Vivian Galad

Michael, my many thanks. I thought it to be (me as the only woman in the country to build model ships) - I entered some FB brazilian groups and there is only guys in there, basically building local ships or kits. It´s quite motivating to be the only one - or even the first one!
 
cya!

Hear ye! Hear ye! News from the realm!!
 
Vivian´s Chinese Junk got new fittings and it´s main mast - read all here!
 
So, as I said, main mast is installed. Some tackles for the rigging are there too - with some small modifications since AL instructions told me to do it differently. Let us go for the pictures.

 

 
Cannons are there too. I was a little skeptical about cannons at first (since I want a ship from about 1420 - 30). Research helped me to decide keeping them - The first guns found in junks wrecks are dated between 1400 - 1420. Laws from 1530+ dictated trade ships could carry 4 mounted guns and an assortment of small guns, for example. As chinese ships were victims of Wako pirates long before, my ship should carry guns for protection from pirate attacks.
 

 
Fixed my anchor, too. I would prefer a different anchor, to be sincere - AL gave me a 2 armed anchor but most of the chinese junk depictions shows 4 armed anchors. As I didn´t find any works regarding the 15th century chinese anchors, I´ll stay with what I´ve got.
 

 

 
And, last but not less important, my battery box for the lighting (part of the switch, too, since to light the cabin one just have to turn the box to one side)
 

 

 

 
[
 
Last picture shows where the box will be. Two copper stripes will be attached to the box botton. Two other stripes will be coming out from the hole fix - as I explained before, to turn on/off you only need to turn the box till it enchase with the copper stripes.
 

I´ve read from the 3, Mark
 
(Well, I do wish to build Zheng He´s flagship)

Texas A&M has three thesis on Chinese ships.  Might be of some help or maybe not....
 
http://nautarch.tamu.edu/Theses/abstracts/inoue.html
http://nautarch.tamu.edu/Theses/abstracts/herron.html
http://nautarch.tamu.edu/Theses/abstracts/sasaki.html
 
For a full list of what they have: http://nautarch.tamu.edu/academic/alum.htm

Hear ye! Hear ye! News from the realm!!
 
Vivian´s Chinese Junk got new fittings and it´s main mast - read all here!
 
So, as I said, main mast is installed. Some tackles for the rigging are there too - with some small modifications since AL instructions told me to do it differently. Let us go for the pictures.

 

 
Cannons are there too. I was a little skeptical about cannons at first (since I want a ship from about 1420 - 30). Research helped me to decide keeping them - The first guns found in junks wrecks are dated between 1400 - 1420. Laws from 1530+ dictated trade ships could carry 4 mounted guns and an assortment of small guns, for example. As chinese ships were victims of Wako pirates long before, my ship should carry guns for protection from pirate attacks.
 

 
Fixed my anchor, too. I would prefer a different anchor, to be sincere - AL gave me a 2 armed anchor but most of the chinese junk depictions shows 4 armed anchors. As I didn´t find any works regarding the 15th century chinese anchors, I´ll stay with what I´ve got.
 

 

 
And, last but not less important, my battery box for the lighting (part of the switch, too, since to light the cabin one just have to turn the box to one side)
 

 

 

 
[
 
Last picture shows where the box will be. Two copper stripes will be attached to the box botton. Two other stripes will be coming out from the hole fix - as I explained before, to turn on/off you only need to turn the box till it enchase with the copper stripes.
 

Like your switch, I would never be able to find it , or even know there were lights unless told.
jud

Hear ye! Hear ye! News from the realm!!
 
Vivian´s Chinese Junk got new fittings and it´s main mast - read all here!
 
So, as I said, main mast is installed. Some tackles for the rigging are there too - with some small modifications since AL instructions told me to do it differently. Let us go for the pictures.

