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

[dafi]

Here we go again.

First cleaning the front edge of the channel board from paint and leveling the heights of the irons ...

 

 

... and then fixing the batten to hold the deadeyes in place.

 

 

From near one can see the difference nicely. One more area finished.

 

 

Then the gunport lanyards. 

 

 

Still had some sprue, that was hollowed and pulled over the candle, resulting in nice micro tubes 🙂
Those bits were made from leather, to protect against friction and to keep water out. Took a needle to reopen the holes after cutting and used the intended thread to check the inner diameter.

 

 

The spliced the ring onto the lanyard and hooked the ring onto the lid. Checked from near and I think it could be considered to be ok.

 

 

So five or six more lids to go ...

 

Grüßle, Daniel

[Robert29]

Hi Daniel,

 

I am currently building the Caldercraft Victory and I follow a few other Victory builds on this forum.  But to be honest with you, since your build is the plastic kit I never checked on it, thinking its a totally different story from what I am doing.  Today I had a look in it and oh boy, was I wrong!!!  Your work is amazing, so much detail, your approach to certain problems, simply awesome.  I will be following your build with  great interest.

 

Robert

[dafi]

Thank you Robert!

 

XXXDAn

[amateur]

Have you seen  the new Amati prototype 1:64?

Now that would really give you the possibility to add small details.

 

Jan

[dafi]

Wonderful thing it is 🙂

 

But simply too big for my premises.

 

XXXDAn

[dafi]

Thank you for the feedback!

Managed to get all the eyelets onto their leashes ...

... and threaded them in ...

... and all closed ports are done 🙂

XXXDAn

[Gahm]

This looks amazingly realistic! Wonderful job!

 

Thomas

[mtaylor]

18 hours ago, dafi said:

Wonderful thing it is 🙂

 

But simply too big for my premises.

 

XXXDAn

That's probably a good thing then.  I couldn't begin to imagine how much detail you would add to the monster Victory.

[dafi]

Actually not much more 🙂 In my one there is everything my heart desires. But actually and anyway, the time consuming part is not the build, it is the research ...

 

XXXDAn

[mtaylor]

True on the research.  I find that is sometimes more fulfilling than the model.

[rkwz]

Thank you for your informative posts as ever, Daniel. I really like the non-checkered look of the 1805 hull!

[dafi]

Thank you Mark and rkwz!

 

XXXDAn

[dafi]

Heave!
(Quist:) Five years hard labor,
the judge says to me...
...or honorable service
in His Majesty's Navy.
What did I pick? Hornblower.
...
(Sailor:) What are we doing in the Pacific, anyway?
I tell you, he's got us all lost.
...
(Quist:) There's islands there
where we could have a picnic.
Brown-skinned girls, bread growing
on trees, where the Bounty went.
Why don't you ask Hornblower
to take us there?
What's wrong with our cargo
doing the asking?
Muskets and ammunition.
Who for? Why not for us?
  
Harrison: Come on, get on with your work. Get on with it.

 

Those were the last words in March 2015. Last year the conversation was continued in the moment when another model fell onto the small setup: AUUUUUUUTSCH!!!

All men over board, the freshly fitted furnace in pieces. Never found the time for repair. Yesterday while looking for something else the remains were found again and also the will to fix 🙂

 

First found that Quist took the chance to desert and run behind his brown-skinned girls. So cloned a new one using the original building report from March 2015. Also fixed the furnace and lighted the ember inside.

 

 

Also a new feature appeared: The wetted sand underneath the furnace, I finally found sand or better saying powder of sand that suited fine enough for the job. Also the waterbucket found its way onto the scene. Just missing the fire engine, the hose or the wet swatters that were needed to follow fire regulations. Then checked for the right tools.

 

 

Tinkered the tongs from a spare chain iron ...

 

 

... and also an anvil found itself being used in there. And here we go with the refreshed gem 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here it is with the inspiration, from the starting sequence of "Hornblower" about 3:00 min.

 

 

Enjoy, DAn

[mbp521]

Dafi,

 

Its simply amazing at the amount of detail you put in such a tiny space. Beautiful work. 

 

-Brian

[Gahm]

Fantastic work, Dafi! I am always amazed about the details and the outstanding quality of work which you realize at such a small scale. 

 

Thomas

[druxey]

Nicely done, Dafi. Who is the heated shot intended for?

[dafi]

Thank you druxey, Thomas and Brian

 

No those were kind people, not intending mischief to others, and only having the furnace for repairing the gun!

 

The french were the ones using the red hot shots like Admiral Collingwood wrote on page in his diary 31/32 about Glorious First of June:

"TO J. E. BLACKETT, ESQ.
Barfleur, at Sea, June 5, 1794.

... Four of their ships were provided with furnaces for redhot shot, one of which stuck in the Royal Sovereign, but I have not heard that they
did any mischief in any part of the fleet by them. "

https://books.google.de/books?id=vS4yAQA...epage&q&f=false

 

Also there are still a lot of build in stone furnaces in many french fortresses, one in a tower from Brest among.

 

😉

 

XXXDAn

[dafi]

Back to the slices 🙂

 

Luckily found some old spare decks to cut a small stripe for the visible Gangway.

