Revell 05408 H.M.S. Victory 1:225 Scale Unbuilt/Unpainted Plastic Model Kit

Product Information

In addition to the extensive historic paint surfaces on board the ship, we also have the archaeological archive of material removed from the ship between 1960 and 2005. This material can help fill in gaps or give greater understanding where areas on board have been subjected to extensive stripping in preparation for new coats of paint. Constructed with precision and meticulousness, the Revell H.M.S. Victory assembly kit provides an enriched and accurate portrayal of the naval ship. It is a naval ship model product that caters to individuals with an intermediate to advanced skill level. I thought I’d post this information here rather than on a specific build thread to make it easier for people to search for and retrieve the information. As an artist myself to get a pure yellow color it is common practice to put a base coat of white with a layer of yellow over the top.

That's quite a list. And I have to say that I balk at paying that kind of money for a kit and immediately junking several hundred of its parts (and spending hard-earned money for aftermarket replacements). But the good old Longridge book will clarify how all those things (except the entry ports and the poop and forecastle bulwarks) are supposed to look. Then there's the question of the entry ports. The big, ornamental entry ports that are on the ship today aren't on the model. I'm among those who think Heller was probably right on that point - but I can't claim to be certain. Pure yellow aged in the sun would indeed pale over time and to match this when repainting, a yellow / white mix may attempted to match the aged yellow color. A new yellow color would be quite alot brighter and if there were many ships in a fleet painted at different times then I can see Nelson's issue and request for a pale yellow color to be used as standard. I'll go out on a limb and say I think it's the best plastic sailing ship kit on the market (though the big Revell Constitution gives it a run for its money). But the Heller kit does have more than its fair share of problems.Added to the OOB kit are the shrouds and ratlines (the plastic ones are awful). Ratlines were threaded through shrouds with a long, thin needle. The figurehead, which is moulded flat and is probably the worst part of the kit, was softened up from behind with liquid poly, then bent a bit to better represent the angle of the cherubs on the real thing. Fake hawse holes made from stiffened thread were added (the kit expects you to pass the anchor hawsers through the gammoning slot!). Sails and flags are made from that paper that comes in shoe boxes - the material looks and behaves much like silkspan. By wetting the main course sail and pulling on the bunt and leech lines I managed to somewhat "brail" it. I must give my thanks to jtilley for that idea, which I found in an old forum thread. The fore course sail will receive the same treatment. All sails will be weathered a little more with dilluted acrylic paint, as they look a bit too white right now. Reefs will be added.

Dr. R.C. Anderson, who supervised the restoration in the 1920s, admitted flat out that the low forecastle bulwarks were "a mistake for which I must bear my share of the blame." He said that research had established that the bulwarks were raised during the refit shortly before Trafalgar, but the researchers revealed their findings just after Dr. Anderson and his team had finished building the low, knee-high ones. They hesitated (understandably) to scrap work they'd just finished, and "the result, while wrong historically, is certainly pleasing to the eye." The scale on the Revell Victory is stated as 1/225, though I made some measurements that indicate the scale is actually closer to 1/256 - but I might be wrong. The Guild is a non-profit educational organization whose mission is to “Advance Ship Modeling Through Research”. We provide support to our members in their efforts to raise the quality of their model ships. The Revell H.M.S. Victory is an advanced level ship model that offers an engaging construction experience for model making enthusiasts. With a total of 269 pieces, this assembly kit allows hobbyists to recreate the iconic naval ship in stunning detail. The model is designed to represent the historical vessel, H.M.S. Victory, which originated from the United Kingdom. All of the available evidence was reviewed by the Victory Technical Committee, then chaired by Martyn Heighten the then Director of National Historic Ships UK, also a member (and still a member) was Jonathan Coad, who had served on the Victory Committee for almost forty years at that point. The recommendation to change the colour was not, therefore, made on an ad-hoc basis, but subject to extensive scrutiny before the Board of the HMS Victory Preservation Company took the decision to change colours when the ship was next repainted.It is important to note that this product is not suitable for children aged 0-3 years. The recommended minimum age for this model making endeavor is 10 years. This ensures that the complexity and intricacy of the assembly process are appropriate for individuals within that age range. RDiaz, you're not alone. I'm inclined to agree, in fact. The entry ports she has now are beautiful, but it looks to me like the weight of the evidence is against their having been there in 1805. Mighty nice looking model. Rigging a model to such a tiny scale isn't easy, but this one looks impressively to scale. And I like the sails. (Those who frequent this Forum know I don't often say that.) Measuring at a depth of 400 millimeters and a height of 330 millimeters, this ship model is compact yet intricate. It is scaled at 1:225, making it a faithful replica of the original H.M.S. Victory.

