Jeff-E

Hey There Caleb, what a brilliant post!  Tis great to hear a bit more history of these wee craft,  recently I happened on a print of one (Google Images I think) which shows her as more of a Topsail Schooner w/t Jib-Boom and an overall look more akin to Pickle !  I'll post it below if I can find it .. 
If you have any further info re these craft I would love to read it !  I haven't seen that William James piece before ..
 
I'll go take a looksie for that image..
 
All The Best
 
Eamonn
 
P.S. .. Found it ..  She looks significantly different (Masting/Spars wise) to the Ballahoo build as per Caldercraft (which may have been simplified in fairness) and may explain why they were difficult to handle.. sure is a lot of canvas in a short & wide boat,  modern racing boats would be proud of that lot 😉
 
Edit .. Title of Print : The 18 gun Sloop Of War HMS Bermuda (1805) escorted by Ballahoo class schooner HMS Mullet (1807) of 4 guns Both Bermuda built of Bermuda Cedar by Derick Foster

Time for another Ballahoo Update...
 
Well Folks.. It's nearly time for the Masts to be stepped (At looong last I hear you say) Most if not all blocks/fittings are in place on the Booms, Masts & Gaffs..  Note to other Ballahoo Builders out there I feel (Opinion btw) that the position, as per plans, of the Blocks for the Gaffs is too high giving a very steep angle which feels (again an Opinion) wrong.. You would almost be pulling the Gaff into the mast (Bow & Arrow style) as opposed to raising its peak .. I will see if I have a copy of the plan here to show what I mean (Found One, See Below)  Anyhoo .. I placed my blocks in a more central location on the Gaff..
Oh also in the photos are the Anchors and their -wait for it- Stocks !! 😇  (still waiting for the Banding material, not really surprising though to be fair)  I will 'wipe on poly' them and add any details, nails & ring etc., once my delivery arrives..
 
All The Best Folks
 
Eamonn
 
Photo Time..
 

Hello All,
All of the ratlines have been tied onto the shrouds, 0.10mm tan thread was used for the ratlines.
               
               
                                                  
                    
Also as can be seen in the above photo the anchor winch and the pawl bitts, which is also the mount for the bowsprit, have been fitted. After giving all of the knots a coat of diluted PVA glue the ends of the ratlines were trimmed using a pair of tweezers and a very sharp scalpel.
                                                         
                    
                   
The bowsprit was fitted as well as a few blocks on the fore and main mast tops.
All comments welcome.
Thanks for looking and the likes.

Hello All,
The lower mainmast was fitted in the same way as the foremast and left to dry. 
As mentioned earlier the lower shrouds were made off the model. The instructions call for the shrouds to be made from 0.75mm thread and to use 0.25mm thread as the seizing, I tried it but it seemed too bulky and out of scale for me especially at the dead eyes where 3 small seizings are required. I did use it at the masthead but I used black cotton for the seizings at the dead eyes.
Each pair of shrouds was made and test fitted to the model and rigged with lanyards made from some spare rigging thread to get the approximate positions of the dead eyes before they were removed and completed on the bench.
       
        
          
The loose ends were taped up so I could make any final adjustments and they were fitted to the model. The lanyards are rigged with 0.25mm tan thread.
          
           
           
Once all the lower shrouds were in place and the dead eyes were at the same height with a reasonable tension in the shrouds the seizings were glued with diluted PVA and the excess thread trimmed. 
          
The futtock staves have also been made, the instructions call for these to be made from 0.70mm brass wire but I made mine from some left over 0.75mm drawn bamboo which will be much easier to trim on the model.
          
Next job after all the futtock staves are fitted, trimmed and painted is the ratlines.
All comments welcome
Thanks for looking and the likes.

Thanks Chuck for your kind comments and for looking in.
 
Hello All,
The tackle pendants were fitted to the lower masts using a cut splice. The splice was made by using a needle threader to poke the ends of the 0.75mm thread through the strands of the opposite leg of the pendant a couple of times, it was then seized with cotton thread which will be painted black.
      
The fore mast has also been fitted. You may notice that the topmast has not been fitted at this stage, this is to allow me to rig the shrouds and lower stays off the ship which I think is a lot easier than trying to tie seizings at the masthead and the dead eyes  on the model.
      
       
The driver boom and gaffs have been assembled and need a little bit of sanding where the yokes are attached before painting.
     
Comments always welcome.
Thanks for looking and the likes.
 
