HMS Victory by MichaelGW - Billing Boats - 1:75 - First ship build

[dave1111]

Dave ,do you have a build log set up ,thats 5 Billings Victory  builds i know off . Sorry Michael for interupting your log . Cheers 

not as yet but i will be doing one soon

[clearway]

Hi Michael- we should all form the billing boats victory support group! I have built a lot of billings kit and have a build log of my victory on here. If you have any questions feel free to ask.

Keith

[MichaelGW]

Good morning all - and, Shihawk, I have no problem with you interrupting my log.

 

Attached are 3 photos showing where I have got to so far - that is about half way through fitting the hull planking and hope to complete this by the end of next week. I have had a few problems in bending the planks and tried a few of the ideas recommended by others, online and in various books. Eventually though I have settled for using a strip bender and this seems to work OK for me. As you will see in photo Victory 3, I had difficulty bending the hull planking strips to fit the stern section so have decided to complete this as a separate task before a final wood filling and sanding exercise. When I've done this, I will bring you all up to date. By then, I also intend having the stern windows fitted.

 

Regards, Michael

[MichaelGW]

Hello Keith,

 

Thanks very much for your offer of help with any questions I may have. A Billing Victory Support Group sounds like a good idea - how would this be set up?

 

Michael

[clearway]

not sure how we would set that up but would help 1st timers a lot. when i plank my models i soak the strips in hot water then tweak them between fingers and thumbs after tapering them to size.

Keith

[shihawk]

I found soaking overnite and then slowly bending and drying over a hot fan heater ,has the advantage of finishing with a dry plank ready for fitting  ,also use a plank bender for final adjustments . problem is different woods sometimes require more work than others  eg i second planked with 0.5 cherry and needed no soaking or plank bender but the 1m Didetou wood in the wales required a lot of soaking before fitting . You just need to experiment and find the method that suits you    . Your getting on well and now we have the experience of Keith to fall back on !!! so remember if in doubt ask ?????              

            Boyd

[MichaelGW]

To bring all my watchers up to date .....

 

Please bear with me as things are moving rather slowly, and not least because I've been having a few problems completing the hull planking for the bow and stern sections. I got down to the sixth level of planking below the lower gun deck and was just not happy with how things were looking. The result was that I removed those layers from the bow and stern and I am now in the process of fitting new planking, but more carefully than I did in my first attempt so as to get a much better shaping to the planks. Doing this is taking longer  than I intended because I am only working on small sections at a time.

 

For a change though, between working on these sections, I have spent time - with my son's help - in building the signal flag storage, ladders, gun ports, canons, binnacles and belfries.

 

When the hull planking is complete, and the stern windows fitted, I will update my progress and include a couple of pictures.

 

Regards,

 

Michael

[shihawk]

It can take a long time to get the planks right , fortunately these are plenty thick which leaves a lot of room for sanding ,but don,t use that as an excuse . have you researched steelers etc they can be very usefull if you get into a tight spot 

[clearway]

also you will need to taper the planks at the bow and most of the stern, as boyd says you can also use stealers- check my log there are shots of bow and stern and a shot of the hull upside down to give you an idea. Took me a couple of weeks tp plank mine.

Keith

[MichaelGW]

Good morning Shihawk and Clearway, and thanks again for the  advice.

 

I have found the pictures in Clearway's build very helpful. Being new to shipbuilding though, please could either of you give me a link to where I can find descriptions of what are strakes, stealers and wales? The reference book I'm using is Milton Roth's "Ship Modeling from Stem to Stern" but I cannot find any reference to these in the book's index. Thanks.

 

Michael

[clearway]

strakes= planks, wales are the thicker bands going along the hull and stealers are infill planks.

Keith P.S. also read plank on frame models volume 1 by harold underhill

[MichaelGW]

Hi Keith,

 

Thanks very much for that information. I have found it very helpful, and it has given me plenty of food for thought.

 

For now, I've decided to put my build on hold for a short while and have ordered from Amazon a copy of the book you recommended . With this, and the photos of your build - which to me looks terrific - I intend to look again at all the planking I have completed below the lower gun decks and possibly decide to remove this and start again.

 

One other thing you (or perhaps other watchers) might be able to help me with is to ask if you know where, if at all, I can get spares of the hull planking, just in case I end up needing some? In the past, I have sent emails to the Billings Boats marketing operation in the States and their production unit in Denmark asking about spare parts and never received a reply.

 

Thanks again,

 

Michael

[clearway]

You should be able to order wood strip from either your local model shop or many of the online model shops. I ordered the extra wood for the wales from my local model shop.

Keith

[shihawk]

No problem ordering more timber from CORNWALL MODEL BOATS .Look under timber on there site ,top of the list with Billings in brackets  you should have in acouple of days .i have found them a good supplier for nearly everything .

  Boyd 

[clearway]

there is also www.model-dockyard.com based in u.k. but do overseas mail order as well as cornwall model boats.

[MichaelGW]

Good morning all,

 

The good news was to have been that I had finally completed the planking of the hull. Sad to say though, there is only bad news! In the process of moving house, the ship was badly damaged and is completely beyond repair.

 

Certainly at this stage I am not considering starting all over again, but I would like to thank you all for the advice and encouragement you have given me over the past eight months.

 

Kind regards,

 

Michael

[shihawk]

Bad news indeed Michael i know you were enjoying the experience .Maybe when you think it over you will consider a smaller build in the future ,if so we will still be here if needed  .Never give up .Have Fun .

 

Boyd

[The camel]

Hi All,

 

My name is Paul and am new to this forum, firstly I would like to say thanks for all the helpful tips and advice I have read so far on building of HMS Victory (Billings boats) you have all been a great help. I have just finished planking the large upper deck and have just got to the part of using Acetat for the windows, my first question is does this come with the kit? And if so what does it look like? This is the first time I have used Acetat so I am sailing in the dark here. Any help or advise would be greatly welcomed. Sorry if I am posting in the wrong area, if so please direct me to where I need to be.

 

Many thanks in advance

Paul

Edited March 28, 2015 by The camel