Wasan 1628 by Nazgul - FINISHED - Billing Boats Vasa 1:75

[trippwj]

Matti -

 

I just stumbled across your log.  Thank you for those pictures from the museum!  Your model is looking very, very sharp - will be following this log as you move forward!

[md1400cs]

Matti,

 

Buck and Andy are correct. Don't be discouraged with the "few" responses.

 

There certainly is a lot of interest with your build. If you want to play a numbers game, there are some people on this forum who have over 10,000 views and only a 5%+response return. You are right in-line with most others.

 

I also assume that you also visit other builds, as I do, but do not necessarily post remaks with every view. Many certainly visit silently. Your build is very interesting, especially given that it is the Billings kit. I think that all other Wasas are currently Corels. Your build is excellent, a pleasure to look in as you update your progress.

 

I'm speaking as a newbie as well, but I already have very good feelings about some of the very creative and artistic people who have responded to my build, as you have...It's a very nice back-and-forth kind of thing. It takes a while, don't get discouraged, what Buck and Andy said is certainly true. Please keep us up-to-date on your progress. But, I get it artists are sensitive (:-)

 

Regards,

 

Michael D

[Andre]

I only recently became aware of your build log. I will be following it intensely because I am building a Wasa myself as well, but one from Corel. Since people always say that the Billings version is most accurate I will be looking at your pictures and your experiences with great interest.

 

Also the photos from the museum are much appreciated because they provided some views that I could not find elsewhere (and at the time that I visited the museum myself I had not yet foreseen that I would be building a model of it sometime later...).

 

Regards, Andre

[mtaylor]

Matti,

 

I'm not commenting much.. been busy. But, I am following along.  The folks at the Wasa museum are very helpful even by email. I really enjoyed doing my build of this ship.  

 

I'll have to do some digging, but there was someone from the old site who did cannons and some the other things for the museum.  I'll try to remember and find out if they will repost their log.

[md1400cs]

Mark,

 

That would be nice if you could dig up some info for us Vasa builders. 

 

PS: You folks who do scratch builds are like PHD rock stars. Your Licorne is so cool. I'm always so intimidated visiting  the scratch build section, Though after a nice stiff single malt I always spend comfortable time there as well. You folks are so far ahead in this art form. Love the work...As you know there is a Victory build (Alexandru) that is so amazing....

 

Regards,

 

Michael D

[NAZGÛL]

Wayne and Andre, glad that you liked the pics. Sorry for the quality on some of them, good pics are tricky because of the light in the museum and I only have a standard camera. I tried to get the pics and angles I hadnt seen when looking at the available reference.

 

Mark, that sounds like Clayton. His Vasa is nothing short of amazing. I agree that the museum people is very helpful. Fred Hocker is a really great person always ready to help and explain anything about Vasa.  

 

Michael, sensitive artist huh? I guess my wife would agree with you.

 

About my build of the ship: When deciding for color, I decided to go slightly darker with the red. I like the color of old swedish houses painted in aged Faluröd. It as a natural blood feel to it. I also decided to go brighhter with the yellow. Mine has more of a bone look to it.  

 

 

 

/Matti

[Salty Sea Dog]

Hi Matti!

 

I like the idea of the slightly darker red. I saved this picture a long time ago (not sure where it came from), but it is a drawing with a red that I really like. Is this the shade you are talking about?

 

[NAZGÛL]

Yeah (thats a really nice pic), or perhaps even darker. The sinking model on the museum has a dark red that I really like. I keep coming back to that model for inspiration.

 

 

/Matti

[md1400cs]

Matti,

 

Hi. did you by any chance take a good photo of the stern deck? I need to detail the wood framing at the very stern of the deck. This is the best photo that I have. But I think that I am missing some details. Can you help? Thanks in advance.

 

Michael

[NAZGÛL]

Michael, I went through the pics but only seem to have managed to get pictures from the side and doesnt really show what you are looking for.

