md1400cs

Nigel, Beautiful update. I'm also really enjoying watching your build. Did you insert brass sleeves in your forward canon openings? It might just be a refection, but it looks so excellent. Regards, Michael

Joachim, Those boats look really wonderful. Beautiful custom added details...nice update. I'm glad that you have found time to, again, work on this beautiful project. Regards, Michael

Peter, That cutter will look great. Nice update ! Michael

Matti, Your bow view from above is so perfect Whoa, looks so original to the 1:1. Have"fun"with the lattice walkway pieces, they take a lot of time. Nice when done but labor intensive especially if you will be using that 1628 line drawing as I did. I will look forward to your always great updates. PS: If you are going to put toilets on each side of the bow, don't make my mistake. I put them in the wrong place. I had installed the lateral belaying pin braces first. Then put the two halves together.Turns out they (pin braces) were attached too low, so the "first class" toilets had to go really up front (:-) MIchael

Andre, Nice pics of the 1:1 You and Matti are so helpful... Ulises is right, your resurrection of this almost destroyed example is really astonishing. PS: Ulises is the MASTER with rigging for the Vasa. His work is beautiful and perfect. He also has one of those amazing rope making machines. Regards, Michael

Vince, Super nice details. You are working on the area that will "freak me out" when I get there (standing and running rigging) Yours looks so good. I will have to do a lot of studying to get to the details that you, and others are at. Congrats.... Regards, Michael

Mark, Nice updates. I don't think I noticed which manufacturer your's is from? The Bobinnette gilded pieces are very much like the original. You are also making some really nice upgrades, looking excellent. Nice for we Vasa guys to have so many pics of the original. Were spoiled in that regard. Cheers, Michael

Matti, looking really good. Your bow doors are excellent. They look very much like the original. Also your kit has a much more correct bowsprit entrance. The Corel is very incorrect. Again I like the look of the aging hull...Nice touch. PS: Thanks for your help with mine [Vasa photos you took of hull drains(:-) ] Regards, Michael

Ferit, As usual, beautiful work. Michael

Jüergen, Thanks so much. I appreciate being compared to artists who scratch build plank by plank in the same sentence. They are the pure artists. Michael

GMT Thanks for your super kind remarks. you are right, with the original just a few thousand photos away, and several books near by it does, in fact, make things a bit more problematic. However, it does add to the challenge to meet the standard. PS: I have been following your Santisima, beautiful ship, and your build will be outstanding. Regards, Michael

Ferit, you are such a superlative artist, so your words add special significance. Thank you. Your Berlin is one of the most viewed current builds on MSW as it should be (:-) Regards, Michael

Thanks Joachim. You have been very helpful with my project, very much appreciated. I will look forward to your progress when you have time to post. Regards, Michael

Guys, Kevin that seems to be the way, yes I was squeezing too hard Hmmm Thanks gents, Michael

BD, I ended up nicking a couple of them when I used small pliers to attempt to return the ring part around the dead eyes. There is a small nick on the pic I posted.

Hi again (too soon I imagine) J Pett, so nice of you to attach me with a hook of some kind. Your Rattlesnake is remarkable. If I was a minor catalyst, well I'm very honored, thanks for mentioning it; I think? Mark, I look forward to your Segal Vasa updates. We all grow and learn from each other. My efforts here have been a wonderful growth experience by looking into other's builds on MSW and learning from their notations as they go along. All good !!. This build, and how it is coming along is in great part because of what I have learned here. Thanks folks.... ZyXuz thanks for your, always, encouraging notations. ----------------------------- So, in my zeal to retro-build this boat, here is my latest re-build. I was not "comfortable" with the bow transverse railing, so I removed it. The pics are self-explanatory so no need to describe any of theses. The first pic is obviously my original effort. The in-between pics are my re-model, and the last is, of course, a pic from our Vasa bible. I don't have Clayton Johnson's gift, or anyone else’s for that matter in regard to sculpturing, so I purchased generic gilded stanchions and painted them. It's a compromise, but I'm more comfortable with this "look" than my original effort. As I move on I will, however, try my hand at "sculpturing" I need to build to lower braces for the two catheads, and also fashion wooden trim pieces on each side of the flag pole just above the rounded gilded piece at the stern. Thanks for stopping by, and for all of your super nice posts. Regards, Michael

