HMS Victory by gil middleton - FINISHED - Caldercraft - 1:72

[gil middleton]

A slow restart, but I share the angst with our administrators/moderators.  Gentlemen, our hats are off to you for your untireing efforts to get us all up and running again.

 

A few weeks ago, I upgraded my computer from Windows XP to Windows 7, backing up all my photos on CD's.  On start up on Windows 7, I inserted the CD's to download the photos;  BLANK DISC!!!  Over 1000 photos of three model ships gone.  After getting up off the floor, I called my son, a computer programmer with Microsoft, who after a couple hours recovered every photo.  However, they are now in complete random order.  After sorting them out into some kind of order, I'll begin to put together a new build log.  Cheers, Gil

 

I plan to organize the new build log according to the following index.  I may need some help in indexing the posts.

 

1.     Bulkheads, Clamping and rough planking, Fairing the Hull.    

2.     Painting    

3.     Coppering, Coppering Jig   

4.     Decking,  Weathering      

5.     Upper Gun Deck,  Cannons, Deck Beams   

6.     Quarterdeck,  Cannons,  Chain plates

7.     Water Buckets  

8.     Quarter Galleries

9.     Lining Gun Ports, Gun Port Lids, Side Entrance  

10.   Hammock Nets  

11.   Bow,  Cat Heads

12.   Stern

13.   Anchors

14.   Bow Sprit

15.   Masts

16.   Standing Rigging

17    Forestays and Preventers  

18.   Rat Lines   

19.   Running Rigging and Yards

20.   Photo Backdrop  (1/3 down in post)

21.   Splicing

22.   Serving Line

23.   Rope Coils  

24.   Miscelanious Details

25.   Anchors, Revisited

26.   Ship's Boats

Edited January 10, 2015 by gil middleton
Links Added

[dafi]

Happy to see you back too even though all the obstacles!

 

Daniel

[mtaylor]

Gil,

I'm happy you made your way back here.  Even happier that you're one of the few (very few) who was able to recover from such a disaster on a home PC.

[WackoWolf]

I also am glad you made it back, and that you can re-do your log. To me your log is a set by step for the Victory. Even though I have most of the pictures, it will be nice to have the post and this time I will make sure I make a backup for myself.

[romiol]

Hi Gil

 

I'm so happy that you are back here too. And you are lucky to have a son who was able so safe you all those "lost" pictures!! I'm looking forward seeing them again in this great forum.

 

Cheers and good luck

Rosmarie

[ocean clipper]

Welcome back Gill your log is going to be the icing on the victory cake.DEREK S

[jc123]

Gil,

 

Just like to add my appreciation that you will be taking the time to reinstate your build log.

It's been such a great source of guidance and, when things go wrong, of inspiration.  

 

Cheers

 

Jim

[gjdale]

Hi Gil,

 

Nice to see you back and great news that you were able to recover all of your photos!  I hope it's not too long before you get your posts back up to date so that I can continue to follow a couple of steps behind, learning from you as I go.

[Patrick Haw]

Gil,

 

So very happy to have you back, and even happier that your photos of your Victory survived.  I'm sure I join many others here in saying that your Victory is the quintessential Caldercraft build.

 

Looking forward to your pictures being back up and your future progress.

 

Patrick

[Jerry]

Hello, Gil... Thank you for running a log.  I am new to this site and am now anxiously awaiting delivery of my HMS Victory (Caldercraft) kit.  I look forward to following your build and to learn everything I can from your experience.  I so much appreciate this site and can't express how much interest I have mustered since discovering it.  Good luck to you.

Jerry

[Shipyard sid]

Gil

Well aren't we all very lucky !!! You are on the way back. The best off luck with your log rebuild, seems every body has been looking out for you. Regards DAVID

[Kevin]

Hi Gil

 

LOL - about time

 

what took you so long

 

Welcome back 

[mort stoll]

Hi Gil,

 

Welcome back. Glad to hear you were able to recover your log. Your log is priceless. Now you know why god invented children. The other reason was grandchildren.

 

Be well my friend,

Mort

[gil middleton]

Thanks you all for the warm welcome back to MSW.   I'll try to rebuild the log near to the original form, however, the sequence may change in order to deal with specific areas from start to finish.  I've learned a great deal from many of you and value your comments.

