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My new one commissioned by my boss, the Airfix Wasa, I bought it off ebay and I've no idea how it was stored but its warped to hell, its been a real pig to get it together, didn't do it as per instructions as i could not get the deck atattched and level so glued the hull front together then when the glue set glued the rear the glued the deck a bit at a time using loads of masking tape to hold it till dry.





Broke lots of these bits on the top rails (whatever they are) so will have to make some new ones.



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Other that the warped hull, how is the rest of the kit?  I've been wanting to try one of these Airfix kits for a while.  How are they in general?

As for your display idea, considering that how she sank on her maiden voyage in 1628, I'd say that's fitting as well.

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hi these airfix kits are really well moulded yes they have their fit issues but the detail in the mouldings for such an old kit are outstanding, as for the fit issues, they can be sorted and it may just be how this kit was stored, I got it off ebay, could have been stored in direct sunlight, I had no problems at all with the Royal Sovriegn and that is a really old kit 1960s, I think airfix get a lot of stick ( yes they've bought some rubbish kits out but by inlarge they are great kits, especially at the price) and the new airfix kit would rival anything tamiya could produce.

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Thanks for the info, Kenneth.  Maybe if I see one of these Airfix ship kits at a local show for a reasonable price I'll pick it up.  The HMS Victory or Vasa would be a nice addition.

We are planning a trip to Sweden in the not so distant future, and I'd like to get to the Vasamuseet while we're in Stockholm.

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Heller do a 1/100 victory which is ex airfix and although it is pricey 150 quid it is impressive to say the least (look at foxys build) (it is way out of my skill set) but what a kit, actually for how long it would take you to build it is cheap, now if you like a challenge, I throw the gauntlet down, do this kit (personally I'm too chicken, I've been tempted loads of times, I just know I don't have anything like the skill levels needed). 

Edited by kpnuts
Wrong info
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Hi all here's a question I've been pondering since I started this build. If you were and experienced old sea dog(never sailed a ship in my life, don't know one end of a spar from the other)  and you could see what was about to happen, let's say the ship is listing to port, would you jump onto the sea off the port side or hang off the starboard side and wait for it to sink.

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Most people on the upper decks would try to get as high as possible on the hull (in your example go to starboard) and get away from the rigging.  If there were any men in the rigging (working sails, fighting tops, etc.) they might jump, but you have to remember most sailors in the Days of Sail couldn't swim, so it was really a choice between two terrifying options: jump into the sea & drown, or stay with the ship & drown.

Contemporary accounts say the Vasa sank like a brick (modern translation :)), but since the water where she sank was only about 105ft deep, some of the upper masts were still above water so survivors clung to them or the floating debris.  Out of a crew of 445, 30 men went down with the ship.

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Hi all a little update, well after exhaustive research(20 mins on google pooped for the rest of the day now) the Airfix kit is a little wrong the little sticky up thing on the top of the rails do not exist(thats great as I thought I would have to make some of those as I broke some whists struggling to get the warped hull together, also there should be another gun port on the second tier down sternwards of the last on on the model, roughly where the little slot is on the kit, I may add it when I find out what purpose the slot is for also the ornamentation above the top rail dose not exist neither does the ornamentation between the rails. not tremendous problems so should be able to sort them.

These are the little sticky up things which I've now removed.






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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi all Airfix missed a gun port on this so I've been racking my brains trying to think of a way of making one and I think I've got it.
first I covered on of them with bathroom sealant to make a mould then I tried to make a resin casting but it was so thin they kept breaking when I tried to get them out, so I thought I need something more flexible so being as how it was so thin I thought just acrylic paint, but that was too flexible and wouldnt come out of the mould so then I thought How can I stiffen it up a bit so I put a thin smear of superglue over it, hey presto it came out, here is the result, I may make another mould and try again as this is a bit chunky probably because of the number of times ive tried using it but at least I know it works.



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