Norden by JamesG - FINISHED - Billing Boats - 1:30 - First Build

[JamesG]

After getting some great information on my first thread I ordered the Norden and some tools, and today it arrived. Everything was present in the box so I got started   I think it's a good first kit and will help me get to grips with the main aspects of building model ships, and there's not too much rigging or sail work, which is the most daunting part for me! Plus I love working boats. Although I think I'll be going for a Model Shipways kit for my next build whenever that may be, the Billings instructions are rather vague. So far I've relied more on two good build logs.

 

So far (the first 2 hours or so) I have added the bulkheads to the first half of the hull and glued the two wood pieces at the bow and stern, I am just waiting for that glue to dry before adding the deck and starting the other half of the hull. I'm already enjoying this new hobby! 

 

 

 

If anyone has any other tips or notices anything I have done wrong or should do differently, let me know

[JamesG]

The first deck is now in place and the second half of the hull now has the bulkheads in place. I think I will glue the two halves together before I start the planking as Albuk did in his Norden build. I'm sure I'll have a lot of questions when I get to it!

 

[JamesG]

Bulwarks are now in place, not perfect and I probably could have done better but they're as good as I was able to get them  

 

 

I've put the first plank in place with pins, would someone be able to give me some advice about the placement? First of all, is the one I've got in the right place? And is the best way to complete the planking to go from the top and bottom then meet in the middle?

 

 

 

I'm also not sure how to finish the planks at the bow, I was going to end them following the contour of the inner piece of wood, then sand them later to make them finish flush with the keel.

[Mirabell61]

lovely work James,

 

the wood, the parts, and the way of mounting, relects and provides the instant impression I had myself, of having a Billng kit before me. when I was building these many years ago.

I remember very good straking lines over the outside bulkheads, and precise fit of parts. The pic of that  hull, mounted with deck and bullwark fit speaks for itself...  

 

Nils

[JamesG]

Thanks Nils, I appreciate the feedback 

[JamesG]

I've made a bit of progress now, I have completed the hull and deck planking and for my first attempt I think it's gone fairly well! I just need to figure out how to finish the plank ends at the bow so they taper nicely into the keel.

 

On both sides I had a small gap of 1-2mm across 4-5 bulkheads, this is how I filled it (a stealer?) and it seems to have worked rather well!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've done most of the sanding on the hull so I'm now almost ready for painting, although I'm not sure what paint to use, the recommended Billing Boats paints don't have gloss/satin/matt labels but some of the Humbrol equivalent paint colours only seem to be available in gloss such as No. 22 White and the hull colours. So are they supposed to be gloss?

 

Thanks, 

James

[clearway]

I used matt 65 sky blue for my hull and matt white 34 for the wheelhouse. The accomodation hatch and engine cover i used gloss 9- there is a pic on my gallery if that helps.

 

Keith

[JamesG]

Well I've been trying to do the waterline for a few hours over a couple of days and cannot get it right. It's the first part of the build that's really frustrating me. I clamped a pencil to a right angled piece of wood and used that to trace the line with the hull flat on its keel however it seems to go down towards the bow, it looks that way on both sides. The main problem I have is getting the masking tape to follow the curves of the hull flat while also following the pencil line I made.

 

Also, when one colour is painted on the hull, what's the best way to apply the second colour against the water line?

Edited August 7, 2016 by JamesG

[clearway]

mount the hull on the stand- this will put her on the correct trim, then lightly draw the line. On wooden hulls i just paint freehand up to the pencil line. To stop the pencil being dragged down ease off the pressure as the shape of thr hull tries to pull the pencil in a downwards arc.

 

Keith

Edited August 8, 2016 by clearway

[Robin Lous]

Well I've been trying to do the waterline for a few hours over a couple of days and cannot get it right. It's the first part of the build that's really frustrating me. I clamped a pencil to a right angled piece of wood and used that to trace the line with the hull flat on its keel however it seems to go down towards the bow, it looks that way on both sides. The main problem I have is getting the masking tape to follow the curves of the hull flat while also following the pencil line I made.

 

Also, when one colour is painted on the hull, what's the best way to apply the second colour against the water line?

 

Perhaps you can use the flexible masking tape from Tamiya for this?

 

 

 

I love this tape!

 

I only used it for airbrushing and it does it's job really nicely. Be careful with brush painting...paint can creep underneath tape when you use a brush.

[JamesG]

Thanks for the replies, I'll try and redo the line with the hull on the stand and see how I do, although I might try to find a try square as a better platform to clamp the pencil to. And I'll definitely get some of that Tamiya tape, it looks very useful! Thanks for the recommendation 

[CDW]

James

 

I love your choice of the Norden for a first build. Your work so far looks spectacular, like you have been doing this for a long time. Keep up the good work and please, keep posting updates with more photos.

 

Craig 

[JamesG]

Thanks Craig, it has gone better than expected I have to say, I think the painting I've done so far could be better but I'm still happy with it, especially for my first build   I'll post some pictures of the progress soon if I remember!

[JamesG]

Unfortunately there's been a large delay in posting progress of the boat but I haven't given up   I was a bit demotivated by the problems I had with the waterline but I think I've finally managed to get somewhere with it, the two pictures below show what I did with the Tamiya tape, let me know what you think, i.e., if it's straight enough! 

 

 

 

While being annoying with the waterline I built and painted some of the pieces that go on the deck there's a few more to do but these are the largest parts. I was also able to place and stain the deck planking.

 

 

 

[CDW]

That looks soooo good. Outstanding!

