HMS Victory by Rob S - Mamoli - 1/90th scale - first build

[Rob S]

Second planking is now complete. I have some gunport related touch up yet to do. I also looked closer at Longridge’s plan 2/outboard profile (The Anatomy of Nelson’s Ships) and saw my forecastle sides were too high. I’ve since cut them down appropriately. Now on to add the decorative flourishes to the hull before turning to finishing the deck and sides with molding, etc.

[Emmet]

Good work Rob you are really making progress.

[Christopher Smith]

Thanks for your kind support, I do have option of painting maybe veneer was pushing it.

I have been checking further stages and checking off the parts, it seems I am short of gun door hinges and not enough gun doors (easy to make) may be worth a check to see if everything  is in your kit.

[Rob S]

Thank you Christopher, I will check.

Decorative planks installed with just a few more to add. The Mamoli instructions are a bit vague for some of these items so I’ll be looking around the forum for other examples. Some may think I’m including too many pictures. My thought is show incremental progress rather than bigger jumps. If desired, one should be able to see how I got there.. whether the end results were good or bad. Lessons learned. 
 

I’m also thinking now may be the best time to start painting the hull. I still have some gun port maintenance and light filling/sanding before, but that seems like it may be the next key phase. 

 

[Rob S]

Taking some time to assess next steps.  May not yet be ready for painting as I need to consider some primer options.  I did add another decorative strip to the outer hull.  In looking closely at the upper deck grates, I noted I used the wrong walnut laths - 1.5mm x 3mm vs. the 2mm x 3mm called out by Mamoli.  I believe now is the time to correct this.  I’m taking the old strips off with a sharp wood chisel which is working pretty well.  Will also reset the ladder and attempt to drill better cannon ball holes for the accompanying laths.  The small wooden strips are brittle and many times will split when attempting to drill the small holes (using a hand drill). 

[Rob S]

Repair and replacement activities ongoing and nearly complete.  I was able to scrape off the old pieces, sand down the rough spots and starting to replace the removed grate assemblies.  Hoping to complete this exercise tomorrow and begin with the quarterdeck finishing.  The bow is to the right.  

[Rob S]

Upper deck grate moldings replaced and ladder repositioned. I’m having trouble putting the cannon ball fixtures on the brittle walnut laths. Will have to go even slower.
 

Preparing the fore quarter deck grates. 

[Emmet]

Looks good Rob. For what it is worth are use the buck shot and killed a shallow 1 mm holes. A touch of glue and tweezers.

[Rob S]

Now that the thrill of planking is largely behind me, I’m working the deck finishing aspects.

 

I’ve included a few pictures of the grates as they progress from pieces to assembled components to the finished grate assemblies.  The instructions call for you to assemble the grates, mix some glue in hot water and throw the grates in the glue/water mixture for a few moments. The glue is supposed to adhere with the grate pieces and make it easier to tailor them appropriately.   However, after doing this and attempting to cut the grates down to size, the grate wooden sides/parts fall off.... so I’ve been adding some additional glue on the grate sides and then sanding them down once the glue hardens.  This takes a bit of time and isn’t really as ‘sexy’ as the planking process is, but if done correctly look good.  

[Emmet]

Hi Rob,

You sent me an email and apparently I do not know how to return the same. MSN would not deliver.

I see where you said you did drill a hole for doing the cannonballs. I did not drill a hole. I just made a depression in the wood. I had some shotgun shells around from days gone by so I took one apart and made myself a collection of cannonballs. Again I used a touch of superglue and dropped the buck shot in the hole. I hope that helps. 

I am going to be gone for about a month but I will always be looking in.

My question remains as to how to send a personal email like this?

Sorry for the confusion. I have been traveling.

[Rob S]

Quarterdeck finishing tasks....

[Rob S]

Quarter deck finishing at the bow section. The grates are difficult to work with especially when banding with the finishing moldings. The Mamoli instructions don’t always call out the molding dimensions so I’m using best judgement. I used the deck planking material for the molding parallel to the gang boards because the material wasn’t specified in the instructions (or I couldn’t find it). 

[Rob S]

On 9/2/2020 at 9:03 AM, Emmet said:

Hi Rob,

You sent me an email and apparently I do not know how to return the same. MSN would not deliver.

I see where you said you did drill a hole for doing the cannonballs. I did not drill a hole. I just made a depression in the wood. I had some shotgun shells around from days gone by so I took one apart and made myself a collection of cannonballs. Again I used a touch of superglue and dropped the buck shot in the hole. I hope that helps. 

