Ian_Grant

Wow Kevin those after market stern embellishments look fantastic!

Dale, there is something or other awry with your main channel deadeye placement. The deadeyes should be in groups such that the chains, when extended in a straight line from their respective shrouds from the masthead, do not interfere with the guns and port lids. From the forward end of the channel, there should be: a group of three (2 shrouds, 1 topmast backstay); gap over gunport; a group of five (4 shrouds, 1 TM b'stay); gap over gunport; two shrouds, space, one shroud; gap over gunport; two shrouds. Here is a Figure from Longridge showing the starboard side main channel. Notice how the chains and preventers are at larger angles moving aft, since the shroud angles change, and how none interferes with a gunport. The smaller topmast backstay deadeyes have shorter chains here, as you noted. I don't know if your deadeyes are just too large, or the channel is a bit too far aft, but you might want to investigate before moving forward. Regards, Ian.

You mean the lower deck port lid? No, I just drilled holes and rigged the port lid ropes. You mean the middle deck port right forward with the two half-doors? I did nothing here. Some people open them; I believe they are at the sick berth.

This large model deserves, nay demands, extensive rigging. It is an undertaking, but well worth the time.

Dale, she looks really good! It's a bit late as I just happened on your log now, and I hesitate to say, but looking at your photos ...😔..... your waterline is quite low...in actual fact the waterline (and thus the copper) reaches the main wale in the midships area. Since you coppered from the keel up, using adhesive tape, you could possibly add a couple more rows. Your decision I know, but if you decide it is do-able her hull would look more true to life. Sorry, I hope I have not offended, at this late date....😟

Just to say that Smithsonianmag.com is an excellent site; you can subscribe for free and receive a daily email with several story links. There is a vast range of topics and there's always a story of interest.

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Interesting! Someone has a log for an old west stagecoach I was looking at and wondering whether to buy. I did go the trouble of looking for 1/12 scale horses - which do exist. Your hearse would look great hitched to a Breyer 1/12 Fairfax, and you'd have the additional challenge of making the tack from scratch........

Glad to. The lower deck beams as molded are 239 (not 242), 240 (not 241), 242 (not 240), 241 (not 239), 238, 237 from bow to stern. It becomes obvious the first time you try a dry fit. And while I'm at it, in Section 19 "Fitting the Bowsprit" the bowsprit bees 216/217 have been swapped. As for block sizes, Longridge always quotes them in his description for each rope. Just divide by 100 to get the scale size. I used Syren blocks spanning the range 2mm to 1/4". I have no idea if the supplied plastic blocks are the right sizes; they can't all be because I used 7 or 8 sizes of wood blocks. Same goes for the thread. Calculate scale diameter from the circumferences he quotes. Main stay & preventer work out to 1.6/1.3mm; same for fore stay & preventer; fore and main topmast stays/preventers 0.75/0.5mm; fore and main shrouds 1mm; etc, etc Actually I think I still have an excel spreadsheet I created by sifting through Longridge for Victory's scale thread sizes, and scale block sizes and quantities, on my older laptop. I could email to you if interested. PM me with your email coordinates 😉.

I believe blackening gives a better "grip" surface for the paint than shiny brass.

Bill, there is at least one Blackening discussion in the forum "Metalwork, Soldering and Metal Fittings". Just browse forums and scroll down 'til you see it.

I assumed the traveller(s) was(were) used to shift the sail(s) forward or back to move the wind's Centre of Effort (COE) on the sail. This would allow reduction of the helmsman's effort to keep the ship on course. For example, sailing in whatever direction with the desired sails set, if the ship wants to luff up and the helmsman is constantly fighting to keep her head off the wind, then moving the traveller forward would tend to make the sail push the bow more off the wind and provide the helmsman some relief. It's all a question of balancing the overall COE on the total sails set, with the "Centre of Lateral Resistance" (CLR) of the underwater hull. In my sailing dinghy, obviously there is no traveller to shift the sail COE, but if necessary I can shift my bum forward or back, tending to move the bow down or up, thus shifting the CLR of the hull and achieving a better balance. In RC model yachts, the jib stay can be pinned in any of several locations over say a 2-3" distance, to optimize the COE.

