P&P Kogge Build

The basis for my build: Zvezda's medieval kogge in 1:72 scale. Not the right scale for 28 mm figures, but roughly in the right ballpark. 

The ship's hull is split into two halfs lengthwise. Cementing them together is a bit fiddly, but far from impossible. The woodgrain texture molded into the plastic looks great, but there's sadly none of it on the inside. 

I completely forgot to take care of the ejection marks visible above the deck on the inside of the hull. Oops. Taking care of that won't be very fun. 

Wow, forgot to update this for quite some time. So, on with it. I started assembly of the mast and some more surface details. 

It required a bit of cleanup, but came out alright. I originally had planned to leave to top-most part off, but I decided that it looked better with it on and was necessary in case I want to mount a flag later on. I just removed the cross from the top, as I didn't think it quite fitting for my purposes. 

Adding these little "clips" on the side that will hold parts of the rigging was a bit of a mess. The instructions don't make it clear which numbers go on which side (odd on one, even on the other?). I think I got it mostly right, but two of them broke when I pressed them into place. Nothing a bit of filler won't fix, though. 

It is starting to take shape. 

Okay, now for the elevated platform on the rear. I just assembled it according to the instructions, it went together quite easily. 

Fitting test. It sits quite snugly, which is good. I want to keep this piece removable to make sure the 28mm minis can enter beneath the structure. This will also allow me the take it off and place it next to the ship during gameplay, so that we can use the main deck and the elevated platform at the same time. 

Of course, the platform should be more or less horizontal when taken off. For this reason, I glued the cutoffs from the rudder to its end. It doesn't serve any other purpose (and it is not yet level), but it doesn't look out of place. I might end up mounting something like flags or banners into the cutouts, we'll see. 

Battlements! I didn't see it at first when looking at the instructions, but they are actually inset a bit on the platform. Technically, this steals a bit of play area, but it does look nice. It will, however, make the forecastle (not sure this is the right term) even more problematic. 

One additional change: I cut off the extra length of plank that covers part of the railing. Not only did it fit not quite perfectly (it didn't follow the hull's curve, so it would always have protruded a bit over the sides), but I also want to cut two entrances into the railing in front of the platform to allow for the mounting of an access plank when in a harbor setting. 

Another fitting test, because they are fun and motivating. This was done before I cut off the extra planks, so you can see how they do not follow the hull's curvature.
We can also see the problem with the forecastle: It is just too small! Sure, it looks nice and kind of elegant, but I can barely fit my test mini onto its widest corner! Once the crenellations go on, there won't be any place for a mini at all. 

I really want there to be enough space for atleast two minis on the forecastly, as it would make a good place for archers or people holding ropes in some kind of hauling or chase situation. So, I'll need to make a new one. I glued the original part onto a piece of styrene sheet and traced its outline. I then removed it and used a triangle ruler to add additional space to it. I decided to only add 1 cm to the ship-facing side, as I didn't want it to cover a relatively huge amount of main deck space. For the left and right side as well as the front, I added two lines in 1 and 2 cm distance from the original. 

Cutout is done. I ended up adding only 1 cm to all sides, as it should give me enough space without blowing up the forecastly to enormous proportions.
And thank goodness I have the Tamiya scriber. I don't think it would have gone by so relatively easily had I only had my knife. 

Mini test. I should be able to place two at the back and possibly also two at the front. Perfect! 

And it doesn't look too big! Great!
It is still much too thick, though. I only had 0.3 mm and 3 mm styrene sheet at hand and went with the latter. So, there's quite a bit of sanding to be done! Afterwards, I can use the 0.3 mm stuff to add the raised border and start on carving the surface details. 

Next up: The plank's outlines. I marked them down using a ball-point pen, following the original's example with a few simplifications. 

I then carved these lines into the polystyrene using my knife with a brand-new blade. Of course, the very tip broke not quite half through this. Still, the remainder worked decently well.
I cleaned the surface using a 1500 grit sanding sponge afterwards.
Sadly, replicating the molded-in woodgrain is out of the question. I'll have to paint it later on. I might actually end up painting the "superstructures" (front and aft platforms) as a darker or painted wood. That might make any missing woodgrain texture less noticable and the model more interesting to look at. 

Next up: Cutting out the access way. I plan to make this the place were, in a harbor setting, the gateway planks will be placed.
This project made me finally cough up the money to buy myself a Proxxon. Had heard good things about them and so far, I like it. Very useful tool. 

I smoothed and rounded out the cutouts. I had to fill a few gaps were I ended up being a bit over-eager with the Proxxon, but I like what I am seeing so far. I might use the cutoffs from the aft platform to make removable covers for these accesses later on. 

So, some more planning. I want the crenellations on the forward platform/forecastle to look good, so I need to lay them out before I can cut them from polystyrene. I ordered myself some thinner stuff for this, as I only had 0.3 mm and 3 mm thickness at hand. The former is much too thin, the latter much too thick. Of course, I promptly ended up getting confused during the ordering process and ended up ordering sheets of 0.5 mm instead of 1 mm thickness. Oops.
Anyway, this is my plan for the forecastle battlements. I shortened the ladder, as it will probably be too high due to its steeper angle. To counteract me possibly cutting off too much, I added an additional cutout for it. As a bonus, it looks a bit like a decorative flair. 

