Hi there,
I'm a new member but have been building models for a long time. I have a website:

www.bishophobbies.com

My build log for the HMS Victory is on my website and is located here:

http://www.bishophobbies.com/category/showcase/hms-victory/

I would appreciate any comments - positive or otherwise (as long as they are helpful).

Cheers,
Paul

Hi Paul,

Boy, it's a doozy building this thing, isn't it?

I've read several reviews on this kit (and wrote one!), and for sure, the common theme in all those reviews is that the instructions aren't worth the paper they're printed on. Which is a shame, given the size & detailing on this kit.

That's quite a job you did on painting the copper part of the hull - how long did that take you? Myself, I'm just happy to have gotten my hull painted copper!

That decking you've installed (especially the parquet flooring in the admiral's - or is it the captain's? - cabin looks great. Are you going to add scale furniture in there?

In looking through your blog, I got a little confused. Did you get a new set of instructions, the wooden blocks, and the rigging thread from the same guy in Czech Republic? The bobbins that some of the thread is on, looks like the same bobbins that "castyouranchorhobbies.com" uses (I got some black rigging thread from them). I looked around at my local hobby stores to see about getting wood blocks, but they were usually in packages of about 10, and the part per price ratio didn't really thrill me. Plus, I wasn't sure about what style of block to get.

McKay's and Longridge's books are most helpful, but at times, their rigging details don't always match. The foldouts in Longridge's book are really handy.

I hope you put a post here, when you have an update to your blog. It's most interesting to follow along on this build!

Cheers,
Tim

Tim,
Thanks for the very nice note. To answer your questions,
1 I hadn't thought about furniture, if I do that I really must add lighting, and I have no plans to do that.
2 I took me about three days to do the copper repaint, most of that was to just let the black undercoating dry. The actual finish coats took about an hour.
3 Yes he sent rigging instructions, but they are based on McKays book. The blocks cost $159.00, I bought them from HisModel on eBay as the set needed to rig the Victory. I've since ordered another set to rig the visible cannons.
4 The rigging thread is from Amati.
I also use beeswax to draw the thread through, it cuts down the fuzz and makes the thread hang better.

You should also check out my build of the Model Shipways Rattlesnake, it's on my website too. That took me 9 years, but was done at lunchtime!

Cheers,
Paul

That was my reaction to your line about taking 9 years to build the Rattlesnake!!

A hundred & fifty-nine bucks for the blocks. That's how much I spent on my whole kit!

I agree with you about the furniture & lights - in fact, that was a question I forgot to ask last time (if you were going to install lights). As it is though, will the flooring be visible if you one looks through the window panes?

I'm not putting any tackle on the cannons - there's no place on the inside of the hull to attach rings, and if I had tried to do that free-hand, I probably would have gotten really frustrated and just given up.

Tim

I agree, 9 years is insane for a ship build like this, but I only worked at lunch during the week at work. I do hope that the victory build will be much quicker, lol. I'm retired, and I have the time and the finances so I'm looking forward to using all of these goodies!

As far as the tackle on the canons I gotta figure that out. 1/100 is pretty small, so I may have to make some concessions there. I've actually been looking at the 1/48 HMS Surprise as my next build - the larger scale will make canon rigging easier. I've never done plank on bulkhead so that should be interesting.

I would love to see any pics of your build, and any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers
Paul

Hi Paul,

Pictures of my efforts on Victory are here on this site, under the "Build Blog of Heller's HMS Victory". My attempt on this blog is to try to point out pitfalls & hints on building Victory, using those oh-so-horrid instructions from Heller. I've also put in a lot of close-up pictures to try and explain how things are progressing.

I've been looking at pictures of a 1/50th model of Victory, to try and help out on where parts & rigging goes. It's a huge model - over 77 inches in length!

I've built one wood ship model (USS Constitution), and its hull was a solid block of wood, that needed whittling down to get the hull shaped correctly. What I liked about that model, was the sails are cloth, and the kit came with thread-covered wire, which was glued to the back of the sails to give them stiffness & shape. It could also act as a boltrope.

So for now, it's just work a little bit at a time on Victory, as trying to do a marathon session just wears me out. But the important thing is, just to keep moving forward, and some day, I'll be finished!

Cheers,

Tim

Tim,
You're build is really impressive and will look fantastic when it's finished! How is rigging the bow spirit? The two extended parts are very thin and flexible. I purchased sone brass rod to use there as it will be less flexible.

I see you are sticking closely to those awful instructions-I'm just too lazy to do that I must confess. I'm gonna build the hull, add the canons and furniture and decks in a reasonable order, then rig the monster.
Cheers,
Paul

Thanks, Paul. The bowsprit rigging is going, just real slow. The jib booms are somewhat flexible; especially the one that extends out the furthest. I think, when it comes time to putting the standing rigging in place, I'll just have to be careful to try and keep the tension on the lines balanced, so that there's no bending of the jib boom.

