HMS Victory by kruginmi - Heller - PLASTIC

[kruginmi]

As I move into retirement (and the peasants rejoiced) I had wanted to spend some time focusing on rigging.  Well, I was given this Heller Victory with the hull pretty much done.  The backstory was the gentleman had passed away and this was picked up in an estate sale for next to nothing.  His work was superior and once I saw the hull I decided this was a good subject for my goal.  There was the inevitable broken components but that was largely confined to the royal masts and (of course) the jibboom.   The accompanying box of parts was incomplete but I have another 1.5 of these in the stash (bit of a story there).

I would have done some things differently (like the deck isn't painted) but for what I was going to use if for and for actual looks that was fine.  I have a friend that already has asked to have it upon completion for his library at home, which is perfect.  I have dissected the plans and have defined each and every line so am over that hump.  I did notice some differences to actual practice.  I have a set of the plans that Longridge uses in his book (thank you Uncle Leo) and have defaulted to that presentation where practical.  For example the foremast stays did not include the Breast Backstay so I am adding that.  Not going crazy or over the top but where it makes sense will make those changes (for example, will use the supplied plastic blocks).

I looked through my stash of 'rigging' line and have chosen to use 6 types.  The Heller supplied line is white and didn't want to dye.

So this morning after getting the remnants of the broken pieces removed and things prepped, went ahead and primed the necessary replacements.  I am using Vallejo acrylics.  It will be interesting to see how close I can get to the existing yellow shade.

I should be working on this at least 2 days a week at a minimum.  My first task is to scratch some open and closed hearts for the fore and main mast stays.  These seem pretty iconic and need to be there but aren't included in the kit.

Stay Building My Friends,

Mark

[kruginmi]

As is usual, so many things to do and without focus hours will be spent without any discernible progress.  Also, I usually live in the 1:48 world so new techniques (and limitations) will be found and explored.

 

I opted as a first visible task to replace the foremast stays.  The kit only supplies regular blocks (3 sizes).  I think the open and closed hearts pretty iconic so decided to do something about that.  Secondly, I wanted to use the worm topside to secure the stay to see if I could do it.  I am assuming a lot of these techniques have already been stated and shown but I invite you in to my attempts.

This pic shows my hand created hearts (sans the two at top which I had in my spared box).  Slightly different sizes for the primary and secondary stays.  For the worm itself I am using Elmer's glue all (on a scrap piece of line) to see if it looks alright.  The line itself (3 cords) could be separated and the cord passed through itself.  This would produce an eyelet that will be very stable and perfectly sized for the cord used.  Although I did not spline the lines, all will be brushed with a 50/50 glue water mixture to allow it to set.

Once I combine the worm and eyelet the result looks pretty good and effective to me.  The line passing through the eyelet is not fixed and can be pulled either direction very easily.  Of course the worm will be painted black and with the glue wash all lines will be laying flat and invisible.

Hopefully should have the foremast stays affixed and looking good in a day or two.

Mark

[kruginmi]

Well, the process worked out and it was pretty easy also.  First shot shows the mouse and at the desired distance laid in an eyelet in the thread.

I then looped around the mainmast head and fed the lower end of the stay through the eyelet and fed it up until it was stopped by the mouse.  It had the look and seemed right at home.

Second line was a repeat of the first.  I offset the eyelet a little farther in to provide some separation.  No glue required here, that join will not loosen up under just minimal tension.

Finally the money shot of the two stays.  Next up is the heart block at the lower end of the stays.  I am also in the process of modifying the walk to allow the two lines for the preventer stay to pass through better.  I am actually going to interweave the two stays since I believe that look is also pretty iconic when you view pics of the Victory.

So many things I want to do, just need to focus on one at a time (maybe two haha - that foremast breast backstay add is pretty easy and straightforward).

Stay building my friends, Mark

[kruginmi]

A quick discussion of my aims and direction:

The following are my goals for this build:

•        Get better in MODELING rigging

o   Sometimes not the same as actual ship rigging

•           Learn the nomenclature better
•          Don’t sweat the details (vague – I know)

o   Not an exact replication of the Victory, but close as practical (in Krug terms)

o   Don’t turn the Heller model into a scratch build – stay out of the box for most.

•          Have some fun

o   This will not be a multi-year project

To repeat the first post, this kit was started (very well I might add) by someone who has since passed.  I am using this as a learning tool and to honor that person.  As such, there will not be a gut job.  The deck is not painted – so be it.  The fore and main lower shrouds are affixed so the rest will be installed in the same manner (using the Heller tool and the ratlines glued in place).

As a person born in the 60’s I remember the warped pieces of plastic that passed off as kits back then and loved building them.  I now have a few wooden ships under my belt (the HMS Druid sits just across the room) and enjoy the process of building and stretching skills.  I am lucky to have 1.5 more kits of this for experimentation, repair and adding on where needed.

The excel spreadsheet attached was my go through of the Heller plans to render into English the names of all the lines and deck tie down locations (eg A7 is the Flying Jib Staysail Downhaul).  Once you have the name and know the function, tracing the line across multiple diagrams is greatly simplified.  I have Identified 9 lines not in the plans (boomkin stays, leech lines, etc) that I will add as well as 12 lines that I believe are duplicative or unkown (see end of first tab).  I will NOT declare it without error.  As I build I will methodically go through what is written and verify so it will get better.  If it helps you, great, but use your own knowledge to see if it is helpful to you.  There is a cross reference to the Anatomy of the Ship Line # as well as Rigging Period Ship model page numbers.

