BLACK VIKING

Firstly, I have changed the heading of this log from “Armed Pinnace” to “Armed Launch”. When I bought this kit about 20 years ago, I was given a review of the kit that had been published in, I believe, Model Boats and the author, Keith Julier, referred to the boat as a pinnace. I now realise that the boat is more correctly called a launch.
 
Thanks for the likes and the comments, Lou and Barnes.
 
On with the build. A short update.
 
The photo shows the gun slide and carriage almost complete and ready for fitting. The rudder has been painted and the hinges are ready to put in place. The tiller had not been made at this time, but was later cut and shaped from a suitable piece of wood, rather than trying to bend a piece of 3.5x5 as suggested in the instructions.
 

 
The making of the oars was tackled next. The photo shows the various parts for the oars, a partly completed one and a finished one (though not yet stained or coated with a satin finish). Cutting the slot in the central dowel looked as if it was going to be a real problem, as I don’t have access to a mill which would have done the job very easily. The plan suggests filing the slot which would have been an exercise in frustration. So, I mounted two Dremel cutoff wheels on the one mandrel, set up the Dremel on its stand and with the aid of a simple jig, basically ground the slots. The photo shows the apparatus. I anticipated lots of smoke, so this job was not done inside otherwise the smoke alarms would have been triggered. The slots were later cleaned up with a file.
 

 

 
The gunslide has now been glued in place and the rudder fitted. The boat has been given one coat of a satin polyurethane finish.
 

 
 

 

 
That's all for the moment. Cheers.

And finaly ...
Maybe, if I find a way to make it more elegant ... Once upon a time ... Maybe

And now all the oarsmen have been sanded smooth. What someone looking at the photo called a wooden orgy . . .
 

 
My immediate next job is to make arms for them and then fit arms to each oarsman. This will be a somewhat involved process - not only because half are port and half starboard, but each has to have his arms in exactly the right place to hold the oar so the blade is in line with the others and with those of the lower bank.
 
And I've made ringbolts for the tackle for the shrouds, which are tied down with blocks, not deadeyes. The ringbolts were done with a very wonky set of long-nosed pliers and some garden wire,
 

 
then a blob of CA to hide the join and look like a swivel for the ring.

To be trimmed to shape, painted black and inserted in the gunwale in due course. 
 
And I'm taking the time to take stock of where I go from here. I've started writing a "to-do" list sequencing everything yet to be done from now until the model is finished. There's still quite a lot to be done, but I do think I can see light at the end of the tunnel.
 
 

good morning everyone
 
thank you for comments and likes
 
deck planking continues, 
 
what ever error i have made is continuing through, even though i still dont know if it was a mistake by me, as i have to do the same repair to the foremast joggle plate
 
 

Post 14
 
Back on the deck
 
As I have completed the deck it seems appropriate to fit the timberheads at this time.
 
It is a tedious job fitting all these position specific tiny sections along the bulwark but Chris has done an excellent job with the etched pearwood, which saves a lot of extra fiddling which would otherwise be the case.
 

5601(2)
Care must be taken when handling these pieces, they have an inbuilt drive to ping off into the ether never to be seen again.

5608
I am now into that part of a build I like best, fiddling with the fittings. The fish hatch is the largest fitting on the deck and one that is easy to modify slightly to provide more interest.
 
The kit provides an all-in-one representation of the boards that form the cover.

5602(2)
I prefer to have sections open to view, with a glimpse of the  nets, (detail to follow) in the fish hold.
The boards were modified to allow this.
 
The board lifting rings are represented in the kit by less than convincing eyebolts. I will replace these with ring bolts, tedious as it is.
 
The Fore Mast Housing
This fitting allows the Foremast to be lowered by means of a Tabernacle. This is hidden below decks so it’s not something I need to be concerned about representing, but the model can still be displayed with the mast in the lowered position if desired.

5607(2)
The make- up of this part is a firm fit and I didn’t need to glue the side pieces in place.
The broad thwart is also glued into place.

