HMS VICTORY by Jerry - FINISHED - Caldercraft - Scale 1:72 - 1805 version

[Patrick Haw]

Great work Jerry.  You are really flying along, you started after me and are way, way past me now!  Maybe I spend too much time cleaning up my work area and not enough building!  I'll go with the once-every-two-year method from now! 

 

Patrick

[Kevin]

coming along very nice  - will have caught me up soon

[Jerry]

Patrick and Kevin..

I don't think I'll be passing anyone (which is very far out of my mind).. Right now I'm sick in bed with a touch of the flu.  So progress is at a standstill. I also stupidly cut my index finger and so there's going to be some healimg time needed.  With the cut finger and the flu I'll see evryone in a few days.  Thanks for contacting me.  (Cough, cough.)

Jerry

[Kevin]

get well soon

All the best

[Jerry]

I appreciate you, Kevin.. Many thanks.

Jerry

[Jerry]

Brian, thank you.. You are too nice,

Jerry

[Jerry]

To bring my build log up to date I am posting some of the latest pictures although progress at this point is very slow.  One has to be very deliberate when at this stage of construction as the work is slow and tedious.  As you may know, I'm in the phase of cannon carriage construction and am taking it one step at a time.  I have finished the building of the first 30 carriages that are to be positioned on the upper gun deck.  They have been painted yellow ochre and the truck wheels are now varnished.  I am getting close to attach the brass cannons and have just finished applying a metal primer coat.  After that the cannons will be painted black, they'll be mounted to the carriages, the trunnion brackets will be set, "rivited" with small cut domed nails and thay and the 5 additional eyebolts will be painted black.  My next visit will be after I have accomplished all of the above.  I guess I'll see you all in a week or so.  Best regards,

Jerry

Edited March 22, 2014 by Jerry

[Patrick Haw]

Jerry,

 

Great work! It all seems to get a little tedious at times doesn't it? (I'm in the midst of coppering!), but the end results are worth it. Keep up the great work!

 

BTW, the third pic above above looks like a classic circular firing squad!

 

Patrick

[Shipyard sid]

Hello Jerry.

Well there you go !!!! 30 cannons ready for assy, and all the wheels have stayed on. Yep you have been doing some cracking work since you came back off your holiday. I look forward to seeing them all completed. Nothing going on in this neck of the woods at the moment, decorating finished, but we are not used to this glorious weather and need to make the most of it while it lasts. Ok get on with your cannons and have a barrel of fun. BOOM !!!! BOOM !! DAVID

Edited July 16, 2013 by Shipyard sid

[Jerry]

Patrick...

I feel like I've been in the middle of that firing squad.  It's just 1, 2, 3 o this and then 1,2, 3 do it all over again.  Good luck with your coppering, another one step at a time operation.  thanks for writing to me.

Jerry

[Jerry]

Hi david,

 

I don't blame you for taking advantage of the nice weather.  When I've been in the UK I also have been lucky with good weather.  Seems that June and July can be lovely in England.  Stop dilly dallying and get back to work; we all need pics of your progress. LOL  I forgot to glue the eyelets on the back of the cannons before I primed them.  So i need to do that before I paint them black.  Take care and enjoy beautiful Britian.

Jerry

[Jerry]

Hi Lawrence...Thank you for your response and much appreciated comment.  I'm off to the hobby shop this morning to find the right size eyelts to turn into breach rings for the cannons.  The kit didn't mention or supply them and they are definitely attached to the rear of every cannon. Some builders ignored tham completely and merely ran the rigging around the breach "knob."  Shipyard Sid graciously supplied the correct size, (0.9 mm) so I'm going to need them as I'm about to paint the cannons with a second coat, this one black.  I've attached a pic of my prorotype cannon which took several hours to make.  I've cleaned up the paint job since I posted the photo especially around the red muzzle of the gun.  Attaching the six tiny eyelets, gluing and nailing the trunnion brackets took more time than I imagined.  I hope to get more than one cannon finished a day.

 

Best regards,

 

Jerry

 

July 18, 2013

Edited March 22, 2014 by Jerry

[Shipyard sid]

Hello Jerry

Looks like you are getting things sorted ok, just a quicky, if you find it awkward to feed the thread through the eyelets with the eyelets fitted in the carriage side, you could thread the eyelets onto the thread then locate the eyelets already threaded which is simple. As you are fitting breach rings you will need to thread only the eyelets for one side then the thread through the breach ring before you thread the eyelets for the opposite side, if you follow. You never know it may help you. Crack on Jerry. DAVID

[Jerry]

Hello David...

I'm in the process of attaching the breech ring to the rear of the cannon; I finally figured out a method.  I'm gluing the eyelet on with the shaft that I'll cut off before painting black.. As you can see there's a prime coat painted on at this time.  I just started as I received your message and wanted to answer you. 

 

Best to you.

Jerry

Edited March 22, 2014 by Jerry

[Shipyard sid]

Hello again Jerry

Ok good luck with fitting of the rings, it will be interesting to see how snipping the shaft off goes. Regard DAVID

[Jerry]

David,

So far I finished about 6 of them and the shaft snips off OK. 

Edited March 22, 2014 by Jerry

[Shipyard sid]

Jerry

Excellent , I thought it might be a bit of a problem, as you may have guessed. Well done DAVID

[Jerry]

Lawrence.. Thanks, Buddy.  Slow and steady and hope for the best.

Edited July 18, 2013 by Jerry

[Jerry]

David,

I guess I can finish the breech rings tomorrow.  Then I'll paint them black and continue with the micro drilling and eyelet installations.  Have a good night my friend.  The problem is holding the ring in place waiting for the quick glue to set.  I tried 1 to 5 second glue and am now back to 5-15 second glue.  I need the extra few seconds to position the eyelet after dropping the glue in place.  Oh what fun.
 

