Issue 81 - Contains assorted wood strips & blocks, boom jaws, yard slings, brass wire, eyebolts and assorted threads; and has instructions for the mizzen topmast and topgallant yards, assembling the booms, making the poop deck pin rail, fitting rigging mountings and making the mizzen mast collar.

The mizzen topmast and topgallant yards - the parts for these yards are supplied with this issue. The making of them is similar to the previous yards, the basic techniques for making the yards were fully described in issue 65, therefore I am not going to repeat the process of their making, other than to remind to follow for the 'bare spars' or 'with sails' version.

Assembling the booms - Victory has two booms, a horizontal driver boom and an angled gaff boom. You will need the boom parts supplied with issue 77 as well as those supplied with this issue.

Start with the driver boom, which is the longer of the two booms. Mark the start of the taper shown on the plans, then taper the boom to 3mm at the opposite end, cut it to length then carve the short end.

With the aid of the centre finder, draw a central line across the end of the boom, then taper off the projecting corners of the end of the boom above and below the boom jaws.

Add the shallow 'U' shaped bracket to the top of the boom, note that the steps say for ease of rigging later on, place the 'U' bracket about 30mm from its indicated position on the plan, at a distance of 115mm from the end of the boom, sand a slight curve to the contact points of the 'U' bracket to meet the mast radius, the glue into place.

Hold the boom with the jaws flat to the work surface, and drill two 1mm holes vertically down through the boom, about 3mm and 6mm from the end.

Repeat the steps to construct the gaff boom in the same manner as the driver boom (noting that the jaws of the gaff boom are LONGER and WIDER than those of the driver boom, and that it DOES NOT have the 1mm holes drilled).

Stain the booms dark oak or paint them black to suit the finish you have chosen.

At this point follow the instructions and plans for your chosen guise of boom rigging, be it the 'bare spars' or 'with sails'.
Note that step 10 on page 12 shows two single blocks with 50mm tails tied at the end of the boom, these are only applicable to the 'with sails' version and should be omitted for the 'bare spars' version, (this pair of blocks are not indicated on the plan), make up and fit the blocks accordingly.

Making the poop deck pin rail - The pop deck rail is located behind the mizzen mast, you will need the laser-cut legs and metal belaying pins supplied with issue 66.
The assembly of the pin rail is straight forward, cut a 36mm length of 2x3mm wood and round the ends. Mark the centre, then make eight central marks, each 3mm apart. Drill seven 1.5mm central holes holes. Note that the two outermost marks should NOT be drilled and should remain as marks, which are used for the position on the legs.
Glue the two legs into place so that the inside of each leg aligns with the outermost marks made earlier.
Stain the pin rail walnut, or paint it black, then prime and paint black the belaying pins, and when dry, fix the pins into place upon the rail with superglue.
Glue the pin rail centrally to the poop deck between the mizzen eyebolts and skylight, leaving a 10mm space between the skylight and the back of the pin rail.

Fitting the rigging mountings - The diecast cleats and other mountings for the rigging on the poop deck were supplied with issue 66.

Drill a 1.5mm hole in the right-hand (starboard) transom knee and glue a cleat in place with superglue.
Then drill three holes halfway up the bulwark on each side: a 1.5mm hole 57mm from the rear transom and two 0.7mm holes 69mm and 75mm from the rear transom.
Glue a cleat into the large hole on each side and eyebolts into the smaller holes.

Take the two castings for the stern pulleys (snatch blocks), prime and then paint them black.

Apply a small drop of superglue to the bottom of a brass pulley ring, and then glue it in place, making sure that its hole aligns with the central hole of the pulley block.
Cut a pin-nail down to 2.5mm long, then glue it into the hole with a tiny drop of superglue.

Glue the two pulley assemblies centrally to the top of the bulwark cap where it meets the transom on each side of the hull, so they sit against the transom.

Making the mizzen mast collar - The three mizzen mast collars were supplied with issue 66.
Sand or file the inside of the rings until they are an easy fit onto the mizzen mast. Then glue all three rings together and allow to dry.
Check that the mast still slides easily into the collar, and then sand the collar to a taper, finishing with fine sandpaper.
Satin the collar walnut or paint it black. DO NOT glue the collar in place as yet.

