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

[Jim Lad]

Just caught up with what you're doing, Gil - beautiful work, mate!

 

John

[mtaylor]

Gil,

Your excellent work on the rigging continues.  Just wonderful to see.    I hope all went well (or will go well) with your wife's surgery.  I'm playing catch up on MSW as my wife just had a shoulder replacement.

[Kevin]

Gil what colour did you use on the captains entrance canopy, i have used a light grey (intact grey primer) to simulate what i guess must be lead.

[fnkershner]

Gil - What can I say that hasn't been said? I think by now you would make a good Mid on the real ship. I also hope someday in the future we in PSSM get to help you christen her. Since she can not come to us we will gladly come to her.

[DBorgens]

Gil,

I'll bring the champagne to the launch. Better to drink than break it anyway. I follow your log for inspiration and am not disappointed. Keep posting, 'cause she's beautiful.

[gil middleton]

Floyd,  You're on for the christening, but don't get too excited.  I'm guessing another year with all the yards and booms to go.  Just getting to the boomkins (I was afraid I would knock them off before this). Then little details, anchors, etc., etc.

In the mean time, the "Far Out" is supposed to be in "spit and polish" condition for the Seattle Opening Day celebration May 4 for the real admirals. However, with all the rain, I may not even get to the varnish. Photos: A previous Opening Day, and where she'd like to be.

 

Kevin,  For the Captain's entrance canopy, I used Model Master Flat Natural Grey Acrylic. Very similar to what you did, just because it looked right, plus English Oak stain on the frame.

 

Mark, Thanks for your concern. Appreciated by Judy.  All went well today, although I'd rather have a knee rebuilt than have a shoulder replacement.

 

John,  I can't pronounce "mate" the proper way, but the meaning is the same, and thank you.

 

Popeye, Augie and Sjors:  I'm impressed with true craftsmen who can take a piece of wood or metal and turn out a fine fitting. Not my forte. I think of ship modelling as three dimentional art.  Tried oil painting years ago, but gave it up when I was constantly interrupted with emergency calls.

My dad ran a small fleet of wood frieghters carrying news print from the pulp and paper mills on the British Columbia coast to Seattle. When he retired, I gave him this from a postcard size photo. The "Border King" in the foreground, a small logging operation on shore with a sawdust burner, and the coast range in the background. A quiet anchorage. Money trees and Cat Tails. Abandoned fish trawler on the BC coast.

 

Michael, You are too kind. I will acknowledge that the present ship is turning out better than the first.

 

Keith, Thank Tammy for me. Clearly, she has good taste.

 

Lawrence, On the gun port hinges, they were bent with simple forcepts.  However, the following telephone pad drawing explains.  The hinges were glued to the lid, setting them back 1 mm. to equal the inset from the ships planking to the gun port lining.  This resulted in a secure fitting for glue to retain the lids with the hinges in contact with the hull.

 

Dave, The launching sounds better and better.

 

Cheers, Gil

[themadchemist]

I really love the colours of your "A quiet anchorage". Sunset painting are one of my favorites. I can almost smell the ocean....

[Kevin]

thank you Gil

[fnkershner]

Gil! Sawdust burner? Those are called Wigwam Burners! I didn't think anyone would remember then. Growing up in the Pacific Northwest all lumber and plywood mills had one. They would be 20 to 30 ft. tall and shaped like a Teepee with a dome shaped metal screen over the top. They were used to burn most of the scrapes left over from the mill. At night you could drive around and find the metal glowing from the heat of the fire. We would drive out to the nearest mill just to see the sparks that lit up the sky.

 

My first job in the computer field was at a lumber mill. I was inside with the air conditioning while guys my age were outside in the sawdust, noise, and dangerous surroundings. It is probably what made me finish College. 

[gil middleton]

Keith,  It's my favorite time of day with a wee dram of scotch.

Floyd, "Wigwam burners?"  I was never up close.  Always just off the shore passing in a boat. However, there were a lot of them up the coast.

[capnharv2]

If we're talking the same thing, there was one of those burners on Whidbey Island, on the road to Langley. I don't know if it's still there-it's been a few years.

 

Thanks,

 

Harvey

[themadchemist]

a wee dram of scotch or a snifter of brandy and a beautiful sunset over water. Paradise!

 

Has anyone seen this (most likely, since I'm still new) I still can't get over this carving

http://www.contemporarysculptor.com/victory-model.htm

[WackoWolf]

 

themadchemist, thanks for the link. That must have been a heck of a lot of time and effort that he put into all the carving, the man has a lot of skill.

[gil middleton]

Keith, Many thanks for the link. Incredible work which shows the limits of our expertise.

 

Making small steps with perhaps a half of the running rigging completed.

Preparing the netting over the bees, using blackTulle.  24 gage dark annealed wire was used for the supporting lines, glued to the tulle and the excess netting trimmed off.

Netting in place

Photo showing Spritsail sheet and clue line and bowsprit topsail sheet and clue line.  Also spritsail yard brace and topsail yard brace.

Foremast lower yard clue line and block (just under the yard); tack line leading forward to the bumpkin and sheet running aft to hull.

Starboard bumpkin. Tack line leading to outer kevel at foredeck.

Lines attached at timberheads at the beakhead.

