Cigars of the Pharaoh (Arabian Dhow)
Comments
32 9 January 2019, 15:02
Greg BakerOk... so the peer pressure finally got to me. It seems like everyone is building a boat these days, so I decided to join in the fun. I don't know what Lode goes on about... the boat was super duper easy. I had it built in 10 minutes!😉
Anyway, this build will feature the Dhow that rescues Tintin and Snowy from their floating sarcophagi in the adventure Cigars of the Pharaoh. And yes... I know the Nina is not a Dhow... but there aren't many options in 1/72 scale... and once I get through with it, it'll be close enough for me. 🙂
9 January 2019, 15:22
Greg Bakerbeen there... done that... 😉
Destination Moon (XFLR-6 Test Rocket) | Album by strobez (1:72)
9 January 2019, 15:50
Greg BakerMy plan is for the sails to be out... hopefully it'll work since I can't use the ones in h kit.
9 January 2019, 16:20
TreehuggerBtw, I have a work-in-progress project with a 1:200 scale Acheron French wooden frigate (plastic kit) and I think I will like mine with sail cloth, packed in, as I tend to think sails either look bad, or gets in the way of actually seeing the ship model. 😄
9 January 2019, 16:37
Greg BakerDo you have an album up for your frigate? I'd love to see. The sail will largely be a game time decision I think... depending on what I can come up with. Luckily it's only one... and rather square.
9 January 2019, 23:35
Donald Dickson IINope, not gonna get sucked into getting a boat. I will just watch you guys do them and be happy with that.
10 January 2019, 03:57
TreehuggerSry, I haven't put up an album, and I also haven't gotten to the point where I start working on the sails. Here is an images showing what it pretty much looks like at the moment, a lot of work went into repositioning the cannon openings:
ibb.co/sjn4QXm
One thing I learned, is that self adhesive wooden decks, doesn't necessarily work that well if you add it on a curved deck. I can fix this, as I will have plastic adding pressure all along the edges of the wooden deck on the top side (luckily).
10 January 2019, 08:40
Greg BakerBasically just looked around for the closest and cheapest option... as usual! No one will confuse it for the Niña anymore though. I trimmed the upper level railing and then sliced open the deck to move the mast + hatch forward. Am I going to open the hatch and build out the lower deck a bit? Hmm...
11 January 2019, 14:35
Greg BakerBoxed in the cockpit... err... lower deck. It won't be terribly visible, so it's limited to the area under the now open hatch.
12 January 2019, 16:33
Greg BakerWell, I would... but luckily Tintin doesn't have one of those. Shark submarine is about as close as it gets. If you want to talk about the Studio Ghibli projects though... whole 'nother story. I already put wings on a boat that flies underwater...😉
13 January 2019, 00:50
Peter HardyThat's what I love about you Greg! You are reliving your childhood and absolutely loving it!
13 January 2019, 01:55
Donald Dickson IISorry, just not used to stuff not having wings.😉 I never followed Tintin, but I do love these projects related to him.
13 January 2019, 17:36
Greg BakerReliving... that would suggest I somehow grew up at one point. The jury's still out on that one.😉
Anyway, I got the lower deck paint and shoved a few boxes down there to give the impression of cargo. There will be more above deck, so the ones below will just give a peek. Also, since I only need one mast for the Dhow, the. Niña's second mast will fulfil its destiny as the bowsprit instead. I just need to figure out how long it needs to be... and if the mast is straight yet.😉
14 January 2019, 14:27
Greg BakerNo exciting update today. The railing needs to be thicker, so glue, clamp.... glue, clamp... glue , clamp.
15 January 2019, 15:27
Greg BakerSome polystyrene strips. I didn't check the size since it just needs to look right (enough), but I think they're probably 2.5x1.5x30 or 3x2x30 mm. I have a whole drawer of various polystyrene tubes, rods, beams (U/H/L shaped), and strips. They are extremely handy when trying to scratchbuild just about anything.
15 January 2019, 23:14
Greg BakerThanks Michael! I always say, if you can't be good... at least be interesting! 😄
Not much of an update today, basically just cut a few more strips and got half of the posts done. It takes some work to cut them precisely enough to fit, but not have much of a gap. It's pretty easy to make one cut too many, so I took my time.
