1/144 Airfix Vasa

[bentwaters81tfw]

Just found this and read it through. Having seen Jorgen's magic elsewhere, I'm dying to see this complete.

[Bengalensis]

Thanks a lot guys. I'm a bit ashamed, actually a lot ashamed, that this has been sitting stalled, again, for a long time now. I must try to get going but it just hasn't happened.

It stopped a year ago when I made an attempt - that I very much knew would fail completely - to make the first ratlines with the silly jig-thing that's supplied in the kit. The second attempt, that still looked crap, I was at least able to remove from the jig only to discover they are way off in every possible way. So, all ratlines must be completely rigged with individual threads, the right way, which is of course the more involving way...

This also raises the question I have been wrestling with all the time; there is so much missing from the Airfix kit to be able to do a reasonably correct rigging. The necessary pieces can be stolen from a Revell kit, but the Revell kit is much more accurate in the first place, so maybe I should just rig this after Airfix simple instruction to get it finished and invest my time in one of my Revell boxes instead?

Oh, the decisions...

[Bengalensis]

Well, she's not a dead project yet... After a few years in the "non-finished-vitrine" (not quite the shelf of doom) I dragged her out today and got working on the rigging. I have decided not to get myself too bogged down with this; there's just too much missing in the Airfix kit when it comes to various attachment points, so I'll just get something done according the instruction that will look reasonably OK. Here's the start.

[Gremlin56]

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

Considered using paper for sails several times but for larger scale ships so the weight of cloth sails wasn't an issue, http://modelshipwrights.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=features&file=view&artid=3299

On a smaller scale the spars can get to be rather flimsy so paper could be a better option. You can get some amazingly cloth-like sheets of paper at art stores, might be worth checking out.

[longshanks]

Good to see you back at the bench Jorgen

Will look forward to your posts as this wonderful project develops

Kev

[Bengalensis]

I soon ran into trouble, quite as I expected. With the shrouds done I made an attempt at the ratlines. First I tried to tie them the "real" way. Already after a few lines it looked awful with the lines bowing in all directions and nothing even close to looking even in sag. Not to mention the work involved. I didn't even take a photo of the mess.

Then I decided to try and just glue the threads across the shrouds. But the shrouds didn't have the necessary tension to allow the ratlines to be pulled reasonably straight. I needed stiffer and straight thread. So I wound the tread around a frame and soaked it with very thin white glue.

It looked reasonable when I cut the threads from the frame, but they weren't very straight, just a bit better than before. I gave it a try and it looked quite OK after the first lines, but as I worked higher and higher it just got worse.

When I removed the template to have a look it didn't came out well at all. I cut the shrouds off completely and tied new ones.

Instead of the ratlines I went ahead with the rest of rigging according to Airfix simple layout. With most of it done I started thinking about not bothering with the ratlines at all. Unless they look very even and straight they will probably only make the model look worse, and I'm probably not able to pull this off in the current situation. It's might be better to get this finished, at last, so I can start a Revell Vasa kit and try the photo etched shrouds/ratlines I have for them. With the sails fitted it might all be cluttered up enough anyway.

The flags Airfix supply aren't fantastic and the larger ones are probably not very correct. I thought about using a set of Revell flags as I won't need them for one of my projects, but decided to use only the three smaller Airfix flags, just like it's done on the Vasa museum 1/10 scale model.

At last she has her flags hoisted. I have really looked forward to that moment.

[Bengalensis]

I'm still not sure how to display the little ships boat, if at all, but I tied the rudder to its railing to be done with it.

The two anchors have also been hung up. Again I used the museum 1/10 model as a reasonable reference.

With the over-simplified kit rigging I decided to keep the kit sails too, and they were soon trimmed a bit more where needed and fitted. While it's all a big compromise I don't think it came out too bad.

And with that I'm putting an end to this build and calling her done, after more than five years, mostly spent sitting in various stalled stages... I have put some photos in the RFI section here.