That's it for this issue, carefully store the yards, booms and remaining parts.

Future issues:

Issue 82 - Contains assorted wood strips & threads, silver & brass wire, brass pins, brass chainwale supports, stanchions, chain links, gun port lid hinges, large & small mizzen chainwales, ladder sides, blocks and assorted deadeyes; and has instructions for completing the mizzen mast and fitting the gun port lids.

Issue 83 - Contains assorted wood strips, brass wire & stanchions, gallery balusters & decorations, brass lantern parts, acetate and ladder sides; and has instructions for adding the gallery windows and frames, finishing the transom, adding the stern mouldings and preparing the mizzen chainwales.

Issue 84 - Contains assorted wood strips, thread, belaying pins, eyebolts, brass rings, binnacle chimney, grating strips, ladder sides & pillars; and has instructions for adding the forecastle timber heads, rigging & placement of six deck guns, and adding the companionway ladder.

Issue 85 - Contains, assorted wood strips, dowel, pilaster columns, central beakhead arch & side arches, bow port hinges, eyebolts, roundhouse arches and beakhead frame; and has instructions for the fitting of the poop deck ladders, making the roundhouses, finishing the beakhead bulkhead and starting the beakhead.

Issue 83 - Contains assorted wood strips, brass wire & stanchions, gallery balusters & decorations, brass lantern parts, acetate and ladder sides; and has instructions for adding the gallery windows and frames, finishing the transom, adding the stern mouldings and preparing the mizzen chainwales.

Acetate - Note that it is vital to use a suitable adhesive when gluing the wood parts to the yellow acetate.
Superglue is not recommended, as it is prine to 'fogging' acetate.

The magazine suggestion is to use a clear glue designed for gluing a clear canopy to a plastic model aircraft, or a specific canopy glue such as Formula 560; you can also use contact adhesive, but careful to keep it out of the visible part of the window if it is the type that does not dry clear.
Test your chosen adhesive by gluing an offcut scrap of acetate to a piece of scrap wood before attempting to glue the acetate windows in place.

Adding the gallery windows and frames - In addition to the wood strips provided in this issue, you will need the yellow acetate gallery window sheet, supplied with issue 56.
(The black paint of the entire gallery is only being used as a base, the yellow striping of the woodwork will be added later on when the rest of the work on the gallery is done at issue 90).

Start by cutting out the rear gallery panel from the sheet, leaving about 1mm excess around the windows, remove the protective film from the piece and then glue the acetate in place using your chosen acetate adhesive; then repeat with the side gallery windows. (Gentle warming of the acetate panel with a hairdryer will make it easier to bend the sheet to the curve of the gallery side panels).

Rear gallery panel - Bend 1.5mm square wood strip to match the curve of the bottom windows. All the strips on the rear of the gallery will need bending in two directions - to match the window line and also the forward curve of the transom itself.

Stain the strip walnut or paint it black, and glue in place so that it overhangs the sides of the windows, so it can be cut to length later. (Bend the strip as accurately as possible so that it does not rely on the glue to hold it to the curve). Then add similar strips along the tops of all three rows of windows.

Bend and stain or paint black three strips of 2mm sq wood and fix them as shown in the step 5 inset photo. The top strip can be glued with normal wood glue, but the other two must be glued with your chosen acetate glue. If you need to pin the strips in place, place the pins close to the edge of the windows so that the holes are covered by further strips alter on. (Fine modelling pins will be easier to insert than pin-nails).

Curve and stain or paint black two more 2mm sq strips, and glue them below the top rows of the windows using your chosen acetate glue.
Use some of the baluster castings as spacers to make sure the gap between the strip is correct, (the balusters can be held in place with a dot of PVA glue to temporarily hold them on place).
Make the vertical frames between the lower two rows of windows using 1x4mm strip, stained or painted black, then 1x3mm strip to add the vertical frames to the top row of windows.

Use a steel rule to cut the excess length of framing from the windows -Use several light cuts, as heavy pressure is likely to crack the gallery. You should also cut through the yellow sheet and carefully peel away the excess.