5598(2)
I did test fit the Fore mast timber (6mm) walnut square stuff which was a tad oversize for the space, but rather than trim the mast I sanded the inside the side pieces to get a snug fit.

5600(2)

5605(2)
This is about as far as I can go with the deck fittings at present.
 
I have some concerns about the steering arrangements and representation and position of the wheel on this sail only vessel. There may have to be some deconstruction/ modification in this area.
 
I have to say I am thoroughly enjoying this build, a departure from my usual 18th century naval subjects.
 
Researching this vessel type is a new interest and I have been in touch with the Curator of the Scottish Fisheries Museum who has provided very useful additional information.
 
Cheers,
 
 
B.E.
20/06/20
 
 

So now about those pesky rabbet joints. I found the plywood provided with the kit to be quite hard to sand down from the end grain side. I ended up resorting to files and eventually a dremel. The joint came out ok though I'm sure there's lots I could learn to do better.
 

 
I then proceeded to plank the upper deck. I thought this would be a LOT easier to do now than to wait. It was again, pretty straightforward. I drew two sets of lines spaced 1" apart on the deck and cut the plants to fit in a repeated pattern 1"-2"-3" down starting from the centerline. I ran a little piece of charcoal from the grill down the sides of each plank (which was difficult and time consuming) and this gave me a discernible gray line. I don't like the heavy look which results from pencil that I've seen in other builds.
 

 
You'll probably notice that I got a little smear of charcoal on the deck near the front cabin. Fortunately I found out early that this doesn't sand out. Oh well, gives it a nice look I think!
 
June 6, 2020
 
On to the first layer of planking. I had no idea of what to expect here. I did the first side using the typical beginner's method... Just attached the planks and tapered as necessary. I found out pretty quickly that this results in planks which come to a point and leaves lots of unsightly gaps. I knew I would be using filler but I didn't like this one bit.
 
So I started doing some research and decided to try my hand at lining the boat. I tacked up some strings with a bit of weldbond and got them where I thought they would look good. Then I used a fan template to measure out some planks in each belt. 
 

 
Then I tapered each plank with an xacto knife to fit and glued them down with Zap-A-Gap. This side was much, much better than my first. This was my first attempt at making a stealer... it came out ok but there were some gaps. Better than most of the other gaps on the boat at this point LOL. I didn't find out until later that the stealer wasn't firmly glued down so I ended up with a sanding problem later on, nearly going all the way through.
 
 
 

 
The planks at the bow were pretty much a mess but by the end, I managed to get them fairly close to the rabbet joint. Anyway, this is the sum total of my first attempt. Ummm... it's boatlike!
 

 

Hi all.
 
Still waiting for the materials to be delivered but in the meanwhile i have a minor update.
 
The bending of the eye bolts and eye-bolts with rings wasn't entirely for nothing! I've drilled the holes to attach the hooks and eye-bolts on the inner hull and the planking on the second deck.
 
On the upcoming photo of the Hermione you can see that the number of deck planks is the same everywhere and follows the contours of the hull. (Sb/Ps)  This means that the planks from mid-ships are tapered towards the stem and the stern. Again, I will deviate from Artesania's instructions.
 

 
Correct my if I'm wrong, but, by dividing the deck into strips, I will use the planking fan to determine the degree of tapering. I'm now working on a 1:1 drawing of the deck.
 

 
Until the ordered materials are delivered I can't rig the guns and have to wait before I can plank the deck.
 
Luckily I can still go ahead with making guns, (main deck) longboats, capstan, cap rails etc.
 
BTW, Thanks for the likes and views!
 
Cheers from the sunny Netherlands,
 
Peter
 

Hi all, welcome back to my build log,

It’s been more than a week since the last update, but I made some progression.

I made a jig to drill holes for the eye bolts that will be used for rigging the guns at the cannon deck.

