BLACK VIKING

Frist Stays:
 
Finally finished the second side of deadeyes and chainplates, probably my least favorite part of the build so far but at least now I'm ready to get into the rigging in earnest. After looking at lots of build logs and finished ships I wanted to serve the stays and shrouds, I just really like the look once they're served and it can be done with a hand machine so I got the Syren Serv-o-Matic and started practicing. I had some initial issues with fuzz on the practice bits I did and posted on the Masting, Rigging and Sails section, thread here: https://modelshipworld.com/topic/32544-thread-for-serving-rigging/ and by ordering a different thread, Guntermann Mara, and using a candle to melt off the fuzz I was able to get really good results so I've gone ahead and served by first two stays. One of the ideas in the discussion on serving thread was to use a very dark brown instead of black and I ordered both so I could try them and see which one looked best and I've decided to go with the dark brown on the San Felipe. Very happy with the way the serving looks and glad I decided to do that. Now just a zillion shrouds to serve.
 
I'm looking at constructing as much of the masts and yards as I can off the ship and then adding them as the rigging goes in place, this is a little different than how I constructed my Revenge and I'll see how it goes. It seems like the order here is about what works for me and I just have to try some slightly different things to know how they work for me. I'm also trying not to permanently tie anything off and leave some spare hanging so I can go back and adjust as things move slightly. I'm a bit afraid that things will get really untidy and it will be hard to determine which piece of thread comes from where as the number of loose threads build up but we'll see and if I need to I can go back and finish off areas where any movement should be over.
 
Foremast shrouds are next.

Thanks Jav!!!
 
This afternoon, the sun came out.... So I took the wing out to back porch to get some natural sunlight shots to confirm what I think I have...
 
Direct reflection...

Now she should start turning bluish silver as the aspect changes....


I think I've found the secret to doing this finish.... That is perfect coloration which changes as the light conditions and angle changes....
 
YAY TEAM!!!!
 
When I do the fuselage I will spell out the steps to getting this effect...
 
It looks even more stunning in real life.... Looks real...
 
I'm pleased with it....

Second RnB coat applied to the upper wing surfaces....

Looks good from here, consistent aluminum sheen with slightly darker splotches in streaks, I can't wait to get this out in some real sunshine...
 
With high flash to show the reflectivity....

The slightly darker streaks wash out in heavy light... It literally glows!!!  Yea Team! that is exactly the effect I was looking for....
 
Real sunlight will tell the tale.... Got to get the second coat on the bottom and then on to the fuselage and empennages....
 
I think it's going to turn out nice..

Steam Trawler 'Huddersfield Town' off the Faroe Islands w/c 16” X 11”

Thanks Dennis, I'm getting ready to silver her up....
Thank you and everyone for the good wishes... I just finished the dual scope procedure today, Doc said no cancer, top or bottom, didn't know what the mass was they found but it isn't stomach or colon cancer... He's ruminating on Diverticulitis, a huge relief if it is (common ailment for people our age) Will see my attending in a few days, maybe they will have a clue at that point....
 
Thanks all for the well wishes and prayers, My friends... they helped greatly...

Another very tiny detail to add before silvering.... The 6/3 wing root cutout for the Ammo Door/Step...

And yes, the stress ribs were angled like that... ( note; the Hasegawa kit has a more rounded leading edge, I'm going to leave it as the aluminum paint will fill the slight difference) Now to figure out how to drop a short cable off it to hold the removable part...

