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1/144 Airfix Vasa


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I would prefer something ready to use, not having to spin my own, or pre-cut every length and soaking them in strong tea overnight... Any good suggestions?

Hi Jorgen,

Even thinking of spinning your own rope is really taking modelling to the next level. On the strong tea idea, I had the same thought for the rope supplied with my Natter - it was however synthetic material and I'm pretty sure it would not have worked at all. How are you getting on with sourcing some appropriate thread?

Nigel

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I think the thread from Amati in the link above would be more than sufficient for my needs. That's all I have done as yesterday sort of disappeared from my work bench. I live out in the countryside and the nearest town with a really good choice and number of various shops worth visiting is an hours drive away. I may go there in the coming week to see what the sewing shops have, but the threads above will be easy to order and give me the ready to use assortment I need. I'll probably order today when I think about it.

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I use Cornwall too! I've always spun my own rope though. In fact I just chucked an order to that other Cornish shop, The Model Dockyard, for some timber and some 1/96th scale crew... :)

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I got a bag full of Vasa deck guns yesterday. :) Sometimes a solution or source is so obvious that you never even think of it. It took one friend reminding me of another friend who really should have been obvious for me to ask in the first place... but it never crossed my mind. So now I can clean up and paint the two missing.

Vasa_23.jpg

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Hi Jörgen,

Are those Airfix Wasa guns? They look to be moulded in some strange orange plastic. I take it you had no joy from the Britmodeller appeal?

Edited by Nigel Heath
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Hi Jörgen,

Are those Airfix Wasa guns? They look to be moulded in some strange orange plastic. I take it you had no joy from the Britmodeller appeal?

Yes, Airfix usual Vasa-brown. But now that you mention it I think that perhaps the first issues of the kits were a bit darker brown than those of the last 10-15 years? I'm quite sure that´s the case. I got them from a friend close enough to easily be collected in person. I can't understand why I didn't think of asking him straight away.

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It's always Vasa in Sweden today, just look at the museum web site, but that would be a modernisation, it was as far as I understand Wasa when they began calling her that name earlier in the 20th century. The problem is that I don't think they now the exact name from around 1626-1628, she has been referred to as Wasen, Wasan and Wassen as the written language was not uniform back then. To call her a more correct name according to her age I should probably write Wasa as Airfix did.

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Got some work done this morning. She now has her last missing deck guns installed. Will add some ropes to the guns when the rigging work starts.

Vasa_24.jpg

I wonder if it will be possible to achieve anything with the sails...? I have started by spraying a quite thin and uneven coat of Humbrol 103 on both sides. As the material is also thin there is variation with the light. Next I will brush a darkened mix into the deepest folds and then try drybrushing them with a mix using much more white in it.

Vasa_25.jpg

Vasa_26.jpg

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You will be doing very well if you can get those vacformed sails to come out looking half decent. Frankly I would consign them to the bin and try to make someting out of real cloth but if anyone can do it I'm sure you can. Good luck.

Actually they are looking pretty good already.

Nigel

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Yes I have my deep doubts about those sails, but I would like to have all sails on her. To some extent as I think without sails I need much more rigging work and the kit is missing so many necessary attachment points for that. I could possibly get all those parts off a Revell kit and adapt, they are plentiful and quite cheap, but then I might just as well build a Revell kit instead, which I will do later.

Also I don't really get along to well working with cloth, leather is fine, but cloth is just flimsy and sewing machines are a bit evil creations. I suppose I could learn perhaps. Then I wanted to finally build an Airfix Vasa which somehow includes the sails. I have had this internal debate of questions in my head over the last week. We'll see where it goes.

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That would make them a lot easier to fabricate from cloth, even for me. But I think I then need much more rigging work and that will probably require a lot of Revell parts to be fitted so all that rigging can be properly attached. Not impossible and would look good. If the Airfix sails look crap when they are painted, cut out and taped in place, I think that's the only way forward. But then I'm left with all the other inaccuracy's still present on this model. Sometimes I should probably build more and think less...

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Paper is a good material to use for sails at that scale. If you draw out the sails, and ten damp the paper it can be put over a curved surface, with a cloth tightly held over it and dried. Good quality paper will last as long as cloth any day - acid free smooth watercolour paper is a good start. The technique is described in a couple of places on the web and in Philip Reeds 'Masterclass' books. Really looks the business. Sails folded up to the yard are referred to as being 'furled'.

http://www.shipmodel.com/models/essex-waterline-model

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I'm going with seadog on this!

I've not heard of the paper 'way' but if he says its ok I'd be inclined to try it.

I do know that using cloth the weave is going to be way out of scale! Then you start trying to fix things and your stitching looks absurd.

All acceptable on R/C when its viewed from the shore, on a build of this quality I don't think so.

Cheers Kev

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Not actiually me, :) More like Phil Reed, Don McNarry and a lot of other miniaturists - and 1/144th is the big end of miniature! If you need more info, PM me and I'll send you some scans. Reed's book is really cheap, considering the mine of information it is!

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