choose I can look at it like I know the offramp I'll be taking from the highway of life on this rock, but it's up to me how long I take to get there... The Admirals suggestion was to get busy, I have models to build, lots of them and if I keep worrying about what might be I'll never get them done.....
 
So I'm here for the duration my friends, And I'm done moping/worrying about it... The only thing I can do is keep pushing forward til the man above says it is time... And that he hasn't brought up to me... the rest we will deal with as it comes...
 
So lets get back to modeling... the rest will work itself out... I have a beautiful bird sitting on my desk that needs my attention...
 
Thank you all...
 
EG
 

Introduction
I came across this kit by accident some years ago when a fellow modeller posted something about it on the forum here. I can’t remember now exactly who that was, but whoever you are, it’s all your fault! 
 
I thought this was a lovely diorama – something I had not tried my hand at before, and even though I’m not a “trains” guy, I was intrigued to learn more. My investigation led me to the SierraWest website, where I learned that this model kit uses a number of interesting and innovative modelling techniques that are certainly new to me. I just had to give it a try. And while I was at it, I couldn’t help myself and bought a “companion” diorama of Foss’ Landing – something for a future build… The kit designer and website owner, Brett Gallant, has done an excellent job of putting this kit together, including a substantial 106pg instruction manual that covers a lot about the techniques as well as building instructions. His website also has several videos demonstrating some of these techniques, and a forum area where there are several build logs of this and other kits.
 
When I broke the kit out the other day, I was thinking it was only a couple of years ago that I had bought the kit(s). When I thought further on this, I realised that it was actually in 2015 that I bought these, fully intending at the time that these would be the “next” model. Well, seven years later, I’m finally ready to start!
What’s in the box?
The box is well packed and organised, containing a number of individually numbered sealed bags of strip wood and other content, several laser-cut sheets of card, drawings/plans and templates, a box of resin mouldings and metal castings, and a substantial instruction manual.
 
Numbered bags indicate the contents of each:
 

 
Some bags specific to a particular part of the model:
 

 
The mouldings and castings:
 

 
Laser cut card:
 

 

 

 
 
Windows and mylar inserts:
 

 
Plans/Drawings:
 

 

 
 
Instruction Manual – wire bound “lay flat”
 

 
 
Advance Preparations
Construction begins with some advance preparations. Being a railroad model, there is reference throughout the manual to Floquil paint colours. These were discontinued some years ago, and the kit designer now favours acrylic paints from AK Interactive. However, there is no direct conversion suggestion from named Floquil colours. I spent a considerable time researching on the internet to try to get as close a match as I could to the Floquil colours. Try as I might, I could not find a conversion chart that included both the Floquil and AK paints. I ended up using a site that specialised in paint matching, typed in the Floquil colour name and then used the resultant screen depiction to try to match against an AK colour. Although there are certainly limitations on screen/monitor colour representation, I think I got reasonably close in the end. At the end of the day, an exact match isn’t important, but I’d like to be “in the ballpark”.
 
Three Floquil colours are needed for the advance preparation: Grimy Black, Boxcar Red, and Earth. My AK matches were Basalt Grey, Mahogany Brown, and Grimy Grey respectively. Why paint manufacturers use obscure names instead of a scientific identification system is beyond me!
 
First up, Bag #5 is called for:
 

 
From there we are instructed to extract the three sheets of 4” x 6: tar paper, the laser cut sheet of awnings, and the sheets of laser cut shingles.
 
The three sheets of tar paper are all sprayed with a coat of Grimy Black/Basalt Grey on one side. One sheet has the same on the reverse, while the other two get a coat of Boxcar Red/Mahogany Brown.
 
The laser cut sheet of awnings gets the same treatment, and the laser cut sheets of shingles get a light coat of Earth/Grimy Grey – “just enough to hide the white paper”.
 
This was my first experience of using AK Interactive paints, so I was somewhat apprehensive about leaping in. My research suggested that for airbrushing they should be reduced with AK’s own thinner at a ratio of about 70/30 thinner to paint ratio. So that’s what I did. I took a little while to do some practice and fiddle with air pressure and paint delivery. With the air pressure dialled down (about 15-18psi) and the paint delivery shut almost right down, I was pleasantly surprised at how well it sprayed, with absolutely no tip-dry occurring. Here’s a picture of the completed painted parts. I’ve turned one sheet of the shingles over to show the original state. I’m pretty happy with the colours as they’ve turned out.
 

