NORSKE LOVE - Billing Boats 1:75 scale

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Welcome to my build log! Let's start with the basics:

Norske Love – Billing Boats

Scale 1:75 = 101 cm (39.76 in) long x 90 cm (35.43 in) tall x 20 cm (7.87 in) wide

HISTORY:

The Norske Love (Norwegian Lion) was designed by Frederik Michael Krabbe, a naval officer and leading ship designer, and built in 1765 by the Nyholm shipyard, close to Copenhagen. The ship was originally named after the Norwegian Lion and the Danish-Norwegian Imperial Coat of Arms. All ornaments, made by the sculptor C. Moellerup, were reminders of Norway. On the transom, there is a fisherman and farmer, symbolizing the most important trades of Norway, agriculture and fishing.

Norske Love was the second built from a series of three, the two others being Printz Friderich and Dronning Caroline Mathilde, later renamed Oresund in 1772.

She was a 3 mast warship, length 48.93 m, breadth 9.70 m, draught 5.07 m, displacement 1,076 tons. There was a normal crew of 667 men and an armament of 70 cannons. She mounted 26 cannons (24 pounders) on the lower deck, 26 cannons (18 pounders) on the mid deck and 18 cannons (8 pounders) on the upper deck. The Norske Love was used as a guard ship in Oresund and other Danish waters.

In 1789 it was equipped as a guard ship to protect Russian ships in the Danish waters. In 1795, after having been stripped into a block ship, she was used to give shelter for homeless families after the fire in Copenhagen that same year. In 1798 she was deleted from the naval register.

In addition, according to the history of the Royal Danish Navy, there were other ships named the Norske Love, prior to the one the model represents. The list is as follows:

Norske Love (1634-1653), Norske Love (1654-1665), Norske Love (1666-1679), Norske Love (1680-1715), Norske Love (1735-1764), Norske Love (1765-1798)

The Danish-Norwegian warships were, until 1780, tared with a very dark brown color, after which they were painted black with light-yellow battery lines – the so called “Nelson Look” The decks were light tar-colored and the gun carriages were red.
 
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After spending a few days doing research, there is not a lot to be found on the Norske Love. I posted the info I found in my first post. If anyone has anything to share or add...feel free. I did find the following additional reference material:

A ship image from the Copenhagen museum, which appears to be the same design ship...
Copenhagen museum1.JPG

A painting of a Danish-Norwegian ship...
ref1.JPG

and of course the Billing boats demo model picture...
bil437c.jpg

and finally a similar Swedish ship...
ex5.JPG

ex10.JPG
ex7.JPG

So there you have it...this is what I have to start with, and will therefore be making many decisions along the way in my build. One is I will have to decide which color scheme to go with. I can use the early dark tar-brown or the later black with light yellow version, both of which the Norske love could have been displayed with due to the timeline it was in service. Did it start with one and get updated to the later? Who knows? But I think I can obviously choose from one of the two and still be correct. Also is the color up top, the BB kit shows green...not sure where they got that from? But it could be black, or red, or even blue. Anyway, those are a just a few decisions ahead. But for now I must start with the keel. See you when I have the keel built! :)
 
Welcome aboard everyone, thanks for your support.
I should mention for those who don't know, I started building the Norske Love many years ago, as my first ship build. Unfortunately it didn't survive one of my moves, and was destroyed in the back of a moving truck...sigh! I almost gave up on building ships after that.
But then I found SOS, my enthusiasm was renewed and I built the Cazador and the Bluenose. I am very fond of this ship, and really excited to be building it again with more experience. I have many plans for embellishments, starting with the Lion figurehead.
Here is a pic of my demised first ship...
ship.jpg
 
Dean, the stern drawing looks like 1735. I just noticed:eek:
Ok, that was one of the earlier versions then... actually the Norske Love built prior to the 1765 version the model is based on, but still a nice reference.
The one I have shown from the National Archives is from 1765, the one Billing Boats used for the model. However one could always chose to build the 1735 version. ;)
Pic of model stern...
NL-stern.JPG
 
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Ok, that was one of the earlier versions then... actually the Norske Love built prior to the 1765 version the model is based on, but still a nice reference.
The one I have shown from the National Archives is from 1765, the one Billing Boats used for the model. However one could always chose to build the 1735 version. ;)
Pic of model stern...
View attachment 258974
Oh yes, Dean, your days will be well filled as your voyage to completion with this highly detailed ship. I am confident that as a "Second build" of it you will produce astounding results. Rich
 
I hope I am still in time to make it to the front row of the concert - this is a build I am really looking forward to. I am certainly no expert on Swedish, Danish or Norwegian warships of any era and am therefore wondering why the Norwegians would have chosen the yellow and black "Nelson" color scheme of the later British ships. Even though it could be historically assumed with the information that you have mentioned, I would opt for the earlier color scheme and stay away from a Victory - lookalike look.
 
