Viking longboat by toms10 - scale 1:64 - late 9th century

[toms10]

Hi MSW,

I was going to take the summer off from building anything but alas, I have the sickness.  Being inspired by watching all the Viking series movies on Netflix,  I started building my own Viking longboat. I am using a paper done by Dr. Biscoff on the Oseberg as a guide. It is quite detailed so there should be more than enough information to scratch build something similar. I will make up my own carvings for the bow and stern to personalize it. 
 

here are some pics from the beginning of my journey. The keel is made from .080” thick plywood I made from some basswood I had lying around. The frames and planking are made from my neighbors’s pear tree we cut down last summer. I guess I went overboard with the scratch idea by cutting down and drying my own wood   😜

 

Tom

 

[ccoyle]

Looks like a great start!

[Louie da fly]

You're doing a beautiful job already. 

 

I've a long history as a mediaeval (Viking period) re-enactor, and if you want to pick my brain about details of things like the rig of ships, size and thickness of shields and their decoration, cargo, and anything else that I might be able to help with, feel free to ask.

 

Steven

[toms10]

It’s summer so progress is very slow in the shipyard. I did finally get the hull planked up to the sides a.k.a, “the hard part” on this model. At least I think/hope so. 🤪😁

Still have to do some sanding but it will get there eventually. 😜

 

 

Tom

[Freebird]

Tom, you are an amazing modeler! From your gorgeous Morgan to a longboat, I’m truly impressed! Your longboat is looking awesome and I’m sure it’ll equal your Morgan in detail and finish.

 

Best Regards …. Rick

Edited July 24 by Freebird

[toms10]

Hi Rick,

Hope your summer is going well. Thanks for the compliments. Yeah this one is quite different from the Morgan. It is actually tougher with regards to the planking. The clinker style planking helps a bit to hide some “non-perfections”. 😂

Tom

[Freebird]

Non-perfections?!?! I didn't know that was in your vocabulary. LOL! I can't wait to see your next steps.

 

Summer is going well, working a lot and honey do's hasn't left a lot of shipyard time. I have started Chuck's Speedwell and have the keel and some frames built. 

 

I really like your choice of a longboat, really have a fascination about them; Olha's example at the convention was amazing. My Admiral got me Pavel's kit for Xmas and I'm chomping at the bit to start it but can't until I really make some good progress on Speedwell. 

 

Best Regards .... Rick

Edited July 26 by Freebird

[Dave boatswain]

Great job Tom! The Drakkar turns out very well. By the way, have you already seen the new model of the drakkar built by Pavel Nikitin? His model turned out fantastic.

[toms10]

Hi Dave

I have seen the model by Pavel. A fellow modeler brought it to this past Northeast Conference. It was under construction so only the hull and decking were completed. She did an amazing job on it.

I actually have the model (won it at the Northeast Conference a year ago).  I decided not to build it because it is very large. For this particular model, I wanted to do it in a much smaller scale which is why I am scratch building my own version. 
 

Tom

[toms10]

Some more slow and steady summer progress. I finished the hull planking and the deck sections. The deck sections are made using a 1/32” thick piece of basswood and shaping it so it is a snug fit to the inside contour of the hull. Then I glued .025” thick pear strips on top for the finished piece  Finally, the edges were sanded to a close fit to the shape of the hull.  Everything is still dry fit until they absolutely need to be glued in place.  This gives me the option to remove pieces if I run into some problem with the order that I am assembling everything. 
 

I think the next step will be to cut the slots in the hull for the oars. That should be fun.   I also need to start thinking about a color scheme. 
 

 

Tom

[toms10]

I decided to make some of the “accessories” for a change of pace. 
The mast stop was fun with all the 3D shaping and sanding. 

Also made all the oars along with a few spares. They are a bit delicate so I made a few extra just in case something “unplanned” happens. 🤪

I also made all of the little benches for the oarsmen.  They were a bit “fiddly” to make and took a bit more work and time than anticipated but doesn’t everything?

And finally made all the necessary shields (28 of them) for the sides of the boat. I still have to drill the center holes and then place the hand protector metal cup over it.   Then on the backside, put a gripping handle the will also serve as a mounting point to tie the shield to the hull. Then of course is all the painting of the different shield designs. I am thinking 7 different patterns. 