 

Fortunately, our many online friendships were not lost with the crashed hard drive.  Cheers, Gil

[gil middleton]

INTRODUCTION

 

 

My choice of ship models comes from a lifetime of sailing and having been aboard each of the three vessels.  My brother, sister and I bought our first sailboat around 1944 with money earned from paper routes.  I was 11.  Later, I served in the Royal Canadian Navy (Reserve) for eleven years, and then the United States Navy (Medical Corps) for two years, directing the Plastic, Reconstructive and Hand  Surgery unit at the Balboa Naval Hospital, San Diego. After retiring from private practice, my wife and I took our boat offshore for three years and 30,000 miles.  Hence the Cutty Sark (Billing) 2002-2004, the USS Constitution (Model Shipway) 2004-2008 and the HMS Victory (JoTika) 2008 to the present.

 

1.     BULKHEADS THROUGH ROUGH PLANKING

 

Not much original material here.  We've all been there.  While I started the model in 2008, I didn't take many photos until discovering the Model Ship World web site in 2010.  Posting photograghs to that date, I was astounded by over 1,000 views in the first week and even more so by over 300,000 when our web site crashed.  However, we all started with the basics.

 

 

At this stage, holes were drilled for the future pedestal supports, adding wood on each side of the center piece for extra support. I apologize but I can't remember who suggested epoxying a nut into the framework to receive a long bolt for mounting, a much better idea.

 

Rough first planking of double planked hull.  Planks were bent by first soaking in water, then using a soldering iron and wood base to form to the desired shape.  This worked much better than my previous method of boiling the planks and then bending and tacking to a planned shape.

 

Aligning panels.

 

Fairing before coppering

 

Used grey primer which showed depressions and irregularities, and allowed drawing individual rows of copper plating and belts of 5 or 6 rows.

 

For the Constitution, I made a jig to work on the model inverted by using dowels sized and angled to fit the mast holes.  For the Victory, I simply changed the dowels.

Edited February 22, 2013 by gil middleton

[Mecheleir]

My favourite Victorybuilder is back,thank u very much Gil...

[Mecheleir]

such a nice build...

Edited February 22, 2013 by Mecheleir

[gil middleton]

1.    PAINTING

 

The decision was made to use only water based paint since the "Kirkland Shipyard" is our den/office.  Hence there would be no oil based paint or thinner, no air brushing nor signifigant sanding (Garage only).  All painting was by hand.  Water based paint somewhat limits colors and requires experimentation to find the desired shade.  I used Polyscale Acrylics from Testor with the following mixures:

 

Black............. Engine Black (no mixing)

 

Red Ochre......equal parts Soo Line Red with EL Yellow

 

Yellow Ochre...four parts Orange/Yellow to one part Wood

 

Of course we are all aware of the profound difference in color produced by lighting, camera settings, etc. (examples follow)

 

Below, "Kirkland Shipyard"

 

Lining upper gun deck ports.

 

The base support seen in the previous photo is a simple rig used for three model ships, changing only the felt lined side supports. The sketch was a one minute scribble on a telephone pad.  Perhaps I'll come back and upgrade the drawing.

 

Painting the ship's side with the lighter color first.  Wood was prepared by sanding.  A first coat of paint raises the grain and is followed by sanding and further coats.

 

Adding the black bands, aided by 3M Fine Line Tape #218 masking.

 

Color variations from lighting. The central area is close to the real color while the right  side is closer to the light source..

 

Natural light, although rather dark, color close to real life..

 

Natural light. Slightly  lighter than real life.

 

Photo lighting. Appears bright yellow.  Of course with flash lighting, all bets are off.

 

Lining the gun ports.  For the lower and middle gun decks, the ports must be lined inside out.  The plywood panelling already being in place takes away acces from the inside.  I devised a small tool for lining the ports.  Again a telephone pad scribble.  Actually, I placed a shelf level with the gun port opening, and then placed the prepainted  lining about 1 mm recessed, producing a clean line between colors.  However, same tool.  

 

 

 

 

[gil middleton]

3.    COPPERING

 

 

JoTika provided individual copper plates with simulated nails on all four sides.  The result when placed side to side was two rows of nails with a theoretical gap for invading toredos (ship worm).  This photo is from the JoTika on line illustrations with the double nail rows.

 

Originally, copper plates were introduced with iron nails until it was discovered that the more noble copper and less noble iron in a bath of salt water, set up elecrolysis, eating away the nails until the copper plates fell off.  Hence copper nails.  It is my understanding that the plates were overlapped with a single row of nails holding the plates. Hence, I used copper tape with adhesive backing, cut to equal length by the chopper, and placed on predrawn lines.  Five or six rows of copper plates became a belt and these met with slight overlapping. When coppering was done, a ponce wheel was used to simulate the nails since elevations and depressions look remarkably similar to the naked eye. 

 

Using the chopper, very light pressure on the blade cut the copper but not the paper backing, leaving the plates attached to the paper backing.  Then each plate could be removed for placement.

