Zvezda Black Swan 1/72

Well, generally, the whole of the spar a sail is fastened (the nautical term is "bent") to is a yard.

The yard has a shoulder cut in the spar at the point where the sail terminates.  Any extension of the spar beyond that shoulder is the "arm" of the yard.   The yard arm is where the eyes for the lifts land, and also where the strops for the sheet, clew, and brace blocks all fetch up.  The footrope on the yard  terminates at the shoulder, later on in sailing history, an additional rope, the "Flemish horse" would be added, to give access to the end of the yard arm.

In reading some accounts of sailing rigs, there will be editorial content on the proportions of things like the arm to the rest of the spar, it could be a distinctive feature of the ship, to a nautical eye.

In this present remove from the days of sailing navies, "yard-arm" means the whole span of a spar as it crosses a mast.  Which is probably appropriate as signal halyard yards are often only "halves" (the transverse members  on steel masts for electronics, anemometers, etc., being "struts" rather than spars).

Thanks a bunch!  That's actually really encouraging, and persuasive news.  I happen to have a very nice glass display case for a model ship that is 33" wide, 29" tall, and 10" deep....I got it for a good deal (you may or may not know that display cases for ships are costly!), and it's too big for my Vasa, which measures about 17.5 long, 14 tall, and 7 wide...it would look funny in such a big case....but the Swan would have only about 6 inches to the sides and top of open space, and an inch per side for the width.....a much better fit!  Coincidence? Maybe, but I still like the fact that I now know of a good quality kit, in the style I like, and in the correct size (more or less)....

Wonder if I could get ahold of the original figurehead?  I suppose when the time comes, I can just get the Russian Disney Pearl version, but still paint it with the traditional Galleon pirate ship scheme....

I'm still planning to do the Golden Hind first, especially so I can continue to *test my skill* (lol), but it looks more and more like the Swan/Pearl is going to be an upcoming build for me....

Dave

Hi Guys,

I like the sentiment to test your talents when you build, but let's remember that not every modeler wants to add extra scratchbuilt or aftermarket parts to their kits. As my colleague, Aaron Skinner has pointed out, IPMS has a category devoted for OOB builds. There are plenty of models around the FSM offices, and in our personal collections, that were built OOB, and they weren't paid reviews, nor was it that we chose not to do a better job. They were completed into what we wanted them to be, or the best we could make them at the time.

For example, my first whale boat, was built OOB. And while I knew there were inaccuracies, I needed to build the sucker to get the experience in laying down planks on frames, learn how to spile, and conquer a lot of other basic techniques. Adding aftermarket or scratchbuilt details simply would have been too much. My USS Constitution was the same way. I read all about the inaccuracies in the kit, but the project itself was so daunting, that I needed to get it finished. It wasn't  a great build by any stretch of the imagination, but it sure tested my talents. I have a cross section of Old Ironsides that I need to build, and then I plan to do another Constitution, maybe with extras, maybe not. But hopefully, it will be better than my first time around nearly twenty years ago.

I don't want to hijack the thread, just point out that we should recognize that not everyone shares a particular philosophical bent when it comes to building scale models--and sometimes an OOB build can test even the most experienced modeler. Please be respectful.

Paul, the build of the Black Swan looks great. Keep up the good work. Dave, I have been anti-molded sails since I first sat down at the workbench--I inherited the prejudice from my dad, who strangely enough, could make plastic sails look good, but hated doing it. However, I'm going to try to build the new Revell 1:150 scale Vasa and use the sails that are supplied, although it makes me almost weep to consider it.

Best,

TK

So I went ahead and ordered the Zvezda Black Swan kit...should be here in a couple of days!

That'll give me some time to finish up on the Vasa, hopefully I'll just transition right into the Swan build...

Guess the Golden Hind is on the back burner for now!

Dave

I like this WIP and want to marry it...

Haha Manstein!

Hey 2whl...what colors are you using for the deck, hull, etc.?  I usually go with Testors MM acrylics...it looks like the instructions call out about 7 different colors total...I'm sure I'll go out and get a *set* of about 5 types of brown/tan to get all the colors I want...

Some of my fave browns from Testors are : wood (of course), leather, radome tan, tan, earth red, panzer shokladnbraun....with a bottle of each, I can get pretty much every *wood* color I need, and then some.

Man, I'm excited to see my Swan kit!

David_K

Hey 2whl...what colors are you using for the deck, hull, etc.?  I usually go with Testors MM acrylics...it looks like the instructions call out about 7 different colors total...I'm sure I'll go out and get a *set* of about 5 types of brown/tan to get all the colors I want...

Some of my fave browns from Testors are : wood (of course), leather, radome tan, tan, earth red, panzer shokladnbraun....with a bottle of each, I can get pretty much every *wood* color I need, and then some.

Man, I'm excited to see my Swan kit!