Tanker
Early RFA Tanker 'Petroleum 
w/c 6" X 4"

thank you all for joining in.  it seems that just playing with the landing gear boots wasn't enough.  once I started to play with it,  I got carried away  
 
so this is a short run kit Ken  there are no date stamps anywhere on the model....nor the instructions or box.  the only date I found was the print date on the decal sheet......2000.  don't think I've ever done a short run model.  I'll try not to let you down   
 
absolutely Egilman.........the resin parts are very detailed.......hard to tell in these pictures I've posted of late.  the lamp on my desk died,  so the admiral went out and bought me this LED lamp.  it's pretty bright and so far the pictures have been decent.  I'll try and get better ones so you can see how nice these parts are.
 
welcome to you Alan and Jack........good to have you folks look'in in  
 
the kit also features an expansive paint by number.........just about everything has a color number associated with it.  as with any kit,  there is the usual flash clean up.......especially where the sprue connects to the part.  it seems to carry onto the mating surfaces.  one thing I forgot to mention was that I had done some clean up to the cockpit floor prior to mess'in with it.  the floor was a bit thick......the underside was very shiny and slightly sunken...likely the 'sunny side up' from being produced.  noting the thickness of the floor in the Revell kit,  I brought the thickness down by rubbing it on a large sheet of sandpaper.  sanding all around the outer edge,  I concentrated on the starboard side aft,  to even the taper to mimic the port side.  the fuselage was taped back together.......it was a tight fit,  but I managed to slide the floor in place.  to make it a better fit a small amount of plastic was removed from the opening below the gunner's compartment,  in contour with the wing root........the underside of the floor {aft}....both edges were rounded to fit in the space better.  the floor comes out now,  like a cartridge.


still a bit blurry {I'll get a good one yet    I have two options here.......I can keep doing it like this and risk breaking something in the future,  but I think I'm going to cement one side of the floor to the inner wall {preferably the starboard side} and save myself some grief.  I may have to shave a bit more here and there.  the pieces of the wings were cemented together,  only using the upper surfaces as a template for the dihedral.  only the three bottom parts were glued together.

any gaps seen on the outer surface were filler with putty and left over night to dry.  I sanded them today.

the chunk off to the right has the front and read radiator detail on it.......it is to be added as a plug.  problem is.....it is too small causing it to be indented to much.  I'm going to cut it and fit the radiator faces in their proper places.

in tinkering with the landing gear boots a bit more........this would be acceptable to me.  I may remove a tiny bit of the axle bumps.......perhaps it will go in a tad deeper.  now to get the other 'shoe on the right foot   

the machine gun is there.........very nice detail.   .....something else I see..............a better shot of the cockpit!

very detailed!  when I have the fuselage split,  perhaps I can show more  
 
 

Steam Trawler Quail w/c 6” X4” Postcard size    

A Thalmian oarsman's view (looking aft) of the 21 seats Ive installed so far on the starboard side of the ship (149 to go...)
 

ha...i'm afraid i just can't do these little things well....i guess that's why i always built big 🙂
   as much as i tried, i couldn't get it close to neko's drawing, and fit the parts in the kit..i should have made the lower gun decks higher.......but anyways.....hands getting shaky now and i again consider this a ''close enough for jazz'' build, as i can never compete with the meticulous fellas here....and painting those little reliefs??...yuk....i could never do them justice....but i just do what i can....and i think it gives one a good idea of what a full hull would look like....opposed to the shallow pregnant one in the kit.....
   waiting for more paint to arrive...and cannons are all ready to attach....with squished down carriages 🙃....couldn't get the right spacing between the decks and the gunports.....but again..i think it will look ok in the end........i will attach the cut out reliefs to the inner wall of the stern galleries......cheers...........

Good Morning,
The next order of business for the hull was the addition of the bulwarks, which were planked on the inside prior to installation. Then the waterways and the stanchions.
 
 

I decided to add the grating to the main deck at this point too -


I discovered that the stanchions tend to pop off pretty easily, so I decided to add some wire to secure the ones that will support the pin rails and kevels. I'll also secure the pin rails and kevels to the stanchions with wire when I get to that point. I'll do that before moving on to the planking of the upper hull.
 


That's all for now, many thanks for checking in.
 
David

Also no parachute, no armor, no self-sealing fuel tank -- basically flying around in a tinder box made of doped fabric and twigs. Anyways, last pic for today -- finished windscreen.
 

