HMS Victory by shihawk - FINISHED - Billing Boats - 1:75

[clearway]

Trial and error is sometimes what it is all about Boyd- glad you found the right look you are happy with. Steps look brill m8.

Keith

[shihawk]

It,s been a while since my last post . Work ,life and if i,m honest a bit of a lull in interest has meant progress has been slow .

Excuses over ,i have finally sorted out the chainplates ,after waiting 3 weeks for an out of stock strap i decided to make my own ( thanks Paul ) . After a couple of attempts i used the straps provided , the pic will explain better than i can 

 

 

I,m happy with the result and think i might leave the brass pin heads as they are rather than blacken them as was the plan ?

 

 

Also fitted a few strips ,rails ,not sure of correct name , I tried to make the currly bits without success so made it up as i went along ,they aren,t that noticable anyway ?

 

 

A couple more pics to show anything i forgot to mention  

 

 

 

 

As a change and prep for the next stage i started making the mast platforms ( again not sure of correct name  ). I sanded the ply provided covered it with 0.5 cherry and then scratched everthing else from Dibetou , i think the contrast in these 2 woods works ?

 

 

 

 

I,m beginning to think 3 years for this build was being a bit hopefull but after every low comes a high so maybe progress will improve soon ????

[GLakie]

Glad to see you back in your shipyard Boyd! Almost forgot how good she looks! Almost!    The chainplates look great, and I like the bare brass pins against the natural wood planking as well. Hope everything's good there.

 

Cheers

[shihawk]

ty George . It just takes me a while to get to where i like to be . 

[Philg88]

Hey Boyd, we missed you! Glad you're back to show us more shining examples of the model shipbuilder's art.

 

Cheers,

 

Philip

[GLakie]

ty George . It just takes me a while to get to where i like to be . 

I think they call that "creative expression", and with me, when it comes, I squeeze what I can out of it while it lasts. It must be like a feral cat----comes and goes when it wants to. 

[gjdale]

Very nice Boyd - I really like your interpretation in this build. As for time / speed of build, just remember that it's not a race and there are no deadlines to meet. 3 years would be a very fast build in my books (says he who took 19 years for this ship).

[clearway]

The tops look great Boyd welcome back m8

[shihawk]

Thanks all for the kind coments and likes , .I haven,t really been away ,been checkin up on you all when i got the chance . Just lost my way a little ,might be the stage of the build ? ,so lay low for a bit to recharge and think i,m back on track . Even considered starting another build for a short while and then as usual thought again and decided i must finish this one first !!! Been working on the deck cannons ,i had to order 8 new ones as the kit only provided 2 for the top decks ,anyone else a few short ??  

[knotty74]

Hi Boyd,

 

She's looking absolutely marvellous! Well done, mate.

 

I had kits for 20 cannon carriages with mine. 18 cannon barrels though. 10 for the lower deck, 2 for the forecastle (along with the 2 carronades) and 6 for the quarterdeck, around the location of the stairs and ships wheel.

 

Have you used more than you were supposed to on the lower deck where you recessed your gun ports?

 

Chris

[shihawk]

Cris , i to had 18  cannons provided  .It took 16 for the lower deck ,which only left 2 for the forecastle and none for the quarterdeck ??.So you could be correct in the assumption that i overdid it on the lower deck by 3 each side . will have to check later when near the plans ? At 29p each from Amati they look better than the Billings !

[knotty74]

That'll be it then, Boyd. Your missing 6 are on your lower deck!

 

Where did you get the Amati ones from for that price, please? I've looked but they're a lot more than that where I've seen them.

[clearway]

Yep if following the destructions only 10 "full" cannons needed for the upper gun deck, six for the quater deck and two for the fore deck

Keith

[shihawk]

 Keith ,I stopped reading the destructions a long time ago so that would explain it ,and to think i wasted all that time fully rigging them ?

Chris ,i just checked and CMB still have the cannons at 29p. They need a little clean up and they ain,t brass but as i will be painting them with gunmetal they will do the job .it,s just the barrels not the carriage !!!

Edited April 15, 2015 by shihawk

[knotty74]

Ah, explains that one then! Cheers.

[shihawk]

Dispite an earlier comment that i would leave the final run of the chainplates until i had the masts fixed i decided to go ahead and finish them at this stage and hope that my calculations are at least near correct , Time will tell ??  I went with the homemade straps to finish the chainplates and so far am happy with the result .

 

 

 

Finished 1 cannon just to figure out the process , very similiar to the previous ones with a few simplifications 

 

 

last pic shows prep work for the gun carriages 

 

[GLakie]

She looks great with all her chainplates in place Boyd! Still can't get past the over-all shots of her and how marvelous this ship really is!

 

Cheers

[gjdale]

She's really looking lovely Boyd.