 Since I come from mostly car modeling I had to go to my LHS and buy most of the colors. So far I've gone with what the instructions say except for the deck.  It called for 1706 sand and I thought that was too light and very close to the radome tan on the bottom.  So I usedTamiya XF-52 flat earth. For the accents on the railing and such, they called for 1583 rubber, which I converted using a conversion chart I found on the web, to Tamiya XF-10 flat brown.  For the black, I plan on using Polly Scale oily black, which I already had. A few parts call for 2030 true blue, which I understand is a very dark blue, but I haven't decided what to use there.  The bulkheads(?) have been painted 1735 wood. 

Besides cannon production, I am investigating artist oils to bring out the wood effect.   If anyone can help me there  and point me in the right direction, I would appreciate it.

Dave, where did you get your Swan from?

I'm off to a local ship modelers club tonite, so hopefully I can acquire more knowledge to help this build.

Ship Modelers club?  Sweet!  There's nothing like that around here...

Yeah, I remember when I got my first ship....all my paints were Tamiya metallics and shiny bright colors....I think the BHR kit was like 40 bucks, but I spent more than that for paints and supplies!  Funny...

I'll probably just use the painting instructions as a rough guide, and pretty much make my color scheme up....that's what I did with the Wasa, and it worked out pretty good....I like to try balancing the different shades in a way that feels right to me...

I'd like to hear about any wood effect techniques, too....sounds interesting to use oil paints....

Got my Swan from Amazon....111 bucks plus tax, free shipping.

Trying to get the Wasa done by the weekend, before I get distracted by the Black Swan  :)  Got about 20-ish more lines to run, then lash the anchors on, and that's it!  Don't know if I'll bother with the flags...

You all have a dozen or so colors of tan.

Use acrylics as they dry faster.

Radome tan, Leather, Deck Teak, Khaki (LOL), Wood; squirt them all ou and use a "zero" brush to lay down stripes on the deck against a ruler.

The Swan has open windows, and I'm thinking about running a couple of LEDs below the deck....I've read about people doing that, seems like it would make a nice effect, and might not be too tricky...

I picked up some battery powered TEA lights to put in mine to give it the flickering lamp look.

I plan to try it out on the Golden Hind first to see it I can wire them all to once power source..

I guess the real trick would be setting it up so I could access the lower deck to replace batteries, etc....without it looking too obvious...

If you look in my Victory thread, I showed how I did it. Used the same 5/32 copper self adhesive tape as the hull; as a flat conductor. I ran it all the way back to the great cabin and then to a collector down to a small two pole plug jack in the bottom side of the keel. Externally powered.

Oil lamps don't really flicker, but candles do. So for the Napoleanic era, a good steady light is correct. For the 17th century I suppose a flicker is good.

I like the copper tape idea....and mounting a small DC jack to the hull/keel would be less intrusive than making a *hatch* and compartment for batteries!  We'll see how it goes...

Got my Black Swan today!

After careful inspection of the parts, all I can say is...dang.  Incredible detail, crisp molding, no warpage, no flash whatsoever...I'm pleased.  And a little overwhelmed by the sheer number of parts! This thing's gonna take some time!

Now to finish up the Wasa   :)

David_K

Got my Black Swan today!

After careful inspection of the parts, all I can say is...dang.  Incredible detail, crisp molding, no warpage, no flash whatsoever...I'm pleased.  And a little overwhelmed by the sheer number of parts! This thing's gonna take some time!

Now to finish up the Wasa   :)

Congrats on getting the Swan.  I know you won't be disappointed. I've been marking the instructions with my colors that I want to use.    I marked the sprue pages with a color code so I can paint most of the parts on the sprues.

The ship builders club was sort of a bust.  They are into wood ships and kind of snorted in derision when I showed the plans to my 'plastic' ship.

Great job on the Wasa.  That's got a lot of rigging.

Bummer about the Ship Club.  Hobby Snobs...

Yeah, I'm pretty excited about the Swan.  I love the detail, and the quality of the tooling is fantastic!  Technology is definitely improved since the old days, I just hope we see more sailing ships released in the future....when you consider the Swan and the Wasa have both been released in the past year, and you compare the quality of the parts and the design with older kits, it's obvious that they have the potential to re-ignite the hobby.

I've been doing my *planning*, too.....one of the most exciting parts of building a kit, in my opinion.  Got my color scheme pretty much figured out, except I can't decide if I want to go dark or light for the deck color...and yeah, making notes on the instruction sheet, calling out colors, rearranging steps (I'm planning to assemble the masts and yards OFF the ship, as much as I can).

Sometime this week, I'll get started on the task of separating all the parts into their respective colors...with so many parts, it could get confusing!  I try to keep as much as I can on the sprues, but I tend to cut the sprues into smaller sections, and keep all the colors separate.  Then, when it's airbrushing time (the next sunny day), I can just grab the pack of "wood" parts, and paint them. And I'll be doing some assembly before painting, the mast halves, for example...I'll remove half of each mast from the sprue, and attach it to the other half, so then I get an even coat, and then I just remove the whole mast from the remaining sprue, and avoid cleaning up the seams AFTER painting.

Meanwhile, I've got the instructions here on my desk, and I'm going over them, trying to get it all memorized.

Good Times!

