Robert29

Thanks for all your feedback, much appreciated. Pal, as Charter 33 has commented CMB are very good suppliers in UK. I usually buy everything from them. They have a very good service and nice to deal with, in fact I purchased my Caldercraft HMS Victory from them. Also used them a lot to buy other stuff, such as paint, planks, eyelets, thread, even very small diameter brass tubes which I used for the lantern supports as I had to pass very small wiring through them because I fitted an led in them. Their postage charges are very reasonable as well. This is their site: https://www.cornwallmodelboats.co.uk/ Mort I didn't go for the Caldercraft 1.8mm from CMB is because the one I have is the one that came with my Caldercraft kit and since it is the same brand I am afraid it will be the same. Strangely enough the 1.8mm was the only size with this problem. I don't know if other builders with the same kit had the same problem. Ian, that is a good idea and if I don't solve it that is probably what I will do. But in the meantime Helli emailed me a supplier's address in Germany who stock the 1.75mm in black and apparently good quality. I ordered it and waiting for a reply. Thanks again Robert

Tomganc, thank you for your nice comment. I started on the Mizzen Stay. It went without a hitch. This stay was made from 1mm thread. Then I came to do the Main Preventer Stay, which is made up of 1.8mm thread and a problem broke up. I noticed that as soon as I put some tension on the 1.8mm thread, supplied with the kit, it just breaks up in two. With all the rest if the thread supplied with the kit I had no problem. Even the 0.1mm thread is stronger than this. I decided not to use it, but the problem is that the only 1.8mm thread that I could source is either the same brand I have which I am afraid I will be faced with the same problem or else a different brand, but dark brown not black. Would appreciate any advice from where I can source it. Mizzen stay. Mouse The 1.8mm thread after a bit of tension like when you try to pass it through a bee wax block. Robert

Thank you Charter, Heinz and all for the likes. Heinz, ha, ha, when I go through your Victory build I say the same thing, 'Wish I have his skills"!!!! I admire your beautiful work. Robert Regards

Thank you for your comments Heinz and Malcolm. Finally finished the never ending rat lines. Here are a few photos. Now I think I will start working on the Stays. I still have to do the topgallant shrouds, but I think I will leave them for a later stage as I think they will be a bit in the way when I do the backstays. I will see as I go along. Robert

It's been well over a month with no updates. Had some other priorities and rat lines take a lot of time as well, never ending knots. I finished the ratlines for the lower masts, except for the futtock strops. Here are a few images. More rat lines to follow for the futtock shrouds, and topmasts. Robert

Charter, Paul and Malcom thank you for your kind words. Next in line were the topmast shrouds. But I thought I better install the slings for the lower yards before the shrouds are put on. The manual tells you to make it in one sling and tie two knots to simulate two thimbles. I took a different approach and made them in two separate slings, one that goes round the mast cap and one that goes round the sling, each with a thimble at their end. Details taken from Longridge book. This is the sling that goes round the mast cap with an eye on one end and a thimble I made from brass tubes. Sling finished with three seizing. You have to be careful about the length of the sling, the position of the thimble has to be just a little short from the thimble on the yard sling, so that they will be lashed together. You have to put it in place by sliding it from the top of the masts before you make the topmast shrouds, otherwise you have to make the three seizing with the sling in place, which will be more difficult. This is the sling that goes round the yard. Sling in place on the foremast. Foremast with topmast shrouds fitted. Main mast. All topmast shrouds in place with staves as well, except for one shroud on the Mizzen. I was missing one 2.5mm deadeye. I have them ordered from CMB together with some 3.5mm deadeyes as I also realised I would be needing a few more as well. I had turned a few of them into hearts to use on the bowsprit, that is why I am short of them. From time to time I check the alignment of the masts while doing the shrouds to make sure none of them is being pulled to one side. When you look directly from the front you will only see the fore mast, the other two are completely hidden behind it. Next job is the never ending ratlines. Robert

