Oseberg Viking Ship by Jack P - FINISHED - Billing Boats - 1/25 Scale - 9th Century - (Modified)

[Jack Panzeca]

Greetings Everyone,

 

This is my first build log and I missed the ritual box opening.  I was already putting things together before I realized I should have photographed it first.  The plans and directions are pretty sparse but it is a fairly straight forward ship.  The keel had a slight bow in it but I used a little warm water and bent it a little past straight and it dried nice and flat.  This is the kit version with the plywood scrollwork and shields.  The keel and bulk heads leave a lot of exposed plywood edges and my plan is to cover them with oak veneer.  The deck planking is Obechi which is soft, brittle and in my eye a little ugly.  I have already ripped a few oak planks and they should work fine. 

 

I am happy to be here and doing this.  More soon.

[dgbot]

I will be watch with interest. the osberg is an intersting vessel in which the rules are a little different from today.  It lend itself to interpretaion.  Look over the build logs and use the search funtion to find the logs for your kit. You will find a lot that will aid you and what you do not find we well help you.

David B

[Anja]

Hello Jack,

 

It's great to see another Viking ship being build.

There are several logs here and Von_Kossa is building one from Billing Boats as well.

 

Just have a look at the logs.

And just like David says, if you can't find the answer there, we will be here to assist and help you.

 

Good luck with your build and have fun.

 

Anja

[Bindy]

Wow!  What an interesting ship Jack!

 

Although I am a little too knew myself to offer any hints or tips, I will be following along with interest and hopefully learning a thing or two myself during your journey.  But I can help with the encouragement and cheering on 

[Jack Panzeca]

Hi David B and Anja,

 

Thanks for looking.  I am very impressed by Von_Kossa's build.  It is what inspired me to choose the Billing Boats kit.

 

Here are a few more pictures: I used aluminum angles to square up the bulkheads.  Number 3 was slightly warped.  I got rid of most of it when I added the strips at the top of the bulkheads and I can straighten the rest during planking.  The kit supplies everything except the base board for a build board.  I really like the ability to turn it upside down to plank.  The last time I did it sort of freehand in my lap.

[dgbot]

You are starting out just fine.

David B

[Jack Panzeca]

Hi Bindy,

 

Thanks for the encouragement.  I have been following your build I must say that you have the most positive attitude I have ever seen.  It is infectious.

 

Hi David B,

 

Thanks,

 

Jack

[Kamil]

Hi Jack. Hope you dont mind if i took the chair (and popcorn) and look over your build ? Its very intresting build (way different then the other vassels we mostly building here), its only few of those Viking ships on the forum if you will compere to the amount of the 17-18 century ships. Its nice to see you here and hope i can learn something from you .

[Bugra]

Hey Jack! 

 

What an interesting project. And great start of course. 

 

Have fun during your journey. 

 

Bugra.

[Von_Kossa]

Nice work, keep it up.

 

Always fun to see others picking up this vessel.

[Jack Panzeca]

Hi Kamil,

Thanks for looking.  I love the lines of the Oseberg and I hate rigging so I am having fun.

 

Bugra thanks, glad you are here.

 

Hello Von_Kossa,

Your build is what inspired me to build this kit.  Your work is truly beautiful.  The size and detail is so much nicer than the smaller kits.  

I spent some time today working out the planking and I have a couple of questions for you if you do not mind.  How did you separate the scrollwork plywood?   It really is too thick and I would like to do the same as you.  Also, how did you fill the area between the 2 pieces of scrollwork where they come together at the top?  I am sure that I will have more questions later and your help is greatly appreciated.  

Thanks again.

[Von_Kossa]

Hi Kamil,

Thanks for looking.  I love the lines of the Oseberg and I hate rigging so I am having fun.

 

Bugra thanks, glad you are here.

 

Hello Von_Kossa,

Your build is what inspired me to build this kit.  Your work is truly beautiful.  The size and detail is so much nicer than the smaller kits.  

I spent some time today working out the planking and I have a couple of questions for you if you do not mind.  How did you separate the scrollwork plywood?   It really is too thick and I would like to do the same as you.  Also, how did you fill the area between the 2 pieces of scrollwork where they come together at the top?  I am sure that I will have more questions later and your help is greatly appreciated.  

