HMS Victory by dafi - Heller - PLASTIC - To Victory and beyond ...

[Veszett Roka]

Yes, i already noticed that too - the cover was aligned to be below the upper battery. I was brave enough to say this misalignment because knowing your seeking for perfection. So i don't know what would be the good solution

[dafi]

It has now been 4.5 months since the big modeling show in Evian France. Since then, my Sleeping Beauty has been lying in her box in the camper van, as I haven't had the time to kiss and wake her nor the space on the work table to lay her down gently. 

 

This weekend I finally pricked up my lips and gave her a really nice wake-up kiss 🙂

 

And I took the opportunity to take a few beauty shots and compare 1803 and 1910 🙂

 

 

Is this now considered to be out of box?

 

 

 

I also took the opportunity to take a closer look at the new bow. It was based on the three-deckers built between 1800 and 1805. The bowsprit is now also anchored one deck higher.

 

 

One side is still a bit rough 😉

 

Hope you like it!

 

XXXDAn

[PqLear]

On 3/10/2025 at 11:41 AM, dafi said:

It

 

 

Question, did she actually ever sail anywhere in this configuration?  Thinking as eg USS Constitution does a turnaround in Boston Harbor at least once a year, to fire a salute on 4th July out by Castle Island/Fort Independence. 

 

I stumbled across this video the other day, made me think of this build log. Thoughts on accuracy? 

 

 

[dafi]

The last time she set sails was on 04th December 1812 heading for portsmouth to get her ballast out and the rigg cut down. Last entry on the sea going log was on 18th December 1812. This was still before the introduction of her round bow in 1816.

 

Afterwards she was still moved around a bit in front of Portsmouth but never on her own sails again.

 

The film gives a great introduction on ships of this age and is marvelously done in this regard. As the reconstruction is based on McKay and Bugler, the details shown for this timeframe 1803 to 1805, there are plenty of anachronisms like the vent trucks for the hold (19th century) and the carpenters walk (1816) and many many more.

 

XXXDAn

Edited March 16 by dafi

[dafi]

Oh God, now the building report has actually slipped so far down that archaeological excavations were almost necessary to find it again ...

A lot of business in the business, vacation, home garden, garden plot and life itself - lots of things that can get in the way and prevent you from tinkering.

But a little something did happen. On request, I did a bit of research into the deck accessories. First the riding bitts. Another small kit in itself of 10 parts.


XXXDAn

Edited Wednesday at 10:50 AM by dafi

[dafi]

And the pumps were also due.

 

First the elm tree pump. There is a protective bracket to protect the handle and the two through-pipes for the two lower decks are also included. In order not to have a pinch-off point, the handle was printed free-flying, diameter 0.5 mm x 0.5 mm. It came out straight, but when washed in acetone it bent uniformly on all prints. It's better to make a connection at the top for the next print in the hope of minimizing warping during washing.

Therefore, a glass of hot water, briefly dipped in ...



... kept in shape while cooling down and - tata ! - everything is straight again 🙂



Here is the comparison picture. So never cold bend resin, it works wonderfully with heat!

Then I discovered that I had made a 0.15 mm hole in the 0.5 mm x 0.5 mm handle.



Checked the passage with a wire ...



... and pulled in a rope. It actually really worked 🙂

The wooden clamp is not a standard one but a mini clamp ;-)

And the chain pumps have also arrived.

XXXDAn

Edited Friday at 06:49 PM by dafi

[dafi]

And I was also finally able to finish the capstans.

All the parts had been in the making since well into last year, but I never really had the chance to finish them. Basic programming strictly according to plan is always done quickly, but until the look of the printout refreshes my eyes and heart in terms of model making, it takes a few more rounds of printing, tinkering and improving, version #15 is the normal case here.

Here is an intermediate version, the brass tubes have now been replaced. Still mising are the bevels on the wedges below the ribs, which allow the rope to slide smoothly from round to pentagonal or hexagonal. I take such pre-prints for color samples, and lo and behold, it looked stupid in this color scheme.

Here is already the penultimate version. [Note to self: HOPEFULLY!] Good enough for a prototype. [Note to self: HOPEFULLY!]
And what do I always say? Before applying the aging, a clean base coat must be applied. Here you go.


And then life gets in: The wood starts to show at all the rubbing points of the rope on the drums. After several tests, I decided on a non-covering drybrush, which gets across most of what I would have liked to show.


And someone else has bombed into the picture: The capstan bars ...



... to match the capstan.


I made a template for alignment, using corrugated cardboard as a base to sink the upper part of the drum into and bring the spars to paper height ...


... bars inserted into the capstan and the capstan inserted upside down ...