 

 
Cannons are there too. I was a little skeptical about cannons at first (since I want a ship from about 1420 - 30). Research helped me to decide keeping them - The first guns found in junks wrecks are dated between 1400 - 1420. Laws from 1530+ dictated trade ships could carry 4 mounted guns and an assortment of small guns, for example. As chinese ships were victims of Wako pirates long before, my ship should carry guns for protection from pirate attacks.
 

 
Fixed my anchor, too. I would prefer a different anchor, to be sincere - AL gave me a 2 armed anchor but most of the chinese junk depictions shows 4 armed anchors. As I didn´t find any works regarding the 15th century chinese anchors, I´ll stay with what I´ve got.
 

 

 
And, last but not less important, my battery box for the lighting (part of the switch, too, since to light the cabin one just have to turn the box to one side)
 

 

 

 
[
 
Last picture shows where the box will be. Two copper stripes will be attached to the box botton. Two other stripes will be coming out from the hole fix - as I explained before, to turn on/off you only need to turn the box till it enchase with the copper stripes.
 

Hear ye! Hear ye! News from the realm!!
 
Vivian´s Chinese Junk got new fittings and it´s main mast - read all here!
 
So, as I said, main mast is installed. Some tackles for the rigging are there too - with some small modifications since AL instructions told me to do it differently. Let us go for the pictures.

 

 
Cannons are there too. I was a little skeptical about cannons at first (since I want a ship from about 1420 - 30). Research helped me to decide keeping them - The first guns found in junks wrecks are dated between 1400 - 1420. Laws from 1530+ dictated trade ships could carry 4 mounted guns and an assortment of small guns, for example. As chinese ships were victims of Wako pirates long before, my ship should carry guns for protection from pirate attacks.
 

 
Fixed my anchor, too. I would prefer a different anchor, to be sincere - AL gave me a 2 armed anchor but most of the chinese junk depictions shows 4 armed anchors. As I didn´t find any works regarding the 15th century chinese anchors, I´ll stay with what I´ve got.
 

 

 
And, last but not less important, my battery box for the lighting (part of the switch, too, since to light the cabin one just have to turn the box to one side)
 

 

 

 
[
 
Last picture shows where the box will be. Two copper stripes will be attached to the box botton. Two other stripes will be coming out from the hole fix - as I explained before, to turn on/off you only need to turn the box till it enchase with the copper stripes.
 

Thank you Remco, John and Allan.
 
OK Remco - you asked for it :
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
There are four supports Allan. They work fine at the moment, but as I get into the smaller sizes I'll remove a couple of them and replace them between a couple of the existing ones. BTW - this jig came with the Masting Package.
 
  Danny

Vivian,
 
Great update. Love the shades you have used with the woods. All work beautifully together. Very impressive build of a not-so-often seen ship.
 
I've done a Google search, Yes, you are the only woman in Brasil building a model ships. (:-) (:-) 
 
Até logo
 
Michael

This looks like a fun build; I'll be watching this as well. My first ship was a Trireme, and I have to say, there are a heck of a lot of oars!
 
For the ram, my advice would be to build up the shape you want, and cover it with a thin brass or bronze sheet, which can be artificially given a patina. I used this method on my second ship, and I was much more pleased with the appearance than if I had cast the ram or just made it out of wood. You can see a photo here: http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/gallery/image/8078-akatos-5/
 
Though the lack of physical evidence of these ships can be a problem, it also means that you can make pretty much any modification you want, simply for aesthetic reasons, and no one can tell you that it is "wrong."  Some characteristics may be improbable, but since thousands of these ships were built over several hundred years, there must have been a lot of different variations.

The Greek trireme was one of their earlier kit. I believe their best kit to date is the gallery - La Real 1571 http://www.dusekshipkits.com/larealE.html.  It seems to be even par with the Corel's gallery - Reale de France. It is a bit shorter/smaller, it will likely be expensive also. I would love to have this kit (if price is affordable).

Mark, thank you. I´ve been researching a lot to put this ship some place in history (even if AL wasn´t that precise - this ship has many accuracy errors).
 
