spars for Heller Victory kit

One thing you could consider is looking into some of the spar kits designed to fit cardstock models.  Fortunantly Shipyard of Poland makes a 1:96 scale victory, which would be very close to the Heller Victory kit.  The spars and masts for these kits are very basic and are the basis of considerable scratch building work to make the masts look presentable, specifically laminating bits of cardboard, thread, brass wire, wood venere etc. to build up all the masts and yards.  If you intend to do a lot of scratch building the Shipyard kit might be helpful to have.   You could use some of the designs for ships boats and other fixtures if you find that they are better than what is in the Heller kit.  The shipyard card model kits are very complex and detailed models.  They are not beginner kits, so if you intend to do the Victory as your first attempt at card models, you are in for an immense challenge.  You should be able to get a mast kit for a very reasonable price from some on-line vendors.  check out the work on www.kartonist.de. One gentleman built up the Victory kit some months ago and it is very impressive.

I read a lot of posts about replacing the yards on the Heller Victory. I completed one in the 1980s and I am currently reaching the masting stage on a second.

In my experience it is only the T'gallant yards that may be liable to warping and then only if the rigging of the braces is pulled too taut. There is simply no need to pull the lines that tight. Using the correct scale of line, Stretching  before rigging,  and running thro' beeswax  allows for adequate tension and permits  a realistic sag  if required to the final effect, and does not pull even the thinnest t'gallant masts and yards out of  line.

Using wood presents its own problems, turned down to the required thickness of say the Mizen T'gallant yard it is also prone to warp and even worse breakage.

I did enclose dowel inside the lower masts of my current build although there is no evidence even after twenty or so years of any ill effects to the masts of the original.(without the addition of a core)

I would say stick with the Heller yards unless the mouldings are particularly bad as there is little to be gained by replacing with wooden ones just for the sake of it.

I agree with George - with one small caveat.  I've heard horror stories about the quality of the styrene in recently-produced Heller kits.  (I hear recently-molded Revell sailing ships are just as bad - if not worse.)  It's possible that the stuff in a kit bought recently is more prone to warpage or breakage than what was supplied in the ones sold years ago.  The one Heller Victory I've ever examined closely is one that was sent to me for review back in about 1979.  The plastic in it was of excellent quality, but photos of recently-purchased kits make it clear that the stuff Heller was using a couple of years ago was distinctly inferior.

Generally speaking, though, any plastic spar that's molded in halves probably is more than strong enough to do the job.  And replacing a spar with wood is no guarantee that it will be less inclined to bend or break.  When you're dealing with diameters less than 1/8" or thereabouts, most species of wood are at least somewhat flexible - many of them more flexible than styrene of the same diameter.  The standing rigging of a ship is designed to deal with the problem.  George is right: if the model is rigged to scale, how flexible the spars are really shouldn't matter much.

If you do want to stock up on wood spars, Model Expo (www.modelexpoonline.com) sells a "grab bag" of them for a reasonable price.  But think twice before spending the money.

Following John Tilley's comments above, I was moved to re-check the kit yards of my current build. Fortunately they seem to be ok with no visible sign of twist or warp.

I would agree with his general comments however, the mouldings on my current (12month old kit) are nowhere near as crisp as on the 1980s Heller version, this is particularly evident on the Stern gallery carving and balusters, the beakhead rails, and figurehead shield, just makes it a little more difficult to get a good result. I'm not sure the hull and decks fitted together as well as the original, but this may just be failed memory or perhaps a deterioration in my modelling skills such as they are.

I am pleased with the kit overall and intend to rectify all the errors and omissions of my first build, in fact there is barely an area on the entire completed hull that has not been modified or enhanced in some way or other, mostly derived from information not so available in the 1980s

Still the Victory presents a project of some magnitude and the potential for error is ever present, but then so is the sense of satisfaction when things go to plan!