Mike Y

First of all I would like to thank you for your comments and likes. On Sunday evening I couldn't quite finish the fuselage because a situation arose that I didn't have in the test run, everything fitted perfectly.        



 
I had to let everything sink in and looked for a solution today. What went wrong, from frame 47 onwards a mistake crept in that I hadn't noticed, the right angle was no longer right and at frames 51-52 it was too late. I had to edit the last two keys.
 


It is not optimal but I had no other choice and I am not very happy with this solution. Well, what can I say.



 

Hello everyone and a good evening to you all.
 
All the keys and fillers are in place. In the next few days I will try again on the bug, that would be the 3rd attempt, let's see if it works this time.
 





 

Hello and a nice evening together. Another 17 frames have found their place. Now I have 6 to the rear and 9 to the front.

 

 

 
 

I wish everyone a nice good evening. Slowly but surely I am approaching the stern.

 

 

A small update.
Thank you for your likes and encouragement.
Slowly but steadily there are more rows.

 

 

 
 

A quick test of the bow timbers.  I simplified them as I know how difficult they can be.  
 
Increased the air spaces in width and the width slightly on each bow timber.  I did this to reduce the number of timbers.  Much like the Pegasus model in the picture posted by Greg.  Note the comparison between Speedwell and Pegasus bow timbers.  Pegasus has fewer bow timbers and 3 air spaces.  That is what I wanted to replicate on my Speedwell for simplicity sake.
 
 
Because we are planking from the wales up this will have no effect on the overall look of the model.  But it will make this tricky area a little easier.
 
There is one less timber to worry about and I combined the little filler with the outer-most timber so it was one piece.  It will be covered up anyway.  This also makes life much easier.
 
No crazy jigs for these or shortcuts really.  In my opinion that would make the whole process more difficult.  All of the crazy jigs that I have seen on those Asian kits look over-engineered. And the finished results are less than satisfactory.  It actually went very quickly just being careful and deliberate with each timber.  You can see the timbers for the port side ready to go.
 
They are laser cut with etched reference lines on both sides.  
 
I will of course take tons of pictures and do a step by step when I do the other side.
 

Good morning.

Good morning.

I apologise, it was not my intention to criticise anyone. I just wanted to point out that the finish and the excellent work expressed deserved a better type of wood, the grain of which is too pronounced compared to the scale of the model, that's all!
Forgive me if sometimes I cannot express my concepts well, I do not know English perfectly, I help myself with a translator who does not always do his job well!

Began cutting out the gunports,not going  to  put  in the sills until  later,stained the framing of the hull,then bolted and stained the wales.

After installing  a few Wales to help  strengthen the hull it felt safe enough  to flip over and finish sanding the very bottom  that I couldn't  reach before.

Finished doing the structural frames on the stern,the framing for the vent ports on the lower counter were a little  tricky because  of their size but I  managed,getting  the timbers above the counters to bend in two directions took making a jig to hold them while they dried,Alaskan yellow  cedar you can soak and heat it to get it formed to where you need it but as soon as it starts drying  it Wants to straighten back out quite a bit,several soaks and a little more time in the jig solved  that,after the stern was strengthened I  moved on to making a plan holder so I can accurately mark out the Wales and gunports.

With the stern counter timbers in place I installed  temporary bracing to help maintain the curvature  of the stern,and continued with the fill in frames all the way back to the stern,made sure everything was glued up and squared  up then let it set a day to cure completely,with the stern on and secured I removed the ship from the building board and finally got to view the complete shape of her,the lines of a spanish frigate from that Era are sleek and refined, no wonder they were so agile and maneuverable while under sail,now my next move will be to start fairing the frames which means sanding, sanding,double checking ,sanding some more.
 

Working on the axial timbers,getting  ready for more framing,and continuing on with making the frames.

