HMS Victory by fifthace - Caldercraft - Scale 1:72

[clearway]

even more intriguing as the top most picture is a cameo from a larger painting which depicts all the ships Nelson served on and the other picture is in books describing her as hms Victory before her re-fit prior to being re-instated due to the napoleanic wars. painting with the stripes was i believed  Nelsons idea to help british men o war identify each other in battle. (Sailing towards the french fleet he noticed also the french had painted their masts with black bands and ordered the british to repaint the masts white to help i.d. friend from foe.

Keith

[fifthace]

Interesting stuff.

 

I don't think we'll every truly know what she looked like originally.

 

Back to the smaller version. I've added some braces behind the dummy cannon beams, will do the same for the upper ones as well.

 

I also noticed an issue with the lower patterns, at the first two gunports. I'd managed to end up with two bubbles each side. Most likely because I forced the template to fit under the middle one, instead of tapering the upper edge.

 

I decided the easiest way to fix it was to cut a small section out under each port, and glue a brace behind, the gap allows it to go back into it's normal flow, and I will fix any changes to the gunport later on. At the moment she looks like she's had a visit to some strange boat dentist.

 

[clearway]

had the same problem with the ply formers on the billings version too- cad cam design is o.k. so long as you match the canting on the frames exactly as the computer!

keith

[fifthace]

Yeh as a rule I don't like pre-formed walls...I prefer to, and I can't believe I am saying this, plank the entire hull. But in the case of the Vic...the cons are outweighed by the pro's of having the gunport locations done for you.

I've started the planking now, and have to say, the limewood supplied for the planking is a dream to work with, I've barely needed to reach for any plank bending methods

[Jerry]

Hello Dominic..

I think that you will find the Caldercraft kit to be excellent in their selection of planking strips  (wood.)  When building my Victory the only bending assistance required was wetting.  For this I used what most other do, a long PVC capped tube.  In any event, I know you will enjoy this build: I did the entire time it took me to construct it.  I wish you the best..

Jerry

[Shipyard sid]

Greetings Dominic

Good that you getting on with the first planking. Yep I found the lime was easy to work with, and made the first planking pretty easy. I only used a strip bender and like Jerry very rarely wet any strips. The lime strip also makes the sanding pretty easy. Keep enjoying it Dominic. DAVID

[fifthace]

This stage gets pretty boring and repetitive so will just post the occasional progress photo.

 

 

[fifthace]

Well I've been able to get 14 planks on today, not bad going all things considered.

 

Although still doesn't look like I've done very much

[clearway]

lol Dominic we all been there m8- you don't realise how big Vicky's bottom is till you plank it

Keith

[fifthace]

Indeed it is, but it is such a lovely bottom.

 

Not much progress today as been having to clean out the kids room, but I've been able to get a few planks on either side. Slowed down even more by having to make drop planks at the top to reduce the number running forward and stealers on the bottom to account for the sheer of the bow.

 

 

[Kevin]

Nice work - lol you only have to put another 2 layers on top

[fifthace]

Yes.

 

Thanks for that Kevin lol

[fifthace]

Some slow progress with the planking.

 

I've gone as far down where the lower planks will meet at the bow, so now it's from bottom to top. (Or as I am working upside down, top to bottom).

 

Slowly beginning to match up the direction of the strakes at the stern for that characteristic Victory bum, although the jigsaw puzzle of stealers was a mind boggle to plan, and I am sure completely unrealistic...but this is the first planking and on top of that the area will be hidden beneath copper anyway.

 

Yes not looking forward to that bit

 

Edited August 2, 2015 by Dominic

[fifthace]

Daily update on the planking...I know it's painful to see such slow progress, and as many of you know it's just as painful actually doing it...just trying to add that extra dimension to my log haha!

 

[Gundorph]

Keep on the good work... Your fast... ( I think )

[Jerry]

Hello Dominic..

Looks real good.  Brings back a lot of happy (?)  memories.

LOL

Jerry

[fifthace]

I was wondering if anyone knows where I can find display mounts/columns etc? I've searched and searched so many times over the years and all I can find are the small limited selection Amati do.

I've tried several of their wooden ones and they just split or break when I try and make holes for screws or steel rods in them

I've tried Ebay and all they come back with are antique candle holders or polystyrene wig display heads

I do quite like the plastic dolphins Amati do, (Don't like the bronze ones at all), but I don't know if they will be strong enough to support the weight of a model that is going to weigh in excess of 14kg's...

[Shipyard sid]

Hello Dominic

CMB sell them. They come under columns. Brass ones come under number 12 - 32 and probably elsewhere in the list as there is a large amount listed. GREECE also have loads. DAVID

[fifthace]

David, The only ones I can find on CMB are the Amati ones?

[Kevin]

Dominic - I found pedestals in Model expo

Edited August 5, 2015 by Kevin

[fifthace]

They would probably do the job, and don't seem stupidly priced.

 

Have you ordered from them before Kevin? If so, did you have to pay customs anything? (Last time I ordered something from the US I got fleeced by customs charges )

[Kevin]

no I havn't - but I got well and truly hammered  with import duties after receiving my brynes sander (which has not been used yet)

[fifthace]

Yeh I bought a Bounty Launch last year, about £60 I think...and paid £28 in customs duty.

[fifthace]

Todays progress. I'm not entirely happy with the way the planking has gone at the stern...I just keep reminding myself this is just a base...

 

[fifthace]

About 3 more planks either side then the first part of the first planking is done...after that will be the filling and sanding phase.

 

I've had to switch my planking from bottom to top to top to bottom...not happy about doing that because it's just...wrong.

[clearway]

Have you thought about using planking battens to give an idea for the run of the planking Dominic? I also use a small hand held surfoam and sandpaper around a block of wood to taper planking.

Keith

[Kevin]

looking good Dominic - my ist planking was abysmal

[fifthace]

Thanks Kevin.

 

clearway I have yes, almost everytime I begin...however admittedly I am not great with numbers, and trying to pre-calculate how many and position etc it always goes wrong for me.

 

Somethings...I just can't get my head round

 

I won't pretend my planking is perfect...but I have to admit, my first planking is usually much much neater than this one has turned out...although I have improved on where it meets the stem/bow, so not a total failure.

 

This was my first planking on the last ship I completed, HMAV Bounty, as you can see it was much much better:

 

 

[fifthace]

1st planking finally over.

 

Apart from being overly self-critical...I actually enjoyed that. I don't normally, planking is the only thing I despise about this hobby, so made a nice change to enjoy it.

 

I've started the process of sanding down. Yes I cheated. I used my B&D mouse. Started with a coarse grain followed by a medium grain, now will finish the rest by hand.

 

Oh, and she saw her first bit of sunshine today.

 

[Jerry]

Hello Dominic..

 

Congrats on getting the first planking fiished; it reall looks very nice.  The second planking I found to be much easier since there's more surface to glue on.  I used CA cement at the bow and white glue from the bow to the stern with white glue edge to edge.  Good luck with the rest of it.

Best,

Jerry