Vivian Galad

Some more pictures:
 
    All windlasses instaled - I´m testing a cam tripod on those ones
 

 

 

 

Some more pics
 
   Last week I´ve got myself entangled with my ship´s windlasses. On AL instructions there are 6 of them and so, I began to cut, sand and drill the small pieces of wood.
 

 
   After lots of it, I realised AL didn´t send all the wood I needed - frustration! Got some time sorting it out till finally decided to use another type of wood from my scrapbox (this one, some brazilian wood - still have to know what type it is):
 

 
   As the first attempt was a fumble, thought some testing would be great and read carefully about what the windlass should look. AL gave me some metal for bars, first I painted them black, to a poor result - after scanning lots of immages I found that metal wasn´t common for that purpose and so, made some bars from toothpicks:
 

 

 
   Following, the barless windlass, and then, the ready one - already varnished (still shining):
 

 

 
   Next entry I´ll bring the boxes and containers I´ll keep on junk´s compartment.
 
(After reading my own post and seeing my pictures, a thought comes to mind - I really do need more light for my workbench)

Ulises, obrigada pelo carinho até aqui. ^^ (thanks for the care till now) And don´t worry, I´ll be here for some time, yet.
 
Schnu, I´m glad to read it. Cabin is the most important mod I did. Still others to come, though.
 
Hey, Casey, some time since I last saw u ^^. Hope u´re better from your illness - I´m doing fine in my recovering, I think . Just some more steps before the rigging and I´m interested in that too. tyty

As promised, new photos from my ship - once it was the Red Dragon, don´t know if I can still call it that.
 
 
First of all, some explanation on what I did. I made the cabin so it would look plausible enough; windows should be part of it. Inside the cabin I made a molding for it and outside it was rough. Using some wood from my scrapbox I did the same windows molding  on the outside.
 

 

 
Gave some curves to them so it could look a bit original - and the most different from kit´s windows.
 
Last time I had put the first side rail. Now I´ve finished the second and on overall, ship looks like this:
 

 
Following my fellow modelists opinions, molded the door frames. Also fixed doors to their proper places - they won´t be functional as I wanted at the beginning of her making.
 

 

 
Had to sand some more after I tainted some deck details. As she´s coming up some thoughts come to mind - little lessons I hope to have learned. 1. Never ever do things hastily. The time u lose after making things that way will not compensate why u did it in first place. 2. Take some time to think on what u´r going to do. If I had tainted all dark wood before fixing it, lots of work on sanding would not be necessary. 3. If u´r going to modify a kit, make a list of all modifications u want to do and try to figure it out before reaching the point of bringing them to life - try not to get too many creative while building, too. 4. Everything u learn from MSW has to be put to though - it means nothing when u learn something and just let it linger on your mind - make it worth.
 
That´s all for now. Many thanks for the tips, following, liking and everything.
 
Here goes some extra pics:
 

 

Well, as I promised, here are some pics. Hope to get to her as soon as possible - since this is what I did about a month ago.
 

Here I was on a start to make side rails and all.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the original plans from AL, there is no planks on the inside, as no stanchions to hold everything up. As my feelings said it wasn´t possible, I searched some pictures to confirm and see that´s all necessary - AL has being putting some wrong in our world I would say.
 
That´s all, for now. My main occupation now will be the doors to the cabin, since I want them to be functional. Already lost some time in that, since scale won´t help. Any ideas are always welcome ^^

Frank, u´r welcome. If not for the light, ppl would barely see something in there. After some thought I found myself lazy on letting my bed be the way it was. ^^
 
Popeye, I have already added the stanchions and cap rail. Kit´s instructions really passed over that and the ship as it´s shown, has this major failure to it. The beams are there, though - but I´ll have to modify them. No fore decks on plans and thanks for the tips. As I evolve in building these ships, more I come to the realization scratch is the way.
 
Sam, never thought u doubted ^^. Only brought the info for I had it on hand. The candle use on ships is more an economic problem than fear for fire. Before 1500s candles were too expensive - wax candles, which were 20% brighter and lasted 2 times more than animal fat candles (the more common type used) were 4 times more expensive. Oil was abundant and so, had it´s price better placed for using on ships. Starting at the 16th century, wax candle fabrication technology improved and then, became popular. Many thanks for the compliment. ^^

Frank, thanks ^^ No problem in saying my technique. I used two coats of bitumen wax over sanded yelowish wood - The AL mukali wood seemed too clear to me, and something that needed some staining. Since I´m a wax fan, that´s what I used. Sanded, waxed, cleaned it with a rag, then waited for it to dry. Repeated the process to fill better gaps and holes. That´s it!
 
Sam,
 

Quinn, 1999 - Shipboarding Lighting: AD. 400 - 1900
 

 
Since I depict a ship from early Ming Dinasty, on the 15th century (well, that´s what I´m trying, at least), no candles.