Pops, glad u still following
 
Joe - I´ll still give my tries with blacken it, don´t worry. By the way, copper can be blackened with it? Ty!!
 
Sjors, glad u passed by - can u give me some popcorn??? :P Thanks!
 
Grant, I´m trying. U guys give me a lot of inspiration.
 
Hey, Cap'. That´s the image I really want to pass.
 
Ulises, no te preocupes!! Working still on her and I think it´ll take some more. It is my first junk, but still my second wooden ship ! And I´m learning every single day with you all, since I´m here always, reading and following and absorbing all that I can. I´ll be a little bit presumptuous, though, as my goal is to be a master in the future . Obrigada, amigo.

This seems to be the only available trireme kit. It is from a new Czech company - Dusek. I brought the kit because it is a trireme and curiosity about this new company's offering.
 
The kit turn out to be much better than I expected.
 
The laser cut bulkheads were nicely done, They fit perfectly without any adjustment. The plywood quality is very good. The laser scored deck verneer sheet was a surprise and superbly done. The wood verneeer quality is also top quality.
 
The kit comes with a simple(not a tone of wording), yet effective illustrated instruction booklet. The 1 to 1 ratio plans made the built easy.
 
There is one area the kit is lacking. The bow shape and the kit provided metallic ram is not satisfactory. Modification will need to be done to bring the model's bow to the correct shape (There is a modern full size reconstruction of the Greek Trireme- Olympias, which provides a very good reference for this- GOOGLE it)

Hey, hey, hey. Time for new pictures, some words and advices for the young at heart.
 
    I took a pause from my ship since I was waiting for the Blacken It to arrive. As it arrived, I resumed my work. For using it the Blacken It Trials topic, by E&T was used. I did follow all the steps only replacing the muriatic acid by vinegar. I was about taking lots of pictures from the process, but, that is really unecessary since the Trials´ topic shows how it works so fine it would be a waste of time. But I do took a picture from a mistake I made...
 

 
That´s how I put the metal pieces on the solution. I tried to shake the solution from time to time, but my results weren´t that great - lot´s of parts were stained - instead of a flat darkened surface, I got a stripe stained one for most of the metal parts. Even if I liked that way it wasn´t my goal they look so. Next time I´ll dump lesser metal parts on blacken it solution for a consistent result.
 
Well, then I started on my ship´s hole, as it'll need some attention before rigging. I worked on taking out the planking around it so when I fix all the eletronics it´ll be easy to glue new planks over it. Now I´m waiting for some copper foil I bought to finish that part.
 

 
After that I coated a second layer of varnish on the hull and a first one over the rails and castle. That was a called step from the ship´s instructions some pages before, but I decided to postpone it while I was still using sharp tools around.
 

 
It was time for the rudder, then. I´m still thinking if I´ll set some brass stripes to it. Some old pictures shows rudders with no iron on them. Seems an obscure subject to build the rudder. So far, I followed the kit´s instructions.
 

 

 
After the rudder I fixed all the metal fittings missing before. Cannons aren´t there yet cause I´ll paint them black - I tried blacken it on them, but didn´t like the results. The following pictures are from the fittings instalation and the ship´s general look so far.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Next steps will be the lighting fix finish and rigging beginnings.

Hey, hey, hey. Time for new pictures, some words and advices for the young at heart.
 
    I took a pause from my ship since I was waiting for the Blacken It to arrive. As it arrived, I resumed my work. For using it the Blacken It Trials topic, by E&T was used. I did follow all the steps only replacing the muriatic acid by vinegar. I was about taking lots of pictures from the process, but, that is really unecessary since the Trials´ topic shows how it works so fine it would be a waste of time. But I do took a picture from a mistake I made...
 

 
That´s how I put the metal pieces on the solution. I tried to shake the solution from time to time, but my results weren´t that great - lot´s of parts were stained - instead of a flat darkened surface, I got a stripe stained one for most of the metal parts. Even if I liked that way it wasn´t my goal they look so. Next time I´ll dump lesser metal parts on blacken it solution for a consistent result.
 
