BLACK VIKING

Sorry,I no longer do commissions. This is the only one I’ve ever painted, and it’s part of a Diptych which is in the Russian Arctic Convoy Museum at Loch Ewe 

Ships off Gourock, Aquitania, Vindex, Charybdis, Blue Ranger etc 

 
w/c 16" X11'

“Doon the Water” River traffic off Gourock on the Clyde at the turn of 19/20th century watercolour 16" X 11"

Tug just cast off from Steel Barque 'Francois' anonymous coastal schooner in the Clyde estury
w/c 16" X11"

Square rigger 'down south' 
w/c 16" X 11" 

Thanks for the comment Ken, and for all the likes.
 
There were 35 parts for the 7 cylinder rotary engine, plus another 10 parts for the propeller. The blades of the propeller are stiffened with short lengths of 1mm brass rod (and I should add here that there are templates provided for all the wire/rod parts). An interesting exercise in assembling the engine, and the diagrams had to be studied carefully in order to do this correctly. The engine parts, the completed engine and the engine plus propeller.



The tail skid is made up of a bracket and leg that support the card skid itself. The leg is 1mm rod, while the bracket has two parts of 0.5mm rod which I silver soldered together. This was my first attempt at silver soldering, and after attempts two, three…I finally managed to achieve an acceptable result.

The undercarriage is typical, two V-shaped struts plus axle. There are an additional three V-shaped struts through which the cables that controlled the wing warping run. One goes from the undercarriage to the bottom of the fuselage, the second downwards from the bottom of the fuselage at a point level with the rear of the undercarriage, while the third is on top of the fuselage immediately in front of the cockpit. All of these struts have a rod core with a card skin. I need more practice in doing struts such as this as my attempts are not as neat as I'd have liked.



There was a choice of how to build the wings. Either cut out 22 individual ribs, assemble with a “spar” then add the skin, or laminate a core then skin it. I went for the latter, easier method. The photo shows the four parts that are to be laminated plus the two 1mm diameter wire spars, one of which passes right through the fuselage. The tail surfaces are simple card cores that are skinned. The elevators have a rod joiner and there is a rod at the leading edge of the rudder (there is no tailplane or fin as such - the surfaces are all-moving).

The main components of the aircraft ready for assembly.

When the engine was slotted into the cowl, it was apparent that the propeller could not be attached to the engine without a spacer between the two being added. There was no way that the engine could be moved forward or the propeller moved back - the cowl was in the way. So a spacer was added. Attaching the wing to the fuselage was easy enough - the two wire spars ensured accurate location. The tail surfaces though were difficult. Both the elevators and the rudder need to be fixed to the very end of the fuselage, a gluing surface of about 10x2mm. There is also the problem of the horizontal rod of the elevators and the vertical rod of the rudder both being attached, to the fuselage and effectively to each other, by very small pieces of card representing the hinges. If I’d thought about it much earlier, I probably would have attempted to silver solder the rods together and then make the elevators and rudder, thus making the rear surfaces a single unit. I had to use epoxy and fake the hinges. The fuselage rear from underneath.

The control horns were added. All rigging was done with heavy EZ-Line. It is noticeable in places that the line is twisted as it is not round in cross-section but rectangular. I saw this too late to fix while rigging and decided that trying to correct it later was likely to cause damage. The finished aircraft.




Quite a nice little model. Not too difficult to build.
 
My apologies for the brevity of the log. I sort of got tied up with the building and forgot to make notes or take photos.
 
Cheers
 
 

Thanks OC
I am not going to pose the doors in an open position with this one. Maybe I will on the next one, but for now took a quick swipe at a set of belts and harnesses for the seats. Won’t be able to see much with the doors closed anyhow.
 
Also, the body parts all have paint on them now and am in the process of painting the small details like mirrors, marker lights, etc. I can see this one being finished in another day or so.
 
 

Indeed Kevin,
 
The say the cap for most is going to be about  £3000 + a year  thats about  £300  a month   compared to under £100  a month we was  topping up   - crazy times.
 
OC.

Inflation came from the wholesale printing of fiat currency.
Oil/energy cost is mostly self-imposed by a small group of elites who are playing on the emotions of a "color" movement.
In the big picture, we are all plebs and pawns in this game. 

Wow, there's a ton of detail in that jewel. Rye Field does a beautiful job and your skills enhance it. 👍👍

The last major component assembly before paint is the hood. Soon it will be paint, install remaining small details, some decal placards here and there then this one will be finished.
There is a beautiful 50 cal assembly to mount on top before it’s all said and done.

