Slavic Longship by Jsk – FINISHED - Falkonet – 1:72

[Jsk]

This is the first wooden ship model kit I’ve ever built. Over the years I’ve built quite a few plastic models (mostly planes) and designed and built a few card models so I’m not a total neophyte. Wood’s a new medium for me, though.

 

The first thing that struck me about this kit is how delicate the wood is. The wood varies from 1mm to 0.5mm for the hull strakes.

 

Assembling the jig, keel and bow and stern bulkhead assemblies was quite straight-forward. The bulkheads just slide into mdf holders and are fairly loose—not even snug enough to hold the bulkheads in place if the holders are turned upside down.

 

 

 

 

Sliding the bulkhead assemblies unto the keel was also easy but it does raise some concerns as the wood-to-wood contact between the keel and the bulkheads is quite minimal.

 

 

 

 

After assembling the keel the next step was to remove the rest of the bulkheads from the sheet and insert them into slots in the jig in preparation of installing a sub-deck. The bulkheads are quite a bit larger at this stage than their finished size. They have an upward extension which will eventually be removed. However, at this stage the extension is needed as that is the portion of the bulkhead that fits into the jig.

 

The sub-deck consists of nine pieces that tab into slots in the bulkheads and ensure the proper spacing. I marked the sub-deck sections with their part numbers and indicators to ensure that I installed them at the correct place and in the correct orientation.

 

 

Care must be taken when gluing in the sub-deck. The tabs in the sub-deck sections fit into a slot in the bulkheads which is at the same location as the dividing line between the bulkhead proper and its upwards extension. Sloppy glue work could easily glue the extension to the bulkhead and cause considerable difficulties later on.

 

I installed the sub-deck sections starting from the ends and working towards the center.

 

 

 

I was quite sparing when applying glue. In fact, I only applied glue to the bottom seams using a toothpick. I did not want to risk gluing the sub-deck to the bulkhead extensions.

 

 

The final step for today was fitting the keel assembly to the bulkhead/sub-floor section. Again, I used a toothpick to spread glue along the joins.

 

 

 

 

The completed structure does not have a great deal of rigidity. I noticed that the keel had a tendency to hog lifting the ends off the jig. I used a couple of rubber bands to hold the whole thing flush to the jig while the glue dried. The following photo still shows a gap but once I doubled up the rubber bands that provided enough force to pull the ends down flush to the surface of the jig.

 

 

 

The next step will be planking the hull. since the pieces are so delicate I'll save that for a day when I'm not feeling too ham-fisted!

[Jsk]

Thanks for the likes!

 

My materials on hand for this build are fairly limited. They are essentially, Elmer’s white glue, Aleene’s Tacky glue, thick CA glue, toothpicks, full size clothes-pins, four (4!) mini clothes-pins (I swear I had more!) and, of course, a selection of hobby knives. Aleene’s has been my go-to glue for most projects for years now and I saw no reason not to try it for this build. I thought about using the CA but to be honest I don’t think I’m going to paint this model and I don’t think I can be accurate enough applying the CA to keep the outside of the model looking clean. The Aleene’s can be rubbed off with an eraser if I get too exuberant. Granted, this build is very much about figuring out how to do things so I’m fully prepared to call myself an assortment of not-very-complimentary names for making bad choices!

 

Gluing the garboards was not difficult though I did wonder how to place them precisely. While the bulkheads are notched to guide with the vertical placement I did not see a way to ensure a proper horizontal placement. Then I noticed a vertical line towards the ends of the garboards and they seemed to align with the penultimate bulkheads. Aha! Quite clever. Wrong….

 

Nevertheless, I proceeded. Knowing that glue sticks best to glue, I used a paintbrush to apply watered down glue to the edges of the bulkheads and the inside of the garboard. After letting that dry I applied unadulterated glue to the bulkhead notches for the strake I was attaching and carefully placed my precious mini clothes-pins to hold it in place. So far, so good. I let it dry for an hour and then placed the other garboard. Maybe having so few usable clamps will force me to be patient during planking!

