The H.M.S. Victory

a photo feature by Raul Guzman
12
Comments
  • bow_looking_up
"Crew-mate Raul Guzman Jr. shares a fine photo gallery of his H.M.S. Victory, in this MSW Photo Feature!"



Vessel history...
The H.M.S. Victory is the last surviving warship that fought in the American Revolution, the French Revolution, and the Napoleonic wars. She was ordered by the Navy Board in 1759 and was built in Chatham Dockyard. The H.M.S. Victory is best known as Lord Admiral Nelson's flagship in the battle of Trafalgar in 1805.

She continued in active service for the next 32 years. In 1812 the Victory was retired from frontline duty. In 1922 she was towed into dry dock and restored to her 1805 condition. H.M.S. Victory stands today as the world's oldest commissioned warship. Still manned by Officers and Ratings of the Royal Navy, the Victory has seen over 200 years of almost continuous service. She is currently dry docked in Portsmouth harbor.



The model...
My model of the H.M.S. Victory began as a Mamoli 1/90 scale kit. I have extensively kit bashed it replacing all of the visible wood. The black planking is ebony, the yellow planks I cut from boxwood. The deck planks have been cut from maple and many of the deck furnishings I made from walnut. The windows, stern carvings, name at the stern, the stern and quarter gallery balusters have been made by hand.

Other parts made from scratch are the flag lockers, skylight, lanterns, the binnacle, the gratings, the companionway and the entire beakhead area. The mast tops were made of ebony and I added the copper below the water line and scratch built the model cradle. The three ship's boats were scratch built using a bread and butter method. I estimate that about 85% of the model is scratch built. The model was constructed in 286 actual working days taking a total of 1150 hours and 48 minutes.
  • bow_star
  • bow_looking_up2
  • bow_looking_up
  • Awards, Houston
  • Foremast
  • Davits
  • Bow, Starboard
  • Ships Boats
  • Port side
  • Port, looking up
  • Forecastle Details
  • Stern
  • Starboard Back
  • Ship's Boats, 2

About the Author

About Raul Guzman Jr. (raulguzmanjr)
FROM: TEXAS, UNITED STATES

I am a 55 year old retired Texas History teacher (28 years) and an avid cyclist (28 years) who lives in McAllen, Texas. Living in south Texas enables me to ride my bike almost any day of the year. I spend my retirement days doing as little or as much as I want in building wooden ship models or shi...


Comments

Grumpyoldman
Really is an impressive model. Thanks for posting it.
APR 02, 2008 - 11:23 AM
AlanL
Hi Raul, Outstanding work, a real gem of a build. Al
APR 02, 2008 - 05:16 PM
Henk
That, is an incredible piece of work. The different types of wood used (rather than just painting balsa to look like it...) and the skills involved are beautiful, and all that craftmanship has been crowned with one of the most impressive rigging jobs I have seen.... Superb doesn't really do it justice.. Outstanding job, and a real inspiration to all us wooden ship modellers. Thanks for sharing this. Henk
APR 02, 2008 - 07:00 PM
raulguzmanjr
I wish to thank the people who remarked about my HMS Victory. I was quite pleased with how it turned out. When I was building it, and it was on my workbench, I would get down on the floor to put on my shoes to get ready to ride my bike, I would look up at it and it struck me as if I were looking at a real ship. I then decided that when it was finished on a calm, sunny day to place it on a table outside and shoot some photos with the sky as a background. I was very pleased with some of the photos. This model won 11 awards in 2007. It won Best of Show in the Houston and the Austin scale model shows and it won the Hollywood Theme Award in San Antonio to name a few. Raul
APR 03, 2008 - 07:25 AM
betheyn
You can't just shrink the real thing and enter competitions, that's just not fair . Seriously this is the best H.M.S Victory model I have ever seen. Stunning work. I had to look twice at some of the pics to make sure it was a model. Andy
APR 03, 2008 - 08:15 AM
gator
I can tell you guys that the photos don't do Raul's models justice. I've seen them up close an personal and they are true works of art. Beautiful work Raul. Gator
APR 03, 2008 - 09:25 AM
rokket2001
It's all been said before here, and said better than I can say it, or even again - but WOW! I was sooo impressed by your last build, but this is even beyond. As someone said, shrinking the real thing with a ray is cheating! What I love about modeling is the "small" factor, and the "counterfeit factor" - you essentially fake people into thinking a mini version is real. It is such a thrill to do, but it is such a thrill to see! Beautiful. 11 awards - desreves 11 x11.
APR 07, 2008 - 11:37 PM
JMartine
amazing work! The initial picture (on top of the loaded screen) has to be the BEST model picture I have ever seen, with the blue sky as background, looks awe-inspiring and majestic. All the awards (and more ) are well deserved, I am keeping these pictures for enjoyment (not for reference, I will NEVER be able to build something like that!). Thanks for sharing ! Cheers!
APR 08, 2008 - 03:42 AM
raulguzmanjr
Thanks again for your comments about my HMS Victory model. I am presently working on a clipper ship and hope in about a week to have some photos of that build posted on my website. Raul
APR 08, 2008 - 11:29 AM
Fright
WOW! Absolutely amazing!!!
JAN 10, 2017 - 09:22 AM
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Copyright ©2021 by Raul Guzman. _OPINIONS Model Shipwrights, KitMaker Network, or Silver Star Enterrpises. Images also by copyright holder unless otherwise noted. Opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of Model Shipwrights. All rights reserved. Originally published on: 2008-04-02 00:00:00. Unique Reads: 12325