First ship build: HMS Victory

JMart wrote:

nicely done, thanks again for sharing! I think of my first 2-3 builds I came back to the hobby, about 50% of all 'actions" were not used at the end, or discarded or rebuilt/repainted. Its all part of the learning curve, will make your next build that much better! I have not built a sailship in ages, cant give you specific feedback... but I remember reading a long time ago about ways to paint plastic 'sails" so they look more natural, some very specific methods with well thinned paints... sorry cant remeber any details, but they exist! Again thanks for posting and look forward to your next build!

The sails actually look a better in person. I've been meaning to fiddle with the settings on my digital camera to get the back lighting better so that the sails don't look so solid. I've been reading a lot about manual settings etc. So when I can get some better pics i'll post them up. I actually used a light flat tan wash to color the sails and add depth.

Here's a better picture that shows the sails a little bit better. I used the manual settings on my camera and turned the flash off.

 

  That shows the sails in a better light ( pun intended ) you did a fantastic job on this model, thanks for sharing your build with us, good luck in your next build. Karl

Oh yes, much better! Thanks again for posting... I must ditto the above and again give you kudos for such a nice job on your first ship build :) cheers!

Oh My Gosh, It's Revell! Your colors threw me off at first. Looks great. I used the rat lines in the kit and they were a bear but came out OK. Allignments on some are not good because of Revell but only a couple. Cutting the upper part of the preformed part was tricky. Very fine work since the platforms and gaps are so small. I studied the pictures in the kit and added a few more lines than you did, but yours still looks great. I'm looking for a case for mine now since it needs dusting every couple of months. I also have to add a pennant or two. Thanks, Paul

Actually the more I look, our models are almost identical except for the color. Nice. Thanks, Paul

Greetings:

Excellent build! I share your frustration with a new digital camera. I still haven't gotten the knack of using mine yet. My first ship build was the big Revell Constitution. I sure learned a lot during that build to put it mildly. Two books that helped me greatly were Rigging Period Ship Models by Lennarth Petersson. This book clearly shows how the shrouds are set up. Another one was Underhill's Masting and Rigging the Clipper Ship and Ocean Carrier which was one of the few books that clearly shows how to do studding sails. What I like about the Underhill book is it deals with wooden and steel hull ship rigging. I would follow Revell's rigging instructions and when a part wasn't clear I'd look it up in this book and lo and behold I'd find so that's where that line ties off. Great book. I've still got several large kits waiting including the Heller Victory but have been putting them off as they just take so long to do the rigging. It took me 9 months of part time work to finish the Constitution. Godd luck on your next build.

Michael Lacey    

which

wow there must have been a thick layer of dust on this thread when it was dug out. yeah the colors where off on this build. But it was my first sailing ship kit that i had built. The manual said yellow so i looked at my limited supply of paints and found a bottle that said yellow something or other and went with it. I also think that the manual said the deck was yellow sand or something of that nature. so i went back to my trusty bottle of yellow paint. at the time i really didn't think much about detail and accuracy. Up until that time i was building model cars here and there and I would just pick colors that I liked for the body, interior and engines and went with it. One day i want to build this same kit and do it justice. but since it was my first sailing ship model i'm very proud of it. yellow deck and all.

Thankyou for for creating this thred in suport of plastic sailing ship modeling--enemink.

Hey-enemeink!! That is one nice looking build.I have to commend you for taking on such an involved ship for your first of models of things that float! It is true that you have done a bangup job on the yellow paint.It is my impression that first rates(such as the VICTORY) had rust red or some such color(They didn,t want blood spatters showing during battle.)The injuries and maiming caused lots of the red stuff to be spilled.The worst enemy of sailors in those days was splintering and explosive shells exploding close aboard.That was a mess ,I am sure.It doesn,t matter though.You build her the way you want!! If I displayed my CONSTITUTION, I am sure I would get ripped.,I feel the same way about my VICTORY by HELLER.The gun decks on both are rust red and the gun line stripe on the "CONNIE"is not white but an oily grey/white.This I got from looking at tallships in real life.The "CONNIE" and her sisters didn,t have the luxury of long port stays so that kind of stuff would be off/white or even a faded out grey by the time they ported for yard work.So, I paint accordingly.What power magnifier did you use to do that forward shield and decoration with?? Again, great work for a first effort.        Tankerbuilder

tankerbuilder

Hey-enemeink!! That is one nice looking build.I have to commend you for taking on such an involved ship for your first of models of things that float! It is true that you have done a bangup job on the yellow paint.It is my impression that first rates(such as the VICTORY) had rust red or some such color(They didn,t want blood spatters showing during battle.)The injuries and maiming caused lots of the red stuff to be spilled.The worst enemy of sailors in those days was splintering and explosive shells exploding close aboard.That was a mess ,I am sure.It doesn,t matter though.You build her the way you want!! If I displayed my CONSTITUTION, I am sure I would get ripped.,I feel the same way about my VICTORY by HELLER.The gun decks on both are rust red and the gun line stripe on the "CONNIE"is not white but an oily grey/white.This I got from looking at tallships in real life.The "CONNIE" and her sisters didn,t have the luxury of long port stays so that kind of stuff would be off/white or even a faded out grey by the time they ported for yard work.So, I paint accordingly.What power magnifier did you use to do that forward shield and decoration with?? Again, great work for a first effort.        Tankerbuilder

I'll have to admit that when i first started modeling ships the idea of weathering never crossed my mind. Even though i built model cars for 20 years (on and off) i never thought of weather, or even added details. I always just built them as they would have looked "new" according to the instructions. It wasn't until i started lurking in the other forum threads and getting the FSM mags that i finally realized there was alot more to building models. I think i was half way through the build when somebody pointed out that the deck was the wrong color. it was at that moment i realized that  some model paint suggestions weren't always correct or practical, but very basic. so when i was building this kit i researched the Wasa for awhile to make sure that i could do a somewhat decent job. though even looking back on the Wasa I wish i had done the deck better.  You should post up pictures of Connie. i have that kit in my stash and would love to see other builds of the same kit.