# HMS Victory Storyboard Diorama



## JohnReid

There are a lot of models of HMS Victory around but I do not know of another that has been done as a storyboard diorama.What is a storyboard diorama? Simply it is a diorama that tells a story.It is a diorama whereby the story is the most important element.It can contain figures or not ,however my dioramas always contain figures.Victory is the first diorama that I had ever done and it didn't even start out that way.
Back in 1976 ,when I started Victory,I had been back into modeling for only a couple of years after a long absence dating back to childhood.I passed a hobby shop window one day and saw a model of HMS Victory and fell in love.I was set to buy a kit right there but the shop owner wisely pointed me in the direction of something a little easier.After strong resistance on my part ,I left the shop with a Santa Maria kit feeling I was only wasting my time.However I did put my best effort into it and it turned out OK.( I still have it somewhere around here).
The thing I remember most about this kit was making the top ,a basket like affair on the main mast.I got a little creative when making mine and to my surprise it was more than just a top but seemed to me quite artsy-fartsy for something I designed myself.This is the first time that I remember having stepped outside the box and I really liked it.The rest of the kit I build per the instructions but I always loved that little top.
That creative spark really got me going but I was a trained aviator not a sailor so I hit the books.I bought a Bounty and built it out of the box and continued to study.It too turned out OK and I even got a little creative with the stern decorations.
Well the big day arrived and I finally felt that I was ready to tackle the Victory. I arrived home with my Sergal kit ,opened it up and was immediately disappointed.The plans and instruction booklet was useless and written in engitalian which for the life of me I couldn't understand.I rushed back to the hobby store and immediately picked up a book that I had seen there "The Anatomy of Nelsons Ships".
After reading it cover to cover and pouring over the plans I realized that what I had bought was nothing like I had seen in the window a few years previously. So it was back to the books and an even better nautical dictionary this time.
I finally decided that I would use the wood strips and some of the brass fittings that were in scale from the kit and scratchbuild the rest which I thought at the time would probably take me a couple of years. Wrong!!!
I decided to stay with the double plank-on-bulkhead method but I made my own plywood bulkheads using Longridges plans from the Anatomy of... book. More on this later.....

What you see in the above picture is the finished storyboard diorama.It is a little unusual in that I have had to link up a usually unseen fanciful below the waterline, with a more realistic above the waterline type model.Usually when modeling storyboard dioramas you try to make everything as realistic as possible.As you can see from the picture the ship rests on a couple of dolphins I carved from cherrywood,which you would usually only see on admiralty type models.
Speaking of admiralty models,I decided early on ,even before it became a storyboard diorama ,that this was to become a decorative type model that would appeal to kids and the young at heart.As a modeler I admire these models but I had noticed that in the museums or at exhibitions the models that told a story were really the most popular with the kids.I love to tell stories with my models and maybe also sneak in a little education for the kids as well.My Victory is really about depicting a sailors life aboard one of these magnificent ships,these ships that are at the end of a long evolution of just how big you can get just using only wood and rope.


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## JohnReid




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## pearl

Hi John .

A real work of art .. I like the tall ships the rigging and detail work is great. The little people, I can imagine the hours of work involved.
My great grandfather had a tall ship that run the Lake Ontario area 
Not sure if that is the correct name for the old ships .I still remember your wonderful airplane shop.


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## JohnReid




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## JohnReid

As she sits in her case.
I put one 60Watt bulb on top of the case and shot the pic.The Nelson bust is actually made from copper from the ships bottom that was present at Trafalgar.
The piece of wood on the R/H side is oak from the ships wooden walls.
The base is African mahogany and the carvings are American cherry.The cases base is made from American walnut.All these woods were chosen for their color and reflect the color of the weathered copper plates on the ships bottom.


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## JohnReid

What's going on!
I have been asked ,what is the story of this diorama? A few years ago I sat down and wrote the following story which was published on a few websites and magazines at the time.I can't find the original but I did find a draft copy with a few corrections.I took some pics of each page ,I hope it is readable.Thanks for your interest.Cheers! John.