 

 

Then "tarred" the hammock netting, this time a bit darker than I usually do.

 

 

Used some paper stripes for easy assembly ...

 

 

... shortened the inboard side ...

 

 

... and fixed it.

 

 

Then fixed the net on the rope on the outboard side, always giving a touch of gravity into the ropes.

 

 

Made the hammocks with Magic Sculpt.

 

 

Dry test ...

 

 

... and the colored with all the colors of life ...

 

 

... and put in place

 

 

Still thinking how the cover should be fixed in a contemporary fashion ...

 

 

XXXDAn

[dafi]

After missing information on how the covers were fixed, I opted for easy folds and will change that as suitable information comes.

 

 

Still got some netting on the face side and fixed an iron hook.

 

 

After a transatlantic voyage, I suppose the ship to look a bit tattered. So some man are meant to do do a small face lift 🙂

 

 

So the last slice is done. Still need to clean the others up and fix them on the frame. Soon this project is finally to be finished 🙂

 

Titel: 1805 mid Atlantic, return from the Caribbean, ...

 

 

 

Enjoy, DAn

[shipman]

As usual.....incredible!

[Gahm]

Super!

 

Thomas

[mbp521]

Daniel,

 

I read your build log and ask myself how can he improve on perfection, and yet you still never cease to amaze me.  
 

Beautiful work as always. 
 

-Brian

[dafi]

Thank you Sirs!

 

O Goody, I missed the 215th anniversary that happend 4 days ago of that little depicted scene. 

 

Logentry on the 08/08/1805, somewhere in between Gibraltar and Spithead

"08.08.1805 painted quarter deck and hull"

 

🙂 🙂 🙂

 

And that was only 16 days before the ship underwent a short refit at Spithead. Within 7 days she got the guns removed, the spars sent down for check, the sails checked, and plenty of caulking was done.

Afterwards she went to sea immediately but the delivery of a larger quantity of paint suggests, that the painting went on on sea. Recorded is the 10/09/1805 that the Breadroom was whitewashed.

 

But still good to know, that exactly today, 215 years ago on the 08/12/1805, the main topgallant sail split in a squall.

 

XXXDAn

[rkwz]

Daniel, your posts make the ship so much more relatable for everyone!

 

 

Saw this picture on Instagram today and reminded me of your earlier mods in your Heller build 😂. Must be a heck of a view out the stern windows....

 

[dafi]

Thank you rkwz

 

Nice still from the film, one can see nicely both colors and how messy the wood is 🙂

 

From Victory in her true Colours:

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmNXRWtQ-P0

 

XXXDAn

[shipman]

It's worth remembering that nearly all the outer hull planking was replaced years ago. In some areas wood laminates were used to save money. It would seem a lot of the modern materials used during the previous (but modern) re-fit has already rotted and has been replaced again!

See thorough description of this previous work in Alan McGowan's book 'HMS Victory: Her Construction, Career, and Restoration'.

One important use (among many) was synthetic materials for the shrouds which aren't as thick as they should be (same book). The list is probably endless.

[dafi]

Thats why I like to call it an "Almost-Replica". And I do not mean it bad. The did a good job imho to keep this wonderful heritage alive, regarding the money and the existing knowledge about the times. And this knowledge was expanded a lot within the last years, thank god.

 

XXXDAn

[shipman]

I whole heartedly agree with you, Dafi. Now the weight on the keel has been relieved should help considerably (much like what was done with Cutty Sark). Considering Britain's notorious weather, it's remarkable how well Victory survives. Unfortunately, I've never managed a visit and deeply regret realising I never will. I was a big fan of the longridge model, but often wonder why he never did a set of boats. It would be interesting to know more of him.

[dafi]

Luckily @Morgan discovered a small detail in the large Turner painting: The anchor lining, almost hidden by the fallen fore sail.

 

 

Looking at the Turner scribbles there is a line, that could be interpreted as the bolster for the lost lining.

 

 

Looking at the Queen Charlotte of the the same time, one could see how it should have looked.

 

 

First the frame was added ...

 

 

... then I realised that the lower batten should have been the bolster. Took one step that was left from the entry port and it fitted 🙂

 

 

Unfortunately it broke while fixing 😞

 

The replacement part was bent the wrong way, so I took the time for a cup of tea and did hang the part inside to make it flexible, bent it the right direction and let it cool down in its new shape.

 

 

After fixing it, I realised that it sat not properly ... 

 

 

... even the paint did not help.

 

 

So another disassembly took place ...

 

 

... and then it fitted 🙂

 

As the anchor lining was to protect the hull and the irons from the anchor, I wanted to show some scratches. First I took a spare anchor to simulate its way up ...

 

 

 

 

 

But how do those scratches look like? It was not a metal hull with clean rounded scratches, but I opted for some splinters on the edges of the planks and some flakes of paint coming off. The color I oppted for a warm siversih grey, like old exposed wood is showing.

 

 

Need some black ink to simulate depth.

 

 

After the lanyards was fixed ...

 

 

... things were done 🙂

 

 

Cheers, DAniel

[Baker]

beautiful detail and weathering Daniel.