Viking Ship by DanBArt - Marine Model Company

[DanBArt]

Hello,

I am a new member here and pretty new to ship modeling as well.  I have been plastic modeling for over 40 years,  since I was a child, and have completed a few plastic ship models in my time but I've always wanted to try a wooden ship model.

Several years ago, 2017-18-19-ish, I decided I'd try a wooden viking ship.  The price was palatable and the complexity seemed within my tolerance and skillset.  I tried purchasing a planked model off Amazon but that became a drawn-out issue that I won't get into right now.  The short of it is that it didn't work out but I still wanted a wooden viking model.

I found this old Marine Models kit on eBay and again the price was right so I snatched it up.  It seems to have been purchased in late 1977 while the original plan for the model was drawn up in 1966.  From what I can tell all the parts and pieces are still there.   It also looks like the customer ordered 1 other kit an expressed interest in others..  The model is worth a write-up simply because of its age and uniqueness,  in my opinion,  but the plan is to make a nice, convincing model out of it.  

It came with more literature than parts, and shows a time when kit manufacturers seemed to do it as a labor of love and had a personal interest and ambassadorial spirit with regards to the hobby.

I'm not sure how soon I'll get started on the construction here as I'm still setting up a new modeling shop at a new property but please be patient.   Thanks for looking.

[Louie da fly]

A very interesting project. It's very different from the kits we get nowadays but I think you could make a very worthwhile model from it. Is it to be planked, or is that the finished hull configuration?

 

Though they're not built the same way, I'd recommend you check out the other Viking model build logs in this section to pick up some ideas.

 

And ask questions if there's anything you don't understand. They're a very helpful bunch here on MSW.

 

Steven

[Cathead]

I agree with Steven, that's a really interesting kit and it'll be fun to see what you do with it. I certainly enjoyed doing a deep research dive and making lots of adjustments/improvements when I built a Viking ship kit a few years ago. Have fun!

[Snug Harbor Johnny]

  The provided base looks a lot like the sort often included in the old Scientific model ship kits.

 

[Knocklouder]

Good luck on your journey, have as much fun as you can

 Many will help a long the way  you see. 

[DanBArt]

Thanks to all for the encouragement!  I do have many ideas swirling around my brain about this kit.  I want to really do it justice since it's a bit of a piece of history itself.  I am viewing the hull very much as an extremely approximate starting point.  I would like to thin the bulwarks to something more scale, and as for planking, I  might try to carve the shape of the clinker planking right into the wood.

While thinning the bulwarks my hope is to bring them much deeper into the hull and perhaps leave room to either construct a new deck and all relevant accoutrements upon it, or create a nice flat floor that I can carve planking and details into.

Wood is a largely foriegn media to me from a modeling or artistic standpoint.  I do have a BA in Fine Art, specifically painiting, but I also have a minor in printmaking that included making wood-cut prints that I can draw from.  Having a homogenous block of it to wrest a form from is both exciting and terrifying.  Add to that the fact that I haven't done any modeling at all in several years, I'm trying to put my mind back into that place to make it a fun and enjoyable process that I used to do with a large amount of confidence.  

To help me getting my mind and hands going again my wife suggested I start with something similar but less critical or taxing.  She found a Rokr cello music box wooden model kit that she thought was whimsical so I'm trying out my new modeling digs on my first wooden modeling project.  I may start a thread on that as well if there is a forum here for non-nautical subjects.

Thanks again for your interest too...having other modelers interested in my project is alway great encouragement and motivation to keep working.  Thank you.

[Scottish Guy]

Hope to see this project going further someday...