 
 

Hello All,
I hope you are all well.
Work continued on the construction of the fore and main masts. The trestle trees were glued together and the lower masts were assembled according to the instructions. The upper sections were painted black and the lower parts were stained with an oak stain.
       
     
      
The fore and main topmasts have also been assembled and painted.
      
       
All comments welcome.
Thanks for looking and the likes.
 

Thank you Eamonn. I used 5 minute two part epoxy to glue the metal parts together to give me a bit of time to get them in the position I wanted and there were a few 'Trying' words uttered waiting for it to grab.
 
Thank you mugje.
 
Hello All,
The deck houses and companionway hatch have been assembled and painted. The inside of the companionway was painted white to lighten the view to the lower deck when installed. 
       
         
         
These have been put aside as they won't be fitted until after the rigging is complete to give me easier access to the belaying points on the rails.
The bowsprit has also been made and painted. The deadeyes for the bowsprit shrouds, bobstay and forestays have also been fitted along with the stop cleats for the gammoning rope.
         
          
All comments welcome.
Thanks for looking and the likes.
 

Okay, the thread isn't working because the only thread I  have is too thin. I am not going out shopping for any. These planks are the same as what came with my Golden Hind.  I will treat them the same way. I colored the edges with a pencil and then after planking if needed, I  used a .5 mm drafting pencil and a ruler to draw along the seam to accentuate it. The following photo shows how it looks. 

I  am satisfied with this. It actually looks better than the photo. 
 
The front bollards needed finished before installing and they need installed before planking the hull as the planks fasten to the bottom of them.

The photo above, they are dry fit.
 
I didn't want to use them as supplied because they don't look right even though the instructions show using them as is.

I carved them on the other two sides to match. They look much better.

6 coats of matte black acrylic paint and they look good. 


This part had to be done to get ready for planking the hull.

Yes, I  have read that in many places online. The laser cutting of their parts (in this kit ) is excellent.  Any tight places only required removing the char color.  Everything so far fits perfectly. I think they have made some great improvements,  but not enough. The castings are still poor quality. The instructions just plain suck. But , they basically tell you right in the instructions that you are expected to know what you are doing.  Guess that is  an easy out instead of making better instructions. This is my opinion,  but if one wants to build a ship out of the box, they better get the Caldercraft kit. My intention was to make a better detailed ship even than the Caldercraft,  and I  believe with the Billings kit this is very possible using aftermarket pieces and some scratch building,  but I  had to settle for the Sergal kit ( or wait for God only knows how long  for the Billings). My plans may get changed some, but I  look forward to the challenge of what I  can do with this kit.
 
Mark Frazier 

Hello All,
All of the ratlines have been tied onto the shrouds, 0.10mm tan thread was used for the ratlines.
               
               
                                                  
                    
Also as can be seen in the above photo the anchor winch and the pawl bitts, which is also the mount for the bowsprit, have been fitted. After giving all of the knots a coat of diluted PVA glue the ends of the ratlines were trimmed using a pair of tweezers and a very sharp scalpel.
                                                         
                    
                   
The bowsprit was fitted as well as a few blocks on the fore and main mast tops.
All comments welcome.
Thanks for looking and the likes.

The bulkheads and deck supports are glued in and I  am working on the dummy cannon rails. I'll  let this dry overnight  and finish the hull framing tomorrow. 

I have done an inventory to make sure I  have everything and it seems I do. Building this kit is by the seat of your pants. Besides the poor instructions ( I  don't think the Italian translated well) there is one sheet with a half dozen photos.  The rest is up to me. ( good thing I been studying a lot).

I have dry fit all the bulkheads.  The laser cutting was excellent.  I just removed the char from the slots and everything fit right together perfectly.

I set it up on my build board for gluing. I have two aluminum bars at the sides on the bottom, held by screwed down blocks. There are three pairs of right angles screwed down to hold it square and upright.
 

The construction of this hull is kind of interesting.  You have to install all the bulkheads at the same time as the deck support you see in the photo can't be installed after the bulkheads. The last three bulkheads get put in and the deck support is slid in place. The rest of the bulkheads are slid over the front of the support and slid into place with the deck support.  Once the bulkheads are in place and the deck support is in its location, everything is pretty solid.  There is no adjustment. With it in the build board, the next step is to brush glue on all the bulk head joints.
 
As can be seen in the next photo, the decks have the planks engraved on them and it actually looks pretty good, but they supply planking strips also to give a choice, and I will be planking my decks.

I searched but could find very little builds of this kit. As I  review it,  I  think I  see why. Unless you have plans to replace a lot or scratch build a lot, this is not the kit to get. I think it will work good for me as I  will be replacing most of the parts. 
 
