Any HMS Victory kit building experiences?
Discussion
Having visited the Victory a few times over the last couple of years, I’m getting tempted by the various scale model kits of her that are out there.
I’m after a challenging build, wooden, full rigging, maybe sails, and something that comes with all the right details in the kit - I don’t want to spend double the money on super detailing.
I’m prepared to put in the hours, so no point in doing a cheap kit - so that rules the plastic Airfix types out - though they look fun. And nothing too big 1/72 is too large, 1/200 probably about right.
Anyone got any kit recommendations, or pics of ones they have built?
I’m after a challenging build, wooden, full rigging, maybe sails, and something that comes with all the right details in the kit - I don’t want to spend double the money on super detailing.
I’m prepared to put in the hours, so no point in doing a cheap kit - so that rules the plastic Airfix types out - though they look fun. And nothing too big 1/72 is too large, 1/200 probably about right.
Anyone got any kit recommendations, or pics of ones they have built?
It sounds like you want the Mantua Model HMS Victory in 1/200 scale:
Mantua Model HMS Victory - 1/200 Scale
Mantua Model HMS Victory - 1/200 Scale
If you wanted to stick with plastic but still get a challenging build that you can really take your time and go to town with then it's worth also considering the Heller 1/100 scale kit (I believe Airfix might have done a later reboxing of this kit too).
I've followed a few (multi-year) build threads of this kit and it can be built up to a museum standard model with enough time / skill - certainly not a model you would bash out in a weekend! The kit itself is well over 2,000 parts and includes various thickness of thread for the different rigging etc.
I got this kit last year and I'm hoping to start it once I've finished a couple of other ship models that are in progress.
Obviously the wooden kits will give an entirely different build experience to this, but as plastic kits go this is a world away from any plastic scale model kit I've ever seen, and I'd expect will take me a good couple of years to get through.
It blew me away when I first saw some completed examples, I'd never have guessed they were built from a plastic kit.
The box:
One of the hull halves (with beer for scale!)
I've followed a few (multi-year) build threads of this kit and it can be built up to a museum standard model with enough time / skill - certainly not a model you would bash out in a weekend! The kit itself is well over 2,000 parts and includes various thickness of thread for the different rigging etc.
I got this kit last year and I'm hoping to start it once I've finished a couple of other ship models that are in progress.
Obviously the wooden kits will give an entirely different build experience to this, but as plastic kits go this is a world away from any plastic scale model kit I've ever seen, and I'd expect will take me a good couple of years to get through.
It blew me away when I first saw some completed examples, I'd never have guessed they were built from a plastic kit.
The box:
One of the hull halves (with beer for scale!)
Wow the Heller kit looks amazing - I see what you mean about impressive results, pictures online of builds look spectacular.
I think I want to try a wooden kit for a change though, and the Heller scale looks good.
Mantua also do a 1/98 - this looks like it could be the one:
Link here >
I think I want to try a wooden kit for a change though, and the Heller scale looks good.
Mantua also do a 1/98 - this looks like it could be the one:
Link here >
tracer.smart said:
Wow the Heller kit looks amazing - I see what you mean about impressive results, pictures online of builds look spectacular.
I think I want to try a wooden kit for a change though, and the Heller scale looks good.
Mantua also do a 1/98 - this looks like it could be the one:
Link here >
That Mantua 1/98 looks like a great option. That sort of scale is the sweet spot for me for a large sailing warship in terms of detail.I think I want to try a wooden kit for a change though, and the Heller scale looks good.
Mantua also do a 1/98 - this looks like it could be the one:
Link here >
If you go down that route I'd be very interested in seeing a build thread!
tracer.smart said:
It may be a thread running over years looking at what’s involved.
Sails or no sails? These feel like they add a whole more complexity, and I’d need clear instructions on rigging them.
The sails just come down to personal preference- I would argue the bulk of the rigging complexity exists regardless of whether the sails are furled or unfurled. Sails or no sails? These feel like they add a whole more complexity, and I’d need clear instructions on rigging them.
