Airfix 1/180 scale HMS Victory with aftermarket wood decks

[Sprocket 9,185]

Here I go with my third attempt at this venerable elderly kit.

 

the first improvement I intend to make is to add the wood deck available for this

from these guys...

the deck itself looks very realistic.

close examination of the peel and stick planking.

comparison between the poop decks.

 

they've sent a sample of their blocks, pullies and other items they do in their range. they look a little overscale to me. and I'm looking at the PE shrouds

that include the three hole blocks.

Edited April 11 by Sprocket
typo

[Gorby 18,715]

The decking is a huge improvement.

[Mad Steve 21,924]

Ooooh looking forward to this one 

[Sprocket 9,185]

Thank you both, I'm champing at the bit to get started, but I'll have to be patient, The pe window frames for the stern are out of stock at the moment.

It's all a bit chicken and egg at the moment, so I'll delay starting work on Victory until I have all the aftermarket stuff to hand, keep you all posted.

 

[Sprocket 9,185]

oh yes, Result! got the three PE sets for my HMS Victory build, ordered from these Guys....

All Products (scalewarship.com)

[Sprocket 9,185]

They are here, well ahead of expectation, excellent service from them, lets take a look at what I got for my £60.

the shrouds and ratlines, these are going to look smart.

in PE they are beautifully scale thickness.

the stern windows, among other things on this sheet.

I think these might be the safety nets on Marine walk.

I also ordered some kevels and cleats that they 3d print

looking forward to building this kit now, it should be epic. After the 1/700 RMS Titanic of course.

[Gorby 18,715]

1 hour ago, Sprocket said:

You ordered some robotic pigs as well? 

The PE looks really good.

[Mad Steve 21,924]

Very nice Photo Etch Sprocket 

[Sprocket 9,185]

and we are Go! on this HMS Victory build. Starting with a trial fit of the two hull halves, after clipping off the massive sprue  from the keel.

my first move is to drill holes through these gallery windows. Then I can whittle them out with a scalpel.

 

[Sprocket 9,185]

drilled out, ready for the scalpel.

 

taking out the whole window "Mullions"

using the PE part to check how much needs to be chopped out with a scalpel.

[Sprocket 9,185]

feels great, opening it up like this. two times I've painted the pane's of glass, never looks this good.

need some mr surface on the inside lower edges just to solid it up a bit, may have to box these cabins.

 

 

[Hutch6390 2,495]

Off to a flying start, Sprocket - that looks very good 

[Sprocket 9,185]

side windows...

 

clamping in the pe parts

[Gorby 18,715]

The PE is a big improvement.

[Sprocket 9,185]

yes it makes quite a difference, opening up those windows feels great, I'll glaze them with the sticky protective coatings from the Titanic

pe frames, cut and stick inside, just to give that glazing reflection look. Here's the first PE sheet of three.

[Sprocket 9,185]

sticking the deck down, not peel and stick but glue and stick, I used gorilla clear, thin coat then stuck it down, simple and rather quick.

painted the decks dark grey first. Made it even more simple.

while that lot dries, drilling and scalpel out the doors to the officers heads and office. get those squared off.

so they look like these..

[Mad Steve 21,924]

Nice , I like those wooden decks 

[Sprocket 9,185]

they look good don't they Steve, trouble is, when you've used them, how can I make a model with plastic decks ever again? I'll have to improve my wood grain painting

skills.

the copper hull in grey-green

the upper hull in Life colour flesh base, as close to the new Victory colour as I can get.

[Sprocket 9,185]

masked up black over yellow....

the peel off begins...

no paint creep under the narrow Tamiya masking tape so far.

[Gorby 18,715]

That looks good.

[Sprocket 9,185]

coming close to the most stressful part of this particular kit build, the countdown has begun.... Some may miss the old dark yellow scheme, but this is

according to the Curator, and he's staked his professional name on this, the colour Nelson would have recognised.

midships there is an entry port either side of the hull third deck down, that's below the last deck provided in the kit, so I made a false section of deck

just inside the entry port threshold.

it will be pitch dark in there when the hull is sealed.

 

decks in preparation.

 

Edited May 17 by Sprocket
correction

[Sprocket 9,185]

The most stressful part of building this kit is the joining the two decks and both hull sides, Airfix Expects Every

Modeller to...add it all in one go, no way! if the lower deck isn't dry,cured and secure it will move out of place

and out of reach the moment you try to add the top deck, no good, the lower "weather Deck" has to be glued

in and allowed time to harden in place so it stays lined up, as you slide the upper in from bow to stern, not how

the Master shipwright would have dome it but hey, I'm 180 times bigger than him.

[Sprocket 9,185]

two hours later, the gorilla glue has hardened the lower deck in place, just slide the upper deck in front to back making sure the pillars aren't broken off.

the pillars just need a dot of glue on their tops and re positioned under the trestle beams. the deck here wants to rise, so

I've clamped it in place till the glue hardens and holds it. Leave that alone for the rest of the evening now to settle down.

[Sprocket 9,185]

This morning inspection showed the decks in place, but there is some correction work to do before I can move on.

the deck edge A is still proud, I need to apply real pressure to get that to lay flush. the Pillar B needs slight adjustment to

sit under the deck beam. and the deck edge C needs a clean up, though, the PE hammock netting will cover this area.

Back here, some cleaning up to do, though the decks are being held firmly in their correct positions, room for a little cabin

building in here. Surprised it all survived so well in the rough handling of the major fit up yesterday.

[Gorby 18,715]

The wooden deck and the PE really do take it to the next level.