Greek Bireme by Torbogdan - FINISHED - Dusek - 1:72

[Torbogdan]

After a long break from ship modeling, for many reasons, I started building OcCres Cazador. But it felt like all my wood working skills hade abandoned me. Whatever I did pieces broke, did fit, or ended up the wrong way. Basically I failed in everything. Finally I decided to take a break and work on an easier kit to get some confidence back. From the vaults I got my trusty Greek Bireme and started to build it instead.

 

So far only one (lousy) picture but more is on the way. Anyway, the mode lkit is great (as all Duseks are according to me) and is going together smoothly. There are other Bireme builds here which are and will be much much nicer than mine. I will build it straight out of the box.

 

 

[Torbogdan]

Even no picture I noticed. Photobucket is not cooperating... Will have to find another place from where to upload pictures.

[ccoyle]

31 minutes ago, Torbogdan said:

Even no picture I noticed. Photobucket is not cooperating... Will have to find another place from where to upload pictures.

 

We strongly discourage the use of third party hosting sites for your MSW photos. Those sites can go down, in which case all of your photo links here will be dead. It's happened before. We have very good file uploading capability built into our forum software; the tool bar is located at the bottom of your reply window.

 

[Torbogdan]

8701949A-D489-4F76-B6DB-79A444DA3892.heic

 

Thx for good info! I have many skills but working with computers is not one of them... I will try to improve.

Edited December 29, 2020 by Torbogdan
Trying new skills

[ccoyle]

Once you have your files uploaded, your attachments bar will look like this.

 

 

To insert an image into your post, place your cursor at the desired location, then click the "+" on the thumbnail in the attachments bar. Afterwards, if you need to, you can resize the image by double-clicking on it and using the pop-up menu that results.

 

Hope that helps!

[Torbogdan]

 

 

 

 

After som professional help I have been able to insert a picture! It might be a small step for mankind but a giant leap for me...

@ccoyle If we were on the same continent I would buy you a beer as a thank you, but unfortunately I´m in Sweden. But if you happen to visit Sweden I will buy you one and show you the Wasa museum!

 

 

[Torbogdan]

 

 

The deck has been attached. The wood/veneer is really thin so it warps easily. I glued it with quick drying white glue. Next time I'll use more slow drying glue as this is almost too quick. As I said before this will be a "quick and dirty" build, (quick in shipbuilding for me still means quite some time...)

 

It is my third Dusek kit, I must say I am fond of them. Good models, excellent instructions and pleasant to build.

 

 

 

 

A cluttered picture of stuff. I'll join the family for some vacation (they are already in the mountains but I'm still working). but leaving tomorrow. Of course I'll bring some stuff to hopefully get some time to build.

[Cathead]

A good start on an interesting kit, it'll be fun to see how it turns out. Glad to see you got the photos working.

[Louie da fly]

Nice to see another bireme under way. Congratulations!

 

 And welcome to the special kind of insanity that goes with building a model of a galley - an extra level above the normal insanity of ship modelling (I should know!).

 

Steven

[Torbogdan]

Time for a quick update. didn't have any spare time to build while on vacation but now everything is back to normal so finally some time to work on this model!

 

The instructions says to fit the top plank first so I have done that, so far so good. When planking I usually fit one plank per side per day. My process is fairly slow, test fit, if necessary bend it using a plank bender, test fit again, put it in hot water for a while to soften it, fit it in its place, waiting for it to dry, and finally glue it into place, wait for the glue to set and done. It takes time though so getting more than one plank a side per evening is difficult.

 

@Louie da fly, your model is stunning. I'll be very very happy if mine is half as nice as yours

[Louie da fly]

Thanks, mate.

 

Your planking regimen sounds like a good one. It's better to take more time and get it right than to hurry and get it almost right.

 

I'm sure your model will look very good when it's finished.

 

Steven

[Torbogdan]

Slowly but surely the hull is taking shape. No pictures as there is not much to see (except some more planks...)😉

 

Usually I can add one plank per side per evening. The glue needs to dry and so on. But sometimes life intrudes so maybe 3-4 planks per side per week is more realistic. 
 

I look forward to the rigging part, working with rigging is my favorite part in model ship building. 

[Torbogdan]

Planking is coming around slowly but surely. About 75% done. To do something different for a while I have started on the oars. 50 needs to be done. So two done forty eight to go!

 

I use my Dremel as a mini lathe. Stick the wood in the chuck and grind it down with sandpaper. Works very well but one needs to be careful or the wooden stick might snap if too much pressure is applied.

[Louie da fly]

As a reference in preparing your oars, you might be interested in this link, which I put together awhile ago. https://modelshipworld.com/topic/25729-oars-on-ancient-greek-galleys/?tab=comments#comment-752090

 

It contains all the contemporary pictorial representations I know of, of ancient Greek oars. 

