Vasa - 1:65 DeAgostini [COMPLETED BUILD]

Thanks for checking in on this progress report. I am nearing the end of the first layer of hull planking (the stern remains) and while I suspect there is a collective yawn from those of you who have built many model ships I'm feeling a real sense of accomplishment. This has been a long hard slog and even though everything gets buried beneath the next layer of planking I still feel really great about how this build has been going.

IMG_5536 (2).JPG

It has taken all of my maturity to not start sanding. The irregular surface and voids are driving me crazy. But if I sand I will lose all my layout lines and I want to lay in the gun ports while I still know where I am...

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Thanks for checking in!
 
Hey Everyone, I'm looking for some help.
I am preparing to lay out and cut gun port openings in the primary hull. I looked ahead in the instructions and found this image.

1602031087716.png

Notice how the openings are vertically oriented and do not flow with the wales. This seemed off to me so I looked at some drawings I found on one of the Vasa Museum forums and if I am seeing things correctly the gun ports track with the curvature of the wales and are not set to a true vertical.

Gunport Layout IMG_6773.jpg.b0183a4b752c4e48ad1fc4056d1787f4.jpg

As far as I can tell DeAg has drawn the gun port openings parallel to the frames which is correct - but I don't think the frames ran vertical. I found the following and it would appear that the frames (yes, I realize the DaAg frames are not the same as found on the real ship) actually 'tip' along the length of the ship. See the following:

58ef33fa3d0c5_Frameangles.jpg.1e2b789174124f43075a244b67389b16.jpg

Am I completely lost here? If so, where have I gone off the rails?
And more importantly, if I am correct and I need to reorient the gun ports - how do I lay them out?
 
It seems, that the frames of the Vasa were really also following the deck-curve (and not rectangle on the keel)
-> this would mean, that the gunports are every time rectangle to the deck and with this also rectangle to the wales

20180510_122511 (2).jpg Vasa-lower_gun_deck-1.jpg

image1-3.png

also interesting sketches



but I am absolutely not an expert on the Vasa...... sorry
 
Hi Doc,
For my 2cents the gun ports being radial or normal to the wale lines looks more pleasing to my eye. Simply running a small 90 deg square along the wales should be close enough.
 
Hey Everyone, I'm looking for some help.
I am preparing to lay out and cut gun port openings in the primary hull. I looked ahead in the instructions and found this image.

View attachment 183886

Notice how the openings are vertically oriented and do not flow with the wales. This seemed off to me so I looked at some drawings I found on one of the Vasa Museum forums and if I am seeing things correctly the gun ports track with the curvature of the wales and are not set to a true vertical.

View attachment 183891

As far as I can tell DeAg has drawn the gun port openings parallel to the frames which is correct - but I don't think the frames ran vertical. I found the following and it would appear that the frames (yes, I realize the DaAg frames are not the same as found on the real ship) actually 'tip' along the length of the ship. See the following:

View attachment 183883

Am I completely lost here? If so, where have I gone off the rails?
And more importantly, if I am correct and I need to reorient the gun ports - how do I lay them out?
Why look at drawings if you can check the real thing, thats the great advantage of building Vasa.
See here a full 3d foto rendering of the real thing.


Vasa was build shell first, this means the frame sections were only fitted to the hull planks and were not build as individual frames. Therefore frames are not always vertically placed and as frames form the sides of the the gunports the dont need to be vertical. The top and bottom of the gunport follow the curvature of the deck, which is at Vasa nearly identical to the wales. The gunport being nearly square.
See below a picture of the inside of the upper gundeck at the most aft gunport, it follows the deck and is square.
Screenshot_20201007-225227_Chrome.jpg

Want to walk around the deck, see the 3d model below. You can actually walk around if you have a set of VR glasses.

Hope it helps.
 
The 3D imaging is amazing to do a virtual walk around of the ship and a great reference.
 
It seems, that the frames of the Vasa were really also following the deck-curve (and not rectangle on the keel)
-> this would mean, that the gunports are every time rectangle to the deck and with this also rectangle to the wales

View attachment 183946 View attachment 183948

View attachment 183947

also interesting sketches



but I am absolutely not an expert on the Vasa...... sorry
Thank you Uwe. You may not be an expert but it turns out you are correct. As confirmed by Maarten the gun ports follow the line of the decking on the inside of the ship. I'm a landlubber so it never occurred to me that the gun deck would follow a curve longitudinally along the length of the ship. Thank you for your insight!
 