Fit two 1.5mm sq strips down the sides of the window frames, and glue with normal wood glue; then stain or paint a 1x3mm strip of wood to fit the full width of the transom, at the bottom of the gallery windows, this will likely need to be pinned whilst the glue dries.

If you have opted for the natural version of the model, paint the rest of the transom with French Blue paint, if you have opted for the painted version, paint it Black.

Side galleries panels - The framing is similar to that of the the rar gallery panel, start by fitting four 1.5m sq strips of wood to the side windows. Chamfer the front ends of the strips to fit against the hull planks, and leave the rear ends over-length to be cut back later.
Add three 2m sq strips above these window strips in a similar way to those across the transom, leave them over-length and chamfer the front ends to fit onto the hull as before.

Then add two 2mm sq strips below the window line, and use baluster castings as spacers, and chamfer the front ends as before.
Cut back the overhanging ends of the strips, so that they stop short of the front edge of rear gallery panel.

Add a 1.3mm strip along the bottom of the gallery, then add strips of 1x3mm and 1x4mm wood to make the vertical sections of the frames, and use 1x3mm strips to make the forward window frames.

Add 1x3mm strips to trim the front edge of the gallery. You will need to cut back the ends of the wales so the trim strip sits against the planks neatly (You can use 1x4mm strip if the 1x3mm strips do not fully fit the gap).
Add 1x4mm strips along the rear edge of the gallery, and fill in the gap between the aft windows and aft strip with 1x4mm strips. (You can use 1x3mm strips if they better suit your model).

Repeat the side gallery build process at the opposite side of the model.

Finishing off the transom - Bend two short strips of 1x3mm wood to suit the curves of the transom top corners. Stain them walnut or paint them black, then glue in place with one edge flush with the front edge of the transom. Sand the ends flush to fit the adjacent strips, and repeat at the opposite side.

Fit strips of stained or painted 1x3mm wood to trim the top and sides of the transom. Touch in any bare ends with stain or paint.
The stepped gallery tops of the real Victory are lead sheeted, which you could simulate with lead foil. However, the magazine has chosen to represent then in french blue for the natural version, or paint them black for the painted version, I opted to lead foil.

Fitting the balusters - Paint coats of clear glue over the strips between the windows of the rear and side gallery panels, which will help the paint to adhere over the acetate. Allow it to dry thoroughly, then paint the strips with black paint and allow to dry.
Fix some masking tape to a scrap of wood sticky side up, to hold the balusters in place and make it easier to paint them.
For the natural version, paint or spray them gold, and for the painted version paint them yellow ochre, (only apply very thin coats, to avoid leaving a lip of paint around the edges of the parts when you remove them from the tape).

At the gallery sides, glue rows of 13 and 14 balusters along both sides, leaving gaps between them. You can either use superglue, or paint a thing coast of clear glue on the strips and simply place the balusters on top and glue only five or six pillars at a time.

On the rear gallery panel, glue rows of 36 and 39 balusters across the stern, using a similar technique as earlier.

Adding the stern mouldings - Bend three strips of 1.5mm wood for each side of the hull and leaving them over length and checking the curves against your model, (every model is different, adjust the curves to suit their position on your ship).
Stain them to match the existing wales, or if you have opted for the painted version leave them bare. Glue then into place starting with the longest moulding, then fit the other two mouldings forward of it. When the glue has dried, cut away where the strips crosses the two gun ports.

If you have opted for the painted version, paint black the mouldings and the entire length of the hull above the top channel wale, (the chainwales will be fixed to the top strip of the channel later on).

If you are staining your model, you have the option to protect the wood with clear varnish, again do not varnish the top channel strip.

Preparing the mizzen chainwales - This assembly is similar to the previous chainwales assembled in issue 75, therefore I'm not going to repeat the process; refer back to 75 for details of the techniques used.

The mizzen chainwale plan shows the starboard chainwales, you should mark up the port side as a mirror image, placing the parts back to back.
Finish the chainwale platform in your chosen guise, be it stained or painted black.

That's it for this issue, carefully store the chainwales and remaining parts.