Although from above there won't be much to see how the guns are rigged, I think the rigging according to Artesania's instructions is just a bit too simple. On the internet I found a picture of how the guns of the Hermione are rigged. For me the choice was quickly made, now I had to find the right materials to make the rigging from waste.

To bend eyebolts and hooks I used the core of a signal cable (0.8 mm). After bending the eye bolts and the hooks, I checked whether the proportions corresponded to the size of the guns. to my horror, I saw that I could start bending again. with a smaller inner diameter the hooks and eye bolt's looked a little better but still not in proportion.   


Meanwhile I have been bending for about 1.5 days for nothing. So I ordered eye bolts of 0.5 mm thick and 3 mm rigging block via the internet. Which will be delivered next Thursday.


I glued wooden strips to the inner side of the gun ports and prepared the hull for the final layer of paint.




I glued the aft main deck in place.


Near the bow and mid-ship I raised the railing


Planked the bulwark and cut out the gun ports.


The blue strake just needs to be coated with a final layer.






The bulwark is painted red.


On the second deck the deck hatches are glued in place.


At main deck the inner sides of the gun ports are painted red.


Cheers,
 
Peter

Santa Maria, finished

Further progess on Yenikapi 12 version 3
The backbone in its building board. The aim is to make midship frames and tail frames of correct shape and join everything with ribands to the keel and posts
 

 
Each frame was made (by the original shipwright) using a floor timber extending up on one side to the level of the gunwale. On the other side, a timber was joined to the floor by an 'L' shaped scarf. The floor was flipped on alternate frames so that the weak scarf was not always on the one side

 

 
The frames attached to the keel

 
Ribbands have been attached which will guide subsequent frames. Much as the original would have been built.

 

 
Cheers
Dick

Now she is ready for battle stations.

Hello,
 
Addet all the hatches of the cannon ports 
Building 
 
painted and addet metal pins, with these pins they are glued to the model with CA glue.

 
detailing

 
painted 

 
ropework, step 1

 
step 2,  "fishing" for the wire

 
Step 3, A knot. this way the top part of the rope can be tensioned later.

 
like this

 
Both sides are ready

 
And another error camouflaged 
I forgot the stern chasers  These were apparently very important in attack and defense at this time
2 dummy hatches are the camauflage  🙈🙉🙊

 
Thanks for following 

Rob, I dont know if this is of any use to you mate, but here are the 2 pages from the book I have showing the details of the copper tiles, I have clearly marked where the break in the pattern lies, as well as the position of stealers etc.  I found it very very helpful.  Hopefully you can make use of it.
As you can see from the photos on my build, I started with the 4 rows at the waterline at the bow, , then went to amidships and put 12 rows (held on with masking tape) in place, drew a mark on the planks, then same at the stern.  joined the dots so to speak and glued on the first 4 rows.  After that I just filled in above them up to the waterline.  did both sides, then started down at the keel working up parallel to it until I got up to the first set., just got to cut and fit the shaped ones now.
 
Regards
 
spider

Catapult and Arado 196 Floatplane

 
I spent a full day building the brass aircraft stand that comes with the Pontos detail kit. They actually give you enough parts to build 4 of them although you only need 1. Good thing because I screwed up 2 1/2 of them before I settled on this one.

Then I built the catapult (from scratch) and the Arado 196 floatplane (came with the Aeronaut kit). Hey! what happened to my aircraft stand?
 
The real catapult rail is about 15 m long and the catapult launch speed is 130 km/hr. I did some quick calculations that show that the pilot would pull 4.3 g's at takeoff, about the same as an F-18 pilot on a modern carrier. Must have been quite a ride!

Hi Keith, I'm just doing a bit of spring maintenance on my little "Weekender" which is a small amateur-built from American plans with a flat bottom and hard chines rather like a decked-over dory. She has a four-sided mainsail with a gaff and a small foresail. I've modified it from the original design with a deeper fin-type keel, like a fixed centre-board. It was designed to be easy to build and easy to sail and isn't a very impressive boat really but I've had her for 18 years now and I like her well enough. I've stuck an old "Neptune" 1.7hp motor, built in the 1940s, on it for a bit of fun. Right now I'm just scraping and varnishing in preparation for the summer.
 
