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

team118 said:
Well, it took 9 days of a little work here, a little work there. Usually about 3 hours at a time after spending time down at the marina.

I am not sure one way or another if it's ok. I did alter the runs a few times to create some areas where I am going to need stealer plates.

Also, I did attempt to add final cut pieces and after the fact, I am not happy. I used a regular pair of scissors to cut the plates and that was fine, but it does warp the plate. After a first attempt, I removed a lot of the little wedges and I'm going to wait till I'm done and circle back around.

I can see some areas where the CA glue is visible. Once I'm done, I'll see if Q-tips and acetone can help remove that. I've seen other builds where any attempt to work at the finished plating is worse.

Hopefully, filling in the wedges goes well! So on to the port side and I'll see you soon!!!!

Oh, I have been working on building the cannons. I have been cutting them out about six at a time and building the bases....just something to keep my sanity.

View attachment 442737View attachment 442738View attachment 442739View attachment 442740View attachment 442741View attachment 442742

View attachment 442743View attachment 442744
Click to expand...
Good afternoon. Looking really good. It is a fine thing about the Victory. There are so many aspects so when bored with one you jump to another…..I got the nickname Ricochet Rabbit when I built mine. The coppering is coming out brilliantly- nice! Cheers Grant
 
I have been working slowly on the plating. Balancing getting ready for summer around here and working inside on the model are starting to conflict with each other!

Been working on getting my real sailboat in the water and that is almost done.

I have also finished the bases of 15 of the cannons. I don't have pictures yet but will provide some. They are pretty easy to build and I've spent more time sanding and cleaning up each of the pieces before assembly.

I created a quick jig to help with create the cannon bases. Just 2 pieces of wood glued to a larger piece to give me stability as I glue the axles to the 2 carriages. I also drilled out the holes in the carriages to allow the 1mm wire to pass through for the base of the cannon bed.

Doing this task while doing something as tedious as the plating helps to keep me focused.

20240427_181216.jpg

20240430_155351.jpg

20240430_155355.jpg
 
Well, I am not going to lie. While I have been working quite a bit on getting my sailboat ready to launch I have been sidetracked by a VERY guilty pleasure.

I saw the series Black Sails and never really thought about taking a look. But then one rainy day a few weeks ago I took a stab.

HUGE MISTAKE. As a sailor and now as a 'builder' of a ship from this era (kind of), it just captured my attention. It is a riveting series, weaving history with an engaging back story (much like Cameron did with his Titanic movie).

I couldn't help myself as I watched episode after episode and I if I hadn't been alone, I would have driven everyone crazy as I pointed out the many details of the ships that I have come to know in my build or in my reading.

In this day and age of high speed vehicles, ships, airplanes and more, it is probably very difficult to comprehend that we are talking about ships that had to fight to reach 6-7 knots of speed. That's with stiff winds and the right angles. Imagine light breezes as you are trying to go that last 1500 yards into a bay with a breeze no more than 2 or 3 knots! I know the show kind of took license when it came to some of the maneuvers the ships made to get into position, but I felt it was such a joy to watch and pretend to be a part of.

So....if you are lucky enough to have Netflix....take a chance. Give the first episode a view and I promise, you'll be hooked!!!!

Fair winds!
Chris

Black sales.jpg
 
I have been working a bit here and there. Spring cleaning of the yard and getting our boat ready for the summer have taken some of my time.

Getting close to the end of the full rows of copper plating. Once that is done, I will take a look at adding the cut pieces, my first attempt were not the best so I will wait so that I can apply my full attention to getting them right. I think that is important because they are 'ending' pieces and will naturally draw the eye.

20240513_123727.jpg20240513_123733.jpg20240513_123738.jpg20240515_184422.jpg20240515_184425.jpg20240515_184428.jpg20240515_184416.jpg
 
I have also worked on building up the cannons in between rows of copper plates.
I believe I have 15 finished to this point and I have cut all of the pieces (except the wedges) for the rest.

