BLACK VIKING

Late pics of my shipyard :
 

I've been having a play with mixing colours and trying some pre shading for the first time in the cockpit. I'm trying to get somewhere close to this..
 

 
First I built it up and then primed it with Vallejo Black

 

 
Then fairly heavily pre-shaded with white, all paints are Vallejo Air range by the way. 
 

 
Then I mixed a combination of olive green, BS dark green, black, white and yellow until I thought it was close and then thinned to about 50%. Then applied 3 coats gradually. 
 

 
I'll let that dry now and see how it looks. Then I'll hand paint the rest and do some light weathering. As it's going to be in a museum it shouldn't look too shabby I'm thinking. 
 
 
 
 

There we go 😀 Thanks EG.
 

Hi all, 
 
So I've finished the engines, well almost, still the exhausts to add to the rear of them although I don't think they will be visible at all.
 
I'm pretty pleased with these though.
 

 
Shame that not too much is visible when built up... Dry fit test to see what they will look like reveals not much!
 

Slow and steady progress. 
 
There are 72 parts per engine. You can't fault the detail. And that's before you put the exhaust stacks on.
 
If the rest of the kit has this much to it though, I'll finish sometime around Xmas....2026! 😁

Photo time

3
 
After all surfaces were treated, the barrel looked like the photo. The length is 120 cm.

The painting was done with two shades of brown and black to get a weathered rusty surface. The inside of the barrel still needs to be made matt black.

The mouth of the barrel is a bit rounder, as the examples often show.

The breech has to be slid into the back.

The breech during the assembly of the parts. Which was entirely according to the method of the barrel.

The breech ready to be painted.
 

In the Dutch language, a breech was called a "snelleke". It resembled a beer mug in appearance and the medieval name of a beer mug was "snelleke". In reality, this barrel would have weighed 95 kg but now only 40 kg.

This is the situation on this day. It will take somewhat longer before I can show you more
 
Constant
 

The main yard was finally also finished so far, here is an overview of the collection of all the blocks that have now snuggled together. Always seen from both the front and the aft. And as already written earlier, the stirrups and foot horses will only be smoothed and provided with gravity during the final installation.





The center of the yard with the chain sling ...





... and the yard arm, 9 blocks in 8 sizes :-0





Then came the exciting moment, the test hanging http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif

First the lifts.






Then the yard tackles with outer tricing line.



And usually as last the braces.





And there is another little tidbit that is not normally seen on models. According to Steel, the rope slings were replaced by chain slings in wartime, as can be seen in the pictures of the lifts. Consequently, the forward-facing preventer braces should also be fitted. These replaced the double pendant of the braces of the 1760s. For this purpose, the brace was attached to the rearmost shroud of the foremast, ran to a block on the front of the yard, back to a block on the rearmost shroud and from there to the forecastle.



Exciting.

XXXDAn

Thank you, Ian. A majority of the stern work is completed, the gun port lids are installed and added the grid design above the upper glass panes to closely resemble that of the Pett painting, for this I gold leafed tulle as this stood out better than gold paint. Up next, I'll be reworking the rudder before moving back the beak head. As always, I appreciate you all stopping by and taking a peek. 
 
Michael D.
 
 

While I planned to sheath the hull with an epoxy/'glass layer for strength and watertightness, I wanted to try a proper planking technique as discussed on the "Modeling Techniques" portion of this site for practice.  My drafting board drawer still had some rolls of 1/8" wide drafting tapes, so I utilized them to help define the bands of planking which would be necessary.

The tapes certainly assisted eyeballing fair curves around this 3 dimensional curvilinear shape.  Once the locations seemed suitable, as recommended  I divided the space within the bands at each frame into equal widths and marked that frame.  To transfer the plank width markings to the other side of the hull. I overlayed a clear plastic strip on the marked frame, put dots on the plastic and then shifted the strip to the same frame on the other side. An awl was used to punch through the strip at the appropriate points. The divots were then highlighted with a pen.

