BLACK VIKING

Looking good!

Hi all sorry I haven't posted for a while but life and stuff has got in the way.  I have been slowly working away on the FD . I have finished the hull and have now put some details on the stern galleries and the sides.  As I'm no good at carving I have used modelling clay to make the scary faces and strange fishy things and to make her look old and battered I have put some barnacles and clamy things on the sides. I need to find away of putting some smaller barnacles on the lower hull. 
Thanks for looking. 
Martyn 

The galleries were already some years ago made by me, but they were not yet fully complete. I had earlier replaced the supplied metal parts by simple wooden strips, that I had painted yellow. And between them, I had left empty space.
Now, I have added some small wooden pillars, which I had painted white. The size was 2 by 1.5 mm. I have placed them in line with some of the decorative figures on the roofs.
Picture before and after (at almost the same camera angle..)

 

And after a year of buying she's finished.
I couldn't bring myself to paint it because its the first time I planked a model 

Here are the last pictures of the village...
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Thanx all for your posts & likes,
and now the next adventure...

I also got the frames all pinned together, now if they come apart it’s because I made it.
 I also got everything sanded so the planking will go smoothly.
There is a brass tube here, this tube is a bearing carrier, the drive shaft will pass through this. This step is not included in the directions, as the holes that this tube pass through are very tight and then the brass tube passes through on an angle it’s very tight, and I’m not sure how this would have been done later. And the tube has to be placed so that the planking can clear it as well as the bearings, I’ll have them in place today so I can begin measuring for the engine and drivers floor supports.
 I need that drive shaft to show me the angle the motor mounts will be at. I may change this angle later, but for now I want to stay on point so the end result looks close to the real thing.
 

So I added wring for the rear deck lights, then a fire hose and extinguisher. The railing have taken me hours, primer, black for the wires the silver for rehire turnbuckles and touch ups to go. 

Hi all sorry I haven't posted for a while but life and stuff has got in the way.  I have been slowly working away on the FD . I have finished the hull and have now put some details on the stern galleries and the sides.  As I'm no good at carving I have used modelling clay to make the scary faces and strange fishy things and to make her look old and battered I have put some barnacles and clamy things on the sides. I need to find away of putting some smaller barnacles on the lower hull. 
Thanks for looking. 
Martyn 

My son gave me this throwback kit for my birthday, one I had built and flown many, many years ago. So before I get cracking on finishing the last bits of rigging on HMS Bounty I thought I’d do this as a holiday project. Decided to employ my wooden ship skills such as they are by modifying the kit so it will make a reasonable display model to hang in the new workshop. 
Its a simple kit so I’ll just summarize the process so far. The laser cutting is exceptional and putting together the basic frames is straightforward. You’d normally now just cover this with tissue. Instead I inserted 150 pieces of balsa into the framework and then applied a thin watered down layer of latex wood filler and lightly sanded to give a final form, sort of like a clay model. For the wing, I covered the frame with 1/16 balsa underneath and 1/32 basswood topsides. I’ve nested wheel assemblies into the wing so it will look right flying off the ceiling. I ditched the tail assemblies in the kit and formed a more functional rudder and stabilizer from 1/4” balsa. So now I have the basic form of the Spit, and will work on incorporating more detail before painting. 

Hi all sorry I haven't posted for a while but life and stuff has got in the way.  I have been slowly working away on the FD . I have finished the hull and have now put some details on the stern galleries and the sides.  As I'm no good at carving I have used modelling clay to make the scary faces and strange fishy things and to make her look old and battered I have put some barnacles and clamy things on the sides. I need to find away of putting some smaller barnacles on the lower hull. 
Thanks for looking. 
Martyn 

Hi all sorry I haven't posted for a while but life and stuff has got in the way.  I have been slowly working away on the FD . I have finished the hull and have now put some details on the stern galleries and the sides.  As I'm no good at carving I have used modelling clay to make the scary faces and strange fishy things and to make her look old and battered I have put some barnacles and clamy things on the sides. I need to find away of putting some smaller barnacles on the lower hull. 
Thanks for looking. 
Martyn 

Hi all .
I have been a bit busy on the FD . The planking has been finished and sanded down. I was going to second plank the hull but I like the look of it as she is meant to look all beaten up.
Next job planking the decks and capping the bulwarks. All the wood has been left over from all the other builds I have done so this has cost me next to nothing so far and quite pleased with the outcome. I'm not very good at carving so I plan to use modelling clay for the carvings so just wondering what the best one to use .
Thanks for following 
Martyn

Hi all 
I have now completed cutting out all the bulkheads and kell and have dry fitted to see how they fit and all seems fine.
Next job cutting out the decks from some 2mm ply .
Thanks for following.
Martyn

