H.M.S. Victory by Caldercraft - Build Log

[team118]

An hour here, an hour there!

I blackened the cannons and all of the various bits that are attached to the cannon bases. It's a love hate result.
I think you have to polish the finished result with a clean cloth, but doing so will rub off some of the black, which will require you to dip them again.

Now pictures, as always will enhance the reality these are miniatures (built by a rookie) and will enhance my flaws.
But from farther away, they look fine.

Drilling the holes for the various eyelets is tough. .5mm bits are very thin and if you are not careful, you will break them, I think I started with 5 or 6 of them and they are all gone!!!

Also, the directions require a .7mm hole for the bolts that hold the trunnions in place. It was almost impossible to do this with any precision.
I have a drill press and suppose I could have rigged that up and secured each cannon base in place....I didn't bother.

My thinking is that once painted, they blend in. Once I am done creating the 10 showcase cannons I might consider cutting the heads off the pins that were meant to hold the trunnions in place and just glue them in the holes for the aesthetics of it all!

I did have to touch up the cannon breeches because the blackening agent doesn't work on CA glue, but I knew that was going to happen.
To be honest, for those that want to go with a paint option, the dried result looks great and I would guess that painting the cannons and ensuring they are drip free will look just fine!

The forward eyelets are there to hold a ring that the breeching rope runs through as it goes from the bulkhead wall to the cannon, around the back and back through a ring on the other side on its way to the other side and bulkhead. I have a way to make rings, just not sure yet what size wire to use. The wire I used to make the breeching loops is just too thick. I think I have some very thin brass wire. I'll keep you posted.

I also installed the 3 crooked ladders I made in addition to adding the lower stanchions for the rope railings. That was a bit tough to do because of the angle of the stairs in relation to the upright angle needed for the stanchion. Also, trying to guesstimate how much thread to leave for the finished railings was tough. Hopefully I guessed right!

Oh yes, the manual asks for .25mm thread for the rope railings. Once blackened or even painted, there is NO WAY to get a thread that thick through the stanchion holes. That is where I broke my last .25mm drill trying. So I am using the .1mm thread....at least for these railings that are a but lower.

Perhaps I will see what I can do to the stanchions for the next deck BEFORE I remove them from the sprue.

 

[team118]

While doing that, I wanted to finish the copper plating on the keel base.

Because of the width of the wooden keel base along with the copper plating on each side, it is just a bit thinner than a copper plate.
Had I installed the bottom plates FIRST, I could have easily used my PE bender to bend just a bit on each side.

But once the side plates are installed, there was no way for me to get that thin a piece of the plate under the bender.
So I installed the plates on the keel and once dried, I used the burled end of one of my exacto knives to roll the ends down. I popped a few and had to redo them, but if you are careful you can get them to square off. This part of the boat is buried under any stand you'll select and the copper plates work together to create a pretty cohesive look that hide any imperfections of installation.

On the books I have, there are 4 locations on the side hull for a set of single sheaves and double sheaves. I believe they hold running rigging lines for the some of the main course sails.

Using some math, I think that 4mm sheaves would do the trick. I bought some 4mm brass and wooden sheaves for a choice.
I built little boxes for each and the double wooden sheaves are a bit thinner and I like them better than the double brass.

However, I used the brass sheaves for the single set up.

Once done, I drilled out the locations where I think they should be and installed them. They are ok and I will have to do some work to clean them out a bit.

Now, there should be identical sheaves on the inside bulkhead walls, but I opted to just drill a hole. Once done, I created some rope shanks for the cleats that are installed on the upper deck. They are a but too long, but I think they add a little realism that you will barely see!!!

These sheets might be in the way of the cannons and I tried to find a pic of how they would actually be run, but as the current ship doesn't have the masts installed those sheets are no longer in place.

Thanks!

 

[Peter Gutterman]

For a project of this scale your progress is impressive!

 

[DARIVS ARCHITECTVS]

While doing that, I wanted to finish the copper plating on the keel base.

Because of the width of the wooden keel base along with the copper plating on each side, it is just a bit thinner than a copper plate.
Had I installed the bottom plates FIRST, I could have easily used my PE bender to bend just a bit on each side.

But once the side plates are installed, there was no way for me to get that thin a piece of the plate under the bender.
So I installed the plates on the keel and once dried, I used the burled end of one of my exacto knives to roll the ends down. I popped a few and had to redo them, but if you are careful you can get them to square off. This part of the boat is buried under any stand you'll select and the copper plates work together to create a pretty cohesive look that hide any imperfections of installation.

On the books I have, there are 4 locations on the side hull for a set of single sheaves and double sheaves. I believe they hold running rigging lines for the some of the main course sails.

Using some math, I think that 4mm sheaves would do the trick. I bought some 4mm brass and wooden sheaves for a choice.
I built little boxes for each and the double wooden sheaves are a bit thinner and I like them better than the double brass.

However, I used the brass sheaves for the single set up.

Once done, I drilled out the locations where I think they should be and installed them. They are ok and I will have to do some work to clean them out a bit.