 

 

It was not until I was test fitting the second strake that I realized the lines had nothing to do with placement. They seem to be purely for aesthetic purposes to represent a feature of the full size ship. (In fact, these lines came back to haunt me.)

 

 

However, while inspecting the strakes while wearing my magnifying headpiece I did notice that they actually were marked! Each strake has a pair of microscopic marks indicating where they align with bulkheads seven and eight. Aha! Quite clever. If only they could be seen with the naked eye!

 

 

It was at this point that my clamping strategy went awry. I’ve been applying glue to the center bulkheads and attaching the strakes. Once the center section dries, only then do I tackle the bending at the bow and stern.

 

 

After the garboards it became apparent that the mini clothes-pins did not have the reach to be usable in holding further strakes to the bulkheads. And, to be honest, they were a bit too strong for the delicate pieces of this model. I looked in vain for blue painters’ tape or some other way to clamp the strakes. I even considered bread-bag twist-ties. I’m afraid to use pins as I suspect they will simply split the wood. Ultimately, I think I’ll just have to use my clumsy finger-clamps. (Which is a challenge for someone as fidgety as me!)

 

 

This is a delicate model. That delicacy has been compounded by some design choices by Falconet. Remember the lines which I first assumed indicated strake placement but did not? Well, since they cut about half way through the wood they definitely increase the fragility of the pieces. Any pressure (including a gentle clamp) on the end sections tends to detach the end of the strake from the main body. This line also weakens the strake just where it needs to bend and twist. This has caused a couple of issues as illustrated in the next two pictures.

 

The first picture shows where the end of strake two has snapped off under pressure of a mini clothes-pin. I thought I had propped it back into position before the glue had dried but when I came back to the project the next morning I found that it had shifted. Hmmm…. I may yet be able to use a section of toothpick to wedge it back into position but it will be a delicate exercise. Micro-surgery skills required.

 

 

This second picture shows where strake three has bent at the cut rather than form a curve. I’m sure this is due to where I was applying pressure as I held the model while the glue dried. But, frankly, I can’t see what’s going on underneath my fingers.

 

 

Well… like I said: This build is about figuring out how to do things and that includes eliminating ways to NOT do things! It does certainly raise my concerns when I get to the upper strakes. These are actually designed with separate end pieces which need to be scarfed into the body of the strakes. I have my doubts about that. But I definitely need some blue painters’ tape to help hold thinks in place. While I don't currently have a way to bend planks--and I don't think it would work on such delicate pieces--for future reference (on more robust models) I think I'll need to learn that fine art.

 

 

Edited September 30, 2023 by Jsk

[Louie da fly]

This is a very interesting kit, and an interesting build. I'm pulling up a chair and opening the popcorn.

[Jsk]

Welcome, Louie! Enjoy the show.

 

Three lessons from my latest efforts at ship modelling: 1) Errors are cumulative; 2) You never have enough clamps; 3) Patience is a virtue.

 

Planking the hull was going, well… almost swimmingly. The first seven strakes on each side of the hull all had the aforementioned lines engraved into the wood to simulate scarf joints in the strakes. These continue to be a problem as the (unnecessary!) lines weakened the piece enough that the strake usually snaps when forming it to the hull. Hoping to avoid breaking it I applied a thin coating of glue to the strake to reinforce it before detaching the strake from the sheet. That did help, but in fact about 50 percent of the time I ended up reattaching the ends after the strake was glued to the hull. Frustrating, but not a show stopper.

 

The last four strakes were designed with separate ends and actually had a 3/16 inch overlap area for a scarf joint which produced a much stronger piece. This is how Falconet should have designed all the strakes if they thought representing the scarf was so darned important! Falconet did provide a plastic template/jig for scarfing the strakes. While I was doubtful about this it proceeded quite well.

