I finished building the Viking Dragon Ship this morning, and I have to say it’s now my favourite mechanical model.
This is one of the best-designed kits I’ve ever built. Every part fitted firmly without glue. The instructions were clear and concise. The wood is of good quality, and none of it felt flimsy. It was a sheer joy putting this together.
I made just a few small touches as I built it. All black parts had their edges painted black, and the gold oar blades had their edges painted gold. However, I edged all of the copper-coloured parts in brass, as the Posca paint pen was the closest match to the copper colour that ROKR used on this model. I also added a faint outline of gold to the Dragon Ship’s eye, the tips of the spikes on its head and tail, and highlighted the studs on the shields in gold as well.
My only criticism of this model is that the fine laser-etched details are barely visible. ROKR really should consider etching them more deeply, although this seems to be a common issue across many brands.
This was also the first time I ditched wax for lubricating the gears. Instead, I used graphite as a dry lubricant, as the gears and other moving parts that rub together are not visible. I simply used a 4B pencil, so I didn’t have to deal with the mess of loose graphite powder. The only visible moving part where I chose to use wax instead of graphite was the section of the oars that protrudes beneath the shields, as I didn’t want the silver-grey sheen of the graphite to mar the black surface.
I have built a number of mechanical models in the past, and all of them were lubricated with wax. They all creak quietly. The graphite on the Dragon Ship is so much better because it is completely silent. I will definitely continue using graphite, and I also plan to try a dry PTFE spray on a future model where the moving parts are visible, so I can completely eliminate the need for wax.
Here are some photos below and a link to the video demonstrating the movement. This post would not let me upload the video saying it was over 100MB when it is only 16MB.