Beyond the archaeological evidence, we have details of what paint was carried on board Victory, and the quantities in which it was consumed. The accounts of carpenters stores for Victory in the run up to Trafalgar also gives details of use of paint, and some indication of how it was mixed, but this is actually quite difficult to decipher due to the manner in which the quantities are recorded against the work undertaken. An interesting point: the people responsible for the upkeep of the ship herself have been remarkably silent on this matter. I know they hired a carver who (superbly) made new canopies over the entry ports for her pre-2005 restoration. And several publications issued by those folks show the entry ports.Yellow ochre as supplied to ships was a dark colour that was commonly mixed with white (1804 handbook of instruction for RN officers). It must be borne in mind that this was an earth pigment and the actual colour varied widely. The evidence from Victory’s carpenter’s accounts suggests very strongly that the shade of yellow employed was obtained by mixing white and yellow in equal parts. Warshipguy, I'm definately interested in that kit if it's vintage. If you'd ship to Spain plase PM what you want for it :) Lots of people know a great deal more about H.M.S. Victory than I do, and if one of them happens to read this post and offers some evidence I haven't heard about I'll be delighted to read it. (How about it, Forum? Does anybody out there know of a piece of actual evidence that those entry ports were there in 1805?)

As for solid hull wood models, I've considered them, and I guess the day I decide to try wood it will be with one of those. Maybe a schooner, or something simple in a larger scale. Specific to Victory, a survey of carpenter’s stores dated 12th May 1804 records that Victory carried 2cwt 3q 15lb of Venetian (presumably red) paint, 3cwt 0q 17lb of yellow and 2cwt 2q and 1lb of Port Red (dry) paint. Ten months later, in March 1805, a further survey records identical quantities of Venetian and port red, 93lbs of yellow paint and 1,137lbs of white lead paint. I'm wondering if this was done to freshen up the Victory instead of just painting a mixed yellow and white over the top. If the base material is not a uniform color / shade then that can create the effects of color variance of colors painted over it. On a large surface this would be more apparent, so it makes me think that a baselayer of white may have been used and then yellow over the top... meaning the final color would be pure yellow. I know there's been a lot of argument in various quarters about them. A lot of people seem to believe in them rather emotionally. But I've looked at quite a few paintings and photos of the ship prior to her restoration (in the early twentieth century), and I have yet to find a contemporary picture that shows the entry ports.If you enjoy building ship models that are historically accurate as well as beautiful, then The Nautical Research Guild (NRG) is just right for you. I think the first point to bear in mind is that Victory has changed colour innumerable times since 1922, we have simply been honest about what we have done, and based the change on all available evidence. The one primary source I know of that shows the entry ports is the other contemporary model of the ship in the National Maritime Museum - the model that apparently shows her in her "as-built" condition. That's a rather dubious source. It's an established fact that not all actual ships matched their "Board Room Models" (which often were built before the ships were), and we know she underwent lots of modifications between 1765 and 1805. I'd like to build this kit again in the future, with a simpler rig, but only if I find a vintage, crisply moulded version. Maybe scratchbuild some ornaments and make a Royal Sovereign from it. And perhaps the most important thing I'm learning from this build is to use dilluted white glue for rigging, rather than CA. That stuff is impossible to tame...