Wondered where in the world can I buy sodium hydrogen sulfate, whatever the heck that is? Apparently "pHdown" for pools is exactly that, and I have a large container sitting in my garage, unused, since my pool's pH always seems to be low every spring, never high. Awesome!!

Longridge doesn't go into detail on the boats, other than the very small drawings on the Plan No. 3 fold-out. He does at least quote their respective lengths, and you can see how the pinnace differs from the other work-a-day boats. There was quite some discussion about the Heller boats on the old Pete Coleman Victory web site. They're not actually accurate in terms of length and/or shape. If I recall correctly, the only one with a beamy "launch" shape was about 3/4" too short, or so???? You can measure their lengths and try to decide which is supposed to be which. Some people tried to find third-party sets of accurate sized boats. Some people bashed them; for example cutting the "launch" in half athwartships, reattaching the halves with 3/4" of evergreen strips between them, then suitably modding the gunwales and thwarts. Some people had boats left lying around from other kits, notably the Revell "Constitution". I had some of the Constitution boats myself, plus I remember shortening one of the Heller boats and its gunwales/seats. You can buy very fine evergreen strips for the ribs; at these tiny cross sections they're very pliable. Cut to rough length, apply a smear of CA and press across the boat interior holding in place on the bottom for a few seconds. Then trim the ends below where the thwart will be and CA the ends. I just spaced them by eye as I went along. At the very bows you need two pieces for the ribs as the bend at the keel is too sharp for a single piece to follow. The floorboards are slightly bigger evergreen strips, CA'ed to the ribs. I used some brass etch gratings I had in my parts box, trimmed to fit. In the case of the launch, the windlass and kedge anchor davit are made from evergreen cut and filed to shape. Colours wre another topic of debate. The barge was painted according to the taste of the captain or admiral so it's your choice. I painted the barge and pinnace at my whim, but made all the other "working" boats the same colours, to avoid too much of a "flying circus" look.

Syren makes one: https://syrenshipmodelcompany.com/serving-machine.php I looked at this, then made the equivalent out of meccano.

A serving machine makes it easy! I recommend you buy or build one. You'll be glad to have it when you need to serve the entire length of the first shroud on each side at the lower masts, or the entirety of the lower yard slings.🙂

Yes, on the old Pete Coleman web site "Blue Ensign" had many invaluable detailed entries on various topics, one of which was his beautiful work on the boats. After seeing things like that, one cannot but follow along and spend the extra time to enhance one's own build. A blessing or a curse?? Meanwhile, Blue Ensign has branched out from ships into 17th century womens' fashion 😁😁😁 **** **** see his "Queen Anne Royal Barge" build.

Bill, Since someone is looking at what was a pretty dormant log, I added a few more pics which show details that may interest you. Things like extra anchors that Heller omitted, enhanced detail to improve the ship's boats' appearance, and the vastly better appearance of ropes served where appropriate (not sure if you have served threads before, or not 😐).

Ahh......my long dormant blog has awakened! 😀 Since I'm helping answer Bill's questions for his Victory build, inspired by looking through the instructions and Longridge again I thought I would add some more random shots. First my serving machine since people have been amused by it.....my childhood meccano plus brass tubing. Progress......fore yard slung Third party stream anchor lashed to sheet anchor. Anchor buoy lashed to bower anchor. Main top at completion. Note the topgallant shroud lashings inside the topmast shroud deadeyes. Last step - stern lanterns attached. Bit of a bother to paint though. 🤪 Evergreen ribs, floorboards, windlass, anchor davit, etc added to launch, compared to typical boat hull as received. Completed set of ship's boats. Blue pinnace was especially interesting to bash. Placed Admiral's barge on skids. Other boats displayed beside ship to allow view through to main deck. Shot off the bow.

Lovely model!