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Hi Doc,
For my 2cents the gun ports being radial or normal to the wale lines looks more pleasing to my eye. Simply running a small 90 deg square along the wales should be close enough.
Agreed Daniel. Not pleasing to the eye is what caught my attention when studying the picture from the instructions...
 
Why look at drawings if you can check the real thing, thats the great advantage of building Vasa.
See here a full 3d foto rendering of the real thing.


Vasa was build shell first, this means the frame sections were only fitted to the hull planks and were not build as individual frames. Therefore frames are not always vertically placed and as frames form the sides of the the gunports the dont need to be vertical. The top and bottom of the gunport follow the curvature of the deck, which is at Vasa nearly identical to the wales. The gunport being nearly square.
See below a picture of the inside of the upper gundeck at the most aft gunport, it follows the deck and is square.
View attachment 184005

Want to walk around the deck, see the 3d model below. You can actually walk around if you have a set of VR glasses.

Hope it helps.
Brilliant Maarten! The 3D model is just too much fun! BTW someone posted that a new improved version is coming soon.

And thank you for confirming what Uwe suggested. The gun port being square to the deck will be my solution. See below...
 
The kit comes in 12 (monthly) boxes and each box contains the individually packaged stages that correspond to the build steps (detailed in the Assembly Guide on the Model-Space website).

View attachment 177760

The first thing I did was open the boxes and take a complete inventory. Did I have all the packages? It appeared that I did (oddly, one was labeled for the German market but that surely shouldn’t matter).

View attachment 177761

View attachment 177762

I then identified all of the cast metal/decorative pieces and removed them from the packages. To the extent that I could I tried to combine ‘like’ pieces into zip lock bags labeling each bag with the box it came from along with the build-stage. Inexplicably, for example, the lions’ heads for the gun port covers were found in more than ten different stages of the build...

View attachment 177764

View attachment 177765

While the Assembly Guide calls for simultaneous construction and painting this seems wonky to me (though it would spread out the meticulous painting obligation). I could not imagine building the false keel and frame elements over the course of months while also painting decorations along the way. It seemed better to gather all the pieces and build the ship in the same general flow as all the other builds I have seen on the forums.

As a novice I might regret this decision since it means I will not be following the DeAg build instructions precisely. Since my Roter Lowe instructions were in Italian 35 years ago and I only speak English I felt (foolishly?) emboldened to use the instructions as a guide rather than as dogma. ;)

About half-way through the sorting I began to better appreciate the scope of what I was going to be attempting – there are lots and lots of parts – and there are lots and lots of metal bits – and lots of the metal bits are really tiny. How was I going to detail/paint something I could barely see? I held one of the little metal guys under a 1.5 magnifying lamp. Brighter! But still tiny. Maybe I need to start dialing back my expectations!

So, that's the story of my prep work... Next post will happen when I have something to show. Thanks for checking out this new forum!
i will enjoy following the build !!
 
So, here is what I came up with...

Based on my research and supported now by what was shared above I will endeavor to align/orient the gun ports with the wales.

In a stroke of luck :p I had previously marked the lower gun deck on the hull of the ship. I did some calculations and determined that the bottom of the lower line of gun ports should be placed 11mm above the lower decking. That converts to around 28 inches to scale (for those who live in the rest of the world you'll need to convert to metric if interested...).

I then simply laid out the openings...

IMG_5545.JPG

I added the upper row of gun ports as well. If you are concerned that the spacing between the gun ports is irregular that is not a mistake on my part (heaven knows I have made, and will continue to make, lots of mistakes - but not this time!). A careful review of the drawings above (or, of course, a look at the original ship) reveals that the port holes were inconsistently spaced. How unexpected for his majesty's prize ship!

And here are my first few attempts at cutting holes in the side of my ship Redface.

IMG_5547.JPG

IMG_5548.JPG

Only time will tell if I regret doing the gun ports now instead of waiting until the second planking and precise placement of the wales!

Onward! And thanks so much for your help!
 
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Hi Paul!

You have made the right decision.

PA080320.JPG
Source: W. zu Mondfeld, Wasa, Schwedisches Regalschiff von 1628, Mosaik Verlag, Architectura Navalis.

The photo is somewhat distored, but still shows the tilted bulkheads towards the main mast. The Vasa was built as a bowl shape. First the keel, then the planks of the underwater hull and only then the frames were inserted diagonally.

With best regards
Thomas.
 
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