Foremast lower yard clue block, sheet block (aft) and tack block (fwd). Real ship.

Sheet originating from an eyebolt on the hull, terminating through the hull to a cleat on the upper gun deck.

Top mast yard sheet and clue line.

Stb'd and Port bumpkins.

Spritsail yard lift originating from the cap and returning to pass through a block at the cap.

Lines terminating at the timberheads at the beakhead.

Lines terminating at the timberheads at the belfry

[gjdale]

More fabulous work Gil. I love reading your updates - they keep me on my toes about what's coming up next for me.

[Kevin]

Thank you Gil for your latest update, absolutely wonderful work

[Blue Ensign]

Love those head shots of your Victory Gil, your rigging is a thing of beauty.

 

You commented a while back about  the thought of a press ganged farmer sent up the rigging.

 

I think this is mainly the stuff of Hollywood, your farmer would be a waister until he proved himself, hauling, scrubbing,  and any number of  routine tasks requiring  muscle.

 

The topmen were in the premier league of the ships company, generally younger, fitter, and more agile, and with a  good head for heights. No good sending an unskilled  landsman aloft to do a  critical task if he's likely to freeze or fall off.

 

i believe in the Nelson era there was at least one Woman who attained the prestigious role of Captain of the Foretop, she was of course disguised as a man.

 

Regards,

 

B.E.

 

 

[popeye the sailor]

wnoderful work Gil.......love the way you did your bumkins.  I want to put those in my build,  but I had no clear picture of how the rigged.

 

thanks for showing the details you've put into your build....superb!

[themadchemist]

Nice job on rigging...but then thats no surprise.

 

I'm glad some hadn't seen the Vicky carving. As a new member I hate to repeat something for the 100th time, but I was so amazed with that feat, I just had to share.

Wouldn't it be great to have a sliver of that waste wood not used to put into your Victory. You could puff out your chest and point and say "yes, ladies and gentlemen, that wee piece right there was from the actual Victory."

You wonder what happens to the wood removed in restoration? They should sell it as Vicky soveigners to fund restoration.

 

I'm again amazed at the comparison of your work with the actual ship. Like the old memorex ads, Is it real or is it Gil. On the Foremast lower yard clue block, sheet block and tack block, am I correct in that your pic is the opposite side (starboard) where the real is (larboard). Just testing myself as half of what you write is like learning a new language, which is one of my favorite part of this hobby. I just don't want to build them, I want to understand how they work. You've done an excellent job reproducing the block assembly but as I stare in wonderment I again im drawn to the perfectly proportioned and coloured shoud/ratines as the backdrop of the block assembly. Its also hard to see in the pictures what you used to simulate the U-bolt attaching the sheet and tack blocks to the clue block, but they look Great.

 

Amazed as ever, glad you dont charge admission, I'd need a season pass.

[gil middleton]

Grant, Kevin and Popeye, Many thanks.

 

B.E.  Thanks for the heads up on the crew.  Somehow, I doubt I'd be any happier as a "waister."  And since I don't like heights, perhaps I'll aspire to be SirJoseph Porter, K.C.B. of Gilbert and Sullivan's HMS Pinafore.  "I am the monarch of the sea, The ruler of the Queen's navee..........etc."

 

Keith,  You are too observant. Indeed they are port (larboard) and starboard.  Actually, the clue,sheet and tack block cluster is probably wrong since they were likely done by eye splices and a turks head as shown by Longbridge. As for the U-bolts or shackles, were they even in use in 1805?  I served the strops and eye splices and simply lashed the eyes together.  Cheers, Gil 

 

[themadchemist]

Thanks for the answers. I just love details and your Vickys a great tutor. It really makes one appreciate the job of being the Bosun of the Vicky.

[WackoWolf]

Gil,

 

   No matter what you say about your rigging as to it might be wrong, it is still a thing of beauty and craftsmanship. Keep the pictures coming, I am always waiting for an update.

[gil middleton]

Thanks Keith and Joe,  Sorry for the delay in responding but have been sidetracked with my wife's surgery.  We said "Let's grow old together," and here we are.  Besides we're having a taste of spring, and all the other priorities kick in. Cheers, Gil

[Kevin]

hope everything is well at home Gil,give our best wishes for a speedy recovery to your wife

[themadchemist]

Here's hoping a speedy recovery to the Mrs.

 

I completely understand the growing old together. This year is mom and pop's 56th anniv. and Tam and I celebrate 28 years married and april 16th was the anniversary of our first date 31 years ago, high school sweethearts. Its great to have your best friend as a spouse.

[popeye the sailor]

all my best Gil.......hope it isn't serious.

[augie]

You have my best wishes as well Gil.

[fnkershner]

So Gil is Far Out ready for the parade? This is your last weekend.

 

For those on this forum who do not know. Next weekend is Opening Day for boating here in the Puget Sound. There is a big celebration which includes a parade of boats on the water. Gil's boat "Far Out" has been the lead boat for the parade for a number of years. He hosts many dignitaries as they cruise from one lake to the other. I mention all of this because I suspect the Victory is going to take a back seat for a bit.

[popeye the sailor]

that's quite an honor........hope there are some pictures to go along with it!  thanks Floyd for letting us know!

[augie]

I'll be darned.  Sounds fantastic.