HMS Victory by Bill97 - FINISHED - Heller - 1/100 - PLASTIC

[Bill97]

Today I spent the time I allow myself each day to work on my ship installing and rigging the cannon hatch covers. I decided not to extend the eye bolts I made through the hatch covers so as to have the eyebolt on the inside as well. Just went with the outside. Rigged all the lines that were previously installed to the eyebolts. I cut open two (on each deck) of the hatch covers Heller left closed. I replaced the one on the Lower deck with a new one I made with Evergreen and used my eye bolts. I rigged it closed since there is not a cannon to go in there. The hatch on the Middle deck I fixed with two shutters again made with Evergreen. I have them open at about 45 degrees but I think I may press them back against the hull in a fully open position. 

Edited December 10, 2021 by Bill97

[Kevin-the-lubber]

Looks great Bill, you've got so much done in such a short timeframe. 

 

[Bill97]

Cannonades painted, installed, and rigged today. As you are probably aware Heller did not provide rigging instructions for any of the cannons or cannonades. I used a combination of notes from Longridge’s book and pictures of the actual cannonades on the HMS Victory. Made my own eyebolts for the inside of the wall of the hull and the trucks, and some very small single and double blocks.  I am satisfied with how they came out

Edited December 14, 2021 by Bill97

[Bill97]

OK my modeling friends I have come to that point in my build. Seven months in. Yesterday I did an inventory of all the remaining parts in my kit. Except for the lanterns, which I am saving for the end because of fragility, the only parts left are related to masts and rigging. Using the several reference materials I have, including Longridge’s book, I started dry fitting the different parts of the bowsprit and the three masts. I also examined each part to see which I felt needed reenforcement for strength. I have to admit I have a very much love/hate emotion when I get to this point, and even more so with the Heller HMS Victory. I usually feel pretty confident in my ability to build the actual model. I also usually love the intensity and beauty of the rigging process when I am able to figure out where a specific line goes. A few of my builds, especially those that are not Revell, have required a good deal of study to determine rigging steps. And as you all know the Heller Victory is very much in that category. I love the Revell instruction method of painstakingly sequential steps. First tie this line from point A to pin B, and so on. I am very good at that method. Lacing lines through previous rigged lines is an art I enjoy. However I must admit I have a lack of confidence in this step with my Victory. I have the kit instructions, Longridges’s book, and two other reference books at my right hand open on my building table. I am sure I will need to study through all my references for a large number of my lines. I think I will be OK with the Standing rigging since it is very similar to other models I have built. The Standing rigging on the bowsprit has me studying quite a bit right now since is different from any I have done before. Hopefully I can figure it out. Then on to the Running rigging! Wish me luck my friends. I know you guys are all out there for some helpful if I need it. 

[72Nova]

Nice job on the Carronades, well done Bill👍. Oddly I've never really found a need to reinforce masts and yards, not that there's anything wrong with that, I just use very little tension myself.. You've made remarkable progress thus far and at the point now where the real fun begins and with your skill set I have no doubt it will look great, heck it took me over the course of 11 years....4 years actual working time to complete my Victory.

 

Michael D.

[Bill97]

Thanks Michael. I really enjoy spending as much time working on it as my schedule and family permits! 😊

As I mentioned in my last comment, and as you did, now the fun begins!  I only hope I can figure it out. 

[Old Collingwood]

Splendid work Bill, she really is starting to look rather Special.

 

OC.

[Bill97]

Replacing the Outer Jib Boom with equal diameter copper rod. The Inner Jib Boom seems to have adequate strength to not be very easily bent under tension, or accidentally broken by a clumsy hand. The photo showing the same clips reveals the difference in strength. 

[Bill97]

Added a new toy to my work table. And made a modifying jig as Jim Rogers (MSW) did. Anxious to start practicing serving a line and using the modification to fix blocks and deadeyes on the end of a line. 

