HMS Victory by Sheerline - Corel - 1:98

[Sheerline]

Hi Folks,

This is my first time here so hopefully everything will upload correctly!

This model was started nearly two decades ago but ended up in the loft due to career changes and various other factors.

Primarily the build was stopped because I became petrified of ruining the stern section in the absence of any real dimensions or detail.

No one will be surprised I guess that, yes, this was my first model which I got at an engineering exhibition whilst displaying some metal. At the time of purchase a guy tapped me on the shoulder and asked me that same question.

He said I was looking at at least three years and in anycase shouldn't I start something simpler!

His words came back to haunt me later.....

Anyways, having found this wonderful website, here I am about to restart the build having found suitable drawings and other info from far and wide. My sincere thanks go to fellow member Grant Dale who started the ball rolling again and gave me the incentive to bash on.

I won't say anything about the Corel drawings or the translated instructions as for more experienced people they're probably fine.  My other sources now are; McKay,Longridge,Underhill,Roth and Dressel.

My local printer has very patiently enlarged some 1/92 detail for me and I now have enough 1:98 drawings to check out the stern below the galleries. These were 'lifted' by the way by enlarging to 195.5% and seem spot on and agree more favourably with the Corel ones.

My intention now is to make up some templates for the carving checks and take my time over getting this aspect right.

I cannot honestly say how often I shall post but at each significant stage I will.

Meanwhile 'management' keeps telling me they built the real one in around six years!

Left hand down a bit!

Cheers,

Chris

[Shipyard sid]

Welcome Chris

And another victory build, the more the merrier !!!!! You will never be short of any advice during your build.

So you just enjoy it and create something special for yourself. I look forward to following your log. DAVID

[Guillermo Madico]

This kid is a tuff one because there are not good reference points indicated in the plans. Expend as much time as you can at this step before you start planking. I found that the diagonal peace in the back sticks out too much once the filler block in the back is shaped correctly.  All peaces need to align correctly otherwise all future measurement for the ports will be off.  The reinforcement square section peaces are a better reference for alignment than the cut of  the joints between frames and keel.  Find out where the water line should be in each frame to be sure all is where it needs to be. It is important to have all frames at 90 degrees to the keel exactly.  The quality of the materials is this kit are excellent except for the keel and frames than are not very accurately  cut at the joints with the keel.

Be patient, plan ahead and enjoy. 

Good luck

[Sheerline]

Thank you everyone for your input and encouragement. I'm not the fastest builder as you will have guessed, still only having limited time for the project. However, I have done now what I should have done right at the beginning and that is to get some proper references for the drawings supplied with the kit.

Some of these have been transposed onto the original Corel drawing so I can now refer directly and also cross check where doubt exists.

Sections have been copied to A4 for the purpose of making templates or possibly individual parts.

I have also made a new build base board and marked it out as per drawing by scratching marks with pencil infill.

The keel now rests right down on the board so vertical refs will be correct. Before, I found that needed to add on the thickness of the aluminium keel clamp which I no longer need to do.

The photos (if I can upload them!) will demonstrate more than words what I've done.

Next job is to make the stern templates and bite the bullet by putting tools to wood.

One clanger I did make was to stick tape to some of the planking to protect it during inversion-big mistake!

When removed it left lots of gunge and has stained the planking which I'm gently trying to tease off with solvent and a scraper.May have to replank it.

Hopefully next post will show a nicely shaped rear end!

 

 

[Kevin]

This day will be launched his majesties ship the Victory, estimated the largest and finest ship ever built. Several of the Lords of the Admiralty, Commissioners of the Navy, and many persons of quality and distinction, are expected to be present, for whose receptions great preparations are making through the Town"

London Public Advertiser 7th May 1765 

The order for the Victory to be built at Chatham was signed by the Navy Board on the 7th July 1759. Work started almost immediately and the first timbers, those for the keel were brought together at the Old Single Dock on the 23rd July 1759 in a ceremony that even have been attended by William Pitt the Elder - the then Prime Minister, and the future Earl of Chatham. 