The references I am using (items sitting on the build table) are:

1. Heller 1:100 Plastic Kit HMS Victory Instructions
2. Krug’s Rigging ID Guide to Heller 1:100 Kit   Line and deck tie down translation to English – Excel Sheets  (Attached below)
3. Full size Plans Used in Longridge’s Book  Percival Marshall & CO Ltd
4. HMS Victory:  Her Construction, Career and Restoration     Alan McGowan
5. The Anatomy of Nelson’s Ships   C Nepean Longridge

Others on the bookshelf:

1. Rigging Period Ship Models    Lennarth Petersson
2. Anatomy of the Ship:  The 100-Gun Ship Victory     John McKay

I was VERY fortunate to get the full size plans from my Uncle.  So much more readable and usable then the fold outs.  Beautiful detail.

I look forward to advancing this build forward.  Lots of things still to do on the main deck but that will wait.  My focus now is to get the standing rigging up and in place to kick this off. 

Mark

Krug Victory Rigging Lines.xlsx

[kruginmi]

Well, the Vic is a large and complicated model (haha).  My just jump to the rigging has been a major case of SQUIRREL!!  Fix this, no do this, but first do that.  Lots of hours with little to show for it

 

So....opted to do something.  The man item dragging down the looks were all the broken hammock irons.  I methodically went through, dug out the remains of all the broken ones (drill bits work great for this) and replaced with fresh new ones.  One part of me says don't do it, you will break them off yourself but I threw caution to the wind.  The hammock pieces are inserted but not yet glued into place.

Obviously not including the nets yet.  I tried out the netting jib provided and the end result is really not bad.  If you do not have any 3rd party netting at scale this is entirely usable.

I am thinking of not wrapping this from one side to the other, but to cut a panel for front and back (leaving the bottom empty).  I will try some prototypes and see how it goes.  With all three (irons, netting and hammocks) they should be a little more resistant to snapping off at the first sideways glance.

 

Some paint touch ups is next.  The main deck opening needs to be painted black to provide some visual breakup.  Also other places.

 

My aim is to balance time consuming work with the clean up (show progress) work to keep me motivated.

Stay Building My Friends, Mark

[kruginmi]

This model has been perfect for working on my rigging capabilities.  I have spent a bit of time off line working on learning / remembering / identifying what is the Mark Krug way of doing things.  Also the ship needed a lot of clean up and various bits and bobs put to right.

 

My midterm (freshman year) was to get those main stays configured and put into place.  All this was scratch - the Heller kit does not include any heart blocks.  I also reconfigured the marine walk a bit for the preventer stay.  Things seem to be coalescing well.

 

I rigged up everything off ship - just required the last seizing once installed.

Both main stays installed.  I am happy with the length to blocks and the look.  Unfortunately the loop seized to was a tad bit too low and got mostly lost in the grating.

Everything checks out.  I will be adding the stay to stay weave.

 

Now onto the fore stays.  These also will have open and closed hearts added.

Mark

[Malcolm Brown]

On 1/10/2024 at 3:39 PM, kruginmi said:

As I move into retirement (and the peasants rejoiced) I had wanted to spend some time focusing on rigging.  Well, I was given this Heller Victory with the hull pretty much done.  The backstory was the gentleman had passed away and this was picked up in an estate sale for next to nothing.  His work was superior and once I saw the hull I decided this was a good subject for my goal.  There was the inevitable broken components but that was largely confined to the royal masts and (of course) the jibboom.   The accompanying box of parts was incomplete but I have another 1.5 of these in the stash (bit of a story there).

I would have done some things differently (like the deck isn't painted) but for what I was going to use if for and for actual looks that was fine.  I have a friend that already has asked to have it upon completion for his library at home, which is perfect.  I have dissected the plans and have defined each and every line so am over that hump.  I did notice some differences to actual practice.  I have a set of the plans that Longridge uses in his book (thank you Uncle Leo) and have defaulted to that presentation where practical.  For example the foremast stays did not include the Breast Backstay so I am adding that.  Not going crazy or over the top but where it makes sense will make those changes (for example, will use the supplied plastic blocks).

I looked through my stash of 'rigging' line and have chosen to use 6 types.  The Heller supplied line is white and didn't want to dye.

So this morning after getting the remnants of the broken pieces removed and things prepped, went ahead and primed the necessary replacements.  I am using Vallejo acrylics.  It will be interesting to see how close I can get to the existing yellow shade.

I should be working on this at least 2 days a week at a minimum.  My first task is to scratch some open and closed hearts for the fore and main mast stays.  These seem pretty iconic and need to be there but aren't included in the kit.

Stay Building My Friends,

Mark

Hey Mark, your build is looking great and I’m looking forward to following your progress. I am working on the same model and about at the same stage as you - a little behind perhaps. You mention above about the decks not being painted. SInce they’re still relatively uncluttered, I’m wondering if it would be possible to apply a wash to the decking. Something that would flow easily into the cracks and crevices of the planking with the excess being wiped off. Btw, I am also about to start an MSW build log so pls stay tuned. Still navigating my way through the process.