I sand all the pieces to get rid of the fuzz and then glue the side pieces to the axles using a jig that just holds the side in place.

I'll work on all the wheels at once after I have finished the cannon bodies and painted them.

Cracking on!!!!

20240515_180355.jpg

20240515_181156.jpg

20240515_181650.jpg

20240515_181856.jpg

20240515_183401.jpg

20240515_184351.jpg
 
team118 said:
Well, I am not going to lie. While I have been working quite a bit on getting my sailboat ready to launch I have been sidetracked by a VERY guilty pleasure.

I saw the series Black Sails and never really thought about taking a look. But then one rainy day a few weeks ago I took a stab.

HUGE MISTAKE. As a sailor and now as a 'builder' of a ship from this era (kind of), it just captured my attention. It is a riveting series, weaving history with an engaging back story (much like Cameron did with his Titanic movie).

I couldn't help myself as I watched episode after episode and I if I hadn't been alone, I would have driven everyone crazy as I pointed out the many details of the ships that I have come to know in my build or in my reading.

In this day and age of high speed vehicles, ships, airplanes and more, it is probably very difficult to comprehend that we are talking about ships that had to fight to reach 6-7 knots of speed. That's with stiff winds and the right angles. Imagine light breezes as you are trying to go that last 1500 yards into a bay with a breeze no more than 2 or 3 knots! I know the show kind of took license when it came to some of the maneuvers the ships made to get into position, but I felt it was such a joy to watch and pretend to be a part of.

So....if you are lucky enough to have Netflix....take a chance. Give the first episode a view and I promise, you'll be hooked!!!!

Fair winds!
Chris

View attachment 445106
Click to expand...
Chris,

Big YES - a wonderful series - all 4 seasons - Hooked indeed - I had seen it when first released. It is now again on my Netflix Watch list for a revisit .....
I better finish this before June 12 - MAX - will then takeover haha....

PS: Just found your log - great work indeed - I'll go back through it with morning coffee
 
Watching Black Sails. Bad history, great show. I'm hooked. Thanks for the tip. If you read Captain Charles Johnson's "History of the Most Notorious Pirates" (a fairly contemporary account, a riveting, if difficult, read) you'll find that captain Charles Vane was perhaps the stupidest, most vain and hapless of his contemporaries. The man tasked with herding the cats under the King's pardon in Nassau was Woodes Rogers, a canny and courageous adventurer, circumnavigator, plunderer of a Manila Gallion in the Pacific and author of "A Cruising Voyage Around the World" A T.V. series was even made about him in the 1950s.;)
 
team118 said:
I have been working a bit here and there. Spring cleaning of the yard and getting our boat ready for the summer have taken some of my time.

Getting close to the end of the full rows of copper plating. Once that is done, I will take a look at adding the cut pieces, my first attempt were not the best so I will wait so that I can apply my full attention to getting them right. I think that is important because they are 'ending' pieces and will naturally draw the eye.

View attachment 447520View attachment 447521View attachment 447522View attachment 447524View attachment 447525View attachment 447526View attachment 447523
Click to expand...
Good morning. whew, a huge task coppering the Victory. Looking very good. Black Sails is a cool series. It was filmed at a set here in Cape Town. Some of the supporting actors and one of the stunt doubles are friends if my kids _ made it a little personal for me. Was awesome. Lovely log. Cheers Grant
 
It may be too late at this point, but it might still be a good idea to learn proper planking for the future. If you are depicting her after March of 1780 the Victory had her bottom coppered which will cover a lot of sins. But if the wood is to be seen one of the best sources of information on planking is Chuck Passaro's four part video series on lining off and planking.
If the planks are pre-shaped as in his videos there is no need for pins. A shaped plank can be held in place with finger pressure for less than a minute using PVA glue, or a few seconds for those who like to use CA glue. In general every strake of planking, with the exception of one or two drop strakes forward or stealers aft, should taper and end at the rabbet. The photos below are probably more clear than my words. The planking on the right is common instruction for many kits but is not suitable if a realistic appearance is a consideration.
Planking comparison 2.JPG
 