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## JohnReid




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## JohnReid

Main storyline pics.
The last pic of the officer straddling the bowsprit at the cap with a telescope in his hand,is actually surveying the horizon for enemy ships that may have sneaked up during the night.It was common practice when a ship was in harbor under bare poles, part of the dawn routine was to be prepared for immediate action. The flag indicates that there is a light to moderate breeze blowing and that the ship has weather cocked into the wind as it would do when at anchor.
I have never figured out what the hammock like netting behind the cap was used for ,if anyone knows please enlighten me.
The previous pic shows the marine drummer on the marines walk holding his drum after just having participated in the drumming daybreak ceremony.The fellow sitting on the head is steadying himself holding on to a rope while going about his business.


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## Jafo

fantastic model


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## roadrner

Great pix and article! :thumbsup::thumbsup: rr


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## kit-junkie

Beautiful!


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## JohnReid

Anchors.
Victory carried seven anchors,2 Bowers,2 Sheets,1 Stream,2 Kedge.
The pic above is one of the Bower anchors.These anchors kept the ship from drifting.The flucks(hooks)stuck in the seabed and helped keep the anchor from shifting.

The anchor's cables huge weight was what really stopped the ship from moving when at anchor.Because of the combined weight of anchor and cable the whole crew had to help haul it in .


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## X15-A2

Really fantastic model! Love the pictures, please post more.


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## JohnReid




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## JohnReid

The Figurehead etc...
The figurehead on the Victory is a shield of the coat-of arms of Great Britain.Normally painted, but I chose to finish mine in gold which I think goes better with wood/brass color scheme.
The two ports at the bow with the vertical doors open to the sick bay.
The cathead,the angled beam that the blue and white officer is standing on contains a sheave block or pulley for lashing the anchor for storage.


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## JohnReid




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## F91

Brilliant work!


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## JohnReid

Duplipost.


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## JohnReid

Bobstays and Bowsprit shrouds.
Three bobstays are fitted between the head and the bowsprit.Note that the stays are wormed, parceled and served as required.I used linen line for this ,which I made up on a ropewalk constructed from old mechanno parts.
The forestay and fore preventer stay have large wooded hearts at their ends,which are reeved togethe


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## JohnReid

HMS Victory Rigging.
If you guys would like I will post the sequence that I used to rig this ship.I kept a log over the many years of building this ship so I might as well put it to good use.
I have noticed that most books on rigging actually do not give you a step by step rigging sequence which leads to a lot of confusion.
My model is more than just "harbour rigged "as I wanted to depict the ship as she would be just before hauling up the sails from storage and repair.
In the beginning I will give just the basic sequence and if I get the time I will fill in the details as to rope sizes etc...
Because I post to more than just ship related websites,please let me know if you are interested and if so,I could start a new thread just dealing with this subject. Cheers! John.


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## Phalsis

Just,WOW.
Beautiful.


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## bobhch

*yeah WOW is right!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*

John,

I am a slot car nut but, realy enjoyed your pics here of this incredibly detailed and fun to look at ship! :woohoo:

Looking at all the pictures here just makes me think of the effort you put forward to detail this out. I love detail and it doesn't get much more detailed than this. Great job and loads of fun to look at.

Bob...Hobby Talk rules on all the boards...zilla


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## JohnReid




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## JohnReid

This post was from another thread on another website but I thought that you guys might be interested.

Wow, spectacular model. A great showpiece of skill and patience. The rigging... unbelievable.
But, the figures are very distracting to me. Uniforms are too blue/red etc and too glossy. Colours are way too saturated - they ought to fade with distance.

My response:
Actually that was done on purpose so that the figures would not get lost in the rest of the detail.This is a decorative,storyboard type diorama and is meant to tell the story of life at sea on one of these old warships.The figures are really more important than the rest of the diorama in my view.This diorama was done for children and the young at heart and is an educational tool. The intense coloration helps me tell the story.
Cheers! John.


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## Rocker55

Sir That is AMAZING! I love the detail and it looks like you put a lot I mean a lot of time into making that!