Yeah, I'm pretty much going in order as per the instructions...someone must have took the time to figure it out, so maybe it's a good idea to try to follow along! Once I get done with the bowsprit rigging, I think I'll assemble the mizzen mast first, and practice making up the ratlines with the frame that is included. That way, I'll get some experience on using the frame, and if there are any goof-ups, it'll be on the mizzen mast, so it won't be quite as visible (at least, I hope).

Have you every looked at the different Victory models over one Pete Coleman's website? I was looking around there, trying to get some hints & techniques for painting & assembling. I haven't looked at every post, but of the few that I have, there appears to be a certain amount of resignation in completing the kit - one guy just did the standing rigging, and let it go at that. Another modeler painted the stern pieces all black, rather than try and paint them the alternating black and yellow. And that's where I read about another modeler putting brass tubing inside the lower mast halves, to try and give them some stiffness (I'm going to use wooden dowel rod).

So that's the way it is today, Tuesday, November 8th 2016. Be sure to vote!!

Cheers (and a bottle or two of rum),

Tim

Tim,
Yup - I did vote - you gotta do that.
I'll have to check out Pete Coleman's website - that sounds interesting. I've added some new aftermarket stuff on the Victory build - check it out at:

http://www.bishophobbies.com/category/showcase/hms-victory/

New cnc cannons, photo etch and more.

Hi Paul,

Wow! Those cannon barrels look fantastic!

I was wondering, since you've bought some aftermarket parrals, are you going to try to make them functional, or will they be more decorative? I haven't decided if I'm going to use anything as parrals (if I do, they will probably be some jewelry-type beads from the local craft store. Good thing that kind of decision-making is still down the road!). I also noticed that the flags you got are silk - here again, the question is, how will they be attached? It seems to me, if you applied glue to the silk fabric, the glue would bleed through, and not look to keen. I do like the colors of the Union Jack, though - Heller's paper flags dull red and blue, and not very visually exciting.

Are your new belaying pins going to fit in the fife rails & and belaying racks? Your picture makes them look quite big, and I'm guessing the 6 mm refers to their length.

The sails you got look great, especially with the stitching. I was at a fabric shop a while back, and I saw some muslin on a bolt that just really tickled my fancy (and only 17 bucks a yard!) But sails & stuff, like a lot of things, are still down the road.

Enjoy Veteran's Day.

Tim

Tim,
The parrals will be used to attach the yardarms to the masts - in that sense they will be functional. As to the belaying pins - yes they are 6 mm and they may be too small. I'll see as I go along. I may opt for brass ones as they will be thinner, or go to 8 mm one's - they are a little large for this scale tho. I've just assembled and painted the gun carriages today, I've put a pic on my website.

I will probably use thinned white glue to attach the flags to aluminum foil - that will prevent bleed through and will allow the flags to be posed in a realistic fashion.

I've checked Pete Coleman's website - it went off the air last month - bummer!

On another note - I get the Artesania Latina 1/48 HMS Surprise arrives tomorrow. I know that there are a lot of corrections that need to be made to correct it - but what else is new? This is what I'm used to in modeling.

Ok - ta ta for now
Paul

I've added some pictures depicting how I might add the breaching tackle on the lower decks. Check it out here - scroll down to the bottom to see the latest.


http://www.bishophobbies.com/category/showcase/hms-victory/

Hi Paul,

On your build log you note that you purchased some brass photoetch ship fittings fro the following website: www.mediaharmonists.de. Is that the correct URL? When I go to that website I cannot find anything that remotely resembles what you reference in your build log. What am I doing wrong? I am looking forward to following your build log. You are off to a great start.

Regards,
Jack Pentz

Ouch- you are sooo right - I'll correct that right now.
Try this - it's correct...


http://www.dafinismus.de/index_en.html

Today I've added to my build log:
blackening the cannon barrels, pictures of the lower masts and addition of 1mm x .4mm strips above and below the upper wale. You can see it all here at:

http://www.bishophobbies.com/category/showcase/hms-victory/

I've added the 12 pounder brass cannons with rigging and I'm now working on the coiled ropes for the tackle. I've added pictures and a description on how I did this on my website:

http://www.bishophobbies.com/category/showcase/hms-victory/

Boy, things are moving fast! Smart idea to super-glue the blackening compound bottle to something - I should do that with my paint bottles! (There's been more than one spill!)

Nice little device to make the coiled ropes. I was trying to follow along - I guess you coiled the rope around one of the brass parts, and then as the coil got bigger (rounder?), you laid it flat/parallel to the plastic shield?

I was working on the lower masts today, but my fingers kept getting mildly cramped from holding the masts. I guess there's always tomorrow!

Cheers,

Tim

Thanks for the comments Tim. I've added a new picture of the rope coiling device to show how it's used. I've also added the upper deck and have added pictures showing that. Here is the link:

http://www.bishophobbies.com/category/showcase/hms-victory/

Beautiful work all around Paul! Very clean building! She looks very impressive with all her guns in place! Feel free to post one or two pics here and there of the build if you like....a long with the link to your website.

Todd,
Thanks for the very nice comments. I've tried to post pictures, but can't figure out how. Any ideas?