Viking ship kit

Point taken, however, we're not building a full sized replica, we are building a scale model. Additionally, you named your model "Oseberg", not "Typical Viking Longship". It is so close to the real Oseberg, my choice is to do as much as is practical to match my model to it. I realize you are producing a model for the masses and many, if not most, won't care or bother to do the research. That is the beauty of modeling in wood - we can make it however we want! :D
There are at least 5 sets with the name ‘Oseberg’ produced by various reputable companies, and some have been produced for 40 years. And as far as I know all of them have a very conditional relation to the original ‘Oseberg’. I hope you realise that in a kit for building any ship there is always a big share of conventionality, and the less it is, the more reliable the model is in the end. It is not possible to build an absolutely authentic model from the kit, except to spend a lot of effort to refine and remake, so it is a personal choice of each modeller. I hope that my ‘Oseberg’ is closer to the original than all kits with the same name present on the kit market. I don't pretend to do more than that)).
 
JBB, you've gone so far as to drill a million holes in the strakes for rivets and plan to do so for the treenails in the deck boards - and you're not going to do a little sanding on the mast??? It's just one piece - you can do it my friend! :D
I know, but there comes a time;)
 
Hi , just for information, the original of the shaft hole plus the wedge housing are historically real. Frank

I respectfully disagree. While I cannot speak with authority about other Viking long ships, I can, with a fair amount of certainty, say that there was no wedge in Oseberg. Neither Dr. Bischoff's drawings of the original, nor the photo shows a wedge. The long removable cap on the aft portion of the mast partner reveals a long slot into which the mast could be lowered.

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I hope that my ‘Oseberg’ is closer to the original
It is - and I commend you on that. My comments are not meant to disparage or belittle you or your kit and my apologies if they come across that way. I am merely pointing out - for those modelers who care - the areas where the model can be made closer to scale. :)
 
I respectfully disagree. While I cannot speak with authority about other Viking long ships, I can, with a fair amount of certainty, say that there was no wedge in Oseberg. Neither Dr. Bischoff's drawings of the original, nor the photo shows a wedge. The long removable cap on the aft portion of the mast partner reveals a long slot into which the mast could be lowered.

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This is my source .1743786791435.png
 

Your image only refers to the Viking Museum in Oslo (in Italian). That is where Oseberg is located. You've shown nothing else. I have already stated that I cannot speak to other Viking long ships - only Oseberg and Oseberg had no wedge at the mast. What would it wedge against? The loose and removable cap on the mast partner is meant to allow the mast to pivot aft for lowering or repair. You cannot wedge against a loose member. Once the forestays were loosed and the cap lifted, the mast would pivot aft within the slot of the mast partner.
 
The mast and rai are ready. It took 84 minutes to make these elements from what is in the kit: mast - 48 minutes, rai - 36 minutes. For this work only hand tools were used, which are on the photo.

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What is that short rectangular piece on the left side of your picture with the tools? It’s in the kit, but I have no idea where it goes or if it needs to be rounded.
 
What is that short rectangular piece on the left side of your picture with the tools? It’s in the kit, but I have no idea where it goes or if it needs to be rounded.
This is the mast part, it has a spike and the mast has a groove, they need to be glued together, it's in the instructions. It's just that the mast is too long to fit all the way into the box, so I had to do it this way....
 
I honestly don't see the need for this.

From a modeling perspective, it's doubtful that many would want to be able to remove the mast later and would therefore simply glue it in place.

From an historical perspective, it's just wrong. There was no evidence of a wedge to hold the mast in place. According to Dr. Bischoff's drawings of the keelson, the mast step socket appeared to have a square cross section which would have prevented the mast from rotating. The mast partner (the large hump that spans four frames), was slotted from the mast hole aft to allow the mast to be tilted back for maintenance. The mast partner cover sat loose over that slot. The mast was held tight against the front of the mast partner by the forestays, the deep socket in the keelson preventing the foot of the mast from popping out. No wedges were ever used.

Additionally, (sorry JBB, I know you've already made your mast) the forward face of the mast was left flat. In other words, when the square beam was turned first into an octagon, then rounded off, the forward 1/8th face was left flat, for additional strength it is assumed. Unfortunately, we don't know if, or how far up this flat was preserved, since the top half of the original mast had rotted away.
I'm interested to see how you do this, can't wait to see it in your future build log!

Steve
 
I've read throught the whole thread here with great interest. It has been many, many years since my last model boat build and now that I'm retired, I decided to turn my hand to the hobby again. It took me a long time to decide which kit to go for after so many years and after much thought, decided on the Oseberg as produced by Pavel. I think it is a very beautiful creation. I have read a great deal about the Oseberg in many places and I can see that what has been developed by Pavel is not a totally true copy of the Oseberg. This for me is not an issue because as said by some, alteration of the kit ship is possible. For me, the greatest pleasure is in the building of a most beautiful ship. It will provide me with endless hours of pleasure and great satifaction upon completion. I ordered the Oseberg a few days ago for delivery to Portugal, the county where I decided to retire. I shall now wait for its arrival and soon the build shall begin. My dealings with Pavel's sales member was delightful and even if the build is not as easy as I expect, that matters little. Thank you Pavel for the opertunity to build this ship;
 
Welcome to the Oseberg club!

I've been working on this model for a month or two, there are some quirks along the way but so far I think it's turning out pretty well. I decided to follow RussF as far as moving the mast forward one frame forward to be more historically correct, it's a lot of planning and figuring out out how to do it...but in the end I think it's worth it.

Good luck with your build,
Steve
 
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