HMS Victory by Occre build log

The end is in site for the hull!!

Finished the bow complete with all of its decoration. Rather clever use is very small wire to create decorations. The instructions recommend using a power drill to spin 2 wires together. Tried this with my Dremel but found it was not controllable and it made too many turns in the wires . Used my hand drill and it was far better

Glued the wires onto the side pieces (whatever they are called!) before they were glued in place. Tip of the day - I would advise not fitting the wires in instruction number 466 but wait until all of the pieces in the first photo are fitted - reason is I had to cut the tops of the wires in order to fit the side pieces snugly - bit of a pain as I had to refit some of the vertical wires

Continue to be frustrated with the lack of naming of nautical terms by Occre (find it awkward posting on this forum without using the appropriate terminology - forgive me for my ignorance!!). For this reason alone I would almost prefer the Calderwood version - however onwards and upwards.......

Next step fitting the Forecastle breast beam assembly etc (had to refer to my Caldercraft instructions for this name!!)

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Thanks for this thread Julian, keep up the great work. I have one of these kits in dry-dock currently waiting for the day when I get done with two other lesser practice models first.
Following.
 
The end is in site for the hull!!

Finished the bow complete with all of its decoration. Rather clever use is very small wire to create decorations. The instructions recommend using a power drill to spin 2 wires together. Tried this with my Dremel but found it was not controllable and it made too many turns in the wires . Used my hand drill and it was far better

Glued the wires onto the side pieces (whatever they are called!) before they were glued in place. Tip of the day - I would advise not fitting the wires in instruction number 466 but wait until all of the pieces in the first photo are fitted - reason is I had to cut the tops of the wires in order to fit the side pieces snugly - bit of a pain as I had to refit some of the vertical wires

Continue to be frustrated with the lack of naming of nautical terms by Occre (find it awkward posting on this forum without using the appropriate terminology - forgive me for my ignorance!!). For this reason alone I would almost prefer the Calderwood version - however onwards and upwards.......

Next step fitting the Forecastle breast beam assembly etc (had to refer to my Caldercraft instructions for this name!!)

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She is looking great !
As far as not knowing the nautical names of parts, I have found that even with my references, often it doesn't have the name of the part I'm looking for. ROTF


Jeff
 
Great work Julian. Coming along so sweet and steady.
Slow the speed on your Dremel. I did for my wire platting, very controllable. Came out nice.
 
My Dremel has several speeds - the slowest is still too fast - it twisted the two wires like mad!!. The manual method enabled me to do the same number of twists for each set of wires
 
My Dremel has several speeds - the slowest is still too fast - it twisted the two wires like mad!!. The manual method enabled me to do the same number of twists for each set of wires
Time to invest in a new variable speed one. Me thinks. Fantastic control at the speed you want.
Couldn’t be without mine now.
 
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Its coming on a pace - made forecastle beam assembly, ships wheel and bell assembly amongst other sub-assemblies. Must say I enjoy making these sub-assemblies as it is something different to do and one can see them piling up ready to be fitted.

Practise makes perfect (well almost!!), starting to get the hang of making small intricate parts using tweezers and small very sharp model knives. Have to admit to another mistake - planked the quarter desk and then realised I had not fitted the wheel assembly . There was just not enough room under the deck beams to slide it into place, so I had to cut a hole in the deck, cut the wheel assembly in two and then glued in place. No-one will notice!!

Fitted belaying pins in place plus Galley stove chimney also shot garlands

One question or observation - are the belaying pins too big??, They are 10mm long which at a 1:84 scale equates to 840mm or 33 inches long in real life - to me this seems to be rather large. I think that I remember a few months ago when this kit first came out someone wrote the scaling of the belaying pins was wrong. Is this correct??

Looking at the photos realised some painting needs to be done especially around the deck grating - the white wood colour does not look realistic enough. Fairly pleas with the way the quarter deck colour turned out - not so sure about the colour on some of the photos; I tried to enhance the contract to show some more details.

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Its coming on a pace - made forecastle beam assembly, ships wheel and bell assembly amongst other sub-assemblies. Must say I enjoy making these sub-assemblies as it is something different to do and one can see them piling up ready to be fitted.

Practise makes perfect (well almost!!), starting to get the hang of making small intricate parts using tweezers and small very sharp model knives. Have to admit to another mistake - planked the quarter desk and then realised I had not fitted the wheel assembly . There was just not enough room under the deck beams to slide it into place, so I had to cut a hole in the deck, cut the wheel assembly in two and then glued in place. No-one will notice!!

Fitted belaying pins in place plus Galley stove chimney also shot garlands

One question or observation - are the belaying pins too big??, They are 10mm long which at a 1:84 scale equates to 840mm or 33 inches long in real life - to me this seems to be rather large. I think that I remember a few months ago when this kit first came out someone wrote the scaling of the belaying pins was wrong. Is this correct??

