3D printed Georgian Arms figurehead and surrounding decoration, to be painted. These were printed by a company in New York, USA.
Stern Windows and nameplate in place, October 2019. The windows have clear plastic "glass" behind.
The windows are not quite right because each window should have 9 panes of glass not 4, but the laser cutting machine, a friend of our had, could not cut fine enough.
April 2020 final balustrading put in place, this section is now virtually complete except for the decorative sections on each side and across the top above the top windows.
The final stern decorations may have to be a compromise and be printed on card. I do not have the expertise to carve them as they should be.
Constructing the Admiral's Barge (July 2020)
Two finished "boats", the Barge - foreground
and a cutter, background (July 2020)
Victory's boats completed and mounted on the skid beams,
the Jolly Boat is suspended from the Stern Davits.
(10th July 2020)
Flag Lockers in place on the Poop Deck (July 2020)
The completed Stern with Jolly Boat suspended from
the Stern Davits, and rudder finally in place. The plans I used
are re-prints for the major refit in 1797.
In 1798 the Admiralty banned the use of stern suspended
jolly boats in favour of two pairs of davits situated on the Channels, one pair to each side, located aft on the Poop Deck.
Photographed through my garage window, the final and
new ochre Admiralty paintwork applied (26th July 2020)
The final paintwork applied, Admiralty yellow ochre and matt blackabove the waterline and copper paint below.
(26th July 2020)
On the day that I took the photograph opposite, my Archaeologist Daughter-Annaliese- took a couple of photographs and unbeknown to me put them on her Twitter page. That started off an amazing (for me anyway) series of events because it went viral worldwide with, by the end of the third day, 14,300 likes, some 1500 re-tweets and I think nearly 1,000 absolutely lovely comments about my modest effort in building the model.
By far the most exciting part for me.... the icing on the cake, which made me feel very humble and emotional... was a tweet to my Daughter from the most Senior Officer in the Royal Navy at the time,
The First Sea Lord, Admiral Tony Radakin, who said
“This is an
amazing achievement,
demonstrating
dedication, persistence
and skill. You have done
HMS Victory proud.”
Soton News, based in Southampton, sent a photographer, Jordan Pettitt, who took many photographs some of which ultimately ended up appearing in the British National Press on Wednesday 30th July - The Times, The Sun, the "I" and The Daily Mail, who had by far the best coverage - included eight photographs, five of which were mine, with one of me in my early years, by my friend Jennifer in Adelaide.
I was also interviewed by BBC Radio Oxford, which was filmed and appeared on the evening local news: ITV sent a camera crew, and that appeared on the National News on the 29th July. It also appeared in a Panama newspaper! British Forces Broadcasting Service also want to feature me. The photos above show me and my model as photographed by Jordan Pettitt.
This model scale figure of Lord Nelson was especially made and sent to me by a Dutchman who saw my Daughter's Tweet on Twitter and said he would like to make and donate the model to me as he was so impressed. A very lovely thought and very much appreciated by me. It came anonymously in the post, "Nelson" now stands by the ship's Helm!
The Model in its bespoke Museum standard glass case, a Birthday Present from my Wife Anne, delivered on my 81st Birthday in October 2020.
VICTORY Model re-visited
June 2023.
I was not really satisfied with the stern windows but had been unable to get laser-cut acrylic windows fine enough. After three years, in June 2023 and in my 83rd year I finally was able to get the correct scale windows and stern decorations Page 4 shows the rebuilding to correct the model.