Hi Christian
Firstly welcome to the forum and I must say a fine choice for your first wooden ship build a good many of our members also did this as a first build , as you say loads of diary's and Mr T's official build to get you on your way.
As a pom I cant comment on the delivery's/sevices down under just because I have no experience of them but I would say that going down the subscription route may be the better choice as its a guarantead delivery of 4 issue's per month.
Hope this helps
regards
Andy

Welcome aboard Christian, the Vic is an excellent choice of kits.... hope to see your build as it progresses.....

Regards

Alan

Thank you all muchly for you warm welcome!

I have read some build diaries and find it all fascinating, am just in the process of sourcing paints (official not available here)and working out the required tools.

Actually if I could trouble you guys with some questions any help would appreciated.

I don't mind spending a dollar if life could be made easier for the build, what tools are important or fall in the "I couldn't live without" category?

What brand paints do you recommend and what colours are the closest match for the Victory as I realise they vary from brand, actually a close yellow ochre match to the original would be great advice.

Acrylics, oils, enamels?

I have an airbrush, is it better to airbrush or is it more realistic to just brush the paint? I can see the actual Victory is heavily painted, does this translate to the scale if I brush or should I look for a more flat finish ideally?

If I subscribe, how easily is it to get replacement issues (through Bissett here in aus), as in I have snapped too many planks and need a few more. Is there aftermarket planks for example and are they sold in the correct scale? Or would I just buy some and cut them to length/width?

I notice use of wood filler on some builds, is there a good brand that is widely used?

Any type of varnish recommended?

Sandpaper types I will need, grit?

Sorry to impose, but any help would save me some hours/days of research and confusion:)

Thanks again for the welcome, I'm looking forward to becoming part of this fine community!

Hi Christian
A good start would be with glue I prefere Aliphatic any brand will be good as for tools, a good craft knife, razor saw, razor plane, wood files, ruler, set square,dress makers pins,pin pusher, Lastly you may want to invest in an electric plank bender to get those curves needed for the stern.
Paint, most people these days use acrylics as there water based and dont give off fumes there just as good as enamels. As for using an airbrush I would do a test panel with the paint you are going to use, say around 6 inches square for each and compare the finishes and go for the one you prefere, Jotika are the makers of the Admirality paints that are used on the Victory and I have listed them below

3 X Dull black
1 X Matt (metal) Black
1 x Matt white
3 x Yellow Ochre
1 x Red Ochre
1 X French blue
1 X Olive Green
1 x Wood (Walnut) Brown
1 X Gold/Brass
1 X Copper

here is the website link to Jotika/Admiralty paints but the postage may be prohibitive to you being down under.

http://www.jotika-ltd.co...768/PSA_Paint.htm#Paint

Sandpaper I usaly use grits 120 medium and 320 fine , you may also consider one of the mini rotary tool sets that are available.
Hope this helps
regards
Andy

Hi to anyone out there, I have read thru some of your comments and think I may be out of my depth but I will soldier on regardless. I have chosen the Sovereign of the Seas as my first ever model to build....I will be scanning everything on this site with a view to completing my task. Wish me luck as I am going to need it, plus any info anyone can offer if I should ask. I am over 60yrs and female, go figure. Jaqui

hi again to both of you ,nice to see another female to. the de-ag shop supplies the paint set for the victory and cornwall model boats supply a s.o.t.s. paint set. www.cornwallmodelboats.com. and welcome again and enjoy.

Hi Christian. I too have recently subscribed to the Victory series here in Australia. I have always wanted to build a scale wooden ship and chose the victory as I've actually been to see the real thing last time I was in the UK!

The big draw card for me also was the detailed instructions you get in the magazines and the awesome build diaries and help from members on these forums.

I tried subscribing online from issue #1 in October last year when the series was up to around issues 60-70, but found out after ringing bissett that you can only start the subscription from the current issue and you need to back order all the previous ones. So unless they've changed something recently I hope you are prepared for quite a big upfront cost if you want to get up to date to the current issues which are at 99 of 120.

I recently sat down and opened up all the issues to check parts and put the magazines into binders. Out of the 99 issues I've received so far only one part was missing out of an issue. After a quick call, they promptly sent out a replacement issue at no extra cost.

I also inquired about the copper tiles which are not listed on their website and they are now available (as well as the official paint set) to order. You just need to ring them for it. The copper tiles weren't cheap either. $129 incl. shipping! But totally worth it for the finished look you get I reckon, so I ordered them. Gonna have to prepare myself mentally though for the fun job of laying all 4,500 of them

As for tools, Ive bought pretty much everything I've needed from http://www.hobbytools.com.au/ They are really prompt with processing orders and also a lot cheaper than http://www.modelshipyard.com.au/ I've found.