Building a wood ship

cthulhu77 - I agree. If Heller had given that thing the generic label "Viking ship," I'd be describing it merely as a simplified and somewhat crude generic kit. In my opinion, though, they crossed the line when they marketed it in such a way as to make the buyer think it was a scale model of the Oseberg Ship. (That's how it was labeled in its original release, back in the seventies.) And though the jury's still out on just what William the Conqueror's ships reallydid look like, it's pretty clear that they didn't look much like that kit.

I do think Heller missed a terrific opportunity here. The superb artisans who were making molds for the company in those days were perfectly capable of doing a scale model of the Oseberg Ship - complete with reproductions of the actual carvings. They are exquisite, subtle pieces of workmanship, and would have made an ideal subject for reproduction in plastic. But what Heller chose to produce was - well, something other than a scale model.

Undoubtedly...it is certainly not an exact replica of the Oseberg ship...but, it is a fair approximation of a "standard" viking ship...and should be treated as just such...

OH!!!!! "CELEBRATE" What a sad revelation!!! I think further scholarship dates the Tapestry to the 12th century and credits a group of cloistered ecclesiasticals (Nuns, perhaps) but a contemporary account (I'll find it and post source later) names the "Mora" and describes the figure of the bugler with the gonfanon as representing William's son Robert. It, however, locates the figure at the BOW and the Tapestry pictures it at the stern. Crabtree loved research but he was not an expert in that field (Re: the misnamed 1776 "Lexington") so the Gokstad ship was OK for his prototype. I haven't found good support for a departure from the supposed knorr or knarr design except the supposition that the narrow beam would not have afforded the space or stability to carry any sizable number of horses. The Norse did build pretty big and beamy ships but I'm still not definitive about design for William's fleet (numbering, incidentally, from 700 or so to an estimate of 1500 or more) except that they were built, gathered and commandered in a relatively short period of time. My assumption in pursuing this is that scale shipwrights will want to know the history of the originals as I do. That may not be true so this reply might be way too windy!
Best, anyway,
Ron

BUMP BUMP BUMP

I found this old thread while searching Santa's Mora kit. Before my time here, but it's a classic.

I concur!  It is a shame we never heard back from the professor who went to Germany! And, I  miss John Tilley!

Bill Morrison