'Oseberg' Viking Ship (v3) by James H - Ships of Pavel Nikitin - 1/25

[Chuck Seiler]

I have the V2 version and have gotten as far as making the frames (while I work on another model).  I have thought about using copper wire, with the end treated with a cupping burr.  Once the nails/rivets are in place, they can be darkened using Liver of Sulpher...at least that is my theory.  I am told LoS does not stain the wood.  Alot of work, though.

[James H]

Exactly, that's why I'd ideally want something I don't need to shape and doesn't need to be treated. I'd give up the will to live if I needed to paint 1000+ rivets 😆

[Keith Black]

 James, Archer Transfers here in the US sells rivet transfers, see the below link. I have no clue what it would cost to ship a sheet to the UK? 

 

https://www.archertransfers.com/search?q=rivet&_pos=2&_psq=rivets&_ss=e&_v=1.0

[James H]

I think somebody mentioned those to me but they aren't defined enough. The rivet heads are quite shallow. I used the same transfers on a spitfire I built about 10yrs ago.

[mnewsholme]

Sounds like something that would be easy enough to 3d resin print.  

Do you have a sketch with some dimensions?

[James H]

3 hours ago, mnewsholme said:

Sounds like something that would be easy enough to 3d resin print.  

Do you have a sketch with some dimensions?

I don't, unfortunately. I also don't have the ability to 3d print.

[James H]

Work has been progressing painfully slowly, but I'm in no rush.

 

Since my last update, the work has involved fitting the last three plank runs (10, 11, 12), adding patina and stain, and doing a lot of test fitting. 

The first job is the patina on the bulkhead deck beams/ears. 1/900 is first sprayed over these and then sanded back about 80%+. Next, stain 7121 is applied and then sanded. You can't really tell much contrast here, but it will be evident when the deck sections are down. One note, don't be stupid like me....do all this BEFORE adding plank run #10. I didn't, and needed to mask all spaces between ears, and then again when I masked the ears so I could paint those spaces. Two days of mind-numbing masking 😆

 

 

The temporary bow and prow curved parts are now removed and the laser carved sections fitted. This also included the other carved parts. All a bit of a jigsaw, but it fitted superbly. The inboard curved section on the inner bow and prow, needed to be soaked and bent slightly so match the concave area it had to be fitted to. Plank runs #11 and #12 are now treated with 1/900 patina, sanded, and then stained with #7013. The multipart plank runs are now carefully glued into position.

 

 

You'll see here that I still need to shape the prow and stern into the scrolls that sit atop each. Here you will also see the rudder position that is a part of plank run #12, with a few extra parts fitted.

 

 

Lastly, those deck sections are NOT glued down. They need patina and stain to be applied first. They are also slightly bowed as they're individual parts. They will sit nice and flat when glued though. 

[François de Saint Nazaire]

Beautiful picture.

 

The butts of the stem planks are strange, aren't they ?

 

 

[James H]

3 minutes ago, François de Saint Nazaire said:

Beautiful picture.

 

The butts of the stem planks are strange, aren't they ?

 

 

 

That's simply a technique that the designer used to ensure the stresses in the parts were catered to. If the planks had been single parts, they may well have split as you pulled them into alignment. It's the next best thing to having to steam those things into shape.

[Snug Harbor Johnny]

On 3/30/2025 at 5:33 AM, James H said:

Exactly, that's why I'd ideally want something I don't need to shape and doesn't need to be treated. I'd give up the will to live if I needed to paint 1000+ rivets 😆

  You might try miniature brass nails.  The end on the interior below deck would not be visible.  The ones above deck would have the ends trimmed with flush cutters inboard.  I found some already aged bronze ones that might save you the trouble of finishing.  You'd pre drill marked holes with a 'right sized' wire drill (tested on surplus wood first) so not to split the strakes.  The heads (from the pictures) look about .046" in diameter - about an inch on the model's scale?

 

 

[James H]

There's just too many of them to contemplate anything other than a black material. That'd need to be resin, and I'd need several thousand of them. 

 

I think it's a pass on this now. I'll just build and stain as out of box as I've HMS Surprise starting in the not too distant future. 

[Snug Harbor Johnny]

Check out the current Gokstad  build, where the builder just marks rivets with a pencil point.

[Ronald-V]

What a beautiful work James! Lovely kit so far! 👍