BLACK VIKING

good evening everyone
 
4 wheels on my wagon (well not quite on but complete), tonight i made the outer wheel bandings
the chassis which was stripped down yesterday, was primed and now has a new coat on, pin strips well complete it 
at present i am rebuilding it, looks better than before, but even further removed from what it should look like
 
 

Forget Hero Forge, see elsewhere here about Daz (and probably others).
I was able to get a WW2 army uniform for a figure, pose him, and he's now on my printer. Big guy, for my 1:8 scale DUKW. 

Following preparation works about rails :
 

 

 
 
 
 

At last a day pic even with cloudy sky.
Main deck rails, weathering and rigging need to be added.
Using a small sand paper I made parallel (almost) lines of worn on weathered deck. Looks convincing I think

Alive and kickin’, part II.
 
I have finally painted the last bulwark to satisfaction.  Here it is, dry-fit:
 

 
I have fitted all the channels and scraped away paint in the glue locations:
 

 
A couple of troublesome little details needed to be resolved.  First, I was thinking about how the plank-ends of the f’ocsle and quarter deck were supposed to resolve, over the last exposed beam.  My first instinct was to have the plank ends exposed, with a slight overhang beyond the beam.
 
The more I studied other models, though, it dawned on me that this would not be correct for French practice in the latter half of the 17th C.  Take a look at the following examples:
 

 
On Michel Saunier’s SR, the plank ends are let into the last beam, which is dimensionally deeper to accept the plank thickness.
 
The same can be seen on the louis Quinze:
 

 

above photos courtesy of Marc Yeu
 
So, I decided to cut back my deck piece, and I will in-fill a strip of styrene with a just-broken edge to highlight the demarcation ever so slightly:
 

 
My f’ocsle beam isn’t perfectly straight, apparently, but this discrepancy will be concealed by the f’ocsle break railing and belfry.  You will see the detail at the deck entry points.  I will also apply a simple half-round moulding to cover the joint between the beam and the applied strip.
 
Next, I realized that I needed to cut-back more of the kit deck ledge so that I could abut my quarter deck beam to the hanging knee, as I did at the f’ocsle.  This shortening of the Q-deck also provided more clearance for the main halyard tackle.  I’m not sure if I’m correctly referencing the line, but it reaves through the large bitt, just aft of the mast (with a piece of blue tape on it).
 

 
Lastly, I wanted to make-up the supporting brace that ties each successive level of the stern together.  I laminate two pieces of 1/16” stock together, and leave them to dry over a camber former.
 
The one caveat is that I wanted to introduce ever so slightly more camber over the next two levels of the stern.  I had done so, along the top edge of the mid-balcony rail.  Here is how that compares with the former:
 

 
The difference is barely perceptible, but it is one of many small details that will improve the overall perception of the thing.
 
For my lamination, I applied three pieces of green tape to the center inch of the former:
 

 
And the match was spot-on:
 

 
When I get to the top tier of windows, I may do as many as six pieces of tape, as the camber would be greatest at the poop and poop-royal decks.
 
Well, that’s where things stand for now.  Hopefully, tomorrow, I will glue-in the bulwark.  Then, I can cope the brace to delineate the upper limit of the second window tier, while strengthening the bulwark connection.  Then, I can pattern the window piece in cardboard and do an exact layout drawing.
 
Thank you all for your continued interest in the project.
 
Best,
 
Marc
 

Ending all the back-stern of ship, next step, the forward rails :
 

 

RAF Sullom Voe in the Shetland Islands. Sunderland and Catalina flying boats of 330 and 333 Norwegian Squadrons moored off shore. The land on the other side of the Voe is now occupied by the Sullom Voe Oil Terminal.
watercolour 16" X 11" 

That's just beautiful work, Richard!