Thanks again.

 

I separated the different plywood layers with a knife, scratching away one layer at a time, do not use a sandpaper, because you want to know when you have exactly one layer left, work slowly, you will get the hang of it.

If i remember correctly regarding the top i left left part of the last layer to remove to get it thicker at the top. I think i posted pictures of this.

 

After you are finished with the planking you will also have to removed two layers on the front on both sides, were the scroll work shall be.

[Von_Kossa]

I separated the different plywood layers with a knife, scratching away one layer at a time, do not use a sandpaper, because you want to know when you have exactly one layer left, work slowly, you will get the hang of it.

If i remember correctly regarding the top i left left part of the last layer to remove to get it thicker at the top. I think i posted pictures of this.

 

After you are finished with the planking you will also have to removed two layers on the front on both sides, were the scroll work shall be.

 

Oh i forgot, Bahamas Diver and some Spanish guy i forgot the name of had a different approach to this. They removed all of the front were the scroll work shall be and kept the thickness of the scroll work parts. The problem with this solution is that it is very hard to make it fit. You will get holes between the scroll work and ship that need to be filled.

I wanted to avoid this, therefore the systematically removal of layers, carving your way down so to say...

[Jack Panzeca]

Hello Von_Kossa,

 

Thank you for the help.  I will do it the way you suggest.  If I had realized earlier that I would remove the two layers below the scroll work I would not have glued it so well.

 

Thanks again for your help, it is greatly appreciated.

[Von_Kossa]

Hello Von_Kossa,

 

Thank you for the help.  I will do it the way you suggest.  If I had realized earlier that I would remove the two layers below the scroll work I would not have glued it so well.

 

Thanks again for your help, it is greatly appreciated.

Actually i did the same, you will be glad that you did glue it so well because it is only part of that layer you will remove, the rest of it will be holding the planks...

[Jack Panzeca]

Actually i did the same, you will be glad that you did glue it so well because it is only part of that layer you will remove, the rest of it will be holding the planks...

I read through your build log again looking for more that I missed.  I am sure that I will have many more questions.  Thanks,

[Jack Panzeca]

I got a start at the planking.  It is 1mm laser cut plywood and bends easily.  Each plank is overlapped about 1 mm and needs a little adjustment to get it just right at both ends.  I did a little coarse sanding but it has a long way to go.

[Bindy]

Hi Jack!

 

What a great start to the planking! Having it overlapping sure sounds like an extra challenge but it looks terrific.

[Von_Kossa]

I got a start at the planking.  It is 1mm laser cut plywood and bends easily.  Each plank is overlapped about 1 mm and needs a little adjustment to get it just right at both ends.  I did a little coarse sanding but it has a long way to go.

 

Nice work, and you are working fast too. You will catch up with me in no  time.

[Jack Panzeca]

Hi Bindy,  Thanks,  The planking so far has been uneventful.  The planks are laser cut plywood (hard to fabricate on my own) so I did a quick dry fit of the last few planks to make sure that I did not run out of bulkhead before I ran out planks or vice versa.  They fell in place nicely.  

 

Hello Von_Kossa,  I don't normally work so fast.  I little bit of life caught up with me this weekend and I got very little time with my toys.  Hopefully I will have more time this week.

 

Thank you both for looking in.

[Jack Panzeca]

I finished the lower part of the hull but had a little false start.  On my first plank of the day I got the distance between the overlap of two planks about 2 mm too close and I did not notice until 3 planks later.  I have always used water to loosen PVA glue but I heard alcohol mentioned on MSW and it sure works faster than water.  Thanks for the tip.  

 

I sure do like the lines of this ship.  The Vikings must have been a tough bunch-crossing the ocean in an open boat. 

 

[Von_Kossa]

I finished the lower part of the hull but had a little false start.  On my first plank of the day I got the distance between the overlap of two planks about 2 mm too close and I did not notice until 3 planks later.  I have always used water to loosen PVA glue but I heard alcohol mentioned on MSW and it sure works faster than water.  Thanks for the tip.  