As for instructions..... well they are poor ... or worse. You would have to know what you are doing because they are no help.

there are 4 double sided sheets of illustrations but two of those are just identifying the parts and one is for rigging.  The instruction book is very basic.  It is in three languages but with only 63 pages, this limits the information. They are pretty much useless after you assemble the hull. 


The castings are kind of poor, I  will be hopefully replacing most of them with ones from Shapeways. ( I have an order ready to send)

The wood parts are excellent.  The wood strips and dowels are pretty good also. This is what I  wanted the kit for anyway,  the basic structure. 

the blocks are all the usual kit quality  ... poor  .... they will all be replaced with blocks from Syren. 
 
The cannons are turned brass and very nice.
The biggest problem is the stern gallery.  It will require major work  and a lot of scratch building to be what I  want. Hopefully I can do this part and not use the kit parts. I have led lights I  would like to install , but that is still undecided.  The Billings kit was ideal for doing the lights , but this one would require a lot of work.
My next update will be assembling the hull.
 

Welcome to my new build log of the HMS Victory. 
     This journey has a special meaning for me. All my life I wanted to build a ship. Not just any ship, but a highly detailed model, but as with most things life gets in the way. I built many models as a kid and teenager, but nothing like this. I grew up, went to school, got a degree in electronics, then became an engineer,  worked at many trades, became a master machinist,  a tool and die maker, traveled the US, Canada, and Mexico as an engineer for a CNC machine tool manufacturer.  My lifelong hobby was wood working. I retired at age 48 due to medical issues. Now, at 68, I  am working on goals on my bucket list. I desire to build this ship while I still can. I  don't know what time is left .... one year .... 5 ... 20, it's unsure,  but I  have life threatening issues along with other issues.  Enough about me, now let's build a ship.



I  recieved the Mantua Sergal 782 kit of the HMS Victory this morning.  This was not the kit I  wanted. I wanted the Billings Boats  kit, but due to the difficult times now with this virus they are closed temporarily and my order could not be filled. The distributor was very helpful in getting this kit to me as a substitute.  My reason for wanting the Billings  was it provided the basics at a good price and I  could replace the lesser quality parts with aftermarket and make the ship better detailed.  I will be doing the same thing with this kit. I did have to pay an extra $72 for this kit. The Billings was $397. I have been studying McKay's book , The 100 Gun Ship, and finding sources for upgrades while waiting 2 months for the kit to arrive. I figure another $300 in aftermarket pieces will accomplish my goal, still being less than the Caldercraft kit.. and hopefully better.
 
 
 
Mark Frazier 
 

Thank you both for the comments and thank you everyone who has hit the “like” button.
 
I enjoy scratch building very much.  
 
I accidentally made that discovery with my Prince de Neufchatel.  I ended up having the most fun that I had ever had building a model.  
 
Truth be told, I never expected to finish the Prince de Neufchatel.  I thought it would end up in the trash.  Then I had a hull.  Once I had a hull, I figured I’d try to carve a figurehead and make some fittings.  Then I decided to make some cannons and some rigging fittings, just to see if I could.  The next thing I knew, all I lacked were the ship’s boats.  I gave them a try and ended up with a set of them.  After that all I had left was the masting, rigging and sails.  I did the full rigging, with the studding sails.  
 
It was genuinely a lot of fun.  There were several times that the Admiral pulled me out of the shipyard after I had been in there for 15 hours and didn’t realize it, because I got lost in the model.
 
I had so much fun that I decided to bash the rest of the Victory.  

I don’t like Mantua kits.  I’ll never buy another.  However, it is serving as a good base to work from.
 
Enough rambling.  I am in the process of making the bitts and the pin rails for the main mast.

I am working on closing up the Upper Gundeck.

Hello All,
All of the ratlines have been tied onto the shrouds, 0.10mm tan thread was used for the ratlines.
               
               
                                                  
                    
Also as can be seen in the above photo the anchor winch and the pawl bitts, which is also the mount for the bowsprit, have been fitted. After giving all of the knots a coat of diluted PVA glue the ends of the ratlines were trimmed using a pair of tweezers and a very sharp scalpel.
                                                         
                    
                   
The bowsprit was fitted as well as a few blocks on the fore and main mast tops.
All comments welcome.
Thanks for looking and the likes.

