Vasa Billing boats scale 1/75

[Backer64]

The history of this kit begins in the 1980s.

A colleague from work had bought it, started it up, and passed it on to another colleague. He found it much too difficult and traded it to me for a few comic books.
The box and the partially built model then lay in my attic until about 2005.
Construction started then and lasted until 2016; at that time, military model building was still my main interest.
Given that it was my first wooden model, the result was not really to my liking. Also, due to lack of space, the model was sold.
So, I learned a lot from this model, and it even yielded some profit.

In 2005, I didn't have a smartphone, and forums were unknown to me. So, the first photos only started once the hull is partially built.
A build log was started on MSW in 2016.

At the request of @Bobby K. a reconstruction with photos and what I still remember is started

Billings instructions are mostly followed.

Modifications
The keel and bow sections are made of solid wood.
The plywood deck, with the printed planking, has been replaced by a prefabricated solid wood section.
According to the kit instructions, gunports are supposed to be glued to the hull. I did not think this was a good idea, so they were placed inside the hull. Wooden blocks were glued into the hull as support for the half-cannons. This later proved to be an awkward solution and not one I would repeat.

 

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Hull, further construction
Here the first plywood sidewall has been installed. The frames are being glued onto the inside of this according to Billing's instructions. The new deck plate is also visible; I no longer have any idea who the manufacturer was, and the shop where it was purchased no longer exists.

The plastic gunports from Billing's have now also been incorporated into the hull.

And below the waterline, a first grey coat. And yes, white would have been better.
Given that wood is not affected in the cold Northern waters, the underside of the original was probably not painted. But my planking knowledge wasn't that good back then, and this was an ideal camouflage trick.

The transom is also starting to take shape.

 

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In this update, the hull is completed.
A first coat of red and varnish (old oak color) has been applied and sanded.

The plastic ornaments come from the kit. Not all of them match the original model. They are all flat, and some need to be bent; I did this by carefully holding them over a burning candle for a moment. Then I bent the ornament into the correct shape on the model.

There are also (too many) nails/bolts installed. Just bolts in the wales would have been much better.
At that time, I had no idea what tree nails were.

In the lower gallery on the transom, holes have been provided where swivels could have been placed.

 

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In this step, the exterior of the hull and the ornaments were painted. Not entirely in the correct colors, due to little or no information at the time. It also turned out afterwards that too much red had been applied.

 

[Backer64]

Construction of the cannon ports, installation of the demi cannons, capstan, doors, etc.

The plastic cannon ports from Billing's have been modified and glued onto wood.

Billing's provides 2 different sizes of demi cannons.
Large ones for the lowest deck and smaller ones for above.
The original Vasa had the same cannons on the 2 decks. This has been modified.
The diameter of the bore is obviously too large (not modified); the cannons have been painted bronze and the drilled hole in the barrel is black.

 

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The masts,
These were made according to kit instructions. With an extra detail here and there. Treated with varnish, old oak.

 

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The next step is the rudder.

And after that, the standing rigging. According to Billing's instructions

The plastic deadeye blocks included in the kit were not used; wooden blocks were used instead.

Rope was not included, or had disappeared from this free third-hand kit.
Making rope myself was too difficult a task for me at the time, and finding rope of the right color was also hopeless back then.

So I just bought rope and used it. And so mistake number two: using the white rope.
Looking back, never do this... I still regret it.

 

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The yards and the sails.

The yards were made according to Billing's instructions and treated with old oak varnish.

The pre-printed canvas was included in the kit and has been cut out and stitched.

 

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The running rigging.

Completely done according to Billing's instructions.

The plastic blocks from Billing's were not used; wooden blocks were used instead.

Same note as for the standing rigging: never use white rope.

 

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The anchors.
The included anchors are partly used, partly homemade.