HMCSS Victoria 1855 by Banyan - 1:72

[BANYAN]

Thanks for the comments and encouragement Eberhard, Steven and John - much appreciated.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[popeye the sailor]

Victoria is looking fantastic Pat.....such great metal work!

[BANYAN]

Thanks Denis; appreciate you looking in and for the encouragement.  What are you working on at the moment?  I miss you fishing boats

 

cheers

 

Pat

[BANYAN]

Another small update folks.  I have finished and fitted the air vents; the start of these were shown in an earlier post.  After airbrushing them white, I added some simulated some bolt heads on the flange to simulate them being bolted to the deck.  These were punched from foil (0.5mm hex shape) then painted in situ.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[BANYAN]

And, as Beef Wellington asked, here are some overview shots showing the rest of the ship at the current state of build

 

cheers

 

Pat

 

 

[Jim Lad]

Looking good, Pat.  Those a very large vent pipes.

 

John

[cog]

Deck furniture's numbers growing steadily. You keep on making such very lovely detailed parts. Well done

[wefalck]

She really begins to look ship-shape ! Nice details ! At this time even warships looked elegant and not only utilitarian.

 

As John, I noticed that these swan-neck ventilators look rather big. Is this per plan ?

 

I also noticed this nice, polished mahagony 'bench' in the stern, but most ships I have seen tend to a grating there ...

 

A third nicely executed detail I noticed are those brass tyres on the cannon trucks. We recently had a discussion in another forum, where people argued that metal tyres would mar the deck. I think I have seen metal tyres in French sources from the 1860s/1870s, but would have to check.

Edited April 17, 2020 by wefalck

[Sceatha]

Great work Banyan, your metalwork is impressive!

[druxey]

Yes, I was wondering about the metal rimmed (solid metal?) trucks on the carriages as well. The model is looking great as the details bring it to life.

[Chuck]

Pat she looks great.  Its really coming together.

[Keith Black]

11 hours ago, druxey said:

I was wondering about the metal rimmed (solid metal?) trucks on the carriages

I don't think they would have trusted wooden trucks/wheels to bare the weight and survive the stress of firing a 2,800 pound gun?  

I'm pretty sure the carriage trucks for the 100 pound breech loading Parrott rifle (10,266 pounds) were iron. I think the width of the individual truck would be key in keeping the decking from being destroyed. Wouldn't metal against wood cause less friction than wood against wood? The main weight of the gun is at the rear of the carriage where there are no trucks. 

 

Edited April 17, 2020 by Keith Black

[KeithAug]

Pat - I do like ships of this era, the decks are so clean and uncluttered.

[BANYAN]

Hi all, very many thanks for looking in and the very kind comments.

 

John, Eberhard - yes the air intakes look large but I am using the sizes (scaled) as fitted to HMS Warrior (only 5 years later) as my 'guide'.  I agonised over this for some time and did consider going smaller, but as these intakes did service a large space (each pair), so I decided to stay with them.  Also, if I had used Cowels, they will have been of roughly the same diameter (pipe) and roughly the same height.  They do 'look' a bit wrong, but a small intake simply would not have drawn enough air and as this is the size fitted in Warrior, and that Victoria's Bulwark was very low (just over three feet- normal was 5 feet- ish), I decided to go with them.  They didn't look too bad off the model, but after fitting they  do appear a little oversized.

 

Eberhard, WRT to the after bench, another item I agonized over.  The only photo I have (at deck level not overhead) shows this as solid wood, but I may have been looking at the solid edges/ledgers).  The photo does not show any dappling or filtered light beneath the bench so I have assumed it was solid. 

 

Druxey,  WRT to metal truck lining I am going by the drawings I have.  In reality they should be iron, not shiny brass but all my attempts to fit blackened rims resulted in scratches.  My hope is if I can hold my hands steady enough to paint them black when all the remaining work on them is completed.  I now have the 3D printed barrels so should be able to complete them soon.  Once the barrels and cap squares have been fitted, I will reeve the breech ropes and seize them to the ring bolts and then sort out the 'shiny wheels' :), then I can fit the guns by fitting the pre-seized ringbolts to the roughtree (rising) timbers in the Bulwark.

 

Thanks again all for looking in and the 'thumb's up" and comments; I value all feedback.  If the concensus is that these are too big I will look at how I might remove them (they hare held with CA (metal to wood strength) and try to make lower versions.

 

cheers

 

Pat

Edited April 18, 2020 by BANYAN

[Tony Hunt]

She's looking fantastic Pat. I love the detail of all the fittings.

