Heller 1/100 Victory build

My local hobby shop sells sapele, basswood, ramin and walnut dowels.

Did a search and it appears Caldercraft kits come with ramin dowels. I never heard of that wood and don't know if it's any good. Keep in mind that my woodworking skills are null and I will probably use the dowel on a drill method...

Don't buy Ramin. It's illegally harvested, and is an endangered species. Rain forest destruction. It's the stuff you see underscaled kids furniture made of, very hard and very white.

Oh, that's too bad. I guess I will then try to use the birch dowels from my old rods. They're like 4mm and the flying jibboom is about 2.5 mm, so it will need to be sanded through its whole length. 

The inside bulwarks have been painted... need a little touch up here and there.

Also been working on the bee lines for one side. Decks and masts are dry fitted to check for alignment, fortunately all seems to go well. Bee lines are being a bit of a pain to get straight, as masking tape doesn't work due to the moulded wood texture...

All masts that come in halves have been filled with birch dowel. Topgallant masts are so extremely thin that the thought of using brass or steel is coming to mind again. Wood might still be prone to breakage at that diameter...

If you make the upper masts out of birch or cherry you don't need to worry much about breakage. Believe me, I've made plenty of wood masts that are skinnier than that, and they've worked fine.

Besides, they need to be tapered. (The taper is subtle, but if it isn't there the model will look top heavy.)

What I don't recommend is setting up all sections of all masts at once. The longer they're up, the better the chance of an accident. I'd suggest starting the rigging with just the bowsprit and lower masts. Another approach is to make all the spars in advance, with their blocks and other fittings attached, and install them in order.

There's another advantage in that approach. The real ship's spars and rigging are designed so that the topmasts, jibboom, and topgallant masts can be removed individually without interfering with any of the spars or rigging above or below. If you rig them as they go and you find that some piece of rigging just won't work without a higher-up spar being installed, you've done something wrong.

When I rig a model I usually don't bother even making the topmasts until the lower masts hav all their standing rigging. If I remember right, when I built my scratchbuilt frigate Hancock I mounted and rigged the lower yards, and their furled sails, before I even started to make the topmasts.

Regarding wood choices - I honestly don't know what Calder/Jotika supplies for masts. It may be that the British mean something different when they say "ramin," but I don't know.

The absolute best stuff for spars that I've found is degama, which is extremely fine-grained, hard, and refuses to bend. (It does, however break. I found that out the hard way.) But I was able to make the spars for my old Hancock and Bounty on my dear old Unimat lathe, which wouldn't be big enough to tackle the huge spars on a 1/100 Victory. I found I could turn down a stick of degama to less than 1/32", though it might take me several tries. And in about 35 years none of those spars has broken. (A tip for the far distant future: you've got to plan on putting that model in a case. And it will be expensive.) I bought the degama from a ship model dealer that's no longer in business; I'd have no idea where to find it today.

If I were you I'd use either birch or cherry. If you're reasonably careful, and don't put the skinniest spars up too soon, you won't have a problem.

Here's a suggestion, Roberto. And it's made with a little caveat that the last thing I want to do is create any frustration.

It would still be relatively simple to build up the thickness of the hull at the gun ports. To do so will add quite a bit to the look of the ship.

The exterior planking, frames and inner sheathing add up to a hull thickness of anywhere from 24" or more at the lower gun deck, up to at least 12- 16" on the top deck. If you haven't already discovered it, McKay's "Anatomy of the Ship" for the Victory is a must-have book. Most of the book is a very fine collection of detailed drawings he created. Although most of the drawings are not to scale, there is a whole section of, well, sections at 1/48" scale.

Here's what I did. I bought three sizes of square stock basswood, and went at it with my Chopper. I glued them onto the back, flush with the ports, and didn't bother with the top sill. You can see how I slipped the corners- it made it a no brainer. The only detail was it took just a little trial and error to make sure that it didn't bind with the decks above and below, but once I had my lengths, I just cranked out the parts with the cutter and glued them on with CA. I'm sure it took at most an evening.

Painted red, they just say "ship".

Hy Roberto, I would second the opinion of GM. 

