Jump to content

The Gokstad ship from Dusek in 1/35th scale - a bit of a challenge


seadog

Recommended Posts

The kit:

Gokstad-ship Gokstad-ship_3 Gokstad-ship_6 Gokstad-ship_5 Gokstad-ship_1

 

 

The Gokstad ship, dating from around 900 AD is one of the best preserved Viking ships found to date. There is a wealth of information about it on the web and the original Archaeological report with a lot of illustrations is available free - I'll try to find the link. There are a couple of build articles out there as well. Dusek reckons you can put the ribs onto the keel, place the false deck and then glue the whole lot together...I had a shot at that and decided I needed a few more arms.. So like the other builds I've seen I've built a jig. Nothing particularly sophisticated, but hopefully enough to keep things straight. I've extended the bow and stern pieces to allow me to make them a bit more like I think it probably looked before being left underground for a millennium.

Gokstad-ship_10

The stripey bit of plywood etc. is there to help keep the ribs and keel aligned in three dimensions

Gokstad-ship_9

So it begins. I have no idea at this point whether I can pull it off. Dusek's kit is very good as far as it goes but there are details I would like to add.

Ta for looking.

F

 

  • Like 12
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, beefy66 said:

Interesting will follow along always like the look of the longboat  :popcorn:

 

beefy

Cheers, but unless you wish "the fury of the Norsemen" it's longship. (Need a furious Viking  emo here...)

  • Haha 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Continuing... all ribbed up. and then the false deck was glued on. No problems with the fit.

Gokstad-ship_11 Gokstad-ship_18 Gokstad-ship_15

 

and the ribs wanted a bit of paint to hid that naff plywood look...

Gokstad-ship_17

So far so good. Now the planking will begin, which will be interesting as I think I may need to do a bit of modifying to get the planks to rise satisfactorily at their ends.

This is a drawing done at the time of the dig, the lack of the stem and stern ends is obvious, so I would like to try and make them look more 'typical' for the period

Gokstad-ship_13

Something like this...

new stem

 

Ta for looking,

Fraser

  • Like 9
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looking fine ! Won't be easy though,  to increase the angle of the strakes towards the ends. The notches in the bulkheads will no doubt make planking easier, in this respect the Billing Boat kit is more challenging.

 

Regards,

 

Arjan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, Arjan said:

Looking fine ! Won't be easy though,  to increase the angle of the strakes towards the ends. The notches in the bulkheads will no doubt make planking easier, in this respect the Billing Boat kit is more challenging.

 

Regards,

 

Arjan

Hmmm, I have a feeling that if I cut new endings, the notches might be a problem. Not sure at this point

Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 hours ago, beefy66 said:

Like the way you have got everything all squared up should make the planking job a lot easier to fit on the Longship :popcorn:

 

beefy 

Even when easier, planking a Viking ship is, um, interesting. Dudek is quite right about getting the false deck on early, really stiffens things up. One of the other builds I looked at the bloke didn't and went to great lengths to make a jig...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well work continues. One job which is definitely not my favourite is drawing down bamboo from a place-mat to make treenails...hard on the finger tips...

Gokstad-ship_16

 

and this is how they're used. I'm finding that each plank needs attention at the ends to fit in well, in some cases a new plank end is required...

Gokstad-ship_19

 

While waiting for the glue to dry enough to risk the next plank fitting, there are things to get on with, like the 'steer-board'

Gokstad-ship_20

Made this from a spare bit of Lime and a a bit of Cuban Lemonwood 

And this is the glue I prefer to use, Seccotine. It's a hide or fishskin glue, been around for hundreds of years and is still used in joinery. I get mine from Lucy Coad at Square Pianos.co.uk  in Cold Ashton, near Bath

.

Good stuff, no smell, fairly quick grab, washes of your fingers with water and if it'll hold a piano together you can probably figure on it holding a wooden boat model together...

Gokstad-ship_19_1

Ta for looking

Fraser

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice rudder, I also like the bamboo nails !  Last week I read about someone who used the sharp bristles of chestnut husks (of the edible chestnut variety) for simulating nails. This may be easier than the bamboo method you are using but then you would require quite a few of these husks (bit too late in the season now). There are two chestnut trees in our yard and I will see if the bristles of the husks are still usable (they may have been left out in the rain for too long now).

 

Regards,

 

Arjan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Afriend had a lot growing on hisland when we were living in Portugal, never occurred to me to use the spines, nasty things. Get into your fingers and the dog's feet. Think I'll stick to bambo, thanks ! The bamboo trennels are functional  as well.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...