HMS Victory and Le Redoutable at Trafalgar (1/300)

[marijn van gils]

Thank you Rui and Tom!

could you pre-bend the wire and then attach it to the block?
So much easier to whizz it loosely around a paintbrush handle or similar.
Tom

That's a great idea! I thought I made things easier for myself by having the loose end integral with the rest of the tackle assembly, but I think that actually made it more complicated because I underestimated the difficulty of gluing the loose ends to the deck...

[marijn van gils]

Meanwhile, I installed the spare topmasts, figures and gunnery equipment in Redoutable.
Contrary to Victory, she is engaged only on one side.

The boat is not yet weathered (and neither is the lucifer).

[wefalck]

Quite drastic, the last picture ...

The match on the boat really shows, how small all this is

[SG1]

Incroyable! The wounded-assistance vignettes are sublime eye-catchers! Not to mention the crew manning the guns..

..and i like the way you portrayed the famous French secret weapon that Napoleon was planning to use against the British fleet: "L'allumette g�ante"

[marijn van gils]

Thanks guys!

Quite drastic, the last picture ...

That is true!
But this angle is not accessible for view once the decks above are in place, and most of that blood will be blocked from view by his body, so I had to 'extend' the puddle of blood to have just a little of it in view.

Also, it is so small that these things become hard to see if I don't overdo it a little. For that reason I also used bright red for the blood. If it would have been a larger scale, I would have used a much darker colour.

[Iceman 29]

Amazing scene. It shows just how horrific the fighting was.

And this scene remains "soft" , because for those who have read the many stories of this and other battles, it was often a "butchery without a name".

The wounded, or what was left of them, were lowered to safety below the waterline in what served as an infirmary.
HMS Victory:

[Dan K]

Superb work, and much realism that is very evocative.

I would think Redoubtable's casualties actually much worse then you'd care to depict, even before getting raked by Temeraire.

[Pieter]

This scene happened 17 years before Louis Pasteur was born. You will need other colors than bright red for a realistic scene .

[Iceman 29]

I read that the service boats before the battle were launched and moored to the stern of the ship, in tow, to prevent them being damaged during the battle. And so that they could be used as lifeboats in case the ship sank.

The masts were also double-gripped with chains before the battle to prevent them from falling onto the deck. The hemp ropes were extremely flammable due to the pine tar-based product that covered them.

[dhenning]

Simply amazing work!!

[GewoonWouter]

wow, such a great piece. The atmosphere is just amazing. This sure is your best to this date Marijn. You keep upping the game. Impressed!

[marijn van gils]

Thank you everybody!

Indeed, the reality would be much more gruesome than shown here, even quite early on in the battle.
But there is of course a reason why paintings of the subject limit the amount of blood and guts shown. And for the same reason I will also be careful with blood, to prevent the diorama looking like a complete horror show (even though it probably looked like one in reality).
Master & Commander also keeps the blood in check. The battle scenes are quite fierce, but the amount of actual blood and gore is kept quite moderate when you pay attention to it.

But I think I will still try to take it a bit further on the upper decks than I did here. Also on Victory, because her crew suffered a lot from musket fire and hand grenades at this stage of the battle. I will try using some darker colours for the blood too.

I read that the service boats before the battle were launched and moored to the stern of the ship, in tow, to prevent them being damaged during the battle. And so that they could be used as lifeboats in case the ship sank.

It is correct that boats were towed behind the ships during battle, but it seems that it was usually only part of the boats. For Victory, there is evidence that she towed two boats, one of which was lost very early in the battle. Four seem to have been on the booms at the beginning of the battle, but I'm only showing two (two others will be in the water picking up crew in the water).
A French 74 usually had 3 boats, stowed in/on top of each other. I will show Redoutable towing two of them, with the largest still in the waist (and indeed getting damaged...).

[Iceman 29]

This diorama will be so small but so grandiose.

Can't wait to see the rest!


"The figurehead of our ship depicts a centaur, a creature half-man half-horse, with both arms above its head, holding a weapon that appears to be some kind of bludgeon. Compare this with a document in the British Library showing the figurehead of the Bucentaurus:"

https://troisponts-net.translate.goog/2 ... r_pto=wapp

Redoutable, Trafalgar. Auguste Mayer.

[pascalemod]

Looking at all that fantastic damage and the blood, its like youre there!

On paintings, on Drachinifes youtube channel he had a Victory special and he mentions a painting he comissioned using to them most accurate info of the battle events, ie. Victory breaking the french line just before being entangled with Redoutable. I thought it was pretty interesting account if you havent seen. Made for a good listen while building .. whatever I was building at the time.

[Frank Spahr]

Mr Vizzini would (in this case very properly) term this masterpiece as

Incontheivable!

Blown out of the water

Frank

[Sszabi]

The deck is full of life, amazing details!

[marijn van gils]

Thank you everyone!


Thanks Pascal. However, the Auguste Mayer painting is thought to be named wrongly, in fact depicting Bucentaure (as described on the page you linked to, and here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Traf ... _Mayer.jpg ). The figurehead is actually one of the major arguments for that.
But it is a beautiful and very evocative painting. Very inspiring for damage to sails and rigging! I will also have one of the towed boats half-sunk (but a little less than in this painting).

Thanks for the tip Pavel! I was not aware of that channel, but I think I will be spending quite some time on it...


Meanwhile, I finished painting the boat. I also made some oars, a boat hook and grappling hook for it, to be included together with the rudder and a couple of barrels/casks.
I also added some splinters/rubble as a final touch. Now it is ready for the next deck!
















I also added some splinters to Victory, just enough to have something visible when the deck above is installed:

[sgtryan13]

I really love how much life and action you have packed into such a small space, it really makes it come alive. Making little scenes within the overall build is what I try to do on my ships, you've absolutely nailed it with this one.

[wefalck]

Looks like a lot of work for the carpenters ... and the surgeons

[Devin]

These photos are amazing, Marijn. I hate to say it, but I can see better detail in these photos than when I saw it in person at SMC last month! I really need to remember to bring some reading glasses for next year's show.