Hi all . I have cut out a few more bulkheads and the false keel . I must admit they take a lot longer than I thought but I'm not going anywhere so they will take as long as they take. As you can see from the pictures I have cut them way side the line so I can sand them down to the right level. Hopefully it's going to be a nice day tomorrow so I can cut some more. 
Cheers for following 
Martyn

Martyn,
 
Glad that you are back 🙂 She looks to be a very interesting project - really like the look and your details - well done
 
Regards,
 

Hi all sorry I haven't posted for a while but life and stuff has got in the way.  I have been slowly working away on the FD . I have finished the hull and have now put some details on the stern galleries and the sides.  As I'm no good at carving I have used modelling clay to make the scary faces and strange fishy things and to make her look old and battered I have put some barnacles and clamy things on the sides. I need to find away of putting some smaller barnacles on the lower hull. 
Thanks for looking. 
Martyn 

Hi all sorry I haven't posted for a while but life and stuff has got in the way.  I have been slowly working away on the FD . I have finished the hull and have now put some details on the stern galleries and the sides.  As I'm no good at carving I have used modelling clay to make the scary faces and strange fishy things and to make her look old and battered I have put some barnacles and clamy things on the sides. I need to find away of putting some smaller barnacles on the lower hull. 
Thanks for looking. 
Martyn 

Hull is almost ready, I will keep adding some details while working with main mast and rigging


 

Once all of this had dried I cut the keel free.
This was fairly easy, the Zona saw made quick work of the rear couple, then because the frame got in the way I turned to the Dremel, oh the smell of burning wood.
Only one of the frame support pieces popped free, easy fix, these pieces all fit together so well there’s practically no reason for glue. I am going to pin them together, I do not want any of this coming apart later.
 I am going to be working off the supports for the engine mounts, or at least in my mind that’s how it’s working so far.

Port side hammock netting installed.
 
Experience is paying dividends!!! I was able to set it very rapidly by first threading the “u”shaped supports with the brass wire and then gluing them into position.
 
Here are the picks !!!
 
Best regards.

The fore deck is planked, it was much easier to joggle the planks on this deck due to ease of access. I've also done the kings cabin with two of my favorite pics of my little girl. I milled some flat brass bar into the picture frames and added a little furniture just for the heck of it. Now with the cabin top on you can't really see much in there but I know it's there.
 

Thanks it came out really nicely and was a quick easy build!

Added a couple bombs for fun!

9.5 Boat protection
In the logs for model boat kits I found the log of Mike_in_RI who was building a New Bedford Whale boat in the davits. He made mats to protect the keel of his boat from shafing on the cranes. His first idea was to use mats but finally he  made baggy wrinkles. Personally I like the idea of mats and I use his method to make some. I suppose that Mike can forgive my plagiarism as he didn't use himself mats.

 

When the two mats are weaved, I stain them with dark brown stain and soak them with textile glue around a piece of wood with the same dimensions as the crane to fix the shape of the mats and to flatten the rope fibers.

Then they are tied on the cranes.

With the boat keel standing on the mats:

 

When standing on the cranes, the boat is also leaning against the bearing posts. In heavy weather the boats' rub rail can be damaged by chafing against the bearing posts. To protect the rail I make a rope seizing round the bearing posts.

As finish of the seizing I want to  place a Turkish knot above and below it. To make the knot I use a googled jig 

 

When the whole pattern of the jig has been followed I slide the knot on a round tube to tighten it up a bit ...

... and to double it.

Then I place the knot on the bearing post on top and at the bottom of the seizing.

 

Finally the rope work is stained dark and coated with mate varnish.

 
Thank you very much for reading this log, for your likes and for your encouraging comments.
 
 
Till next week!
 

Latest progress. As you see from the pictures, I have extended the fleur design to fill all the available space, except for two larger areas where I have inserted a sun design, the same sun with a face in the middle that appears on French cavalry flags of the Bourbon era. As you commented, Marc, there is not a lot of room to do much else. I also extended the looped L design to the stern as I plan that area will be visible at the back of the single gallery I intend to mount. I've cut all the panels out of the Heller quarter galleries - the designs they have used don't seem to fit anything very authentic anyway - and will  fill the lower level with false windows, and have cut the floor out of the lower stern gallery so it will fit flush up against the stern bulkhead with a bit of adjustment and filling.
I have some more detail to do on the hull itself and I'm waiting an order for the cannon, and the blocks, hooks and eyebolts for their tackle, to fit on the main deck before going further.
Now that the sides are in place, I've realised what an ugly tub this ship actually is! It might look spectacular when done, but compared to the beautiful lines of Le Glorieux..................well, maybe without the masts the hull looks out of proportion but it does show how the design looks back as much as forward, I think.