Hms Victory
 

starting a new thread on Victory;
:build: Osiris (Les) and I will be asking each other questions about the build.
Mine is as at Trafalgar (1805), his will be as originally built in 1769, commissioned in 1778.

My model is a "test bed" to get back into wooden ship modeling after a long hiatus, learning by my mistakes to do better on the next model; not exactly to scale and not "super detailed" (that's for later models)

My progress so far:Contructo kit (bashed) 1:94, Hull planked and first coat of paint applied up to top deck (quarter deck-gangways-foc'sle) unpainted planks up to poop deck. Cannons placed on upper gun deck. skylight placed on poop deck. Bowsprit is under construction as are quarter deck inner ceilings and ship's wheel.
I am not going by the order of construction in the instructions; When I get tired of a certain process, I go to something else. That's why it sounds so random.

If there are any other Victory builders out there, feel free to "sign on". Any help/suggestions are appreciated.
Ill try to add some photo's of my build. (hope it works).



Well; learned something new tonight, it worked!! :=)

Re: Hms Victory
 

Hi James,
As i dont have a digital camara, cant show any progress, (not much to show anyway yet) The pick's below are what i'm working with and hopefully how she will turn out in the end (or something near) Your Vic is looking good so far nice job.Are you a member of MSW as well? I think i know the name

Re: Hms Victory
 

Les:
Yes I am; I visit there often, especially for research.
TIP: The Victory museum site has a modeler's section where you can ask the curator pertinent questions. They were pretty quick with a response as to the actual color scheme of inner bulwarks.

Got my upper planking on and the ceilings of the poop and quarter decks on and painted tonight. Now to the wheel!!

Re: Hms Victory
 

James, you must have had more luck than me with the museum, i asked them about the entry doors and what they actually looked like,no reply,Mantua doesn't supply a ship's wheel with their kit which i find a bit strange, so i shall have to make one i think, some of the one's you can buy are way over scale.happy shipping

Re: Hms Victory
 

Les:
I have a book on the victory by C.N. Longridge. I'll try and post a picture of the entry way tomorrow. 5:00 AM here (my bedtime).

Re: Hms Victory
 

Good Morning!!! James i also have the book, have looked but there is no mention of the actual door, which i am looking for only the entry port. I cant see them leaving the entry open in rough seas or in the midst of battle, not with cannon balls whizing through there, So to my logical mind they MUST have had a door of some sort, or no entry port at all.

Re: Hms Victory
 

James,
You said you don't have a digital camera. You don't need one to get digital pix. If you have your film developed at any major shopping center like Walmarts, Target etc. or a photo lab that does digital and film, for 2 or 3 dollars they'll put them on a CD. Then you'll have digital prints that you can photo shop or whatever. And you can e-mail them or download them to the internet, like a forum for instance.
Pete

Re: Hms Victory
 

G'day James I can only open two of your photo's am I doing something wrong.

Re: Hms Victory
 

Hi Neptune:
No; for some reason that's how they downloaded. I'm no "computer maven", so I don't know how to resolve it.

Added a few more photo's: got the poop and quarter deck bulwarks and ceilings on and first coat of paint applied ( I dislike painting intensely ). But, the way I'm proceeding, I'll have to paint this sucker 3 or 4 more times before I'm done. :(









I thought that if I painted it as I go along , it would be easier; Not necessarily so, glue drips, gets scratched/bumped, and "look at all those "Missed spots!".

Found a nice 12mm wheel that will fit nicely under the poop, but they only had one (have to wait for "reorders" for the second wheel). The kit supplies two,nice 25mm wheels that won't fit (should have checked before making the drum assembly :anger: ](*,)

Re: Hms Victory
 

Comming along James, by the way the cat looks pretty smug, what happened to the Rat, :( :(

Re: Hms Victory
 

Neptune:
They are both doing fine. The cat is afraid of them :outhere:
She now sits on the opposite side of the room from them.

