HMS Victory by Will Ferris - Caldercraft - 1:72

[Landlubber Mike]

Will, your work is fantastic!  Super impressive that this is your first build, wow!

 

To give the copper a little patina, there are some solutions out there that might work.  I think they are typically used for things like getting an antique patina on lamps, but seems like it could work here as well.  I picked up a bottle but haven't yet tried it.

 

https://caswellplating.com/metal-finishing-solutions/antiquing-solutions.html

 

[tedrobinson2000]

Hi Will, 

Nice to see your progress, your Vic is looking super.  I wrestled with the tiling also, and here are a few tips.

 

I used CA Gel, which gives about 20 sec of time to locate the tiles exactly before it grabs. Just used 5 small drops/tile - 1 at each corner and one in the middle; glue placed on the hull not on the tile.  Careful not to use too much so that it oozes onto the surface. Started on the garboard plank, adjacent to the keel as it had a nice straight line to follow. Just apply them in a staggered pattern like laying bricks.

 

 

To do the keel, I used a Mission Models bending jig to get the 90 deg bends straight.  The plates are the right size to cover the bottom of the keel, plus one face. The other face of the keel can be done with trimmed plates.

 

 

 

Work up to the waterline.  When nearing it, I added a strip of copper tape used for stained glass work, letting it overlap the waterline.  This will hide any small missing corners of tiles if they appear.

 

 

After adding the tiles to cover the waterline, apply a piece of tape and mark the finished waterline on it, then, using a very sharp Xacto knife, trim the tiles to the marked waterline.  Although I didn't do this, you can try to represent the rivets on the exposed edges of the trimmed plates.

 

 

 

 

Keep up the good work!!

[Will Ferris]

On 7/12/2021 at 10:14 AM, allanyed said:

From what I can see in the photos you have the tiles such that the holes are pushed in as if nailed to the hull which is as it should be.  It is a very very nice change to see this done correctly rather than have bumps stick out as if they were bolted to the hull.   Well done.

Allan,

 

It is with no small amount of bashful remorse that I confess you are seeing a illusion.  I have indeed put the plates "rivets out."  I do apologize.

[allanyed]

Thanks for the correction Will.  FYI, actually flat head nails were used rather than rivets, thus the reason they would be pushed in versus raised.  If they had only been put on upside down!! 😃

Still, beautiful workmanship in putting them on.

Allan

[Will Ferris]

Caldercraft HMS Victory build Update - Copper Plates

 

Ted - Thank you for the advice.  Your work looks fantastic.

Allan - Thank you for your kid words.

 

I did as Ted and others suggested - starting at the garboard and working my way down.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notice all the CA glue on the tiles

 

I used a brownie pan filled with acetone and a new kitchen sponge to clean all the CA glue off after I was finished.

 

I then masked off a new water line 1/16" onto the edge of the copper and painted it on with an airbrush.  This gave me a very clean finish at the edge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I then applied a patenating solution (Modern Masters Green Patina Aging Solution) using a small misting spray bottle.  I let it completely dry.

The result was this horrifying neon turquoise color:

 

No worries though.  The majority of it came off with just a wet cloth leaving the patina I was looking for:

I needed to do this now, because I will not be able to start my rudder for several more months and wanted to be sure I could recreate this finish:

 

 

Next:  Upper deck?  Please let me know what you think.

It'll be a few more months before I'm able to post again due to work.

 

Sincerely,

 

Will

[Keith Black]

 What's wrong with neon turquoise?  In all actuality it looks pretty close to what aged copper sheeting would look like, see attached picture of USS Constitution hull before restoration. 

 

 Will, your copper sheeting turned out great, it has that "not quite new" patina. 👍

 

[tedrobinson2000]

Very nice job, Will.  The hull looks great; I like the patina.  I also did the rudder when I plated the hull, but still haven't shipped it - was afraid of damage while handling the hull.  I'll add it as one of the very last jobs as I complete the model.  Don't forget the pintels while you still have the hull upside-down - they will be harder to do later on!

[Chrisp]

On 7/25/2021 at 7:48 PM, Will Ferris said:

Caldercraft HMS Victory build Update - Copper Plates

 

Ted - Thank you for the advice.  Your work looks fantastic.

Allan - Thank you for your kid words.

 

I did as Ted and others suggested - starting at the garboard and working my way down.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notice all the CA glue on the tiles

 

I used a brownie pan filled with acetone and a new kitchen sponge to clean all the CA glue off after I was finished.

 

I then masked off a new water line 1/16" onto the edge of the copper and painted it on with an airbrush.  This gave me a very clean finish at the edge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I then applied a patenating solution (Modern Masters Green Patina Aging Solution) using a small misting spray bottle.  I let it completely dry.

The result was this horrifying neon turquoise color:

 

No worries though.  The majority of it came off with just a wet cloth leaving the patina I was looking for:

I needed to do this now, because I will not be able to start my rudder for several more months and wanted to be sure I could recreate this finish:

 

 

Next:  Upper deck?  Please let me know what you think.

It'll be a few more months before I'm able to post again due to work.

 

Sincerely,

 

Will

Will, I think it looks absolutely fantastic. There’s just something about this which in my opinion finishes the hull. Are you intending on ageing any other part of the build ?

[leginseel]

I have just started on the same model. Your build log is excellent and has already helped me and given some positive ideas on how to solve a few issues that I was concerned about.  Brilliant well done and I will definitely be using you log as a tutorial, thank you.

[Will Ferris]

Caldercraft HMS Victory build Update - 30 x 12 lb. Long guns

 

Hi all;  it's been awhile since my last post.  Work has been busy.  Anyway, I finally managed to get my first cannon rigged and mounted.  I had no idea these little buggers could be so time consuming.  Cutting and sanding the parts and drilling all of the various holes easily took a week.

After that, I prepped all of my brass per Kurt Van Dahm's post on brass blackening.  I didn't get a perfect, even black finish, but was still reasonably happy with the result.  No new discoveries here, just follow his advice to the letter including the pickle pot.  I'll leave this photo legibly large.

 

I assembled and painted the gun carriages before having to clean paint out of all of my holes again.  (12 holes per carriage - all of varying sizes)  I found a nice little micro-drill bit kit on Amazon (0.2 to 1.1 mm) and quickly learned I should have bought ten of each size as they have a nasty habit of breaking if they're just merely breathed on wrong.  I also made sure the glue surface for the stool bed was adequately masked off before painting.

 

Each carriage took four coats of paint to get adequate coverage.  I had to relocate all of my pad eye holes with a finely sharpened pin after each coat.  Note bed bolt hole in photo below.

 

After painting, I inserted the bed bolts, glued on all of the stool beds, and added all of the metal, including pad eyes.

 

A templating jig allowed uniform pad eye hole placement in the deck and around each gunport.

 

The rigging for each cannon was (and still is!) a tad more involved than I had originally thought as well.  I couldn't seem to rig them in place, so I made a mock-up jig for this.

 

...And one for making block & tackle assemblies.

 

Mine...

 

...And here's the real thing.

It will be another few months before I post again.  Work, family etc., and 29 more cannons to rig!

Edited November 18, 2021 by Will Ferris
added pics

[Keith Black]

 Will, the cannons turned out great, nice work.