Work on the crenellations started. And I decided to immediately deviate from my drawings. The outer-most crenellations would otherwise have been too thin to provide any meaningful cover, so I just switched the pattern and added a bit of extra width to the outermost ones. 

Front part done. While the first part took quite some time, it got easier and faster with each piece. 

I ended up staying up late (most definitively later than I should have, given that tomorrow's a workday) to complete the forecastle. The back turned out quite nicely, even if the fit on the connections to the side parts is a bit wonky. 

Placed the forecastle on the ship. No cement yet, as I'll probably leave it off for easier painting. 

Nice, doesn't look too big. It most certainly would have had I added two instead of one centimetre all around, so it's a good thing that I chose to be a bit more careful with this. And it is big enough that I should be able to fit four minis on it at once—nice! 

First at all, big thanks to everyone who chipped in with suggestions on how to handle applying woodgrain texture to the forecastle! I ended up finally buying some razor saws, as I foresee them coming in handy in more situations than this one.
Luckily, I already had a big pair of metal shears that I could use to cut one of the blades into something I can use to texture this part. Parts of the blade ended up breaking into small pieces, but that actually turned out quite useful—one of them had the perfect size to use on the long planks along the platform's outside!
I ended up gluing the tiny pieces in-between some pieces of coffee stir sticks to make handling them easier. Not perfect, as the superglue tends to snap, but the blade stays in place and they are quite easy to use. I'll be definitively keeping them for future texturing work. 

Hard to see, but there's finally some texture almost everywhere. A few places I wasn't able to properly reach, even with my improvised tools. There'll be a better view of the texture a few pictures further along. 

The platforms are decorated with some simple shields, but my larger forecastle needed some additional to avoid looking a bit strange. So I cut them from 0.5mm thick styrene sheets, which is pretty close to the original's thickness. So my apparent mispurchase actually came in handy quite quickly. Nice! 

Shields glued to the forecastle, this piece is basically done. I also glued a small strip of styrene on the underside to help with proper positioning later on. 

I rustled up some quick black wash and drenched the piece in it to make the texture visible. Mostly so that I could properly check for any places I'd missed. Luckily, the only pieces yet missing texture are those where I cannot reach into, even with my smallest tool. I'll have to see about those. 

Next up, the sail. I've put this one off for quite some time, as I was unsure on how I should handle them. I want them to be detachable, as Zvezda actually threw two different sails into the kit—or rather, one sail in two different states, unfolded and in use as well as stowed away, as visible in this picture.
As I want to be able to use this piece in both, a harbor and a high seas setting, I want the sails to be exchangable, but I wasn't sure on how to do that. I though about cutting the actual sail from the big top beam so that I could attach the latter to the mast and then clip the sails onto it as needed, but this would be quite a fiddly afair. Replacing the sail and beam together should be safer and easier, but it means I might be able to fit a bit less rigging to the model later on, which would be a shame.
Anyway, I decided on magnets to hold everything together. The part to affix the sail to the mast has two connectors that I could use for the same purpose molded in, but they are kinda flimsy and I can easily foresee them breaking at an inopportune time, so magnets it is. 

Same procedure for the mast. I glued the connector to it, then drilled the hole and added a piece of styrene offcuts into it to give the superglue some more surface to bond to. 

Magnet glued into place. I might need to fill in some of the gaps, though the superglue I pretty much drenched this magnet in might have already filled most of them. 

Well, doesn't that look nice. Let's get the other sail done... 

...oh. Oh no. Turns out, I should have checked if the attachment piece is high enough up on the mast. In this picture, the sail's bottom sits upon the railings, meaning that I put the magnet into the mast too low. Great. 

So, I cut off the attachment piece and broke the magnet out of the gallon of superglue I drenched it in. Helpfully, I also managed to slip with the blade and cut myself. Luckily, the blade was sharp enough to leave one of those clean cuts that almost don't hurt. Nice reminder why you're supposed to cut away from you. 

While I'm waiting for a second coat of putty to cure on the mast, I can get started on some of the finishing touches. The anchors are supposed to be mounted to these two pegs on the railing, but the extended forecastle makes it necessary to drop the forward part further down. Still looks nice, though, I think. 

I've never done rigging or anything similar before, so this was a very interesting experience. Thank goodness for superglue, I could affix the threads using it before tying any knots. I wonder if thread drenched in superglue will present problems once it comes to priming and painting. 

I added the second anchor in the same way. Sadly, it ended up hanging a bit differently, but it's still workable. I also added some more string and worked it around the corresponding spindle. 

Slowly getting there, I think. 

