Viking Longboat Build

[paperairforce]

Siwi – great idea about the possible use of jigs. As brilliant as the designers and builders must have been to produce these ships, it didn’t occur to me they might have figured out that too! I guess since I hadn’t come across any mention of them so far, and my impression so far (not researched it too much yet!) there isn’t much record left of how they actually built these ships either, so that seems entirely possible.

I made my own discoveries while completely missing an important part of the instructions! Unfortunately, the written part of the instructions did not mention the importance of gluing the planks to the first two and last two frames – they do mention to glue in the middle, and then the ends only – not any other frames. I guess you are supposed to have a little common sense, as well as notice the two little red “glue dot” indicators that I noticed with some shock after looking back to see what went wrong. What helped cloud my common sense was that the planks seemed like they did not want to contort to that shape in any way, and it would have complicated things trying to make them fit that way at that point. Also, I figured my alterations may have had something to do with it. I was focused on evenness, and making sure the ends looked good together.

What went right – the planks mostly fit, with some “persuasion” and one or two needing to be rejoined at a slightly changed angle. My discovery – just setting the planks on top of one another *appears* to produce a pleasing hull shape without the apparent need for the frames – meaning it might be done without the use of a jig reasonably well (although my frames may have played a part, though in parts they don’t contact at all by about 1mm) and seem to form the shape themselves, at least for a naturally flowing rounded shape. However, this gave the bow and stern more of a “rowboat” shape, or bowl shape – and while it would have looked decent enough, it isn’t the sleek and graceful bow of a true Viking Ship, no doubt deliberately designed to cut through water and break waves by having a more narrow bow and stern. No way I was going to let that stand! I also noticed that they wouldn’t quite meet the decks continuing that trajectory without pressing them in on either side when done.

Luckily, the planks were willing to be smashed inward and without needing to take up and re-seat the ends or anything else, although they are very stiff and it will require a very good grip with the glue – I’ll use epoxy. I hope it holds. The rest of the planks were were done using hot glue, as I needed something that would grip the smoothed surfaces long enough to hold them, and I like the speed. But, a downside or two as well with it being too gap filling and sometimes hardening up in spaces I didn’t want it to, causing planks to stand off each other a little too far in places. Those were later scraped away, and epoxy inserted and pressed flat as possible.

A few pics of the bow and stern before they were pressed back into the frames. I'll get a few more pics of progress and post them.

[paperairforce]

The Strakes. Might be a good name for a Scandinavian rock band, eh? Apparently the proper name for planks. Here they have been pressed back into the first two frames at the bow and stern creating the proper curvature, using epoxy. The first 5 “strakes” have been installed, and there are about 5 more to go. I have read that the full size ship strakes were about 1 inch thick, and it could be mine are a tad thick for this scale – I’ve yet to figure out what scale it actually is! There is nothing I can see in the kit indicating the scale. One clue I may be able to work from is the size of the shields, not sure right now how else to calculate it.

[paperairforce]

As I got to the 8th strake, and putting each one over the “dash” lines as per the instructions, it suddenly became clear that one side was higher than the other, meaning one reached the decks and might barely cover the frame top with the remaining two – and the other side was too low and had no chance. If I had the skills to “curse like a sailor”, this is where I would ave used them! Luckily, since I had sprayed the strakes with matte clear coat previously, and used white glue for many parts of the remaining strakes in an attempt to keep them close together, I was able to break the bond easily enough without the paper coming up with it, and even scrape away the white glue. Even parts with epoxy came off (at the ends) and only the the middle I did with hot glue stuck much better and was more difficult to scrape away. To make matters worse, I wouldn’t be able to hide those parts by gluing it back in the same place, as the new place would be higher – but fortunately it ended up not mattering. I was able to take up the strakes and put them back down higher up – the only problem being that the “dash” lines would now be exposed. These I tried to cover with marker, both “pumpkin” and brown color. I may leave it, or I may print some more trim and glue it over top.

[paperairforce]

On the other side, crimping the strakes to the fore and aft frames unfortunately resulted in really needing taking up and re-seating at the fore and aft ends, as the middle “bowed up” not allowing it to lie flat. I decided instead to cut the strakes and remove about 1mm instead in the middle, then try to join them up again. The result was certainly not perfect – so perhaps some Viking shipyards weren’t either! Or maybe the look after “flexing” through a storm and a repair. It will have to do, since I was pleased enough with the curvature and grip at the fore and aft ends, I did not want to try to take those back up. I'll try and get a plug in the middle of the last strake to close the gap.

[paperairforce]

Strake 9 needed “oar holes”. I started out trying to cut some 20 small circles through 1mm ( + 2 x laminated with glue) card with my sharpest new blade. After a couple of those, I looked for a quicker way. Like any impatient man, I got out the power tools. I tried to drill through the pieces with the appropriate sized bit. The pieces did not take kindly and wanted to “fluff” up, making a real mess. I kept going. In the end I don’t think I saved any time, and it certainly would have looked better by knife. I had to cut away the “fluffed” edges, clean out the hole, re – color with marker, then I added white glue to stiffen, and finally inserted rolled up sandpaper to smoothen. The result at best looks like rotted wood oar hole, but not bad enough for me to reprint and re-do. I am even starting to like what looks like a little touch of “weathering”.

[Michael Mash]

Yes, those holes really do have the authentic weathered look.
Interesting reading through some of the difficulties you encountered with the hull.
It is difficult work. No Doubt, some of the sail ship builders here have encountered similar issues, and more. It's an achievement to get to the end and have a hull that looks like wood.

[Siwi]

The last cluster of posts in this build log have been an interesting read. The problem with the strakes not fitting may be due to the increased thickness but also the join marks on the kit being too aproximate. I would recommend test fitting these first as such structures are difficult to calculate for the kit designer. In your situation, printing an extra couple of strakes and continuing the pattern of spacing to cover the shortfall could also be an option. Pretty sure the Vikings didn't have the mathematics to calculate exactly how to cut the wood pre-shaped to fit around a compound curve like this and would have just curved them and trimmed to shape as they nailed the length in place.

[Thumb Dog]

Hi All,

And hi, paperairforce. Sorry I haven’t lately commented on your Viking Longship project, but as you know, life will get in the way. It’s encouraging to see you soldier on through the troubles and triumphs you’ve encountered in your build. And the adroit mixing of your own techniques with those of the original designer show a flexible and creative effort on your part. Well done all around.

Attached is a close-up of an oar hole in the side of the Oseberg Ship. Note the slot found in the 10 o’clock position of the hole. This is in place so that the oar can be inserted or retracted through the hole from the inside of the ship. Without the slot, the oar would have to enter or exit the hole from the outside of the ship, a risky move with a valuable oar. The covers fitted next to the holes on your model have wooden “pointers” attached. These pointers will cover the slot to keep cold water from entering the ship.

Just a small nit to pick, but adding the slot would be a quick fix. I thought you’d be interested.

Score and fold,

Thumb Dog

[Philip]

I think the oar holes look pretty neat.

[Siwi]

Great observation about the hole shape. I can also see from the close-up that those planks of wood are anything but straight. Each strake has a carved groove on the edge, possibly to aid caulking?