HMS Victory by Yabuhebi (Chris) - Caldercraft - 1:72

[Yabuhebi]

I finished all of the gun port liners. I did go over some of them again to try and square them up, but opted to put a coat of primer on to bring out any issues easily. The dark woods tend to hide issues and as can be seen here, once everything is white, you can see where I may need to make accommodations.

 

I did notice that some of the 2nd planking doesn't fit tightly together. I know much of it will be hidden by the copper plates. And there are also gaps in the upper planking that will be visible.

 

I want to add one more coat of primer after this one dries and I have had a chance to quickly and lightly sand it in a few days.

Perhaps that coat and then the addition of the two different stripes will help to fill in some of the voids or at least smooth them out and make them less visible.

 

I also notice some of the wales are bulging out and will have to be sanded back a bit.

 

[Yabuhebi]

Been a while, but I have moved along. Not always for the best, in fact as I stand here today, I am both happy and very unhappy with progress so far.

 

Laid out the water line per the plans. Just jury rigged a pencil to a piece of wood and drew my lines after leveling the hull as best as possible. 

 

My error was the line at the bow. It follows the wales and while it looked ok before painting, looking at other builds after the fact it seemed to me that there needs to be more of the planking below the lower wale before the water line begins.

 

After painting, it was clear that I needed to fix that....

 

 

[Yabuhebi]

After taping off everything, began painting. I used my airbrush and began experimenting with various thinners I have in stock. I had tried Tamiya and that didn't seem to work well. Neither did AK, Vellejo or Real Color thinners. Ultimately after getting an email from Jotika suggesting I use water, that's what I went with and it seems to go well....just watch how thin you make it.

 

 

 

You can see here that the water line is too high at the bow. It needs to actually follow my planking that is barely visible here.

 

 

I re-taped the bow and fell like that will be more realistic. 

[Yabuhebi]

I taped off striping for the hull and then began laying down the first layer of yellow ochre.

 

Unfortunately, while cleaning the airbrush, the chucking nut that holds the needle in place fell on the floor.

This is the second time I've done that. Last time while painting my Titanic model and I never found it.

I did not find this one....I tried to paint without it, but the flow was too heavy. 

 

So I had to order a new one....ordered two this time. 

 

[Yabuhebi]

As I waited for that part, I took a stab at some other items.

 

I needed 7 grates and they went together pretty easily.

The first one, I installed all the grates for one side, then put a piece of masking tape over the whole piece to flip over.

 

I thought that was a good tactic but the tape keeps the assembly from moving, so if it isn't square, the next set of grates are harder to install.

 

After that, I removed the tape after flipping it and it went very easy after that.

 

Installing the coamings for the grates was a bit of a task. The plan required mitering of the corners. I didn't have anything to cut reliable angles, but I do have a full size band saw with a small 1/4" blade but I don't have any slides for cutting angle.

 

So the first grating I just cut everything at 90 degree angles. It worked fine.

 

I ordered a cheap cutter and it came the next day. I cut 2 or 3 pieces of 3mmx4mm walnut and the blade broke. In addition, it cut lousy angles and it was impossible to see my cutting lines.

 

I ordered a more expensive wooden version of a cutter and while I haven't used it yet, it appears to be a higher quality.

 

I finished all the gratings with the plastic cutter and filled any gaps with wood putty.

 

 

Making the stairs was hell itself.

The instructions suggest the ideal tactic is to make a jig. 

I do not believe you can do this without using a jig. The treads at 1mm in thickness just do not easily fit into the side rails without a bit of force.

 

You can see just below the 3 stairs I did. The middle one was my first non jig attempt. It is a horror to look at.

The one on the right was with the jig, but I took it out too soon. The pressure created by the tightly fitting treads pushed the whole thing a part and the side rails broke trying to get humpty dumpty back together again.

The left one, I left in till the glue set up better. My fear is that once dry, I wouldn't be able to get the stairs out. So it's a dance to get it out at the right moment.

