Although the 1-72 Viking long boat comes with a blown-plastic sail, I would like to have a cloth sail that I can either leave down as flapping in the wind, or simply roll up and tie it back, I tried using cloth which looks okay until you photograph it and can see all the fraid edges of this man made material, has anyone got any ideas on what's best to make a sail for this boat, the sail only needs to be 6x6 inches or 160x160mm, look forward to your reply.

Ahoy, Alec!

I don't blame you for wanting to craft your own, more realistic sail for your vessel, mate...plastic is good for some parts of our hobby, but....

One of the best sources of "How To's" for making your own sails can be found here, my friend...lots of info and inner links to many fine tutorials, as well.

Keep us posted of your progress!
Cheers,
~Gunny

Oh well enough is enough, you wouldn't believe how fed-up with this Viking ship I am, the sail is paper, and this is as far I will be taking this subject, back to the old 1-700 where I am safe and sound.

Originally I was going to use the 32 oarsmen, but then quickly realised that they don't fit, an after market product and boy was it hard getting one to fit, each had to be bent into shape, so my hat is off to that German chap that actually finished this ship as I can now only dream about.

Hey Alec!

Please send us more pics of the longship. I think it's coming along rather well.

--Karl

Sorry, but I tried hard to get those oarsmen sorted out, and that just finished it for me, so I thought there's always plan 'B' and in this case cargo, these ocean going vessels were used to transport all sorts of cargo, the Viking ship/long boat isn't just the attack craft as Hollywood would have it, so as far I am concerned, this kit beat me hands down and I gave up.

Though I think it's a worthy project so far, I do understand you sentiment. My intended entry for the Pre-dreadnought campaign involved not only working with the challenging Glencoe Oregon kit, but scratchbuilding an Iowa in the same scale (circa 1:220). The main problem was working from faulty drawings on the Iowa--as usual, the errors didn't become apparent until after the hull was made. Anyway, sometimes projects become uphill slogging matches and for me, the lovely Trumpeter Repulse came by and I have since put the Iowa-Oregon scene on hold.

--Karl

Karl - I thought long and hard about this 1-72 Viking ship, then by luck brought one on ebay with the oarsmen, done a little research and found the competed one by that German bloke, so naturally thinking this wasn't going to be hard, boy was I wrong, each of the 32 oarsmen had to be individually bent into shape, the hole where the oar would go was lower in places making it impossible to use the seats provided, after 4 days of try, try and try again I decided to make this into a cargo ship, the Viking would often use the long boat as transporations craft, so now I required a sail, the originally plastic sail I didn't want to use, so in the end I used this paper one, and the Viking is now finished.
On another note, I've been looking at the 1-350 Trumpeter Repulse - but can't find much of a write up on her.

I have always had good results from using as fine a weave cloth as possible..Good quality handkerchiefs are a good choice...
The magic ingredient is a product used by crafters to make home-made blinds..basically you spray it or brush and after a couple of hours the material is stiff but still pliable.
Another material is UNIBOND PVA GLUE....works just as well and a bit easier to get.
Just lay your cloth over the blown plastic sail and soak with the glue.Tamp it down into the shape and leave to dry.Carefully remove and cut to shape..Weather and shade as usual.Or soak beforehand in cold coffee or tea.Make sure it's well dry before the glue treatment or the colour will smear and make a mess....
Hope this helps........ Jim.

Hi Jim - love the idea of placing the handkerchief over the blown plastic, simple ideas in my book are mostly the best, I tend to make things complex and then lose it altogether, the model is now fiished, but the information will be used by someone, thank you for your time.