Got the wheel in place; decided to go with just one wheel (couldn't see second wheel anyway) I didn't want to wait!!

Re: Hms Victory
 

Update:

Masts and bowsprit roughed out and one grating completed. Included some photo's of future crew (will need work, should have just gone with unpainted).

The constructo kit includes "just barely" enough dowels for the masts; had to do the foremast by hand, unable to use an electric drill because the dowel was too short.

At this rate, I should be done in about 100 years :banna:

Re: Hms Victory
 

Your crew looks like their getting a little impatient.

Re: Hms Victory
 

Hi, Victory was anchored in the Portsmouth harbor for 120 years, up to +- 1922. At which time she was brought up in dry dock. Longridge's pictures go back to that period. In his book he is showing that the ship has double doors on the port entry. The opened door fits in the thickness of the hull.
When I visited Victory I did not pay attention to that detail. A good picture of the entry port, under magnifying glass shows that these doors are still there.

Also the ship yellow paint is a darker shade than what I see on most of the models. The gun carriage wheels are light grey.

I did the inventory of my own Corel kit, I was missing the instruction booklet. I email Corel and I received the replacement from Milano Italy in one week.

Raymond

Re: Hms Victory
 

Dennis:
What can I say? They're Chinese and don't understand my work ethic (I'll get to it tomorrow!). Little buggers have to be overhauled anyway before they can launch "their ship". No liberty allowed (I keep them in a box, for their own safety; the #@$&^ rats already ran off with one, "man overboard!!") .

Re: Hms Victory
 

False stern in place, poop deck bulwark rails on and foc'sle bulwark rails now have their lateral bend in place. Foc'sle shot garlands in place.
Now painting stern piece and foc'sle bulwark rails and will apply rails tomorrow and start applying window pieces on stern (1/32" X 1/32").

Re: Hms Victory
 

Half finished with starboard quarter gallery and find that plans are "a little off" will have to file down all pieces to make them fit :=(( . Oh well, nelson was a short guy anyway, wasn't he? :banna:

Any way: Got the keel, beak's head and stern on. Got carried away with the photo's (forgive me)

Re: Hms Victory
 

An update:
Tried placing the hull in clamps to enable turning side to side; false keel and beak's head broke off! :anger:

Decided to leave false keel off (going to be in fake water anyway as a diorama)

And, because I'm more fond of rigging than "hull work" I think I am going to "paint"the hull copper, instead of spending all that time with copper tape .

I know, "I'm bad!!" :=(( but only the last three or four copper bands will show and I'll use the tape for them).

Meanwhile, I'm tired of working with the stern, so I think I will work on the bowsprit (all those tiny little chocks and gammoning grooves to be cut :saw:

Re: Hms Victory
 

Got the bee blocks and supports on as well as chocks for stays placed and painted dolphin striker. Placed supports for beak's head and gave all a first coat of paint. Jib boom and flying jib boom sanded down ready for sealing.
Back to the stern to do window moldings and fancy trim. back and forth, back and forth; breaks up the monotony but I do dislike sanding and painting 1mmx1mm square stock (my old eyes can barely see 1mm!)
At this rate I might get to the rigging sometime in 2010 !!

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Stern galleries 1/2 finished (lots of filing and repainting to be done) 1x1mm and 2x2mm rails hurt my eyes! :banna:

Re: Hms Victory
 

A few more details added to stern area and galleries.
Wife has consented to paint crests fore and aft :fthumbup: (that's good, cause I can barely see the details).


Tired of the stern (again) will try applying wales for awhile.

Two of six on tonight; the rest have to was till next days off :(

Re: Hms Victory
 

jemontgomery,
The ship is looking great.
How in the world do you get the wife to get involved with wooden ship building? I have tried everything from trying to get her to sew the sails with her sewing machine to helping hold a part while I glue it and the answer is always "no, I'm not interested in your toy boats". Which I respond with "they are not toys, they are my works of art - I can't paint, draw, or do anything else creative, so I build models". I can't persuade her. What's the secret?