[druxey]

Thanks for explaining the modification to those shiny trucks that you are contemplating. Then they won't draw the eye.

Edited April 18, 2020 by druxey

[Louie da fly]

Looking very good, Pat. I think in the absence of evidence to the contrary, you are right in going with the larger vents. That they "look" too big is more a matter of our own expectations from over 100 years away, not necessarily to do with the reality of the time.

 

Beautiful detail work. Wonderfully crisp and precise. And the more fittings you add, the better she looks.

 

Steven

Edited April 18, 2020 by Louie da fly

[Beef Wellington]

Great photos Pat, really looking good and shows off all of the excellent detail work.  I'll be honest, and I'm no expert, the air vents did not jump out at me as being  oversized at all when I saw them and considering the period.

[Omega1234]

Hi Pat

 

Damn! Your boat’s coming along beautifully and all the effort that you’re putting into each individual part is going to pay handsome dividends when it’s all finished.  A case in particular is the round skylights that are simply glorious to look at. A true model of precision in their own right.

 

Stay safe and healthy.

 

Cheers

 

Patrick

Edited April 19, 2020 by Omega1234

[BANYAN]

Thanks again everyone for the very kind remarks and useful comments/suggestions. I am learning a lot from these processes and I am am still not happy with some of the pieces, but I have to make some progress - so they stay.

 

I have started work on completing the broadside guns as I have still procrastinating whether just to add simple stand-alone sheet bitts to each/all masts, or whether to add cross-pieces to the Fore and Main.  I have a quandary in that the Contract states sheet bits to be fitted, but in another specifies crosspieces, BUT, I currently interpret this as being for the gallows only.  However, this just ambiguous enough to also refer to the sheet bitts as similar treatment has been used for other items.  Also, the plans for the contemporary Arrow and Vigilant class ships show cross pieces on the main mast bitts, but one shows on both masts, but the other only on for the main mast bitts.  The mizen is definitely only the sheet bitts as per the plans and photographic evidence.

 

I am leaning to just bitts as the masts were also fitted with spider bands at the base of each mast which will accept the lines usually belayed to the cross piece pins.

 

Thanks again for all for looking in

 

Pat

Edited April 20, 2020 by BANYAN

[BANYAN]

Hi all,  shown below is my first attempt of the EOT.  This was 3D printed and is only 11mm high with the panels in the Engine Order face less than a mm  wide and about 1.5mm long.  This is extreme close up so shows a lot of bumps etc that are not visible to the naked eye.  The Mr Metal "Brass" has yet to be polished which will smooth these out somewhat.  the dabs of black are supposed to represent order positions (slow ahead, half ahead, full ahead etc).  At this scale and my shaky hands this is the best I can achieve and looks OK to the naked eye.

 

 

The second photo shows the EOT and one of the gun carriages with the brass wheels painted with Mr Metal "Iron"; again they need to polished and unfortunately, the photo implies the lot is painted but the wood of the truck is not painted, nor is the internal part of the axletree stub.  I will try to get a better photo.

 

 

cheers

 

Pat

[mtaylor]

Looks good from here, Pat.   We all have to remember that 'zoom' is not our friend with doing photos of our models.

[Keith Black]

10 minutes ago, mtaylor said:

We all have to remember that 'zoom' is not our friend with doing photos of our models.

I couldn't agree more!

[Omega1234]

Hi Pat

 

Yep.  I really like that and...as I can attest too, Mark is absolutely right about zoom and macro shots.  The small details can be quite confronting when viewed, but, as you’ve said, you can’t really see the close-up details from a normal distance, so all’s good.

 

Cheers

 

Patrick

Edited April 22, 2020 by Omega1234

[wefalck]

Indeed, close-ups can be very damaging to our pride

😯

Nice job, Pat, on this 3D-printed EOT. I think we will continue to battle with the physical limitations of the digital 'machining' technologies, whether they are additive (3D printing) or subtractive (CNC milling, laser cutting). Small step-sizes and positioning precision are going to be expensive. So, for the time being, we will have to live with these 'steps' on cut or printed items.

 

I found that files don't work very well on plastics and abrasive papers often don't have the 'bite' needed, but discovered so-called 'separation' strips in dental supplies. They are used to open up interdental spaces in vivo or between false teeth. There are two variants: either the diamond-powder is fused onto plastic strips or galvanically bound to very thin stainless steel strips. Obviously the latter are stiffer and in short lengths can be used like a micro-diamond file. They come in width from 2 mm to 6 mm and different grades. I bought them from this manufacturer: https://www.horico.de/en/praxis/separierstreifen/2-uncategorised/91-alle-streifen.html. There may be a similar product available Down-Under. I cut short lengths and hold them in a pin-vise. With this I can file plastic surfaces quite well.

