BLACK VIKING

Cheers for the likes guys 
Some more done on the 109
The fuselage and wings have been panted. Didn't quite know how to do the small blotches on the sides as I don't own a airbrush so used a cut down stiff brush. It doesn't look too bad I think 🤔 
Not sure how to do the weathering. If you have any ideas please let me know 
Cheers again 
Martyn 

Hi all  more done on the build 
The engine has been fitted to the fuselage and the undercarriage fitted to the wings 
The spinner was painted white when dry the mask was applied and painted black I think it turned out ok
The engine cowl has been painted 
Next job painting the fuselage 
Thanks for the likes 
Martyn 

Cheers for the likes guys 
Some more done on the 109
The fuselage and wings have been panted. Didn't quite know how to do the small blotches on the sides as I don't own a airbrush so used a cut down stiff brush. It doesn't look too bad I think 🤔 
Not sure how to do the weathering. If you have any ideas please let me know 
Cheers again 
Martyn 

Wing framing begins. I might have had the wing framing done today except for the fact that I glued the first half-dozen parts together incorrectly and had to gently disassemble them before I could start over with attempt #2. I'm just glad I discovered the problem before I had gotten any farther! 😮

The radiator is finished. Looks simple enough, until you look at the diagrams.
 

 
One can build the model with the radiator air flow control flap open or closed. I chose to show it closed. I realize that if the flap is hydraulically controlled, that it may drop open if the aircraft loses hydraulic pressure when the engine is cut off, like when the aircraft is on the ground, but I just like the closed look better. Same thing goes for flaps, when I get to those; they can be built in the open position, but at the cost of a LOT more work!
 
Here is the finished radiator.
 

 
And the radiator on the model:
 

 
That hideous seam is partly the result of the little bit of error that cropped up when I skinned the cockpit. Remember when I said I hoped it wouldn't eventually bite me in the butt? Well, it did -- but ultimately not too badly. Most, if not all, of this will eventually be hidden by the wing.
 
Just for fun, here's what the seam looks like after being treated with my phone's "magic eraser" editing function:
 

 
As The Old Man in Das Boot would say, "Clever trick!"

And now we have a fuselage, complete with cowl guns!
 

Cheers for the likes guys 
Some more done on the 109
The fuselage and wings have been panted. Didn't quite know how to do the small blotches on the sides as I don't own a airbrush so used a cut down stiff brush. It doesn't look too bad I think 🤔 
Not sure how to do the weathering. If you have any ideas please let me know 
Cheers again 
Martyn 

Several quick updates, then a big question about the aft sheer sweep!
 
I was nervous about the exact placement height of the forecastle circular gun ports, so that my cannon would be exactly centered (I had downsized the gun port holes from 6.7mm ID to 6.0mm ID). I was confident in my calculations, but....I laid the forecastle deck on some wood scraps so that it would lay on the molded deck support on the forward bulwark, and even weighted the deck so it would fit snugly. I then dabbed some marker on the mouth of the cannon and then pressed the cannon/carriage against the front bulwark. I had my mark, and it perfectly agreed with my calculations. I started drilling the gun ports.
 

 
As Marc LaGuardia observed in the post above, I should have the the top third of the gun port circular form exposed, instead of hiding it in framing between the gun ports. I couldn't use the top third of the kit mouldings, as I had downsized the ports slightly. I carved one from Evergreen sheet and and will see if I can make resin copies for the five remaing gun port tops. If not, I will just make five more caps from Evergreen.  
 

 
OK.... sheer lines.
 
I think I am very close to a lower wale sheer line that checks the various boxes. Note that I transposed the wale sheer line to the aft railings above.. the white dotted lines. I think I can do most of the profile work in advance, but save the final profile work until the rear bulwarks are glued to the hull. You can see that I have three sets of dotted lines, anticipating that I will have three different cap rails.
 

 
My question is.... are only three different caprail lines correct? If you look at the VDV drawing below of La Reine, I see only three different sheer lines. I see one long sheer line (red) that combines the poop deck railing and the royal poop deck railing into one long railing (hidden under battle cloth). The next line is the forward area of the quarterdeck exposed to the weather (yellow). This line looks very short in the perspective of the drawing, but in reality, it would be about as long at the poop/royal poop line. The final linal is the very short step (green) just forward of the quarterdeck that then drops to the waist. 
 

 
 
 

Good afternoon dear friends,
It has been a while since I did my last update. Now with with dry fitted top gallants on all masts (Varying degree of finish).

 
 
Best regards
 
Henrik

Added the rear light bar and braces, the number plate and racing number will go over this 

Few more Portland updates. I’m getting closer to finishing the QG’s. 
tomorrow I’m going to work on the lower QG frieze work that goes on the lower roof along with the thin strip of molding, also i have some boxwood scrolls to add!
Should be a fun one.
 