These boats are roundly disparaged by fans of "proper" wooden boats, but I've always had a lot of fun with her. I stay out of deep water (usually) and just poke around the islands near shore.
 
I'm probably not going to wait too long before working on Terror again. I just received a lot of the extra details I ordered at once, and NOT the book about rigging, and was feeling a bit snowed-under. 

A new company from the Czech Republic will release a 1:48 HMS Endeavour later this year.
 
This is actually another brand of a company that has produced some excellent plastic and resin models for a few years, but this is of course a wooden kit, and we have the very first pictures of it to show you. 
 
The model is generally pearwood, with other elements in there that you'd expect such as various castings etc. and these photos show that it looks pretty darn good. I also have the plans here that I've been looking at, and all I can say is you're in for a treat.
 
This is a welcome release of this famous ship, especially as the ones on the market are now quite old.
 
I won't name the company yet...
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

This afternoon's effort 1960’s HMS Lowestoft and RFA Tidereach W/C 11” X 9”

Charles, if you want to invest in a magnificent set of carving tools, I highly recommend those made by Mihail Kirsanov.  I usually enjoy carving, but these chisels make carving and joinery work a true pleasure.  Will there be a need for customized tools at times, I would guess this might be the case, depending on the situation, but these are probably 99% of what you would likely ever need.   There are a number of members here that  am sure will attest to the quality of this set of tools.   
Allan

Planking completed, drilling holes for guns attaching.

Hello everyone!
Before starting with second planking it could be better to cut the the protruding part of the beams, in order to rotate and glue them matching the course of the wales.


After that, the second planking made by walnut strips can start.
Usually people do it covering by the strips the whole hull and after gluing the wales, but In this way may be difficult the wales will follow in a perfect manner the course of the underlying planks.
I preferred to glue the wales at first, starting with the one above the upper beams of the bulwark and followed by the other thinner strips:

Till now it's quite easy. The other wales are more difficult to be positioned and it is preferably to bend them in both directions, using water and heat:

Besides, we can check if the groove for the keel has been correctly executed, using a 4x2 mm strip:


Now we can start with the second couple of wales, under the beams of the main deck; at this step, the accurate symmetry of the first planking is helping:



At the end:

Now we can glue the ends of the beams we have cut at the beginning, following the course of the underlying wale:

Next step will be planking the areas between the beams; I've used a strip with a lighter color. After that,  the planking will continue upwards as usually till to the next upper wale and also downward:




The upper wale must match the curvature of the bulwark:

I've also added the scuppers.


Obviously the same work has to be done on the other side of the hull.
I hope I haven't been too verbose...
A greeting to all of you
 
Rodolfo
 

More planking. I think bulkhead 6 might be sitting a little bit low, as you can see by the big twist in the 2nd plank from the keel,  between bulkheads 6 and 7
 

Main topmast done.

quite right Druxey there certainly will be gaps for the flanges This picture shows it a little more clearly, I have been shaping the rails and there will be enough clearance in both rail sizes for the wheels of each to clear.
 

This overhead shot gives a better view of the way the track will set.
 

The points will function as a normal set will function. The most fiddly part will be filing the gaps in the large and small rails at the cross over place. One of the comments in the Crewe book is that most of the points on the narrow gauge were kicked over by the driver when needing to change tracks.
 
Mark and Egilman welcome to this new project.
 
Michael

Can't believe 4 years have lapsed since first starting this model but sadly this build started to slacken after a while due to various circumstances. However, pleased to advise we have picked things up again and whilst I am sure there is a considerable gap in my photo record let me already share the very latest to show where I am with things - finished the 4.5' gun turret last night, worked on the funnel and gave the superstructure some colour. Enjoy,
 
E