So my Pickle is finished. Been finished quite a while, but put it on the baseplate yesterday. It has been a great journey and i have learned a lot. Actually quite pleased with the result considering this is my first wood model. In advance, thanx 😊

Hello All,
The lower mainmast was fitted in the same way as the foremast and left to dry. 
As mentioned earlier the lower shrouds were made off the model. The instructions call for the shrouds to be made from 0.75mm thread and to use 0.25mm thread as the seizing, I tried it but it seemed too bulky and out of scale for me especially at the dead eyes where 3 small seizings are required. I did use it at the masthead but I used black cotton for the seizings at the dead eyes.
Each pair of shrouds was made and test fitted to the model and rigged with lanyards made from some spare rigging thread to get the approximate positions of the dead eyes before they were removed and completed on the bench.
       
        
          
The loose ends were taped up so I could make any final adjustments and they were fitted to the model. The lanyards are rigged with 0.25mm tan thread.
          
           
           
Once all the lower shrouds were in place and the dead eyes were at the same height with a reasonable tension in the shrouds the seizings were glued with diluted PVA and the excess thread trimmed. 
          
The futtock staves have also been made, the instructions call for these to be made from 0.70mm brass wire but I made mine from some left over 0.75mm drawn bamboo which will be much easier to trim on the model.
          
Next job after all the futtock staves are fitted, trimmed and painted is the ratlines.
All comments welcome
Thanks for looking and the likes.

Hello All,
The lower mainmast was fitted in the same way as the foremast and left to dry. 
As mentioned earlier the lower shrouds were made off the model. The instructions call for the shrouds to be made from 0.75mm thread and to use 0.25mm thread as the seizing, I tried it but it seemed too bulky and out of scale for me especially at the dead eyes where 3 small seizings are required. I did use it at the masthead but I used black cotton for the seizings at the dead eyes.
Each pair of shrouds was made and test fitted to the model and rigged with lanyards made from some spare rigging thread to get the approximate positions of the dead eyes before they were removed and completed on the bench.
       
        
          
The loose ends were taped up so I could make any final adjustments and they were fitted to the model. The lanyards are rigged with 0.25mm tan thread.
          
           
           
Once all the lower shrouds were in place and the dead eyes were at the same height with a reasonable tension in the shrouds the seizings were glued with diluted PVA and the excess thread trimmed. 
          
The futtock staves have also been made, the instructions call for these to be made from 0.70mm brass wire but I made mine from some left over 0.75mm drawn bamboo which will be much easier to trim on the model.
          
Next job after all the futtock staves are fitted, trimmed and painted is the ratlines.
All comments welcome
Thanks for looking and the likes.

Great job! The entry port and access ladder look fantastic.
 

Hi Again Folks ..  I managed to sneak some Ballahoo work into my 'Day-Off' , I wasn't planning on doing so 'till my holidays which are coming in a few days time .. So I opened a few of my reference books to locate scale drawings of anchor stocks which I could size in Photoshop to suit my needs..  Success was found in Laverys The Arming & Fitting of English Ships of war 1600-1815 .. I scanned the drawing of the Anchor Stock into Photoshop and sized it to suit Ballahoo , transferred it to an A4 sheet and Printed (see photo attached) Checked the size (as scale can sometimes change when printing, if you aren't careful with settings) Then cut out the relevant parts and lightly pasted them to some of my spare wood stock (Don' think I've ever seen the word 'Stock' used so often outside a Cook Book !! 🙄 )
I'll Cut and sand them to size next week and report back as to how I get on 😁  I mean what could possibly go wrong .. 🥺 😆 ..
 
Stay Safe Folks 😷
 
All The Very Best, and Thanks For Taking The Time To Drop By.
 
Eamonn
 
Edit ..  BTW The wood Stock is thin enough to allow me to do both parts of each Stock on the Anchors .. So the bottom photo is for One Anchor Only !
 
Stock.. Stock ...Stock .. 😇
 
Stock ! (There, That Must Be A Record)

Hello! 
Looks like I finished work on hull

Added  some decoration, rudder

And some deck staff

Productive day.  Finished dual parbuckles and single parbuckles on port and starboard side.  Completed sea doors and gangways on both sides.  Started to build cannons.
 

More deck equipment installed.
Occre plans are missing location of lot of equipment, therefore i had to wild guess the location from their photos.
 
Also started with yards. Reason for that is to get one mast done soon to keep motivating myself with ship taking real shape.

Greetings,
With being house bound due to the virus, thought it would be a good time to work in the Victory restoration.  Finished up the stern work for now, though boat davits will be coming in the near future.  Trees have been built, although they need detail work.  At least now she is starting to look like a proper ship!
Thanks,
Mark