Just to relax, I pulled this one off the shelf.
Nice, I like the way you relax. [;)]
Have fun with that relaxation Viking ship.
Looking forward to more pics.
I can’t wait to see what you do with it!
Bill
A Revell Viking ship? I havent seen this one before. Is this a new kit or could it be the old Aurora kit they might have picked up? If so, it was a pretty good kit and I wouldn’t mind getting one again.
A GMorrison sailing ship WIP? Nice!
I’ve heard good things about the Revell Viking Ship, but I’ve never seen it up close…looking forward to following this thread…
Dave
Definitely not your grand dad’s AURORA kit ! [;)]
Won’t need the rigging spiders for that one. [:D]
Hail Ragnar !
Hail Einar !
[whstl]
Nice! I will be following this.
Funny about your choice… I’m waiting for some PE for the IP in the office of my Fw 190 F-8 and was thinking about doing another kit (a ship) in parallel. I put the box on my work “bench” (card tables) and will think about it. I’m not a multi-tasker however, so I’ll probably just watch what you do with your kit and hope I can do half as well when I get around to mine.
Mike
I’m a big fan of this kit. In the unlikely event that anybody’s interested, here’s a link to a thread about mine, from about two and a half years ago: http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/7/p/155395/1701192.aspx#1701192 .
I’m sure GM will make a fine model. My biggest criticisms of the kit: the two missing triangular boards that should span the gunnels at the bow and stern, and the badly compromised molding of the deck knees. But in most respects it’s a mighty fine replica of the Gokstad Ship - one of the most accurate sailing ship kits (plastic or wood) on the market.
I won’t talk about that gawdawful cartoon that Revell Germany insisted on adding to the sail. I see the Revell Germany website now offers two versions of it: one with that travesty and one without it: http://www.revell.de/en/products/model-building/ships/sailing-ships.html . Close inspection reveals that, in the boxtop painting with the cartoon, it isn’t drawn in perspective. Apparently somebody slapped a decal on a copy of the painting. Sheer advertising foolishness.
That site also refers to a movie called “Northmen: A Viking Saga.” I found some stuff about it on the web, but I haven’t seen any sign of its being in any theaters in my neck of the woods. In any case, the trailer suggests that little of it takes place on board ships.
I retain very fond memories of that little Aurora “Viking Ship” kit. It was one of Aurora’s first three ship kits, back in the early fifties. (The others were the “Black Falcon Pirate Ship” and the Chinese junk.) I remember building it several times, between elementary school and high school. Dig those wonderful figures, with their horned helmets! And that great dragon’s head on the bow! Unfortunately the thing bears scarcely any resemblance to a real Viking ship. In those days model companies weren’t particularly interested in historical accuracy; that kit apparently sprang from the imagination of somebody who had no idea what the real things looked like. Imagine how big that dragon head would be full-sized - and how much it would weigh. And anybody who’s read even a little about Norse history knows that the horned helmet is NOT part of Norse culture. (It apparently originated in German mythology, which shared several myths and characters with Norse myths.)
Anyway, good luck, GM - and you too, Mike!
A couple of questions, as my available material is just Landstrom and the internet.
Dr. T when you refer to little triangular pieces at the ends, I think I can see one of them in your model, maybe about 3’ long and flush to the gunwales. Landstrom doesn’t show this in his rendering of the G ship, but includes something like it in the line drawing of the O ship.
The kit had a little steersman deck and an open bilge in the bow ahead of a little bulkhead with an oblong hole in it. Whats the hole for?
I played around with scale and got 1/64 overall length, and about 1/70 maximum width. But then the listed dimensions on line are kind of all over the place. it doesn’t really matter, I’ll call it 1/64. I am replacing the mast and the yard, the former because I don’t want to deal with the seam, and the latter because of all the cast on detail.
I went down to the hardware store to buy a little V gouge, but they didn’t have any. So I think I’ll pass on the ends of the strakes. Maybe play with the paint on that one.
