HMS Victory by dafi - Heller - PLASTIC - To Victory and beyond ...

[gjdale]

Congratulations Daniel, that is a real achievement!

[Veszett Roka]

Just the best avarded to be in a book for modelers. You're a teacher now, Professor Daniel.
 

[Kevin]

Very well done, Yr the man

[mtaylor]

Congratulations on being in the book.  Very well done.   A toast.... 

[dafi]

Thank you all for the nice words!

 

After the stressful pre-Christmas period, I actually managed to leave the computer on the side for almost 3 weeks. At least I just managed to finish the programming of the 1803 figurehead of the Victory

Now here is the addendum from Käpt dafi, who was really looking forward to the painting. Attached are the parts as they came out of the printer.

 

The motto "Honi soit ..." is already imprinted, but with the etched parts it comes a bit more concise, so scratch out one letter at a time, with a thin wooden stick ...
 

... set some not immediately setting superglue to the respective place ...
 

... using another stick to move the letter to the right place ...
 

... ... and with a thicker chopstick pressed the letter to the curve by tilting it in and out.
 

 

Here's one with the letters imprinted ...
 

... and once with etched parts glued on.
 

The back also finally has volume and sits neatly on the head.
 

And for the sake of completeness here the comparison to Heller's original part, the painted one finally slightly inked to get the necessary depth.
 

Dear greetings and a happy new year to you all, Daniel

[dafi]

Here we go again, here we go, here we go, here we go.

Awakened from the slumber, she is, my little chubby one with the black and yellow stripes that make slim. She wants to become pretty. Last September weekend, this sweetie wants to go out to party, wants to party in Amsterdam, in the ship museum. She is looking forward to it, and I am looking forward to it 🙂

XXXDAn

[dafi]

To warm up and get into the groove, I finally gave the Brodie Stove its colors.

Since more than 2 years it stands a bit naked on the middle deck ...



... so I sprayed it a little black and put a touch of graphite on it ...





... and up to the place with it http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif










XXXDAn

[dafi]

A long time ago, I had once packed the night house and the steering wheel on a small vignette to protect them, but this small deck then broke in the middle. Fortunately without further damage to the important parts. So the thought was to glue the parts back together, put two deck beams into the hull, the vignette on top and all is tidied up and safe. So I reinforced the bottom of the vignette because of the crack and placed it on the deck beams, fixed tiller rope underneath and rejoiced.





Then I noticed that the rudder was then no longer moving, especially the tiller was nice to look at so far.

So what follows: Demolition of the just built. The plan was to run the tiller rope in a loop under the night house to keep the movability. But the rope was already short trimmed ...



So I threaded the old rope back, threading an auxiliary thread through it to thread the new one in. Was tricky, but worked. Then the new rope was in quickly and the loop was laid quickly too.

But what a mess. The friction in the system was too high, rudder and tiller could not be moved. FUHUCK!



Sewing machine oil didn't help either. Why? The friction just allowed to move the rudder when pulling on one side of the rope, but with the added other side, it was now just too much for the system. So the new rope with auxiliary thread were threaded out again and the old threaded back in ...

But it still was a good decision, as the guys in the gunroom can no longer bang their heads against the tiller. Due to the thick skulls down there, the tiller sweep was already limited for a long time anyway. Ok, mobility is missing, but so there are at least no blokes that would have literally been knocked off the their stools.

But in the meantime the small piece of deck looked a bit piddly to me, so it followed what had to follow - demolition: dafi is back in the modeler's life.

[Morgan]

She’s had more refits and reconstructions than the real ship 😁

 

But nice work all the same.

 

Gary

[druxey]

Just catching up with your (mis)adventures, Dafi! Some woking things do not scale well, unfortunately. Valiant effort, though.

[dafi]

The ever curious modeler's eye certainly did not miss it in the last picture: Next step were then the crews at the capstan.

In my stock of pre-Frankensteiners I still had a pack of cheap copies of Preiser figures that I had once received as a gift.



For single figures too sloppy reproduced, in the bunch I thought still quite useful. So once again I broke bones and mixed everything up. Since I quickly noticed that I would have been lost with single figures, I had built a sample capstan bar for the assembly. And it came what had to come: Bones were broken, joints were twisted, heads were chopped off and put on again.







Especially that with correct posture the arms were stretched under the bar and that the pressure was transferred with the chest, was a little tricky in the assembly. This posture prevented kinetic energy from building up when the bars struck backwards, the bars could not hit the guys in the chest area with force. So they were simply pushed backwards with less risk of injury.

Since the space on the capstan bars is quite tight, the guys were glued together right away in six-packs, because I wouldn't have been able to fit them together inside of the ship.