I am going to be gone for about a month but I will always be looking in.

My question remains as to how to send a personal email like this?

Sorry for the confusion. I have been traveling.

Thanks Emmet - understood. I will see what I can do. For messaging, simply select the member you want to communicate with and you’ll see a hyperlink with a ‘Message Member’ type link near the top. Then write your email/message. However, to respond you have to be in the forum. Select your name/icon and navigate to your messages where you select the appropriate thread and reply within it. You can’t respond externally. Hope this makes sense. Safe journeys!

[Rob S]

Slow going finishing the quarter deck moldings and running into a few issues along the way.  Primarily we have a quarter deck support beam that is running across the aft steam grate on the starboard side.  I’ve elected to leave it as is rather than cut it and later face a ‘load bearing’ issue.   You can see the finished product.  

[Rob S]

Continuing quarterdeck finishing... Should finish up the bow portion this week and then redo the cannon ball storage on the upper deck before turning to the transom. 

[Nirvana]

Rob, your progress is fantastic.

At this scale some details are hard to create, you have done a great job!

[Rob S]

Thank you Nirvana! Appreciate the very kind words!

 

Continuing the bow finishing activities.  These clamps are extremely helpful. Seems like there are never enough! 

[Rob S]

Transom work has begun as I transition to instruction set ‘6’ of the Mamoli plans.  The transom windows are on a thicker paper stock, cut out and glued to the sides. This will be the same for the aft windows.  I’m sure there are more elegant solutions, similar to use of copper tiles for the hull, but I plan to stay the course with the as provided materials/approach.  

[Nirvana]

Rob, if you have plans of how to do certain things,  you should stick with it.

This is a great idea, card stock is also much more flexible. 

[Rob S]

Transom work on the port side.  Instructions call for small, 1mm x 3mm walnut strips (about 11mm) between the cut outs.  Doesn’t leave a lot of room for the strips to adhere to. 

[Rob S]

Continuing the transom work. Instructions call for shaping a couple of small blocks to form the bottom portion of the starboard and port sides of the transom. I’m not completely sure the best way to mold the blocks so I intend to solicit help on potential techniques by starting a forum discussion. My initial thought is to identify/mark sections on the block, secure it in a vise and sand it with an electrical sander. I’ll use sand paper for the finer sections.

 

Any other suggestions are welcome.  Thanks in advance.

[Oddie]

Just on the off chance do you still have the building plans as I've lost my 13/14 sheet. Will to pay for a photo copy

 

Kind regards 

Clive

[Rob S]

On 10/25/2020 at 3:24 AM, Oddie said:

Just on the off chance do you still have the building plans as I've lost my 13/14 sheet. Will to pay for a photo copy

 

Kind regards 

Clive

Hi Clive - yes I do.  You can message me for details.

[Rob S]

Well, I’ve been away from the shipyard for a little while as I transition to the Transom with associated finishing.  I’ve been working to shape the bottom sections of the transom.  You can see the piece of wood I started with (bottom piece) and where I currently am on the starboard side (top piece and associated picture).  I need to shape the port side, install and plank.  Then over to the more intricate portion of the transom finishing.  It’s really fun (not) trying to interpret the instructions for all the small pieces of trim, etc.  This will take some time.  

[Rob S]

Both transom base pieces molded and ready for install.

[Rob S]

Now installed! Will be doing some light sanding in preparation for putting 0.5mm x 3mm walnut laths over them next.

[Rob S]

Applying 3mm x 1mm walnut laths to the bottom portion of the transom per the instructions.  Note that although these strips are pliable, there is just enough tension in the small pieces to make it difficult to attach without first bending them.  Small nails to hold the laths in place will split the wood, so I measured and then applied my bending iron to the planks, cut them and then dried them in my plank ‘shaper’ device.  After dry, the pieces fit and stayed nicely with the wood glue adhesion. No other means of keeping them in place were necessary.  You can judge the result for yourself.

 

 

[Rob S]

Transom planking continues 

[Rob S]

Transom/stern ‘windows’ applied with an acrylic glue for wood/non-wood bonding. I understand there are better alternatives out there, but I realize I’m already over my head with the basic instructions/kit materials. We’ll see how it turns out.

 

[Richard44]

4 hours ago, Rob S said:

I’m already over my head with the basic instructions/kit materials. We’ll see how it turns out.

 

You'll be right Rob, keep treading water and enjoy what you're doing - after all, it is just a hobby. 🙂🙂

 

Cheers