Well, then I started on my ship´s hole, as it'll need some attention before rigging. I worked on taking out the planking around it so when I fix all the eletronics it´ll be easy to glue new planks over it. Now I´m waiting for some copper foil I bought to finish that part.
 

 
After that I coated a second layer of varnish on the hull and a first one over the rails and castle. That was a called step from the ship´s instructions some pages before, but I decided to postpone it while I was still using sharp tools around.
 

 
It was time for the rudder, then. I´m still thinking if I´ll set some brass stripes to it. Some old pictures shows rudders with no iron on them. Seems an obscure subject to build the rudder. So far, I followed the kit´s instructions.
 

 

 
After the rudder I fixed all the metal fittings missing before. Cannons aren´t there yet cause I´ll paint them black - I tried blacken it on them, but didn´t like the results. The following pictures are from the fittings instalation and the ship´s general look so far.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Next steps will be the lighting fix finish and rigging beginnings.

Jack, I´m like 85% now ! Might I grab your idea? Think that would be the best to do, to leave only the led inside I mean. A second one would bring too much light into my cabin. Regarding tools, I´m buying as I need them, but it seems it´s just the beginning, lol.
 
And then, yes, I built models for my designs. That was something I loved to do and am really sorry almost all pictures for them are gone - in 2010 I lost almost a life on stored data (among other too much important things) and saved only one. It shows two models - on first plan a two stored home 1:50 model at it´s first stages. On second plan u can see another 1:50 model of a medieval tavern for a medieval town I was building at the time. It´s a pitty I don´t have any more pictures from it since the town had about 15 houses beyond the tavern and the beginning of a castle. The tavern and 3 houses were furnitured.
 

 
 

That was a completely new challenge in ship building for me. Painting the city view on the hollow bottom section of the rear of the ship:
 

 
The next step will be finishing the four figurines that will come on top. A lot of carving there..
 

Best,
Michiel

Thank you for dropping in again Remco, Nils and Ben .
 
Lower Masts
 
Sometime soon I'm going to need the Masts for alignment purposes to go ahead with fitting the deadeyes to the channels. Up until now I've "made do" with a couple of "dummy" masts, but now it's time to make the real things .
 
I was lucky to buy one of the last of the Masting Packages for the "Swans" from Hobbymill about a year or so ago. As usual, Jeff's timber and packaging is EXCELLENT - there are TWO pieces supplied for every part needed in case of "oopsies" (I've already made one ).
 
The masts (and just about everything else) starts out as square stock - no dowels in this lot, that would have been counter-productive . Following usual practice for making "round" masts from square stock I marked out two sides with the taper required. I've also tapered the masts below deck as per the original. The pic below shows the marking out for the section between the Partners and the Heel :
 

 
After tapering these two faces with a chisel and sandpaper I marked out the other two and tapered them as well. Then I marked out each face for the edges where the "octagonalling" would finish. I cut the tapered square section into a tapered octagon using a "V" jig and a sharp chisel :
 

 

 
Then I rounded the octagon using a sanding block, and cut the lower tenon into it :
 

 
The Mast Head remains square for now - much more work to be done here later :
 

 
Fore and Main Lower Masts fitted to the ship :
 

 
Note - I had to make two Main Masts (the oopsie mentioned earlier). I'd made the main mast a bit too thin at the partners on the 1st one and wasn't happy with the result. Just as well that Jeff had supplied plenty of timber .
 
  Danny

Hey, hey, hey. Time for new pictures, some words and advices for the young at heart.
 
    I took a pause from my ship since I was waiting for the Blacken It to arrive. As it arrived, I resumed my work. For using it the Blacken It Trials topic, by E&T was used. I did follow all the steps only replacing the muriatic acid by vinegar. I was about taking lots of pictures from the process, but, that is really unecessary since the Trials´ topic shows how it works so fine it would be a waste of time. But I do took a picture from a mistake I made...
 