 

My only saving grace is that these stairs are mostly hidden under the upper deck which is mostly hidden by the quarter deck....and they will prepare me for what I need to do for the stairs on the quarter and top decks which will be very visible.

 

[Yabuhebi]

Got my chucking nut and laid down the yellow ochre.

 

After finishing it and removing the tape, I was semi happy with the striping. 

There are a lot of pictures here because I tried different camera modes to try an capture the correct colors.

 

I thought the final painting was going to solve my concerns over the quality of the hull work thus far.

I did not. I only made the flaws and gaps much more noticeable. It was just too much to handle.

 

I've said elsewhere, this kit is VERY DIFFICULT. I don't think I was fully prepared for the hurdles I was going to have to jump through.

In retrospect, I should have tackled a less difficult model to gain experience in planking and the yet to come rigging.

Is this model ok for on the job learning? I don't know. The Trumpeter Titanic was the same way, so many pieces, so much small detail on a 1/200 scale ship.

 

The nice thing about this model is the quality of the manuals. Detailed and plainly written...while in contrast Trumpeter's was 20 or so pages of pictures, no words.

 

Also, the Titanic model has many quality YouTube builder logs that I was able to follow while doing my model. There are very few Caldercraft specific Victory YouTube logs, I have watched all of them and still continue to search. There are certainly many other wooden ship models that have helped with specific tasks and I continue to search and save.

 

Either way, I will press on, but am less than happy with certain aspects of my work. 

 

[Yabuhebi]

So after stressing and mulling, I broke out my filler and went crazy.

I bought little sanding 'sticks' with the sanding material glued to the ends and filled every gap and crevice I could find.

 

Then sanding, sanding and more sanding. Once done, I had to re-tape everything, painting the yellow ochre then waiting for it to dry and doing the black.

 

[Yabuhebi]

After the taping and painting which I did my brush this time, I was left with a little bit of leakage that I had to carefully touch up.

 

Did it help? A little. Other than starting from scratch, ripping all the wales and lids away, sanding smooth and starting again, this was my only choice.

 

[Yabuhebi]

I added the red ochre to the port side gun liners. Again a little more paint touch up and another once over of the yellow and black and I think I am going to call the port side done.

I will do the starboard side tomorrow....

 

 

 

Installed the coamings and gratings and they look fine...or grate?!!

[Yabuhebi]

I finished touching up the gunports. I still have some minor spots to get at and needed to flip the hull upside down to get the 'top gun ports'

 

I didn't get any pictures of where I am so far but decided to start the copper plating. I started at 1:59pm in the first pic and the 2nd pic at 5:43pm.

 

I took about 30 minutes or so in the middle to eat lunch and check some other builds and my books to make sure I had a plan in place for laying out the tiles.

 

So 5 rows in about 3-3.5 hours. I'll see you when it's done!!!! 

 

 

Edited April 11 by Yabuhebi

[RossR]

Good luck with the copper plates.  Can’t wait to see it when you are done.  

[Yabuhebi]

Over the past 3 weeks, I have spent about 2-4 hours at a sitting working on the copper plates. I did begin filling in some of the stealer plates, but I used regular scissors to cut them (which works, they cut easily) but they do bend a bit and when I installed them, they didn't look very clean.

 

I stopped installing more partial plates and concentrated on full plates only. Once I am done, I will go back and tackle the partials. I removed any of the partials that I did that looked bad. 

 

I also have a bit of a gap between the hull and the keel on the port side nearer the stern. I should have filled this in before. It will be visible when done, but nothing more I can do other than remove those plates and fill the gap. We'll see....

 

I finished the port side and I'm working on the starboard side. However the weather has finally turned for the better up in the northeast US and I have been concentrating on getting my boat in the water. I guess you see that a lot in builder logs....huge gaps between spurts. 

 

I also started working on the cannons as a break. I would do 4 or so courses of plates and then remove five cannons and build the bases. I don't have any pictures of that. So far, that is pretty standard work. Cutting out the carriages, axles and wheels is fairly easy, the stock is thick and does require a bit of power to cut through the sprue to get them free.