Helplessly (or is that hopelessly?) married,
Richard

Re: Hms Victory
 

Richard - does she have any hobbies ? You need to get her into a hobby - scrapbooking is popular among the ladies now . She needs her own hobby .

Re: Hms Victory
 

jemontgomery,
Sorry to highjack your forum thread! I seem to be good at that.
DIVIT,
She used to have hobbies a couple of years ago but now works crazy night time hours and I only see her on the weekends. I have many, many different hobbies and I can't get her involved in any of them. Just looking for that magic spell that changes her mind.
I think I need a psychiatrist. :yikes:

Richard :coffee:

Re: Hms Victory
 

Richard:
Sorry; No secret here.
The wife is a "hobby nut" she sews doll clothes (a miniature seamstress) she will sew my sails (can't wait to do so) and gives me advice on thread types and weights; does toll painting (even volunteered to paint the model!); does beading (gives me beads for tiny blocks,bullets,parrals and thimbles), crochets (rigging tools) and knits (I made her needles out of wooden dowels and got to keep the left overs for yards) .

Like Gary said; Get her involved in a hobby; one that can be used for model building! :banna:

But like I said; I'm building the Victory for her (yeah, right) so she is eager to help with the build. She's no good with carpenter work, so I couldn't get her to plank the hull! :=((

Re: Hms Victory
 

Finished placing and painting gammoning knees and painting them (what a pain).
I dislike painting anything (too much of that in USN) and really dislike painting small things. :( I used a "superfine" applicator manfg. by "Microbrush" and it worked well.
If your hobby shop doesn't carry them they have a web site www.microbrush.com.

The knees were made in two sections and molded by boiling in water and using a planking iron (same method as planking). Glued in place and filed/sanded down to shape
As you can see the small forward bend was a little to sharp for the wood. It cracked, so being lazy and impatient, I glued it some more and filed it down.


Round houses put together and painted (still need detail work)

Meanwhile, the rats (Plato and Socrates) are working on their model (and leaving mine alone! :thumbup: :build: ; They don't have "Planking" mastered as yet. :mrgreen:
Tired of the bow, so next will open-up a few access ports amidships and start making cat's heads.

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Round houses (Midshipman's and Petty Officer's head) placed. Still working on trying to paint a straight line! :(

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Quarterdeck gun ports cut in and painted. Learned that it is very difficult to cut and file double planking (4mm thick). Lesson learned: cut all ports before putting in inner bulwarks/ceilings.


No matter how I tried, I couldn't get the ports exactly square (I lost my jig :( )

Be working on weather deck next, installing cleats, kevels, etc. Plans call for installing cat heads next but I'm afraid I'll break off any thing that projects from the hull at this point (I hold the hull in my lap or upright between my knees for some work. Hope to get most of weather deck done next week, then the cat heads and head rails. After that, no more "holding the hull!

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Started on fore-rail on foc'sle. Cut out carronade placements for rail (8mm dowel, drilled center and filed out core for rough shape before placing).
Painted all the rails and stanchions, prior to cutting to length (the stanchions are 5mm long, going to be hard enough for me to see 5mm, much less paint it! :banna: :banna: )

Re: Hms Victory
 

Mr. Montgomery ,

I have been following your build and reading your comments . Your combined comments to date are making me seriously ill ( lol). I am now thinking twice about building Victory . Seems to be more pain than pleasure. I have the COREL VICTORY kit which (after studying the plans) , will have to bashed in order to reproduce an accurate (1805) model . More frustration and agony, -- Just seems to be more pain and suffering than enjoyment ?


HOLD FAST !

Re: Hms Victory
 

Gary:
Yes, I "moan" a lot but it's still fun (go figure, am I a masochist?).
I started this kit as a trial of methods and to get back into the hobby, after building the Phantom.
I think it was a mistake but not because it's "very involved" but because so much of it is on a very small scale (all those 4mm and 5mm posts are driving me nuts). I should have started Flying Fish" first; sleek hull, not a lot of clutter.