 
That´s how I put the metal pieces on the solution. I tried to shake the solution from time to time, but my results weren´t that great - lot´s of parts were stained - instead of a flat darkened surface, I got a stripe stained one for most of the metal parts. Even if I liked that way it wasn´t my goal they look so. Next time I´ll dump lesser metal parts on blacken it solution for a consistent result.
 
Well, then I started on my ship´s hole, as it'll need some attention before rigging. I worked on taking out the planking around it so when I fix all the eletronics it´ll be easy to glue new planks over it. Now I´m waiting for some copper foil I bought to finish that part.
 

 
After that I coated a second layer of varnish on the hull and a first one over the rails and castle. That was a called step from the ship´s instructions some pages before, but I decided to postpone it while I was still using sharp tools around.
 

 
It was time for the rudder, then. I´m still thinking if I´ll set some brass stripes to it. Some old pictures shows rudders with no iron on them. Seems an obscure subject to build the rudder. So far, I followed the kit´s instructions.
 

 

 
After the rudder I fixed all the metal fittings missing before. Cannons aren´t there yet cause I´ll paint them black - I tried blacken it on them, but didn´t like the results. The following pictures are from the fittings instalation and the ship´s general look so far.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Next steps will be the lighting fix finish and rigging beginnings.

Hey, hey, hey. Time for new pictures, some words and advices for the young at heart.
 
    I took a pause from my ship since I was waiting for the Blacken It to arrive. As it arrived, I resumed my work. For using it the Blacken It Trials topic, by E&T was used. I did follow all the steps only replacing the muriatic acid by vinegar. I was about taking lots of pictures from the process, but, that is really unecessary since the Trials´ topic shows how it works so fine it would be a waste of time. But I do took a picture from a mistake I made...
 

 
That´s how I put the metal pieces on the solution. I tried to shake the solution from time to time, but my results weren´t that great - lot´s of parts were stained - instead of a flat darkened surface, I got a stripe stained one for most of the metal parts. Even if I liked that way it wasn´t my goal they look so. Next time I´ll dump lesser metal parts on blacken it solution for a consistent result.
 
Well, then I started on my ship´s hole, as it'll need some attention before rigging. I worked on taking out the planking around it so when I fix all the eletronics it´ll be easy to glue new planks over it. Now I´m waiting for some copper foil I bought to finish that part.
 

 
After that I coated a second layer of varnish on the hull and a first one over the rails and castle. That was a called step from the ship´s instructions some pages before, but I decided to postpone it while I was still using sharp tools around.
 

 
It was time for the rudder, then. I´m still thinking if I´ll set some brass stripes to it. Some old pictures shows rudders with no iron on them. Seems an obscure subject to build the rudder. So far, I followed the kit´s instructions.
 

 

 
After the rudder I fixed all the metal fittings missing before. Cannons aren´t there yet cause I´ll paint them black - I tried blacken it on them, but didn´t like the results. The following pictures are from the fittings instalation and the ship´s general look so far.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Next steps will be the lighting fix finish and rigging beginnings.

I´ve worked a bit more in the past few days. Truth is I still can´t go fulltime on her, as I feel some pain yet. Overall I´m okay for many things, though
 
After some while trying to figure it out what should be on the compartment, decided for some boxes, crates and sacks. Ming ships from the 1400´s  would carry no barrels, at least not the ones we´re used to see around. After seeing pictures from lots of models, junk ships and museums (as the Imperial Granary Museum), sacks for grains turned into the best choice for acompanying the boxes first planned. I was stuck on that, researching as a crazy for pictures to close this chapter .
 
So, after deciding that I made some boxes and a crate (that is a hard thing to do) and the trapdoor for the compartment. The trapdoor was something I had to think about, as the kit ones are horrible.
 