Mark, they´re part of sutras on the grass style, copied from a caligrapher from the song dinasty on the Ming dinasty - That´s what would be found in most official buildings since during the Yuan and Ming dinasty the neo-confucionism was the ruling philosophy - and the explanation why the emperor and noble families were who they were. The two of them are parts of the heart sutra, one of the most important sutras for Buddhists.

Well, some more pictures - have been working on cabin to finally go back to other parts of the ship.
 

 

 

 

 
Hope u like it. ^^

Some new pics from my cabin. Got two days working on my furniture - now I´ll make the floor. ^^
 

 

 

 

 

 
 

As I can´t let a little accident put me down, got to my ship today, again. Well, not the ship properly, but it´s furniture. As the cabin will be shown, needed some reliable furniture to go within. As there is little immages and texts regarding medieval ships´ furniture in China, had to go through the common furniture for homes and monasteries.
After some immages and reading, found that chinese beds on ancient times, and medieval included, were seen not only as a place to sleep, but to lay on, sit, like a chair or a couch.
 
Some examples:
 

 

 

 
So, after these references, I did mine chinese bed. As almost all beds presented were canopied ones, mine is too. The difference is I made it simpler - beds on ships can´t have all those traceries and perilous elements to hit your head on. Still, the canopied bed can be a good place to hold you on a stormy sea, at least I think.
 

 

 

 
The fabric used for the bed is silk. I won´t make it a pirate junk - think it´ll be more like an ambassador´s ship. I´ll make a chest, a chair and a desk, for instance - but I´m very open to suggestions ^^
 
 

Some more pics for you.
 
After that movie about the construction of a traditional junk, gave some thought about how should look my compartment - so, after some testing, got a chinese red for the paint, over a hand of yellow. The result as follows
 

 
After that I fixed the deck. Well, I fixed and took it out after the glue dryied cause on a closer look, it was assymmetric. Seems the weight made it slide over the glue on the fore.
 

 

 
Then I got to my cabin. Since the AL ship is not so big as those described by medieval travelers, got just one cabin. Compartments should be load only if the ship was a merchant one - and part of them were used by the crew for sleeping most of the time. As I intend to have an explorer ship, or a pirate one, no need to have cabins for this or that person besides the one in charge.
 

 

 

 

 

 
As u can see, my doors shall be completely different from the kit. After some measurements I saw that scale wasn´t right, since people would have to be 1.2m hight to avoid knocking their heads on the ceiling. Doors were too small too - so, I augmented all of it to be something more close to reality - now my doors stand about 1.8m and about 2.2 for the ceiling.
 
Got my first accident on cutting wood, today. No big time, but got two nails on my left forefinger, as the scalpel cut it´s way through...

So, have been on my Red Dragon and here are the results:
 
First planking of the hull finished. Used the nails from the kit and decided to keep them.

 
internal view

 
After that, sanded, sanded, sanded and got a smooth sensation on sliding my hands across the hull.

 
Decided to put a movable deck on the bottom of the compartment I´ll show. Everything shall be painted dark red down there.

 

 
Began hull´s second layer planking. Did not like the wood shine, but after a little sanding, it goes away. Hope the varnishing don´t bring it back.

 
As planking the hull is a slow process, began to work on my false deck, opening a hole before planking. After that, lined the bulkheads on the false deck and began to plank. The hole is there for the compartment view.

 

 
And that´s it for now. Practicing patience while the glue dries!! =D
 
 

Well, before my pictures, some info:
 
The enormous dimensions of the Chinese ships of the Medieval period are described in Chinese sources, and are confirmed by Western travelers to the East, such as Marco Polo, Ibn Battuta and Niccolò da Conti. According to Ibn Battuta, who visited China in 1347:
It comes from Wikipedia, but some works I´ve read come to sustain what is said (mainly Phd thesis). That put, here comes my progress:       For these, some explanation. Here is my first modification - After the videos and thesis I´ve seen/read, I thought I could show the inside of a bulhead compartment. For that I opened a hole on the false keel - chinese junks have no keel, at least, not a western conception one. That means it´s build solely on the planking, itself, with no guiding midsection stand. After planking I´ll take the remaining false keel bits.               The info above is to justify why I should open the upper hull/sterncastle. I still have to think if my junk will be a pirate one or one from Zheng He´s Armada. A bit more of research to know.    

Sam, I´ll give some thought on it.
 
Meanwhile, found this video in youtube:

 
Great information on it.

Sam, I´ll keep that in mind - no sharp tools when drinking - no finger dance! As for my joints, I´ll make a new window frame all lapped jointed. That first one was more of an experience. Next I´ll do with more care. Treenails at this scale can be tricky.