[Torbogdan]

Working in the bireme has been very slow for a couple of weeks. Basically nothing has been done for about a month...

 

Now I hope I will have some time for it! Today I have manufactured about a dozen oars. Approx 1/4 of what I need. Hull is almost complete, just a few planks left to do. 
 

 

[Torbogdan]

This thread has been dead for a while. Hopefully I can resuscitate it 😄. Other commitments have taken up all available time and, I must admit, laziness when there was a few hours to spare. 

 

 

[Louie da fly]

I'll be following - I love galleys of all sorts.

 

Steven

[Torbogdan]

Today I have sanded some oars. Done about ten more of them. All together I need 48 and have therefore about half of them done. I have also started to sand the hull. So for now there will be sanding, sanding and more sanding. The planking is fairly thick so there is ample wood to get a smooth hull. The downside is that it takes time and sand dust  

[Louie da fly]

Good work on the oars, mate. I know how trying/boring it can be, but they look good.

 

Any chance of some photos of the hull?

 

Steven

[Torbogdan]

Three pictures of the hull. It has been sanded once but I will do some more sanding to smooth out some "bumps". Still working on the oars. All together I need 48 oars, Done about half of them. It is very boring sanding oars

 

[Louie da fly]

22 hours ago, Torbogdan said:

It is very boring sanding oars

 

Yep.

 

20 hours ago, SpyGlass said:

this vessel is parked  in Charlestown near me - a " trireme?" built for Clash of the Titans

 

Such a waste 

 

Steven

[Torbogdan]

Sanding oars ar bOARing... (sorry). 38 done the rest in different stages of completion. I even aligned all 38 for a picture and took the picture with the wrong phone (work phone) which doesn't synchronize with my computer. Sometimes nothing goes easy...  the remaining 12 should be finished tomorrow.

[bolin]

I fully agree that oars are tedious. I only did 16 for my long ship, 50 are much worse 🥱.

 

I have a pentekonter (an earlier type of Greek ship) in my stash. It also has 50 oars. So I will get back to it…

[Louie da fly]

Just spare a thought for people building triremes - 150 oars! 

 

Steven

[Torbogdan]

A picture so far, almost. Since I have painted the hull in a burnt Sienna look. I was a bit eager though as I forgot to add a few details. So I will have to add the afterwards and paint them later. In the picture is also the mast and main spar.

 

[Torbogdan]

Some pictures of the painted (washed) hull. I made my own wash with raw umber and burnt Sienna, oil colours from Winson and Newton and paint thinner. If the shade is historically correct I have not the slightest idea but I like the look. So much for historical accuracy in other words. I have had a few days off from work so have made some progress. The only thing that has slowed me down (quite a bit actually) is that I ran out of quicksetting white glue. All I had was "ordinary" slow setting white glue. In other words I would glue a part or two, wait an hour. Glue another part, wait... Well you get the idea.

 

I will most likely I will do something about the ram, it does not look that good with it being in wood. I'm thinking of adding some shields and spears to give it a more lived in look. 

[bolin]

I agree that the burnt sienna looks quite good. It resembles oak in color.

 

I’m certainly no expert in Ancient Greek ships, but I do remember from the Iliad that the ships where often referred to as “tarred”. This would mean a dark almost black brown color.

[GrandpaPhil]

Very nice!  
 

The Dusek Bireme and Trireme are both on my wish list!

[Louie da fly]

On 8/25/2021 at 4:30 AM, Torbogdan said:

will most likely I will do something about the ram, it does not look that good with it being in wood.

 

I agree - it does look like it needs something to make it stand out. I think this vessel dates from before they had cast-bronze rams, but maybe a different colour or something would make the ram stand out more?

 

On 8/25/2021 at 4:30 AM, Torbogdan said:

I'm thinking of adding some shields and spears to give it a more lived in look. 

 

Good idea - if you do a google image search for Ancient Greek shields you'll be able to find a lot of examples. Not sure how reliable they are, but steer away from the Greek Letter "Lambda" - that was specific to Sparta only. As far as spears go, the pic below should give some idea of dimensions and length.

 

 

This ship is from considerably before the enormous 4.0 to 6.5 metre Macedonian sarissas.

 

Steven

[Torbogdan]

Mast in place and some railing between the rowers seats. After this picture I have added some more railing. It looks better in real life than the picture. The ship looks more alive than here. All oars have been washed, varnished and sanded with steel wool. When the ship is built I will varnish it and sanded with steel wool to get a nice smooth finish.

 

I believe it would have actually been better to have used a pure raw umber wash but it is what it is. Anyway it is coming along quite nicely. Except for my photo skills which need some improvement