To HMS Victory and beyond

[dafi]

In several sources I saw a rope going "zig-zag" from one side to the other and back around the mast.

For the flagstaff I also could see it being placed on the poop as it is not too heavy.

Does this help?

XXXDAn

[dafi]

Just realised, I never told you how I got the medal on the last picture of the Utrecht

...hihihihihihihihihi...

Not too long ago I was visiting some friends on a modeling exhibition at F�rstenfeldbruck near Munich.

I suddenly saw some people disappearing with some great models. I told the guards about the supposed theft and they calmed me down: "Going to the competition" they said.

Wanted to see what this means I went there and I saw hundreds of tanks, bi- and triplanes, strip-downs and full-dressed and loads with evil crosses. And then I dicovered one single ship among all those competitors: a wonderfully build RJN Hiryu.

Then I saw the medals for the categories, heard the price to take part: 2 (zwei, two, deux, due) Euro and only 1 competitor for the ship�s category?
First cheap enough and the second to little competition for my taste

So I ran to the car, got my slice of Victory out - By the deep 17 if one remembers - ran back and 2 (zwei, two, deux, due) minutes before the submission deadline I threw my model onto the table like James Bond his hat in direction Miss Moneypenny.

Then some times later the big medal awards ceremony, can you guess what?

I made a wonderful second (2, two, deux, due, zwei) Place!!!

The other competitor in the category "Ship" only made it to before last. And the only one ahead of me was becoming "Best of Show"!

What do we learn from that?

- First, dafi never took his medal off again, everybody who saw me ever since can confirm that!

- Those 2 (zwei, two, deux, due, two) Euro were economically well invested

- dafi is stupid, for another 2 (zwei, two, deux, due, two) Euro he would have gotten also the bronze medal as he had another slice of Victory still in the car.



This is Frank who got a bronze medal with his biplane-strip-down against a competitor field of a felt 723 other planes. So I was better than he was as my beloved medal is SILVER.



XXXDAn

[marijn van gils]

Congrats on the medal Daniel!
And also on your healthy approach to competitions: proud, but with a good dose of humor and relativation!

That little boat trip looks like it was a to of fun!

Cheers,

Marijn

[dafi]

Thank you Marijn and yes, it was a magical day great fun!

And then the most important thing of the day: Food! Food! Glorious food!



Then they sat in all the corners possible ...



... and enjoyed themselves quietly ...



... and after a bombastic fennel soup there were still plenty of hearty slices of bread coming ...



... everything freshly prepared on board



So we got the power to get some lessons in working the windlass, now we know how it works ...



... tough job but in the end the anchor was finally up.



And then the most important: the desert
Some sweet slices of Victory, made and presented by confectioner dafi ...



... everyone was allowed to get a taste of it ...



... and was delighted upon the awarded piece!



That was a dream getting true: Going to sail with my models
How many did have the chance to present their models in such a true surrounding!?!

XXXDAn

[marijn van gils]

[LE BOSCO]

HI Magic Dan

congrats for your medal and effectively a beautiful day sailing
cheers
nicolas

[Bill Code]

In several sources I saw a rope going "zig-zag" from one side to the other and back around the mast.

For the flagstaff I also could see it being placed on the poop as it is not too heavy.

Does this help?

XXXDAn

yes ! thank you good sir !

[dafi]

Univers played crazy - it concentrated lust, leisure ant time in one single small space and as this happened to be my tinkering corner there was no more way to say no ...

I was busy for quite a while understanding the real construction of the fighting tops and researching the relating measures in between mast and topmast and so on. Found the Heller parts in acceptable tolerances so made up a plastic dummy to set things straight for a wooden replacement later on.

A long missing piece for the puzzle was the small wooden chock, that sets the distance on the lower end of the topmast and defines the distance from the mast head to the topmast. Difficult to spot in the plans, not easy to spot it in the descriptions as it was too easy as a solution ...



So I shortened the rubbing paunch to fit in the chock, shortened the bolsters in the front side, detailed the main cap ...



... build in the sheaves, the fid and the iron loop ...



... and also worked the top.



Nice to see the chock that sets the distance and the rake of the topmast.



The main cap got its splitlines.




Another question arose: The cleat for the jeer block lashing are shown in Portsmouth as a clamp, but most of the literature shows a shoulder piece. What is the correct setup?



Here both of them together for comparison ...



... and here the shoulder its the right place.




Then made he functional tryouts ...



... pushing the topmast through the trestletrees ...



... placed the fid ...



... and fits

XXXDAn

[marijn van gils]

Amazing eye for detail! Fantastic!

And very educational�

Cheers,

Marijn

[ModelMonkey]

Love it.

[LE BOSCO]

Hi Dan

you pushed detail to a rank that I have rarely been able to observe on other models...very inspiring...
always a great pleasure to see your progress
cheers
Nicolas

[dafi]

And some end-of bank-holiday-tinkering: blocks mounted, topmast pendants set and the main cap�s round hole padded with leather - what does a modeler�s heart need more?!?















XXXDAn

[dafi]

Something I always wanted to tell:

A small portion of the upper deck laid, and one sees much better how claustrophobic the situation was ...



Ashes to ashes, earth to earth and top to tops ...





... business as usual.

XXXDAn

[Stefano Salesi]

hell, there is a kind of party in that battery deck
is someone ready for some shots?

[marijn van gils]

Ouwch! What happened to that wonderful top?

[dafi]

Dear Marijn, it was naughty, had to be punished

XXXDAn

[dafi]

Was meant to be just 96 lashes for misconduct, but looks like its back broke

But one after the other.
After doing the maintop, just wanted to smarten up the foretop to make some castings, as I still need several of them for some tests
Then realised that my standards improved since the top was first done. So when trying to dissemble the top it proved not a useful base any more, so a fresh construction was a must - at least for me.

Perhaps one remembers earlier posts. The top Heller supplies is quite ok, just an old version, that was only used until 1802 (and displayed on all models I know since the 1920ies). An admiral order from 1802 states to fit a top of two halves on big ships, as they are easier to replace. As the Vic was rigged in 1803 and could be considered as a big ship, so I dared fitting one, better saying two halves

Based on Lees and other sources, there should be sleepers on the top of the top with half the thickness of the crosstrees, reinforcements on the rim and a different scheme for the battens.

So got the Heller top naked, reinscribed the planking and fitted the missing bits and made new and slimmer holes for the irons.



To cut the crosstrees and the sleepers, I used a vice and with a single cut it was done.



And then a small orgy with Evergreen and the new top was done and a bit more crisp than the old version











Anyway, Heller keeps surprises me, as on the "original" top the complicated planking scheme, with up- and downside looking different, was faithfully done

XXXDAn

[dafi]

Finally finished the step.

Small tip in between: If all sides are stabilised with CA, one can cut 0,25 slices with the resin saw from a wooden 4 mm batten



What that for? For the sheaves in the mast
And that brings us back on the track. Foretop and fore topmast done.









And here compared with the "original"





Especially the wrong angle is corrected





And the new detailing. The cheat in the heel is corrected, sheaves and a decent lock are fitted and the cap is made smaller, as it was the same size as the main cap.





XXXDAn

[Joe Simon]

Incredible work you are doing here!

[marijn van gils]

Dear Marijn, it was naughty, had to be punished

XXXDAn

You're so dirty!

If there ever was any modeller who is into it for the journey instead of for spitting out finished models, it must be you!
And what a journey it is� Fantastic!


Cheers,

Marijn