 

Here are 2 pics Ive found on the web and perhaps you allready have them. The first is really small. The second is of Claytons Johnsons scratch built Vasa. If there is any problem in showing these pics on the board, let me know.

 

 

/Matti

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[md1400cs]

Matti,

 

Thanks for your time. Yes I already have those. Clayton's scratch build is so awesome. I have admired his build for a long time. And now that he has finished the rigging it is even more spectacular.

 

Michael

[NAZGÛL]

Agreed!

 

Ive done some work on the stern. Its areally fun part of the build. BB made it pretty close to the original. I wanted open gun ports though, so I had to build it a little differently compaired to the original plans. I had to redo the part with the two round holes a few times as it wanted to break. Here I started on the open gunports. I planned to have those closed, but changed my mind. My 4 year son thought it would be much cooler, and looking at the 1/10, I agree.

 

You can also see what red I mixed for the ship.

 

 

/Matti

[Ferit]

Salute,

Through the photo it seems to me as between claret red and brown...

[NAZGÛL]

Ferit, I mixed bright red with different browns and black. Dark washes untill Im happy with the shade. It has a slightly more red look to it, compaired to the image above.

 

Falu red grows more dark and brown as it ages. I know Vasa did not have Falu red or had the time to make the paint turn old, but I like the look.

 

I bought and painted the Revell Vasa to get a chance to test what Im aiming for, and I want my ship to have a used and vibrant look. I guess it might come from painting Starwars models for years. Im also sure I will leave many rough looking planks and stuff as in my opinion it brings life and character to the model. Its the style I like in my models. Ill try not to overdo it though. Its a little tricky for me as I havent painted wood before, so Im learning as I move on.

 

/Matti

 

Edit: Here is a pic of a Starwars kit I built a while back, and for my Vasa I ended up using a shade much like the one above for the ships skirt:

 

Edited May 5, 2013 by NAZGÛL

[Ferit]

Hi Matti,

An used aspect of the wood, a paint faded and soiled in time are also my preference for natural look, you are right...

[NAZGÛL]

Getting there with the stern. A lot of curves so there is some work to get the planks to get a good fit.

 

/Matti

 

 

 

[Keith B]

I've just managed to buy a Billings Wasa and fittings kit off a well known auction site for £88. Can't wait until it's delivered! Will have to push on with the Golden Hind now to make room for her!

[NAZGÛL]

Thats a great find, looking forward to follow your build of it!

 

Painted the lover stern to give the project a boost. First I stained in 2 oak mixes. Then acrylics for some nuances and shading. Then pastels in 3 browns and red, Finally a coat of flat varnish bounding the pastels and giving it a good surface. 

 

Cheers

 

 

 

/Matti

Edited May 11, 2013 by NAZGÛL

[Salty Sea Dog]

Matti- I really like those last two pictures. The red shows up better plus it just looks cool at that angle!

 

Keith B- Is there any chance you could start a build log for the Golden Hind? That is going to be my next one to "warm up" for the Wasa. Great buy on your Wasa!

 

Matti- You just posted your last picture with the stained and painted lower planks as I was posting this. That looks amazing. Can you maybe do a short pictorial on the steps involved? That is a great look!

Edited May 11, 2013 by Salty Sea Dog

[NAZGÛL]

Buck, got friends coming over, but Ill explain later. Did some of noob mistakes as Ive never stained before...

[NAZGÛL]

Ok Buck, my painting steps. I guess I work with pretty standard styrene model painting techniques: preshading, washes, filters and weathering with pastels. Sorry if Im stating obvious stuff. Im sure there are different ways to do it, but these are the tools I have from previous painting.

 

Im new to do this on wood and it reacts different. Mainly it absorbs the washes and its harder to control the effects. If I mess up its also harder to do anything about it. On styrene you can always redo it over and over again.