 

 

By the time I attached strake 7, though, the hull and jig exceeded the width of my ad-hoc Bread-Bag-Twist-Tie Clamping System (BBTTCS – patent pending) so I removed the hull from the jig thus providing access to the inside of the hull. This allowed me to use my precious four (count 'em, 4) mini clothes pins to clamp the strakes in place while the glue tried. But with only four pins I could only clamp about 1/3 of the length of any one strake—but I could use the BBTTCS for the ends. No problem, just an exercise in patience.

 

 

Turns out my stock of patience is smaller than my stock of mini clothes-pins! I got in a rush, didn’t notice a gap forming in the center of the strake as I tightened the ends. So, my Viking ship is going to need more caulking that most. Actually, I don’t think most people will even notice it. But I know it’s there.

 

I started planking by alternating between sides so that the hull remained symmetrical. However, since strakes 8 through 12 had to be scarfed I did 8 through 12 on one side before the other. When I reached number 12 I found that I had not gotten the vertical placement correct. My ship was going to have a little less freeboard than intended. I’ll have a little bit of a rabbet to fill at a later time. I’ll also need to shave down the bulkheads a bit since they now extend slightly above the final strake. Again, not a major issue—I don’t think most people will even notice it. I’m not sure where I got off track but by the time I reached the final strake the error was noticeable. With such a small model small errors are quite visible!

 

I’ve also noticed a challenge to come. The end bulkheads fit into slotted guides which keep them in place while planking. Once I removed the hull from the jig I thought I’d remove the guides to give myself a bit more working room when clamping. However, the guides cannot be removed until after the bulkhead extensions have been removed—which really needs to be done after planking is complete. Not a real problem (I hope). Just something that caught me by surprise.

 

 

More disturbingly I also broke off one half of an end bulkhead in trying to apply the BBTTCS. (I may or may not have been traumatized by this event which led, I believe, to my not noticing the gap forming in the strake. I least that’s the story I’m going with.) Turns out I wasn’t getting a good contact between the strakes and that bulkhead. I’ve saved the tiny sliver though and will carefully reattach it once the planking is complete and I have more open access to the interior.

 

 

Once all the planking was complete it was time to remove the bulkhead extensions Not knowing how strong the bulkheads actually are (especially after breaking one of them!) I was a little nervous about this. So I carefully cut the remaining holding tabs that I could reach before gently wiggling the extension fore and aft to snap any remaining attachments. You can also see in this picture how far off my vertical placement of the strakes is. At least I presume they should end at the top edge of the strake.

 

 

 

 

Many years ago I lost vision in one eye and developed permanent floaters in the other (not to mention night blindness)—consequently, I have virtually no near-depth perception. And with the passing of years I have grown more and more far sighted—not unusual for people my age. While I’ve grown accustomed to my vision and adapted my hobby activities to it, building this boat has been a real visual challenge. But I am enjoying it. Nevertheless, my second build will be something a little bit bigger. Let’s just say that ships in bottles ain’t on my horizon!

 

 

 

 

 

[Louie da fly]

Well, you've certainly learnt some of the most important lessons in the wonderful world of wooden ship modelling! Another lesson I find very valuable is that wood is a very forgiving medium. Even when something breaks you can often just make a replacement or perhaps glue a new bit on.

 

For a beginner in wood modelling, you certainly picked one of the most difficult to plank. Have a look at some of the other longship build logs - they often have great trouble with alignment of the strakes. But in my humble opinion you're doing a pretty impressive job of it. 

 

Keep up the good work.

 

Steven

 

PS: I don't know where you got your mini-clothes pegs but I get mine (and I find them VERY useful) from craft or art supplies stores. Maybe you could look there for more.

 

Steven

[sirdrake]

Just found this log after having been absent from the forum for a while, and will gladly follow along. 🙂

 

So far you're doing a great job, congrats!. As you know I have built the same one a few months ago, and all the problems you've described so far seem utterly familiar to me. Broken bulkheads, the infamous laser-cut line on the plank ends, ... And your build is a very clean one!