This is one of the small tricks to make the model less "plastic type" and give it the appearence of a wooden model or even real ship.

Just try out on one place if it works for you, I really think it is at least worth the trial :-)

Cheers, Daniel

PS: Great work so far!

Thanks for the input. So I guess I will grab the birch dowels and try my hand at "turning" them... my idea is to replace just the topgallant masts and the flying jib boom. Everything else looks reasonably strong.

GMorrison, I thought of following your footsteps on building up the gun ports, but I thought the wood pieces would be seen if one was to look through the gun ports on the opposite side. I'm not sure how much I care about that since I wasn't going to detail the inside that much at all. So in the end I don't know what I will do... sure it does look more like a ship with the added thickness!

I woudn't recommend expeding much effort on the insides of the bulwarks below the weather decks. The space between the gun barrels and the the edges of the ports are really small. Unless there's an elaborate lighting system, you won't be able to see the inside of the bulwarks at all.

The hull halves are quite a bit thin. Some people have built little hollow squares around the gunports, just to make the edges of the ports look more reasonable. I think that's a good idea. Whether you use styrene or wood won't really make any difference. Nobody's going to see those little hollow squares when the model's finished.

It really can't be seen, the insides. I also kept it simple without the top of the port since that cant be seen either.

I added some details down on the lower decks, some worth the effort such as the lower capstan and cable, some not like the stairways and stanchions. And I did add lighting, but it just makes the ship glow a little without displaying the detail, or lack thereof, below. For the lower sections of the capstan I found little round wood furniture knobs, which look fine.

Thanks! Well, I will go get some basswood stock tomorrow and build up the ports. It's definately worth it. I'll use wood since Evergreen is quite expensive in comparison...

I was planning to add lighting, but only to the stern section since detail would more easily be seen through the transom windows. The kit doesn't come with a lot of detail in that area but if I am to do some scratchbuilt detail, that's the place!

Now another thing I'm trying to decide is whether to use satin or matt varnish for the hull... it will be varnished soon, as soon as the outside is painted and weathered, as I want to protect the paint job from my fingers during further manipulation. That Vallejo stuff really comes off easily, even over primer...

I purchased some basswood stock for the gun ports and also the hobby store happened to carry 2 mm beech dowel. Looks like an excellent material for the flying jib boom.

The lower deck will be thickened by 3mm and the upper decks by 2mm. Now, I have thought of the thickening frames on the upper gun deck... won't they be visible through the opening in the spar deck where the boats go? 

Maybe. If I were you I'd do a simple test. Clamp or rubber band the upper deck to the hull sides, and see if you can see the sides through the big hole between the forecastle and the quarterdeck. My guess is that you won't. If you can, it might be worth spending some time to make the entire bulwark thicker - in the part that's visible through the waist - scale thickness.

Bear in mind that the bulwarks get a little thinner as they approach the tops of the frames. I don't know how much, but your references should make it clear. A good way to solve the problem might be to make the strips of styrene or wood alongside the ports the scale thickness of the frames, and plank over them with styrene or wood strip to represent the ceiling.

Beech is a good material for spars. I do wonder, though...Model Shipways kits all claim to have beech spars, but the stuff in the kits is actually birch. If it really is beech it'll have tiny dark specks in it. If not, it's birch - which will work fine.

One other small point. If you surround the gunports with basswood strips, the transition from styrene to wood at the edges of the ports will be quite conspicuous unless you put a lot of effort into sanding and filling the grain. I'd suggest styrene strip for the job.

European Beech (Fagus sylvatica)

Janka Hardness: 1,450 lb_f (6,460 N)

Modulus of Rupture: 15,970 lb_f/in² (110.1 MPa)

Elastic Modulus: 2,075,000 lb_f/in² (14.31 GPa)

Crushing Strength: 8,270 lb_f/in² (57.0 MPa)

Shrinkage: Radial: 5.7%, Tangential: 11.6%, Volumetric: 17.3%, T/R Ratio: 2.0

and

American Beech (Fagus grandifolia)

Janka Hardness: 1,300 lb_f (5,780 N)

Modulus of Rupture: 14,900 lb_f/in² (102.8 MPa)

Elastic Modulus: 1,720,000 lb_f/in² (11.86 GPa)

Crushing Strength: 7,410 lb_f/in² (51.1 MPa)

Shrinkage: Radial: 5.5%, Tangential: 11.9%, Volumetric: 17.2%, T/R Ratio: 2.2 

are two different species. The european has more darker streaks and flecks, while the American is much more bland, looking much like American birch in appearance.