... bars aligned and glued.



Then the swifter is pulled in and that's it.




And here are the individual parts, the middle piece is available in two heights, depending on how the battery deck is fitted with gratings.





XXXDAn

Edited Saturday at 06:32 AM by dafi

[Hubac's Historian]

Stunning work, as always, Dan.  Portsmouth should build an annex to the  Victory museum, and call it “Daniel’s Quarter Gallery”.  You have done as much and more than the museum, itself, for understanding of the many iterations of Victory throughout her long life.

[Kevin-the-lubber]

34 minutes ago, Hubac's Historian said:

Stunning work, as always, Dan.

I echo that. From a technical view alone it's a superb piece of work, but the artistry is what really catches the eye. I certainly know what you mean about 15 iterations, sometimes even that isn't enough, is it.

[dafi]

Some time ago, I made the mistake of getting involved with the boats because of the oars. Of course, this was not without consequences ...

... Here is the white “big” launch from the kit and behind it a new “decent” 34 foot launch according to McKay's drawings.

Unfortunately, the planks of the inner floor gave way during printing, there was only a small usable remnant at the front and rear.

And if you man the boat, you can see straight away that the large boats were rowed “double banked”, i.e. 2 men per thwart and if the capstan is used, one thwart cannot be used.

Oar lengths inside and outside and the position to the rower and his arms seem to be correct.

But the inside floor still gives me pause for thought. As McKay draws it, it is 30-40 cm too low for the rower's legs and too high so that 50% of the load volume is lost. So it's a strange intermediate height

Somehow this still didn't fit. I then rummaged through my documents again and found what I was looking for, as these details are seldom shown.



Here is the small kit that has evolved as a result.

The inner floor to protect the hull now rests on the frames at the very bottom. The rowers' feet have been given a bar for this purpose.

Trial sitting ...

... and it fits reasonably well. With slightly straighter legs it even fits quite well.

So the other foot bars are also installed.

After that came the thwarts and the other interior ...

 

And again we had a rehearsal sitting ...

... even multiple ones.

This also seems to fit. The capstan is removable, so two more rowers could fit in.

But the next question is, what was the rigging like?



In terms of the mast positions, I would have guessed lugger rigging, which I was able to see live a few times in France, or perhaps sprit rigging, but I'll see what Steel has to say about that later. Above all, all the fittings on the hull are still missing, which are vera often omitted.

Greetings, DAniel

 

 

Edited Sunday at 07:40 PM by dafi

[Kevin-the-lubber]

As ever, excellent work, and the foot bars make sense. While the boats on display at Portsmouth may only be contemporary examples, the one that looks like the launch has a planked 'deck' at about 1/3rd height vertically, sitting on cross bars. I can see what looks like a duckboard underneath this in my photos, sat on the frames. I can also just about make out the slots for the capstan, though neither this nor the little stern gantry are present on the boat. Nor is there anything that would give clues about the rigging. I imagine this launch, like the Vic itself, has had a few improvements and adaptations made over the years, and the deck may have been added as a more comfortable solution once load carrying became less relevant. It's frustrating that it's so difficult to get good photos of the boats (and that they seem to be a repository for offcuts and wood scraps). Maybe next time I'll ask if I could go inside the enclosure - it turns out I have a free pass for the historic dockyard and V@P so can visit as often as I like.

[dafi]

Yes that is a boat of the Vic in P. With an inner deck convenient for todays rower 😉

 

 

XXXDAn

[druxey]

The  foot bars are called stretchers. Some are simply vertical pieces of plank that fit into slots on longitudinal pieces each side of the boat or between vertical struts. 

[dafi]

Thank you druxey for the addition, very appreciated! I already realised while building that the way of simply putting a block underneath the stretcher is not sufficiant. I already found ways of fixing the strechers the same way as the thwarts in some plans in contemporary plans in RMG. Also here a modern model I photographed in an exhibition in Rochefort in 2018. Unfortunately I can´t read the name of the maker any more.

 

 

Edited 15 hours ago by dafi

[Veszett Roka]

 - F.You, today is Sunday! We're striking! 

 Superb work Daniel!
 

Edited 13 hours ago by Veszett Roka

[Baker]

4 hours ago, dafi said:

Also here a modern model I photographed in an exhibition in Rochefort in 2018. Unfortunately I can´t read the name of the maker any more.

after a long journey on google 🤣

 

 

Edited 11 hours ago by Baker

[KBo]

I recall that the only part of Victory that was at Trafalgar was the orlop deck. But still a magical ship. But it does raise questions as to accuracy. The original version of Trigger’s broom.