Then the sixpacks were sent to dress. Thereby I remembered again a small detail, which is shown on a contemporary document. The inner 5 men are red dressed Marins, the outer man at the bar is a blue dressed sailor. There is also a bluecoat at the swifter, the circulating rope that stabilizes the bars. This had the advantage as the marines could not do anything else except shoot, turn and pull were stuck in the middle, while the highly qualified sailors could quickly get out and away for maneuvers if necessary.

So the inner five guys conjured up short coattails, painted and also provided for the white belts. A few had allowed themselves suit relief, the jackets and belts hang afterwards over the guns shoved to the side.



Fit trials outside then looked like this.







First test fittings looks still quite fluffy. But you can already see one thing, the expected fiddler sitting on the capstan drum does not fit there because of the next deck.















One coan see, it works with the guns, tight fit, but it works.

But it gets more claustrophobic once the deck beams are added.







But it still gets much tighter, the knees are still missing. http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif





Once the knees were added, it was a squeeze fit, no more air to press out, but it fits.













No more surplus air in there ...

XXXDAn

[Kevin-the-lubber]

I always enjoy looking over your recent adventures Daniel, they bring the ship to life. In my mind, I’m transposing all those little characters to the real ship as real people. Gosh but it must have been a living hell inside a warship, which is something I think we tend to ‘erase’ in our very pretty models.

[RGL]

I have watched your build for a generation now. I just love it 

[druxey]

Well done, Dafi; especially showing the correct way to man the capstan!

[Gahm]

This is a totally unusual and unique build! I totally enjoy following your progress and your newest ideas!

 

Thomas

[dafi]

Thank you Sirs, very appreciated!

I have been absent for some time. This is my favorite picture of this trip 🙂



XXXDAn

[dafi]

After some questions came here a few quick shots 🙂

YES, the view from up there is gigantic!



Downwards too 🙂



But most of the crew were just looking up 😉



But there in front it is not bad either.



Especially when the Bonnie has gone into the net with you - nice play on words 🙂



Because it's homey there too, the waves dance below you and you can see the whole ship.



By the way, this is the old lady we were on.





And when I say "we", I mean us 8 mates from our german forum www.Segelschiffsmodellbau.com ...



... and we had 3 of our wives with us as well, so a third of the crew came from modelers' stock :-)

Dear greetings, Daniel

Edited July 4, 2023 by dafi

[Kevin-the-lubber]

14 hours ago, dafi said:

This is my favorite picture of this trip 🙂

That is a very well-observed photo!

The ship (the real one!) looks nice too. Where did you/does the ship sail?

[dafi]

That was from Kiel to Denmark and strolling around the area for about 5 days 🙂

 

XXXDAn

[dafi]

Brief review:

21 November 1805: Nelson falls in an encounter with the French, famously off Trafalgar




21 November 2018: Nelson falls again at an encounter with the French, this time at Rochefort, falling into the hands of an unknown man who pressed him to an unknown destination. Here is the last picture just before the loss.




But first things first. This was the last stand of the too small steering wheel planking http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif




In the meantime, a larger piece of planking had already been built. Also more deck beams were already in place. But the beam to which the steering tackle is attached was pressed down a bit by the planks and the tackle became slack as a result. So once again entering deep into the guts ...




... and fixed the tackle so that I could be tightend after gluing the planking into place.




I even shortened a brush to be able to put the paint in the right place http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif
The stub is there as the tackle doesn't run parallel due to the rudder drum.




And now it's time to be strong. It was the turn of Nelson and Hardy's new build. Nelson is a cross-dresser, as you can see. Surgically altered a bit, as they say.



The other guys have also arrived, the lieutenant with his speaking trumpet and the two helmsmen, dressed a little more formally than the rest of the crew. As we have very calm seas right now there are only 2 present.



And then they were already allowed onto their playfield.













And this time he came to stay, brave little Horatio!

XXXDAn

 

[Kevin]

wonderful stuff

[SigEp Ziggy]

As always, amazing work!

[dafi]

Thank you Sirs, very appreciated!

 

It's been a long time, in 2016 I had already discovered the axionometer on the 1765 model of the Victory with the help of my forum colleagues.

Since the display can be discovered on Turner's afterdeck view and can also be seen on other contemporary models, I had already installed the display on two of my models back then.





Now that Nelson has arrived on his Victory, it was time for me to take care of it again.

If you look at the contemporary models with axionometer, only a version with a rope transmission comes into question. In the front area of the rudder wheels, there is no additional drum visible on English ships, so I put it in the back. The rope transmission is analogous to French systems, from which the system was originally copied.

I have calculated the diameter of the drum and it kindly agrees with the French systems. For simplicity, I took a virgin steering wheel for pre-assembly. The display with its markings was also quickly built.



For the rope guidance I misused the wheel holder of my carronades.



So that the sheave also has air for the rope, I made a spacer from 0.3 mm wire.



Some paint on it and the rollers were finished



Then as usual put my cotton pad underneath so dirt and parts don't disappear into the depths.