Now, there should be identical sheaves on the inside bulkhead walls, but I opted to just drill a hole. Once done, I created some rope shanks for the cleats that are installed on the upper deck. They are a but too long, but I think they add a little realism that you will barely see!!!

These sheets might be in the way of the cannons and I tried to find a pic of how they would actually be run, but as the current ship doesn't have the masts installed those sheets are no longer in place.

Thanks!

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They actually had lines running across the gun ports to belay on the cleats? Doesn't make sense to me.

 

[team118]

They actually had lines running across the gun ports to belay on the cleats? Doesn't make sense to me.

I am not 100% sure of this, pics of the running rigging show lines (which look to come from the clews of the lower main courses) down into the sheaves on the hull side. Then there are other pics of the interior walls on the upper deck with identical sheaves. These seem to be very close to the cleats and I see no other way to secure those lines other than across open gun ports.

However, most running rigging would be on the top decks of a ship, not sure why any running rigging would be on a lower deck forcing someone to have to run down for adjustments or to be assigned to wait there while sailing? So it is very possible I have misunderstood the role of those sheaves!!!!

 

[DARIVS ARCHITECTVS]

Assuming the sheaves are in the correct locations...

It would be a good idea to seek out photos of the Victory for these locations to confirm where things go. Can any of our Victory builders please provide that evidence?

 

[team118]

Assuming the sheaves are in the correct locations...
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It would be a good idea to seek out photos of the Victory for these locations to confirm where things go. Can any of our Victory builders please provide that evidence?

Hi Kurt....I was doing other work on computer when I saw your post and had to run downstairs to check!!!

So your thoughts make complete sense. But the plans call for these cleats (just looking at the most forward cleat) to be mounted between the 5th and 6th gun port, but the sheave is between the 4th and 5th window.

There is also an iso view of the interior showing the location of the cleats....

But I think your positioning makes more sense.

It's hard to find current pictures of this deck, there is so much 'museum clutter' for tours and to provide as much information as possible that some of the this type of detail is lost.

While I cant change the sheaves, I can certainly alter the interior if needed!!!!!

 

[DARIVS ARCHITECTVS]

Hi Kurt....I was doing other work on computer when I saw your post and had to run downstairs to check!!!

So your thoughts make complete sense. But the plans call for these cleats (just looking at the most forward cleat) to be mounted between the 5th and 6th gun port, but the sheave is between the 4th and 5th window.

There is also an iso view of the interior showing the location of the cleats....

But I think your positioning makes more sense.

It's hard to find current pictures of this deck, there is so much 'museum clutter' for tours and to provide as much information as possible that some of the this type of detail is lost.

While I cant change the sheaves, I can certainly alter the interior if needed!!!!!

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When something doesn't make sense, don't trust the model plans without verifying the feature using other sources of information. Plan are OFTEN wrong,(and John McKay is occasionally also). Those sheaves appear to be located in places for the fore course brace lines and main tack lines. Seek out a rigging diagram and verify what the lines for these sheaves do and where they are belayed. It should be easy, the ship still exists!

 

[GrantTyler]

While doing that, I wanted to finish the copper plating on the keel base.

Because of the width of the wooden keel base along with the copper plating on each side, it is just a bit thinner than a copper plate.
Had I installed the bottom plates FIRST, I could have easily used my PE bender to bend just a bit on each side.

But once the side plates are installed, there was no way for me to get that thin a piece of the plate under the bender.
So I installed the plates on the keel and once dried, I used the burled end of one of my exacto knives to roll the ends down. I popped a few and had to redo them, but if you are careful you can get them to square off. This part of the boat is buried under any stand you'll select and the copper plates work together to create a pretty cohesive look that hide any imperfections of installation.

On the books I have, there are 4 locations on the side hull for a set of single sheaves and double sheaves. I believe they hold running rigging lines for the some of the main course sails.

Using some math, I think that 4mm sheaves would do the trick. I bought some 4mm brass and wooden sheaves for a choice.
I built little boxes for each and the double wooden sheaves are a bit thinner and I like them better than the double brass.

However, I used the brass sheaves for the single set up.

Once done, I drilled out the locations where I think they should be and installed them. They are ok and I will have to do some work to clean them out a bit.

Now, there should be identical sheaves on the inside bulkhead walls, but I opted to just drill a hole. Once done, I created some rope shanks for the cleats that are installed on the upper deck. They are a but too long, but I think they add a little realism that you will barely see!!!

These sheets might be in the way of the cannons and I tried to find a pic of how they would actually be run, but as the current ship doesn't have the masts installed those sheets are no longer in place.

Thanks!

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Good morning. Wow, plenty of cannons to make…This is a complex ship and I agree with Kurt as often the kit plans don’t always make sense in reality. Once the upper deck is on these details are not all together visible so depending on your choice I personally would stress to much. Unfortunately the sheet line from the sheave accross the gun port will be from the outside. There are some completed Caldercraft Victory’s on the web and maybe these can give you another reference. The one I referred to was the build by Gil Middleton- very well made. Cheers Grant