Buccaneer by ModernViking - Occre - Scale 1:100

[ModernViking]

 

 

Relative new-comer to the hobby posting my first build log. Have long had an interest in building a wooden ship model (after a misspent youth spent on plastic models and scratch-building HO scale railway structures) and the corona slowdown seemed just the right opportunity. I started with the Dusek Knarr model (1:72 scale) and learned a lot from that (ie. made lots of mistakes that I hopefully learned from.)

 

For my second model I was able to track down one of Occre's Buccaneer models. For whatever reason, I didn't find any build logs of this one in the forum despite the apparent popularity of Occre as a manufacturer. So here I am, hopefully committing to keeping up with the build-log as I move forward. Fair warning, I'm sure i have lots of new learning experiences ahead of me on this one and progress will likely be slow. While the virus has me working from home for my main job, my volunteer gig as mayor of my town is more than making up for it! 

 

So, to begin, the start of my project in a quiet corner of the house where it can, hopefully, live undisturbed! 

[ccoyle]

1 hour ago, ModernViking said:

For whatever reason, I didn't find any build logs of this one in the forum despite the apparent popularity of Occre as a manufacturer.

We have one now. 😉

[ModernViking]

On 5/10/2020 at 5:17 PM, ccoyle said:

We have one now. 😉

 

Oh thanks! No pressure or anything! 

 

[ModernViking]

Put together a basic slip as I begin the first steps in the Buccaneer. Pretty impressed with the quality of the wood in this kit. No issues with warping in the plywood and the dry fit, while tight, was accurate and I didn't see any obvious misalignments. Will pull this all again to glue it up with the assistance of a simple homemade alignment guide I've also made out of basswood. apart

 

 

 

[ModernViking]

Slowly moving forward with the main decking. As seems to be often the case in these forums, I'm going a little beyond what the strict reading of the instructions suggest. In this case, instead of running the planks the full length of each deck and then marking the smaller individual planks and treenails with a pencil I'm cutting each plank to 60mm and doing the treenails through the toothpick method I learned from so many other build logs on here! 

 

Now, I recognize that at the 1/100 scale these treenails are probably too big for scale, but since this is going to be more of a generic 'Buccaneer' instead of an representation of a known ship, my desire to try out the toothpick method can hopefully be excused. I drilled holes for each treenail with a #75 wire gauge drill bit and filled each with toothpicks I'd whittled to a much sharper point.

[Old Collingwood]

Warm welcome to the family, so love the Elizabethan  Ships, looking forward to seeing more  I will take a seat if I may.

 

OC.

[ModernViking]

Saw another has jumped onto the Buccaneer build wagon and thought I should update the very slow progress on my build. The treenails are complete, and with the light staining on the deck stand out in just the way I'd hoped.

 

 

 

[Robby The Brobot]

That decking looks great! 

[ModernViking]

Been a busy summer, but still making slow progress. One thing I decided, because making my first ship of this type wasn't enough, was that I wanted to 'improve' the photoetched brass pieces. Specifically the doors, since just gluing those onto the planks looked too two-dimensional to me. So a little work with snips and blade, plus scrap wood, and I built up the doors into more of a 3d look with frames. Frames too for the windows.

 

Also finally started the planking, which is off to a faster start than anticipated! 

 

[ModernViking]

Looking ahead a few steps, I have some questions for those who have done other OcCre models. In the Buccaneer, there is a sheet of paper with the triangles and diamonds that appear just below the aft rails and near the bow. My initial feeling is that doing these cosmetic details using the paper isn't quite what I want to do.
 

Has anyone else gone so far as to either paint those details or even add them as very thin wood veneers?  

[SweepHall]

13 hours ago, ModernViking said:

Looking ahead a few steps, I have some questions for those who have done other OcCre models. In the Buccaneer, there is a sheet of paper with the triangles and diamonds that appear just below the aft rails and near the bow. My initial feeling is that doing these cosmetic details using the paper isn't quite what I want to do.
 

Has anyone else gone so far as to either paint those details or even add them as very thin wood veneers?  

I used the supplied paper on my OcCre build and despite being a little reluctant to use it at first, was pleasantly surprised how it turned out.  Just glued it on with pva, let it dry and then gave it a coat of varnish over the top.

[ModernViking]

4 hours ago, SweepHall said:

I used the supplied paper on my OcCre build and despite being a little reluctant to use it at first, was pleasantly surprised how it turned out.  Just glued it on with pva, let it dry and then gave it a coat of varnish over the top.

 

Thanks! That's great to know

[Old Collingwood]

Loverly decking.

 

OC.

[ModernViking]

Believe it or not, work progresses. Finally finished the second planking! This was one of the steps I was dreading, and it turned out better than I hoped. Of course I can see all the mistakes and errors, but hopefully when all complete those will begin to fade in my memory. 

