Best HMS Victory kit?

[Bill Morrison]

First, I am most impressed with the advice presented here.  It is so well articulated and justifies building all kits of the ship. To underscore the point, my first POB kit was an Aeropiccola 1/180 model given to me by my wife in 1979.  The kit was basic in the extreme, with the instructions calling for simply drawing all gun ports and lids onto the model, with only the upper decks modeled with printed sheets in lieu of planks, and little detail. I learned the fun of greatly improving the model using my own skills, learning new skills, and researching better techniques to make a "real" model of the ship. Any model can be a fantastic experience.

 

Second, HMS Victory is over 240 years old.  Which era would you like to build?  As built? Pre-Trafalgar? At Trafalgar? Post-Trafalgar?  This question can have many possible answers. For example, while Caldercraft models the ship with raised forecastle bulwarks, no other model depicts her so.  The Heller 1/100 scale plastic model shows her without the entry ports on either side.  Mantua has three different models of her, each in a different scale.  Some companies provide sheets with the gun ports pre-carved with exact measurements. In others, the builder must carve them out using templates.  I can only describe the available kits as a smorgasbord of choices.  All are good in their own way.  All have weaknesses in their own way.

 

Good luck with your choice!

 

Bill

[Old Collingwood]

On 4/7/2022 at 7:42 PM, Kevin said:

i will perhaps never build another big scale 1st rate, time is against me to do all the other builds i wish to do, unless @chris watton brings out the royal George, 

however i did enjoy the Caldercraft Victory, even if it took me 7 years 

Why (How)   did you put the actual Victory  in your back garden  Kevin......😲

 

OC.

[macleadg]

On 10/23/2021 at 7:11 PM, mtdoramike said:

I agree, most if not all Victory kits or builds require 2-5 years to complete. Now with that out of the way, back to your question, which I hate and which pops up every now and again whether it be a victory, constitution or what ever. A boat or ship model kit is a kit is a kit is a kit, no more no less. I have built well over 100 kits of various subjects over the years by many manufactures and have found that all kits no matter of the manufacture are good quality kits. Now whether the subject model builds into an acceptable representation of the subject is totally up to you AND NOT THE KIT. A kit is only a starting point of the journey you choose to take, but the quality of the build will be all on you as the builder. To me, the research of the subject is far more important than the quality of the kit, which can be changed, manipulated into what ever you want it to be. My point is, if you find something not historically accurate about the model per the kit, change it and make it so.

 

You will never get a museum quality model from a kit even though the manufactures touts it as such. I rarely ever build a model based on the kit. To me the kit is only the starting point. So to answer your question, all of them and none of them.

I’m quite new to building ship models, as I’m to finish only my fifth kit (the Essex, from Occre).  However, even on my third kit I was modifying quite a bit.  I’m not super-concerned about historical accuracy (ok, so go ahead & call the ship-model police on me).  

 

My modifications are for just aesthetics.  For example, on the Occre kit, you’re supposed to simulate plank nails with pencil marks.  Yuck. Instead, I cut the heads off about 100 small steel nails, and glued those in place.  Historically accurate? Probably not.  To scale? Who knows.  

 

However, they look a lot better than pencil marks, at least to my unpracticed eye.

[mtdoramike]

This is one of my points, you chose to deviate from the instructions of the kit and changed what you didn't like about. I'm not a purist when it comes to model building. I look at scale as what is pleasing to the eye and as long as it suits your eye, that is all that matters.

[Bill Morrison]

On 10/23/2021 at 7:11 PM, mtdoramike said:

I agree, most if not all Victory kits or builds require 2-5 years to complete. Now with that out of the way, back to your question, which I hate and which pops up every now and again whether it be a victory, constitution or what ever. A boat or ship model kit is a kit is a kit is a kit, no more no less. I have built well over 100 kits of various subjects over the years by many manufactures and have found that all kits no matter of the manufacture are good quality kits. Now whether the subject model builds into an acceptable representation of the subject is totally up to you AND NOT THE KIT. A kit is only a starting point of the journey you choose to take, but the quality of the build will be all on you as the builder. To me, the research of the subject is far more important than the quality of the kit, which can be changed, manipulated into what ever you want it to be. My point is, if you find something not historically accurate about the model per the kit, change it and make it so.

 

You will never get a museum quality model from a kit even though the manufactures touts it as such. I rarely ever build a model based on the kit. To me the kit is only the starting point. So to answer your question, all of them and none of them.

Amen! My wife once got me an Aeropiccola kit of HMS Victory when we were stationed in Italy in the 1970s. marketed in 1:170 scale, it was an extremely basic kit. For example, the manufacturer planned for the builder to draw the gun port lids onto the hull in their closed positions.  Hatches and gratings were simply printed on balsa sheets to be cut out and cemented to decks. All ordnance on the deck was plastic molded.  You get the idea.  It was not one of the "best" kits out there.  I accepted the challenge. I carved out all gunports and scratch-built lids.  I also made dummy barrels to fit.  I hand made all carriages for the guns and lathed the barrels.  When I was done, I had a beautiful (if small) model of the ship.  The basic kit tested my abilities, but I turned it into a serious model.  Any kit is as good as you make it!

 

Bill

[derrick]

On 4/7/2022 at 2:22 PM, Ian_Grant said:

I'm a little disappointed that no one mentioned the - gasp - plastic Heller Victory.  It is hands down the most accurate kit of Victory on the market. At 1/100 it is a reasonable size for detail without taking up too much floor space, and there are seven sheets of brass etch available to enhance the build.  See the several build logs on the forum.

 

Just sayin'    🙃

 

Edit: Thought I would add a shot of mine on the bench just after completion.

Is it me or is the entrance door missing?

[Morgan]

7 minutes ago, derrick said:

Is it me or is the entrance door missing?

I think it’s more a question of why does the ship at Portsmouth have an entry port when she didn’t at Trafalgar! Answer - to let the tourists on and off.

 

Seriously, contemporary evidence shows Victory had no side entry ports between 1788 and 1814.

 

Gary