catopower

Looks excellent bolin. The tarp and the metal tabs look very realistic. Nicely done.

Chuck, yes, I thinned everything. Just for the record, the paints included in the kit are artist acrylics. They are from a Polish company called Renesans. In the early days of these boxed laser-cut kits, they just included the paint tubes. Later, I think Shipyard bought it cheaper in bulk and filled their own jars. Just curious, which color numbers come in the Wütender Hund kit? Clare

Excellent info, thank you Chris!

Today, I painted the red sheild on the sail. It was definitely challenging painting right up to the inside of the printed lines of the pattern. As you can see, I started by working out the edges of the pattern first, then filled in the middle. The red paint included in the kit is a very, very intense red. the instructions weren't very clear on painting the red color. But, when I look back, I think it is trying to say to mix it with the sail color mix I made earlier. However, I also wanted to darken it a bit. So, I made a batch of red, mixed with the sail color mixture, and added a dab of black paint to it. I wasn't sure how this would look, but I think it works okay. The above image shows the shield painted with what looks like a key image. Definitely a challenge, but I really enjoyed the painting task. One thing I ended up with is a bit of the red color bleeding through to the back side. I tried painting this out on the back with the sail color, which seems to be working okay, for the most part. Next, I have to paint the checkerboard pattern along the edges of the sail. Also, I finished prepping the next couple planks which I'll also be adding to the hull. Clare

Hi Chuck, glad you've started anyway. Yes, I mentioned earlier in my build log that I found I had to thin down the 03 paint so that the lines showed through. Also, that I found it works best to let this dry 24 hours before applying the next color. The streaks that are formed by the brush strokes seem to be normal and I have found that they mostly end up looking a bit like wood grain. Once you get past the fact that they're actually brush strokes, you'll see it that way. My paint ratio mixture is approximate. I just made a batch of the mixture, so that I'd have some generally consistent color mix. But, if you read my notes on the build, you'll see that I actually made a couple different shades. The Hanse Kogge kit does have me add any green to the finish. I think that's a way to get a more naturally weathered look. After applying that final wash (again giving each paint layer 24 hours to dry), I think everything will kind of blend together a little better. Clare

And now for something completely different... Decide that while I'm moving slowly and carefully forward on the hull planking, I'd take a moment to start working on the painting of the sails. There's a single square sail on the ship, with a bonnet laced to the bottom, making 2 pieces to the sail. The sail will be painted with red checkerboard pattern along the sides, and a red shield in the center, bearing a key-shaped pattern. The sail cloth is first painted with a mixture forming a dirty beige color, which actually looks very good for a weather cloth look. In the photo below, you can see where I've painted most of the main sail, but the left side and the bonnet have yet to be painted. The instructions weren't very clear here and I just assumed it was best to paint the whole sail with this mixture first before painting the red markings. I think the beige undercoat will help keep the red paint from bleeding through a lot. Though, maybe it should be allowed to bleed through completely? Anyway, having fun and will start painting the red patterns tomorrow. Clare

Wasn't Paul Lynde in the center? Chuck, I hope you will start a build log. I'm curious about the differences between the Hanse Kogge and the Wütender Hund. And, I think the proper line would be: There's no need to fear. Unter Hund is here!

Hi bolin, I like what you did with the deck houses. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with for the tarpaulin.

Chuck, if your's is Under Dog, does that make mine Shoeshine Boy?

Hi etubino, No, the only "tools" in the kit are the brushes I showed in the photos. I don't exactly know that the tools is that is shown in that picture. A tiny awl, maybe? I plan on simply using a sewing needle to make holes large enough to pass thread through. Probably soak the end of the thread with thin CA glue and then cut a sharp tip after the glue has dried, giving the thread a built-in needle. Clare

And since it was clear that I had some parts sitting around that were pretty much ready to onto the model, I went ahead and added the hatch coamings and gratings. The gratings were from the GPM laser-cut detail set. These have all the holes nicely cut, but oddly enough, there was still a paper backing – the laser didn't cut all the way through the holes. I opened these up by slicing off the back of the gratings. Now, the holes go all the way through. Not that you can see through the ones on this deck. Don't get too excited about the progress. I was just looking over the model and found something I could do easily. I'll get back to the other projects I need to finish now, but this was a fun distraction... Clare

Chuck, I saw the order come through at Ages of Sail, but didn't make the connection that it was you! Didn't it get dropped off this afternoon? Clare

Hi Keith, great series of posts on your HMS Terror build. You've been doing a terrific job. Looking forward to watching your progress. Clare

While I've been focussing on Shipyard's Hanse Kogge laser-cut kit and on finishing my Kitamaebune kit, plus have a few things in the pipeline I need to wrap up, I keep seeing this project sitting on the shelf. The laser-cut kits are much easier, but still, this model seems to still be waiting patiently. I got tripped up when I started working on the furniture for the great cabin. Not sure what to do about that as it's stuff that will be very difficult to see on the completed model. But, I will be looking at it again. Just to tease those who miss this project. The beauty of the Hanse Kogge kit is tempting me to take on the laser-cut HMS Wolf or the much more expensive 1/72-scale HMS Mercury kit when the cog is done. Just food for thought...

