dafi

Finally finished the step. Small tip in between: If all sides are stabilised with CA, one can cut 0,25 slices with the resin saw from a wooden 4 mm batten :-) What that for? For the sheaves in the mast :-) And that brings us back on the track. Foretop and fore topmast done. And here compared with the "original" Especially the wrong angle is corrected :-) And the new detailing. The cheat in the heel is corrected, sheaves and a decent lock are fitted and the cap is made smaller, as it was the same size as the main cap. XXXDAn

After doing the maintop, just wanted to smarten up the foretop to make some castings, as I still need several of them for some tests ;-) Then realised that my standards improved since the top was first done. So when trying to dissemble the top it proved not a useful base any more, so a fresh construction was a must - at least for me. Perhaps one remembers earlier posts. The top Heller supplies is quite ok, just an old version, that was only used until 1802 (and displayed on all models I know since the 1920ies). An admiral order from 1802 states to fit a top of two halves on big ships, as they are easier to replace. As the Vic was rigged in 1803 and could be considered as a big ship, so I dared fitting one, better saying two halves ;-) Based on Lees and other sources, there should be sleepers on the top of the top with half the thickness of the crosstrees, reinforcements on the rim and a different scheme for the battens. So got the Heller top naked, reinscribed the planking and fitted the missing bits and made new and slimmer holes for the irons. To cut the crosstrees and the sleepers, I used a vice and with a single cut it was done. And then a small orgy with Evergreen and the new top was done and a bit more crisp than the old version :-) Anyway, Heller keeps surprises me, as on the "original" top the complicated planking scheme, with up- and downside looking different, was faithfully done :-) XXXDAn

Hello Thomas most of the figures date from mid 2015, see here for an example Film Crew @Jason, for the rest, nothing is decided yet :-) And Dave, no need to be sorry, that is one of the companion ways, situated in the middle. XXXDAn

Something I always wanted to tell: A small portion of the upper deck laid, and one sees much better how claustrophobic the situation was ... Ashes to ashes, earth to earth and top to tops ... ... business as usual. XXXDAn

Anyway, they are not too bad as they still had different proportions than the guns in later years. The pictures of the original guns recovered show a much slimmer barrel than the ones on the Vic. https://www.ouest-france.fr/pays-de-la-loire/la-baule-44500/le-canon-du-soleil-royal-sinstalle-passage-de-la-ladure-1190342 https://www.google.de/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fi34.servimg.com%2Fu%2Ff34%2F15%2F24%2F95%2F84%2Fcanond11.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fmodelisme-naval-bois.lebonforum.com%2Ft138p50-soleil-royal-1669-au-1-72&docid=ObKeddvYMMpN1M&tbnid=qJdCqDfY3UwBqM%3A&vet=10ahUKEwjy_InlrdrWAhUiDJoKHTb-D0UQMwg3KBIwEg..i&w=800&h=531&bih=789&biw=1440&q=soleil royal cannon&ved=0ahUKEwjy_InlrdrWAhUiDJoKHTb-D0UQMwg3KBIwEg&iact=mrc&uact=8 XXXDAn

Hy Marc, the barrels from Victory are the original ones from the kit, just some etch added. The Heller kit often surprises me, as many parts are quite close to the original. Most actions necessary come from the limitations in making the moulds some 40 to 50 years ago. Here is a link to the instructions of the etch parts that deal with the guns: http://www.dafinismus.de/bilder/Platinen_ab_2015/Etch_Victory_en_5_V12.pdf http://www.dafinismus.de/bilder/Platinen_ab_2015/Etch_Victory_en_4_V12.pdf http://www.dafinismus.de/bilder/Platinen_ab_2015/Etch_Victory_en_7_V12.pdf But even the Soleil guns look much better if some simple modifications are done: replace the trunnions and the axels and bore the hole for the breech into the carriages´sides. In the back the original, in the front the pimped version. ]

You got it Jason :-) But not only while being hoisted, also once the topmast is in place, there is nothing else that helps counteracting the weight, as the topmast is not linked/fixed to the main cap. XXXDAn

Ok, see you in a month or two ;-) XXXDAn

Bolsters for the yard sling in the back and 2 for the lift blocks in the front :-) XXXDan

Thank you folks! Some more remarks/questions: - Lee writes on page 56, that the top mast pendants were unrove after the mast was topped. Does this mean that before that date the topmast pendants stayed in place? - Lee writes and contemporary drawings show that the port side pendant went through the lower sheave. - According to Lee large ships - like Vic - had tripple blocks lashed to the pendants instead of the usual double blocks. - In the pictures is shown a top made of two halves as by Admiralty order from 1802. (Just a splitline in the middle missing as I saw in my pictures). That is why there is not the usual axial pattern of the rips, but a version according to Lee, Nares and Brady. - the octogonal heel does not necessitate a groove for the pendant as there is enough space to move freely. - the bolsters of the lift blocks on the cap need to be pushed more forward, as they need to be wrapped around the cap and collide with the mast head in this setup. - still to be confirmed the octogonal heeling and the jeer clamps. XXXDan

