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That's an interesting question. You can view any model at any scale from any distance you want. If you're asking, "How much detail should I put in?", well, as much as you want, I suppose. That's all entirely up to the builder and what they are satisfied with.
I guess it would matter if you were going to enter your model in a competition. I'm not really familiar with ship model competitions, however, in scale model airplane competitions, there are different categories. "Fun scale" means the model just sort of has to loosely resemble the aircraft being modeled. "Stand-off scale" restricts the judge to viewing the model from a prescribed distance (usually around 5 meters) and it is judged against a photograph you provide. Then there is "Expert", "Designer" and "Master" scale, each with increasing requirements of accuracy and the judges can use magnifying glasses if they so desire to compare it to a full documentation packet that you provide.
For some in ship modeling, the final resulting model is the goal, such as if you were building for a commission to a museum. In that case, obviously, the more detail and accuracy, the better. For most of us, I think, the journey itself is the goal. We build for the relaxation and satisfaction of creating something our friends and family can ooh and ah over, with each successive model being better than the last and the knowledge that our skills have improved since the last one.
So, in summary, it's all up to you. If your displayed model can be examined up close and personal, you may want to expend a little more effort to get those kudos. If you just want to slap together a kit with no thought of enhancing the accuracy, then put up a velvet rope 10 feet away from it.
Hi Russ, that is a great response to @JBB's question. I don't have enough shipbuilding experience to build the "Expert, Master" model. But like you I spent years building model airplanes, static models, U control and finally RC. The staitc models were detailed as much as possible, the U-control not so much and the RC were detailed enough to look good. For the later models the "ten foot rule" was the standard. As for shipbuilding each one I complete is better than the last as my skills and confidence in my abilities have increased. As you noted there are a lot of uhs and ahs when company arrives. They see a completed model and I see the mistakes.
Jan
Jan
This is a true story Jan.
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Planking (cont'd)
It's been a while since I've had time to add to my log. The weather is warming and the chores are growing. Sigh.
I've completed the planking up to strake 9.
The further up you go, the trickier it gets, but with patience, it can be done.
That may work. I have a plank bending iron, but I didn't use it - perhaps I should have. The problem is that as you progress, the curves at the stem become much tighter. Despite the fact that the planks are made of multiple pieces, unless you make the curved portions of 4 or 5 pieces, you will inevitably have areas of short grain, where the grain runs across the strake rather than along it. I ran into that when one of my #9 strakes broke under a clamp.
Fortunately, the glue was still somewhat rubbery and I was able to separate the strake from #8 enough to glue them back together. A little sanding - and good as new.
This is the point in Pavel's videos where he pauses in the planking to spray some color onto the frames and bitis. I probably should have ordered Pavel's "Painting Kit", but then, hindsight is 20/20. Since it's not available to order in the USA, I didn't want to wait another month or longer (especially given the current political situation), so I asked Pavel, in his thread, whether his colors were dyes or pigmented stains. Despite the fact that he was online at the time, replying to posts immediately before and after mine, he chose not to respond. So, I decided to take a leap of faith and headed to Woodcraft last weekend to pick up some dyes. I decided to try three colors, Black, Medium Brown and Golden Brown.
I would have picked up more, but you can see the price. These will go a long way and can be mixed for different shades. If they work out well, I may pick up some yellow for the shields as that was the color of some of the shields found in the Gockstadt burial. Other colors that have been found are red and gray.
I just received a 24" spray booth, so now it's time to open up the compressor I got for Christmas, hook up my new airbrush and start experimenting. I'll keep everyone updated with my results.
It's been a while since I've had time to add to my log. The weather is warming and the chores are growing. Sigh.
I've completed the planking up to strake 9.
The further up you go, the trickier it gets, but with patience, it can be done.
That may work. I have a plank bending iron, but I didn't use it - perhaps I should have. The problem is that as you progress, the curves at the stem become much tighter. Despite the fact that the planks are made of multiple pieces, unless you make the curved portions of 4 or 5 pieces, you will inevitably have areas of short grain, where the grain runs across the strake rather than along it. I ran into that when one of my #9 strakes broke under a clamp.
Fortunately, the glue was still somewhat rubbery and I was able to separate the strake from #8 enough to glue them back together. A little sanding - and good as new.
This is the point in Pavel's videos where he pauses in the planking to spray some color onto the frames and bitis. I probably should have ordered Pavel's "Painting Kit", but then, hindsight is 20/20. Since it's not available to order in the USA, I didn't want to wait another month or longer (especially given the current political situation), so I asked Pavel, in his thread, whether his colors were dyes or pigmented stains. Despite the fact that he was online at the time, replying to posts immediately before and after mine, he chose not to respond. So, I decided to take a leap of faith and headed to Woodcraft last weekend to pick up some dyes. I decided to try three colors, Black, Medium Brown and Golden Brown.
I would have picked up more, but you can see the price. These will go a long way and can be mixed for different shades. If they work out well, I may pick up some yellow for the shields as that was the color of some of the shields found in the Gockstadt burial. Other colors that have been found are red and gray.
I just received a 24" spray booth, so now it's time to open up the compressor I got for Christmas, hook up my new airbrush and start experimenting. I'll keep everyone updated with my results.
For all the Oseberg modellers I want to recommend two links. Both are from the Oseberg Museum / Oslo university. The first is a 360 photo whet you can navigate around and also take length measurements, while the second has high res photos of all the minute details of the ship.
I didn't use heat I just wet the area under the most stress then "dry" fitted the plank and waited until dry . The plank almost stays in that shape, then glued. I don't think adding more pieces would help ,that's where mine broke at a joint used ca to rectify.
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For all the Oseberg modellers I want to recommend two links. Both are from the Oseberg Museum / Oslo university. The first is a 360 photo whet you can navigate around and also take length measurements, while the second has high res photos of all the minute details of the ship.
Wow! My search history is full of Oseberg - how did I never find that 3d tour? Thanks so much!
I've previously posted about Unimus, but still a great link.
Your double bead detail really stands out, especially with 9 strakes installed. Nice job, looks great!
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I've worked with MDF for years. The furniture manufacturer I work for goes through over 1000 sq. ft. per day. I suppose it would be ok for something you were going to paint rather than finish naturally. Sanding can be troublesome as well, because once you break through the outer hard skin, the inner core is very soft and you can't ever get it perfectly smooth no matter how fine your sandpaper is. It would take a lot of sealer/filler to get a decent surface.
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Thank you Steve.
Good morning Russ. This is very good work. The clinker planking kits together so well as does the joins on the planks. I don’t know if it is just the pics but the wood looks very porous so I am keen to see how the airbrushed dye goes. Looks stunning so far. Cheers Grant
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Hi Grant,
The wood is flatsawn beech. The flecks are the medullary rays similar to those in white oak. It's a little brittle and doesn't hold detail very well as evidenced by some of the chip-outs along the bead detail.
As far as the airbrushing goes, that's where the experimenting comes in. While I wouldn't use Pavel's technique on every model as he does, I think it looks good on this particular one. I have shellac as well as cellulose sanding sealer if I need to seal the wood first. We'll see how it goes.
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That's why it is used so extensively in furniture. Having no grain makes it quite stable. Our plant goes through a lot of it, both as a core for veneer or laminate and alone for painted pieces. The soft core of MDF is porous and will absorb moisture quite readily, swelling the panel. Any exposed core is always sealed and sanded with two coats of epoxy prior to painting.