[Kevin-the-lubber]

That looks very nice Bill, I'll be wanting one of those presently. I've switched to the CS for a while, chalk and cheese in terms of headscratching compared to the Vic.

 

Your spar tests above are surprising, it looks like wood is less bendy than carbon fibre.

[Bill97]

Yes Kevin the CS is a bit less head scratching than the Victory. I need to scroll back through my MSW build log for one bit of bashing it was recommended I do.   
 

The spar test is with a copper rod. 

[Bill97]

Kevin apparently I am not smart enough to attach the link to my Cutty Sark build. If you go to the index of Cutty Sark builds and find mine (Bill97), scroll through it to the comments in the low #20’s and there is a whole discussion about the windless and track of the anchor chains. You may find it helpful. 

[Ian_Grant]

Nice looking serving machine. Much more elegant than mine.

 

[Kevin-the-lubber]

Thanks Bill, seen that and will incorporate it. I’m keeping this one fairly simple, no 3D gymnastics, just remaking those bits where it’s as easy to do so rather than fettle all the flash off the kit parts. I bet this was a great, great kit when first released, I love the ingenuity of the location pinning etc, but nowadays there are parts where it’s hard to tell where the part ends and the flash begins. I wonder if kit modelling is in decline, otherwise you’d think the kit manufacturers would stump up for new extrusion dies, after 60-odd years of wear and tear. They’ll need to watch out, within 5 or 10 years max someone will have redone the entire thing as a printed kit (not me though) and flash will be a thing of the past.

 

Copper tube - makes sense. The only issue I’d see there is that copper is quite ductile though much more easily worked than, for instance, stainless. I haven’t yet revisited making new masts for her ladyship, but will do once I’ve reached a natural pause point on the CS. I saw you bought the Vallejo old and new wood set, think I’ll also give that a go and, if I get as nice a result as you, carry that over to the Vic.

[Bill97]

Ian I have always said functionality out weighs appearance! If your serving machine works that is great. Unfortunately I am not smart enough to design my own like you were so I had to spend a bunch of money. 

 

Kevin I share many of your same opinions about kit modeling. Seems manufactures have just gotten to the point they are going through the motions with old dies. I am going to be curious when I open my Soleli Royal to see the quality. When I researched putting it on my Christmas list I found new ones were out of stock ever where. Was told it would be available once new ones were manufactured. I know Heller included a completely new instruction book. Will be curious to see if they also fine tuned their kit manufacturing as well. 

I have not checked to see, are you going to do a build log here on MSW about your Cutty Sark?  Will really enjoy following it. 

[Kevin-the-lubber]

I will be doing a build log presently but probably not until I've at least got the deck in, otherwise I'll start obsessing over trivial detail.

 

I'm more tempted to go down the meccano route, I love making gizmo's and this is a good excuse to make my own toys. Ian, with that red paintwork and yellow wheels I assume it goes extremely fast, yes? 🙂

 

[Ian_Grant]

4 hours ago, Kevin-the-lubber said:

I will be doing a build log presently but probably not until I've at least got the deck in, otherwise I'll start obsessing over trivial detail.

 

I'm more tempted to go down the meccano route, I love making gizmo's and this is a good excuse to make my own toys. Ian, with that red paintwork and yellow wheels I assume it goes extremely fast, yes? 🙂

 

HAHA!!  I thought about buying one, but found that I had enough gears on hand to duplicate the ratio in both towers so.... 

The two wheels on short axles at the bottom are "pins" to allow me to move the right hand tower toadjust the distance between the two towers. Built that feature in but never used it. The two hollow shafts are brass tube at meccano diameter.

 

It's screwed to the board to allow me to clamp it near the edge of  a bench.

 

Making a meccano ropewalk would be cool!

 

Ian

[Bill97]

No new build updates today. Pretty busy last couple days with family events. Just wanted to take a minute to wish all my Model Ship World friends:

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!🎅🏻
Thanks for all your conversation, advice, and fun discussion this past year! Hope each of you gets all sorts of modeling stuff under your tree!