And some end-of bank-holiday-tinkering: blocks mounted, topmast pendants set and the main cap´s round hole padded with leather - what does a modeler´s heart need more?!? XXXDAn

Some questions about the masts of British first rates about 1800. - Usually the heel of the topmasts is shown squared, the heeling on the Vic in P. is octagonal, as it is shown in Lee, who states that "Octagonal heeling only on 1St rate ships and by 1773 on all rates" http://files.homepagemodules.de/b564537/f700t5845p131075n2_FzsqAJVt.jpg[/img] Are there any contemporary sources confirming that? And another question arose: The cleat for the jeer block lashing are shown in Portsmouth as a clamp, but most of the literature shows a shoulder piece. What is the correct setup? Was the cleat an earlier or later version? Here both of them together for comparison ... ... and here the shoulder its the right place.

Univers played crazy - it concentrated lust, leisure and time in one single small space and as this happened to be my tinkering corner there was no more way to say no ... I was busy for quite a while understanding the real construction of the fighting tops and researching the relating measures in between mast and topmast and so on. Found the Heller parts in acceptable tolerances so made up a plastic dummy to set things straight for a wooden replacement later on. A long missing piece for the puzzle was the small wooden chock, that sets the distance on the lower end of the topmast and defines the distance from the mast head to the topmast. Difficult to spot in the plans, not easy to spot it in the descriptions as it was too easy as a solution ... So I shortened the rubbing paunch to fit in the chock, shortened the bolsters in the front side, detailed the main cap ... ... build in the sheaves, the fid and the iron loop ... ... and also worked the top. Nice to see the chock that sets the distance and the rake of the topmast. The main cap got its splitlines. Another question arose: The cleat for the jeer block lashing are shown in Portsmouth as a clamp, but most of the literature shows a shoulder piece. What is the correct setup? Here both of them together for comparison ... ... and here the shoulder its the right place. Then made he functional tryouts ... ... pushing the topmast through the trestletrees ... ... placed the fid ... ... and fits :-) XXXDAn

Best material for small scales :-) Posted February 20, 2013 XXXDAn

Wonderfully done! And this is how one works the leeboards - from our forum´s trip to the Netherlands :-) XXXDAn

Big thank you Paul! Many modelers already asked for them having illegible Heller copies and/or not being able to interpret them. XXXDAn

As I am "building a piece of plastic" too, I never had that impression. Even more so, my "piece of plastic***" is the fourth most viewed build log on the board, only being surpassed by Dan´s Vulture, Ed´s Young American and B.E.´s Pegasus, what an honor! But one has to have a bit of patience and keep on waving the flag, I unfortunately never realised this build being shown here. Same happens to me, sometimes little or no response, but this happens too if one builds scratch and in wood I believe :-) I even would wish for more pictures! All the best, Daniel *** that is how my wife calls it ...

Very tasty result! Never realised that you posted here, thank you, great work! All the best, Daniel

Thank God, they were not gruel, oups, cruel or better saying authentic in this sense ;-) But some of the breads hat cabbage on it, for us not to fall ill with scurvy on this long day-trip. XXXDAn

And then the most important thing of the day: Food! Food! Glorious food! Then they sat in all the corners possible ... ... and enjoyed themselves quietly ... ... and after a bombastic fennel soup there were still plenty of hearty slices of bread coming ... ... everything freshly prepared on board :-) So we got the power to get some lessons in working the windlass, now we know how it works ... ... tough job but in the end the anchor was finally up. And then the most important: the desert :-) Some sweet slices of Victory, made and presented by confectioner dafi ... ... everyone was allowed to get a taste of it ... ... and was delighted upon the awarded piece! That was a dream getting true: Going to sail with my models :-) How many did have the chance to present their models in such a true surrounding!?! XXXDAn