I would imagine the kit will have very detailed instructions regarding the rigging- I know the Heller kit is pretty good for this and I'd imagine the Mantua kit should be at least as good if not better. There are also numerous books out there which will help. On that note I'd highly recommend "The Anatomy of Nelson's ships" as an invaluable build resource.
On the subject of books, I'd also highly recommend "Empire of the deep, the rise and fall of the British navy" by Ben Wilson. It details Britain's naval history all the way back to Saxon times and really puts into perspective just how insignificant Britain was as a naval power for much of history and the changes that came about which led to the dominance in the 18th and 19th centuries and the creation of ships like Victory and the emergence of admirals like Nelson / Rodney etc. It also goes into great detail about the realities of life for sailors and the difficulties of keeping sailing warships at sea etc, along with all the English language phrases in everyday use that have come from Naval parlance. For anyone with even a passing interest in British Naval history it's a must read!
MC Bodge said:
How many hours of work would typically go into building one of those to a reasonable (not obsessive) standard?
A lot. 
Very hard to say a number though as it will depend on the experience and speed of the person building it. The incredible new HMS Sphinx model by Vanguard Models (Chris Watton on here) is a much smaller ship (20-gun sixth rate) but in a slightly larger scale (1/64) with potentially more detail, and he states in the description an estimate of 400-800 hours. I believe the Mantua Victory kit is of a broadly similar construction style- i.e. plank-on-frame using laser-cut wood with additional brass parts. Chris's models look like they are on another level detail wise, but I could see the time estimate being broadly similar for the 1/98 Mantua Victory model.
The plank-on-frame construction of the hull can be very time consuming as you are effectively building the model in a very similar way to how the actual ship was built, i.e. plank by plank (except I suspect the planks are at least pre-cut). Lots of measuring, bending, pinning, gluing, and sanding.
Likewise the rigging- at this scale you are essentially recreating and fitting almost every piece of line on the real ship, with all of the associated fittings and buckles etc. Very rewarding, but very time consuming.
Squirrelofwoe said:
A lot.
Very hard to say a number though as it will depend on the experience and speed of the person building it. The incredible new HMS Sphinx model by Vanguard Models (Chris Watton on here) is a much smaller ship (20-gun sixth rate) but in a slightly larger scale (1/64) with potentially more detail, and he states in the description an estimate of 400-800 hours.
The plank-on-frame construction of the hull can be very time consuming as you are effectively building the model in a very similar way to how the actual ship was built, i.e. plank by plank (except I suspect the planks are at least pre-cut). Lots of measuring, bending, pinning, gluing, and sanding.
Likewise the rigging- at this scale you are essentially recreating and fitting almost every piece of line on the real ship, with all of the associated fittings and buckles etc. Very rewarding, but very time consuming.
Wow. Building a large wooden model would be interesting and quite different to a plastic 1:12 or 1:24 vehicle kit.Very hard to say a number though as it will depend on the experience and speed of the person building it. The incredible new HMS Sphinx model by Vanguard Models (Chris Watton on here) is a much smaller ship (20-gun sixth rate) but in a slightly larger scale (1/64) with potentially more detail, and he states in the description an estimate of 400-800 hours.
The plank-on-frame construction of the hull can be very time consuming as you are effectively building the model in a very similar way to how the actual ship was built, i.e. plank by plank (except I suspect the planks are at least pre-cut). Lots of measuring, bending, pinning, gluing, and sanding.
Likewise the rigging- at this scale you are essentially recreating and fitting almost every piece of line on the real ship, with all of the associated fittings and buckles etc. Very rewarding, but very time consuming.
MC Bodge said:
Wow. Building a large wooden model would be interesting and quite different to a plastic 1:12 or 1:24 vehicle kit.
Very much so! Probably one to have on the go long-term whilst doing other projects inbetween.I mainly build 1/350 scale ships in plastic kit form and they take long me long enough. I suspect the 1/100 plastic Heller Victory (I posted further up the page) will take me 2-3 years and the hull on that is only in 2 parts
I did (but never finished) a very small boat model in plank-on-frame construction many years ago, and it was a very laborious, but extremely rewarding, process.
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