Viking Longboat Build

[paperairforce]

Greetings fellow modelers

Been a while since I’ve posted or even logged in, nice to see some familiar user names still here, and a lot more modelers joined since then.

I’ve been planning to build a large ship model for a while for my shelf, and settled on a Viking Longboat. I searched here for examples or ideas and didn’t see many, so thought I would add this one. The plan is to supersize a smaller kit. involving scanning, chopping, reprinting, mounting, etc. I’ve reached out to administrator Jason who advised me that he didn’t have any issue with doing that and posting it here. So here goes! Thought some of you would enjoy looking in. I hope it goes well.

Also, there are many modelers here much more experienced than me, historians, maritime experts, etc., so any model advice, historical advice, tips, comments, etc., are all very welcome!

After not turning up too many models available to use, I settled on a beautiful model I found by Phillip Fickling, which I’ll review a little here. My thanks to Mr. Fickling for creating such a beautiful model. Also, I expect this project is going to take awhile!

Will

[paperairforce]

Here are some pictures of the box, front and back. What a beautiful kit. Anyone here familiar with it, please do comment your impressions or experience with it.

[SCEtoAUX]

I have that same model, still in the box and sitting on the top shelf of a closet.


It will be interesting watching as you build yours.

[wireandpaper]

Looking forward to see your completed model.

[Thumb Dog]

Hi All,

And hi, paperairforce. As I’m interested in all things Scandinavian, I’ll be looking forward to the build of your Viking Ship. Even though I’m not familiar with your specific kit, I hope a few general comments will be helpful to you.

You mentioned you wanted to scan, enlarge and print your model so you could build it in a larger scale. Scanning your model in its original size is a good idea, as it’s best to enlarge or reduce your pages from an original sized scan rather than enlarging select areas for your original scan(s). Also, a good, clean scan means you can pick whatever weight cardstock you want to print on, with the added bonus that you can keep the original model for your collection. When you print from the scan, you may lose the vibrancy of the original colors, especially if you print with an ink jet printer. Cleaning the heads of your printer and setting the print quality to high will give you the best results with an ink jet printer. A laser printer will give you brighter and more accurate colors, but the colors can chip along any scored and folded lines. Remember that colors from an ink jet printer are in the paper, while colors from a laser printer are on the paper.

If you build it as designed, the model ship will be about two feet long. And once in its stand, it looks like the tip of its mast will be about a foot off the shelf. That’s pretty big for a paper model, but if you think you need the bigger boat they’re always talking about, give it a go.

I read through the comments on the model’s box and the thing that jumped out was the phrase, “Perforated pieces for assembly.” This means the parts have been die-cut, and if you were building the original model, this could cause some trouble. Die cut models are notorious for the misalignment of the cutting die when it is punched through the printed image. Often the printer will outsource the cutting of the pages as they don’t have the machines to do the job. I build vintage paper models and occasionally build old, die cut, tab and slot models. Building from a scan gives me the chance to cut the part the way I think it will fit best, rather than being restrained by a misaligned die cut in the part. If you decide to build the model “out of the box” from the original kit, cut the parts out with a good pair of scissors or a hobby knife. Punching the parts out of the page with your fingers will leave rough, unsightly edges.

Such a long, narrow model is prone to developing a twist. A cardstock waterline model is easy to tape down to a flat building board to keep it from twisting, but the round hull of your longship means you’ll most likely build it without such linear support. Keep your eyes open and constantly sight down the hull from stem to stern, gunwale to gunwale and along the keel. Work to avoid a twist in the hull as well as the dreaded “banana boat” syndrome.

Your model seems to be an amalgam of both the Oseberg Ship and the Gokstad Ship which can both be found at the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo, Norway. The first two photographs show the Oseberg and Gokstad respectively. The ships were unearthed in Norway from suspected Viking burial mounds. The last two pictures show the Leif Ericson, a replica longship built in Bergen, Norway. It left Bergen with a four-man crew on May 23, 1926. It was sailed across the Atlantic, up the St. Lawrence Seaway, across the Great Lakes and arrived in Duluth, Minnesota on June 23rd, 1927. The 42 foot ship remains in Duluth to this day.

Best of luck with your Viking Ship.

Score and fold,

Thumb Dog

[Siwi]

Further to Thumb Dog's valuable advice, you may want to consider building a jig to prevent warping. Either that or if the kit design permits it, making the keel as stiff as possible (and ideally the ribs too).
Whatever method you use, looking forward to seeing this come together. I have started getting interested in historical ships.

[Thumb Dog]

Hi All,

Sorry, I forgot to include the photographs of the three ships. Here they are...

Score and fold,

Thumb Dog

[bigpetr]

I do not know this model but I highly recommend this one:


Captcha

[Burning Beard]

Here is one that is in the convention center in Copenhagen. If I remember correctly, it was in the mud in Ireland.

Mike

[Thumb Dog]

Hi All,

And hi, Burning Beard. Thanks for the photographs showing the Viking ship in Copenhagen. I noticed the fouled hull below the waterline and I guessed the boat was seaworthy. It turns out it is a reconstruction of an 11th century ship and is a working exhibit operated by the Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde, Denmark. Here is their website:

Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde

The reconstructed ship is known as the Kraka-Fyr, and details can be found in the museum’s site, here:

Kraka Fyr - Reconstruction of Skuldelev 6

A portion of the site is dedicated to the museum’s boat collection, here:

The Viking Ship Museum's boat collection

Thanks, Burning Beard, as I knew nothing about this museum’s collection of ancient artifacts or its operation of reconstructed Viking ships. Good find.

The included pictures show the reconstruction of the Kraka-Fyr.

Score and fold,

Thumb Dog