Once  her frame was complete she was left to ‘season in frame’ - a process that would normally take six to twelve months - but in the case of Victory  lasted form many years - until the Seven Years War had ended - before work restarted on her. Launched on 7th May 1765 she was completed and fitted out - not for war but for the reserve fleet. 

It was not until 1778 that she left Chatham for sea service - as Augustus Keppel’s flagship. Following the Battle of Cape St Vincent (1797) she returned to Chatham where she underwent a Great Repair - before returning to sea as Nelson’s flagship and the battle of Trafalgar 

[Kevin]

i look forward to watching this build grow and hope it is not another 20 years

 

good luck

[gjdale]

Hi Chris,

 

I somehow missed your first post and only noticed your build log today. I'm delighted to see you've made a start and I'll look forward to following along as well. Don't hesitate to ask if you have any more questions.

[Sheerline]

Hi grant,

Still working on the below gallery stern section. I blew up and made Transom templates from McKay @1:98 to profile from stern post fwd but the angles didn't seem right. In the end I sent for admiralty ( modern version) dwngs of profile and section- non of which show buttock lines, just the waterlines.

I was rather hoping I could lift off further frame profiles and bunch them up at the stern to give me a clearer idea and make it simpler to shape. I've noticed that the original filler block provided isn't really thick enough and doesn't extend to the Rabbet aft or indeed the bearding line below, hence my notion to put more frames in. I'm really tempted to rasher out the ( angled) top of frame 14 and stick my own vertical frames in aft of that point. I'm not certain if its possible to lift sections without these 'ere buttock lines though from what I've read so far.

Anyway, failing that I'll stick in a bigger block and just chip away using profile 31 and 32 templates. If nothing else I am becoming more familiar with things and it's great fun making templates!

Hopefully something more substantive next time I surface.

 

Cheers,

 

Chris

[gjdale]

Nice to see you still at it Chris. Don't be afraid to have a go at anything - being wood, most things can be undone and re-done if necessary. Looking forward to your next update.

[catopower]

Chris,

 

Good luck with your HMS Victory build!  I'm following your build closely as I have a very old stock version of the same kit. I have other projects I work on and use this as my long-term background project, at least for now it's a background project. 

 

I'm curious as to how you're going to handle the transom and the counter. On my kit, somehow there doesn't seem to be enough distance where the arrow indicates.

 

 

Not sure what to do about that other than sanding down the stern filler block more.

 

Anyway, you have a great start to your build.

 

Clare

Edited July 7, 2013 by catopower

[Sheerline]

Hi Clare,

I haven't got that far yet! However, I did spot a good article on shaping this area using McKay's book which involves overlaying photocopied sections

and then cutting to suit. Haven't thoroughly searched this site yet! The reference can be found at 'laukstreetshipyard.com' victory_sample-1.pdf

I hope this helps somewhat, but I'm a little way off at the mo to comment further.

Cheers,

Chris

[Sheerline]

Hi all,

It's catch up time not that I've done a great deal apart from fixing sheds and other domestic duties.

I'm hoping the pictures will speak for themselves as I abandoned the supplied stern block filler idea and did a bit of scratching. I started by making a set of templates for frames 29,31 and 32 from reduced Admiralty sections.

Added to this was McKay's sections for the transoms and bearding line. Getting the dwngs all matched up took a while but my ever patient printer is as keen as i am fortunately.

I've managed to taper back the keel fore and aft, and also the sternpost section down to one lamination of the ply at it's thinnest.

The notion is to thicken it up again on planking as noted in other texts.

Firstly, as advised, I marked the waterlines on the stern area which gave me a much better impression of things.

I have fitted station 31 and 32 profile inserts using hardwood and tracings from the drawings.

These are heavily chamfered to fit to the underside of frame 14. I feel though I shall have to be a bit careful when plank fitting and drill each hole so as not to split it out.

Then a channel was chisseled out of half the laminations in frame 14 to insert  the transom profile transverse section.(No.11).