AllanKP69 said:
It may be too late at this point, but it might still be a good idea to learn proper planking for the future. If you are depicting her after March of 1780 the Victory had her bottom coppered which will cover a lot of sins. But if the wood is to be seen one of the best sources of information on planking is Chuck Passaro's four part video series on lining off and planking.
If the planks are pre-shaped as in his videos there is no need for pins. A shaped plank can be held in place with finger pressure for less than a minute using PVA glue, or a few seconds for those who like to use CA glue. In general every strake of planking, with the exception of one or two drop strakes forward or stealers aft, should taper and end at the rabbet. The photos below are probably more clear than my words. The planking on the right is common instruction for many kits but is not suitable if a realistic appearance is a consideration.
View attachment 447578
Click to expand...

Hi! Never too late! Well....I did finish the 2nd planking and you are right, my version is no where near correct, but I figured as you mentioned that the coppering was going to cover all of that as well as the 3 wales.

I have seen that video, I've just not developed the skills or understanding to shape and taper planks to make them fit as nicely as some of the more experienced builders out there. I suppose that would come with time and putting many wood models together.

I think that is perhaps one of the reasons NOT to tackle a ship like the HMS Victory at this scale as your first attempt at wooden ship model building.

The upside is that I am going to do my very best to apply these techniques when I build the 3 launches as I won't be able to rely on the copper to hide my flaws!!!!
 
Peter Gutterman said:
Watching Black Sails. Bad history, great show. I'm hooked. Thanks for the tip. If you read Captain Charles Johnson's "History of the Most Notorious Pirates" (a fairly contemporary account, a riveting, if difficult, read) you'll find that captain Charles Vane was perhaps the stupidest, most vain and hapless of his contemporaries. The man tasked with herding the cats under the King's pardon in Nassau was Woodes Rogers, a canny and courageous adventurer, circumnavigator, plunderer of a Manila Gallion in the Pacific and author of "A Cruising Voyage Around the World" A T.V. series was even made about him in the 1950s.;)
Click to expand...

Hi Peter, the show is absolutely the worst as an accurate portrayal of history! No doubt. It is nice that it includes many of the famous pirates of that time period and I have a habit of looking up various things on my laptop as I watch a tv show, so I could see where fact and fiction took their separate paths!

For me, I was enthralled with the actual sailing and scenes on ships. We have a Catalina 380 sailboat on Lake Ontario in upstate/west NY in the US and anything sailing is cool for me!
 
team118 said:
I suppose that would come with time and putting many wood models together.
Click to expand...
And a willingness to make a piece then, if it is not a good fit, throw it in the scrap bin and make a new one. The problem with many kits is that the supply of wood is 1. Poor quality and 2. not enough to replace a piece which does not fit properly. When I say quality, the second layer of commonly seen dark wood is grainy and not receptive to shaping like many other species due to it being so brittle. I realize it comes down to costs and some manufacturers are looking more to offering a more affordable product rather than a high quality one.
 
When it is time to round the axles for the trucks on the cannon carriages there is an easy and quick way to round these perfectly. Drill a hole in a short piece of brass or steel then cut slits with a hacksaw. This cutter is then chucked in a drill and will round the axles in a second or two.

As an aside, I assume these came with the kit but the carriages do not look like those that would have been on Victory after about 1790. (see below)

Allan
Axletrees and cutter.jpgCarriage patterns.JPG
 
team118 said:
I think that is perhaps one of the reasons NOT to tackle a ship like the HMS Victory at this scale as your first attempt at wooden ship model building.
Click to expand...
True story. I did the same thing, building the Victory as my first. The good thing is that you learn so much due to the complexities of the ship so we only have to build one ship to learn what most do on two or three shipsROTF. So much fun tho and once done is an impressive model to have. Cheers Grant
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top