 

If you allow for one hint, something I completely overlooked at this stage and was unable to fix later on: The equivalent of lanyards that attach the shrouds to the ship's hull are placed between the bulkheads and the outer planks. If one looks very closely (I didn't), you will see that the two bulkheads on each side to which these "lanyards" will be connected are cut a bit differently and leave a little opening between plank and bulkhead. That little gap is easily filled up with glue. Should that have happened to you, now you could still easily fix it while the mast and other stuff is not yet in place.

 

Keep on with that great build log. It's a pleasure to read.

 

Cheers,

Frank

[Jsk]

Thank you, Steven and Frank for the comments. While model building is a solitary activity it is so motivating to know that others are following along!

 

Thank you, Frank, also for the tip on the ‘lanyards’. I had, indeed, overlooked that in the instructions. And yes, I had blocked one of the openings. Forewarned is forearmed, as they say! And viewing your gallery of this model was a deciding factor in my decision to give it a try.

 

This week’s build activities have been smooth so there’s not much for me to whine about. I’ve installed the decking which looks okay. I considered slicing it up and installing it as individual planks but decided that at this scale it probably wouldn’t make much of a difference. I’m sill considering adding a few pieces since the supplied decking doesn’t quite conform to the hull planks as the hull narrows at the bow and stern. On the other hand, the additions might look out of place and disrupt the smooth lines of the decking. Hmmm….

 

 

I also attached the figurehead and tail and finally the shield rack. Again, these were pretty uncomplicated and fit well. The next step in the instructions is to install the oar racks but I think I’ll hold off on that. I feel my chances of inadvertently breaking them off in subsequent steps is pretty high. I think I’ll take on the rudder next. That may be challenging. I’m a bit surprised by its method of attachment. Really? The only thing that keeps the rudder from floating away is a big knot that prevents a rope from slipping through a hole in the rudder? Is there an historic basis for this?

 

 

I’ve also been thinking a lot about the sail. To be honest, the sewing involved with a cloth sail may very well be outside of my skill set (and visual acuity). I’d like to introduce color to the model on the sail since my intention is to leave the rest of the model ‘bright’ (to use an anachronistic term). My previous experiments at painting on cloth have been disappointing. In addition, I only have supplies for a single cloth sail. If I screw it up I’d need to have a contingency plan. Consequently, I’m seriously considering constructing a sail from paper. I’ve read a couple of build logs here on MSW where impressive paper sails were constructed and I think that’s within my skill set.

 

When I tinkered with card models a few years ago I experimented with laminating card by sandwiching plastic ‘cling’ film between the sheets and then using an iron to melt the film. The process worked quite well and avoided introducing moisture into the card which inevitably caused warping. However, while I’m not too concerned with warping in a sail, I think if I lay thread over the film (between two sheets of paper) I can create panel seams with three dimensional presence. I’ll probably glue on strips of paper to represent the reef lines and edge seams embedding the bolt rope in the latter. If this works I think it will be easier for me than gluing together individual panels. In addition, I’m sure the paper will take paint better than cloth. I’m not sure if the sail will have color stripes but I do want an image of Odin’s eight legged horse, Sleipnir, on it.

 

Looking at the sails on various Viking ship models has me wondering how much we actually know about them. For example, is there proof that Viking sails were reefed? I thought reefing was a technique developed in Tudor times and that before that sails typically were shortened by removing bonnets? Given the Viking presence in Britain I can’t believe the practice of reefing would have faded away only to have been rediscovered later.

 

Anyway, I’ve been getting enough enjoyment with this build that I’ve already lined up another. Along with some tools to help it along. (By the way, what you see as inexpensive plastic calipers, I see as spring loaded bar clamps… well once a rubber band has been introduced!)

 

[Louie da fly]

11 hours ago, Jsk said:

Really? The only thing that keeps the rudder from floating away is a big knot that prevents a rope from slipping through a hole in the rudder? Is there an historic basis for this?

