HMS Victory 1805 by DarkAngel - Corel - 1/98

[Jonesey]

Have you enlarged the holes for the masts yet or are you leaving that for now?

[DarkAngel]

Second Mast support

 

Jonesy: I'm not planning on enlarging any holes as the mast fits fine as it is, I will add a hole in the second deck to act as a second reinforcement with a thin base plate under the 2nd deck to glue the base of the mast onto. Preparing a support for the second mast would be easiest to do without the top deck, and can be done with a lower mast (just the dowel part) test fit before completing the hull I'm thinking. 

Edited July 18, 2019 by DarkAngel
2nd mast not 3rd

[Jonesey]

That's interesting. My holes are way too small, certainly for the 2 x 10mm masts - Fore & Main

Mizzen is, I believe, 8mm

 

Yep, nothing like planning in advance before you cut off access 😂😂

[DarkAngel]

Updated post #93 above with a new detail pic of hatches completed and a tung oil / orange turpentine rub on the frame.

 

I'll be getting 3mm cannon balls as the 2mm ones look tiny and out of proportion to the original. Also I shall craft the cannon ball racks. And maybe some buckets out of left over decking cut off's.

[Jonesey]

might help:

 

 

[DarkAngel]

nice pic Jonsey.

 

Those cannon balls may be the 4mm variety

[Jonesey]

Yes, treated myself to a trip to Portsmouth last Saturday. In "the flesh" she is absolutely awesome!

[DarkAngel]

Jonsey: Nice...  That would have been quite an educating trip.

 

Feel free to post any pics here if you wish. I've been building up a collection of reference images from people who have taken pics at Portsmouth and posted them onlline. Without those pics my build wouldn't be as accurate

[Jonesey]

I certainly will mate

 

It was so hot in Portsmouth last Saturday (for England!) I couldn't stay below decks for too long it was just stifling - God knows what it would have been like in the heat of battle with cannons blazing

 

Have you taken a look at any of those moulded bits yet? They're tricky buggers to remove from the backing card and even trickier cleaning them up

And there are loads of them 😂

[DarkAngel]

On 7/20/2019 at 6:14 AM, Jonesey said:

I certainly will mate

 

It was so hot in Portsmouth last Saturday (for England!) I couldn't stay below decks for too long it was just stifling - God knows what it would have been like in the heat of battle with cannons blazing

 

Have you taken a look at any of those moulded bits yet? They're tricky buggers to remove from the backing card and even trickier cleaning them up

And there are loads of them 😂

note to self: May be better visiting Portsmouth in Autumn

 

The moulded parts are a bit tricky. I have used a scalpel and scissors to cut out the pressed forms on the cardboard they are mounted on before thinking about separating them from the backing. I read somewhere that you leave the cardboard on, however I have found thinning down the backing material with a sharp scalpel is easier than removing it entirely.

 

Blackening brass

 

I just received some 'Liver of Sulphur' which is used by jewelers to add various patina effects to different metals. Brass can be darkened to brown or black apparently by leaving in the solution to develop a patina.

 

The gray cannon balls I received in the box blackened quickly, however to break down the brass I think it may take a couple of days as the process seems a lot slower.

 

Steps

 

1. put on rubber gloves and safety goggles
2. put a little of the solution in a container, dilute with water as required
3. have another container of just water
4. Dip items in solution with tweezers
5. Allow to dry on paper, check colouration
6. Repeat as necessary

 

I'm doing this now because I need the blackened brass rings for the cannon assembly.

Edited July 21, 2019 by DarkAngel
typo

[DarkAngel]

Tips updated

 

• Adding patina to brass
• Sourcing wood for crafting

 

I have found brass ball bearings in 3mm size are quite cheap to source in packets of 50 for about $5 on Ebay. Blackening these would make good cannon balls

Edited July 20, 2019 by DarkAngel

[DarkAngel]

Cannon build

 

Here's a first look at a cannon assembly with blackened brass eyebolts, custom crafted pulley with hook, the yellow ochre and white 1:1 mix for the ship color.

 

 

notes:  I'd like to enlarge the bore hole a bit bigger on these cannons, also I'm going to visit the local sewing shop to source some natural undyed light thread to have a go crafting my own rope, So stay tuned for updates on that

 

pics below: show the hemp rope that comes in the kit, it's a bit fuzzy with loose threads and I'm not that happy with them.

Edited July 22, 2019 by DarkAngel

[Jonesey]

I see what you mean about the supplied rope, it just doesn't fall naturally like a real rope would.

 

Apart from that your cannons look really good

[DarkAngel]

1 hour ago, Jonesey said:

I see what you mean about the supplied rope, it just doesn't fall naturally like a real rope would.

 

Apart from that your cannons look really good

Thanks Jonsey, the close up shot on the camera reveals a lot more than I can normally notice with the naked eye. Also the small scale makes things a little tricky or out of whack, like the size of the eyebolts.

 

I'm going to make some more 5mm pulley blocks, quite like how they look. My first two designs were too big and out of proportion, but simplifying a blackened brass hook just glued directly onto a 5mm block looks ok and in proportion to the eyebolt.