 

As you probably remember, I made a couple of EOTs of the same kind some months ago. While I discarded these ideas for the small size I needed, I had been contemplating making the brass part of the dial as an etched part. The glass pane underneath could have been made by printing the lettering on an overhead projection foil (with the limitations of the printer resolution), cut the disc out and then paint it white from the back. If one still has a camera for films, one could have also made a computer drawing and photographed this so that the image on the film has exactly the right size - the film has such a high resolution, that the lettering would have been almost readable - at least with a loupe. However, I think we can file this under lost technologies. Would have been good also for really sharp compass cards ...

 

I really love those Victorian warships that look so 'ship-shape, Bristol-fashion' with mahagony fittings and brass/bronze trimmings. In spite your trials and tribulations in finding source material, you are quite lucky in comparison to what is available for our German navies of the same period ... I always would have like to build one of those sleek 1860s gunboats, but that would involve even more guess-work.

[Keith Black]

Pat, the wheels came out great, not sure how you managed to paint them being that small. I would have had half the carriage painted as well. The engine order telegraph looks top notch, I wish mine had come out half as nice as your's did. Great stuff as always.

[druxey]

Had you considered reducing dials, etc, using a photo application on the computer? I've had good success reducing compass roses at 600 dpi and printing them out.

[wefalck]

I gather, it depends on their absolute size.

 

I made nice, clean drawings and reduced them in size. If I remember right, my laser-printer does 1200 dpi across and 600 dpi in the transport direction. This was not sufficient for 2 mm diameter dials/compass cards in 1:160 scale ... in 1:72 scale such dials/cards would be roughly double the size and there it might work.

[BANYAN]

Thanks all for your continued interest, comments, suggestions and 'likes'.

 

Eberhard, I agree about files etc on 3D printed object; especially this media as it makes the problem worse rather than better in these very small items.  That is why you see the small bumps on the pedestal (not visual to the naked eye) and gather sparked your comment.  I remember you discussion on those 'separation strips' from another log but had forgotten them - I think I need to find some and possibly invest in one of those so called 'bow' sanders plastic modellers use a lot.

 

I am still debating whether to leave dobs to represent the black 'writing' in the EO; or, should I try to break it up a bit with white to try and break out individual characters?, Unfortunately being 3D printed I could not insert  a card in this EOT, but I like the idea Drixey and Eberhard discuss.  I used something similar for the rudder/wheel telltale  (shown in a much earlier post).

 

cheers

 

Pat

[BANYAN]

Hi folks, back with another small progress reports.  I have started work on completing the armament; 6 x broadside guns - Dundas 32pdr 25cwt on rear chock carriages) and 1 x pivot gun (Blomefield 32 pdr 56cwt on an Improved Ferguson Slide).  I have not shown the pivot gun as it is still being reworked a little.

 

I have completed the six carriage (with the exception of blackening the wheels) and I have now painted the gun barrels (were 3D printed).  The barrels were airbrushed with Mr. Metal dark iron and I think look reasonably realistic in colour? 

 

I started assembling one as a prototype (version 2) to ensure all works.  I have yet to do the capsquares over the trunnions, and fit the breeching rope through the cascabel loop.  These will be seized to ring bolts before fitting to the ship.  The carriage shows the wheels painted but yet to be burnished to remove some of the lumpiness.  Please remember these are in very close-up so look a lot worse here than to the naked eye

 

I have manage to get the rear elevating worm screw to actually work, but I would not try this once fitted on the model; hopefully I do not put too much glue on the capsquares to stop the gun elevating/depressing.  The barrel is only dry fitted at the moment so it looks a little off-centre.  It will be corrected when the capsquares are fitted. 

 

I have managed to show a bit of the detail even at this scales including the gunlock, dispart (fore) sight and Millers after sight.  I even managed to keep my hands steady enough to paint them bronze without making a real hash of it, but could do with some improvement   I will attempt to add a very small lanyard to the lock but I am not holding my breath on that one.  and yes, I have files one side of the trunnion bar off-angle but this will be hidden under the capsquare and I do not wish to muck-up the paint at this late stage

 

I have also added a photo of an actual gun fitted in the ship for reference.

 

cheers

 

Pat

 

Edited April 26, 2020 by BANYAN