The inboard edges of garboards would initially meet at the centerline "above" the keelson, so these planks were made about 2-1/2 times wider than the "standard" planks. The keel would sit on a flat formed by planing the garboards back from the centerline 1/2 the width of the keel, which would visually return the garboards to a more normal double width.  The two runs of broads would follow at a width of about 1-1/2 times standard plank widths before the rest of the planking was to follow.

The transition of the rabbet line aft was adjusted by gluing on thin, tapered pieces of basswood to each side of the projecting deadwood from about station 7 aft to the stern post.

By the end of March, planking began to progress (though there were the occasional mis-steps). 

Offering up a piece of planking stock for scribing in as a broad strake
 

The sword will be replaced with a 1795 Naval Pattern

Scratch that, apparently it's awful. 
 
 

Belaying Foremast Jeers, Nave Line and Jeers
I spent some time looking at plan sheets 15 to 19 to check the various belaying points for the foremast rigging.  With reference to the Fore Mast (Aft) aka Main Topbowline Belay Pin Rack I ended up allocating the belaying assignments as shown in the photo below, noting I included the plan sheet belaying reference as an aide memoir.

I did note in Longridge's book the inner tricing line is shown belayed to one of the shroud cleats, so I might revert to that option when I get round to adding that rigging.
 
The next photo shows the Nave Line which is linked to the truss pendents and then dropped down to the deck via a single block attached to the rear of the fore platform.

The next photo shows the jeer blocks and sling

The next photo shows the fore mast (aft) belaying rack, after the various rigging ends had been belayed. The unused belaying points will be used for the inner tricing line and the outer & mid main course bunt lines.

The next two photos shows the truss pendants double block belaying arrangement.

In the next photo the jeer can also be seen being fed through the lower left hole in the bitt pin.

Moving on now to the instructions for step I, as shown below, it was time to tackle some of the trickier parts to apply to the ship.

 
    The tape backed gilded finish ornamental railing facing parts T6 & T8 had to be stuck into place at the stern with their top edges even with the top edges of the existing railings. While they had to butt into the transom trim and align with all the openings, they also needed to blend into parts T9 and T10 (to be added next) and cover the canopy cover tabs at the same time. It took me numerous dry fits before working out an approach to doing all of that before removing the tape backing to permanently attach them, but it worked out fairly well.
     Doing the longer railing sections was done similarly, but the very fact that they were so long, made them difficult to keep lined up for their full length. Try as I might, they would not quite reach all the way to the head-rails. (That had yet to be installed!) I think that it had something to do with the fact that they were single pieces trying to match the numerous jointed hull sections. I think that it was somewhat of an accumulated error.
    The head-rail assembly, normally a complex arrangement, was greatly simplified in the kit. Part #203 had four gilded finish upper rails and two lower black rails. Continuing with the skeleton motif, there were ten (although the plan only showed eight) taped back number T1 vertical rail parts that were actually stretched out skeletons. I applied them to the rails before actually setting the assembly on the ship, since it was easier to apply pressure to secure them on a solid backing without deforming the rails. The assembly was secured to the ship by slipping the bent middle portion into a slot just behind the figurehead and two additional tabs into corresponding slots on the bow.
    And yes, that is when the noticeable gap in the joint showed up. While not totally satisfied with the results, I felt it was close enough. (Or as my father was always fond of saying “close enough for government work.)😇
    Here are a few photos of this step.

 

 

 
    Next up is adding the remaining deck fittings and the bowsprit.

One wheel assembly completed with the 40 steel spokes…should add interest to the model. Replaced the inflation nipple with a bit of leftover brass from Mikasa, and painted the spoke nipples around the rim. They looked kind of cool left as brass but I think painted is a probably a little more realistic. Overall I’m quite happy with the outcome as opposed to the plastic version.

It really has
 
Here's mine, had Ninja's and various others but there's just something brilliant about this bike.

With the port side also ready, the standards are made to height. A simple way to measure, is to use a wooden plank as a template.