Hi 😥
 
 

hello, am back😃 well am started the build again after finished the coast guard projekt.
 
so i finaly finished the outide planking, yeeeh, but am not close to finished the model🙈
but am under way,  after planks its over to the treenails, lol
 
svein erik

hello again
some more update on my cheerful build, i desided to drill the holes for simulates treenails,
am doing the finished portside planking before i plank the rest on starboard side .
as i can see there is a lot of nails here😉 but this is my start on that task
 
 

Hi...
 
started the plank job, its been a wile😲since i planked and it tuned out like a mess.... 
my first planks from the keel, befor and after repear....
 
sveinerik

Part 6  The Figurehead.
 
Pictures say more than words on this phase of "Victory". The material I used to carve this is called prototyping foam, also known as butterboard. It is a urethane fine cell structure that can be carved, milled, and sanded. It's available through McMaster-Carr. The huge advantage is there is no grain to contend with. That said, lets get down to the carving and painting of Victory's original figurehead.
 
For the tools I used a Dremel with a small ball cutter for removing large areas of material. Since I'm an Engraver I modified a few cutters into miniature chisels. Finally riffler files to smooth things out.
 
Side note: I repositioned what I call the "Rose Parade" waving of arms and hands. 
 
From NMM the 1/2 scale sculpture of the figurehead which I scaled to 1:64.
 
Next Part 7 The stern galleries and start of the upper deck long 12 pounders.

Part 4

When I started building HMS Victory there was no Internet. All research had to be done through print media and involved years of building your own library. Centuries-old treasures lay in display cases in museums available only to visitors, and at that, only about 10 percent of their entire collection is on display. In 1994-95 along came the World Wide Web (www). That's what it was called. The term, Internet, did not exist yet. In its cave drawing days it was like a bad set of Encyclopedias, but it was a start. As Dr. Watson says, "After all Holmes, we are men of Science," and a giant network was born that expanded with light speed.

In 2014 I discovered the National Maritime Museum's website. http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collec...8;collectionReference=subject-90308;start=260 
Up to this point I was working in the blind as to what the actual details for the pre-1800 period of the ship.

I eagerly went to the ship models collection, which is the link above, and found two contemporary Victory models in her 1765+ configuration.
 
These models were not on display when I made multiple visits in 1988. The NMM is under an umbrella called the Royal Museums Greenwich or RMG. This is only one snowflake on the tip of the iceberg. The wonders of the Internet, and thanks to the staff of RMG, are showing us not only what is on display, but the other 90 percent as well. I finally found what I needed to complete the build I wanted. Original plan drawings are in a section too.

With new inspiration I started back on the build and what changes had to be made. The first and most obvious was the fore and main channels had to lowered to below the upper deck gunports. I used brass pins to hold these in place so it was a matter of relocating them and replacing the missing moldings in their previous locations.
 
Following: a series of before and after the changes.
 
You'll notice other areas of progress between the below photos. Next thing on the list was the beakhead bulkhead and round houses. I had used contemporary model photos of another three decker for reference and the dimensions and moldings were too high. So this was cut out and newly constructed. Again before and after photos. Changes include entry ports and additional fenders.
 
 
The last four photos are from 5-2016 to 5-2017.

Next, Part 5 will cover the stern galleries.
 

Part 3

One thing about building a ship model is, that no matter what stage it's in, it's cool to look at. In 2002 my father-in-law built an oak and lexan case for the ship which fit over the building cradle to protect it from dust. The addition of the removable case made the ship construction look more museum like. It was the catalyst that got me motivated again to work on the project.
 

Below are the rigging stations for each port and starboard gun sets. These are the middle deck 24 pounders. The lower gun 32's were done by the same method. I cut and installed the hanging knees, inner planking, and ring bolts. The beams were fitted but removed for installation of the guns in sets of four. After installation the middle deck area beams for that section and lodging knees were installed. And finally the gun port doors with hand fabricated brass hinges. Then on to the next set. By switching tasks I was able to keep my sanity and the progress was more rewarding. During this period of time the rudder, tiller with ropes for the helm were installed, and the chain pumps on the lower deck. The Galley stove and pantry were fabricated and installed too.