 

Placing copper plate on predrawn line.

 

Coppering completed

 

Effect of ponce wheel to simulate nails

[WackoWolf]

I remember seeing this before the crash, look just as beaaautiful as before. I like seeing things done again, they seem to stick in my head a little more. Keep the post and pictures coming. I started watching this before he crash and intend to watch all the way to the end.

[gil middleton]

4.    DECKING

 

I chose to weather the decks, each slightly more weathered than the one below.  "Weather-it" was used , experimenting with different concetrations and time of exposure.

There are some beautiful decks on models with prominent trunl's (tree nails).  They add a "wow" factor and make for a great presentation. However, they are really artistic license.  Please don't jump on me.  I love to see them and we all take artistic license from time to time since ship modelling is really three dimensional art.  However, if one is trying to mimic reallity, trunl's would barely be seen except close up, or on a newly decked ship. The grain of the trunl is generally lined up with the grain of the plank, they weather the same from salt and sun and while they are visible, they usually don't stand out. The following is a photo from the real ship.

 

I prefer individual planks rather than long strips of wood with scoring, in order to abtain the varigated appearance of differing texture and coloring between planks.  Weathering of the upper gun deck (done with long planks since mostly hidden).

 

I'll return to the upper gun deck but for now continue with decking on the quartdeck.  Quarterdeck before decking.

 

Individual planks for decking have been weathered. A strip of natural wood seen below the ruler.  Bottom of photo, experimenting with time of exposure and dilution.

 

Planks assorted according to width

 

Beginning planking with center line reference plank.

 

Finished planking. (no edge darkening was used)

 

Polyacrylic coating on deck produced an unwanted sheen.  This was followed by a coat of flat clear acrylic for better effect.(not shown)

 

Marked difference seen between unweathered poop deck (planked before weathering) and weathered quarterdeck

 

Masking for weathering.

 

Quarterdeck and poop deck.

 

 

[UdoK]

Hi Gil, I'am glad that you are back. I used to follow your Victory on the old MSW as your buildlog is always a treasure trove for inspirations and great ideas.

Thank you!!

[gil middleton]

Hi Mecheleir, Wack Wolf (Joe??) and Edward.Thanks for looking in. I haven't been following other logs yet, but look forward to that after I finish bringing this one up to date.  Cheers, Gil

[gil middleton]

5.    UPPER GUN DECK,  RIGGING CANNONS

 

Returning to the upper gun deck.  The previous build log tended to jump around a bit, with whatever I was working on at the time.  Perhaps another benefit of the new format is that one can organize the log in a more coherant path. One area at a time.

 

Beginning with preparing cannons and carriages.  Cannons lacked breech rings which were fashioned from wire islets.

 

Beginning to rig tackle for the cannons

 

Prototype.  Note breech ring on cannon and side ring bolts on carriage.

 

Rigging breech ropes for recoil

 

Plans call for simply flat planking for the ceiling (inboard lining of the hull), while on the real ship, the inner lining concists of a waterway, stringer, ceiling and beam shelf.

 

Making block and tackle.The stropping line encloses an eyelet (for the hook).

 

Siezing the block in the bight ("splice")

 

Tail left for tackle.Double block on right, stropped with only hook

 

Hooks supplied seemed too large (center).  Smaller hooks made from eye bolts or even smaller with dark annealed wire.

 

Completed upper gun deck.  I probably seems silly to rig all the guns when only a few will be visible.  But we will know they are ready.  .

 

A beam placed forward

 

Additional beams. Long plank used for alignment of beams following the sheer.

 

Mast rings supplied were inadequate.  They fractured at the cross grain with any attempt to sand or shape.

 

Making mast rings with styrene strip.  Suggest forming or bending styrene before glueing or painting.  After, it becomes brittle and frequently cracks or breaks. In the third photo, left:  residual circle. center: cut to fit the mast.  right: ring completed with C/A glue.  Fourth photo,  two mast rings painted and in place.

 

Painting skid beams

 

Skid beams in place with deck before planking.

 

Quarterdeck in place. (Not glued)

 

Uprights trimmed and cut down leaving thin upright to support inner bulworks.

 

Foredeck showing short uprights for bulwork support.  Deck planking proceeding.

 

Lining foredeck gun ports.

 

Aft quarterdeck. Uprights trimmed at bulworks.

 

Lining aft gun ports before inboard and outboard planking.  Planking painted before glueing in place.

 

Inboard planking aft Inboard planking foredeck, Inner planking foredeck Inboard and outboard planking aft., Completed planking.