Looking at the photos realised some painting needs to be done especially around the deck grating - the white wood colour does not look realistic enough. Fairly pleas with the way the quarter deck colour turned out - not so sure about the colour on some of the photos; I tried to enhance the contract to show some more details.

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NO DOUBT THAT THE BELAYING PIN ARE OUT OF SCALE. I MADE THEM MYSELF USING TOOTHPINS AND THEN SHAPED THEM..
 
Major task almost completed - the channels. After two coats of varnish started to fit the channels. To aid fitting drilled a very small hole in the back and glued a pin in place (used a cutdown eyelet as supplied by Occre). Drilled corresponding hole in the hull, applied super glue to each pin and Gorilla glue to the back of the channel, held in place for 30 seconds while the superglue dried and job done.

Made up a jig to make the chainplates - used two very thin rods 5mm apart glued in a wooden block. Easy to bend the wire round the rods and cut to length. Also used a eyelet to make a former to bend the gunport hinges around

Surprised Occre don't say anything about ropes used to open the gunports. On the Caldercraft Victory used very thin thread but thought this was a bit messy as it had to be glued into a hole in the gunport and a hole in the hull - my skills were not up to making this neat enough - always used too much superglue.

Question how does one place a very small amount of superglue in place?? - I try putting a drop on a pinhead but always seem to use too much..

So used very thin wire as supplied by Occre for the chainplates, drilled a small hole in the hull and glued in position using Gorilla glue - left overnight and cut to length. Using my very 'pointy' plier bent the wire so it touched the top of the gun port - no extra glueing required just a bit of bending in place.

ps - amazed how much definition is in the photos of the two jigs I used - Modern digital cameras can show so much detail in closeup

Next task fixing the channels on other side of the hull's and then making the barricades around the edge of the deck

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Into the final few weeks of the hull build. It is almost finished!!. (well the hull is - the rigging will take another few months.....)

On a sunny day (yes it does stop raining sometimes!!) masked up the decking and took hull out in the garden and put it upside down on the old workmate (it is almost 45 years old!!) and using a clear matt varnish from PAINTfactory sprayed the ribs and keel. In all did 4 thin coats.

The bulwarks for the foredeck are made as a sub-assembly which I glued in position using a combination of super glue(for immediate fixing) and Gorilla glue - to fill in the gaps. The netting was fitted in place using small amounts of superglue.

Small admission - once I glued the bulwark in position next to the foredeck I realised I should have made a gap for the cannonade to fire through!

Quite pleased with the anchors - a nice Sunday afternoon job. As always glad I used to be a boy scout as this comes in handy making the rope lashings around the 1.5mm brown rope used as an anchor rope.

Made a cardboard template to cut the netting to size for the bowsprit netting.

Copied the Caldercraft Victory paint scheme to paint the entry port (Constant bugbear - Occre do not have any reference to painting schemes - only varnish)

Am not happy with the details of the guns on the top decks - Occre only show coils of ropes next to the guns whereas there should be blocks and tackle etc. Will look in the 'bit box' left over from the other Caldercraft Victory to find spare blocks

As you can see added other small finishing touches such as rope railing around the hold, more cannon balls etc

Note - photo no 633 in the instructions shows two racks of cannon balls on the inside edge of the bulwarks - I only had room for one as I had already fitted the stairs leading to the topdeck (as per photo 643). This was my fault as I got too keen and fitted the ladder too early. - the second rack of cannon balls fit partially behind the ladder (photo 643 from the instructions).

Spend a bit of time touching up some of the paintwork - still got some to do especially around the bows, think I will leave it until the rigging is completed so I can see what it looks like. Expect to use Yellow Ochre on the white timber strips on the keel

And that is about it for the hull - next posting the completed hull!

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After 6 months the hull is complete (well all bar ships boats, fitting anchors and one or two minor item which might be damaged when doing the rigging, also still got to put decent block and tackles on the guns, plus a bit more painting).

Its taken since Nov 2023 to do - some 6 months of effort with approx 3-4 hours per day - approx 7-800 hours (how the time flies when you are enjoying oneself!!) so its been quite involved

Quite pleased with the result - its certainly different to the Caldercraft Victory - see photo of both of them. Still undecided which is better. Will post comparison of each sometime soon.

Decided to take a break from the model now summer is almost here . Got to revamp my workshop - currently use a spare room with very poor working conditions. Even have to use my parents old dining room table with a plywood sheet to protect it - not very good. Hopefully will build a wall unit all along one side complete with cupboards etc

Much appreciate the various comments made on this forum - it certainly helps to get feedback plus help and tips.

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Fantastic work Julian. That really looks the biz.
All your hard work and your build here has been really useful to me. I have learned a lot from you.
I am dreading the rigging as it all looks so complicated and my knot tying is virtually nonexistent. Hopeless at tying knots.
Please when you do yours after your break, loads of detail pics and tips would be so helpful.
Enjoy your break and thanks again.
 
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