Amati Oseberg Viking Ship - Advice Needed

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SilverSurfer57

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After a 20 year hiatus, I decided to get back into building ship models. I have an unfinished San Francisco by Artesania Latina, but thought it best to regain my building skills by starting a new, "simple" model. Unfortunately, the strakes on this Viking ship have been more challenging than expected. I tried to capture the problems in this picture, but there just isn't a good angle:

IMG_4869.jpeg

The main problem is that the strakes are supposed to be flat against one another and I can't get that to happen. I soak the wood and clamp it in place, but can't get it to lay flat like they're supposed to. The instructions mention scoring along the length. I tried that and it did nothing, plus I don't want to take the chance of scoring too deeply.

This has led to other problems. The strakes are not pressed against all the ribs, especially the bow and stern ribs. If you look closely, you can see the strakes are not evenly spaced. There's also some gaps where the strakes don't press against each other, though I plan to go back later and inject some superglue to fix it. There's also the fact that strakes along the stern (the left side of the photo) don't line up like they do on the right, nor is the keel the same on both sides. I might be able to trim it some, but I think that may be unfixable.

Anyway, I have to say I'm disappointed by this model so far. Having just this one layer of strakes has really made the project a lot tougher than it should be. I'd appreciate any thoughts/tips.

Rich
 
I built this ship and had the same troubles. You are doing a double curve when you roll the ends to the front and back so you may try to soak to get the curve but the planks not lapping right is just plan bad planning and cutting on Amati's part. Not enough return money to do a good job of planning
 
Old Man258 said:
I built this ship and had the same troubles. You are doing a double curve when you roll the ends to the front and back so you may try to soak to get the curve but the planks not lapping right is just plan bad planning and cutting on Amati's part. Not enough return money to do a good job of planning
Click to expand...
Good to know it's not just me. I bought this in 2002 for $97, but never had time to start it. The store owner told me it was an easy model, but I'm thinking he never tried making it himself.

Guess I'll just trim it up as best I can. The average person probably wouldn't spot the issues anyway.

Any advice? Looks like the rest of the model is pretty easy once the hull is complete.
 
I have considered building a Viking ship as I admired the shape of the hull. However as I looked at the planking and wondered how one could double bend a length of wood in that shape. Please keep us posted on your build.
 
I tried the Amati model because I thought they had a good reputation. Whoever lofted the shapes of the strakes made a rotten job of it.

Previously I thought that Billings models were rather naive and toy-like, but I was tempted to build their large scale Oseberg. Believe me, it is very well lofted and if you take time to adjust everything to get it just right, it makes up into a very pleasing model. Most of the pleasure of modelling is actually undertaking the work, taking care and watching a maserpiece evolving. In this respect Amati gets nil points and Billings gets 10. The only deficiency is that the stem and stern pieces are too thick but they can be shaved by splitting off one or more of the layers of plywood and the appearance is much finer and better.
 
From my own experience, I can tell you that it can be done. I recommend starting the plank in the middle and using two-part epoxy, work towards the ends, cutting, grinding and shimming where necessary. Good luck!
 
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