A small update. As stated before I always try to see if there is any work mentioned in the manual at a later stage is going to be more difficult to do with what I am doing now. On checking about the Topgallant Shrouds, the kit manual instructs you to tie off the ends of the topgallant shrouds to the futtock staves. But looking into Longridge's 'The Anatomy of Nelson's Ships' they are finished differently. It indicates that the topgallant shrouds pass between the topmast shrouds and inside the topmast futtock stave. They run down parallel with the topmast shrouds and a thimble is spliced in the lower end. This thimble is lashed by a laniard to another thimble seized to a strop tied below the lower topmast shroud. A rough sketch. (Didn't copy drawing in book because of copyrights reason) I decided to rig the topgallant shrouds as per Longridge's book and thought it would be much easier to install these strops now, before the topmast shrouds. I made some thimbles, (as shown in my post no.114, page 11) from 1.5mm brass tubes wit a wall thickness of o.225mm and blackened them. The three (on each side) topgallant shrouds for the fore and mainmast are to be lashed to the first , third and fifth futtock plate, for the mizen to the first and third. Robert

Anthony, Peter, md1400cs, Malcom and RB, thank you for your nice encouraging comments. I hope that my work will be of some benefit to other builders. I have definitely learned a lot from other builders on this forum. Peter I have had a brief visit of your build, you are doing a marvellous job. I will go into it in further detail and definitely be following. A small update: I am trying to do as much work as possible on the masts before I do the topmast shrouds which later on, I think, will be more difficult to do with the shrouds in the way. I rigged the 10mm triple jeer blocks in place and also prepared the respective 10mm double jeer blocks which go on the yards. Fore mast. Main mast Robert

Futtock Shrouds Futtock Staves blackened and tied in place. Catharpins also tied in place. To help to keep the catharpins the same tension I made a simple jig I had seen in another build. Prepared the Futtock Shrouds with the hooks. Rigged in place and when I was trimming the extra lengths tragedy struck. 😱😱😱 I hit one of the lower mast shrouds with the snips. I just couldn't believe what I've just done. After getting over the shock I sat down to see how I was going to fix it. I removed the lower part of the shroud with the deadeye completely, wetted the lower seizing on the futtock shroud to loosen the glue and untied it, cut the end of the futtock shroud just a bit shorter and seized a new piece of lower shroud thread to the end of the futtock shroud. It came pretty good, it's not noticeable. Then rigged again the deadeye. A quick rough sketch. Futtock shrouds all in place with damaged lower mast shroud (starboard,5th one on fore mast) repaired. Regards Robert

Nice clean work. I guess when you say 'fill in areas between bulkheads' you are referring to 'filler blocks'. In my opinion, at the very front of the bow and at the very back of the stern, where you have sharp bends, they are a must. At first I was hesitant if to do them or not, but was convinced by other builders to do them. I sure was glad I took their advise. I have uploaded some images which I hope will be of help to you. If you visit my build, post no.13 you will find more details how I did mine. I was also advised by Nick (Seventynet), to add another block at the bow, in the lower area between bulkhead 2 and 3. This is where the garboard plank comes to a sharp taper. I found this very helpful. Regards, Robert

A small update. I managed to adjust the deadeyes to bring them in line with each other, so I don't think I really need to replace everything. Basically I had to adjust all of them. Where I had gone over the glue with water I have some faint whiteish discolouration on the black shrouds. I think a light application of shoe polish will do the trick. Probably it was caused by the mixing of the bee wax, which was already on the shrouds, with the glue while I was handling them. Some photos with lower masts shrouds, deadeyes and lanyards rigged in place. If you notice in one of the photos, earlier on I managed to knock down the flag pole on the bowsprit. I will fix later on. I am really pleased I have't yet fitted the gunport lids as I am sure I would have nocked down a few of them while doing the rigging. Next the catharpins and futtock shrouds.