As a working artist most of my weekday times, with some exceptions, are spent painting aviation art. (I specialize in the First Air War of 1914-18.) So construction on Victory has been confined to weekends if I'm not building something else. After the finish of the middle deck framing and planking it was back to guns again. This time the 24 pounders.

Again I divided up the tasks and started on closing up the bow. The forward forecastle bulkhead and the top head rails set the tone. The head timbers and rails are probably the most complicated structure on the ship. You can just visualize them cutting through the enemy's line of battle.
 
The finished head rails and timbers really stoked the fires of my building frenzy.

As C. Nepean Longridge writes in his book, The Anatomy of Nelson's Ships, "One can light one's pipe at the end of the day and rest assured that the job was done properly." So British! Still cracks me up.

Next: Part 4
The ship project gains momentum.
 

Part 2

Thanks to all that have started following my attempt at a build log and for your likes and comments.

Although most contemporary Admiralty models had no guns, I decided early on to add this level. If I didn't I might regret it later on. My early visions included the possibility of a fully rigged ship and so it would have to have sea going artillery. I seriously underestimated the scope of building a 100 gun ship of the line. The guns and tackle added a tremendous amount of hours and really tested my patience. I often tell my friends that in the time it has taken so far I could've built three frigates. But the other side of the coin would mean I wouldn't have a three decker, the most awesome war machine of its time.

From early 1993 to mid 1995 I had made the master 32 pound barrel on my lathe, made the RTV rubber molds, and started casting 30+barrels. Carriages were constructed with the cross pieces and trucks. The cheeks I scaled on my computer, saved to a floppy disk, and I had them laser cut out of 1/8" white Lexan. The completed assemblies can be viewed in the above photos. Starting amidships in 1995 six cannons have been rigged, have gunport doors, and the middle deck framing has been started. I had also decided to have the guns run out to starboard and the portside guns run in with ports closed or open for viewing, to show the lines of the ship better.

Each gun has three single blocks and three double blocks with corresponding ring bolts and lines. (And like an idiot I made the blocks). There's the breaching rope, etc. Now multiply by 100 and you can see the enormity of the task. Not saying it wasn't fun but I had to take breaks and go back to ship construction.

One photo  shows the mainmast stepped. All three lower masts were made to line up through each deck.

In July of 1995 I was relocated to Orlando, Florida for my work for 3 1/2 years. My wife and I decided to take the train first class with a sleeper compartment from LA's Union Station to Florida. I built a carry case with a clear lexan top and Victory made the trip safely in our compartment with us. Victory was laid up in Ordinary for over 6 years, due to other projects, before I got motivated to work on her again. Let's see...more guns.

In Part 3 we will jump into the 21st Century.

Greetings to all.
 
This will be a "sort of build" log of my scratch-built model of the Victory starting in 1991 to present. In the pre-digital photography era the few photos I have were shot with a Nikon 35mm camera. I'm not the most disciplined when it comes to shooting progress pictures. I get so excited about the build that I think there's just a few more things to do before shooting the next pictures. So here's some shots and explanations of my process from the early '90's.

Part 1
 
After the usual research and gathering of plans and photos I decided to build in 1:64 scale, or 3/16th"=1'. A good average house scale. My base plans were taken from John McKay's book "The 100-gun Ship, Victory", and C. Nepean Longridge's "Anatomy of Nelson's Ships". McKay's plans are based on how she would've looked after her 1800-1803 large rebuild prior the Trafalgar. Longridge has more detailed  drawings along with structural details of general construction of the period. My original intention was to build this version. After prolonged study the drawings I noticed the original sheer line and rails, still visible today, before the build-up of the bulwarks along the quarterdeck. So back to research for drawings of how Victory looked from 1765-1799 with stern galleries and elaborate carvings. Meanwhile the build still went on for the hull structure.
 
The first step was to enlarge the drawings to 1:64 scale. I enlarged the outboard, inboard, framing, profiles and plan views of the ship then all the frame sections. The keel, stem and stern post drawings as well.

