Wütender Hund by ccoyle - FINISHED - Shipyard - 1/72

[ccoyle]

Well, here we are back at it. I decided to skip doing a turn on a card model and instead roll with the wood momentum and go straight to Wütender Hund (hereafter referred to as "WH"). I won't do an unboxing here, as I did a complete review of this kit in the reviews section. It is the first wood offering from the Polish firm of Shipyard, who are well-known for their excellent line of tallship card models. Clare Hess is currently working on a very similar cog model, also from Shipyard -- although its name is different, it is more or less the card version of this kit.

 

So, I didn't make very much progress on Day 1, getting only as far as removing the longitudinal profile former and gluing up the parts that form a false keel. I noticed after the glue had already set that one of the parts is slightly misaligned, so I may have to debond that part and reposition it. One thing to watch out for on Polish kits is that left and right parts are marked L and P, not L and R. L does in fact indicate left, same as in English; to remember that P is right, I always think of it as the Greek letter rho, then it makes perfect sense.

 

As you can see, the box is quite large -- too big for my modeling area.

 

And the exciting work of Day 1.

The cutting mat is a little less than 12" wide, so you have an idea of how big the finished model will be.

 

TTFN!

[Jim Lad]

That looks like an interesting ship, Chris.

 

John

[Louie da fly]

This will be an interesting build. Cogs dominated the shipping lanes in the 14th century, and northern european cogs had a dramatic effect on Mediterranean ship design and probably led to the evolution of the carrack. 

 

Several cog wrecks have been found, some in amazingly good condition, so the information on them is more reliable than for most mediaeval ships.

 

Right up my alley.

 

Steven

[Chuck Seiler]

Chris,

 

    I am pulling up a chair.  I will be following your log closely.  I am working on the card version of WH and will be debuting at a MSW forum near you this weekend.  I am curious if, other than material, there are any differences.

[ccoyle]

And here's the hull skeleton after another evening's work. The kit is designed with pretty tight fit tolerances, as evidenced by my experience with the previously-mentioned misaligned false keel component, which was by only off by about 0.5 mm. Before gluing in bulkheads willy-nilly, I decided to check whether the misaligned part would really affect the positioning of the last bulkhead (#24). It did, so I had to remove a little sliver of wood with a chisel to get the bulkhead to slot in correctly. The end of the false keel itself will be covered over by additional parts later. After correcting that bit, I glued in the bulkheads. The parts have their numbers laser-etched on them, so I removed the entire set from their plywood sheet and prepped them all, so that I could do the gluing of the whole set at one go. Laser-etched tick-marks on the outer edges of mated parts allow for precise alignment. The false deck is only dry-fitted at this point.

As Chuck S. will likely attest, this is essentially a card model done in plywood. The construction method is the same as seen in many full-hull card designs.

 

Cheers!

[tkay11]

Very interesting, because I've ordered a card kit (Allège d'Arles) and I was thinking of using plywood  instead of the card for the internal frame.

 

Tony

[ccoyle]

54 minutes ago, tkay11 said:

Very interesting, because I've ordered a card kit (Allège d'Arles) and I was thinking of using plywood  instead of the card for the internal frame.

There's no denying, though, that having the plywood pre-cut by laser is the easiest way to cut the stuff. 😉

[Chuck Seiler]

8 hours ago, ccoyle said:

As Chuck S. will likely attest, this is essentially a card model done in plywood. The construction method is the same as seen in many full-hull card designs

 

Fortunately for you/unfortunately for me, it is easier to unglue wood than cardboard.

[catopower]

Hi Chris,

 

Just saw you started your wooden Wütender Hund build. Looking forward to following your progress.

 

I have some other work getting in the way at the moment, so I haven't made any new progress on my Shipyard card model cog, but I hope to be back to it shortly.

 

Nice start!

[ccoyle]

So, I was in the process of gluing up the interlocking parts of the false deck & hull formers and having a devil of a time trying to get the forward false deck pieces to snug up properly. Then I noticed that there were two deck tabs that had no corresponding slot in the longitudinal former. So first I checked the instructions ...

... and yep, there's supposed to be a slot. But, here's a shot of the deck tab, deflected about 2 mm down, and there's no slot there.

Since the deck was already partially glued in, I had to use a ball cutter in my Dremel to remove the tabs. Not a big deal, but kinda strange.

[ccoyle]

End of day 4.

[Chuck Seiler]

Is it possible that you put the false deck in backwards?  The hull is very symmetric and I often ALMOST made a mistake, expect it fit one way (tabs and sots) but not another.  I don't recall any slots missing.  I assume the laser template for the card model is the same for the wood model.

[ccoyle]

13 hours ago, Chuck Seiler said:

Is it possible that you put the false deck in backwards?

Nope. The false deck halves will not fit if accidentally reversed.

[ccoyle]

Progress for Day 5. Another aspect of this kit that is very card-like is the need to laminate parts. The four stringers in this first photo are each laminated from three parts.