JJ

There was an anchor david found.
Something like this will be build later

Done including wing nuts. Airfix completely ignores the rear brace bf for the lights and bracing for the fuel tank, that’s next 

The splotches with some small sponges, apply randomly. Very, very dilute black of brown India ink in isopropol alcohol. Brush top to bottom, let dry, then add next coat. Repeat until the wash is dark enough for your eye.  Careful with acrylic paints, they might run. Spray Dullcoat or similar to seal the paint before applying this wash. You may want to look into weathering pastels. We have a brand on this side of the pond called Pan Pastels. They sell several sets of colors and their whole range is available as individual colors. 

I am with you regarding the blotches/patches on the fuselage, on these German planes. I had the same issue when putting together that VTOL Focke Wulf. Like you, I used a cut brush. Not ideal, for sure.
 
Yves

Cheers for the likes guys 
Some more done on the 109
The fuselage and wings have been panted. Didn't quite know how to do the small blotches on the sides as I don't own a airbrush so used a cut down stiff brush. It doesn't look too bad I think 🤔 
Not sure how to do the weathering. If you have any ideas please let me know 
Cheers again 
Martyn 

Cheers for the likes guys 
Some more done on the 109
The fuselage and wings have been panted. Didn't quite know how to do the small blotches on the sides as I don't own a airbrush so used a cut down stiff brush. It doesn't look too bad I think 🤔 
Not sure how to do the weathering. If you have any ideas please let me know 
Cheers again 
Martyn 

Cheers for the likes guys 
Some more done on the 109
The fuselage and wings have been panted. Didn't quite know how to do the small blotches on the sides as I don't own a airbrush so used a cut down stiff brush. It doesn't look too bad I think 🤔 
Not sure how to do the weathering. If you have any ideas please let me know 
Cheers again 
Martyn 

Cheers for the likes guys 
Some more done on the 109
The fuselage and wings have been panted. Didn't quite know how to do the small blotches on the sides as I don't own a airbrush so used a cut down stiff brush. It doesn't look too bad I think 🤔 
Not sure how to do the weathering. If you have any ideas please let me know 
Cheers again 
Martyn 

Cheers for the likes guys 
Some more done on the 109
The fuselage and wings have been panted. Didn't quite know how to do the small blotches on the sides as I don't own a airbrush so used a cut down stiff brush. It doesn't look too bad I think 🤔 
Not sure how to do the weathering. If you have any ideas please let me know 
Cheers again 
Martyn 

Hull was painted white. Base board was sanded and repainted in black
 
I will eye into buying / making small drill press. It is very hard to manually drill straight holes with very high accuracy:

A couple more hours yesterday on the hull.  The Admiral visited the shipyard yesterday, although I think this was only because she was looking for a distraction from doing her tax return. I was showing her the stern and bow assemblies in place. Now, bearing in mind that she’s a professional historian, she wanted confirmation that “the bow is the pointy bit and the stern is the ****-end?”
Ok, so I’ll admit that my knowledge of nautical terms doesn’t extend much beyond this either. 
 
In terms of the build, I’ve added some deck beams and built up the gun port parts. The thing that continues to astonish me is how perfectly it all fits together with sub-millimetre precision, and rapidly becomes an imposing model. 
I don’t know anything about the computer design and laser-cutting tech behind these kits, but as I assemble these parts, my feeling is that Chris is using all his experience and every bit of tech innovation possible to create cutting-edge (ha ha) kits in a different league to everyone else. 
 
If I can employ a metaphor here, it feels like Vanguard models is a superfast-broadband company, while all the others are still on dial-up. 
Occre, I mean you here. 

So back to the Bentley and a day on the fuel tank. All the reference photos vary for the tank and it’s protective cage and braces, so I’m going to go off an original car and not models. The wire case is fly screen 

I bought this at a buy swap sell for AUD $100 a few years ago. I’ve been waiting on someone to make some 3D parts that don’t cost more than the kit. A local bloke at Leadfoot models does some lovely car stuff and recently did the wheels, brake drums and the footstep. There is a European mob that does a 3D fuel tank but out exchange rate makes it far more than I paid for the kit. It’s a beautiful car, I won’t show off the engine, others have done that to perfection and I’ll never get that good, so I’ll enjoy it for what I can. 

Welcome back, 
The Corel yacht is finished (learned a lot of new things) and the problem with the foresail knight is solved.
 
2026 started with "demolition work".

And overtired staff (again).

But, a knight (basic), a block and rope was made.

Early 16yh century blocks are "special" and complicated to build.

Knight in place (with the screw)

Test.
This setup can be operated with the capstan.

Deck one back in place

Deck two also

Mary Rose is back on track