HMS Victory

[CLovehitch]

Hello, I am possibly thinking about bulding the HMS Victory. I was worndering if anyone could suggest a high quality Kit?

I understand it is a huge time commitment.

The other question is there a model that would prep me for a build like the Victory.  

I have been bulding ships over 25 years.

Thanks, Nick

[BikerMart]

Absent the Amati HMS Victory, I would suggest that the Caldercraft HMS Victory is currently the highest quality kit available.

As to a suitable 'prep' ship, I would suggest the Caldercraft HMS Snake. I am in the process of building one and have been very pleased so far with how it has come together. Being Caldercraft (and Chris Watton design, of course) it shares many of the same constructional details as their HMS Victory.

 

[Jaager]

Nick,

From the perspective of someone looking at the impressive attrition rate for kits in the build logs just here,  prudence would suggest a different ambition.

From the way that you ask this question, I think this is another yacht situation.  To be glib, if you have to ask, you are probably not ready to lose 5 or more years to HMS Victory 1765.

 

You do not state that the ships that you have been building over 25 years are models built of wood.  If they are plastic,  except for any rigging,  your experience may prove to be more of a hindrance than a help.  The instructions are unlikely to measure up to the micro management style of plastic kit instructions.  This lack of hand holding will offer you an excuse to bail when it gets frustrating.

 

If you have prior experience with wood based kits,  HMS Cruiser  or HMS Snake look to be a way to immerse yourself in ships of the Nelson era without all of the endless repetition that a 1st rate involves. 

Building yet another model of HMS Victory 1765 will be the polar opposite of doing something even vaguely unique.

[allanyed]

5 hours ago, Jaager said:

Building yet another model of HMS Victory 1765 will be the polar opposite of doing something even vaguely unique.

Well said Dean!  I was trying to think of a nice way to say that the world does not need another build of the HMS Victory be it kit or scratch.  An exception would be if it is the quality of the build by Steve Anderson seen here at MSW   https://modelshipworld.com/topic/32888-hms-victory-circa-1765-1791-by-steve-anderson-164-scale/   

Allan

 

[CaptnBirdseye]

I cannot talk, having got a DeAgostini Victory to build (definitely NOT a quality kit!), but i do somewhat agree with Allan's comments above. Personnaly i would tend to look at the Vanguard range, or if skills permit Syren's Cheerful and/or Winnie semi-scratch builds and wait for the Amati Victory- IF you have the time/money to spend to build her 😬

Just my two-penneth .

[druxey]

After you've flexed your muscles with one of the above suggested kits, think about the literally thousands of plans still extant for ships of the 18th century. Nearly all have never had a model built from them. Choosing one of those would be more than 'vaguely unique'.

[allanyed]

3 hours ago, druxey said:

After you've flexed your muscles with one of the above suggested kits, think about the literally thousands of plans still extant for ships of the 18th century. Nearly all have never had a model built from them. Choosing one of those would be more than 'vaguely unique'.

Very well said.   

 

There are about 800 HIGH RES out of the 3000 plans from RMG on the WikiCommons site so no need to use low res or buy high res.  I have the high res in a folder but it is over 40GB so I cannot post it here.   I have asked MSW to set these up in the Articles database so additional high res can be added in the future, but no takers so far.   The entire list for the Commons site is at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Ship_plans_of_the_Royal_Museums_Greenwich

Allan

 

Edited March 28, 2023 by allanyed