16 January 2019, 15:38
Martin OostromColumbus would not be pleased with how you are treating his Niña 😉
I am!
16 January 2019, 18:11
Peter HardyI always tell my grandkids, " If you can't be good, don't get caught"!
16 January 2019, 18:32
Greg BakerLots of work to cut down the castle a few notches and remove the overhanging part at the stern, but we're starting to take on cargo, so that's a good sign.
20 January 2019, 16:25
Andrew FThe cement bottle on photo 18 is dangerously close to the edge... your workshop will stink for several days if it falls and breaks. It happened to me once and I still wish it never did.
20 January 2019, 16:25
Greg BakerSafety first! I had a few close calls with several items today... not just the glue, but also thinner and a tub of water for sanding... I should really clean up before ditching gears..
20 January 2019, 16:28
Greg BakerThanks Xa Char! It's my first sailing ship as well. Unlike yours though, I don't have to worry about historical accuracy, so that makes it easier, I think.
29 January 2019, 00:03
Spanjaardyes, you only need to fight against yourself instead of some insane rivet counters.... not sure what is worse 😛
30 January 2019, 15:07
Chris GreathouseI'm on a boat
I'm on a boat
Everybody look at me, 'cause I'm sailing on a boat
-The Lonely Island
30 January 2019, 18:38
Greg BakerThe above deck cargo is now all accounted for. Bits and pieces from 5 different kits and some scratchbuilding...😉
4 February 2019, 14:39
Greg BakerAll the cargo is painted and stowed, so I could glue down the upper deck and get to work on blending in the reworked stern.
5 February 2019, 15:24
Greg BakerThanks Lode... I was inspired to build a ship by you... only no PE here.😉
5 February 2019, 22:27
Greg BakerDoing a 1/72 scale Unicorn out of wood will be my crowing Tintin project... after I run out of everything else.😉 I believe there are 1/75 scale plans that exist... but I'm not sure I'm ready to try that baby.
6 February 2019, 00:02
Slavo HazuchaAges ago I built a couple of Heller´s sailing ships, I remember the nicely molded wood & co... This looks very promising, I´ll gladly watch the next steps 👍
Just curious what will the light-functions on this one be? 🙂
6 April 2020, 10:29
Greg BakerWelcome aboard, one and all. This one got shelved a little over a year ago because I was stumped by the sail and the rigging. I can't say that I'm any wiser, but now that I'm older... screw it... let's just roll up some plastic paper and string up some rigging in something that looks passably convincing. The thin Tamiya plapaper holds it shape (and takes paint) better than cloth at this scale, in my opinion. So let's set sail again!
Oh, and no lights, motors on this one, but I can promise a water effect~ so stay tuned. 🙂
6 April 2020, 15:05
Greg BakerWelcome aboard, one and all. This one got shelved a little over a year ago because I was stumped by the sail and the rigging. I can't say that I'm any wiser, but now that I'm older... screw it... let's just roll up some plastic paper and string up some rigging in something that looks passably convincing. The thin Tamiya plapaper holds it shape (and takes paint) better than cloth at this scale, in my opinion. So let's set sail again!
Oh, and no lights, motors on this one, but I can promise a water effect~ so stay tuned. 🙂
6 April 2020, 15:05
Greg BakerSo I got the sail painted. I used a bit of Tamiya plastic paper to make the roll and give it some shape.i instead of a tightly wound roll though, it's mostly hollow. I wound up some thin strips to plug each end of the tube to give it the impression of a lot more volume without wasting any precious resources. I'm pretty proud of it so far, but my neck's starting to hurt from patting myself on the back...😉
I'm sure it'll go away once I start the totally fictional rigging operation.
8 April 2020, 00:57
bughunterOh, nice that you restart this project, so I had another chance to see it! I like your scratch approach: simple, straight forward, but absolute effective 👍
8 April 2020, 13:46
Greg BakerThanks bugsy. Simple and straight forward are the only ways I know how, so I'm glad to hear they're effective.
