Build Log: Billing Boats "Oseberg" 720 Scale 1:25

[norseman]

I have been working on this ship for the last 4 years. Only get time during the winter to work on it. Have made some changes to the plans as to make it more like the original ship in Oslo. Will post more pictures later as just trying to post for the first time.
Jim

 

[norseman]

I have made and added more bulkheads to have the same number as the original Oseberg ship. Then I put a thin veneer on all the exposed edges of the bulkheads to cover the plywood edges and look more realistic. Time consuming but turned out good I thought.

 

[norseman]

The very fwd and aft bulkhead were one solid piece with the kit. On the original Oseberg that bulkhead has a opening. I made an opening in my bulkheads to replicate that.

 

[Bryian]

Thats an interesting project.

 

[norseman]

To finish off the bulkhead I installed a thin piece of veneer to match the ends on the bulkheads.

 

[norseman]

The kit's mast foot is made of thin plywood. I decided to make mine out of a solid piece of wood (bass wood). It actually turned out okay. Will have to wait till I get the planks down before doing the final fit.

 

[norseman]

Starting to install stringers (not sure what to call them) on my bulkheads so when I install the planks they have support to hold them. Very time consuming and a lot of sanding and fitting. Just takes time.

 

[norseman]

Today I was going to attach a thin piece of veneer to the edging of the dragon head and keel that runs up to it. Seems like I take two steps forward and one back. I didn't like the way the keel looked where it butts up against the scroll work. The piece the kit tells you to glue there is too thin to match up to the scroll work. So I am removing those 4 small pieces and will find some wood that matches up to the thickness better. Slow work as I don't want to damage the inner surfaces of the keel.

 

[shota70]

Today I was going to attach a thin piece of veneer to the edging of the dragon head and keel that runs up to it. Seems like I take two steps forward and one back. I didn't like the way the keel looked where it butts up against the scroll work. The piece the kit tells you to glue there is too thin to match up to the scroll work. So I am removing those 4 small pieces and will find some wood that matches up to the thickness better. Slow work as I don't want to damage the inner surfaces of the keel.

View attachment 286650

Thank you so much for sharing your special and fascinating project. I will continue to follow your work with great anticipation and curiosity

 

[norseman]

Thank you so much for sharing your special and fascinating project. I will continue to follow your work with great anticipation and curiosity

Thanks for the comments. I am probably a lot slower than most ship builders but enjoying figuring out how to handle problems that arise during the build.
Jim

 

[Mea]

Thank you for showing in progress pictures because as a very beginner-beginner I love seeing how people clamp planks and other steps that are mysterious to me. Your careful work is inspiring.

 

[norseman]

Finally got the 4 pieces removed from the keel. Used some ISO (alcohol) to soften the wood glue to help with removal. Decided to use some bass wood with some of my birch veneer on to top. It matches the original kit wood closer and makes the piece flush with the scroll piece edge.

 

[norseman]

Mea I thought you might want to see some of the things I have made and used for sanding different radiuses and edges.

 

[norseman]

Had to build a different jig for holding my ship for working on the keel. I had 1 Panavice I was using but I didn't think the support was adequate to safely hold the ship. So I bought another one and attached them to a piece of plywood and it turned out great. With these vices I can position the ship in many different angles. It worked excellent for the pieces I was installing on the keel.

 

[norseman]

Finally have all 4 parts made and fitted for the keel where it butts up against the scroll work. I just have to glue the birch veneer onto the pieces and fit the final part to the keel. When the veneer is glued to the part it will be flush with the scroll piece and the keel. Lots of sanding to do yet.

 

[norseman]

After sanding the keel down flush this turned out better than I thought. I just hope when I stain the wood the birch veneer color ends up close to the original kit wood color.

 

[norseman]

Going to try and fit the top row of planks to the sides of the ship. These do not fit very good as they seem to curve up to much in the middle of the ship. I think everyone that that I have followed on building this ship kit have had the same problem. Going to take some time to do this so it doesn't look bad when I am done. Before that though I have decided to install caps of birch veneer to the top ends of the frames to cover up the plies from the original frame pieces.

 

[norseman]

Have been busy putting the top plank on the port side of the ship. Like everyone else I had trouble fitting the planks on. They are not uniform in depth all the way along the plank. There is a slight narrowing of the plank near the forward end. I ended up with a small gap between the top plank and the one below it. Had to remove the plank. Very time consuming as I didn't want to damage anything as it was glued on. Finally got it adjusted to fit correctly.

 

[norseman]

Starting to fit the top plank on the aft starboard side. The aft planks are more uniform along the width than the forward planks. Will run into the same problem I had on the port forward top plank. I am trying to also figure out how the rudder attach fittings are installed. The ones that came with the kit are laser cut out of plywood pieces. As I did with some of the other plywood pieces I am going to make the parts out of solid bass wood and try that.

 

[norseman]

I have finally got the top 2 planks installed on both sides of the ship. It turned out better than I thought. The only thing is, there is not much overlap on the top plank to the bottom plank in places. Hopefully this will not be a problem.