So at last it's finished. I must say that after completing the planking, there was a week or so where I was ready to throw it in the bin and start again but I realised I still had a lot of learning to get from this one. so I carried on.

The problem doing these is you know where all the faults are but I think it is good enough to go with the Victory as is, and I can still bin it if I want to. It was a good idea to do this before the main ship as there are loads of ideas I have picked up, the main one being that you can do what you like, within reason. After all the model we are building is not the version at Portsmouth, which is not the one that was at Trafalgar, which is not the one that was launched in 1765. So I thought I would do the rudder in Greek style where the top is the same colour as the inside of the boat. Walking around the fishing ports here now is a completely different experience as will no doubt, appearing in the divorce courts dealing with accusations of neglect. Hey ho.

I am really enjoying this build now and was shocked when Colin mentioned that he would be 'fairing for a week'. As soon as I started I wondered if a week would be long enough as I do want to get the planking perfect, so be prepared for lots more inane questions.

Thanks again everyone, I could not have got this far feeling this confident without you all.

What Jonny said!

great job. looks very nice. ive left my launch till i got somewhere to put it. dont like it in a bag or loose lying around for a year.

its better than mine so stop winging and get on wiv your build by the way i faired mine over 9 days