 

For a very explanatory explanation of the method of rudder attachment, see posts from # 124 onward at 

 

 

12 hours ago, Jsk said:

For example, is there proof that Viking sails were reefed?

I don't think there is. I've been interesting myself in Viking ships for decades and I can't think of any evidence for them having reef points on their sails. There are other very interesting things about their sails - do a google image search for Viking ship stones and you'll see a lot of standing stones with ships on them, many under sail - but as far as I can recall, no reef points. The earliest representation I know of them is the town seals of La Rochelle (c. 1200)

 

 

and of Hastings (13th century)

 

After that they become common until at least the first half of the 15th century - see post #165 at 

 

for more discussion on this - and then

 

12 hours ago, Jsk said:

I can’t believe the practice of reefing would have faded away only to have been rediscovered later.

- yes, they unaccountably vanish, to be replaced by bonnets, but then reappear in the 17th century. Don't ask me why, I don't know.

 

The model is looking very good, and your inquisitive attitude to the historical details is laudable. Keep it up.

 

Steven

 

[Jsk]

Thanks for the link to the hulk build, Steven. That was fascinating. The rudder withy attachment makes so much sense! Knock a wedge out to loosen the withy and you have a universal joint. One of the drawings in the thread also showed me that the rudder did have an airfoil cross section similar to modern rudders. I was wondering about that, too.

 

I've only done a little work on the model this week. I painted the shields, assembled the center-line racks (for oars or spars, I presume) and attached the rudder. The greatest effort was shaping the mast step. I neglected to take before pictures but it was in pretty rough shape. I did quite a bit of sanding and filing to make it presentable. I'm not sure I'm happy with the shield colors but I definitely need to add some color to their back sides to differentiate them from the hull strakes.

 

I did get a chance to try out my laminating scheme for a sail. I can't really call it a success but my 'prototype' shows enough promise to lead me to continue experimenting. I think I'll dump the hot-iron-and-plastic laminating and revert to glue. For this first attempt I just used 20 pound bond paper from my printer. Not quite the texture I want but I think I've got an old all-media sketch book around here which should provide a bit thicker, better textured paper. I folded strips of paper to edge the sail and the bolt rope is sandwiched in the edge strip. I'm not sure that's correct. Would sail bolt ropes be sewn inside a strip like that or were they always sewn to the outside edge of the sail?

 

Preparing for laminating, this shows the back side of the sail and the strings before having a sheet of plastic and then another sheet of paper (the front side of the sail) put in place:

Sandwiched in parchment paper in preparation to ironing:

The laminated sheet:

Cut to size:

With edge strips and bolt rope and clear matt varnish applied:

Frankly, the laminating didn't connect front and back together enough to avoid bubbling. But, I think if I can simply glue the sheets rather than laminate this might produce a usable sail.

[Jsk]

After spending a lot of time at the Vikingeskib Museet boat collection web site I decided that the bare wood of the model would look better with more color than I had originally intended. So, I painted the Sliepnir with the acrylics I had on hand.

 

I've been studying the rigging instructions and the photographs at the museum and I'll probably start rigging today or tomorrow. I was shocked that I was able to drill the required holes in the comma-shaped pieces that are used to tighten the lines. These holes are parallel to the surface of the wood, through 1mm thick pieces. I'm still not convinced I'll be able to run lines through them but we'll see! I've rigged a fair number of 1/600 scale AOS ships but I think the larger 1/72 scale will be a bit of a challenge. The earlier ships were war-gaming models so it mostly just running thread from point to point. Not much in tying things off realistically.

 

I'm still working on the sail. I've decided on a design for the sail, and I have the materials ready but I've not yet decided exactly how to do it. I have decided to create a paper sail, striped with ochre and terra cotta (my test can be seen in the overhead shot below). Superimposed overall with be a silhouette of Odin's horse, Sliepnir. 