I started the rigging on this project. Lord protect us all...😉
8 April 2020, 23:57
bughunterGreg, sorry, I don't get me wrong with simple! I mean it more: so complicated as needed, and NOT "the only way you know".
"A solution is elegant when nothing more can be left out."😉
9 April 2020, 12:10
Greg BakerHaha! I get it. Like a simple and elegant bit of code.😉. Well, Hergé was known for a "linge claire" style in his artwork, so I'm happy if that can be my model building style.
Anyway, I've got some string strung up as rigging... how successful it is though, might de up for debate.
10 April 2020, 15:56
Greg BakerThanks Daniel. The rigging is now done. I'm not sure how I feel about it... other than happy it's done. 😉
11 April 2020, 15:33
Greg BakerThanks John. All the last bits are now on an glued in place and the silicone water effect is drying. A final assembly and a title decal on the base is all that's left to do now.
12 April 2020, 15:19
Greg BakerThanks Peter! It was an enjoyable build. Since it was a relatively large modification of the kit, I can't really complain about any fit issues. The only reason this one was stalled for so long is because I couldn't figure out what I wanted to do with the sail. Once I decided to go with a furled sail, it just sort of started rolling again. The rigging was a bit of labour, which was both easier and harder because it's more or less completely fictional - I just used a few sketchy lines drawn in a very small panel as a rough guide. All in all though, I'm satisfied. It's a good first step on my quest to build the three-masted Unicorn.
13 April 2020, 00:58
TorstenIt's a pleasure to see how many ideas you have and how much it's possible to make so much from Tintin, you a great inspiration to me😎
Now I must find more time to build it, too😉
13 April 2020, 07:50
Greg BakerThanks guys! Torsten, that's really nice to hear. I know we all share our inspiration around here, so it's nice to be able to give back a little compared to how much I've taken from others. 🙂 Tintin is a wealth of possibilities for scale models... planes, trains, boats, rocket ships, tanks... never a dull moment!
13 April 2020, 08:02
Greg BakerI've had a chance to take some final glamour shots of the Dhow and uploaded them bother here and on my blog - strobez.ca/wp/index...gars-of-the-pharaoh/ - So we're officially done!
13 April 2020, 08:03
Slavo HazuchaCame out great Greg - The Dhow disguise of the "Nina" is quite convincing & I really like the overall "desaturated look" you gave it, particularly the light green railing color. Also the water looks inspiring, especially taking into account the comic background - somewhere between realism & painting/drawing 👍
13 April 2020, 08:30
Lode SchildermansGreg, have been out for a e here, and frankly, missed your inspirational out of the box builds. Well done Sir. The Belgians will love this in build
14 April 2020, 22:07
Greg BakerComing from a master ship builder, that's quite a complement! Thank you gentlemen, one and all. This has whet my appetite for more Tintin builds again... I'm thinking maybe a Ford Model-T might be coming up soon. Have to ask Chris for guidance, given that he's the car expert.
Actually, reflecting on the most recent comments here... Slavo is a painting expert, Alec is the detail expert, Chris is a car expert, Erik is the motors and lights expert, Spanjaard is a decal expert, Lode is a ship expert and Don is an expert expert. That's quite a crew.
15 April 2020, 00:06
bughunterAnd you are the Comic expert! Again you created a model with a special comic style. This could have sprung directly from the artwork out of the comic book!
15 April 2020, 14:58
Greg BakerThanks Nils. It's been fun to go back and add little upgraded details to these older projects. I suspect you're going to see me sharing these builds on a few Tintin-related websites and Facebook pages that I've seen you lurking around as well. You might get sick of seeing them. 😉
4 March, 18:09
Lode SchildermansGreg, you've been always good in assembling and transforming kits into a Tintin theme, but your skills keep improving and continue to amaze me. Great work indeed
5 March, 07:17
Greg BakerThat's high praise indeed coming from a master builder like you! Thanks so much!
5 March, 07:24
Greg BakerThat's not the biggest... the L-749 Constellation is the biggest one I've built... so far. 😉
5 March, 21:56
Album info
A 1/72 scale build of the Dhow that rescues Tintin and Snowy from their floating sarcophagi off the Arabian coast.
