1/72 HMS Victory Cross Section

[rtfoe]

Hi Jim, I just caught up with your build again and it's a beaut. The hammocks and guns are outstanding craftsmanship. I have only been on the replica HMS Endeavour and can understand how cramp the conditions were. Even Captain Cooks hammock looked so cramped and short.

My Dad visited the Victory when he was studying at Sandhurst to become a junior officer. He remembers all standing at attention and salute where Lord Nelson fell and also where he died in the deck below. He still shivers at the thought of the surgeons tools.

Jim, is the kit section anywhere near where Lord Nelson died and does the kit provide details of it?

Cheers,
Richard

 

[Jim R]

Thanks to you all for your interest and so many supportive, encouraging posts. They truly do boost the old mojo a lot.

So there are four 32 pounders on this section of the lower gun deck. The instructions allow you to choose between guns run in or run out. Just for interest I decided to show two in each position.

Very fiddly but what I lack in skill I make up for in patience and eventually I got one side done.
Gun run out


...and run in.






I coiled the loose rope as John suggested for the rear tackle when the gun is run in. The breech rope, which limits the recoil of the gun as Tim mentioned, was difficult to position as it is thick.

An interesting fact about the British guns "A gun crew of 12 was expected to be able to fire a round every 90 seconds. This was achieved by constant practice. The gun crews were expected to practice every day except when the weather was too bad" I have read that the superiority of the British gun crews was a telling factor at Trafalgar.

Thanks Jim

 

[BattleshipBob]

Superb Jim, lovely build and detail!!!

 

[Jim R]

Cheers Bob

A bit of progress but the better weather and jobs courtesy of SWMBO restricts bench time.

As a bit of a break from rigging guns I had a look at the top of one of the elm tree pumps which fits on this deck. It is a white metal part. This metal is very brittle and the top was broken.


Also the handle snapped when cleaning it up. I scratched a new handle from scrap styrene.


I decided that the hole for the hinge was unnecessary. I stuck it all together with two part epoxy rather than CA for strength.


I stuck a couple of styrene rivet heads over the handle hinge ends and the whole thing was painted.


One little idea I've had - don't know how it will turn out. When finished to show where this cross section is I have bought a cheap Airfix HMS Victory kit. The whole thing is less than 6 inches long and is very basic.

The idea is to build it, Paint the whole thing grey and then just paint the section in the proper colours, basically black and yellow ochre stripes.

That's it for now. I'm off to do some DIY stuff outside

Stay safe and enjoy the nice weather - well it is nice here in Shropshire
Jim

 

[rtfoe]

Hi Jim, great idea on showing where the section is on the little kit of Victory.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[spanner570]

Great build Jim.
I'm really enjoying watching progress.

The Airfix Victory has brought back some great memories of a 'Challenge' we did on here in 2014. 'Build and paint the Victory as per box art colours' It was great fun!

 

[JR]

Very nice Jim, that repair and scratched part was well worth the effort. Like the idea of the small version of the Victory.

I've just returned from the garden , now in full sun so lunch is next.

 

[Neil Merryweather]

Cheers Bob

A bit of progress but the better weather and jobs courtesy of SWMBO restricts bench time.

As a bit of a break from rigging guns I had a look at the top of one of the elm tree pumps which fits on this deck. It is a white metal part. This metal is very brittle and the top was broken.
View attachment 424892

Also the handle snapped when cleaning it up. I scratched a new handle from scrap styrene.
View attachment 424891

I decided that the hole for the hinge was unnecessary. I stuck it all together with two part epoxy rather than CA for strength.
View attachment 424893

I stuck a couple of styrene rivet heads over the handle hinge ends and the whole thing was painted.
View attachment 424894

One little idea I've had - don't know how it will turn out. When finished to show where this cross section is I have bought a cheap Airfix HMS Victory kit. The whole thing is less than 6 inches long and is very basic.
View attachment 424905
The idea is to build it, Paint the whole thing grey and then just paint the section in the proper colours, basically black and yellow ochre stripes.

That's it for now. I'm off to do some DIY stuff outside

Stay safe and enjoy the nice weather - well it is nice here in Shropshire
Jim

Great idea Jim

 

[wotan]

Great job Jim. Gun deck is beginning to look fantastic.

John

 

[Airborne01]

Nice knitting Jim That looks great, it will look fantastic when they are in place......
There’s a lot of rigging on them. They need to be able to be run in and run out, and to be lashed tight....wouldn’t want three tons of gun running amuck during a bad storm.....I assume the big cable through the breech ring is there to stop them recoiling too far.....
Don’t think I’d like to stand on the other ship in an engagement! Three shots a minute at point blank range would destroy anything in front of them.

Tim
The breeching (rope) is there for just that purpose; there are train tackles on the sides which 'run in' and 'run out' the carriage and assist with lateral aiming, a two or three-fold purchase to the rear of the carriage which assists in securing the complete weapon and sometimes assists in running in the gun when the deck is canted downwards. Elevation is achieved by means of a wedge called a quoin whilst handspikes provide the necessary muscle to move the carriage on a l-r axis. When at sea the train tackles are often lashed together to minimise lateral movement.
Steve

 

[Jon Heptonstall]

Lovely work Jim.
you could try defuzzing those ropes with beeswax or diluted PVA.
Jon.

 

[minitnkr]

I have a little chunk of beeswax for that & lubricating my little drill bits. PaulE

 

[Airborne01]

I use beeswax on my boots for Remembrance Sunday! Love the smell when it melts!

 

[scottie3158]

Jim,
Looking great mate, and the idea of using the little ship is excellent.

 

[boatman]

HI Jim this is fabulas brilliant work an modeling
chris

 

[Jim R]

I really appreciate your interest and your supportive and informative posts. I don't think I would get a fraction of the fun out of the hobby without this forum.

So some progress. Not a lot to show but time consuming work. Also for the first time there have been a few fit issues - nothing serious but up until now the fit has been faultless.

The pump heads fitted






I wound string around the handles as I found that in a reference photo.


The kit would have you choose between mess tables and benches or seamen's hammocks. Although probably inaccurate I decided to have one side set up with the table and the other side with hammocks. Only the table and benches done so far. The rope will tie to the beam above to level the table.


Next the beams for the middle gun deck deck. Support columns added.






Next up was a bit of terrible planning. Having fitted the beams a section, front and aft, had to be cut out to accept the gratings!! You can imagine the whole thing is not really strong enough for sawing and you don't want dust on the bits you've done!! They could so easily have made the beams with the cut out section or had you cut them before fitting them. Note to self - "Read ahead in the instructions"
Also fitted the shot garlands - where they stored their balls






Thanks again guys.
Stay safe.
Jim

 

[Neil Merryweather]

Fantastic stuff, Jim!
I have a 1-50 HMS Surprise in the stash as my retirement project, but there's so much involved in just this sliver ,it's giving me second thoughts.....

 

[Tim Marlow]

Great to see this progressing again Jim. Not a lot of headroom on those gundecks is there!

 

[scottie3158]

Jim,
The lovely work continues.

 

[Allen Dewire]

Evening Jim,

I have been following this from the cheap seats (about 1000 km away) and apologize for not commenting sooner. Most excellent work on this very interesting project in that fine Jimbo art. I must admit that a few of the photos actually look like they were taken in a real ship, especially the wooden parts. I tip my hat to you sir for an outstanding build!!!

Prost with a bottle of rum
Allen