BLACK VIKING

Another little update.
 
Since the beginning of 28th September until last week, we had builders here to convert our garage into a proper unit, split into two rooms, one room for the laser cutting and raw materials, and another for packing (and gym...). They did quote 2 weeks, but it was over 5 weeks. We have a new roof, floor levelled and walls skinned in OSB boards, including the partition.
 
All new shelving arrived yesterday, so this week we are fitting the rooms out. Next Monday my new laser machine arrives, so I will be able to develop much larger kits (Sphinx is the largest I could go with my current machine, unless I split the keel, and I prefer not to do that if at all possible)
 
I now have all Vanguard Models kits in stock, after a nightmare couple of months chasing suppliers up with my orders (notably, photo etched brass). As I have mentioned, because of the headaches this has caused me lately, my next three kits are having the photo etched sheets produced locally here in the UK. They cost more, but then again, all photo etch  suppliers are increasing prices anyway, due to shortages of raw materials.
 
Right now, I am laser cutting the Nisha and Erycina production parts. Today I received the 3-d printed castings for the kits, as well as sample sail sets for each. The production versions are being made now, so will hopefully be ready in time for the kit releases.
 
I have read all the build logs, most notably the Sphinx logs. When designing/developing Sphinx, my design philosophy for this kit (aside from wanting to develop kits that I would want to buy) was to make the build as painless as possible for builders who were used to kits like Fly, Vanguard, Duchess etc.. So intermediate modellers.
 
I wanted to include cut parts that are never really included in older kits, where these parts are either left off altogether, or the modeller needs to make them from strips of wood or blocks of wood. All they then need is final finishing and, in some cases, like the quarter gallery, all three edges require shaping. But for the most part, if the parts are not painted, the top and bottom edges need slight filing/sanding to remove the char, which, being laser cut, I can do nothing about. Sphinx will still take a while to build, but a lot of that time should be cleaning up pre cut parts, and not making them from scratch.
 
In summary,  wooden model kits are not designed to fall together when you shake the box (as many allude to Tamiya), but each part still needs to be worked on and test fitted multiple times, and maybe adjusted, before fitting. Sphinx takes 8 hours to produce each kit.
 
I have said before, if I designed each kit like most other mainstream manufacturers, I could honestly produce a dozen or so new kits per year, as there's really nothing to them. But where is the fun/challenge in that?
 
When we get time, we will add a section on my website, grading each kit according to the experience required to build each kit.
 
Cheers,
 
Chris

After banging my head against the wall a lot (luckily the wall is not damaged 😇).
And been busy with military model building and repainting part of the house 
I managed to get one sail ready.
Normally each rope has to go around the yard 2 times, but on this small yard this is too much. One time around looks better.
 
The wrong methode (bottom) and the better metode (top)


And I am now the proud owner of this book.

With this very useful info for me. So I'm not going to adjust the mizzen sail.

Thanks for comments, following and likes

Hi All
Small update showing latest progress.  Continued to work on the hull and had a few small issues to contend with.  The 2mm walnut sheet that contained the channel brackets isn't of good quality and is quite orange in nature and almost the texture of cork.  You can see the difference in colour against the channel in the photo below
 

 
I tried staining but wasn't happy with outcome so ended up milling some of the spare walnut planks down to 0.2mm to make a veneer to cover the brackets.  This has led to the brackets being a little thicker but I think I can live with this more than I could live with the original wood supplied
 
As mentioned in my previous post, I've measured something wrong somewhere and the channels are positioned a little high .  The channel brackets should fit under the blue line below
 

 
The channels were already pinned and epoxied in place so I considered removing some  material off the top of the bracket but this would leave no recess for the belaying rail and taking material off the bottom would result in the belaying rail when fitted almost touching the channel so I elected just to live with the error.  
 
Some additional photos showing overall progress
 
 
 
 

 

 

 
Thanks for looking in
 
Mark

I've added a few more rows of planks and started working my way down the hull. There's some "stepping" in the planks near the bow, but I'm not overly concerned since the instructions show us painting things later and that can be fixed and hidden with some putty and sanding. I'm learning more and more with each row... and having a great time doing it since it's taking my mind off the day.

Denis, you should add Thor to the collection.  I built this model ages ago.
 

hello all!    welcome to a log that I hope will be uneventful.......knowing me.  I wanted to put this in the train log,  but it's far removed from the normal trains one sees.  I've seen quite a few pictures of the finished model,  and it looks like I've got my work cut out for me.  I think the display base will be harder than the model.  

I forgot the box art........I like the grays,  but I also like the sand and rust {best description of the colors}.  haven't decided which way I will go.  I also had a look at the 1:35 kit.........what a monster!  I'm hoping to see the decals this week,  but they are coming from Germany......It's been about a week now since I ordered them.  I did remove the decals from the bag they were in.......they weren't stuck to the point of ruination,  but the yellowing is very prominent.   keen to note that some of the variants were motorized and could move under their own power.......Leopold and Richard were not.  at this time,  I haven't done anything.....I just want to give you all a warm welcome     big welcome to you Bug!.......it's so nice to see your look'in in  
 

Hi all, little progress, I am just fixing paint defects. Eventually I modified the camo stripe which I did not like.
 

 

 

 
Next, I will spray a coat of gloss clear paint.
 
Best regards,
Dan
 
 

Just a quick update, with a more substantial one in the next two weeks.
 
I have just received all of my Sphinx photo etched sheets, so the kit is finally back in stock. I ordered more than usual, and wasn't sure if the PE company got the message in time, but it is all now here.
 