Just realised, I never told you how I got the medal on the last picture of the Utrecht ...hihihihihihihihihi... Not too long ago I was visiting some friends on a modeling exhibition at Fürstenfeldbruck near Munich. I suddenly saw some people disappearing with some great models. I told the guards about the supposed theft and they calmed me down: "Going to the competition" they said. Wanted to see what this means I went there and I saw hundreds of tanks, bi- and triplanes, strip-downs and full-dressed and loads with evil crosses. And then I dicovered one single ship among all those competitors: a wonderfully build RJN Hiryu. Then I saw the medals for the categories, heard the price to take part: 2 (zwei, two, deux, due) Euro and only 1 competitor for the ship´s category? First cheap enough and the second to little competition for my taste ;-) So I ran to the car, got my slice of Victory out - By the deep 17 if one remembers - ran back and 2 (zwei, two, deux, due) minutes before the submission deadline I threw my model onto the table like James Bond his hat in direction Miss Moneypenny. Then some times later the big medal awards ceremony, can you guess what? I made a wonderful second (2, two, deux, due, zwei) Place!!! The other competitor in the category "Ship" only made it to before last. And the only one ahead of me was becoming "Best of Show"! What do we learn from that? - First, dafi never took his medal off again, everybody who saw me evermsince can confirm that! - Those 2 (zwei, two, deux, due, two) Euro were economically well invested - dafi is stupid, for another 2 (zwei, two, deux, due, two) Euro he would have gotten also the bronze medal as he had another slice of Victory still in the car. This is Frank who got a bronze medal with his biplane-strip-down against a competitor field of a felt 723 other planes. So I was better than he was as my beloved medal is SILVER. XXXDAn

Born out of a brain fart while joking around in the german forum, a crazy idea became reality and within 12 hours more than 12 people already wanted to take part in it. Soon later we had 20 pirates from all over Germany plus some admiralties in tow that went to the Ijsselmeer, or better to say the Markermeer in the Netherlands. In a well planned and immaculately executed attack we were successfully boarding the beautiful Staatenjacht Utrecht and we found ourselves in the mids of our wildest pirate dreams. And so the scum of several german forums gathered underneath the blood-red-yellow-lioned flag. Foolhardy pirates ... ... applecakesmutjes ... ... in short, the whole landlubbery motley crew was overwhelmed ... ... as the cake was marvelous and more important than the captains speech: "If we sink, do not panic, the water is only approx. 2 meters deep, so be prepared to only get wet feet." But one could see his thoughts: "Oh my god, what have I done to deserve this?!?" Finally on the endless sees of this lake: Putting up sails, everybody had to help ... ... what a delight for a pirate´s soul ... ... then the staysail ... ... and to put up the jib one had even to climb outboard defying deaths and horrors. Look at these professionals at work. The master gave the directions how to coil the ropes ... ... but as usual it ended up in some kind of private bondage lessons. The leeboards had to be put down and up depending on the tack ... ... even the the tiller we were allowed to touch and steer ... ... and - big management mistake - even me they dared to try to cope with steering, so of course the company went a bit off course ... ... but just look, isn´t my silver medal glowing beautifully under this tropical sun ?!? XXXDAn

This one I found two weeks ago on the foot of the 7 Provinciens at the Batavia Warft in the Netherlands. Was this an omen that the build was meant to be put on ice?!? XXXDAn

*happy* XXXDAn

Ok, no cat got harmed . I think every scale needs its own technic, as the challenges change. For scale 1:48 thin cloth can work out fine, from smaller than 1:150 paper gets a wonderful choice. My scale of 1:100 is somewhere in-between: The cloth is too coarse or too transparent, on the other hand the sails are too big for paper, also I would like to add some details, that would be difficult in paper alone. In real life I did not have to much time to tinker around due to job and privet commitments, but some small experimenting I could afford. I prepared a small extract of a stay sail, using my laminate technic. I reinforced the leeches by 0,3 mm copper wire The material is that thin, one can see the copper shining through. Took a wet cotton stick and resoftened the sail partially to slowly form a soft wave. The anvil were the handles of a scissors and the hammer was the hot iron. And here the fascinating thing, how the appearance changes with the different moods of light ... ... as originally intended :-) OK, one could guess what comes next ?!? Almost. Another reason for testing to see the limits of the material. And what should I say?!? If one uses hard and pointed tools to make smaller crisps into the material and one slips, the material breaks! But also one can see the benevolence of the material ... ... cleaned and a new leech glued on - this time no copper inside - and it looks like new! And to prove that this invention is really mine, I left a good part of genetic material in the superglue to provide enough DNA-Tests for the future :-) Then formed the hanks for the stay ... ... and tried to fix them, still without leech rope, but still it was quite stable. First trials on the right were not so really shipshape, useful was the third hand of table, clamp and clamping tweezers. And slowly ... ... I was happy. Even though the fixture of the hanks is on the really outer edge, it proves to be very stable. So tried the technic on my small sample and heaved it up. Even though it looks soft, it is quite rigid and keeps well the form due to the white glue used to stiffen it up. Then resoftened with a wet cotton stick partially to get the wave stronger (remember - went bad already once ...) But this time it worked out fine :-) So slept over night - or perhaps not that good as one of the 17 beers that night must have been bad ... ... felt a bit crunched and wrinkled and had the feeling, the sail should exactly represent that. ... fits ... ... XXXDAn