 

I sure do like the lines of this ship.  The Vikings must have been a tough bunch-crossing the ocean in an open boat. 

 

Oseberg -02-27-2014 30.jpg

Oseberg -02-27-2014 31.jpg Oseberg -02-27-2014 34.jpgOseberg -02-27-2014 33.jpg

Oseberg -02-27-2014 32.jpg

 

The Oseberg was probably more of a ceremonial ship, or a ship only used in smaller lakes. They used larger longships or deeper going "knarr" ships for longer voyages.

But sure, they were still open.

 

Could you upload some closeup pictures from the side of your ship? I would like to compare it with my own. i would find it interesting to see how you tackled some of the stripe laying problems i had.

Congratulations by the way, it looks great!

[Jack Panzeca]

The last couple of days have been spent figureing out what comes next.   There are plywood strips glued to the keel all the way up the curves of the bow and stern to give a way to form the curve of the planking.  Once the planking is in place the strips on each side have to be removed to allow the scrollwork to to be installed.  The instructions (what little there are) don't mention it.  I learned it from Von_Kossa build log and it makes the entire scroolwork installation look and work better.  I used alcohol to soften the glue and they popped right off.  

 

Next is the dry fit of the scroolwork.  The scrollwork ties together with the last two planks at both ends.  The top of the bulkheads where the last two planks go need a little more fairing.  

 

It took me a while to figure it all out but with the help of coach Von_Kossa's log I am ready to glue for keeps tomorrow.

 

 

[Jack Panzeca]

The Oseberg was probably more of a ceremonial ship, or a ship only used in smaller lakes. They used larger longships or deeper going "knarr" ships for longer voyages.

But sure, they were still open.

 

Could you upload some closeup pictures from the side of your ship? I would like to compare it with my own. i would find it interesting to see how you tackled some of the stripe laying problems i had.

Congratulations by the way, it looks great!

Please let me know if this is what you are looking for.  

 

One problem I had was keeping the glue off of the outside surface where the planks overlapped.  I applied the glue with a toothpick but when I clamped the planks out came the glue.  I wiped it off immediately but I am still left with some sanding.

 

[dgbot]

Fantastic work.

David B

[Von_Kossa]

Please let me know if this is what you are looking for.  

 

One problem I had was keeping the glue off of the outside surface where the planks overlapped.  I applied the glue with a toothpick but when I clamped the planks out came the glue.  I wiped it off immediately but I am still left with some sanding.

 

Oseberg -03-01-2014 50.jpgOseberg -03-01-2014 53.jpgOseberg -03-01-2014 58.jpgOseberg -03-01-2014 60.jpgOseberg -02-28-2014 51.jpg

 

I am impressed. What else can i say. Keep it up!

 

I think we will have the same problems, when we will stain the ship. I also applied the stripes glue with a toothpick and also got glue all over the place.

You go first with the staining and i follow, what do you say?

[Jack Panzeca]

Thank you, David B. And thanks for looking in.

[Jack Panzeca]

I am impressed. What else can i say. Keep it up!

 

I think we will have the same problems, when we will stain the ship. I also applied the stripes glue with a toothpick and also got glue all over the place.

You go first with the staining and i follow, what do you say?

 

I like the Minwax Gel Stain Walnut in my first tests out of the 3 other stains I tried.  The goal is to get as close as possible to the real ship.  I will glue a couple of scraps and see what the joints look like when stained.  I will send pictures when I finish.

 

As usual thanks for your kind words and your help and support.

[Von_Kossa]

I like the Minwax Gel Stain Walnut in my first tests out of the 3 other stains I tried.  The goal is to get as close as possible to the real ship.  I will glue a couple of scraps and see what the joints look like when stained.  I will send pictures when I finish.

 

As usual thanks for your kind words and your help and support.

 

Well, this will surely be useful. It will be interesting to see how the stain reacts to the glue. Also i wonder if you get different results if you use water based stain or oil based stain.

Regarding the color of the original ship, it didnt look like it do in the museum. When it sailed it was most likely alot brighter but because of the age and where it has been it is now almost black, but it sure looks cool.

[WackoWolf]

Excellent work. Keep the pictures coming.