 

[sirdrake]

Jeff,

 

she really is a beauty already. Very well done.

 

Did I understand you correctly that your sale came without bolt rope sewed in? That would be a surprise, because the sail included in my kit was already "complete"...

 

Frank

[Jsk]

Thanks, Frank.

 

I've been enjoying the build and enjoying learning about Norse vessels.

 

The sail as provided was just a swatch of off-white cloth. No stitching, no hem, no bolt rope. There's nothing in the instructions about preparing the sail but the first appearance of the sail in the instructions does show the bolt rope.

 

C'est la vie!

 

But I'm happy to experiment with making a paper sail. In fact, I have a card skipjack I was designing a few years back that stalled because I didn't know what to do for sails so there's 'additional value' to this project.

 

 

 

 

[Jsk]

Instead of installing the standing rigging I decided to see what I could accomplish with the sail. Since I wanted to paint the sail I knew that regular 20# paper wouldn’t work as it would simply buckle with the application of water-based acrylic paints. So, I ordered some ‘mixed media’ paper. Turns out this is 120 lb, 200 g/m2 drawing paper which took the acrylic paint just fine. I had drawn up the design on the computer and simply printed out the outline on the new paper. I then painted it in with craft acrylics.

I thought about impressing the vertical panel lines into the sail after painting but decided they probably wouldn’t be noticeable within the vertical stripes. I did cut and glue small strips to represent reefing bands. I guess it’s somewhat debatable as to whether Viking ships used reef points but I figured if the Danish Viking Museum is using them on their reconstructions… it’s good enough for me.

 

The next step was to give the sail some shape. For this I used a broad paint brush to moisten both sides of the sail with water, placed it between two sheets of wax paper and then used rubber bands to wrap it around a one gallon bleach bottle. I quickly noticed that while the moisture didn’t affect the acrylic paint, the same was not true of the printed outline. The ink quickly ran and muddled up the sail. To be honest, though, this didn’t bother me. I thought the colors were too bright and the washed out ink toned them down a bit. The sail was left bound to the bleach bottle for 24 hours to dry.

On to the rope work! I used some tan nylon thread left over from a previous project. I first stretched the thread by attaching a binder clip to one end of it and letting it hang from an elevated point. While it was hanging I worked some diluted PVC glue into the thread with my fingers and let it dry over night. This takes the curl out of the thread and makes it easier to work with. I also smeared PVC over the edges of the sail and let that dry to enable a quick bind when gluing the rope to the sail edge. Finally, I glued the thread to the head of the sail, looped it at the corners to form the cringles and then down the sides and foot leaving loops for clews. Bolt rope complete.

I then drilled holes for the reef points using a pin vice and ran short lengths of thread through the holes with a dab of PVC to keep them in place. Getting the reef points to lie down was a PITA but I eventually dabbed some PVC to the underside and held them in place with painter’s tape until dry. Notice that I wasn’t very successful in trimming the reef points to consistent size.

 

 

The final step was to coat the entire sail with acrylic matt medium to give it a consistent finish. I’ve found that I’m not terribly neat with my application of PVC and the matt finish hides the telltale signs of shaky hands and poor eyesight!

[Louie da fly]

Nice work on the reef points and bolt ropes. Regarding Vikings using reef points -there's no proof either way; the earliest pictorial evidence I've seen for reef points is from the seal of the English town of Hastings from the 13th century. There's a fuller discussion in Woodrat's "Elusive Hulc" build log (post # 165 onwards) - well worth a look.

 

However, Viking picture stones show a fascinating array of ropes attached to sails - the current theory is apparently that they were used to try to keep the homespun wool sails from stretching - https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Type-C-D-Viking-Age-stone-from-Hejnum-Riddare-The-clearest-example-that-the-dragon_fig5_287096117

 

Not suggesting you try to emulate this, but what a fascinating subject for speculation. As far as I know nobody's yet tried to model a ship with this rigging. I'd be fascinated to see somebody do it.