Framing and Shaping the Hull

I used what is probably a unconventional approach to construction of the hull. Since the "Man of War" has more frames than a merchant vessel, and they almost touch each other, I figured that 1/4' thick frames would be very close for an Admiralty style builders model. All the frame sections were laid out on 1/4" thick birch marine ply and cut on a band saw. I cut 1/4" spacer sections for between the actual frames. These were carefully aligned and screwed together in stacked sections until I had the complete hull. (No photos exist of this phase). I used a 1" Makita belt sander to knock down the stair step frame sides close enough to start block sanding by hand. I forgot to mention you must make sure your frame drawings, before cutting, start amidships facing towards the bow and aft towards the stern post. That way when the shaping starts you are sanding to the line of the drawings for the proper shape. It's like making a pattern or wood buck for a mold.

After the hull is shaped and sanded to a finer grit, the next step is to unscrew all the frames and take out the 1/4" spacers. Back to the band saw and cutout all the insides of the frames and notch for the keel indexing.

The Keel, Stem and Stern Post

Next was cutting out and assembly of the keel, etc. From here it conventional construction with the keel laid upright and plumb on the building board, and frames set in position. I cut frame shaped sections out of the spacers and placed these between the frames at the middle and lower gun deck levels for strength and rigidity. Once everything is glued in position with stringers holding the outside into place, I sanded and shaped the inside of the frames.


The Planking

All the planking is Basswood used for its very fine grain. For the bow and stern areas I used my wife's tea kettle to steam the planks for the tighter radius bends.
 
Below is the completed planked hull, the cutting down of the bulwarks, The addition of the wales and moldings, upper rails. I made tooling jigs for shaping the moldings. Lower deck 32 pounders are sitting in place. Cannon construction is another project in itself. And of course one must take the motivational paint break to see how things will look.
 

Impressive model!
Still trying to figure out how the mold would be disassembled.
Very nice wood as well!

Work continues on the fore cant frames....
 
The forward 3 cant frames are in one piece.  They were sanded and glued in position as mentioned earlier.
 
The remaining 8 cant frames are built up from two pieces as shown.  They are all 1/4" thick.  But they are the same as assembling the square frames.  Just sand the simulated chock joint for a tight fit as before.
 
Then remove the char and glue them in.  

I proceeded to install them working my aft.  All is going well.
 
The outside edge of each cant frame is lined up with a laser etched line on each lettered strip in the jig.

As mentioned earlier, the top of each frame is also flush with the top of the strip but this isnt as important.  If while putting the two halves of a frame together you over sand the scarf joint, It will become shorter.  That is perfectly fine if not excessive.  Any small differenced like that will be corrected while fairing the hull. So dont get worried if thats the case.
 

I did not do any progressive fairing of these.  I wanted to wait until all of the forward cant frames were installed.
 
In hindsight...after completing all of them,  I thought it probably would have been better to work from aft towards the bow.  At least after those three "one-piece" cants were added up front.   It doesnt matter in the end but getting the last two cant frames in was a bit fussy between the existing square frames.  I couldnt get my fingers inside the hull and that far back to position it too easily.  It would have been easier to work my way forward towards the first three.  But in the end it wasnt too bad.  In fact it went pretty quickly.
 
Once they were all added I could do some fairing.   This took a while as one would expect.  I only finished the port side.  I will do the other side this weekend.
 

It came out very well indeed and the bow is shaping up.   I am quite happy with the shape these cant frames created.  This is a long and narrow hull.  It has a very interesting shape.

Here is a picture with the hull upside down.  You can see how I faired the cant frames as they sat on the apron notches.   They were faired carefully into the rabbet.  This meant also sanding and fairing the sides of the apron to match the run of the frames into the keel.

Treenails were added to the cant frames just like the square frames using the black monofilament.  
 

Once I fair the other side,  I will start on the bollard and hawse timbers.  That will complete the framing at the bow rather than do the aft cant frames first.  It will be good to finish up all of the hull framing on the forward half of the hull.
 
Questions and comments are always appreciated.