I was meant to have this mid-September, but for some unfathomable reason, the term 'Repeat order of at least 50 sets each' translated into '20 sheets of one set of the 5 required'!
 
So from mid-September till now has been hell for me!
 
Because of this balls up, for my next two kits, I am having the PE sheets produced here in the UK, and not in the EU.
 
I will do a nice update in the next two weeks...

I did fix the frame and added the two........   the decals came in yesterday,  so this morning I've begun to add the more delicate parts.  I should have some pictures....or even the finish soon     

I think so too    the cockpit canopy is done........there are two really small bits of frame that I'm not going to bother with.  they're not noticeable.  I'm working on the nose glass now.

........I just made myself feel bad........I added them in    I guess I may as well fix that bit of frame that runs to the roof {copilot side}.

Time to finish this build
Added some rust and some bare metal here and there.
Glued the model on a base plate and gave a matt black wash.

Tagged and stored with his T34 and SU brothers and sisters.

Thanks everyone for following, comments and likes.

More progress
 
Painting in base color

Add a cable (2 russian towingeyes and some rope)

turret parts glued together

made "a mess" with some mat Black  😇

turret installed

A free style 3 tone camauflage  (the black mess is a bit less messy 😉)

dry brushing with light grey

metal parts painted and ammo boxes in differend colors

to be continued.

Thanks for the nice comments.
 
Wheels and tracks are in place.
The vinyl tires have one disadvantage. Normally these plastic tracks can be glued with regular plastic glue. Now it is necessary to use CA glue.

 

After 8 Months of loving this build, heavily improvising and pushing my capabilities, my 1759 ROYAL LOUIS - HELLER 1/200 is FINISHED.
5 months of building the kit and rigging her up and 3 months to Hand sew 20 sails and add reef lines, Bowlinesand Braces, I can honestly say I feel burnt out, strained but very happy.
It may not be perfect or historically accurate but I have pushed my own capabilities to the max, I still have a lot to perfect and learn, if I can. But for now I can sit bk and enjoy her as I hope some of you will.
Happy modelling everyone and keep building and enjoying our great hobby and Art.
All the best and #staysafe Rob 👍🤺🤺🤺⚓⚓⚓

Evening all,    some more good progress  today,   I took the bases  off the figures I had painted, then got the farm on the table  and worked out where  they would be placed  -  the farms time zone  I am going with  is when the French had done their second attack  on LHS  and  the 54th/55th Ligne  had attempted to get in via the opening in the Barn (they then tried to get into the courtyard)   some of the  KGL  were guarding the Barn doors  while others  raced the front gate  to chase the French who inturn  where being chased by the British Hussars.
 
There is now over 50 KGL  in  there.
 
OC.

After years of building with equipment all over the house which I had to drag out and then store again, I now have a dedicated shop. Yippee! I replaced the original structure which was a shed attached to my barn with the new structure which has heat and air conditioning as well as exhaust fans. I split it into two rooms one of which is for sawing, filing and anything which creates dust. The other room is for metal work and assembly. I also included a fly tying table as I am an avid fly fisherman. I still have plenty of room left over to add tools. I'm thinking of a thickness sander but I don't need it yet.
Richard

Done yesterday and this afternoon , based on HMCS Montreal and HMCS Skeena 16.5” X 11.75”

'Runic' with Schooner w/c 16.5” X11.75”

OC. Thanks always so kind with you comments 👍
 
Finished the beakdeck bulkwarks as well as doing some needed fixes. Image notations reduce needed text.......
Ropes and deadyes are from Syren - So glad that Chuck's company is again selling ropes.
 
 
 

Very nice Michael!
 
I agree with you that the pinrail holes appear to be way over scale.  Kits are notorious for supplying  hugely over scale pins. 
 
For SoS, there probably were no  pinrails at all?    David Lees notes  in Masting and Rigging of English Ships of War belaying pins were not used by the Royal Navy until about 1745.  This is more than 100 years after SoS was built, and when introduced, they were mainly in racks lashed to the shrouds not on racks secured to bulwarks or on the bitt cross pieces.  Donald McKay's book on on the SoS is supposed to be a great source of information for anyone building SoS and might address this as well.  
 
Again, your construction is very clean and very nicely finished!  
 
Allan
 
 

Thank you for the information!  Makes a lot of sense.  Still not sure about putting it on a diorama or just leaving it as is, but this has been a real learning experience for sure - WW2 aircraft, colors, flight decks versus hangar decks, etc.  Not to mention, learning how to really chop up a kit and add resin details.  Maybe making a base that is a dark gray base with sorta big squares etched out like in this picture would get me there.  Then I can add a mechanic or two and lay the panels down and have a nice little scene.  I started looking at hot wire cutters to be able to cut styrofoam to make plane and ship dioramas, so maybe I should just go with the flow.
 

 
 
I've been thinking about what to pull off the shelf next, and I'm leaning towards staying with US WWII aircraft and going with the Accurate Miniatures TBF-1C kit.  I've got a few goodies for that kit and could build it similarly to this one with the exposed engine bay, wings folded, etc.

Evening all,   my 5th KGL  are now  finished  -  dusted  and Flat coated   with my  sprayer.
 
OC.

HMS Codrington at Dunkirk. Done this afternoon, Commission for a guy who's father was evacuated aboard her w/c A4

HMS Gentian

Thank you all for commenting . Haven’t been doin much lately. Did this book cover for a friend. The original was taken to Canada by RCN Minesweeper along with a rare Corvette's skiff , discovered in the boat shed in Portsmouth Dock yard