I've considered the rigging one of the most important, yet also one of the most daunting tasks of this build. I've never done this before AND I want the mast to remain removable (to make sure the players can easily reach anything on deck), so I had to come up with a way to get as much of it done (as it looks great) as possible without inhibiting playability.
For the six big ropes on the sides, I ended up cutting a small piece out of the plastic tackle's (right word?) lower loop. This way, I can pull them a little bit apart and slip them into and out of the little holes they sit in. 

How I made these ropes and tackles. Experienced riggers probably cringe at this, but it turned out to be a fairly easy thing to do this way. Put the tackle thing into the clamp, make a simple knot into the rope, attach the clamp as a counterweight and use the now-free hand to squeeze some superglue onto the rope. Hold for a few seconds and that side is ready. 

The six side ropes are done. Getting them atleast somewhat neatly around the mast's top was fiddly, but it worked out. 

I then added this additional rope from the stem (?) to the mast. It'll be the last one for the moment, as I still have to come up with ways to add some of the rigging that attaches to the sail and its beam. These are, after all, also replaceable. I've been thinking a lot about using magnets for this, but so far, the smallest ones I've been able to find are 2mm in diameter with 1mm thickness, which is still too big.
Anyway, I temporarily glued the forward castle onto the stem so that I could check if the plastic tackle for this rope fits into its groove. I had to remove a bit of material from the castle, but now, it fits quite nicely. 

Testing the removal of the mast. While a bit fiddly, taking the side ropes off from the hull is actually pretty simple. And the front rope can simply be pulled off from the stem. Neat! 

Removed mast. While this thicket of threads looks as if it would be horrible to sort out again when re-attaching the mast to the hull, the bit of superglue that was drawn into the ends of the threads actually make them stand slightly apart from one another. This way, they can be easily picked apart once needed. Didn't plan this, but I'm very happy with it! 

Time to finally sort out the back castle standing at an angle when taken off from the hull. This is, after all, not necessarily conductive to tabletop play.
I decided to simply cut off the bottom of the two wood columns holding up the castle's platform. I then glued them onto the deck and, once dry, drilled into them as well as the column's remainder below the platform. A piece of stiff steel wire will act as a connector. 

The castle now stands (more or less) level. Mission (in that regard) accomplished. 

Attaching the castle onto the hull is still possible. The wire hold it quite firmly. However, the visible groove where I cut is a bit ugly. 

So I hid it behind some VERY simple cladding. I didn't cut the side parts longer as I thought it might look more interesting if there are cutouts at each corner. I'm not sure this was the right decision, but if necessary, I can simply glue some further cutoffs in an interesting shape into them. 

Much better!
I suppose that this means that the basic structure is now basically done. I'll see about adding more rigging, but aside from that, hull and castles should be about ready for some paint.
I've also been playing with the idea of fashioning two additional platforms. The idea would be to have them attach to the ship's sides via thick stems through the hull's drainage holes on each side (while keeping them removable, of course). They would be designed to look like a "combat platform"—a "side castle", if you will. I would want to use those to turn this vessel (for the purposes of my games) into some kind of warship. It would be a neat addition and I could even mount some kind of ship-born artillery onto them. In fact, I've found the perfect kit for this: Zvezda produces a set of medieval siege engines, containing an onager (not relevant for this) as well as a Roman-style ballista (or Scorpion, if you will). I've seen images of the latter being used with 28mm miniatures in tabletop wargames and they look GREAT.
Just one problem: I shouldn't have said "Zvezda produces," but rather "Zvezda produced." The kit in question seems to be out of production and is available NOWHERE. AND I'd need two of them. Great.
And my wife wonders why I buy so many kits even though I've got a big stash to deal with already...crap like this is why, my beloved. Crap like this. 

Okay, I managed to come up with a way to connect one more part of the rigging.
You see, the sail parts both also feature the beam the sail is hung upon, and that in turn has two thin offshoots. I've grown familiar with these because I've managed to snap them off several times before when handling the sails. And it is these offshoots the ropes connect to.
So, I cut them off, drilled into the beam and replaced them with two short pieces of toothpick cutoffs. This way, I could attach the ropes to the toothpicks and simply pull them out when I need to switch to the other sail. 

I then attached two tackles to short pieces of rope to these offshoots. Two different tackles went onto the thread that will be slung around the mast. 

Then, the sail went onto the mast and the middle part was glued to the latter. I could then start to assemble the thread that connects both tackes with each other and those little rope holders at the mast's bottom.  

Threading done on both sides, only the attachement on the bottom remains. 

Aaand done! The thread is fixed in position and looking quite good, if I say so myself. 

And yes, everything is still removable. Here you get a better view of the toothpick parts. I shortened them to this length after pulling them out for the first time, as their previous length made pulling them out needlessly fiddly. They still sit snugly in the beam, though. 

I tested putting in the other, set sail. Fits quite nicely, though I did find some small cracks in the plastic around one of the holes once I took it off again. I put some cement onto them and will probably widen the hole a tiny bit. 

Last step for the main parts, as far as I'm currently concerned. I added a few small decoration parts on the aft castle that also hide two rather noticable ejector marks. 

They are not perfect, but look nice enough. 

The forecastle, again, will only be put into place once everything's painted.