[Mirabell61]

good progress James,

 

a very nice looking build, and good modeling of the stern portion 

 

Nils

[JamesG]

That looks soooo good. Outstanding!

 

good progress James,

 

a very nice looking build, and good modeling of the stern portion 

 

Nils

 

Thanks for the replies   it's great to hear that it's going well, I appreciate it, and it's very motivating!

[JamesG]

The Hull is now painted and I am very pleased with how it turned out, the flexible Tamiya tape working wonderfully and I was able to paint below the waterline up to it by hand much easier than I expected. It's probably not perfect and there's always room for improvement, but I'm very happy with it so I'm not going to complain! 

 

 

 

[JamesG]

I haven't been able to do much over the last couple of days as I normally work on the boat in the conservatory, however recent hot weather has made it difficult to stay in there for any length of time! Although I don't think there's much left to do as a whole, I've finished the front mast so I'm mainly just working on rigging 

 

 

 

 

 

Let me know what you think! 

[Mirabell61]

Typical Danish fisher boat, looks great James,

 

reminds me of a Denmark vacation at the North sea side, where these boats are pulled up on the strand with winches when work is done....

 

Nils

[JamesG]

All rigging is now complete, excluding the sails, they're still the most daunting part for me! Overall this has all turned out much better than I expected, I'm sure it could be neater or built more precisely but as it's my first build I didn't want to spend too long on it, plus I've not got long until I return to university so I needed to be finished before then or I wouldn't be able work on it for over 3 months. There's still a few more details I need to add, such as the winch, fish boxes and anchor but these shouldn't take long.

 

This was a great introduction to the hobby and I certainly aim to start another model as soon as I can, now that I've had some experience (and much of it was easier than I anticipated) I feel that I could handle the Model Shipways Bluenose which also has the advantage of better instructions and far more build logs to use as references   I will also be able to spend more time and be more precise on my next build.

 

 

[Robin Lous]

I think you can be proud of your first build...really lovely!

 

Cheers!

 

Rob 

[JamesG]

I think you can be proud of your first build...really lovely!

 

Cheers!

 

Rob 

 

Thanks Rob, I definitely am proud of it    I've done the stitching on the rear sail and will do the other one tomorrow, so it may be completely finished tomorrow. The stitching isn't perfect, I've done it by hand and I'm not really sure what the best methods are, but it's good enough for now 

[JamesG]

Any opinions on the sails? As I said in my last reply I've done all the stitching by hand, I did the larger sail second so it's a bit neater than the rear sail as I had managed develop something of a technique (but still not as neat as I'd like). Clearly it would never be as neat as a sewing machine or someone with a bit more experience in needlework than me! I would guess that both sails took me around 5 (Maybe 6) hours to complete, so if it takes me that long to complete the two small sails on this boat I think I'll invest in a small sewing machine for my next model 

 

I'll have to find a good source of information on how to properly make sails and do rigging, I wasn't 100% sure how to attach everything so I used knots that I usually use when fishing. I also used small amounts of glue on some of the rigging which I would have preferred not to do, luckily it isn't very noticeable. I've decided I would like to build the Model Shipways Bluenose next (probably next summer), I definitely want to finish the rigging and sails properly and without glue on that model 

 

 

 

All that's left to do now is fix on the winch, make a few small fish boxes and add a couple of hatches on the deck, just a few small details 

Edited August 28, 2016 by JamesG

[popeye the sailor]

I just found your build.........very nice indeed!      the sails look great......nice straight stitching.....and freehand no less.    you have some good skills here..it would be a shame if you didn't continue      I have built many Billing's kits........I've never done anything like that to shape the stern.   for the bow though,  I would suggest that you trim the bow end of the planks at an angle {to the angle of the bow stem},  and bevel the plank so it will lay on the stem flush.   keep them all in line,  and you'll get a perfect bow....with little filler work.  anything else........comes with experience........so I'll look forward in seeing that Bluenose kit when you get 'round to building her  

[S.Coleman]

What a great job. Really clean and tidy. Great painting skills. All the parts came up great.

[cobra1951]

Excellent little build, well done

[JamesG]

I just found your build.........very nice indeed!      the sails look great......nice straight stitching.....and freehand no less.    you have some good skills here..it would be a shame if you didn't continue      I have built many Billing's kits........I've never done anything like that to shape the stern.   for the bow though,  I would suggest that you trim the bow end of the planks at an angle {to the angle of the bow stem},  and bevel the plank so it will lay on the stem flush.   keep them all in line,  and you'll get a perfect bow....with little filler work.  anything else........comes with experience........so I'll look forward in seeing that Bluenose kit when you get 'round to building her  

 

Thanks for the kind words from everyone, I appreciate it! I'll keep this advice regarding the bow in mind 

[popeye the sailor]

planking is the biggest question,  besides rigging.   there are many ways to accomplish it........there are also many great tutorials out there too.   I'm not an expert at it....if I had seen your question then,  I could have been more timely.   no matter though.......you seemed to have taken care of it well enough.

     your ship came out great.....and that's all that matters  

[JamesG]

Thanks popeye, I probably should have looked at a few more tutorials and guides about planking, the main problem I had was that I didn't want to spend too long on it, I go back to university soon and wanted to finish the model before then. I'm happy with it and it has turned out better than expected   when I get the Bluenose I'll start a build log for that one too, and it's one I'd want to try and make perfect (as far as possible) so if you spot it in the forum I'm sure I'd need all the help and advice I can get!