NORDKAP 476 by _SalD_ - FINISHED - Billing Boats - 1:50 - RADIO

[Kenchington]

Billings have given you a black ball as the day shape for a vessel at anchor but I expect they meant to provide either two cones (shown point-to-point) or else a fish basket -- either of which is the mark for a vessel fishing and unable to manoeuvre. They are only to be shown while the boat actually has her fishing gear in the water, hence on a rope halliard as you have shown, but trawlers often come from the shipyard with one shape or the other welded in place on rod rigging.

 

Either way, you have created a very fine model!

 

Trevor

[_SalD_]

@Kenchington, thank you for the information and the nice words. I did some additional research on the topic of day shapes for ships and found the following. I’ll see if I can come up with a fishing day shape.

 

 

[_SalD_]

Based on @Kenchington's suggestion, I decided to create a new day shape for when the ship is underway. Using a wooden dowel, I sanded down the end to form two cone-shaped pieces. These pieces were glued together, and eyelets were added to each end to make it easier to connect the halyard.

The entire shape was then painted black.  I tied two small hooks to the ends of the halyard, allowing for quick and simple shape swaps.

I kept the original round day shape and made a few modifications so it could be easily reattached to the halyard when the ship is sitting on the shelf.

 

I'm always impressed as to how much knowledge is shared on this forum. As more of a modeler than a sailor, I'm always grateful when people take the time to share their expertise with those of us who aren’t as well-versed in seamanship as others.

 

Thank you all for all the likes and have a Happy New Year.

[_SalD_]

As I was wrapping things up, I realized I still needed two things: a flag and a much sturdier base.

For the flag, I did some digging to see if there was a real trawler named Nordkap. With a little help from AI, I figured out it’s actually a generic model of a North Sea trawler rather than one specific ship. Since the name "Nordkap" is Norwegian, I decided a Norwegian flag was the way to go. I printed out a few different sizes to see which looked right and ended up picking the mid-sized one.

The original base felt a little flimsy to me, so I built a new, beefier one. It feels a lot more solid now, which will definitely come in handy when I’m setting the boat down outside while taking her out for a sail.

 With that I believe I'm finished with the build, the only thing left is sea trials.

Completed model

I’m not sure if this is the proper place for the trawl net, but I wanted to position it where it wouldn’t interfere with removing the cabin or accessing the battery hatch. 

 

And I only had a few parts left over.  I have no clue what these are for or where they go.

I’d like to thank everyone for the kind words of encouragement throughout my build, as well as for all the likes and support. Along the way, I learned a great deal—including new skills related to remote control components and seamanship. While the building phase is now complete, there’s still work ahead to prepare the ship for sailing.

 

 

[Ian_Grant]

Excellent model - immaculate finish!  She'll look impressive pond-side and on the water.  Very well done!  👍👍👍 Three thumbs up!

[ccoyle]

Very handsome, Sal!

[Paul Le Wol]

Sal, congratulations on completing your Nordkap. Beautifully done!

[Ronald-V]

Beautiful model! 👌

[Knocklouder]

Very nice work Congratulations, very impressive work, very nice to look at. Thanks

Knocklouder 

[_SalD_]

@Ian_Grant, @ccoyle, @Paul Le Wol, @Ronald-V, @Knocklouder 

 

Thank you all so much for your incredibly kind words and for following along—it truly means a lot to me.

 

I also want to say that I would absolutely recommend this kit to others, whether you’re building it as a static model or as an RC model. At first, it can be a bit of a challenge figuring out where each part goes, but with a little patience and support from others, it all comes together nicely in the end.

[yvesvidal]

Gorgeous boat, so well done!! I hope you tried it in a tub and are happy with the stability before launching it on a pond.

As I have said many times, I love Billing Boats kits for the variety of styles they cover and for the great kits they provide.

The Nordkap is such a cute vessel.

 

Yves

[_SalD_]

1 hour ago, yvesvidal said:

@yvesvidal I hope you tried it in a tub and are happy with the stability before launching it on a pond

Yves, I plan to do one more tub trial to work out the ballast and thank you for the nice words.

[Michael Mash]

Fine craftsmanship.

Should be fun in the water.

[_SalD_]

21 hours ago, Michael Mash said:

Fine craftsmanship.

Should be fun in the water.

@Michael Mash, thank you for the nice words.