 

Steven

[Jsk]

Yeah, I've seen the diamond shape lines on the rock carvings. I always assumed they were probably some type of netting to provide strength to the sail. I did (briefly) consider doing something like that but I'm glad I didn't!

[Jsk]

FINISHED!

 

Took a bit longer than anticipated but finishing the build was important to me. I can be a bit like a hummingbird with my hobby projects.

 

I didn't take pictures of the rigging process. I found the rigging frustrating. I can't imagine trying something more complex rigging-wise for quite some time. Some of the challenges are non-negotiable--like my eyesight--but having better tools and materials would probably help. I used string which I had on hand but I couldn't tell that it was any different than what was provided in the kit. Plus, mine was on a spool rather than wrapped around a card and had less kinks in it. However, my string is nylon and I found that knots slipped too easily and the thread always wanted to resume its curl. Basically, it was difficult to manipulate. I also found that the thread unraveled if I looked at it cross-eyed and once I clipped an end the thread tended to fray.

 

Tool wise... I've only got one pair of tweezers small enough for this work so last night I found myself looking at surgical needle holders on-line. I think those will help. I also need a better way to cut the string. I have a little pair of squeeze scissors but unless the string is under tension they tend to chew through the string rather than cut it. Overall, I think my rigging is pretty rough. Especially the lines attaching the sail to the spar. I keep telling myself that this is a learning project and I learned a lot!

 

What I did find very helpful is that I've got two LED lights on flex-stands that stick out over the work surface. Having the ability to hang lines from the light supports proved beneficial. I could even cut a number of lines and drag the ends through CA then drape the lines over the lights to let them dry. It kept them out of the way until needed. Same thing for my 'helping hands' with alligator clips. Just being able to keep tension on the lines by clipping them with the alligators and setting the 'hands' off to the side was helpful.

 

Anyway. I'm calling this one finished. Overall, I'm pretty happy with it. It's been a (mostly) enjoyable voyage. I'd recommend this kit to others at a beginning level. I might even see if I can find some 1/72 scale Vikings to crew her!

 

 

Edited November 26, 2023 by Jsk

[Knocklouder]

Congratulations on your first build. You have done an awesome job.    

[Bryan Woods]

Wow, what a great job! And a first build!👏

[Paul Le Wol]

Jeff, congratulations on finishing your longship. Beautiful work!

[Louie da fly]

Beautiful job, mate. She looks very good. It wouldn't be a proper ship build if you didn't learn something to do differently next time 

 

Regarding small tweezers, have a look at the ones used for personal grooming. I bought a set of them, all with different 'business ends' quite cheaply at s department store.

 

Steven 

[ccoyle]

Congratulations on completing your first model!

[Jsk]

Thanks, everyone. I'll sit back and contemplate my next build. While I've got the Dusek bireme staring at me it will require sanding which I'll need to do outdoors. So I might wait until late winter to start that. Meanwhile I started designing a card Skipjack years ago which I abandoned. But the force is strong with this one!

 

 

[sirdrake]

Hi Jeff,

 

congratulations! You've built a really beautiful model. I very much like the color scheme, and the overall appearance of your boat.

 

Looking at your model and mine side by side, I think it is fascinating to see how different the outcome of the same kit can be. Yours looks lively, colorful, like ready to sail out to the shores of Northumbria.

 

Your rigging turned out very nice, no doubt about it. I'm so with you drilling the holes into these needle-shaped "shroud-tension-things". I damaged two or three during the process and was glad there were a few spares in the kit...

 

Thanks for that wonderful build log. A pleasure to read.

 

Frank

Edited December 8, 2023 by sirdrake
typo...

[Jsk]

Thank you, Frank.

 

I suppose everyone has their own style which they impart to their models. We're all artists! Just not all of the same skill levels, of course 😉

 

Yeah, I threw away a number of those shroud thingies. Tiny, tiny, tiny.