 

Cap rails

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gil middleton]

6.    QUARTERDECK DETAILS

 

 

Top of belfry painted to simulate weather stressed copper sheeting.

 

Ladder between upper gun deck and quarterdeck.

 

Line secured to stantion below deck before quarterdeck placed, to guide thehand rail to the lower stantion for glueing.

 

Ring handles on doors.

 

Quarterdeck cannons.

 

Binnacle with 2 compasses and wheel with steering rope.

 

Close up.  One should dust before taking close ups.  Note two gimbled compasses with compass cards in the binnacle.

 

Forward bollards.

 

Foredeck

 

Rigging cannons.

 

Aft cannons and prototype.

 

Rope coils.  Line wrapped around polyethyene (glue won't stick).  Painted with very dilute white glue, about 1:10 with water, dried and removed, then crushed gently between thumb and index finger to appear more natural.

 

Fully rigged.

 

Poop deck.  More detailing on the inboard bulworks.

 

Flag locker. More artistic licence.  Canvass would be over the flag locker but then that would hide all the pretty signal flags.

 

Ladder to the poop deck and creating the angles in the hand rail

[gil middleton]

7.    FIRE BUCKETS

 

Water buckets on the real ship carried the royal logo on each bucket.  They were black or brown depending on when the photos were taken.

 

Rather than rigging individual buckets, they were glued and painted onto the decorative beam.

 

Color changed to brown for more pleasing contrast.  Rigging bucket straps.

 

Hand drawn royal crest.  A very simple drawing since it will be miniturized.

 

Between the scanner, computer and printer, the color was corrupted from a brown background to a purple tint.  After adjusting the color on the computer, a prototype was made.  I experimentee with dry transfer technique, but the irregular surface was a problem.  Eventually, used a wet transfer decal.  The logos were printed on decal paper and tranfered to the fire buckets.

 

Closer view.  Two gimbled compasses with compass cards seen in binnacle.

 

 

[gjdale]

Love the way you've re-posted your log Gil. It's a real treat to re-read and a reminder of some great tips and techniques along the way. I'm still going cross-eyed with ratlines, so by the time your are up to date and moving forward, I should be ready to follow along just behind you.

[gil middleton]

8.    QUARTER GALLERIES

 

Brass detail for the quarter galleries (above).  Lower detail painted yellow ochre with styrene inserts painted black before glueing to obtain clean lines.

 

Styrene spacers (painted black) between windows.  Clamping and glueing.  Each level planked for flooring.

 

Quarter galleries.  Some filling was required where galleries join the side planking.

[gil middleton]

9.    GUN PORT LIDS, SIDE ENTRANCE,  DETAILS,  CHANNELS AND CHAIN PLATES

 

Side entry.  A poor start with the wrong position of the canopy.  Thank goodness for "Un-Cur."  With patience,
C/A can be disolved.  Repairs were underway and preparations taken for the components including steps and fenders.

 

Exterior trim.  In this close up of the supplied wood scroll, sanding and painting did not produce a satisfying result. Brass wire was bent into a scroll and glued on a base of styrene, giving a much better result.

 

A rubber band was rigged to align the exterior trim before and after the gun ports

 

Horizontal trim fit to fenders and gun ports.

 

Channels and chain plates.

 

Placing the channel with a min-level for glueing

 

Channel and chain plates.  Chain were aligned with furture shrouds.

 

Gun port lids.  Wood strips were added to match the wales at each gun port lid, hence individual numbering.  When closed, the contour of the wales is passed through each gun port lid.

 

Wood strips trimmed.

 

Interior, red ochre.  Exterior, black.  Contours to match the wales.

 

Adding ring bolts, hinges and central hatch.

 

Attaching lanyards by eye splice to ring bolts. Not original but simple.  Passing the thread back through itself a couple times, pulling on the working end of the thread to close the bight and a touch of C/A. A simulated eye splice.

 

Two lanyards attached.

 

Small angled stick to align gun port lids

 

Rigging lanyards

 

Another splice

 

Real ship gun port lid

 

Model

 

 

[gil middleton]

10.    HAMMOCK NETS

 

Experimenting with black Tulle, netting for ladies hats.  Numerous trials with other colors were ineffective:  White (not visible enough), Stained with tea or wood stain (inneffective), Biege (too pink).  On the real ship, they have been white or black again depending on the time photos were taken.).jpg]

 

Prototype.

 

Rigging nets with small board to contour nets.  Support ropes at top are dark annealed wire, in order to control shape with slight sag in the line.

 

Lacing the netting to the "support rope" (wire), followed by lacing to the hand rail., Using the board to shape the net.

 

Examples from midships, poop deck and fore deck.