 
A mold for the semi-circular gun ports. This is slightly conical, so up to the arrow and no further, otherwise the hole is too big.

Ready.

This is how far we have come, next is the last piece of planking on the bow.

Thanks for following

So a bit more bedtime research on the engine and I think I've found some better references images for the engine. And also some stand ideas to display it. 
 
 
 

And here we are, the finished Diorama.
 
Thanks for all the comments and likes along the way

Very well done, David, I think this is the first one I have seen fully complete, she looks very nice indeed!

The Ensign has been painted by my daughter Kate and I have rigged it on a separate line. I used steam to set it and tried to impart some feeling of movement to it. I’m not sure if I’ve succeeded or whether I like the way it hangs. I’ll think about it for a while.




 
 
Anyway that was the finishing touch and so my first effort of building a ship from Vanguard Models is complete. I like the way that the basic hull slots together so easily and the laser etched bulwarks and deck add to the simplicity of the build. Trial was fun to do and makes a lovely model
I have already received my next ship, HMS Speedy, from Chris but I’m inclined to lay my own deck and bulwarks on this build. I’ve a few weeks to mull it over while on holiday in Shetland before making a start.
 
Thanks to everyone for looking in and for all the helpful comments and support.
 
David
 

It's  been a while since my last update but work has progressed, albeit very slowly. 
 

I changed my mind (again) about removing the excess ABS, mainly because it would have been impossible to hold the internal stringer/gunwhale(?) in place with it sill there. So I went ahead and removed the excess ABS, and then positioned the stringer/gunwhale and the internal (fake) ribs. I also drilled out the hole for the propellor shaft and cut the access hole for the rudder support strip that extends from the keel. I decided to replace the kit-provided stuffing tube and propellor shaft with some after-market parts from Float-a-Boat in Melbourne (following the lead of Wayne (@a49kid)). At the same time, I ordered some universal joints and a brass propellor to replace the kit-provided plastic one. Unfortunately, with the additional thickness added by planking the entire hull, a propellor of the same size (40mm) will not fit. I’m still deciding as to the exact size that I will use, but it will be either 35mm or, more likely, 30mm.
 
The picture below shows the internal ribs in place along with the stuffing tube and propellor shaft temporarily positioned. I may well need to adjust the length of the stuffing tube/propellor shaft once I’ve got the steam plant sorted.
 

 
Before proceeding further with the hull, I needed to sort out the steam plant and its positioning/securing in the hull. That meant doing a trial run of the plant. I bought this plant from Miniature Steam Models (MSM) over 18 months ago and had not done any final assembly and testing to date. It comes almost fully assembled, requiring only the attachment of the steam line (from boiler to engine) and the gas line from gas tank to boiler. Unfortunately, for some reason the steam line was a few mm too short to be connected. This was very surprising as MSM have a very good reputation for quality. 
 
Anyway, I enlisted the assistance of a fellow Canberra modeler who is something of a guru on all things steam engines. He advised cutting the existing pipe and inserting a short joining section to make up the length required. He also very kindly machined up the required part and silver soldered it in place for me. The result can be seen in the picture below, highlighted by the red circle. We did a short test that proved the join was secure and together we are now conducting some “set-to-work” trials.
 

 
There are still a few other issues to deal with before proceeding with the hull, but I hope to resolve those in the next few days.

Aaaand . . . done. I will post the Big Reveal tomorrow. Time for bed now!
 

 
And one more shot of the one-time adversaries together.
 

 
G'nite!

Morning all, it was the model show yesterday, an enjoyable wander around for a couple of hours. I thought I'd share some pics.
Interestingly I didn't see a single built B-25, I did see quite a lot of Sea Kings though and a lot of Lancasters and Spitfires, no surprise there. 
 
There were some fantastic dio's, a world record attempt at the largest model railway, some amazing railway set ups that must have been a whole project in themselves to get them there and set up. 
 
 

It looks very good to me 
Martyn