I'm currently filling in the gaps and gently whittling away between the various parts to obtain a fair line.

This time though I felt more confident because I had references to work to.

It's clear (as per booklet intructions) that F14 needs more fettling to lay the planks in a smooth run!

While I'm at it I'd better check the bow filler blocks I fitted by eye some years ago!

To anyone following this do please bear in mind that to all intents and purposes I am a complete novice and am taking a bit of a flier at this.

Bye for now,

Chris

PS Having ( finger trouble) uploading. Pics to follow!

[Sheerline]

Pics hopefully! Apologies if not in order.

Chris

[Sheerline]

Apologies for absence recently. It must be a while since I last posted.

Have had numerous domestic chores to sort out including long runs of fencing due to storm damage.

Anyhow, back on the case now and I note several others are building Corel Victory 1:98 which is fantastic news.

I must have a look at these later!

I will attempt to post some photos of the work I did on the stern section, the fitting of a wing transom and a block made to represent the upper and lower stern transoms.

I managed to complete the stern section infill blocks and profile each one, blending into the next.

This seemed much simpler to me as I could sight back to the previous frame markings and chamfer to suit.

Frame 14 had to have quite a bit of reprofiling done which I think is mentioned elsewhere by others.

All profiles for this block were scaled up from the 1/192 drawings by McKay's book.Cut out sections were then overlaid on the wood and the main profiles jigsawed. The other lines seen were extended and the wood chisselled as shown.

I think the result looks better than I personally would have obtained from items 50 and 51 in the kit.

It's been quite a learning curve getting this far even, forcing me to do more research in order to get this stern section more accurate but it was worth it.

Might fit items 31 next for the gun mounts/stiffeners and then run a few planks down the hull to see how they fit.

Got to step the masts too before I get too far down the line!

Bye for now.

[gjdale]

Nice to see you back and making some progress Chris. It certainly is a steep learning curve, but persistence will get you there in the end. Your modification at the stern looks good.

[Sheerline]

Thanks Grant,

Your finished model looks terrific. I hope mine turns out nearly so good!

I'm having a look at the other Corel builds at this scale to get further guidance and importantly avoid mistakes.

It's nice to know others are in the same boat as it were. What a great resource MSW is.

Will update when I've got some planks on.

Cheers,

Chris

[Sheerline]

Hi everyone!

I've restarted the build and got some first planks on! I've left the bottom planks off until finishing the gun port cut outs to let the debris out.

I used a template to mark the ports and checked several stations from the main drawing. Each side was rechecked with a height gauge. The waterline was marked also as a reference.

Had my first taste of spiling as somehow I miscalculated or moved the first few planks which were to have denoted the mid point. This was a bit extreme as each plank was full length but templates and Amati plank bender won the day. 

Next job will be the garboard strake and upwards only this time I'll be running stringers across to get a better view of spacings.

 

[gjdale]

Nice to see you back again Chris.

[Sheerline]

Thanks for the encouragement!

[Sheerline]

A note about the gunports. Not all line up with something solid behind them. In places it will be necessary to glue in 10x10 pieces to accept the canon spigots. A couple are on an angle too but it should be possible to feed them in on a toothpick or similar. Those affected are the two most FWD lower deck guns. Pretty certain it's not my marking out...

I've hit a snag with the garboard strake at the aft end now.

Yonks ago I read about thinning the keel down to about 1mm and then making good with 2mm thick first planking - cutting off the stern post area also. Post planking a hardwood stern post would be fitted.

Trouble is it takes the veneer off the keel. Following advice elsewhere on this site I'm going to reinstate this last portion of the keel by letting in some 5x2 mahogany strip  with the benefit of creating a hard reference to butt the garboard strake into.

Elsewhere it appears frames 10 + 11 don't sit low enough by a plank thickness and the distance between frame 12 + 14 is not wide enough.