And some more false decking.

A few more bits need to be added to the hull before planking can start.

[Chuck Seiler]

You are not going to paint the cargo area?  Yeah, noboy will see it Unless you leave the hatch cover off) but it gives you opportunity to practice the washed out painting.

[ccoyle]

41 minutes ago, Chuck Seiler said:

gives you opportunity to practice the washed out painting.

Weathering has never been a strong suit of mine. I prefer to leave things in the bright.

[Louie da fly]

Looking really good, Chris. It's amazing how tubby cogs were. Bjorn Landström's reconstruction in his book The Ship (published way before any archaeological discoveries, and based almost entirely on side views from town seals) shows a much sleeker vessel.

 

Nowadays there's so much more information available. A model cog made "back in the day" would look completely wrong nowadays (though rather more attractive).

 

Steven

 

PS: I just looked up Wütender Hund in Google Translate - it means "angry dog". Good name.

[ccoyle]

Ready for planking.

[Chuck Seiler]

Looking good!!!   

 

That is all wood, correct?  Looks a lot like my cardboard.  Is planking pre-painted/darkened, or do you have to paint?

[ccoyle]

1 hour ago, Chuck Seiler said:

That is all wood, correct?  Looks a lot like my cardboard.  Is planking pre-painted/darkened, or do you have to paint?

Yes, it's all wood, but some of it, e.g. the planking, is so thin that it can be manipulated and treated in much the same manner as card. For instance, the photo instructions suggest using a plank bender for pre-shaping the planks, but I found that moistening the back of the part and using my fingers -- much as for card -- produces the desired effect. The planking is not pre-darkened, but the instructions do suggest that it gets stained/varnished a little later in the process. The fit of the planking has been spot-on so far.

[ccoyle]

I haven't posted for a couple of days because progress on the planking has been slow. I also hit a little bit of a snag with the next set of planks to be installed, these being the first that don't initially fit precisely. Whether that is a design issue or the result of some error creep I haven't yet determined, but I'll need to proceed carefully.

[Chuck Seiler]

Which strakes are they?  I had three strakes that were too short and a couple too long.  I can deal with the too long, but....  I was on target with all the reference lines, but somehow the strake was too short.  don't recall which.  I can respond when I get home.  My build log update is coming soon.

[ccoyle]

Mine are parts 55 L & P. The curvature of the bottom of each piece doesn't exactly match those of the previously laid strakes, creating a sliver of a gap, and the stern ends creep up a bit, hitting the stern post about a half-millimeter past the tick mark. Doesn't sound like much, but so far the kit has fit together essentially flawlessly, so this is a bit of a hiccup. I'm waiting until I'm rested and in the proper "frame of mind" before tackling this.

[Chuck Seiler]

20 hours ago, ccoyle said:

Mine are parts 55 L & P.

 

55 or 65?  On mine, part 55 is a single piece that mounts on the stem and has reference marks where the planks should end.  65 L and P are the forward plank of the broadstrake.

[ccoyle]

55. The parts must be numbered differently, or else the construction sequence and/or method is different.

[ccoyle]

So, I fixed my way around the slight fit problem. This shot shows the last of the flush-fit planking belts near the keel. Subsequent strakes will overlap slightly, lapstrake-style.

Couple of things to take note of as shown in the next photo. In the instructions, the plank bits are marked with arrows pointing toward the bow. The kit parts did not have these marks. Second thing is to note that the clamp in the instructions photo only catches the tip of the plank being glued. Clamping the plank to the stem or stern piece along the entire edge will crimp the plank and create a depression in the hull. I learned this the hard way. 🙄  I achieved a better result by using medium-cure CA at the plank end and holding it in place while the glue set; it should really be only an edge-to-edge join.

[Chuck Seiler]

Chris,

 

    Looking good!!!  Are you using wood glue or contact cement?

 

    I had the same problem with clamping bow and stern.  I ended up just using the five fingered clamps.  I had problems in subsequent planking (strake 4 thru 7) with the butt joints.  Even when fit flush, I had to press down on the joint long after the contact glue set to ensure the ends stayed flat.  Early on I get slight raises.  Nothing big, but you can see if you look.

[ccoyle]

45 minutes ago, Chuck Seiler said:

five fingered clamps

Ha! Good one -- I'll have to remember that for future use.

 

I'm using RapidFuse, a medium-cure CA from DAP. For the lapstrake planks, I apply CA to the bulkheads and planks end, the brush on some PVA on the overlapping plank edge. This has worked well so far on the first four such planks.

[ccoyle]

Reached a milestone of sorts today. The hull planking can be roughly divided into lower hull and upper hull, and I have finished the lower part -- the upper hull planking requires the installation of the upper stem and stern posts before proceeding. This brings us to the 12th page of the instruction booklet 😊 -- out of 39 pages  🥺 .

[VTHokiEE]

It looks great, you’re moving along very well!