A view of the seat frame located on the quarterdeck compared with a picture of the full size Olympias. I have built my model as closely as possible to Coates design drawings (the drawings sheets contradict one another in some cases - as you would expect from what was essentially a prototype for a reconstruction of a warship which hasn't been built in living memory...). These include:
1.Differences in framing of the stern.
2. Removal of the footrest from the Trierarch's chair.
3. Differences in the leather upholstering of the Trierarch's chair.
4. Removal of the handhold post at the head of the ladders from the quarterdeck to the gangway.
5. Additional bracketry alongside the steering oar slots.
I am sure some of these changes were incorporated at build and others were introduced as sea trials progressed. Not unlike my own experience of  designing  and building modern ships!
 

Thanks everyone for the nice comments
So, did some experimenting. 
The result should represent a winter camouflage at the end of winter, with a somewhat rusty appearance. And the tank needs now an urgent spring clean up and repaind job.

Almost ready

Surrender

 

S51 Dragonfly Helicopter 
w/c 6” X 4”

Bomb Vessel 19 century, based on the Grenado.

Nice job Patrick!
 
A well worn winter field applied whitewash... just the way it should look....

Thanks OC (but, no T72 in this kit 😉)
 
All part are on the model

Painting
It's been a while since I've done a winter camo. So a green base coat with a thin white wash.
 
Base coat

White wash

 
almost ready

Have largely finished the main deck, now continuing to build up the gunwales. 
 

EG, it's good to go, bud. Side panel decals(?) look very good. Instrument panel is very good. Too bad it will be almost hidden in your cockpit. Bet you're crossed-eyed from that detailing job. What's on the radar screen? It has that appropriate green glow of 50's CRTs. Nicely done. 👍👍

Ok, short update... 
 
Decided to take a break on the tub PE and see what I was going to do with the Instrument panel... the Tub was easy to clean the detail molding from and although nice was a bit soft on the details... the Instrument panel on the other hand is extremely detailed, clean and crisp with deep details not easily removed... The debate I had was do I actually want to try to remove it or build a new instrument panel to accommodate the PE, (which looked flat in comparison to the moulded in detail) or detail paint the existing....
 
I figured it would probably be best to first see what the status of my ancient 5/0 brush skills were...
This is what the real instrument panel looks like....

And this is my attempt to replicate that in paint....

My attempt to detail paint...
Please, I would like to know what you guys think, remembering that it's going to be inside a cockpit and under the Hud shroud...

Wish I had those skills! Truly amazing and very beautiful.

Sailing trawler off St Abbs Head 
w/c  6" X4"

Now, just like most modern model airplanes, the Italeri kit starts with the seat....

As you can see, from the last build I did an aftermarket Lockheed C-2 ejection seat for that build and fortunately I saved it for this build....

Unfortunately I could not save the cockpit itself, if we remember I had to completely rebuild it to fit the aftermarket into the fuselage... Trying to save it would have destroyed it...
So here, we start with the Cockpit...

And the actual cockpit tub...

Beautifully modeled details and a lot more accurate than the old Hasegawa cockpit was, but to add the photoetch, all that detail has to be sanded off so the panels will glue into correct positions...
 
Here we go brothers, first steps down the path....
 
Wish me luck....
 
EG
 

So I got some progress on the other side. I am liking this a lot better do I might copy this sanding on the other side. I am going to work on painting and getting her in shape. Nice flat surface and equal to the other side as well. 

Gluing ratlines to the fore-topmast and fore-topgallant shrouds (to be trimmed later).
 
 
 
 
Finally glued the mainmast in place, and added the lower main shrouds - the starboard ones already had ratlines glued on and deadeyes in place, but needing to be attached to the channel.
 

 
 
 

 
Glued the dragon figurehead in place.
 

 
Carved oars for the longboat
 

 
And added the oars, the mast and spar (I haven't been able to find anything out about what rig these vessels would have had, so I've copied Dutch contemporary pictures and given her a spritsail rig)
 

 
And glued the hatch cover and longboat in place on the main deck. I had to wait until the mainmast was glued in place before I could close up the hatch - otherwise I wouldn't have been able to see when I was slotting the bottom of the mast into the mast-step - it's been quite a wait.
 

 
 
Steven
 
 
 
 

 

Beginning fabrication and installation of the Topsail Sheet Bitts and Main Topbowline Bitts assemblies. Working with the small parts is trying given the wood is old and brittle.