Thanks, VTHokiEE. I mostly have been using contact cement applied to both surfaces to be glued together. But, unlike the usual use of this type of cement, I put the pieces together right away. Otherwise, once the parts are together, they're stuck for good. Of course, this is the reason I had the slippage that needed repair. I just wasn't careful enough to make sure the glue had set well enough before moving on. Hi Chuck, if you're talking scratch building, then sure, a "multimedia" model would be fine. There are some beautiful examples of that here on MSW. But, with these Shipyard laser-cut kits, I don't see the point, at least as far as these kits go, since the parts are already so nicely made. Now, the paper kits made by Shipyard feature a similar laser-cut card stock frame, and since planks aren't pre-cut for you in most of the kits, I could see trying to plank them using wood veneer. They also published what they called "Super Modellar Plans", which is a set of plans, plus laser-cut frame and basic hull covering. You're expected to build the rest of the model up from there, including the planking. I've thought one of these might be nice planked with veneer. I have one of these, the Spanish frigate Santa Leocadia. The frames are assembled, but I haven't decided if I want to do anything with it yet. On this latter set, I should point out that they don't produce or sell these any more. However, I have seen them on a Polish card model shop, which I have ordered from in the past, gpm.pl.

Good choice. Looking forward to seeing you get started on it! I started the Phantom as my very first wooden ship model. I was building plastic ship model at the time. But, I enjoyed working in wood so much, I never went back to the plastic kit. That was close to 30 years ago (wow). Good luck with your build!

Another short update on the Hanse Kogge. I've been working on the lapstrake planking and reached the point where it was time to add the keel. Seems like it's not much work done. But, in fact, the keel is made up of the main keel and the knees, if that's the proper term, for the base of the stem and stern posts. Plus, the keel is made up of three separate layers that have to be glued together and each of the knees are made up of five layers. The middle layer of each of the knees is slightly different than the other layers, so that together, they create a notch that later pieces will fit into. This seemed kind of clever to me. I pre-painted the necessary pieces and glued them up. Later, I touched up the paint a bit and then glued them to the hull. I also did the same with the keel at the same time, as I wanted to make sure everything fit correctly and that there were no gaps between the parts. I always find it confusing and have to double check which direction the ship is facing. Even here, as I'm writing, I have to stop and check. The bow is on the left in the photo above. Today I discovered that a couple plank pieces I installed the other day had slipped out of place before the glue set fully. As I've been using contact cement, this required a bit of very careful surgery. It's rather appropriate that I have a scalped on hand for this model. In the following photo, I marked the ends of the knee at the bow with red arrows. The planking slip-up is clear, but I marked it with a big fat green arrow. I repaired this by carefully slipping the scalpel blade under the plank. Of course, what's mostly going on is that I'm cutting into the plank piece itself, and cutting away a thin slice of the back side, which is glued into place. But, this allowed me to reposition the plank, to create the proper overlap. I reglued the piece into place, but now the plank extends a little too far out, as you'll see in the next photo. The plank position has been fixed, and there is no longer an unsightly gap at the bow. I'm not too sure this will affect the later planking, but it seems like it's positioned correctly with the registration marks printed on the stem end piece. Looks like I'll have to trim off the very end though, which also means that I'll have to repaint the nails without the benefit of the little laser-etched circles. I think it will be alright though. The stern knee placement went fine and there are no signs of any planking issues there. Finally, as you can see below, the pieces for the next planking strake are ready for installation. Those two piece to the right are stem and stern post pieces that will go on soon. One other thing I discovered with my model work that I corrected before I wrote this post. I managed to forget to paint the nail heads of the previously attached planks. I took care of those first thing. Must have been tired!

