Vasa by Karleop - FINISHED – Billing Boats – reviving a poorly built model

[Karleop]

Thanks for the tip Rich, I will order one.

 

Saludos

[Karleop]

Hi guys:

 

Before placing the railing, putting the cannons and/or their ports I decided to start with the masts.

 

To accomplished this, the first thing was to find the different parts of each mast and figure out  what piece was for each section, that’s because for some of them, there are no indications on the instructions or in the list of materials and was necessary to cut some of the pieces.

 

Having done this, I proceed to make the mast caps, which by the way, the material for the smaller ones was missing. My last step was to file the parts of the masts to get square sections in places where tops go.

 

 

Saludos, Karl

 

[Ulises Victoria]

Buen jale, Karl. You are doing a tremendous job with a hopeless kit.

 

BTW, I met your daughter today at the fair. Really fine lady she is.

 

Saludos amigo.

[Karleop]

Yes Ulises, she told us about the coincidence of the meeting and about the beautiful wooden pens you do.    

 

Saludos

[NAZGÛL]

Excellent work on the masts Karl! It's hard to keep up with your speed.

 

 

/Matti

[Karleop]

Thanks Matti,

 

I don´t thing is speed but we are moving differently, you already finish other parts that I don´t even start.       

 

Saludos,  Karl

[Dimitris71]

Hola amigo mio.

 

Even though i have little experience with wooden ships and any kind of modelling art, i'm amazed by the difficult work you've done . The result is unique !! I'll follow your build trying to learn some things from you.

Well done karl.

Saludos

Dimitris

[Karleop]

Thanks for your compliments Dimitris.  It will be nice to follow your Bluenose project.

 

Χαίρεται (?)   Saludos, Karl

[Javier Sanchez]

Wow! Karl Really a nice work

 

Muchas Felicidades

 

Javier

[Karleop]

Hola amigos!

 

After a week out of town I resume my building.  First of all, thanks to Matti because he confirms that the instructions Manual is wrong (again) in respect of the topmasts because the thickness of them does not correspond to the scale of the real ship. Curiously in the plans appear correct and is easy to see that the plans do not correspond to the kit.

 

Unfortunately I already made the lower topmasts of the  foremast and the main mast according the Manual but I will follow Matti in putting only 2 instead of the 3 rings  that come in the kit to the other topmasts.  It will be necessary to make and adjust the size of all the pieces that hold the rings but I don´t think will be a problem.

 

 

Knowing the above I proceed to make sure if the other topmasts fits properly to the masts.  And the first thing to notice was that there were not enough space to enter the shrouds and it was necessary to lime the pieces as shown in the next pictures:

 

 

Saludos, Karl

[marktiedens]

Hello Karl - nice solution.I also had to "make" a little room between mast sections on my masts.I thought I saw a picture somewhere showing the shrouds going around both mast sections but i know that would be wrong.

 

Mark

[dgbot]

Congrats on working with a very difficult kit

David B

[NAZGÛL]

Nice work Karl. Just wait till you get to the smallest tops. They need even more adjusting to look right.

 

In BB:s defense they would be really hard and complicated to construct like the originals at this scale.

 

/Matti

[Karleop]

Thanks for your comments Mark, David and Matti.

 

As I already mention in some place, all kits I built had some imperfections, some in materials, some on instructions, or both, and this is part of the game. In reference to the BB Vasa I must say, that comparing with the original, is the more accurate kit of the ship and in general the materials are very good. My complaint is for the lack of clarity in instructions and mainly because the drawings included in the booklet show differences to the plans(e.g. positions and number of deadeyes on the chainboards, scale of topmasts)

 

Update: I made the first upper topmast leaving space for the shrouds and with only 2 instead of 3 rings:

 

 

 

Saludos

[Karleop]

Hi guys.

 

Update:  I continued with the upper part of the foremast and begin the parts of the mainmast.

 

 

(As you notice, I must do a little sanding because the higher extreme of the mast is wider than the base)

 

 

 

 

Saludos Karl

[dgbot]

You are getting there.

David B

[Karleop]

Yes David, and I feel that the rigging will be a real challenge     

 

Saludos, Karl

[schnu]

Wow, it`s amazing what you did from that old kit, I woudn`t have touched it, it looks unrepareable from the first picture. I am impressed, that you took on the chalenge, I really love the painting work. I can`t wait to see how the finished model will come out.

[HIPEXEC]

Nice work!

[Karleop]

Hola amigos:

 

After sanding, staining and varnishing the masts and spars I started to assemble the bowsprit placing the topmast, masts, blocks and tops.

 

,

, 

 

Because deadeyes are partially tucked into the top I decided to make the shrouds separately because otherwise it would be more difficult to hold them.

