Oseberg Viking Ship by Jason Builder - FINISHED - Billing Boats - 1:25

[Snug Harbor Johnny]

3 hours ago, Jason Builder said:

Guten Tag!

 

Wee little bit-o-progress.  I custom made the curved thwarts that rise up the the mast step.  At this point I can begin planking the deck.

 

  Jason,  Your custom thwarts where the 'bulge' is at the approach to the mast step (but flat one about 2/3rds of its length from the outside knees seems a great solution.  The rowing positions (where the wooden boxes/chests to row on) are level with the rest of the deck.  There are photos of the original 'in situ' during excavation   (once a lot of material was removed) that show features like this, as well as photos earlier in the dig with a lot of 'pushing up' from below due to soil compaction over the ages ... that raised many deck boards (and their underlying supports) much higher than their original positions.

 

  This kit is in my stash (as well as the Roar Ede) and so your build is of great interest.  

[Louie da fly]

Yes, I believe you're right in doing that. Having all the planks exactly the same width was (from what I've seen) a relatively late idea. Even ships as late as the Mary Rose turn out to have higgledy-piggledy planking.

 

Beautiful work on those curved thwarts, by the way.

 

Steven

[Jason Builder]

Johnny and Louie, thanks for the comments!

 

Not a big bit of progress , but one more row of deck planks done tonight.  Continuing with splitting random planks from a big sheet of 1/16" thick sheet of basswood.

 

[Jason Builder]

Busy with work and life these days, including Alphorn building which is competing for limited time with model ship building.....but slow progress continues here and there on the deck!

 

 

 

[Louie da fly]

That's interesting that you've got the decking following the curve of the mast step. I've never seen that before. Is it based on something in archaeology?

 

Steven

[Jason Builder]

Hi Louie,

 

I’m not an expert in these ships so I am not a good resource to answer the question , but I have looked at what pictures and drawings are available of such Viking ships.  Check out this photo of the Oseberg which to me appears to show a curved thwart at the mast partners and the thwart appears to have a rabbet cut into it to accept deck planks.  So I did something similar in my model.  It would make sense to have a thwart at this location that supported the mast higher up than the deck to add additional sideways strength to the mast partners.   I saw the Oseberg in my youth and if I lived nearby I would be there often looking at the ship for reference!   Maybe others on this site can add more?   Thanks

 

Jason

 

[Jason Builder]

Bonjour tout les monde!

 

I am still alive and kick'in and so is my model.   Little time and little progress lately, but rest assured this baby will get done.   Couple more rows of planking done.

 

[allanyed]

Just joined the fun on your log.  WELL DONE!

I just watched Season 2 Episode 1 of Combat Ships on The History Channel which was about Viking ships.   They get right down to actually making planks without saws and making iron nails as was done in the 9th century.  Well worth the watch for anyone that gets this channel.

Allan

[md1400cs]

Jason,

 

Just found your log - Excellent work !!- great start - a Viking ship will be my next project - I will follow along as well. 

 

Regards

 

[Jason Builder]

Greetings from Wisconsin!

 

Had a spell there with very little time in the shipyard but kept making progress bit by bit and now the planking is done.  Solid basswood, random width.

[Louie da fly]

That's beautiful work.

[Jason Builder]

Goedendag,

 

After a bunch of custom fitting of many planks, I set to work on some somewhat mindless repetitive work on the 30 oars of the Oseberg.  I used the dowels and blades from the kit.   Cut the shafts to length, cut out the blades, tapered the shaft ends to fit the blades, glued on the blades.   Used a razor to taper the edges of the blades.  Sanded everything smooth.   From what I could find, the hand-handle ends of the oar shafts were simple tapered down to allow a hand to hold fast to the oar, so this is how I made mine.

 

Have a cheery day!

 

-Jason

[Jason Builder]

Dette er hva jeg gjorde i dag:

 

Tonight, I worked on the steering gear.  I carved these pieces from basswood.   Below are some photos of the Oseberg itself, and of the parts I am making.  More to follow.

 

 

[Glen McGuire]

Superb craftsmanship, Jason!  Well done!

[Jason Builder]

Thank you everyone for the kind support!  It has been nice to get making progress on this model.   

[Louie da fly]

Nice work, mate! You're making good progress.

 

Steven

[Eindride]

Following with great interest as I'm about to start the Billings Oseberg. 

I've made replicas of items from the burial so thought I should do the ship.

 

[Jason Builder]

Dobry wieczor, przyaciele,

 

Carved out some time (ha ha pardon the pun) to carve the tiller tonight.  I have set myself the goal of finishing this model this year, and I even have a place for it, so between now and December I must finish it.  Had fun making and fitting the tiller tonight while listening to Rachmaninoff 2.