Having said that the test plank runs fair along at all points except the rabbet. I suppose all this points to taking for granted the bulkhead/keel pieces when I first started aeons ago and not checking closely enough..  Non of this is unresolvable though a degree of compromise might be necessary! Some photos follow which I hope will show what I'm on about with a crude impression of the repair scheme pegged to the keel.

Oh! I've lashed up some mast steps too on top of the keel using strip wood  before the whole ship is closed up. I put a bit of reinforcement under the deck too for added strength. 

[Sheerline]

The repair so far after fettling the lower keel as thin as I dared.

Lots of glue and firm clamping will hopefully restore the lamination and provide a proper register for the garboard plank. The rest of the planking and a final false keel should lock it all together..

It's slightly over thickness  so I will reduce this carefully when everything is set.

[gjdale]

Repair job looks good Chris. 👍

[Sheerline]

The repair went well and the wood was a fair match. Planed it down to its former profile satisfactorily.

Playing about now with the garboard strake and have offered up a template. Not quite there yet with the bow section but reading every available source to help facilitate this! It's good that the model is double planked because hopefully any mistakes won't be repeated on the second! 🤞

[Sheerline]

Struggled a bit with the garboard plank and got a bit confused I must admit. Rather than repeat everything here please look in the planking techniques forum at my pleas for help! Not glued anything yet as planks are drying after twisting. 

Hope photos illustrate what I did.

[Sheerline]

Having fitted the garboard plank I continued on up being aware I should no longer be trying to move planks laterally. This led to some clinkering on the top part of the hull which took a bit of scraping and sanding to get near normal.

One reason for this was reading that my first plank should follow the deckline...

Anyhow, it became apparent that I would need to fit my first stealer if the next plank was to sit naturally.

I made the classic mistake ( apparently) of glueing the one below first.☹️ Luckily I was able to very carefully remove half of this with a scalpel. Marked round the stealer and matched the cut to the sanded shape. 

I've learned now to take more time over these things and decided to soak and twist the stealer to shape.

It was left clamped to dry for 24hrs and assumed the correct profile leaving less stress on the board and myself!

Got to work out now the layout of the rest of the planks, tapers and fillers so I don't repeat my former mistake.

I am reminded by my wife it only took a few years to build the real one!😂

[Sheerline]

Continuing on I thought it prudent to at least assess how the rest of the planking might fall. I ran a cotton string down the center and counted how many whole width planks would fit. It became clear there would be a fair bit of tapering to do at the bow.

It should fall into minimum sized widths just about. I might have a go at a drop plank just for the exercise!? 

I also discovered just in time that one bulkhead was a little proud causing an irregular flow of the planking. A few touches with a file brought it into line. It was local only to a few plank widths but quite obvious and the black line on the profile was the giveaway. I had checked it before but obviously missed this bit.

What I've learned most from all my previous is that proper and careful planning of the planking runs is important. Hopefully this experience will carry over into second planking!🤔 

[gjdale]

Progress looks good Chris. 👍

[Sheerline]

Planking continues, filling in the next sections. A number of planks are on minimum thickness but I just about got away with it. Huge lessons learned before eventual final planking. I made some tick strips and then used prop dividers to spot along the bulkheads which was a great visual aid. I worked out the plank thicknesses at each bulkhead using info gleaned on this site to mark out each plank.

I got a bit adventurous then and planed planks two at a time, tweaking with an Emery board as necessary. Actually I raided my wife's sundry nail files.😀

I found the prop dividers a bit big actually, wish I'd gone for the type that simply has the proportion numbers on. Anyway, this as I say is not a tutorial but a conglomeration of my attempt to build something representing a half decent model.

Some pictures...

 

[gjdale]

Looking good Chris. Proportional dividers are a really useful tool to have in the tool kit.

 

Once you get this first planking finished, sanded and filled, and sanded again, you’ll find the second planking much, much easier - mainly because you’ll then have a solid surface to work on, but also because the second planking is so much thinner and easier to shape.

[Sheerline]

That's good to know Grant. Thank you. I'll certainly be marking it out beforehand! 😀 Onwards and upwards..