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1/144 Airfix Vasa


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Astonishing piece of craftmanship, Jörgen. :hypnotised::worthy:

Väntar med spänning på fortsättningen.

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Any chance of bringing this to the UK when you come over for the Nationals? I fully expect it to be finished by November! :winkgrin:

I know it won't be the easiest thing to transport but it would be great to see the real thing...

Anyone else agree?

Edited by Nigel Heath
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Thanks a lot guys. I'm really glad you like her as I have never considered myself to be a very skilled painter when it comes to this type of paint work. But I have actually tried to build subjects over the last two years or so that should push me much more in that direction. So hopefully I'm learning.

Bringing her to UK... Well that was a brave idea. I fear she may be difficult transport inside my house when finished, but who knows.

I fitted the deck guns. Or rather I have fitted the number of deck guns that Airfix supply. I have opened up the two missing gun holes on the upper deck towards the stern, so I really need to find two more. I looked at the guns from one of my Revell kits, as it won't need them all with my plans for it, but they are no good match for Airfix guns.

Vasa_14.jpg

Vasa_15.jpg

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Stunning paintwork. Liked your wood finishing technique. Have just started drawing the ratlines for production in etch for those who don't want the job of tying up their own. I am basing the ratlines on the Revell kit and not the Airfix kit so not sure if the result will be good for both yet!

I suspect that given the time you have spent on the detail so far you will probably be fabricating the ratlines yourself anyway!

Please finish the build off as you have started.

John

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John, that sounds great! I think the right way to go is to do any photo etched and/or resin Vasa parts for the Revell kit, as it's rescent and certainly more accurate. I just wish it was a bit sharper in it's fine detail mouldings... I will definitely get a set of whatever you produce for Vasa, I have two Revell kits to do. I somehow doubt that ratlines fitting Revell will work on Airfix, but I will check that any day now, as I'm about to fit the masts. I will then take the Revell rat lines and see how they match up, just out of curiosity if nothing else.

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The first of those is that the "things the rat lines/shrouds" (I'm useless at nautical terms in english...)

Deadeyes....two, one above the other and joined by a lanyard, lighter line. PE shrouds? Eek! But I'll reserve judgement till I see what they come out like :fight::winkgrin: .

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Deadeyes, well yes, a Google picture search show a number of the things I mean.

I tried to improve the painting a bit of the "things" that the ratlines attach to. Still not perfect, but given the limitations of the kit parts, and the fact that many attachment points for a full rigging are simply not present, these will have to do for this project. It's still better than I had hoped.

Vasa_16.jpg

Vasa_17.jpg

I have fitted the bow sprit now, and have a little touch up painting to do around its attachment point. Hopefully the main masts will go on tomorrow.

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(snip)...the "things" that the ratlines attach to. (.snip)

They're called the Chains. They're named for each mast so there's the Fore Chains, Main Chains and Mizzen Chains. Very often the man whose job it was to throw the lead for depth sounding stood there so that he'd be outboard of all the rigging. They're wider than the deck so as to spread the shrouds a little farther for better purchase on the mast.

Way back when I was small my parents bought a whole bunch of old [i[National Geographics[/i]. One of my favourite ones had the article on how Vasa was found and raised.

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Here's a quote from Charles Davis' bookShip Model Builder's Assistent' " In olden times the deadeyes in the lower ends of the shrouds were spread out away from the ships side by wide boards, called channels, to keep the shrouds from touching the rail above, and the connections from these deadeyes to the bolts in the ship's side below, through extra thick strakes of planking called the 'Chain wales', were pieces of chain; hence the expression, "in the fore chains" or "in the main chains"; and the plates bolted into the ships side, into which their lower ends were hooked, were the chain plates. A side note on heaving the lead is that the lead, up to 28lbs in weight...was often hollow with tallow inside which would pick up bits of the bottom, useful information!

F

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Found this nice little illo in "Seamanship in the Age of Sail" A Conway Publication by John Harland. The illo is by the Brilliant Marine Artist, Mark Myers.

Probably an 18th c. ship or early 19th c. Gives a good idea of the scale of the chains on a large ship! What I find fascinating are the covers over the deadeyes and lanyards. The sketch was done from a contempory painting, so I gues some ships did this.

lead_zpscb239ba7.jpg

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The masts were fitted yesterday night. I'm using photos of the large model at the museum as a reference to get them reasonably angled. When the rear mizzen mast was fitted a problem, which I had more or less expected, was finally confirmed. The angled yard interfered with the stern flagpole, when there should be quite some distance between them. The flagpole looked far too high and the angle of that yard too shallow. A rough paper sail template confirmed it. I did some measuring on photos of the museum model and some 1/150 vs. 1/144 calculations of the Revell kit's much shorter flagpole, and then promptly shortened the Airfix flagpole 13 mm. I also made a little cut so I could reangle the yard and add some glue, and then it looked much better. This is how it ended up.

Vasa_18.jpg

Vasa_19.jpg

And here I am now. Suddenly the model has grown considerably in all directions and is no longer easy to handle... The little mast on the end of the bowsprit should not lean forward so much as it does now. This is how Airfix have done it, but it should be much more straight. I will have to make a little cut and try to reangle it.

Vasa_20.jpg

Vasa_21.jpg

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I am worried Jörgen, in that first photo you still seem to have an awful lot of parts still unpainted and attached to their sprues, where the hell are you going to fit them in??

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Just read through the whole thread, and finding this is a great build, but the highlight above most others is the outstanding decorative paintwork, very well done!

Edited by Rob 1
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Outstanding workmanship !!

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Nigel you´re right, it dawned on me yesterday that I must have forgotten half the kit. Too much wine every night... :hypnotised: Oh well yes, it's indeed a bagged Revell kit, I could just measure its flagpole anyway.

Thanks a lot guys, she's really taking off now. She is housed in one of my display cabinets (as are all my finished models) when I'm not working on her, so well protected but a bit temporary. When she's done I need something that makes her more visible.

I will straighten up the little bow mast today. Then I must start seriously with the shrouds/ratlines, and the rest of the rigging. I will not even try a full real scale rigging with the other shortcomings the kit has, but hopefully a bit more advanced and busy than Airfix instructions suggest. I will try to find some compromise using both Revell and Airfix instructions and comparing with the museum model.

I must find a good thread for the rigging, possibly two or three dimensions. 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?

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The natural linen thread I am using on the Natter could be a good bet. It comes in a range of colours and has a natural, slightly uneven rope like appearance. There are of course bespoke marine model threads available, try a search including "rigging line".

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If you have any good model shops that sell wooden kits, they should have thread. Or try craft and sewing shops. I've had good rigging line from such places. BTW, a good way to handle the hairiness of a lot of threads is to drag the thread over a block of beeswax, helps preserve the thread and makes it easier to handle as well.

Fraser

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