[Salty Dog]

few pics of my atempt at Victory stripes and before anyone points it out i know the wales are not exactly where they should but it was the only way in my limited experience i could figure out how to do it without paint . Im happy with the overall result except for the gunports ,in hindsight i should not have tried finishing them before fitting the wales as quite a few now need realinement and i don,t want them to look patched up  

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i rubed a small sectionwith damp cloth to show nearer color when varnished  

IMG_0511.JPG   

 Not happy with lining for gunports  ,they aren,t definite enough so may change to a different better edged wood , more experimenting necessary  

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IMG_0512.JPG

 I think i asumed that it needed to be a redish wood but may now consider a different color as the rest of the build isn,t the proper colors anyway ,In a way its very liberating not to have to follow a set of strict plans or color schemes!!!                                               

And I think that's the way it should be.  If every person tried to build every ship the way the actual ship looked, it would be a very boring bunch of models.  I think putting in some of your creativity, whether it is a different paints scheme or no paint at all, is what makes models so cool.  I love to see other people's ideas and creativity.  Although I can certainly appreciate an "authentic" build and all the research that goes with it, I also really enjoy when people let loose and enjoy their build and build it with their interpretations.  As I've gotten older, I too have broken away from the "authentic" mold and just try to have a good time.  I love your natural colors!

[Mike Dowling]

I think your boat looks brilliant as well !

[shihawk]

Thanks all . Salty dog ,i,m glad you agree with my reasoning ,and as i mentioned before there is no real plan which is one of the reasons for my some times lack of progress . I try something and if it don,t look right to me i try something else ,bit of a pain but that seems to be the only way .

[clearway]

it's all about trial and error and getting it right for you Boyd- she is looking great m8

Keith

[gjdale]

That's a great approach Boyd, and one that will bring you a lot more satisfaction with the end result. Keep up the great work.

[shihawk]

Although it,s a long time since i posted i don,t have a lot of progress to show due mainly to wasting a lot of the limited time available trying things that in the end didn,t work out , but that,s life . 

My intention had been to fully rig the cannons on the top deck and show them pulled in , that is with the breeching rope fully extended , just for a change ! After several failed attempts  i could not produce anything that looked the part so returned to a simpliar version of a pic i seen somewhere and decided to forget about the side and train tackles ,although i may return to them at a later stage ?? 

 

 

In attempting to save time i also simplfied the cannon on the forward deck ,i may regret these shortcuts later but if i,m ever to finish this build i can,t keep getting bogged down in detail that even if seen may not be noticable ,hence my topic on how much detail is too much . My intentions sometimes exceed my abilities and frustration kicks in !!!

 

 

Next i tried the fire buckets and again after much time wasting decided i could probably live without them ?? But don,t rule them out just yet . 

On to the hammock netting and finally after a couple of false starts i produced something i,m happy with . I even checked the instructions but they just vagely suggested that they were made from wire strip  .

 

 

The simplest way i could make was from 0.75 brass wire .Once i had the basic shape i flattened the ends and the base ,then drilled the ends and a pin hole in the base to attach it to the caprail . then threaded wire through which hopefully i will be able to attach the netting . The netting provided was green and i thought to heavy so will be replaced with i think it,s called troule ,can be seen in pic 

 

 

Hope my next post on progress won,t be as long and that my new more simplistic view to the build will not come back to bite me ???????

 

 

[GLakie]

Your hammock stanchions look great Boyd, and from looking at what you've already accomplished, I believe your intentions are producing some fantastic results.

 

Cheers  

[Philg88]

Nice job with the hammock cranes, Boyd. You'll soon be on to the masts and rigging then she'll finally be done ...

 

Cheers,

 

Philip

[gjdale]

Well done with the hammock cranes Boyd.  The material you refer to is called Tulle.  What you have pictured has a 'honeycomb' pattern - I believe a 'diamond' pattern would be more correct.  If you have trouble finding some, I have about 50 lifetime's worth of the stuff (used on my Victory).  I'd be happy to send some to you if you wish - just PM me with your postal address if you'd like some.

[shihawk]

Tks all . Grant thanks for the offer if but i think it,s readily available localy .didn,t know it came in different patterns.

[clearway]

Looking good Boyd- i cheated and have a set of the mantua 1/78 hammock cranes on the way from cornwall model boats- the fret also has the lamp irons by the look of it.

Keith

[shihawk]

Managed to get hold of some diamond shaped Tulle , thanks Grant ,i now also have a lifetime supply for £3.00 .i wish everything was as cheap ?

Used as fine a black thread as i could find and threaded the tulle in place .finished with the desired effect although my work was not as neat as i would have liked but will do better on the other side .

 

 

 

Before fitting the netting on the other side i spent some time trying to figure out what to do about the gun port lids . I had previously made a few samples from strips of the darker wood but decided that they should be made from a lighter wood and as i had  10mm beech available i took the easier method and made them from a single piece . I shaped the sides and will fit them with a small pin to hold them in place untill the glue sets 

 

 

I have tried several different sorts of hindges and rather than spend £50.00 on fancy brass ones i looked at the ply ones supplied and decided that by spliting along the ply lines i could finish up with something slimer and more realistic . i will however have to paint them . 

 

 

last pic shows the painted dummy guns yet to be fitted 

 

 

 

 

the lids in the  pics are not glued and held in place by the pin ,i won,t glue untill hindges and rings etc have been fitted  but gives some idea of the finished look .