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## JohnReid




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## slotcarman12078

I am speechless...So far beyond amazing I can't find words for it. Super awesome job!!


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## JohnReid




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## gunn

love it. ya got more.???? i'll be back:wave:
we need to slip you into 1/64th scale diecast cars.:thumbsup::wave:


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## 69Stang

More art that model....simply amazing!!!!! Thank you so much for sharing your work.


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## bumpercar88

Truely incredible and humbling. Most of us will never accomplish the artistry and attention to detail that you have exhibited!


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## JohnReid

Thanks guys! I love what I do and I guess it shows.Cheers! John.


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## JohnReid




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## JohnReid

As far as I know.....
this is the only ship model that there is of HMS Victory as a storyboard diorama, complete with scale figures .I have searched the web and I have never seen another anywhere in books,mags etc...
If anyone out there knows of another I sure would like to know about it ,if for nothing else just to satisfy my own curiosity .Thanks! Cheers. John.


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## JohnReid

Found one! 1/24 scale wow!

http://www.hmship.com/html/left_zeromargins.html


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## JohnReid




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## JohnReid

Classic Marine type Dolphins.
This is where my other hobby woodcarving came in handy.I carved this classic design from cherry wood.Two of these plus a center piece, screwed into the base, support the ship.The base itself is African cherry wood of a slightly different color and the plexiglass cases base is American walnut.All these woods were especially selected to harmonize with the ships copper plates.


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## JohnReid




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## JohnReid

Fun with photoshop!


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## JohnReid




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## JohnReid




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## JohnReid




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## JohnReid




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## JohnReid

It has been my experience that ship modelers have more difficulty in figuring out the sequence of the rigging than the rigging itself.I know I sure did.
When I rigged my Victory I only had a couple of ropes that were out of sequence and these I belayed to the shrouds rather than the foot of the mast.I figured that was pretty good considering this is a very complicated ship to rig properly.
This info will only be available on my photobucket and is intended for my modeling buds only.Good luck. Cheers! John.

My photobucket:

http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y250/JohnReid/
Look for the album Friggin' in the Riggin'


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## JohnReid

Simply put ,to rig a ship you generally work from front to back,bottom to top and inside to outside.I started with the bobstays and worked aft.
Note:Bobstays [2] refers to their location in the drawing or diagram (in my photobucket ,look for the Album ; "Friggin...... "


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## JohnReid

Bobstays


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## JohnReid

The above pic was taken today.I was trying to compose something a little different using my Nelson bust and the model.The only problem is that the bust is fixed permanently in the case.I was severely limited in my camera angles ,lighting etc... because of this fact.
I tried silhouettes and different pics of all kinds.Normally you would not want the subject in the foreground to be out of focus but rules are made to be broken,so I tried to make the bust look like a B&W chalk image that someone drew on a photograph.I am quite happy with the results.


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## bob8748

I am truely amazed! I ventured over here from the diecast boards just to see what there was to see. I didnt expect this! I'm at a loss for words. You are a true artist! This piece belongs in a museum!


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## JohnG7

*Seaworthy*

Agreed. I'm coming in late, but still have to say this is amazing work.


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## DickeyDee

Amazing work.


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## JohnReid

Hi Guys! I know it has been awhile since I posted anything to this thread.
I have been very busy getting my aircraft dioramas ready for donation to the Canada Aviation Museum.The new part of the construction is to be finished in Feb of next year but my dioramas will need to be ready to go well before that ,as they will be doing the finishing for public presentation.The fourth and last large 1/16th scale aircraft diorama will only be finished in a year or two after that, then I plan to concentrate upon finishing the running rigging part of the Victory thread and then bread box size shadow boxes of various subjects.I am very anxious to really get into shadow boxes but my other commitments must come first.
Cheers! John.


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## SteveR

I hope they take care of your work for future generations, John. Thanks for sharing it with us.


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## bucwheat

Always a pleasure viewing your fine Dioramas


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## louspal

Just amazing... Would love to see more of your work. Really breathtaking.


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