Most interesting. I'd be interested to see similar figures for American walnut and European walnut. (For all I know, there may be more than one distinct variety of walnut in Europe.)

The fine turned model fittings that are imported from Italy seem to have a tighter grain and better carving characteristics than the American walnut that nice furniture is made of.  I have the impression that walnut is a popular wood among ship models over there. I wouldn't be enthused about making little fittings out of the stuff that (I guess) comes from the walnut suppliers around here. And I guess there's a distinct possibility that the "birch" I've been looking at is actually beech.

In any case, I think either birch or beech would be fine for making model spars.

Well this dowel doesn't have any dark speckles, so I'm not sure what I have bought. Could be birch, and could be -hope it's not- ramin. The guy at the store said they haven't carried ramin for quite some time now though.

But I just spent some minutes making the flying jib boom and whatever this wood is, it's great. Fine grained, strong, not brittle and sands very well. So there goes my first ever tapered spar... it's so thin I was able to sand it by hand, without a drill. Looks fine. I don't know how to make the small notch on the tip, though. And I believe the flying jib boom does have a sheave at the tip for one of the stays (fore topgallant is it?), rather than a notch?

John, the basswood stock seems to sand well to a quite smooth finish. I'll make a test with primer and paint and hope it looks good/not conspicuous, cause styrene strip is quite expensive around here!

 

English walnut

Color/Appearance: Heartwood can range from a lighter pale brown to a dark chocolate brown with darker brown streaks. Color can sometimes have a gray, purple, or reddish cast. Sapwood is nearly white. European Walnut can occasionally also be found with figured grain patterns such as: curly, crotch, and burl.

Grain/Texture: Grain is usually straight, but can be irregular. Has a medium texture and moderate natural luster. 

Endgrain: Semi-ring-porous to diffuse porous; large earlywood pores grading to medium latewood pores, few; solitary and radial multiples of 2-3; tyloses occasionally to abundantly present; growth rings distinct; rays barely visible without lens; parenchyma banded (marginal), apotracheal parenchyma diffuse-in-aggregates (sometimes very faint and barely visible even with lens).

Rot Resistance: English Walnut is rated as moderately durable in terms of decay resistance, though it is susceptible to insect attack.

Workability: Typically easy to work provided the grain is straight and regular. Planer tearout can sometimes be a problem when surfacing pieces with irregular or figured grain. Glues, stains, and finishes well, (though walnut is rarely stained).

Odor: No characteristic odor.

Common Name(s): English Walnut, Circassian Walnut,
European Walnut, French Walnut, Common Walnut

Scientific Name: Juglans regia

Distribution: Eastern Europe and western Asia

Tree Size: 80-115 ft (24-35 m) tall, 5-6 ft (1.5-2.0 m) trunk diameter

Average Dried Weight: 40 lbs/ft³ (640 kg/m³)

Specific Gravity (Basic, 12% MC): .52, .64

Janka Hardness: 1,220 lb_f (5,410 N)

Modulus of Rupture: 16,160 lb_f/in² (111.5 MPa)

Elastic Modulus: 1,568,000 lb_f/in² (10.81 GPa)

Crushing Strength: 7,280 lb_f/in² (50.2 MPa)

Shrinkage: Radial: 5.5%, Tangential: 7.5%, Volumetric: 13.0%, T/R Ratio: 1.4

 

Black Walnut

Color/Appearance: Heartwood can range from a lighter pale brown to a dark chocolate brown with darker brown streaks. Color can sometimes have a grey, purple, or reddish cast. Sapwood is pale yellow-gray to nearly white. Figured grain patterns such as curl, crotch, and burl are also seen.