Evening all,  more work today  - I have started on a Luneburg regiment  Corporal  including his bright Sky Blue trousers  (interesting colour  but supposed to be accurate)
 
OC.

More decisions  - I am going to lighten his trousers  make them more of a light Grey/Blue.
 
OC.

What has become of our generation!
Today it's covid, drugs and no rock'n roll.


Get well soon!

 
Peter

Damn, what a week!
 
Had a great day last Monday, working away and even working out in the gym. Tuesday, came down with Covid (had to be, as the only other times I experienced the same symptoms was immediately after having my Covid vax jabs)
 
So, I have been out of it the past week. I could not do anything except lie down and take anti-inflammatories and pain killers, feeling completely helpless, and lazy! My wife seems to have overcome it a lot quicker than me, with my throat hurting so much, with even a small cough feeling like 1000 glass shards in my throat - not my best week!
 
However, I am now over the worst (that or I have been popping too many drugs...), so will try to get back into it next week, as I have now lost a whole week to this....

Thanks Javlin and thanks for the 'like's. Small bit and pieces take very long, hence, just small progress at the time. Added black smoke puffs of the starter exhaust on the belly and LG pieces now permanently mounted:

Main LG:

Nose wheel:


Back to tanks and missiles. 
Kind regards,
Dan
 
 

Side and bottom skins done.
 

 
And just for fun, here's a little size comparison. Yes, these are in the same scale. 😆
 

Bowsprit assembly complete and installed. Missing a few blocks still but those will install when the rigging commences. Foremast up next. 

I've been working on various aspects of this build, in no particular logical order. This morning I turned my attention to the kevels.
 
There are eight kevels on this ship and I don't really care for the cast kit-supplied ones, so I set out to make some wooden ones. Here's how I approached it.
 

I could see that there are two ways to do this. One would be to create two holes or slots in the cross member at the right angle and then slide the uprights through. Since I don't have a mill or a drill press and I'm working with basswood, I knew that would be an exercise in frustration, so I decided to try a second method, which is to laminate the cross member on the uprights.
 
I drew some lines establishing the dimensions on a piece of paper and covered them with double-sided tape.
 

I placed the first upright in position and trimmed the bottom of it along the pencil line -
 

I then added the second upright and the three pieces of the cross member. There's no glue at this point; only the tape is holding everything in place.
These pieces are all 1/32" x 1/16".
 

I then glued a piece across the cross member (1/16" x 1/16")
 

Peeling the assembly off of the tape. It's quite rigid by this point.
 

Then I added a second piece across the back of the cross member -
 

After some trimming and sanding. There may be some more sanding yet to do. I'm not sure if the cross member is still a bit too thick.
 

 
I think this method is going to work. Once they are all completely covered with rope coils, they should look just fine.😁
 
Thanks for checking in, much appreciated.
 
David
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

This little gem was recently sold by Sotheby's. Unfortunately, my bid came in at just slightly under the auction realization of 5,500,000 pounds. But, there is an amazing book on the Van de Veldes for the rest of us losers.

Brig passing Seven Stones Light Vessel
w/c 16.5" X11.5"

I hope she carried on painting!
Jim

I took some time today to read the first 50 pages and other pertinent sections of this dissertation on the development of the naval carriage.
 
It does appear to be true that, in the early days of arming ships, navies sometimes employed a mixture of field carriages and purpose-built naval carriages.  These field pieces, as noted by Druxey would be shod in Iron.
 
By the 17th C., however, this practice had ceased and the trucks were made from alternating grain layers.  I sometimes wonder whether the authors of these dissertations ever imagine their research making the rounds on modeling forums.  I imagine they’d be heartened to know that someone other than the dissertation committee is paying attention.
 
In other news, while fitting my port headrail last night, I have come to the conclusion that the only way forward is to remove these roundhouses.  I guess we’ll see how sound a welded bond is, after all.