Mark, I´m already intending on buying the Cocca Hanseatica plans from Euromodels, let me just recover from the last buy (3 kits on a row were a bit expensive, since I paid a lot of taxes). Then, only the time can say what I´ll do! Darkside calling is too strong.
 
Doretolmin, lots of fun, lots of research. I´ll get there on the scratch.
 
Grant, I´ve been looking through a lot of immages from this type of vessel and discovered that there´s a lot of freedom on building them ships, since the junks are there for about 2.8k years. There are a lot of variants regarding riverine types and seagoing vessels and regions. As I put on scale, the window didn´t seem too large, yet, I´ll try not to hurry and be careful on instaling the windows. Doors I´ll keep the kit´s, cause I can just put some hinges and open them. Lots of work and fun on the next days. A question, though; can the modelist go for the beverages too?
 
Popeye, as said before, I´ll be very careful on scaling, but the cabin has to be seen, that´s for sure. A pin pusher sounds nice, I´ll be searchin for it. Ty for the tip! =*

Daniel, in truth, yes. I thought the metal fittings too small to be a good peering hole to my cabins (if I opened holes on them, for example), so it would be if I made the new window frame in the same scale. As the size I choose is still small, on a scale for 1:60, I have a window of about 1,2m x 0,8m. Not so bad. ^^
 
Max, still thinking what I´ll need to do for that, but I will! =D

Well, was just experimenting and did this:
 

 
That´s the first modification on the kit, since this brass windows won´t be glued to my ship. Also, as I wish to have cabins or something of the sort, windows need holes, so ppl can peer inside. Thinking about some led to throw light in there too.
 
It seems a good window frame or should I work a little harder on them?

Casey, it seems good, but for the shortage of parts. I counted it and there´s almost no spare so I´ll have to be careful. Already talked about the brass fittings that I´ll substitute by mine own. On overall, it´s a good kit and instructions seem to be easy, at least in spanish, but already noticed some strange translations to english, a little childish I would say. Wood is good, better than I got with the Caravel kit.

Hey Ollie, take a seat!!! She is a view, really. I have to confess I know little about chinese ships in general and, since I´m focused on medieval ships, my red dragon have to show that. Lots of study on my horizon. I´ll give a look on the sampan ^^
 
Jerome, let me see... got some port wine and sake, or some coignac, maybe? Beer, there´s always beer on my fridge.

Hi again and well, I coundn´t hold myself that much. 3 days after finishing my caravel I´m beginning a new project and hope you all enjoy it. Took me 3 months and some days to my last ship to be finally complete, and, today I started a new counter ^^ (not that I want to beat it).
 
So, first thing first, I´ll say my impressions on the kit. I bought it from an e-bay auction. The box is a little bit worn, with some small scratches on the fringes. Since the kit is from the 80´s, there´s that look in it:
 

 
Opening we can see a good care with pieces and wood, all arranged in a practical manner. My last experience was a bit disappointing regarding opening the box, cause the fittings and everything else were almost thrown in the box, with no preoccupation about the pieces´ overall look. AL, in other hand, do know how to sell it´s fish.
 

 
Unboxing the fittings box I found a beaultifull set of small wooden and metal parts. Loved the distribution and care. Didn´t like the brass fittings for doors and windows, or even the lanterns - decided those will be made by me.
 

 
The wood planks with pre-cut parts are easy to cut. It´s not laser cut, since in 1989 it wasn´t that common, lol. There´s a fine selection for woods, all woods. I detached the first parts to take the false keel and mount the structure.
 

 
For this build I just designed a holder - Big change for better, for my last ship was builded almost in my lap, or on the kit´s base, which devastated my hull, as I saw sometime after the mistake. So, false keel on holder ready to receive framing.
 

 
After cutting and sanding the frames, got numbers to them so I could follow the instructions - and make no mistakes.
 

 
So, I took care to align all frames with the false keel, since some of them needed some fixing to go smooth with the keel. After that I glued them and the girders, as follows
 

 

 

 

 
I got the impression that it was a little bit crooked and drawn a line to compare, but was just an impression. Began first planking but need to buy a small hammer, so, all paused till I buy one.
 
Other consideration - after studying the plans I found it easy to give the ship some cabins. With a little modification on the castle I can put some nice furniture inside the ship and, following Doris inspiration, will let the windows and doors show the inside (after scratching my own windows and doors, of course).
 
Well, that´s it!

Thanks, Louie! I sleep looking to my ships. I'll get back to her as soon as I find the wood l need to close all cabins and such. This modifying thing of mine requires some extra wood 😬

Thanks Popeye! Good to see you here! I'll be rigging them sails in no time! (Well, soon, I Hope). 

Thanks, Louie! I sleep looking to my ships. I'll get back to her as soon as I find the wood l need to close all cabins and such. This modifying thing of mine requires some extra wood 😬