Bill, the above shot reminds me that while you wait for stuff to arrive, you could also consider moving the anchor support block from its erroneous position between the 1st and 2nd fore chains, to between the 2nd and 3rd. A bit odd to me, with correct placing right above a gun port, not really where you want an anchor dangling down??!!, but there it is.... Its Heller location is too close to the cathead with the result that with the anchor fluke in the slot, the anchor ring is forward of the cathead which looks awkward given that it's supposed to be a very heavy object slung by the cat tackle, or however you choose to rig the anchors, when you get there. Longridge shows it in the correct location, Figure 57 pg 96 in my edition. I believe Daniel scraped the old one away and fashioned a new one, somewhere in his build log. Here it is on the 1:1 ship....... Or you could I suppose shorten the anchor shank a tad. I did not know this until I was rigging the anchors, far too late to contemplate taking a file to it.

Bill, I've been away at the cottage for a while. Nice work on the guns, and you'll find Longridge an essential companion. I don't know how many times I read through the rigging chapters. E50-55: These are where Heller claims the bowsprit shrouds attach to the hull. They want you to pre-attach the thread ends through the non-existent holes, for later use. Heller's way of doing rigging "instruction" is to give the two ends of a rope the same label, on whatever pages the ends appear. If you look at Step 11 of the instructions ("Fitting the Bows") you'll see E50-55 attaching to hearts used to tighten up the bowsprit shrouds. Now that you know this, forget it. They got it wrong; perhaps why the holes are absent...........and forget about the Heller instructions for any and all rigging. Longridge describes these shrouds succinctly on pg 226 (my 1972 edition) "Bowsprit Shrouds". There are many places on this model where you are best to drill a hole and glue in an eye. But plastic eyes can break and lead to heartache as you know. You can either make your own, or buy copper eyes which are almost exactly the same size as Heller's plastic ones. https://www.cornwallmodelboats.co.uk/acatalog/4703-Eyepin-Copper-2mm--100--A4703.html#SID=367

Beautiful area. And I recognize your dog from previous postings.

For the gun decks I just rigged one continuous thread along all the guns on a side as breech ropes, glued to deck between guns. This just to ensure that if you hit a protruding muzzle you don't lose a loose cannon into the hull. But it's your model and your choice what to do in terms of hidden detail.

I've already learned how critical the geometry is, just from building this jig. I drew a scale diagram but I'll need to be even more careful next time. This jig does not have the upper oars at quite a steep enough angle for their blades to reach the same presumptive waterline as the lower oars. In an actual model I would put a servo at each end of each beam, connected on a Y-harness, for the up/down drive. A servo in the middle works well enough for the jig. Also, I did not get the full extent of the sweep I planned for because my servos move less than 90 degrees overall at least with my ancient 75 MHz setup. I do have a newer 2.4 GHz transmitter, but no receiver as it was built into my ARF airplane. The big question is: how much power is actually required on the sweep to move a model. This jig just uses standard futaba servos. Would they be enough to overcome the resistance of the hull's skin against the water? Don't really know, might need a giant scale servo or maybe just a standard sail-arm servo. With only servo drive the boat cannot be too large. I'd love to build a sextere with its two archery towers but this is a broad, deep ship whose model would probably need a lot of ballast to load to waterline. That would be a lot of inertia to overcome. The jig as built requires a beam at the waterline of 7 inches. I figure I could lose 1/2" overall off the oar beams by changing the mounting of the lower oars. This jig has oar looms of 2.5"; if I could reduce that without overloading the servos that would reduce the ship's beam too, perhaps significantly. A quadrireme at 1/32 scale would have waterline beam 6.75" (9" overall) and length about 4'-6", draft 1.7" which sounds reasonable. A sextere at 1/48 scale would have waterline beam 8" (8-1/2" overall) and length about 3'-10", draft 2.1" which might be a lot of displacement to ballast. Most of the hull amidships would be the "engine room" filled with the moving oar beams and oar looms. There could be no lateral hull bracing in this area. Further, any deck beams will have to be removable to allow "engine" repairs and maintenance. I'm assuming I could fit batteries, receiver, arduino near the stem, and rudder servo at the stern of course. Note that I haven't built an RC boat in 40 years, or skinned a hull in individual planks in, well, ever! And plans for these ships are non-existent. Pitassi gives the engine room cross section, and top views of deck outline and waterline, but that's about it. Would have to merge Olympias's stem and stern onto this, somehow. Lots to think about.