PiperMat

Thanks guys! The guy who did the 3D models is working on improvements for the balusters based on my measurements. He said to be ready in a couple of days. In the meantime I tackled one side of the copper plating. I airbrushed a basecoat of copper, then masked off individual tiles and sprayed those with different blends of copper mixed with jet exhaust and copper mixed with chrome. I then applied a dark wash and a coat of matt varnish. The effect is not super clear on the picture. We are currently remodelling our house and I had to surrender my well-lit modelling room for a while. I will try to make some better pictures in the daylight. It does look very good in real life, though. On to the other side!

UPDATE!!!! I stopped working on this model 5 years ago for a number of reasons, but the most important one was that I was not happy with how the stern turned out. My kit was a newer issue so the moldings were not as crisp as they might have been 20 years ago. I could not get them painted with enough definition and it bothered me so much I just gave up on this otherwise great model. As we say in the west of Flanders: it looked good from far, but far from good. I did a lot of WWII ships and some modern jets the past years and forgot about Victory. However... a couple of weeks ago I noticed Thomas Gropp had made 3D models of the stern decorations available for 3D printing on Shapeways, in all kinds of scales, including some of them in 1/100th. I decided to do an experiment: I have a spare Victory kit. I would try to use the 3D printed decorations to improve on the stern. If succesfull, I will restart my build. I got in touch with the guy and he made them all available in 1/100th scale. I ordered them immediately. Here they are seperated and cleaned: Here you see the difference in detail compared to the original plastic moldings on the stern part: It took me two weeks to sand down the stern part and get a nice surface using Mr. Surfacer primer: And this is the (partial) result of the rebuild using the 3D printed parts (I also used Daffi's PE windows). Unfortunately, the balusters don't fit. I contacted Thomas and he wants to do a 'Heller HMS Victory ready' version based on my measurments and guidelines. So more updates to come once the parts are remodelled... I'm so excited I probably won't sleep tonight!

When there is glue dried on the needle you simply burn the needle with a lighter and it burns away the glue. Works very well.

Hello Messis, Are you using superglue? Because I think some strong PVA glue like Gator's Grip would also work and this can be cleaned with water and dries slower. I use it for photo etch parts on plastic models. I am also building L'Hermione (just started planking), and am considering adding copper tiles as well.

I was not happy with the window I made, so decided to give 3D designing and printing a go. You can see the result in the picture below. You can read about the process here: http://modelshipworld.com/index.php?/topic/2164-experiences-with-3d-printing-for-ship-models/?p=64211

I was not completely happy with the result of the window I made out of styrene for my 1/100th plastic HMS Victory (Heller). Seeing so many people turn to designing custom parts in PE, I decided to try some upgrade designing myself. I wanted to give 3D printing a try for a long time now, and there's no time like the present! First, I painted the windows provided in the kit black and glued them to a sheet of paper. As it turns out, the numbering on the starboard windows is reversed. Then I made basic shapes in Photoshop: I turned this into a 3D spruce containing the windows: The windows came back from the 3D printers yesterday! As you can see, the detail is good, but the material is rather coarse. May have to experiment with other materials. After a bit of sanding, it looks a lot better, but still a bit rough. In this case, it actually contributes to the illusion that it is wood. I painted one red and made little windows using Micro Krystal Klear. Wonderfull stuff! It glued it in place and voilà (the bee line paint job still needs to be corrected in this area): All in all i'm happy with the result, but 3D printing still has its limits for modelers. I will try some bigger items soon, such as the ships boats and mast tops, as I think those will be easier to sand and polish smooth.