Still a ways to go to finish up the shields. That gives me more time to decide on the overall color scheme of the hull and deck. 
 

Then I need to come up with an ornate looking pattern to put on the curled part of the keel. That will be a challenge. I am thinking of a dragon head for the bow and tail for the stern. I have seen some pretty interesting ones on the internet. I just have to figure out how I am going to make them at this scale. 
 

Tom

[Louie da fly]

Nice work, mate. Those oars look good, and so do the benches for the oarsmen. From my reading, the most commonly held opinion is that the oarsmen sat on their chests of possessions, but I stress that's opinion - to this day nobody knows for sure - nothing's been found either way.

 

On 9/24/2024 at 3:38 AM, toms10 said:

hand protector metal cup

usually known as a boss. Those shields look very good - that was a lot of work building them from planks. I'm not sure if you're familiar with this, but it's the most comprehensive article I know regarding the decorative designs on Viking shields (and other things about them as well, including how the handle worked). https://www.scribd.com/document/497550805/Viking-Shields - sorry about all the ads and stuff.

 

Regarding dragon heads, there are quite a few images online but just check whether they're the real thing or modern 'interpretations'. Here's some of the genuine ones:

 

   

 

       

   

 

    

 

That should give you plenty of choice 

 

Steven

[toms10]

Thanks Steven for the dragon head ideas. That is the next hurdle which frankly scares the fire out of me. 🤪. 
 

I did manage to get the front sides of the shields painted. Just need to stain the backs and work on attaching a handle. I will definitely check out the link you sent. 

It was a bit tedious but they are done. The actual diameter is .520” (13.2 mm).  I will be using blackened escutcheon pins for the center hand protector.  Not sure about the handles yet. They will be pretty small. 

 

Tom

[Thukydides]

Very nice. Great job on painting the shields.

[Louie da fly]

On 10/2/2024 at 3:09 AM, toms10 said:

Thanks Steven for the dragon head ideas. That is the next hurdle which frankly scares the fire out of me.

I'd recommend you keep it simple. No need to try to emulate the top two - the unknown Viking who carved the one on the left is known to academics as the Academician because he was so expert. I must say I like the middle one in the second row (I've only just discovered him - he was on a Sotheby's auction site). Relatively simple carving job, and the decoration is all just what they call ring and dot (you can see why). I think that'd look pretty cool.

 

I think the escutcheon pins should be fine for the bosses, and many of the shield decorative patterns are very similar to those shown in contemporary images.

 

Looking good.

Edited October 3 by Louie da fly

[toms10]

Managed to put on some rails to hold the shields in place.  Inserted one of my scrapped shields to test it out. 

Tom

[Louie da fly]

That's a very nice piece of work.

 

Steven

[tartane]

 

Hi Tom,

 

I think you are building a beautiful boat. But may I perhaps make a small point of criticism? You use plywood for the rafters. That comes into view and then I find it disturbing that you can see the three layers of wood so clearly, especially when they are varnished.

This is easy to avoid. Simply make your own plywood by gluing together a number of layers of veneer of the type of wood you find suitable. If you cut the trusses from it, the ends are completely even.

The best way to do this is to use two flat planks, for example 12 mm plywood. You provide each of them with cello tape on one side to prevent the glue from adhering to the boards. Then you put the required amount of pieces of veneer between those planks, provided with wood glue, best is to dilute that glue a bit, Then you clamp the planks firmly together and let it dry for a long time. The latter is important because it causes the glue to dry a bit slowly in the air.

In this way, you can also determine any thickness of trusses, without being bound to the standard sizes of the plywood.

 

 

All these small trusses are made according to the above method

 

succes

Constant

[toms10]

Chugging along with this build now that I have all my fall clean up finished. I made all the pieces except the sail and the dragon’s tail. I have started on the head and for my first ever carving and I am feeling pretty good about it.  😁 Here are a few pics. 

Here are some of the finished pieces. 
The mast post or “fish” with the oar holders dry fit. The squares on the cutting mat are 1 inch just to give an idea of the scale. 

and two of the 31 sea chests I made, complete with hinges and hasps. 

