HMS Victory by gieb8688 - Sergal - 1/78 - Restoration

[gieb8688]

Hello,

This is a restoration effort on the Sergal 1/78 scale HMS Victory originally constructed in the mid-1980's.  My Uncle originally constructed the ship and it has been in the family ever since.  As age caught up with my Uncle and dimentia started to take hold, he decided to do an "after the battle scene" and with a propane torch reduced the ship to what you see in some of the photos.

 

When I found the kit, my Aunt was getting ready to throw it in the trash.  Seeing that the hull was in pretty good shape, I knew I could not let the ship get thrown away.  After obtaining the original plans, extra parts and books I have begun the restoration. 

 

I have been a modeler for many years, but this is my first opportunity to work with wood ship kits.  Having read through some of the build logs on here before the crash, I know there is a lot of experience and knowledge here.  Feel free to let me know if you have any advice or direction. 

 

Thanks for following my restoration/build log!

Mark

[zeptraderUK]

wow, good luck, you started well....restoration is an understatement.

[captainscott]

Hello, looking forward to following your restoration/build log!

Scott

[Shipyard sid]

Greetings

This log is a must watch!!!!! Lets see you create something special for yourself, and will all watch you create it.

Best wishes DAVID

[Kevin]

lol - well you had better get on with it, good luck

 

even in it's sorry state it looks better than mine

[Sjors]

Hi Mark,

 

That's a huge job you have in front of you.

I will follow you.

I'm curious how this end.

 

Sjors

[gieb8688]

Thank you all for the words of support.  Leave it to a rookie to pick a First Rate restoration as their first project! ha ha  I am encouraged in this effort by the information and guidance provided by all of you.  Since I have to make most of the ship specific parts from scratch, it is extremely beneficial to have this resource available. 

 

Stay tuned..........more to come!

 

Mark

[gieb8688]

Updated progress pictures.  Tried to match the existing color through walnut stain and it came out a little darker than I had anticipated.  It blends with some sections of the bow, but not others.  I might refer back to my plastic modeling days and attempt dry brush to blend more consistently. 

[gieb8688]

Hello,

Not a whole lot of activity lately, however I have been able to complete work on the mast tops, stained the bowsprit and started the process of adding hardware to the bowsprit prior to installation.

Thanks,

Mark

[gieb8688]

Hello,

Finally feel like I am making progress!!  The original fittings for the bowsprit looked to me to be oversized, so I went back and installed slightly smaller fittings to get better proportions.  I thought it would be much better to try and make adjustments now rather than attempt to make them later.  Some smaller bits need to be installed, but I think the general layout is close.  Thanks to Gil Middleton and his pictures for helping me make sense of the configuration!  This is not a historically accurate model, but at least now the configuration and layout of the hardware is closer to what it should be. 

Thanks,

Mark

[Shipyard sid]

Hello

Well it's good to see you are making progress, and you seem happy with the way things are coming together, and to have Gil in

Your team is a massive asset . DAVID

[Sjors]

Hi Mark,

 

I agree with David.

It's good to see progress with your huge job.

It still hurts when I see the burned ship.

Keep on going!.

 

Sjors

[ocean clipper]

Hi Mark going to follow this build so far you are doing a remarkable job,keep the photos coming. DEREK

[gieb8688]

Hello,

Looks like it is finally time to start diving into the rigging!  Completed the gammoning but had a little struggle due to not cutting enough space in the saddle area.  I have a little overlap on some of the strands, but I think at this point I am going to leave well enough alone.  The gammoning turned out pretty good on the bottom, so no changes.  I have learned that trying to fix things sometimes just makes it worse!!

 

I also noticed that I have the blocks inverted under the bowsprit.  The holes should be up toward the knot.  Overall I am pretty happy with how things are turning out.  I also need to remind myself that there are a whole lot more lines and "bits" going on, so don't get too excited about the little things right now. 

 

Thanks,

Mark

[gieb8688]

Hello,

Here are a couple of pictures of recent activity.  Not much progress, but at least there is some progress!  Work has slowed down a little, but I am hoping to move to the shrouds next. 

Thanks,

Mark

[gieb8688]

I have been away for a while but that did not stop the work!

[ZyXuz]

you did a great work on the bowsprit, Mark..

 

I really love the burnt mark on the deck.. your uncle was a great modeller

[gieb8688]

Thanks ZyXuz!  It all had to be built from scratch so it was a little bit of a challenge. Starting on the shrouds now, so wish me luck!

[gieb8688]

Just a couple new pics for today.  Three quarter view of the model, plus starting on the shrouds. 

[gieb8688]

Finally finished the shrouds on the foremast along with some misc. standing rigging.  Moving on to the mainmast next.

[Shipyard sid]

Greeting Mark

Well done, it's looking excellent, and in such a short time. I am at about the same stage as yourself and your log will without doubt help me with my build. Actually your bowsprit has just confirmed something for me. Keep up the good work and just enjoy it ..DAVID

[Craigie65]

Hi

Just found your log. A huge task that you are doing so well in managing. Are you "weathering" the new parts to blend in?

 

I can see masks in the background of you pictures - do you have another build on the go?

[gieb8688]

David - Thanks for the encouragement!  Since this is a restoration I am sort of making it up as I go,  HMS Victory purists would be able to point out a million different things"not quite right", but I absolutely love this old ship and the character it has!  I am adding a couple of other pictures that may help you with the bowsprit.

 

Craig - Hello!  I am trying to blend the new parts with the old by experimenting with different stains, number of coats, etc.  So far it has come pretty close to matching the rest of the hull.  You can see where the parts are different, but overall I am very happy with how the new parts blend in.  The ship in the background is the USS Perry.  This will be another restoration once I get the HMS Victory back in shape. 

[gieb8688]

Hello,

Happy New Year to everyone!  I found some time to work on rigging over the holidays and here are the results.  After looking at some of the other build logs and my plans, I realized the placement of the forestay was not correct on the bowsprit.  Decided to go ahead and move them to the appropriate location before getting too far down the road.

Thanks,

Mark

[gieb8688]

Adding a few recent pictures of progress.  Holy cow are the shrouds time consuming!  Then again, maybe working smarter instead of harder would have helped! 

Thanks for looking,

Mark

[gieb8688]

It has been quite some time since my last post, but as you can see some progress has been made!  Clearly some cleaning is in order!! 

[Jerry]

Hello Mark,

 

Thank you for leading us to your build log.  You have a yeoman task  (no  pun intended) and I don't envy you.  Your task is so much harder than building the model from a new kit with all new and fresh parts.  I wish you the best  and will enjoy  following your progress.  By the way, David (Shipyard Sid) probably forgot that he visited your log years ago when you first started your project.  Now that you have supplied the link, I believe you'll hear from him  whenever it's necessary; he's very knowledgeable and helpful.  He certainly was to me.

Best,

Jerry

[gieb8688]

Greetings!

After a long period away from the shipyard, restoration work has resumed.  Finishing the standing rigging, boat davits, running rigging...........and all of the associated details that go along with it.  Happy to back and look forward to posting more on the restoration progress.

Thanks,

Mark

 

[gieb8688]

Finally finished the ratlines on the starboard side.  Purists would be able to point out errors, but I am happy with the results.  Also added some additional running rigging in the bowsprit area.  Now on to the port ratlines!

[gieb8688]

My progress has been pretty slow overall on this restoration, but there has been some recent progress on the rigging.  Not perfect by any means, but blends well with the original build quality.