 
 
The other advance preparation was to make up an alcohol stain using non-waterproof black ink dissolved in isopropyl alcohol at a ratio of 1 teaspoon (5ml) of ink to one pint (600ml) of alcohol. More to be revealed on how this will be used, along with plain isopropyl alcohol, later.
 
Okay, we’re off and running – or crawling, anyway!
 

I now have 1:32nd scale figure for Pellew, Nelson and Hornblower. (Pictured with a 48th Pellew to show the scale)
 
In the future, I may do a diorama kit of a 24 or 32 pounder, cannon crew and officers in 32nd scale.
 
ETA - Now have the Cochrane figure in 32nd

HMS Starling and convoy 
w/c 16" X 11"

Pagoda anchorage at Foochow
W/C 16" x 11"

Hi John, and thank you!
 
My guiding principle is that sharing the RL portrait can only help us ALL.  I could keep it to myself, but then I’d be working in a vacuum without the benefit of others’ more concrete knowledge.
 
What I will ultimately do with this portrait still depends very much on my artistic sensibilities, continued research, and willingness to develop the idea to its fullest extent possible.  My hope is that others will use these portraits to begin their own voyage of discovery, because more new projects means more research, debate and discovery. We all benefit from pushing the conversation forward, as long as we are honest with ourselves about what is factual and what is conjecture, or even straight-up guesswork.
 
Now, as for the gun layout presented in the RL portrait, this is an excellent example of where even credible artists present anomalies, that have no support in the recorded history of the ship, in question; there is nothing ever written about these ships of the Premier Rang Extraordinaire to suggest that any of them were ever pierced for 17 on the lower deck, or that they carried 3 guns per side on the poop.
 
I am merely arguing that the profusion of guns in the Van Beecq portrait, as compared with the Vienna portraits, distinguishes this VB portrait as being the Royal Louis, and not the Monarque.
 
When I do my tracing of the VB portrait, in order to create a base-template for what my SR 1670’s ornamental program may have looked like, I am looking to record the length of the hull, overall, and the placement and sheer of the wales.  I will slightly increase the poop sheer, as the available tafferal space on the VB portrait is not quite enough to represent SR’s Apollo with his horse-drawn chariot.
 
For my distribution of armament, I will rely on what I have, so far, found to be the best-researched source of information on as-launched armaments:  Winfield and Roberts’s,  French Warships in the Age of Sail 1626-1786.

Respecting scale as best I can, I will locate ports on my drawing, according to the above distribution.  This tracing exercise is primarily to get an isometric perspective that will help me to strike a harmonic balance between the quarters and stern.
 
I have been immersing myself in the art history and particular allegorical styles of LeBrun and Puget.  Even right now, I have a pretty solid rough-draft of what 90% of the ornamental program might look like.  The key will be to begin putting ideas to paper so that I can begin to see how all of these elements relate to each other and tell the story of the ship.
 
What I have found in my experience of designing ornamental projects is that one needs a basic conceptual framework, as a departure point.  Fortunately, in the case of SR 1670 the essential allegory does not differ much from Berain’s re-working of the original design.  The portraits of the Monarque, the RL, and the refit Dauphin Royal make it possible to design supporting ornament that is appropriate for this earlier time, while still supporting the particular story of SR.
 

That story is always a story of fours; four continents, four seasons and four winds.  The quarters, though, could potentially include the four humors of man, or the four times of day, for example:


Over time, as these ideas coalesce in my sub-conscious, I have usually experienced a moment of epiphany, where these relationships become concrete and balanced.
 
We will likely NEVER fully understand what SR looked like in 1670, but I do think it is possible to design something that is highly representative of the times.

Thanks for the likes, comments, views everyone. I have now finished the main wooden supports for the bridge and am sticking with it😜. Though still in the air about full length or shortened bridge itself (not sure if way too big but added a box for azimuth compass to the table).

Also temp fitted a couple of pieces of 0.9mm brass rod to bridge which if sticking with metal supports will be cut to proper length and blackened.

Onto something different and have never been happy with the set up on the starboard deck house (W.C.) and after seeing the plans thought Kudos Keith s you were bang on, are you going to add the map locker door keith as it was missing when you made yours based on the wreck photo?
I very carefully "tickled" it with a flat bladed screwdriver and thankfully came away without bringing half the deck with it (god bless inferior wood glue)! Still needs tidied up,  sanded and varnished, i used slightly different types of veneer strip to create contrast between panels and framing with brass planking pins for the door handles.

Take care all
 
Keith

Finished the port side forecastle and some work towards the stern.