Here is that video link for the MRAP walk around.
 
 

A nice set of side mirrors. Delicate. Must resist dumb thumbing it down the road during this build. Maybe leave the doors off till the end?

Detail inside the doors not shabby either. Suicide doors. That’s what we used to call rear doors that opened from front to back. My old ‘64 Lincoln Continental had them like that. What a beast that car.

 

Even the inside top (headliner?) of the cab gets a lot of detail. This model begs for seat belts and harnesses.
 
 

I've been wanting to build this one for quite a while and now it's time to roll up the sleeves. I'm taking different approach on this build, I'm building her as she looks in the Vasa Museum except fully masted and rigged as if they found the complete ship, there will be no guns, paint etc. My first course of action is to introduce more graining into the ship to give it a more weathered look, this process will take a few months. Thanks for looking.
 
Michael D.
 

I just had these arrive for new stock today:
 
Pin Vice and 10pc Drill Set – VANGUARD MODELS
 
I have had my pin vice for over 30 years and have used it for every single model I have built when a powered drill isn't needed.
 
In other news, I finished the Indy masts and yards plans today, just the rigging plans left to do. Plan sheets will be B2 size (980x680mm), and I think around 26 in total.
 
 

Overall length
(with Flying Jibboom) - 1345mm
(without Flying Jibboom) - 1247mm
Hull Only - (approx.) 880mm
 
Height Overall - Approx 875mm
 
Width of Main Yard and Stunsail Booms tips- 500mm
 
Planned delivery date - When it's ready! Am hoping end of this year.
 
Price - Between £1250 and £1350, but this can change.
 
Today I completed mast and yard drawings, so 'just' the rigging plans left to do for my part...
 
ETA - Had this arrive today..

A few last nice pics i found online
 
two hunters met on cold waters

A nice idea for a next diorama
 

So,
I printed the other model for display a Typhoon class submarine. The size of this giant is impressive. It was printed in 2 pieces thanks to the smaller scale, in 1/700 i would need to divide it in 3. Here is a comparison to the Akula in both 1/950 and 1/700 scale
 
                                  This model has a 2mm margin as it will sink to the resin a bit while other's dont. So i need to modify them accordingly as well as other modifications. The missile silos doors have extremely wide gaps, these should be filled and covered by snow anyway.
 
The Typhoons although were very impressive they were never the most modern submarines of their time. Their most distinctive feauture was their two hull construction side by side giving them that huge space and increased survivability in a torpedo hit.

A side by side comparison to an Ohio Class is revealing
 
The Typhoons were among the most comfort subs ever sailed even having a swimming pool and sauna. In comparison Ohios are quite crampy. But they still can carry up to 24 ICBMs instead for 20 in Typhoons. Ohios were quite problematic and expensive to be built but they have a great life expectancy, estimated to serve the fleet beyond 2030.

Looking at the pictures i noticed that there are many building options available.
No ice on subs, full ice on sea
Lots of ice on sea, no ice on subs
moderate amount on ice/snow on both objects

My wife managed to make up the first batch of Ranger kits today...

Just thought I'd post to say that Ranger kits are now complete and in stock, so all orders will be sent next week.
 
Also, I have a quite a few emails recommending books. I think over the years, I have bought any book I feel relevant to hobby, and later job. The first books on this subject I bought were in the late '80's, early '90's, Frank Fox's The Battlefleet of King Charles II and Lavery's Ship of the Line. (And the Sailing Navy List being the most perused by far..)  The older books have been moved around 8 times over the years, so some look a little worse for wear, both from travel and me reading them. The latest are from Ancre and Seawatch. Only one book doesn't fit, and that the mammoth Commerce De Marseille monograph! James Lees Masting and Rigging is missing from the pics, as I am using it right now.

More progress on the deck planking. Have to start on the little deck near the beakhead. The planks look a little overscale to me.

Back at the coast and the main shipyard here on Roanoke Sound of North Carolina.  I have been able to make modest headway on cannon installation and gun tackle rigging, it still needs some editing and adjusting to make the lines lay down more realistically, and I still need to make a bunch of flemish coils, etc.  However, progress is being made and I am going to celebrate it as it happens.  😃  I threw in a nice sunset picture after a heavy rain as eye candy for those stopping by and taking a look at the build!
Brian

I havn't  deserted  this   folks  just having to  deal with  real life  has   made my mojo  for model making   shrink, I am   sure it will  return,   just   retain your seats  they  are  not going away.
 
OC.

White pre shading should help an otherwise dull IJN gray paint color. Will detail the small raised details with a paint brush in white before applying the gray.