 

The tilller-to-rudder connection is a through pinned mortise/tenon.

 

 

[Jason Builder]

Hello Model Ship Building Fellows,

 

Here are photos of my model as I used a razor knife to remove width from the bow and stern frame/keel, as others have done, to prevent the stem and stern edges from being TOO WIDE as they would be if following the kit.  This was a bit of work, but not too much,

 

 

[Jason Builder]

The nice laser burned stem and stern are a nice feature of the kit, thanks Billing Boats!   The bow and stern planks are the same in the kit, but for the two stern pieces, the dragon head in the part must be turned into a tail via your carving work!  Below I show some photos of the actual ship.  The dragon head is of-course at the prow and the tail at the stern.  Here are my parts and installation:

 

[Louie da fly]

You're doing a good job of this. I've seen others that had quite a bit of difficulty, particularly with the upper planking, but you seem to have taken it in your stride. Nice clean work, too.

 

Steven

[Jason Builder]

Thanks for the encouragement , Steven. I see you’re in Ballarat, I seem to remember visiting a quarry there once on one of my trips to Aus.  Also bought an MSM steam engine kit which I believe used to be made in Melbourne.   Nice part of the world you are in!

 

jason

 

[Louie da fly]

Thanks, Jason. We love it here. Beautiful historic city with wonderful buildings dating back to the gold rush. I'm trying to think where that quarry might have been. I can't bring it to mind, but I'm sure there must be quite a few quarries scattered around the place - and it could be at some distance from Ballarat itself, I suppose.

 

MSM are till going strong according to their website, and yes, they're based in the Melbourne suburb of Montrose https://miniaturesteammodels.com/

 

Steven

[Jason Builder]

Hello Model Ship Builders!

 

Couple projects tonight.   1.  Finish attached bow and stern fancy carved trim pieces.  2. cut off the un-needed raised section of planking on the port side in the steering gear area.

 

In order to have flush installation of these nicely burned trim pieces at the bow and stern, I found that the trim piece and the underlying plank should both be carved and tapered down.

 

And here is that piece being glued on:'

 

Next, the uppermost planks from the kit,  on the starboard and port sides, both have a raised section near the stern that is designed to accommodate the steering gear for the rudder.  These extra parts are only needed on the starboard side.  I cut away this raised section from the port side, as seen in the photos below.

 

[Louie da fly]

4 hours ago, Jason Builder said:

In order to have flush installation of these nicely burned trim pieces at the bow and stern, I found that the trim piece and the underlying plank should both be carved and tapered down.

I'm pretty sure other builders of this particular model have encountered the same issue.

 

You're doing a very nice job on this build. It occurs to me that the real ship would probably have had the carvings painted (perhaps in bright colours which highlighted the different gripping beasts) in contrast with the rest of the ship. It was a royal vessel, after all. Yellow and red ochre were available, and a sort bluish grey from wood ash, as well as a black from lamp black. It might have been really colourful. The shields of the Gokstad ship were painted - every second one was black and the alternating ones were yellow.

 

Steven

[Jason Builder]

G'day Mates!

 

I can smell blood in the water on this project, the end is near and I am working now every day after months of working once a month.

 

Latest progress includes drilling holes for oars (pilot hole followed by final hole diameter using a drill) and installing the blocks for the shield rail.  I made those using a hand-snipper.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Vlax]

 

looking great!

[Louie da fly]

Great work. She's already looking beautiful.

 

Steven

[Jason Builder]

Aloha e ka poe hana waapa,

 

Tonight some work in the armory....shield building.   First a note on an interference problem.   I used what I thought was the right wood stock from the kit to make the little blocks above that create the spacing for the shield rail.   Then I tapered down the ends of the shield rail and glued it in place.  I then went to go install my happy little shields only to find that the shields were too thick to fit into the space.  Uf-da.   I wasn't about to rip off the rail so I sanded the shields down slightly and they now fit.  Downside was that in the process of sanding, the little nail holes etched/laser-scribed into the shield faces became actual holes.  I will fill these with a nice darker color wood filler and will wind up OK.  Just be careful to check the thickness of the blocking material vs the shield thickness.  3/8" diameter furniture upholstery tack used for center of shield; I picked a bronze type color, but I think the vikings used iron for these parts; I wanted the bronze color to look better with the stain I will apply so permit me this inaccuracy of metals......the bronze age ended at least 1000years BC and this ship is from 800AD.  But then again the Vikings painted their shields so I am going with that the Vikings on this ship painted the shield centers this color.   Now I have some cleanup and sanding to do on the shield rail and the shields.

 

 

 

 

Edited September 14, 2023 by Jason Builder

[Glen McGuire]

The shields look great.  Nice work, Jason!