Closed compartment
 

Open compartment
 

Box and crate
 
Next I was for the stairs. AL gave me some headache here - the precut parts were wrongly assembled. Instead of four left strips and four right ones, I got all right - 8 pieces identically cut. So, I had to scratch mine.
 

AL precut stair strips
 

 

 
And here are the final results, till now:
 

 

 

 

Looking fantastic Vivian.  You GO girl!!!  

Hey, hey, hey. Time for new pictures, some words and advices for the young at heart.
 
    I took a pause from my ship since I was waiting for the Blacken It to arrive. As it arrived, I resumed my work. For using it the Blacken It Trials topic, by E&T was used. I did follow all the steps only replacing the muriatic acid by vinegar. I was about taking lots of pictures from the process, but, that is really unecessary since the Trials´ topic shows how it works so fine it would be a waste of time. But I do took a picture from a mistake I made...
 

 
That´s how I put the metal pieces on the solution. I tried to shake the solution from time to time, but my results weren´t that great - lot´s of parts were stained - instead of a flat darkened surface, I got a stripe stained one for most of the metal parts. Even if I liked that way it wasn´t my goal they look so. Next time I´ll dump lesser metal parts on blacken it solution for a consistent result.
 
Well, then I started on my ship´s hole, as it'll need some attention before rigging. I worked on taking out the planking around it so when I fix all the eletronics it´ll be easy to glue new planks over it. Now I´m waiting for some copper foil I bought to finish that part.
 

 
After that I coated a second layer of varnish on the hull and a first one over the rails and castle. That was a called step from the ship´s instructions some pages before, but I decided to postpone it while I was still using sharp tools around.
 

 
It was time for the rudder, then. I´m still thinking if I´ll set some brass stripes to it. Some old pictures shows rudders with no iron on them. Seems an obscure subject to build the rudder. So far, I followed the kit´s instructions.
 

 

 
After the rudder I fixed all the metal fittings missing before. Cannons aren´t there yet cause I´ll paint them black - I tried blacken it on them, but didn´t like the results. The following pictures are from the fittings instalation and the ship´s general look so far.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Next steps will be the lighting fix finish and rigging beginnings.

Hey, hey, hey. Time for new pictures, some words and advices for the young at heart.
 
    I took a pause from my ship since I was waiting for the Blacken It to arrive. As it arrived, I resumed my work. For using it the Blacken It Trials topic, by E&T was used. I did follow all the steps only replacing the muriatic acid by vinegar. I was about taking lots of pictures from the process, but, that is really unecessary since the Trials´ topic shows how it works so fine it would be a waste of time. But I do took a picture from a mistake I made...
 

 
That´s how I put the metal pieces on the solution. I tried to shake the solution from time to time, but my results weren´t that great - lot´s of parts were stained - instead of a flat darkened surface, I got a stripe stained one for most of the metal parts. Even if I liked that way it wasn´t my goal they look so. Next time I´ll dump lesser metal parts on blacken it solution for a consistent result.
 
Well, then I started on my ship´s hole, as it'll need some attention before rigging. I worked on taking out the planking around it so when I fix all the eletronics it´ll be easy to glue new planks over it. Now I´m waiting for some copper foil I bought to finish that part.
 

 
After that I coated a second layer of varnish on the hull and a first one over the rails and castle. That was a called step from the ship´s instructions some pages before, but I decided to postpone it while I was still using sharp tools around.
 

 
It was time for the rudder, then. I´m still thinking if I´ll set some brass stripes to it. Some old pictures shows rudders with no iron on them. Seems an obscure subject to build the rudder. So far, I followed the kit´s instructions.
 

 

 
After the rudder I fixed all the metal fittings missing before. Cannons aren´t there yet cause I´ll paint them black - I tried blacken it on them, but didn´t like the results. The following pictures are from the fittings instalation and the ship´s general look so far.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Next steps will be the lighting fix finish and rigging beginnings.