Don't let my "travails" effect your decision. I say "Go for it" and we can "Moan and cry" together (misery loves company :banna: ) I'm not miserable though, just frustrated that it takes sooooo long! :( (I'm impatient and in a hurry to get to the rigging, thats the part I most enjoy).

So, start your Victory and join me here. It is a "worthwhile" project.

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Finished cutting out all the foc'sle rails, timber heads and stanchions. "rough cut" first of 48 timber heads with knife and file./img]

These are 2mmX2mmX5mm in size. Will require final sanding and painting.
Ever onwards! :banna:

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James -- 2mm x 2mm x 5mm -- !! at that scale , the rigging blocks must be tiny !!? - Still not sure about building Victory (,kit is for sale if any one interested?). Will finish Royal Caroline first , than decide .


HOLD FAST!

Re: Hms Victory
 

Gary:
It's 1:94 scale. I figured "that big,ought to be easy"(big pieces). I have the highest respect for the Japanese and Russian modelers that do such excellent work on those scales (I'm nowhere near that level). For a kit, it has a lot of detail (those tiny pieces).

Come on; Don't sell it, you know you want to do it. It will be "fun". I'll still be here with Victory by the time you finish royal Caroline. You can learn by my mistakes (and there are plenty), but "paint covers a lot of sins" :banna:

I can say that at 1:94 the hull planking wasn't all that difficult, even with that big bluff bow. And, I must admit, there is a lot of detail I plan to leave out (I say that, then put the detail in anyway. I'm hopeless :=(( )

I put off the fore rail for a week and finally started it; it took me two days to cut out all the pieces ,I dreaded shaping the timber heads and then found that it only took about 5 minutes to rough shape them and 2 minutes to sand them.Wasn't as bad as I thought it would be (the photo is "rough shaped" by the way).

So, put RC away and start that Victory!! :banna: :banna:

Re: Hms Victory
 

Gary...Just received your money order. Will be sending it out beginning of the week.

Rob

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Rob:
What did you sell Gary? Not a kit! :banna: I'm trying to talk him into starting Victory and here you are selling him something else! :( Oh, well.

Re: Hms Victory
 

Hello James,these timberheads are quite abit of work.Your first one looks very nice :banna: I remember doing these on my Endeavour.There was not as many as the HMS Victory has,but it can become very repetitive and laborious :=(( But I found the more that you do,the better they go.What i did was make a few and work on something else on the ship.It just sort of broke up the monotony.Sort of like when your making soooo many cannon carriages assemblies.Shes looking great :thumbup: ,Cheers Walter

Re: Hms Victory
 

James - Regarding my current build , the Royal Caroline , Once started , the project must be finished . Victory will have to wait .

"Never change horese in the middle of the stream."


HOLD FAST !

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Walter:
Thanks for the compliment; I went back to the bow area to get away from the stern. :banna: I sorted all the pieces out and put them into pill bottles (10) so I wouldn't loose them. I'm doing them in stages; cut out, shape, apply. Hopefully it won't be too monotonous (not like ratlines anyway). :thumbdown: But I've been putting it off too long, so I have to "see it through" :( Besides, Victory is my "shakedown cruise" and I must say, I've learned a lot about "what not to do." :mrgreen:

Gary:
I understand. Talking to Tom about the Constitution makes me want to start that one so bad, but I have to finish Victory first; I'm not one of those modelers that can do two or three projects at once (I have trouble enough with one at a time :banna: ).

Besides I don't have a horse, and the last time I was in a stream, I was fly fishing, and changed flies many times while in the middle of it (still didn't catch the fish!! :=(( ).

Still, I think you should start Victory next. some of the small details are vexing but the finished project will be worth all the "grief" and it will give you the opportunity to "ventilate" a lot! :banna: :banna:

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James -- message received and understood !



HOLD FAST!