 

Also have been working on some of the smaller pieces, building frames around the remaining etched brass doors and windows and the rudder. Feels good to be making progress, especially after the unrelenting stress of this week! 

[Robby The Brobot]

Looks great! I really like what you did with the doors too. I might use that technique in my build, thanks!

[ModernViking]

Ok, question for the hive mind. 

 

One of  the differences between the model as it is packaged and the instructions is the gun carriages. Instructions show them as being built out of wood much like the rest of the kit, however the kit includes cast metal carriages along with the cannons. My question is how are others painting/weathering/finishing metal like this to make it look a little more correct? I've blacked the cannon and feel pretty good about how they turned out, but am stumped on the carriages! 

 

Thanks! 

[Robby The Brobot]

18 hours ago, ModernViking said:

 

This is odd because my kit which is also the buccaneer from OcCre has the wooden carriages and was purchased in 2020.

Edited January 24, 2021 by Robby The Brobot

[ModernViking]

1 hour ago, Robby The Brobot said:

This is odd because my kit which is also the buccaneer from OcCre has the wooden carriages and was purchased in 2020.

Oh interesting. I bought mind in April or May of 2020. 

[ModernViking]

It's been a few months of slow progress on the Buccaneer front! But almost exactly a year after I started this project, I think I'm finally to the point where the hull can be considered 'complete'. Stll a few things to polish off and clean up, but after a lot of trial and error, I'm feeling relatively happy with how things are turning out. Of course, I see all the mistakes and things I did wrong . . . 

 

A couple things I did do differently from the Occre instructions. One is that I just could get the paper 'triangles' to look right as I put them on the hull. Everytime I tried, the just ended up looking wrong to me so I took a different tack by creating them out of very thin balsa stock. Basically, I sanded some already thing balsa sheets until they were nearly paper thin, then glued them in place and cut the triangles and diamonds. Definitely a more uneven finished product (and the source of many of the mistakes I see) but I far prefer the 3d nature of them over the paper. 

 

Secondly, following up on my last post, I found a painting solution to the gun carriages. Obviously going away from the bronze/wood color of the model kit but the reddish brown seems still to be period correct and provides a little more color to an otherwise fairly uniformly colored ship. 

 

Now on to the deck furnishings! 

[ModernViking]

 

So I haven't been that great about updating this build log over the last few months . . . Too much other work and have only been able to give a small amount of time here and there to the build. However, lots of progress nonetheless! Finished (I think) with everything apart from rigging. 

 

Did a few extra steps, particularly with the ship's boat since I didn't like how the paint took to the cast metal. So I took some of the scrap wood from the hull (have to say I've been really happy with how much extra material Occre included) and made a wrapped the boat.

 

Now onto the incredible number of knots to tie for the rigging! Honestly, I've been dreading this step since starting the model so if anyone has suggestions to make it go smoothly I'd love to hear them! 

 

 

 

[ModernViking]

 

So many little knots! 

 

I'd been dreading the ratline stage of this project simply because fine work with those knots wasn't something I expected to enjoy. Turns out they weren't as bad as I feared. Slow, steady work, but I'm reasonably happy with how they turned out. Not entirely even or perfect, but not too terrible. In some ways, exciting to be seeing the end of this build in sight but then I'll be stuck in the position of needing a new distraction through the winter! 

 

Oh, and even before she's set sail, the Buccaneer has picked up a stow-away. . . . . If he sticks around much longer I'll have to name him.

 

 

 

 

[ModernViking]

That was a fun year and a half! Now it sits above my desk and raises the wonder of what comes next.

 

[Pirate]

great build

[GrandpaPhil]

Nicely done!

[hlong222]

On 5/31/2021 at 7:53 PM, ModernViking said:

It's been a few months of slow progress on the Buccaneer front! But almost exactly a year after I started this project, I think I'm finally to the point where the hull can be considered 'complete'. Stll a few things to polish off and clean up, but after a lot of trial and error, I'm feeling relatively happy with how things are turning out. Of course, I see all the mistakes and things I did wrong . . . 

 

A couple things I did do differently from the Occre instructions. One is that I just could get the paper 'triangles' to look right as I put them on the hull. Everytime I tried, the just ended up looking wrong to me so I took a different tack by creating them out of very thin balsa stock. Basically, I sanded some already thing balsa sheets until they were nearly paper thin, then glued them in place and cut the triangles and diamonds. Definitely a more uneven finished product (and the source of many of the mistakes I see) but I far prefer the 3d nature of them over the paper. 

 

Secondly, following up on my last post, I found a painting solution to the gun carriages. Obviously going away from the bronze/wood color of the model kit but the reddish brown seems still to be period correct and provides a little more color to an otherwise fairly uniformly colored ship. 

 

Now on to the deck furnishings! 

Gotta say I really like what you dousing the thin balsa wood instead of the paper triangles. Pretty sure I’m going to do the same with mine when I get to that step.