I hope I am still in time to make it to the front row of the concert - this is a build I am really looking forward to. I am certainly no expert on Swedish, Danish or Norwegian warships of any era and am therefore wondering why the Norwegians would have chosen the yellow and black "Nelson" color scheme of the later British ships. Even though it could be historically assumed with the information that you have mentioned, I would opt for the earlier color scheme and stay away from a Victory - lookalike look.
Welcome aboard Heinrich! It is mentioned in the kit, and shown in paintings, therefore I assume it’s accurate information. I would think they might have done it to confuse the enemy. Because without the flags raised, it would be assumed it was a British ship from a distance. And the British ships were fairly dominant at the time. And they could get close to a British ship before they realized it was a Danish ship. So probably a tactic to get an advantage, of course I am making an assumption…lol. ;)
Anyway, I agree I don’t want to go with black and yellow. So I will use the original color scheme, or at least a similar representation of it. ;)
It should also be noted the Victory has black between the yellow battery lines. The Danish-Norwegian ships had a large yellow band with no black in between (see painting referenced above). So although they might have been similar, they were not identical.
 
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First step is the assembly of the keel. BB says this is an expert level kit, and therefore they assume you know a lot already about building a ship model, and there are very little verbal instructions, mainly some isometric views and full scale plans. It seemed intuitive enough for me to build it as a first ship, but now after some other kits, I realize it might not be a good first kit for some, that is because you will rely on the full scale plans more than anything else! So it leans more towards a scratch build, relying on plans mostly, with some precut parts to ensure accuracy.

They give you lazer cut ends of the keel. You are to cut a board to length and join them. Then there are no slots to locate the frames. You will locate them with other pieces of wood that act like spacers, and are glued on top of the keel (board) that joins the stern and bow pieces.
Here is the instructions…
1B92AB3E-C17C-42A7-BD32-791AEA4BF380.jpeg

This is the full scale plans…
C6E8F66E-5A28-4B8F-810F-069A7F840DA2.jpeg

Funny thing is, the wood to join the stern and bow is 5mm thick, however the lazer cut plywood is 4mm. This makes life more difficult! I don’t want to get out my table saw and try to rip 1mm off the edge of the 5mm keel board. So I marked the 4mm in the center of it to locate each end. To make matters worse, the center board is taller than the notch in the stern and bow plywood. The location of each frame on the upper portion of the keel, in relation to the board and end pieces, is more important than the bottom. So don’t be tempted to make the notch taller in the end pieces, as this would make those frames lower than they should be! Later it looks like I get to sand or plane the bottom of the keel flush, and the thickness will be adjusted as well...sigh!
Here are some pics of me gluing and ensuring everything is square despite the aforementioned differences!
50B8D450-BE91-4549-AC75-CE50AC915928.jpegF2DEBCB1-4BF7-45AE-B1AB-0882A1C76A5F.jpeg8BA2A0E1-AC58-4E51-8169-AB57E3ACB011.jpeg473CF3C0-80D4-46EE-B8AD-36EE94D14B54.jpeg


So this initial step, that seems like it should be quick and easy, took more time and effort to ensure I get a good start, with everything square, centered and plumb. Next will be installing the frames and adding the spacer boards to locate them on the keel.
 
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Oh yes, Dean, your days will be well filled as your voyage to completion with this highly detailed ship. I am confident that as a "Second build" of it you will produce astounding results. Rich
Thank you Rich! I have many embellishments in mind on this build of it! ;)
 
Installing the first frame. You can use a square to keep it perpendicular to the keel, and a square to keep it perpendicular to the table or bottom of the keel. But port to starboard you can’t use a square, so I used the typical method of a string on the center of the keel bow to stern. Then just make a mark in the top center of the frame to align with.
EAD9C855-7E0D-4C53-9101-CFB6C0917F7E.jpeg

ECBC736A-9CD8-47ED-B1CF-B694D2EE4C02.jpeg

Only 13 more frames to go… :p
 
Installing the first frame. You can use a square to keep it perpendicular to the keel, and a square to keep it perpendicular to the table or bottom of the keel. But port to starboard you can’t use a square, so I used the typical method of a string on the center of the keel bow to stern. Then just make a mark in the top center of the frame to align with.
View attachment 259036

View attachment 259038

Only 13 more frames to go… :p
Your excellent tutorial log has opened the curtains for us up in the peanut gallery. . . I'm up in the nosebleed row trying to peek over the shoulders of the masses of SoS crew already arrived ahead of me. :D Bottle preplanned fortifications in hand but those may necessitate periodic baldder breaks. Rich
 
I get the fact that the keel ends have to be joined via a centre board. I get how the frames are mounted on the "keel" - that is sort of a nice difference and slightly more challenging. But why oh why are there differences in the thickness of the wood ??? It is not as if that is going to test building skill - especially not yours. So in my book that just goes down as an irritation and poor execution by the manufacturer.

Glad to hear that you are not going for the yellow/black look!
 
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