 

1. First I used whats called betsning in swedish and I think you call it stain? This was new to me. I bought 3 nuanses of oak. I had to test with different kind of water/powder ratio to get a good mix that looked ok on test planks. I then applied it differently on different planks.

 

Misstake 1: I had an idea that prepainting some planks with washes of brown acrylics would give different plank colors. The acrylics made the stain turn to slightly yellow (yuck)

 

Misstake 2: I thought I managed to remove the wood glue on the surface, but I missed some at one or two spots. And while they couldnt be seen earlier, after the stain they turned yellow (double yuck).

 

The mistakes didnt matter much though, as they would be covered by the later paint stages.

 

2. Shading. I painted the areas that I wanted darker with dark/black acrylics. Some on the lower edge salso for adding depht to the curves.

 

3. Some gentle sanding on the surface to make the painting merge and give a realistic worn look.

 

4. Pastels. I chose pastel crayons in good nuances and crushed them into a powder. Some brown nuances and also red for adding some life to the look. Then add it to the planks and areas you like with a cotton bud. After getting the planks the way I liked, I did a filter effect all over the area to get it more uniform. I get good controle of the look and tone of the paint by doing this It also blended the previous shading areas.

 

5. A coat of flat varnish. I chose to not use the airbrush, as I didnt want any of it to end up on areas I will later stain (yay I learned from my misstake).

 

6. Gentle sanding again.

 

I plan to do this area by area on the ship to get control. After its all painted, Ill go over it again with pastels and washes for a final touch.

 

Phew, that was hard to explain in english. Hope it was at least partly understandable.

 

 

/Matti

Edited May 11, 2013 by NAZGÛL

[Salty Sea Dog]

Hi Matti - Great job explaining. I have not done any shading (other than sprayed sunbursts on guitars) or pastel work before. Looks like I need to start experimenting! Your results are great! I was thinking it might be cool to build the Wasa to look like it does now and your shading techniques would go a long ways to pulling off that sort of look. Thanks for explaining!

[NAZGÛL]

Buck, you can use oil colors for filtering/washes/effects also. It looks very natural and nice. But I rarely do it. Imo its to slow and smelly. Im not sure how it would work on wood either.  I find pastels and and acrylics in many layers give me best controle. This is only preference but thats whats great with the model hobby. You can go many routes to get the look you want. There are great tutorials on youtube etc for the painting techniques, mostly military models, but it works the same. Experiment on planks first as the wood is pretty unforgiving! You worked on guitars, so Im sure you know this area better than me.

 

Yeah, I also considered the current look. She really looks impressive today and that would be great fun to paint. A lot of work but you wouldnt have to worry about those figures and detail painting instead. It would be cool to see you do it!

 

 

/Matti

 

Edit:

 

Did another step on on the the stern: Dry brushing . I mixed a light grey. Wet the brush and then take nearly all the paint off the brush with some paper (very important! practice first on test planks or paper). Then with light strokes go over the areas you want to give a used or worn look. Careful to not overdo it, wich is easy to do. I snapped a pic showing the effect. Its more subtle in real life.

Edited May 12, 2013 by NAZGÛL

[NAZGÛL]

I have a busy time at work atm, but had time for some hull planking. Some planks needs some interesting curves. Some pics of how shes looking now and a pic of Vasas bow, the look Im trying to get on the model.

 

 

/Matti

[trippwj]

She is coming along nicely, Matti - it looks like you are achieving the look you are striving for!

[NAZGÛL]

Thanks Wayne, i hope so! If only I had those small builders helping out.

 

 

/Matti

[Ferit]

...It looks very accurate even though that's first planking. She would be exactly the same of the original...

[NAZGÛL]

Thank you Ferit, that means alot!

 

 

/Matti

[Salty Sea Dog]

Hi Matti,

 

I've been meaning to ask - is your new avatar the Wasa crewman "Ivar"  that the forensic artist did the facial reconstruction of? 

[NAZGÛL]

Yeah, thats a pic of Ivar I took at the museum.

 

 

/Matti