 

I also decided on a grayish mottled color for the hull with black shield rails for contrast and accent. I was thinking the main color of the dragon will be an olive drab green with black accented relief carved scales covering the stem and stern posts. We will have to see how that ends up. 

 

I also finished making all the rigging  fittings like the “blocks”, connecting fiddles and cleats. Those were fun to make at this scale (he says sarcastically). 😉

I need to come up with an idea for the look of the sail. Not sure what I want yet. I see a google search in my future   😂

 

Tom

Edited November 15 by toms10

[Freebird]

Just amazing Tom! Your carving looks great!

 

Best Regards …. Rick

[toms10]

Carved up some details today and got them dry fit. Now he’s a fierce and formidable escort complete with serpent horns, tongue and saber teeth.   Okay, so he only measures about 3/16” wide by about 1/2” long from nose tip to nape but he has a mean bite. 😂. I would have made him fire breathing but being part of a wooden boat, it didn’t seem like a good idea. 🤪

 

Careful, don’t get too close!  He bites. 

Tom

Edited November 17 by toms10

[Thukydides]

That looks really nice. Great job.

[Seventynet]

Great work Tom! Your project has given me some ideas for my Gokstadt. Could I ask what you used for the hinges and clasps for your sea chests? The benches are the one thing I never got around to. 
 

ian

[toms10]

Hi Ian,

The hinges and hasps for the sea chests are nothing more than paper strips colored with a black Sharpie pen. They are about .020” wide by about .100” long. I glued them down with ordinary wood glue.

Tom 

[Louie da fly]

That's not just good carving for a beginner, that's good carving, period. You've done a beautiful job with it. And unlike some dragon-heads I've seen, he really looks like he belongs on a Viking ship.

 

Oh, and the rest of the ship is good, too. 😁

 

Steven

[toms10]

Hi Steven,

Thanks for positive reinforcement.   I admit I took the first one I tried and used it as a test/learning piece. 😁. I have a new found appreciation for those who can just take a block of wood or stone and turn it into a lifelike piece of art with amazing realism. 

Tom 

[toms10]

So here is my tail on the third try. The first one broke along the grain. I was a bit to aggressive with rough cutting the shape. ☹️. The second one looked more like a ground snail all curled up. 😂. The one below is the latest and the one I am going with. It took me almost 3 1/2 hours total so far but I am happy with it. I thought the tail would be easier than the head but it posed a whole new set of problems!

I added some spikes to dress it up a bit. Right now they are just dry fit and maybe just a bit too long. 

 

 

Tom

Edited November 21 by toms10

[Louie da fly]

That is amazingly cool. You've really taken the carving thing and run with it!

And those spikes are actually quite within the possibilities for a Viking ship. Note the holes on this weather vane, one of quite a number that have been found: 

 

 

They have been variously interpreted as being for pendants, tassels etc

 

  

 

but if you look at some Viking cloak-pins that appear to be representations of one of these weather-vanes, whatever is supported by these holes seems to be more like spikes, going out radially:

 

 

 

So I think you've got a very good case for your spikes.

 

Nice work, mate.

 

Steven

 

 

 

[toms10]

On 11/6/2024 at 10:36 AM, tartane said:

I think you are building a beautiful boat. But may I perhaps make a small point of criticism? You use plywood for the rafters. That comes into view and then I find it disturbing that you can see the three layers of wood so clearly, especially when they are varnished.

This is easy to avoid. Simply make your own plywood by gluing together a number of layers of veneer of the type of wood you find suitable. If you cut the trusses from it, the ends are completely even.

Hi Tartane,

I was reviewing my log and noticed I missed your post about the plywood beams. Thank you for the input. Actually I did make my own plywood using pretty much the procedure you described. It seems (hard to tell in pics) that you made your “plywood” with the grain all going in the same direction. That kind of defeats the purpose of using plywood to gain strength or in this case because the pieces were so small, stopping them from splitting along the grain in the very thin/small areas. This happened several times when making the frames. 
 

I agree the plywood look is not the greatest. I may paint the top edges later. It depends on how much it really bothers me. 😁

 

Thanks again for the input. That is why I like this site and how I learn. 
 

Tom

[toms10]

This is how the hull looks after the keel was painted and the hull put on two pedestals. The deck sections are now in place also.

Coming up with the color schemes is harder than the actual build!😁

Tom