An update: I installed the checkered linoleum. In hindsight, I used the wrong material for this. I used thick photo paper and sprayed it with a couple of clear coats. It started raveling at the edges once glued into place... Fortunately, this will not be so visible once the quarterdeck is in place. I used the same material to do the quarterdeck, but that one went on like a glove. I keep the quarterdeck wrapped in plastic until ready to install to avoid raveled edges. I put in eight of the twenty-two guns. I'm not paying as much attention to the breeching lines as I will for the ten visible guns. The white spots on the stairs and the mast hole are the result of spraying it with Vallejo flat clear... Unlike their paints, the clears are rubbish! Never use them! I use Alclad2 Klear now, which comes in 4 types (flat, matt, semi-matt and slight sheen). This stuff is simply marvelous! No thinning required, just drop it in the airbrush and spray! (does smell horrible though, so mask and open windows is required!) I decided not to put in the last four starboard and port guns, but make windows out of Evergreen instead. I think it came out nice. Only seven more to go! For the fore patch I decided to mimick the deck pattern. The colour is impossible to get the same, but that does not matter. I tested it with the quarterdeck and beakhead in place and so little light comes through that is looks pretty much the same trough the gun ports. I made some progress on the bows as well, as you can see. Reading all about the horrible experience of fitting the grating, I decided to try a different approach and glue the grating to the bows before installing them again (as I mentioned, they had to come off because they were out of line). I used plastic putty and sanded it so it all seems to flow into each other. I like the result very much! This will mean doing the gammoning will be more challenging, but I'm sure it will work out. The knightheads fit nicely after sanding the slots open. I reshaped them a bit using liquid green stuff and some sanding paper and added three eyelets (not easy to see in the picture). This week I hope to finish the other 4 'none visible' guns and prepare the 10 visible ones. I hope to have the quarterdeck in place by the start of the summer... I have two weeks off the end of july and will use some of that time to do a big touch-up session on the hull, to finally get an even color on the bee lines (half of them haven't been treated with the sepia wash yet).

Thank you gentlemen for your kind words! @ Dafi: What do you mean by 'THE letters'? I started up a production line to make 30 breeching ropes and 10 sets of side tackle for the upper gun deck guns. I made a jig to make sure that all of those have the same length. I used 2mm Caldercraft blocks for the side tackle. The top one has two holes drilled in it using a Dremel on a drilling stand. I drilled holes in 20 blocks. This took a lot of patience and for each block successfully drilled, I had to throw 5 away because the small scale makes it very difficult to get the two holes in line. But the end result is worth the money and effort. I use 0.1mm Morope line for the side tackle. For the breeching ropes, I use 0.6mm Morope line. A 3mm ring is attached to one side, and finished with 0.1mm Morope line. I slide two 2mm eyelets on the rope before adding the second ring. These will be attached to the gun carriage. I make one side tackle and one breeching rope per day. This ensures my full concentration on each one. So far, 3 sets of side tackle (left and right) and 5 breeching ropes are finished.

First of all: nice job on the build! It's not easy brush painting enamels and it looks great! Personaly, I prefer acrilycs. Maybe you should consider ordering from a German modeling shop instead of Amazon. It might be cheaper and you will be able to get the cans if shipped over land... I did a quick google and this one ships to Bulgaria and has an English translation on their website: http://shop.lindinger.at/ I'm from Belgium myself. There is a big store near where I live. They also have an English section on their website: http://www.domino.be

Some background: I started this build a year and two months ago. I did some modeling when I was a kid, but discovered other joys of life when I reached puberty 🙂 In the meantime I settled down and decided to take it up again (I'm 30 years old). I decided to go for a challenge and went for the Heller Victory. I wanted to try all the new and exciting tools & techniques I did not have the money for when I was a kid. I started out using acrylics by brush, but invested in a good compressor and airbrush a couple of months ago. Too bad I did not have this at the start of my build! The finish is so much nicer! The goal is not to make a true to life representation of the actual ship, but a nice looking model in warm colours with lot's of detail that looks good under glass in the living room. Enough background, here are the pictures: You can clearly see half of the hull bee lines haven't received the sepia wash yet I use to give it more depth and a warmer tone. I also need to rework the figurehead a little bit. The white crown is a bit to big and the white horse needs some TLC as well. Otherwise, I'm very happy with the look of the ship! I used some styrene sheet to make the gun port thicker. I like that look even though it's out of scale. After a lot of trial and error, I finally settled on a style of gun carriage lashing. I used 2mm single blocks and Morope rigging chords. The most difficult part was making the two holes in the top blocks. I ruined quite a lot of blocks just to get these guns finished 🙂 Will need to order lot's more! I was not completely happy with my decks. The colour was a bit to pale, it missed some 'life', and some parts were damaged a bit. So, in a moment of temporary insanity, I went out and got a second Heller Victory kit. Maybe a bit drastic, but now I have spare parts for everything and this allows me to experiment a bit more. I tore out the old deck. This meant I also had to take out the four guns I tackled already, unfortunately. I redid the decks using the same technique, but this time I added two coats of MIG brown filter. This added a nice weathered wood tone. I'm very happy with the result, but judge for yourselves (the foto does not do it justice, though): The stanchions were made using 2mm eyelets and 0.1mm Morope rigging chord.