Dave

I finally got all of the cannons done that I am going to use.  After studying the instructions and the parts, it appears that their won't be enough 'tie-downs' to either leave the cannons in or run them out on the main deck. There is only enough to have 8 run-out or 8 stowed in. So, I decided to run the cannons out on one side and leave them in on the other. 

Looks good!  Lots of guns on this ship, huh?  :)

I got my first run of airbrushing done this afternoon....got the lower hull painted (Flat Gull Grey with a little tan mixed in), and the upper hulls, gun carriages, tons of other stuff (Model Master Earth Red, it's a good dark wooden color)...

No assembly yet...I've got about 7 more colors to airbrush, planning on getting most of it done this weekend (and Monday!)...so hopefully I can get into detail-painting and some assembly next week.

Bummer that there's not enough gun rigging to do all of them....I haven't counted mine, but I'm guessing I have the same amount....

I'm going to color my gun barrels bronze instead of black....what I need to find is a good Gold for airbrushing with....my experience with Tamiya is that it gums up my airbrush and never comes out smoothly...but then the Model Master stuff sprays great, but doesn't look right...Any advice on a good water-based Gold??

Here's a couple pics:[View:/themes/fsm/utility/:550:0]

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Hey Paul....I don't mean to clog up your post...if you prefer, I can keep this to myself, or have a separate build log...I don't want it to get confusing, you know?? 

Dave

Dave

I don't mind if you use this thread to post your build also.  After all, it is the same kit and it will be easier to compare notes,

I don't know of a better gold.  What about using MM brass?

I used MM Gold enamel on some of the parts and it looks good.

Thanks!  I just wanted to make sure I wasn't *butting in* too much!

Yeah, it seems like for metallics, enamels always look so much better....but I try to avoid enamels anymore...water-based paint is just so much easier to work with...pretty much the only oil-based paint I use is for washes....but you know, I never considered trying to use brass...even in an acrylic, I bet it would be much brighter than the gold....it might just work....I'll be stopping by the Hobby Shop on the way home from work tomorrow, gotta pick up some sanding sticks, some Flat White (thought I had some, but just realized the bottle's almost empty!), and some Gold (or maybe Brass!)

Actually, I think I'll probably break down and get some Gold enamel paint...I have an old Aztek airbrush...I'll just use it for the oil-based stuff....It's likely my best bet for getting a good Gold color...

Decided to get some Testors Gold enamel paint....it looks way better than any acrylic metallics I've seen....

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Well, after the Memorial Day week-end is over, I got some more done.  I decided to have the guns on the port side out.  So those are in place and the next piece of the side is ready to be glued.

David, if you haven't gotten this far yet, I would suggest that you assemble the bottom, then jig up all of the bulkheads and decks together without gluing them.  Then place the lower side on for alignment before you glue the bulkheads, decks and lower hull together.  The alignment pins are a little tricky and since I didn't do that procedure, some are a little off.

Hmmmm....I'm glad you're a couple steps ahead of me....you can bear some of the pitfalls!  haha

Okay, I'll try to use the lower-sides to help with lining up the decks before I glue them....Thanks!

You know, one of my concerns has been the fitting of all the deck/hull pieces...are you seeing any especially out-of-fit parts that need to be re-set??  It seems as if the guns will need to be aligned carefully, too...

I haven't gotten any assembly done yet....but I did get all the parts airbrushed over the weekend....I'm hoping to do a little detail-painting this week, and hopefully get some hull parts assembled....and I guess I'll have to buckle down and do the cannon-building first!

David_K

Hmmmm....I'm glad you're a couple steps ahead of me....you can bear some of the pitfalls!  haha

Okay, I'll try to use the lower-sides to help with lining up the decks before I glue them....Thanks!

You know, one of my concerns has been the fitting of all the deck/hull pieces...are you seeing any especially out-of-fit parts that need to be re-set??  It seems as if the guns will need to be aligned carefully, too...

It looks like everything should fit together nicely, as long as they are dry fit and all of the locating pins snapped together first.    I would do the bottom first.(step 4)  When it's dry, put all of the pieces in step 1 and 2 together without glue and use the side pieces to ensure everything is straight.  There are a couple of locating pins on the first and second bulkheads that aren't quite lining up with the sides on mine.  I should be able to snap it all together while holding it with rubber bands, but it will be tricky. 

Great!  I appreciate the heads-up, and I'll be sure to check for alignment before I commit anything to glue!

BTW, don't know if you're interested in this kind of thing, but I found some neat little LED kits for a reasonable price, and they seem easy to install....I got a few Yellow ones and a battery pack and switch to mount into the captain's quarters....

http://www.modeltrainsoftware.com/miniatureleds.html

This 'Black Pearl' build was posted on the forum I usually frequent.

http://www.escalemodels.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=10581&hl=&fromsearch=1

A word of warning though, David. If your like me, it will make you want to put yours back in the box and forget about it.

That thing's amazing!

I don't think mine will look very much like that, but I hope I can get a decent result!

The plan is to try getting some work done on it tonight...been busy with other stuff for a few days, but I think I'm ready to start digging in to it....

I got the sides on and clamped down.  I've been running thin plastic cement in the seams.  Tomorrow I'll take the rubber bands off and hopefully everything will stay in place.