 

I sanded all of the carriages and axles to remove any fuzz. I also drilled out the holes for the bed bolt. The factory holes are a bit smaller than the 1mm wire provided. I created a crude jig for the fitting the carriages and axles together. Just some small blocks glued to a larger piece of wood to hold the carriages apart while adding the 2 axles.

 

Having seen some builders add a wire loop to the back of the cannon to hold the breaching wires. I like that. I'm thinking I would run all 30 cannons through a piece of wire to hold them all upright and then seeing if my looper pliers can create a small enough loop to suit the task. 

 

...that's down the road a bit, but I think that doing a few different tasks when working on something like copper plating or planking helps to keep the builder motivated.

[Yabuhebi]

 

In between cutting the grass, power washing the winter away and other stuff that is supposed to be fun....I have tried to plug away on Victory.

 

I think I am very close, maybe a few more rainy days away from finishing the full copper plating. Once done, I will concentrate of adding the little wedges and edges. I want to be sure they are as perfect as I can make them....or as perfect as my fingers will let me!

 

[kiwiron]

Looking good. Small medic type scissors work well for the small pieces. Yes you will stick those pieces into your fingers. 

[Yabuhebi]

I have also been building the 30 cannons for the upper deck. 

 

I have 15 bases done. I have cut out the remaining pieces (except the wedges for the cannons...they seem very fragile and I expect I will be creating a lot of them on my own).

 

I have left all the wheels for later, I've seen where builders have strung them on a wire and sanded them all together. That sounds like a plan I'll try.

 

After sanding all the sides and axles, I use a basic jig to build the bases. I also drill out the holes for the bed bolt brass wire. The wire is about 1mm and he hole is about not 1mm, so it needs a bit of widening. 

 

I do 5 at a time because my patience begins to wander. There is still a lot to do. I have to create or use kit pieces for all of the eyelets on the cannons and the interior walls. I have to learn how to rig the tackles and breaching tackles and more. I have to blacken everything and create jigs to consistently line up the final cannons. So exciting! 

 

My hope is that as this will be my first attempt at creating the blocks  and seizing the lines for the tackles and it will prepare me for future more complicated rigging tasks.

 

 

[Yabuhebi]

5 minutes ago, kiwiron said:

Looking good. Small medic type scissors work well for the small pieces. Yes you will stick those pieces into your fingers. 

I have a set of those from a previous model. I was planning on trying them out. I did try using an exacto knife for a few, that worked well too, but was very labor intensive and had a greater risk of cutting what's left of my finger tips off. 

 

Thanks for the tip!!!!!

Chris

[kiwiron]

A magnifier on a stand is good for those tiny blocks.

[Yabuhebi]

Still here!!! Been slowly cutting tiles to finish the water line. I spend an hour or so every few days, but we're getting close.

 

I do have a set of very small surgical and sharp cutting scissors that work well. I just have to smooth out any curl with a wooden dowel sometimes.

I also have one of the large magnifier lights from Harbor Freight that I have clamped to my workbench. I don't need to use it to see, but it provides extra light when I am working.

 

Right now, I am trying to think how I'll 'finish/smooth' out the line between the copper plates and wooden hull. I thought the best, creative way would be to use a small strip of wood, perhaps 1mm square and route a groove on one side for the copper plating to lay under. That isn't possible with the tools I have.

 

I think I may end up taping the plating and painting the exposed area black. It may paint some of the plates on the very upper edge, but will make the line clean. I also have to touch up some of the gaps in the copper plating. A local hobby shop sells Tamiya copper paint. I am going to get that and see how close it matches. If not, I will get a some of the other brands, Vellejo, AK, etc. I am sure one is very close.

 

I also screwed up on one side where the keel runs up to create the bow. Instead of running the plates horizontal on the bow (parallel to the water line), I had them follow the bottom keel, so there is a row of plates that go up (almost perpendicular to the rest of the plates). It looks terrible, but now the problem is that I feel like I am very close to having just enough plates to finish and no more.

