HMS Victory by mtdoramike - FINISHED - Artesania Latina

[mtdoramike]

It's about 3 weeks into emailing Artesania Latina about the missing parts from the Victory kit and so far all I'm getting is a two step and a kiss. They keep telling me that they are working on it. I seriously think they are just hoping that I will go away. I have found two etched brass Hammock stay sheets, both for Victory's, but both not of my scale @1:84. The two etched brass sheets at both located at Cornwall, but one is 1:78 scale and the other is 1:98 scale. I'm leaning more towards the 1:78 scale since it's closer to the 1:84 scale of my Victory. Any recommendations on the two?

 

 

Thanks,

Mike 

[mtdoramike]

Artesania Latina emailed me last night and said that they have shipped me the missing parts. I'll give an update when they arrive.

[clearway]

Hope the bits arrive- not sure about the 1/78 scale fittings as the 1/78 castings i got for my hms victory stern are way over scale and i will need to file them down a little to fit and my stern is supposed to be 1/75th scale!

keith

[foxy]

Hope you get sorted soon Mike.

 

Know the feeling on getting replacements, but never had the trouble your having.

 

Good luck shipmate

 

Frank  

[mtdoramike]

I took two steps forward and three steps back hahahahahaha. I decided (after taking a hard look at the cannon ports to re-do them. The reason why is fairly simple, I didn't like the way they looked. I lined the gun ports before I painted the sides rather than painted the gun port liners separately like Lawrence did his. I thought it would be easier to sand, but without that red band outlining the gun ports, they looked quite small and insignificant and when the gun ports metal brows were placed above the gun port, they really looked small. So this will be a few days extra work. But who's counting   The top picture shows the other side before I decided to re-do the gun ports. Once I finish, I will post another picture hopefully with the before and after pictures.

 

Also, no package yet from Artesania Latina, hopefully within a few days.

 

Mike  

Edited October 1, 2014 by mtdoramike

[mtdoramike]

I finally received the Hammock Stays and the large Main sail for the Victory today. My faith has been restored in Artesania Latina. So I hope I have everything needed to complete her, if not, I will cross that bridge when I get there. So all in all it took about 5-6 weeks to get the parts from them.

 

 

Mike  

Edited October 6, 2014 by mtdoramike

[chucksb]

you are not wrong about badly fitting bulkheads, I experienced this when I built the artesania latina hms surprise also my keel was badly warped, I have read some accounts of people who were building the same ship I have and most said they had problems with the stern, this was the first thing I checked and I found that the so called laser cut parts did not follow the ships line, after checking the drawings I found that from the end of the midship rail the upper hull planking tapers up and is around 5mm higher than the frames allow for because the rail capping on the stern should be almost level with the end of the side rail capping, so if the side are not tapered up the stern as supplied is far too high, and that was just one of the many things I found, when I get a chance I will upload my build log and photo's.

[mtdoramike]

Hi Chuck, I think at least on the Victory, Latina had a method behind their madness by making the Bulkhead fit so sloppy and that was to be able to easily position the false flooring. If the Bulkheads had been tight, the flooring would have been a real bear to install. 

[mtdoramike]

I finally got the gun ports stripped of all the old lining and then painted and reinstalled the RED lining around the gun ports. I think it highlights the gun ports and makes them stand out better. I had to buy additional wood for this because the kit can with just the right amount to line them once and that was about it. Now, the real Victory gun ports aren't painted red around them and the yellow goes all the way up to the edge of the gun ports. But I like the results of the red better.   

[mtdoramike]

A little more progress made. I have been a bit under the weather as of late, but feeling better.  

[mtdoramike]

Thank Lawrence, if it comes out half as nice as your Vic, I will be pleased. Yeah, they weren't to snappy with their emails, especially the one where they said they would mail them out to me. But I have to hand it to Latina, they sent me the missing items even though I told them that I couldn't swear that the hammock stays weren't in the package originally since I was a bit careless on the inventory. But the main sail was definitely missing. 

[mtdoramike]

I would also like to give a few pointers, for instance, if anyone else is building this kit and aren't at this stage yet, I would highly recommend that they PAINT the gun port liners BEFORE installing them. It makes for a cleaner finish. But you will have to make sure your bulwarks and upper hull are sanded and finished off before installing the gun port liners.