Well…My set of teensy wood carving tools was made by Dockyard Models; I think Ramelsen has now taken them over. Woodcraft carries the new Ramelsen versions, and, as it happens, is selling some of the old Dockyard ones at clearance prices: http://www.woodcraft.com/search2/search.aspx?query=dockyard . Nice tools; I use them almost every work sitting.
I’m honestly not sure what that hole in the bulkhead is for. But it matches the real thing.
You got the triangular boards right. If I remember right, I cut them out of the parts for the stand (which I didn’t use), so the “wood grain” would look consistent.
The most detailed source on the Gokstad ship - and an excellent one for modeling purposes - is The Viking Ships, by A.W. Brogger and Haaken Shetelig. It contains nicely-reproduced plans that match the Revell kit perfectly. New copies are pricey, but used ones can be found on the web for very reasonable prices: http://www.bookfinder.com/search/?ac=sl&st=sl&ref=bf_s2_a1_t1_1&qi=j7nD4q6ZIfjE9A6jBqhhgXCWJp0_1451857756_1:768:1988&bq=author%3Da.w.%2520brogger%26title%3Dviking%2520ships%2520their%2520ancestry%2520and%2520evolution . Note that Bookfinder’s prices include shipping.
Speaking of Dragon’s heads,
I’m not a cable tv viewer and was unaware of the Vikings series.
http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Vikings-The-Complete-First-Season-Blu-ray/70601/#Overview
I found this screen shot of a viking ship in the series (CGI, of course ) .
http://images3.static-bluray.com/reviews/8384_2_large.jpg
Thought it might amuse you.[whstl]
Hmmm. Well, they got some things right, such as the clinker hull planking. And the dragon head is barely believable - though he seems to have some distinctly twenty-first century characteristics.
What I can’t buy - or forgive - is that they put the steering oar on the PORT SIDE! I thought everybody knew that the Vikings put it on the other side - thereby originating the term “steerboard side,” later corrupted to “starboard.” I learned that in high school. Sheesh.
Thank you. There’s a Woodcrafter not far from here.
It looks like you also replaced the knees on either side of the crone. Revell fooled me- they call those bands over the crone to be painted metallic, so I thought they were iron.
Of course they aren’t, I should have known better, but I did carve them off.
Interesting detail I found reference to-
“At the same time it is so arranged that the rudder neck could be loosened or trade fast quite easily whenever the rudder had to he lowered or raised. This was done by means of a rope, tied to a cramp on the lower aft. end of the blade. This little cramp is still intact on the Gokstad ship.”
Gees, I have sooo much to learn in the way of nautical terminology! I couldn’t find “crone” with a quick Google search but in a minute or two I found this:
http://vikingships.tripod.com/constructionmethodspg3.html
So now I know - it’s a supine, dead, ugly old Oak hag who holds up the mast.
GM, I still don’t get why you carved the knees off - I haven’t opened my kit yet so I suppose they’re not shaped the proper way?
For JTilley: John, at the risk of going a little off topic, I used the address you supplied to see both sail versions of the Viking ship kit on the Revell site and, while there, noticed the 1/150 USS United States. I’m sure it’s been discussed at some length on FineScale but, if you’d be so kind, would you let me know if you think it’s a kit worth building?
Mike
JTilley, nevermind - belay that request! I just found this: http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/7/t/46955.aspx?page=1
which pretty much answers the questions I had.
Mike
And a nice Kit to boot. Looking forward to watching this one…Cheers mark
OK, now I see what the knees look like on the Gokstad ship. I gather you’ll be making them more like those. How about the cross pieces that butt up against (where the mast lock is) and go over the crone? It looks like you took those off as well.
Mike
Edit: I now see that the kit shows an overlap coming off the crone over the cross pieces. I suppose you’ll be correcting that to better represent the Gokstad ship?
GM,
I love it!! The best way to relax. Please post more WiP photos…I can’t wait too see waht you do with it.