Hello Bolin, Nice progress you are making on your model! One of the early models I built was the Billing Boats Bluenose II, which was one that was built in two halves. I found that the system works quite nicely. I like the way you're resolved some of the issues with bending the plywood. I haven't looked at the other build logs, but I wonder if they have always provided plywood. It's my recollection that a different type of single ply wood used to used more often in their kits. I think it may have to do with where the kits are produced and what materials are readily available. Anyway, looking forward to following your progress here. Clare

Ages of Sail is now carrying the range of Master Korabel kits. Though, for now, the Brig Phoenix and Schooner Polotsk are available only in the higher-end "Plus Edition", and the Tender Avos is only available in the high-end "Special Edition" version with the pear wood planking. Looking forward to getting my hands on one of these lovely kits! Clare

I'd be careful about the effects of alcohol on paper. The acrylic paints provided work very well. But, as you say, you can always try out different things, given the extra time available. Clare

Thank you Druxey. I'm just hoping it will continue that way. Christian, the instructions have you pre-paint everything with color number 03, which is Naples Yellow. I found that it worked best to thin it down, though I don't have a specific formula. It's just thin enough so that it goes on somewhat transparent, so you can continue to see the laser-etched details through the paint. This needs to dry thoroughly before you paint over with the wood colored mixture. I recommend letting it dry over night. This makes a kind of a primer coat, so that the wood colored mixture can go on, well thinned down, without beading on the surface of the paper. The instructions then have you mix paints in a given ratio. The paint colors are 15, 29, and 30, which is Raw Sienna, Burnt Umber, and Black, and the mixture is given as 6:0.25:0.5. To make it simpler, I multiplied it all by 4, so it's 24:1:2. I pre-mixed this into a mini paint pot - the kind that comes in a strip and has an attached lid. These are only something like 0.1 or 0.2 oz each. But, it doesn't take that much paint to cover the model. I filled on up with paint mixture and then I mixed up a couple with a smaller amounts of paint using slight variations of the main ratio. Most parts are painted with the main ratio, while others are painted with the alternate ratio, so there is a very slight variation in colors of the wood. I didn't try to use the wood grain technique they showed in the book. It didn't seem necessary to me at this scale. When I applied the wood colored paint, I applied it very well thinned down, so it goes on a kind of a wash. You need to practice on some of the scrap paper in the kit. The amount of thinning really affects the application of color. The mixture looks dark tan, but thinned down, the wood looks more of a golden brown. You don't want to re-brush over an area too much, or you'll start to strip away the undercoat you painted earlier. If the color is too light, you can go back in another 24 hours and go over it again. You can also do this to add a little color variation across the parts. Of course, you'll want the brush strokes to go along the direction of the imagined wood grain. The most difficult part is probably that some parts simulate many planks all together. You can paint the whole thing at one time and then go back later and apply a thin wash to some of the planks to make them slightly darker, indicating a natural variation in wood sources. Clare

I finished page 11 of the instructions with the completion of the lower planking. But, I found that there is a slight disconnect in the instructions. Here's where I am so far on the planking. Planking has been going quite well. The planks are very well shaped, and go into place very easily, laying right where they need to go. The planks are marked with a thin black line as a guide for laying the next planking strake in clinker fashion. The disconnect I'm describing is simply that instructions don't show the rest of the hull planking that needs to go on in between pages 11 and 12. The last planks I added here are planks 70 and 71, which make up this last strake. It appears that planks 72 through 74 make up the next two strakes, and these need to be added before continuing to the next page of instructions. Not a big deal, but it would have been nice if this were clearer in the instructions. Clare

Chris, thanks for the plug about my build. Very nice kit review! It looks to me like the Wütender Hund kit is nearly identical to the card model version. Perhaps it will entice those people unsure about building from card stock to try a Shipyard kit. Chuck, regarding the planks, a couple minutes on the Internet should answer the questions about the planking: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bremen_cog#/media/File:Bremen_Hansekogge_RolandvonBremen.JPG https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bremen_cog#/media/File:Hansekogge_Bremerhaven_uf.jpg The first are the remains of the Bremen Cog excavated in 1962, the second is a modern reconstruction. I know Shipyard's Hanse Kogge - Bremen 1380 that I'm currently building is based on this reconstruction. I'm not sure of the basis for the Wütender Hund kits, but the plank fitting is similar. I don't know enough about cogs, but their clinking planking and framing seems very much like the Viking longships, in which the overlapping hull planking is nailed together and frames added afterwards – correct me if I'm wrong. Chris, when are you starting??? I know, you answered this question before, but I have to bug you as this is a pretty neat looking kit. Clare

Thank you CDW, Druxey. Druxey, it probably would be easier with a marker. I'm just in such a painting mode that I didn't even stop to think about that. Never heard of a "Pigma" marker before, so I had to look that up too. I'm going to have to try that out. Thanks!

Thanks James. I'm really enjoying it too.