[Ian_Grant]

Thanks Bill, and looking forward to seeing your build completed in the new year!

 

Merry Christmas to all of you too!!   ⛷️   🚣‍♂️   🚵‍♂️   ⛸️   ⛵

 

(Wondered where Bill found the Santa; boy there lots of little icons I never looked at before!)

[Bill97]

Ian it is just one of the standard ones on my iPhone. I also like these for the season:

🥃🤶🧑‍🎄🎄⛄️🍷🍻

[Kevin-the-lubber]

The same to you Bill, Ian, Marc et al, I’ve enjoyed the chatter on all the logs, learned a lot of useful things and, as ever, been amazed at what people do with these ships. I hope everyone has a great few days with some nice goodies under the tree.

[Bill97]

Goodies under my tree did include the Heller 1/100 Soleli Royal, along with Vallejo paint sets, modeling tools, etc. I think family is glad to have easy ideas for the ol’ dad.

 

I attached a few pictures from inside the new Heller instruction book. Definitely an improvement over the Victory instructions. 

[Ian_Grant]

Those pics do look good.  Maybe I will buy the new instructions when it is time..........

[Bill97]

Hey Kevin, my UK friend. I had a friend originally from the UK stop by for a holiday visit. He brought along a couple items he said were traditional UK treats of the season. I enjoyed tasting them and was immediately curious if you are familiar with them. One is Christmas Pudding Fudge and the other is Prosecco Bonbons!

[Bill97]

After a few days away from my Victory it was good to get back to modeling. Got the bowsprit installed and touch up painted where necessary. For added strength I used a 3/32” copper rod to replace the outer jib boom and a 1/16” brass rod to replace both the martingale boom and the flag pole. Made a tiny collar from scrap to slide down the outer jib boom so as to attach it to the end of the inner jib boom. The only reason I used two different metals is because that is the sizes I had. Definitely stronger than the kit supplied plastic parts. Applied a coat of clear varnish to the bare metal then acrylic undercoat and finally the Vallejo paint color I am using throughout the ship. 

Edited December 28, 2021 by Bill97

[Kevin-the-lubber]

3 hours ago, Bill97 said:

Christmas Pudding Fudge and the other is Prosecco Bonbons

Never had either but they sound nice! The bowsprit looks good.

[Bill97]

Today I began the process of adding wood deadeyes to Daniel’s brass etch Plate 3 (Deadeye chains). Slow and steady process that I believe will be a very nice addition. As with the other etched parts I am going to leave these shiny brass. 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 29, 2021 by Bill97

[Bill97]

Took a break from brass and deadeyes 😳 and took a go at the Daniel’s boarding pikes. Did the foremast first. Not perfect but I am satisfied. Learned a few things as I worked on the foremast pikes that I will do a little different when I do the mainmast pikes. 

[Ian_Grant]

Dear Bill, she's looking nice!  However, you said to speak up any time so here goes ........ the pikes should be on the port side of the mast because the mainstay passes to its right, nearly rubbing it. That's why they don't circle the mast like on the main mast 😔. I guess you could try to change them, or ignore it, or pass the mainstay to the left now (in which case you'll need to mirror-image the holes in the marines' walk for the mainstay collar).

 

Happy New Year to you!!

[Bill97]

Oh my gosh Ian!  I knew that!  I can’t believe I did that. 😤

When I was dry fitting it I had that in mind the whole time!  Looking back to earlier today when I was working on it I think (I know) what I did was put Daniel’s bottom ring with the holes in it on upside down. Then as a result where it is open to go up to the strip that runs up the back of the mast it put the holes on the wrong side!  Curse word, curse word!  I will definitely change that. I believe there are extra pikes in Daniel’s sheet. A little acetone should dissolve the CA glue. I was not happy with it any way. Thanks for reminding me. I do appreciate it. I CANNOT BELIEVE I DID THAT!!!!
 

I did get the rest of the deadeyes put in the chains today.