But I should have packed the whole room in absorbent cotton, because one of those dark 1 cubic millimeter pieces jumped away, of course, because I took the wrong tweezers with flexible jaws.

With a flashlight held flat, I was actually able to quickly retrieve the part. All the well-meaning gods involved were praised and lauded!

The ends still properly trimmed and everything is ready http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif









XXXDAn

 

[dafi]

And it was time for the next deck.

A long time ago I had already prepared a poop deck. Even then I had reported the phenomenon that the decks slowly warped over months, always concave in relation to the wood, virtually hogging at deck level. Theoretically this is certainly appearing, but it was too much of a problem.



This has happened to me three times now. Each time the original Heller part with superglue and 0.4 mm planks. And the thick plastic decks can only be straightened with extreme force. When trying to help with heat, the bending radius shifted to the middle of the plastic, which then led to bulges in the wood. Conclusion: (original) plastic decks that have been covered this way must be glued in immediately and really well, possibly secured on top in a different way. The other method is to mount the new parquet on a carrier medium and glue it down. I have often used paper or cardboard for this purpose, which can also be critical, as this carrier material has already split in its core, i.e. half adhered well to the subfloor and the other half well to the planks, just with a little distance to the original fixing point ...

It wasn't so tragic after all, as this deck would have covered too much of the inside views anyway. So I built a new deck cut-out.



A long time ago I had also made the railing of the cabin deck to look like Turner's drawings. Now it can finally be installed 🙂




Here are a few test hammocks, the real hammocks are still to come, the ones folded in the middle should fit in.



And then the rear end, everything was already there 🙂

The stern can be removed via magnets for a better view.







Something done again!

XXXDAn

Edited August 2, 2023 by dafi

[dafi]

Nowadays at the Vic in P., the rudder pendant goes up to the mizzen chains and is secured there with a toggle.





There is an interesting detail on the contemporary model SLR0512 of the Victory: The rudder pendant goes up through the channel board to the poop deck, is routed aft at deck level, and is tied to a cleat further aft. This way, in an emergency, the line is quickly ready for use and does not have to be extended as it is today. A detail I wanted to install for a long time, now it was finally done 🙂









XXXDAn

Edited August 8, 2023 by dafi

[dafi]

dafi

Post subject: Re: To HMS Victory and beyond http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/styles/subsilver2/imageset/icon_post_target.gifPosted: Mon Aug 14, 2023 3:21 am

http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/styles/subsilver2/imageset/en/icon_user_online.gif http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/images/avatars/gallery/MW-custom/shipyard%20worker.gif Joined: Mon Mar 12, 2012 11:13 am Posts: 865 Location: Ludwigsburg/Germany

It went meanwhile to the hammock tinkering. I rolled the hammocks as already seen of my cut versions with spacers out of Fimo into the right diameter and rolled in the structure with a rake, folded and baked them. A little color ... ... and shading ... and whoopee into the hammock cranes ... ... and ready it is. From the quarterdeck it looks like this. Maybe I'll send the guys to wash the hammocks some more, the washing is a bit heavy, but how clean were the mats actually back then, so before the days of washing machines and chlorine bleach? XXXDAn

[dafi]

In the meantime, Lieutenant John Pasco and his assistant have also arrived at their workplace on the poop deck. The canvas curtains in front of the flag lockers have been drawn back ...



... but oh horror, they are all empty!



So quickly placed a bulk order of the current signal flags, 64 pieces, carved from 1.5 x 1.5 mm plastic strip, about 2 mm long, in the colors of the 1803 signal flags.



Then covered the hull so no one would get hit by falling flags in the gunroom ...



... and generously assisted him in filling it.

One more brief inspection of the result ...



... the flags at the top of the locker secured with weight bags to prevent them from flying away ...



... and he can prepare his flags well ...





... for, after all, it will be him who will translate Nelson's pre-battle greetings to his fleet into usable signals:

"England expects that every man will do his duty."

XXXDAn

[dafi]

Thank you Gentlemen for the likes!

In our German forum there was a serious reference to the uniforms of the two gentlemen. Both gentlemen without headgear? A "Ça ne va pas" as the Italian would say. The headgear was an integral part of the uniform and could officially only be removed indoors. And the laps of the uniform were too short, or the slit not high enough.

Well, let's make Lt. Pasco happy :-)

In the meantime, I've had enough practice building those little hats.



Then I extended the laps upwards, removed the white border at the bottom and both men are well behated.

Instead of the detached hat on the flag box, a flagbook or notebook ended up there.









I hope that Lieutenant Pasco can now go about his duties with peace of mind :-)

XXXDAn

Edited August 17, 2023 by dafi

[Hubac's Historian]

That is some brilliant textiles management, Dan!  Is Lt. Pasco nobility though inter-marriage?

[dafi]

Why noble? Just a hard working englisch officer 🙂

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Pasco

 

XXXDAn