Jerry

[Jerry]

Hey Lawrence....

Thanks for the very kind words.  I never realized that some cannons came with the breech rings already mounted.  Good for you; it took me a day just to attach the little buggers but as of tonight all 30 of the upper deck cannons are painted and ready to be attached to their carriages.  It was fun painting the muzzles red and then the cannons black.  One needs a steady hand to do that so at 81 (almost) I'm thankful that I haven't begun to shake yet.  I plan to rig just the 10 cannons that will be seen tomorrow and get on with the next upper deck work right after that.  I'm actually happy to be able to move on.  Best to you,

Jerry

[Jerry]

Hello Lawrence and thanks for the note.  The 10 cannons that I plan to rig for the upper deck have been finished except for black touch up painting.  I plan to do that tomorrow as well as mounting to their carriages the other 20 cannons that will only be seen frrom the outside of the hull.  I also plan to rig the 10 mentioned above and place all 30 guns in their positions on the deck.  Well, that'sa bit of progress even though my eyes are not as good as they once were.  I've been checking your log a lot lately and envy the progress you've made.  Your build looks great and I hope to get where you are one of these days.  Take care and happy building.

Jerry

[Jerry]

Happy weekend everyone...A progress report follows:

 

I am finally ready to rig the cannon tackle and breech lines for the 10 cannon carriages that will be able to be seen.  As others have chosen, I also will only rig these 10.  As I took the pictures of the cannons on the upper deck lined up as ready for a 30 gun salute, I felt a bit of anger I must admit.  Why do we spend all the hours we do ruining our eyes and our nervous system making thing that we will never be able to enjoy since we won't ever be able to see them?  I remember thinking before I started to build Victory how nice it would be to have an opening in the side of the hull in order to see the interior of this fine ship.  But, like a lemming, I am building her in the way of most others.  Some photos taken today are attached.  Tomorrow I hope to begin tackling the tackle.

Jerry

Edited July 27, 2013 by Jerry

[Shipyard sid]

Hello Jerry

Well this looks very impressive. The cannons are really good, and things look crisp and tidy. Enjoy rigging the ten visible cannons tomorrow. Yep it's looking very good. Well done Jerry. DAVID

[Jerry]

Hi David...

I appreciate your appreciation.  You are too nice.  I'm actually building a stretcher (jig) to use to construct the rigging.  Sort of like one I saw on someone else's log.  I think it may have been Gil Middleton but I'm not sure.  I bought a piece of cork board so that I could stick straight pins in it.  These pins are the ones with spheres for a top.  I'll set them apart the right distance and construct the block and tackle between them.  I'm planning to use small hooks that came with the kit at each end of the tackle.  Hope you understand this; I'll have pictures as soon as I get started.

 

Jerry

[Jerry]

Hi Lawrence..

 

Thanks for your comments.  I'm not so sure I know what you mean by the centre deck.  Do you mean the upper gun deck which is the one I'm working on.  If it is,  then you'll need to rig 10 cannons since 5 on each side will be seen.  I started to rig the breech lines and prepare the tackle lines that run from the back of the cannon carriages to the eyelet behind it on the deck. 

Edited July 31, 2013 by Jerry

[Jerry]

Good morning, Lawrence...

 

Yep, I'm sorry.  I forgot that you are building a different kit than I am;  I apologize for the misunderstanding.  I'm about to continue working on the cannon rigging that I began yesterday.  Oh what fun!  Have a great day and thanks for clearing up the situation.

Jerry

[Jerry]

It's Sunday evening and I spent a few hours today working on the cannon rigging for the Upper deck.  So far I've finished rigging the starboard side cannons I have chosen to rig and I have now completed the breach rigging of the port side cannons.  I'm anxious to complete this job so I can go on to something else.  Working all these hours on carriages, cannons and their rigging has me yearning for something different to do on this ship.  I hope to accomplish this tomorrow and get on with it.  Latest pic attached.

Jerry

Edited August 4, 2013 by Jerry

[Jerry]

Thanks, lawrence.  Do you really think there's something easier?  I hope you;re right.  I'm getting sick of looking through my magnifying lamp.  Actually I'm enjoying the build and will admit I'm learning something all the time.  Hope you're doing well to.

Jerry

[Jerry]

Well, here I am back again and happy to say that the upper deck breach lines anad cannon tackle is finally completed.  As stated before, I have chosen to limit this phase of the build to the 10 cannon carriages that will be seen, even though through an opening in the deck above. So, whatever the manual calls for next, I am excitedly looking forward to doing it.  Thanks to all of you who have helped me with this part, especially Dave (Shipyard Sid,) who was gracious enough to supply me with some photos that were extremely helpful.  I appreciate any comments anyone may have.

Edited August 8, 2013 by Jerry

[Jerry]

Good morning, Lawrence...

Building the Cutty Sark was a walk in the park compared to Victory.  The one thing that was very helpful for Victory was applying the copper plates on Cutty Sark.  It was about 15 years ago when I built  Cutty Sark but I remembered the method I used in applying the copper and it came in handy when doing the same with Victory.  I get a real good feeling of satisfaction whenever I walk into my house and see Cutty Sark, in it's beautiful display case, moored by my front door.  And thank you for sharing your progress with your current build.  Rigging the cannons was very time consuming as was building their carriages.  To think that this procedure isn't really finished is troublesome as more cannons will have to be rigged and carriages built for the quarter deck.  Good luck with your build: let me know how you're doing.  Best....

Jerry

Edited August 13, 2013 by Jerry