HMS Victory (Repair)

[KeithLyall]

I think I may have made a mistake of telling a friend I build model ships as a hobby. She promptly asked if I could also fix model ships. Her husband has a model of HMS Victory which has seen better days; basically what the ship may have looked like AFTER the Battle of Trafalgar. It had been sitting in a corner literally collecting dusk and requires quite a lot of repair work. However I am always up for a challenge !!

The original ship arrived in the following state ...




A myriad of issues to be addressed including dust engrained on all surfaces, a broken display stand, broken masts and spars, snapped rigging, many gun ports broken off, and a general appearance of being unloved.

I plan to progress the repair along side my ongoing build of Endurance.

 

[KeithLyall]

First job was to build a new base as the original was made out of a very light balsa wood type timber and was broken up.
Using the original as a template I cut and built a more robust base

 

[BarrySR]

I hope you’re charging them a fair price for you repair work. A carpenter or a mechanic today gets around $30 to $50 per hour. Your work and skills should be worth at least that much.

FYI. This is from ChatGPT:

Ship Model Restorer (U.S.)
️ Independent / self-employed restorers

This is where it varies widely.

Common working rate: about $30–$75 per hour
High-end specialists: $75–$150+ per hour

But here’s the key:

• Many don’t charge strictly hourly
• Instead, they price per project

Example:

• Minor repair (rigging, cleaning): $100–$500
• Moderate restoration: $500–$2,000
• Full museum-quality restoration: $2,000–$10,000+

 

[kuba91nt]

You'll read all this nonsense from the GPD chat, and then someone wants $25,000 for an Aretesania Latina Cutty Sark model because it's a high-quality museum piece. Keith should take responsibility for this work, and be happy that he saved a unique model, regardless of the cost of making it.

 

[Roger Pellett]

This looks like it was a pretty “basic” model of Victory even when new. Restoring it will hopefully make someone happy. I suspect that he’s not doing it to get rich.

Roger

 

[KeithLyall]

It is a favour for a friend and yes it is a very basic model of Victory so not planning to charge … never even crossed my mind. Could be different if it was for a commercial organisation. Definitely not in it for the money.

 

[KeithLyall]

I started by removing broken parts (although I took some reference pictures first):

• Cut away the broken rigging from the foremast. Much of the existing rigging thread had perished and broke very easily.
• Checked all gun ports and removed those that were loose.
• Removed spars from the fore mast and cut away any broken threads.
• Removed loose netting and stair rails.
• Removed the beams across the lower deck.
• Removed the anchors. The attached rope was crusty and had lost all flexibility.

Basically a bit of a wreck ...

... resulting in a box of bits ...


The first job was a thorough clean with methylated spirits and plenty of cotton buds.


The main job to address was the foremast and bowsprit area ...


Fortunately the shrouds and ratlines were still intact so I was able to reconstruct the foremast without the need to undo the existing rigging. The main rigging job was to replace the running rigging.


Overall it took about 2 weeks work off and on to complete the repair.