Hi all, This is how my Victory looks like at the moment. Taking a closer look at the shrouds on the Fore and Main masts I am not at all happy with them. The top deadeyes are not in line with each other. I did a jig to keep the same distance but I think my mistake was that I did not tension each and every consecutive one I installed as I went along. I finished them all with the knots, glue etc... then I tensioned the lanyards at the end. To my disappointment the deadeyes were not coming in line with each other as you can see in the pictures. I was really angry at myself for doing such a mistake, a job which took me hours on hours. First I thought to leave them as is, trying to convince myself that after all on real ships they are not always lined with each other. But every time I looked at them they bothered me. Then I tried to fix them. If you look at this picture I fixed the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th shroud. They look better now. Fortunately I did not use any CA glue on the knots. I am taking off the lanyards, wet all the knots and painstakingly sliding the the shroud thread through the knots to shorten it. Seems to be working. But for the foremast I am not sure if this will work as I also have the cleats fixed on the shrouds. To my mind came Helli's build log were after he had already put on the rat lines he literally took all the shrouds off because he didn't like the rigging of the deadeyes on the shrouds. Helli, I admire your guts to have taken that decision after so much time was put in the work to make them. So with Helli's encouragement I decided to first try to fix the ones already in place, if not satisfied I think I will replace with new ones. In the meantime I will order some 1.3mm thread from CBM as I do not have more of it. Luckily I had realised my mistake before I finished the shrouds on the Mizzen. Before I rigged the shrouds in place I thought it is better to fit the davit brackets and the windows on the second gunport, as it will be more difficult with the shrouds in the way. I had prepared the davits and the windows at an earlier stage. Know that the davits will be in the way whilst doing the rest of the rigging on the ship I found the exact positions for their brackets, drilled the holes for the nails and glued in place just the one side with the shaft soldered to it. All I have to do when the time comes to fit the davits is just slide them on the shaft, glue and nail the other part of the bracket in place in the already prepared hole for the nail. Robert

Hi Anthony, They are actually electrical wire hook clips to use with multimeters. I bought them on ebay (china staff), very cheap. You might find them in electronic stores or RS suppliers, probably more expensive. I found them really useful tying knots. Hope you can open the following link. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/382419278175? Robert

Heinz, Thank you, comments appreciated. From time to time I visit your build log to steal some ideas.🙂 Sjors, Thanks for your comments. You yourself are doing a very good job on your Victory. Now I have basically started the rigging. As per kit manual I started with the shrouds on the lower masts. I had already done the pendants before. I started by serving the part of the shroud that goes round the mast. The forward shroud is served all the way. The thread for the Mizzen mast is a different size. First I tied the shrouds round the mast Then I tied the deadeyes with the shrouds, also tied the cleats to the shrouds before rigging the lanyards. The lanyards still have to be tensioned and tied. I will do them together starting from the front, set by set alternating from starboard to port when I have all the shrouds in place. This is the knot and the way I am tying the shrouds to the mast and to the deadeyes. I had seen how to do this type of knot on Youtube For the knots I am using the 0.25mm thread. Five times around the bunched thread, end passed through the small loop. Tighten the knot, fit the deadeye in the loop by pulling either the very end of the shroud or the other end going up to the mast, to get the deadeye at the right height from the channel. Same knot used. When all four knots are done I go over them with white glue and when dry trim the ends. Robert

Hello Heinz, As always, such incredible work on your unique approach to your Victory build. Regards Robert

Hi Sjors, The following images are how I did mine, hope you don't mind uploading them on your log, thought they might be of help to you. For the middle gun deck I cut the windows to look like they are ajar when fixed directly on the hull. For the lower gun deck I just trimmed a tiny groove on the hull to represent the gun port lid. Regards Robert

Thank you Allan, Yes, I will be adding the anchor lift davit on the launch. I have it ready but I haven't glued it in place, in the below photo it is only dry fitted. I will also be placing the respective anchors (supplied in brass with the kit) on each boat. As a matter of fact even the windlass, I haven't glued in place yet. The anchors I still have to blacken and since I also intend to add a few more items (such as barrels) I thought better not glue anything for the moment. If 'the strips on the launch hull' you are referring to the hull planks overlapping each other (clinker type planking), I am not sure if any of the boats were constructed with this type of planking. I just went along as indicated on the kit manual. To be honest I tried to look for details of the boats but found very little. As for the ears, I haven't seen them on any HMS Victory boat images I managed to find on the internet. At this point there might be some details which I could have added, but it is too late to add now. But if you have any details of the boats of which I am still in time to add and within my capability I would be much obliged if you can furnish me with them. Thanks again. Robert