 

 

To put the shrouds between the masts I leave unglued the topmast cap.  This operation is contrary to the normal way of doing it.

 

 

Saludos, Karl

[dgbot]

Karl, when working on a Billings there is nothing wrong with thinking outside the box,

David B

[NAZGÛL]

Nice progress!

 

 

 

/Matti

[Karleop]

Thanks for your comments David and Matti.  

 

By the way Matti, I am waiting to see your pictures of masts and rigging.

 

Saludos, Karl

[Karleop]

Hi guys,  a little update.

 

I finished with the bowsprit shrouds. 

 

 

I must say that instead of using the white thread that comes with the kit to make the ratlines I substitute it with a light brown or beige color cotton thread. This was acquired in a fabric store and is named as "crochet thread"  that comes in three thicknesses: 10, 20 or 30.  I used number 30 that is the thinner one.  

 

 

By the way, it is less fuzzy (?) than the one that comes with the kit. (lower one in the next picture)

 

 

Saludos, Karl

[TomJonas]

Excellent work!

 

How did you paint or stain the hull to get the nice brownish colour? And the masts??

What kind of woodfiller did you use to get a smooth hull. Obviously it got the same colour as the rest of the hull.

 

And I suppose you varnished everything after that.

 

Has anyone used beeswax to get a smoother and more rope-like rigging?

Edited June 6, 2014 by TomJonas

[Karleop]

Hola TomJonas

 

Welcome to another BB Vasa builder!!

 

Answering you questions:

To stain the hull I used an alcohol based Oak stain and for the masts and spars a mix of Magnolia (more yellowish and clearer color) and Walnut, both alcohol based wood stain.  After 24 hr I used #600 sandpaper and then varnished it with  Poliurethane clear SATIN varnish.  Finally I made a last sanding with very fine sandpaper (#1500) and then rub the pieces with a clotton cloth.

 

About your question to Frank "I missed making the interior of the gunports before planking".  At first I didn´t do them because I wasn´t sure if it was worth all that work for a boat that was in bad shape when I acquired it.  But when I finished the planking I decided to do the the interior of the gunports, not in a perfect and regular way, but only doing the holes, then squared them with a file and finally introducing little pieces of planks with the hole the size of the cannons base and the width of the gunport, add some white glue and holding them with a plastic coated wire (the one used to close the bread bags).  The results were quite acceptable.  Here some pictures:

 

 

To paint the plastic figures first I sprayed with white undercoat and for the colors I used "Multisurface" Acrylic pain:

 

 

For the hull I didn´t use wood fillers but I used one to simulate the treenails (that were not done in the model when I acquired it), make the holes and use a syringe to introduce the filler (combined with a small quantity of black acrylic paint to make it darker and more fluid)

 

 

Saludos, Karl

 

 

 

[Karleop]

Hola a todos:

 

Finally I decided to place the gunports for the cannons. Initially I had no plan to add the rear (holding) ropes and put only the ones that are in the front, because I had not a clear idea how to do it. The solution was to dip the yarn in diluted white glue and dry it vertically until hardened.

 

 

To put the door in place, and having the hole for the yarn ready, the operation was very simple.

 

 

Saludos

[TomJonas]

Very good! The gunports are fine!!

But are you going to stain the blocks in the rigging? They look a bit light and pale to me, not weathered oak.

 

I am impressed how you made the masts. This is something that worry me. When you used your Dremel-base, did you hold the masts with your fingers while you sanded them to the right shape?

 

The interior of the gunports seems to be a lot of hard work. What if one made a long square tube in the right cross-area dimensions by gluing woodparts together, and then used the saw to get the number of interior gunports you need in the right length? 

Edited June 7, 2014 by TomJonas

[Karleop]

Hola TomJonas

 

I did not have the intention to stain the blocks but as you mention could be a good idea.

 

About the masts, if you have a Dremel and something like my base it is really easy. (see post #49) First you begin with one side and lowering the sanding roll very carefully until you get the desired height, then you have a flat surface so you can work the opposite side without problem.  But be careful, you must to begin just touching it with the sanding roll and then lowering the roll step by step.  Finally take a little piece of wood that has square section and use it as a guide to sand the adjacent side and proceed as before to have the opposite side.

 

The interior of the gunports was indeed some problem at first but then it was really easy.  Of course it could be much more easy if I do that before the planking, but I did´t. 

 

Saludos, Karl

[Karleop]

Hi friends!

 

At last I finished with the gunports and cannons.  Initially I was tempted to follow the idea of Mattie´s about letting some of the ports closed or semi closed but after seeing the movie of the Vasa sinking and knowing that apparently one of the reasons the ship sunk was because all the gunports were open, so I decided to show all of them in the open position.

 

 

 

Saludos, Karl