HMS Victory Build #776 1:98 scale

Joined
Feb 28, 2020
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Hi from Beaverton, Oregon. my name is Dick and am not new to modeling. I was in engineering and at that time we modeled pulp factories and computer chip factories in plastic and wood. Long before 3D acad. I’m also very proficient in autocad. So when I visited my relative in Boston I saw he had bought plans from mantua and tried to build a model. He did ok and so areas very poorly. So I asked him if I could have his plans and make one myself. He agreed and off I went. I put about 4 months into it and found out that I would have had to purchase all the fittings and it would cost a lot and I couldn’t afford at that time so I shelved it and here’s some pics I have. I’ll use it as a template for my mantua kit 776 my wife bought for me a few years ago. Now that I’m retired I started building this kit on March 20, 2020.

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We’ll I started it on March 20, 2020 after my return trip from China. While there I was semi quarantined for 9 weeks and couldn’t fly out as planned. Anyway while there I viewed on YouTube ship model building being done by John Aliprantis and Bobby Waldron. Wow they both inspired me to start my model so here it is. I’ll post specific areas then write about it. 1st off the plans supplied and instructions were terrible to say the least. I would not recommend buying th mantua kit and opt for a little more money and buy a better kits with better instructions

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Side note haven’t ever seen this Mantua model kit online, on YouTube or anywhere else. All scales are either larger or smaller on no instructions anywhere.
 
Step 2:
Setup keel to base, true up to be straight with clamped straight edge (not shown) and bolted to angle brackets and screwed to 8”x23” base. Also used 90 deg angles clamped to keel for vertical. (Also not shown). You can see some angles on right side of picture. I think I used all of my woodworking angles to true up keel.A6E9D22D-8F21-48E6-A9C5-44867C7EF43C.jpeg
 
Step 3:
Added first rib and trued both horiz, level and vertical. Most critical step for ribs as everything from here will be based on this rib. made 4 small plywood blocks on table saw to true 90deg angle which I’ll use throughout this build. You’ll notice on keel dual numbers marked. The ones in ( )are for following the genesis build. 1st rib is now true in all directions to keel.F453270C-B9FF-4F02-BEEC-47DE27D6E58D.jpeg80A427C1-A37F-4967-9979-F2A915D21A3A.jpeg4F4AE722-98CA-49DC-B292-4C9FDA082B6D.jpegthis rib.
 
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Step 5:
They call them mouldings (see pic of instructions and see how lacking) but they are actually the deck base levels. I glued first then shaped close after glueing had setup. Also at same time I had to install lower deck which was precut.difficult to do as you had to bend in u shape the deck to get it into place. I also had to add Small strips of thin laminated ply on ends to support deck. It took a lot of time and care to setup and install without breaking deck and getting all ribs true to base and 1st rib. It took some doing but mission accomplished. I also looked at instructions on how to support false cannons on several decks and again no help at all. See pic on how to add 6mmx6mmx6mm block. My 1st question is how to make sure block is in correct location to drill and mount cannons after the 1 layer of planking is on. Impossible at best so I opted to add balsa wood (see pic) for backing then add larger block and also to black out area inside gunport with black acrylic paint. But that was a mistake as balsa wood is too fragile and I kept breaking when I was picking up model to do other work.

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here are two more build logs with mantua Victory


 
here are two more build logs with mantua Victory


Thanks
 
Step 7:
Removed balsa backing and install 6mm thick blocks in gunport areas. Once planked and gunport outlined I can drill a hole thru planking in center of gunport outline all the way thru block in back. Also add a small section of lower deck that will show thru from above. I’ll plank later. Base is balsa wood nothing fancy to support planking. Also added more supports for decking in all areas at ends of planking. And that’s where I am as of today (Day 35) April 4th ahhh my Birthday. Too bad no going out to dinner. I was hoping for a Red Lobster dinner. Oh well next year. I’ll be working on shaping bow and stearn sections tomorrow.742F6683-52E8-4026-AB9D-611FC070169E.jpeg910DE72C-B103-452A-9733-D59D1EB713A3.jpeg724AC785-E19F-40C7-BF45-EDB8C90CA727.jpeg2E0F9612-5E70-4874-A16A-2F1000D600AE.jpeg445C7CEC-22FC-405F-AD62-DD97A5A27E2D.jpeg
 
Step 9:
Painted all gunports acylic flat black and installed decking last night. I bought sanding sealer and applied today. Will do fine grit light sanding in a few hours and then poly coat with a gloss finish. Now waiting for full size plans to arrive so i can plank outside. Need some info on cannons and elevations from decking at each level. Instructions say to install all decking and plank deck before side planking. I’m going to partial plank sides to include to all gunports and then follow with decks. MaybeE436E3D7-B198-4C57-82DD-75DFE50CDAA0.jpegEFDBF87F-F7FF-49C5-9211-017BAB8184AA.jpeg419F0689-356B-485D-8205-E1C894E63B75.jpeg35FD9BE5-75D9-4DAD-B2A4-6FD50AEE5ADA.jpeg1F5E8FB4-1E8A-4337-B778-55F9762E922D.jpeg. I know I did I a lot of decking but I had extra cherry wood and used it to practice decking for upper decks. This deck is mostly not visible.
 
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