More work on the boats. I finished the outside painting. In the kit manual it indicates to paint the outside hull of the boats Dull White. Apparently, Admiralty Paints do no do the 'dull white' anymore, I used Matt White. For the golden bands I used the modelling masking tape as suggested on the manual itself. I cut strips the required width, painted them gold, secured them in place with their own backing glue, then applied clear varnish all over the washstrake and tape to keep it secured in place. Just for the Pinnace I used styrene strips. The Launch The Barge. The Pinnace. The Cutter. I still have to paint the oars and some more details, but I might do that later on, when I decide which boats I will fit on deck and which once I will be hanging on the davits. I really need to go hands on, on the ship's rigging. It is quite a challenge for me as I never did rigging of this level. I only did much easier rigging on two much smaller boats. Robert

Good luck Sjors, you made a good choice, it is a good kit. I enjoyed and still enjoying every minute building it. You will face a few problems, but solving them is part of what makes ship building interesting. Robert

Thank you Anthony. No I do not have to quarantine. Malta is green listed with UK. I am fully vaccinated, have to take a PCR test in Malta within 72hours before the flight to be allowed to fly, then take another PCR test in UK within 48 hours of my arrival and only if this comes out positive I have to quarantine. Robert

Long due for an update. Thank you Anthony. I myself was so much inspired by great builders on this forum. Thanks Ian, yes the hammock crane netting was very time consuming and it also took me a long time source a material from a drapery shop which simulates the netting. Thanks Johnny, although the boats were built more or less as 'out of the box' per instructions, I did a few changes such as the rudder hinges and sail mast brackets in the Launch. I am sure they are a bit different from the original boats and if I did more research I could have made them closer to the original boats. To be honest, on the internet, I did not find much details for these boat. I am finishing the inside of the boats before I work on their outside. For the rudders I added the hinges and the tillers for them. This is how I made the tillers. I took two lengths of 1.5 x 1.5 walnut, cut a notch on the end of both of them to take the top of the rudder and glued them together. Then shaped them as per photo. For the hinges I used small strips of styrene with a piece of brass rod glued to it. Launch ready from the inside with floor boards, thwarts and painting. Rudder with tiller, windlass and davit ready as well. Launch, Barge, Pinnace and Cutter Apart from the anchors and oars supplied with the kit I will try to add some more details, such as barrels and sail masts. Next week I will be having a small break from the build because my daughter who lives in Stratford-Upon-Avon has just made me a grandad and I will be flying from Malta to visiting her and obviously my first grandson. Robert

A brief update on the boats. I was tempted to use styrene strips for the hull ribs, but decided to go for walnut strips. Quite a lot of time involved to bend each and every one of them and glue. The electric plank bender was really useful for this. I left the ribs a bit longer then needed and easily trimmed them to the required length in place. Launch with ribs trimmed and row locks cut as well. Barge with ribs and row lock cut as well. Pinnace, I might differ some finishing from the manual so I left the ribs untrimmed for the moment. Same with the cutter, ribs not yet trimmed. In another Victory build, can't remember who it was, described the cutter as 'the little bugger'. it truly is a little bugger, because of its small size it involved quite some work. Still a lot of finishing to go in them but the main basic work, constructing the hull and ribs is ready. Regards Robert

Allan, thank you for bringing this project to my attention. I have signed up, it is very interesting and wish all the luck to Adam Preston on his project. Robert

Signed up. Very interesting, hope the 10,000 sign up target is reached. Robert

Will, MD and Heinz thank you for your comments. Thank you also for the likes. My intention was to do the boats in between the rigging. Although I started some work on the shrouds I got carried away with the boats and continued working on them. The boats are a project in themselves. I will try to put as much detail in them as possible because I think they will be very eye catching when you are looking at the complete model. On the Launch and the Barge, for the second planking I used the 0.5mm Walnut as indicated in the manual. For the Pinnace and the Cutter I did not use the 0.5mm Walnut supplied with the kit. I had some left overs of Sapele from the model Bluenose II. It was slightly thinner, 0.4mm and more flexible, which I thought made it a better material for the second planking because of the small size of the boats. Outer hull brushed with watered down PVA glue, left to dry, sanded, then gone over them with a fine filler and left to dry. When filler was thoroughly dry hull sanded with fine sand paper and inside bulkheads removed. Robert