Ferit, Love your ten dollar word. That was a new one for me (:-)

Hi Everyone, I purchased these as a set. I assumed (there's that word again) that they would be pre assembled. Is there a "trick on how to assemble them without destroying the dead eyes, as I did on my first attempt. It's prob. staring me in the face but I can't see it. Any advice will be appreciated. Regards, Michael

Hi Mark, This Vasa is becoming a quite popular project. I'm happy that you are sharing your build. Certainly looking good. You have really captured this colorful ship very nicely. Regards, Michael

Hi Jürgen, I just discovered your Leopard while admiring Ferit's Berlin. You had posted a response on his build threads. I think that he is right (:-) You artists who scratch build are really amazing. I will follow your Leopard with great admiration and pleasure. Regards, Michael

J Pett, I only see the steps forward, and those are "keep on truckin" steps. Sweet build. I'm also learning a lot from you. Regards, Michael

Wacko Wolf, Kevin, Matti thanks guys for your nice words, very much appreciated. Ferit regarding that large drain, Im not sure what you are asking? This large square drain is one of the six that service the upper gun deck, Please note the line drawing as a reference. Also the Vasa photos were taken by Matti. When he visited the museum he told me that he would take these drain photos to help me out. Matti they did (:-) I may have to re-do those two drains, because they should,of course, cut into the hull side timbers. Mine don't, and its a visible flaw. Ferit I hope this answers your question. Again everyone thanks for stopping by. I will have an update for my rebuilt bow railing very soon. Regards, Michall

Lin, Super nice. Your weather deck gratings have been perfectly captured. Beautiful. Also your canon carriages are perfect, along with everything else as well. I will enjoy following your build. Regards, Michael

Matti, Love the look of your ship. Works very well. Nice, very nice !! Regards, Michael

21/07/2014 reloaded some deleted pics Timothy, and NM Brook, thanks so much for your encouraging words, they are always appreciated. Ron, special thanks as well for your very detailed and informative prose (as well as your praise of my project, whoa, undeserved, but thanks a million). Your prose was absolutely not too esoteric, on the contrary, from your input we, who are Vasa nuts have certainly learned a lot. As I have posted previously, I regretted not painting the "clinker" panels [just learned that word (:-)] a bright red. Well your discovery is very sweet music to my eyes. It retrospectively rationalizes my not painting those timbers. I must have been visionary, when I decided to instead use darker wood for the highlights could they be terra cotta??? ha ha.... It does, however, open a can of worms; why would the 1/10th, then have such garish colors, if in fact they were actually much more muted, and much less intricate especially the gallery upper timbers that also have white scalloping? None-the-less it now makes us all more "relaxed" about the paint issue for our Wasas. Thanks. Since the remodel, and enlargement of the museum, it must be even more spectacular. Ron, you certainly had a rare opportunity being hosted by one of its researchers. Yes that museum is a "monster" as it should be. I loved my visit there in the mid 90s. I NEED to go back. And yes Ron, I am familiar with Clayton's Vasa. I must have every pic, and seen every YouTube video about his project. This guy "walks on water" and the lake aint frozen !! Thanks for pointing him out. His build has been a wonderful catalyst for me. ------------------- A current minor update; I constructed and installed the four hull windows near the galleries. As you can see I used two sizes of grating for the frames. One caveat; as you know gratings are always loose and just crossed braced. I had to make sure that the "back sides" were firmly glued together, so that they would hold together when cut, and adjusted for fit. It took several attempts to get four that met my needs. I also added two hull drains that show up in occasional Vasa photos. It took me a long time to even "see" that little bit of detail. Again thanks all of you who are kind enough to pass through and visit this build, with added huge thanks to those of you who take the time to leave feedback and encouragement. Thanks so much....Have moved forward by removing the bow lateral railing. Rebuilding it, mine was all wrong. Regards, Michael