 

Secondly, try and cut and piece most of the rubbing strakes or hull molding when installing across the gun ports because this wood is some really tough wood to cut. I used a dremel cut off wheel and hobby knife and went through like 10 hobby knife blades as well as numerous steel backed razor blades. I laid mine in one solid piece. This option is a quick and easier way of doing it, but only if you are painting your model and not for natural wood finished models.

 

Also, just as Lawrence stated in his build log of this same model that you have to be mindful of the final position of the stern castle, which has to be tilted enough to insure that the remaining upper most gun ports near the side windows will have enough space to be cut out. I had to put a wood spacer on the outside edge of the upper stern floor in order to push the stern castle back about 2-3mm's and hopefully this will give enough clearance for the last two gun ports. The only reason I knew of this issue was that Lawrence had made note of it in his build log. It will keep you from having to rip the stern off several times to reposition it.

 

Mike         

[mtdoramike]

Here I be, hard at work

Edited October 28, 2014 by mtdoramike

[mtdoramike]

Actually just in time Lawrence. I got a little progress done on her like installing the brows over the gun ports, the scroll work on the stem and haws holes, cannon door holes drilled and starting to install the yellow plastic windows. Yep, super glue WILL NOT work for the plastic windows, it will bloom badly and turn the plastic a white color and not just where you put the glue either, the bloom will spread like a cancer. So tip of the day, use a glue that will dry clear. I found this cheap Walmart brand contact cement works quite well on the plastic as well as wood parts as long as you stick the parts together first and then pull them apart, wait for 5-10 minutes and then stick the parts back together.

 

I questioned the application of the window plastic being applied to the outside of the windows rather than the inside, which would have given them more of a resest look. But only time will tell on this. I have seen the finished model built the way Latina intended and it looks good. So who am I to question the reasons why. 

[mtdoramike]

I was thinking while working on the Latina Victory this morning, here is an American building a British war ship by a Spanish kit manufacture  This made me chuckle.  

[mtdoramike]

Here is a couple of updated photos as she sits today.

[mtdoramike]

http://www.ci.mount-dora.fl.us/index.aspx?nid=195This is a link to the City Library where the Vic will eventually be displayed. They have a few pictures of her when I first starting building her.

[mtdoramike]

Thanks Lawrence, I will also be building and donating a display case for the Vic as well. So I know the quandary

[GLakie]

Hi Mike: 

 

Been watching from the wings and have to say she's looking mighty fine despite some setbacks. On the first page, you mentioned masts were warped and if you need walnut dowel-rod, this is a good place to consider. http://www.rockler.com/dowel-rods-walnut-36-long-choose-size

 

Cheers 

[mtdoramike]

Thanks for the heads up, I will keep the link for future ventures, but since this Vic will be painted, I will be using cheap dowel rods from my local hardware store.

 

Thank you for your kind words as well.

 

Mike

[mtdoramike]

Here is the latest update on the Vic progress. A little bit of work done to the stern.

Edited November 19, 2014 by mtdoramike

[clearway]

Coming along great there- i must put my 1/35 german steel cats down and restart my Vic

Keith

[mtdoramike]

I made a little more progress today on the Vic.

[mtdoramike]

Something isn't quite right with the transom decoration for the top section of the stern. As you can see from the picture, mine has a flame on the left section where a British flag should be represented. So either I have an old version of this kit or a newer version or they mistakenly put in the wrong transom decoration. I'm not sure which it is. But it's different than what the instruction manual shows.     

Edited November 23, 2014 by mtdoramike

[clearway]

gotta love kit manufacturers sometimes!

[foxy]

Nice work and very clean lines,' like it'.

 

Keep it coming.

 

Frank

[mtdoramike]

I got a little more progress made on the hull plating.

 

 

Mike

[Paul0367]

Hi my overseas friend,

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the copper plating, what did you actually use and how was it attached, beautiful job mate, the library will have a work of art. I am at the do I don't I copper plate her stage.

[Cap'n Magee]

Hi, looks like I'm late to the party.  The copper is excellent!!!  Did you use copper tape, or sheets, or some supplied material?

[mtdoramike]

This is copper foil tape, the same that the glass stain glass people use. The copper foil tape comes pre-glued on the back and goes on quite quickly. I lay a solid piece of tape down on the hull and once attached, I come back and score it in what ever length plates I'm going to use.  Thanks for the compliments

 

Here is a picture of the foil tape roll and the riveting tool that I use to make the rivet marks on the tape before applying.

Edited December 8, 2014 by mtdoramike