Grain/Texture: Grain is usually straight, but can be irregular. Has a medium texture and moderate natural luster.

Endgrain: Semi-ring-porous; large earlywood pores grading to medium latewood pores, few; solitary and radial multiples of 2-3; tyloses occasionally to abundantly present; growth rings distinct; rays barely visible without lens; parenchyma banded (marginal), apotracheal parenchyma diffuse-in-aggregates (sometimes very faint and barely visible even with lens).

Rot Resistance: Black Walnut is rated as very durable in terms of decay resistance, though it is susceptible to insect attack.

Workability: Typically easy to work provided the grain is straight and regular. Planer tearout can sometimes be a problem when surfacing pieces with irregular or figured grain. Glues, stains, and finishes well, (though walnut is rarely stained). Responds well to steam bending.

Odor: Black Walnut has a faint, mild odor when being worked.

Common Name(s): Black Walnut

Scientific Name: Juglans nigra

Distribution: Eastern United States

Tree Size: 100-120 ft (30-37 m) tall, 2-3 ft (.6-1 m) trunk diameter

Average Dried Weight: 38 lbs/ft³ (610 kg/m³)

Specific Gravity (Basic, 12% MC): .51, .61

Janka Hardness: 1,010 lb_f (4,490 N)

Modulus of Rupture: 14,600 lb_f/in² (100.7 MPa)

Elastic Modulus: 1,680,000 lb_f/in² (11.59 GPa)

Crushing Strength: 7,580 lb_f/in² (52.3 MPa)

Shrinkage: Radial: 5.5%, Tangential: 7.8%, Volumetric: 12.8%, T/R Ratio: 1.4

I checked out the walnut dowels at the store, too. It seemed to be a decent material for spars, but I didn't like the grain. Thanks a lot for the information!

IIRC one problem with walnut is that it will always be walnut colored. It doesn't take any stain very well.

Yes, I think so. It has a nice color for unpainted topmasts though.

Alright... looks good enough.

My camera messes up the colors, I can assure you I didn't paint the gunports pink. Anyways, I'm user brighter base colours, which will be modified later by some oil filters.

Fantastic! Nice job, and fast work!

Thanks!  I wish it was fast, Bill... took me 2 hours to do 10 ports! 

Edit: hope these pics look better...

The most representative of the true color is the last one. The yellow will receive a dark cadmium yellow oil filter to make it a little more orangey, then raw sienna and burnt umber washes for weathering. Gun ports will get a very dark red or even black filter. Hope it all ends up looking good enough!

I will do some tests of those techniques on a small area of the opposite side of the hull. If it doesn't look good, clean, rinse and repeat.

Weathering test... orangeish filter, light brown drybrush for the black and Vallejo sepia filter for the yellow. Came off OKish I guess. So relatively soon the whole hull will be given this treatment then sealed with varnish.

Some more progress... thickened some more ports, and painted the inside of the stern galleries. The bee lines still need some touching up. 

Some touch ups on the bow area... the yellow has been darkened with an oil filter, on the above picture there are some later touch-ups which won't be visible after the whole hull has been weathered.

And an overall view of the model...

very nice work looking good

Dafi suggested a small modification to the stem of the ship, because the shield in the figurehead seems to float in mid air. In fact the stem of the model seems to be wrong - too short, and as a result the curvature of the head rails is wrong as well. Changing the bow rails of course would mean a lot of extremely challenging scratchwork so only the stem is modified. I used a few pieces of the basswood stock I bought for the gun ports, glued together then carved. This will be mostly obscured by the cherubs in the figurehead so I'm happy enough with the results.

Good day, rdiaz

Good job! and paint work as well!

All the Best!!!

Kirill

Thanks!

I already have acquired some copper leaf for the hull bottom. This was cheap so if preliminary tests on scrap plastic don't go well I'll consider using copper tape or paint...

Thats going to be troublesome, I'm afraid. It tarnishes readily, even from exposure to air. Besides wearting cotton gloves, you'll need to seal it immediately. Copper tape at least seems to have a clear coating as it stays pretty bright.