 

I have not wasted many, so they must provide enough to do the hull with a few extras, but not a ton. I am going to do the other side so that all plates continue on parallel to the water line. If after I do that and fill in all the little slivers and have enough, I will redo the other side.

 

If I have to sacrifice the plates that cover the very bottom of the keel, I will do that!

 

....sorry, no picture of what I am talking about, but I will provide it. Just too lazy to walk downstairs and take it!

[Yabuhebi]

The first pic was my failed attempt at running the copper plating along the bottom keel.

I have removed all those plates and re-installed following the water line. They look much better.

 

I am not sure if I will have enough plating to do the bottom of the keel and the rudder. No worries, I ordered another 100 from JoTika. They are relatively cheap, about 12 pounds....whatever that is in USD!!!!! They actually shipped it out today.

 

I also bought some copper paint from our local craft/hobby store. I decided to go with Tamiya and it is surprisingly close.

I see a few spaces and gaps and I painted them and then wiped away the excess. I will circle back when it dries and do it again.

I also pained the bow keel ridge before adding the base plates.

 

I was hoping I would be able to bend those plates so that they fit over the keel, but there is barely enough there.

I do have a PE bender, but there just isn't enough meat to bend them. I was thinking maybe to just install flat and use a wooden dowel to bend them down....not sure if that will look good, so I will check.

 

Honestly, once I turned the boat back right side up, you can barely see a lot of the issues I have with my plating, which is encouraging. I am also happy to see that none of the grating fell off.

 

So I will tweak the plating with paint, and re-paint the black water line to clean everything up. I will also do one more touch up of the ports before forgetting I ever worked on them!

 

I am also thinking ahead as to how I am going to make sure the lower gun port cannon holes are all parallel and in line. Since my gun ports do not seem to be consistent in size, I am going to have to think about another way to do that.

 

Perhaps draw a string tight across the hull from front to back making sure the string is in the middle and using that as a guide. I think if I can get them all even horizontally, I can do what is needed to alter their stance/direction in each port so they line up. We shall see!!!!

 

I have also been working on the cannon bases. I also took a first stab at adding a ring to the cannons for the breaching ropes. I have done 3 and they seem ok.

 

Thanks for all the likes and encouragement!

Chris

[JFMJr]

On 6/8/2024 at 9:30 AM, Yabuhebi said:

Still here!!! Been slowly cutting tiles to finish the water line. I spend an hour or so every few days, but we're getting close.

 

I do have a set of very small surgical and sharp cutting scissors that work well. I just have to smooth out any curl with a wooden dowel sometimes.

I also have one of the large magnifier lights from Harbor Freight that I have clamped to my workbench. I don't need to use it to see, but it provides extra light when I am working.

 

Right now, I am trying to think how I'll 'finish/smooth' out the line between the copper plates and wooden hull. I thought the best, creative way would be to use a small strip of wood, perhaps 1mm square and route a groove on one side for the copper plating to lay under. That isn't possible with the tools I have.

 

I think I may end up taping the plating and painting the exposed area black. It may paint some of the plates on the very upper edge, but will make the line clean. I also have to touch up some of the gaps in the copper plating. A local hobby shop sells Tamiya copper paint. I am going to get that and see how close it matches. If not, I will get a some of the other brands, Vellejo, AK, etc. I am sure one is very close.

 

I also screwed up on one side where the keel runs up to create the bow. Instead of running the plates horizontal on the bow (parallel to the water line), I had them follow the bottom keel, so there is a row of plates that go up (almost perpendicular to the rest of the plates). It looks terrible, but now the problem is that I feel like I am very close to having just enough plates to finish and no more.

 

I have not wasted many, so they must provide enough to do the hull with a few extras, but not a ton. I am going to do the other side so that all plates continue on parallel to the water line. If after I do that and fill in all the little slivers and have enough, I will redo the other side.

 

If I have to sacrifice the plates that cover the very bottom of the keel, I will do that!

 

....sorry, no picture of what I am talking about, but I will provide it. Just too lazy to walk downstairs and take it!

Awesome