[Jonesey]

Are you intending to use the supplied gun ports/hatches or you going to make your own?

[DarkAngel]

Jonesey thats a good question, I have allowed the port holes to be designed to fit the hatches in the kit. However I am still thinking of either tweaking them a bit or just using the hatch and not the surround... or making my own.

 

I have prepainted the hatches and think they look ok as they are.

 

Once I complete the hull planking and positioning of hatches, I shall see what they look like with the various options mentioned above. The pictorial diagrams and plans seem to indicate the hatch surround should sit flush with the outside of the hull. I like this idea, and will do a test fit to see how it all comes together.

 

Another tweak on the existing hatches, is that I won't be using the hinges but filing them off. I want to make a hatch hinge like the original with long brackets that extend above the hatch to attach to the hull.  So I am considering sourcing a material to blacken and craft for this purpose.

 

Also to give depth to the cannon port holes, I think I would prefer to use wooden framing to suit the shape and depth of each port hole before painting them red.

Edited July 23, 2019 by DarkAngel

[mtaylor]

If you're really not happy with the "rope", take a trip to sewing supply shop.  Be sure to take a piece with you for color and size.  I find they usually have all the thread in various sizes one could want and at a reasonable price.

[DarkAngel]

Mark: Great minds think alike  I have already planned a visit tomorrow to the local sewing shop.

 

2nd deck update

 

I've added a bit of wear and tear to the second deck to show the HMS Victory after being in battle... with dropped cannon balls and cracked planks.

 

Also added first of many crafted cannon ball racks. These are pictured with the stock 2mm cannon balls.

 

 

Fiber Optic lighting

 

I have discovered fiber optics are used for model lighting !!!

 

There are really tiny lights available that have a built in resistor and work from a voltage range of 3v - 12v battery. This would allow me to add a yellow light above each cannon on the second deck, now I need to source some hanging lanterns to attach them into

Edited July 23, 2019 by DarkAngel

[Jonesey]

I do like your hatches, racks & ladders!

 

Did you have to craft the ladders or are there pre-built parts I haven't cone across yet?

[DarkAngel]

The ladder steps need to be assembled, they are the grooved sections cut on an angle, the steps are cut from the same pieces used for walnut hull strips.

 

There are some precut stairs in the packet, these are for the narrower stairs used elsewhere.

[Vane]

The rope supplied in the Corel kit is not good. I did this years ago and today i would simply replace it with something more fine waived. If you are not an experienced modelmaker I would then not recommend to do too many details on rigging these guns. 1:98 is a very difficult scale to work with. 

Edited July 24, 2019 by Vane

[DarkAngel]

Hey thanks for the reference pics... did you need to drill bigger holes in the posts to get the brass cable through ?...

 

I was thinking of just getting smaller brass cable, however I llike the look of the brass hand rails on yours

 

edit: What size cannon balls are those ? ...4 mm ?

Edited July 24, 2019 by DarkAngel

[Vane]

As I remembered it, the brass went in quite smoothly. Perhaps some of the holes needed to be cleaned up but nothing substantial.

Edited July 24, 2019 by Vane

[Vane]

Just the cannonballs in the kit. About 2-3mm.

[DarkAngel]

In my kit the brass wire is supposed to be 0.5mm but it's more like 1 mm and definately doesn't fit in the hole, even with some filing.

 

And my cannon balls which are 2mm look much smaller than yours, however it's hard to gauge in the pics as the zoom may be different.

[DarkAngel]

Cannon update

 

Here's a few pics of the new and improved rope, I sourced some cotton natural colour embroidery thread.

 

 

[allanyed]

Don't know what to say except it does not look right at all.  Look at the rope from Syren below to see what I mean.  Not to say you have to get rope from Syren as there are other sources or you can make your own if have or can build a small rope walk, but what you show could distract from the rest of your model.  Maybe check with other Aussie members to see what they have used.   Allan

[DarkAngel]

Yes it looks a bit different zoomed in a lot to what it looked like before I took a pic.

 

This was my first attempt using what was available when I went shopping Wed. Turns out both sewing shops are closed or close at lunch time on Wednesdays,

 

I may use the cotton embroidery thread in single strand (the above pic was double strand) for the netting used around the ship, just have to see how the thickness of the strand works.

 

Ideally I shall find a thin thread to work from and twine together to make some nicely woven rope  

 

Nice pic of thread above you posted there allanyed

[mtaylor]

Embroidery thread is rather loosely wound and fuzzy,  Most sewing shops do have threads in heavier sizes than sewing machine size.  Thin twine might work if it's mostly free of "frizzles".  I know there's a word for that other than "frizzles" but it escapes me.

[DarkAngel]

2nd Deck column

 

I bought a packet of 5mm dowel to use for the 3mm column supports for the cross beams that can be seen from the main deck.

 

here's a pic of a sample I crafted using my drill as a lathe, a sharp steel chisel like blade and a file. Just need another 11 of these

 

 

Edited July 26, 2019 by DarkAngel