HMS Victory is a very popular ship amongst ship modellers. She was Lord Nelson's ship at the battle of Trafalgar on 21 October, 1805 (my birthday - but many years prior). Unbeknown to me, there is apparently no defined, official colouring for this vessel, and there is apparently copyright, or other such nonsense, (I did not know any of this at the time, and even now, it is only hearsay as far as I know!) and as such, people often finish their models in a variety of colour schemes. I opted to go for the colours that she would most probably have been launched in (I don't usually follow the crowd). 

HMS Victory (circa 1765)

Completed June 1997

This model was started in June 1988 and in June 1997, after 704 hours, and 52 minutes, and four relocations, I called it a day.  You might wonder how I know that? Well, after having built my boere wagn (or oxwagon), people kept asking "how long did it take to make?". This was followed by "yes, but EXACTLY how long?" when I had replied "one and a half years", so I decided to record every minute spent. It does not include research, and glue or paint drying time. Only actual working time.

This would be a habit I would continue as long as I built wagons, ships and cannons. It also emphasises exactly how much work goes into making such models. Such time logs also show how valuable such models are. 

This kit was mostly built on this desk. At one stage, I did not even HAVE a desk and worked on a dinner tray. Happy days.

After I had fitted the top deck, I realised that it was a mistake. A huge mistake. I had not considered having to fit the ship's guns on the middle deck and, with the top deck in place, this would have been impossible. So, I took out my hammer, smashed and removed the deck. After many hours, I had fitted the guns and riggings, remade the deck and could continue. 

I only have photos of the completed build as this was in the pre-digital camera era! Enjoy.