It feels good to having at last completed an Airfix Vasa, all these years since it was first released. But I'm really looking forward to making a better attempt with a Revell 1/150 kit doing a much more complete rigging and all furled sails, one day. Before that though, I'm going to build a Revell Vasa in a slightly different way...

[Model Monkey]

Brilliant build!

The paintwork is truly inspirational.

[Martian]

Looks great but I think that ship's boat looks way to good to lave off the model.

Martin

[longshanks]

Excellent and informative build

Each model should be seen as a step forward/upwards, better to complete than leave unfinished.

I look forward to your next build which I hope you will allow us to follow........

Kev

[lars_opland]

On 8/20/2013 at 3:21 AM, Nigel Heath said:

And replacing those rubbish vacformed sails with something a little more convincing.

Hi Nigel, 

If well-formed to begin with & not crushed before you get them out of the box, vac sails are fine. They want a light misting of some tan color, maybe some penciled-on reef points & wire-gauge holes drilled to tie them on the yards (plastic cement just won't do...ever) & they're good to go!

 

Jorgen, This is awesome (& I'm not past Page One yet)!

 

Cheers, -Lars 

[lars_opland]

On 9/5/2013 at 7:26 AM, Nigel Heath said:

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?

Hi Nigel,

I picked up the latest release of the Airfix 1:72 Golden Hinde a few years ago & it's in that same orange-ish plastic.

Cheers, -Lars

[lars_opland]

On 9/10/2013 at 10:51 AM, seadog said:

Good point. You could quite rightly have a lot of different combinations or, as said before, no sails. You can always swing the yards - makes for a narrower case, too - which will expose the rigging. If the sip were running straight down wind the forecourse -the lower sail on the foremast - would probably be furled as it would be masked by the mainsail.

Here's one of Lloyd Mcaffery's - http://www.jrusselljinishiangallery.com/pages/mccaffrey-pages/mccafferyimage-thermopylae.htm A Tea Clipper, Thermopylae with only Tops'ls set.

Here's the thing about opting for furled sails: If you're going to do that, the upper yards on both masts (or all 3 for a full-rigged ship of later periods) must be placed near the bottoms of their respective mast sections. Vasa, like most kits of this genre, has locating features molded onto the masts at the tops of the topsail & t'gallant hoists, only correct with the sails set.

 

These always look better with the yards swung 'round on the same tack all the fore-&-aft sails are molded for, in this case starboard tack, or swung around to the left to sail along with that lateen spanker, but square before the wind is fine too. If one of the lower sails is furled to allow wind to reach another while running downwind, that would be the main course furled to allow wind to reach the fore course (kit sails are often molded this way, or with both lowers furled; it makes more deck details visible & happens to be the standard procedure when clearing for action to prevent burning wadding getting blown back & caught in them), to better balance the ship "off the wind", & in that condition the spanker would very likely be furled as well....

 

One looks at these things differently after sailing one or two of them!

 

Cheers, -Lars

[Noel Smith]

Looked at this thread a bit late. what a lovely model of the Vasa.

[Liizio]

Super nice build, Vasa is a true beauty!

 

Seeing this WIP surfaced a memory from my childhood: My dad had bought this very same Airfix kit (lovely box art, btw) and was in a VERY slow process of building it at the time. I must have been around 8 at the time, and I was very interested in the impressive big ship model, but not at all with my dad's pace of getting it built. So at some point I decided this won't do, and decided to finish it up myself, with all the 8 year olds modelling skills and patience. Naturally I pretty much trashed the thing beyond repair.

 

I was usually a pretty well behaving child, and I think the telling off that followed was pretty much the worst I remember ever getting. Also lost my Microsoft Combat flight Simulator -privileges for a month or so.

[Noel Smith]

Further to my last post, I have been looking at the Artesania Latina website at their big wooden Vasa kit instructions that can be downloaded. The main instructions have brilliant rigging details shown later in their build that  plastic modellers could use as reference for our smaller scale builds.

Also, and this is a big bonus, Artesania has a separate download of painting instructions for al! the figure work on the ship. An absolutely brilliant guide that I would recommend any Vasa modeller to download for reference