Future issues:

Issue 84 - Contains assorted wood strips, thread, belaying pins, eyebolts, brass rings, binnacle chimney, grating strips, ladder sides & pillars; and has instructions for adding the forecastle timber heads, the rigging & placement of six deck guns, and adding the companionway ladder.

Issue 85 - Contains, assorted wood strips, dowel, pilaster columns, central beakhead arch & side arches, bow port hinges, eyebolts, roundhouse arches and beakhead frame; and has instructions for the fitting of the poop deck ladders, making the roundhouses, finishing the beakhead bulkhead and starting the beakhead.

Issue 86 - Contains wood strips, grating strips, beakhead framework, eyebolts, upper & lower stem decorations & figurehead support bracket; and has instructions for fitting the bow bitts, fitting the beakhead frames, fitting the eyebolts, making the beakhead grating, fitting the stem decorations and finishing off the bow bulwarks

Issue 87 - Contains brass wire, thread, hammock netting, brass stanchions & cotton cloth, and has instructions for adding the fore and quarter deck details, constructing the compass binnacle and adding the chainwales made at 75 & 83.

Issue 85 - Contains, assorted wood strips, dowel, pilaster columns, central beakhead arch & side arches, bow port hinges, eyebolts, roundhouse arches and beakhead frame; and has instructions for the fitting of the poop deck ladders, making the roundhouses, finishing the beakhead bulkhead and starting the beakhead.

Note - Within the magazine bag, you'll find an additional pack of 'replacement' metal arches, these are to be used at step 1 of page 12 in place of the arches contained within the actual parts pack.
Be careful when you discard the magazine bag so as not to discard the replacement pack.

Fitting the poop deck ladders - The parts to make the poop deck ladders were supplied in issue 82 and 83. The assembly shows only the starboard side, but repeat the process as a mirror image at the port side.

Take the 20mm long 4x4mm strip of wood and hold it in place against the bulwark, trim its length as necessary so that 12mm protrudes beyond the bulwark cap (deck side).
Cut two 10mm lengths of 2x5mm strip, glue them together side by side the glue the 4x4mm strip on tip, flush with the edge.

Stain the platform dark oak, or paint it black if you are building the painted version, then glue the platform in place so that the 4x4m strip overlaps the bottom of the poop deck front by 1mm (difficult to see when painted black).
Put a ladder side in position, mark the height to the top of the platform and cut it to length, cut a second side to match and cut back the top corners square, then cut four steps 7mm long from 1x5mm strip. Assemble the ladder as before, them drill 1mm holes (5mm deep) in the tops so they are parallel to the cut back corners.
Glue the ladder to the deck and the edge of the platform, then drill two 1mm holes in the deck, 2mm from the base of the ladder sides. Then superglue the four stanchions in place, with their holes facing forward to aft so you can fit the handrails.
Hold the wire against the stanchions and bend it to shape, the thread the wire through the holes in the stanchions and secure with superglue.

Bend the inboard wire to land on the poop deck rail, cut it to length and glue in place. the outboard wire will be glued to the hammock net brackets, so leave it overlength for now and tuck out of the way so it does not catch on anything.

Bow deck lip and roundhouses - Make the roundhouses using parts supplied with this issue.
Start by bending two 2x2mm strips of wood to match the curve of the bow deck lip, stain or paint these to match your finish, then glue both tight against the lip of the bulwark.

If you are painting your model, protect the bow deck with masking tape and paint the bulkhead French Blue - Omit this step for the natural version of the model.

For clarity purposes, the marking of the pilaster placement is best followed in the magazine, which are difficult to be seen on a painted background, (the magazine steps show this on an unpainted background).

To make one of the roundhouse's, cut a 30mm length of the 12mm dowel and saw the dowel in half along its length, (retain the opposite half for the second roundhouse).
Place one dowel on the bow flush with the side of the hull, then mark where the dowel rests on the bow deck strip placed earlier.
Saw off a 2mm strip up to the mark just made, so that the dowel can sit right down to the bow deck, then trim the height of the dowel as necessary to leave a 2mm gap between the top of the dowel and the underside of the bulwark cap.

Cut a 2x5mm strip the same length as the dowel, and drill a central 2mm hole, 6mm from the top, then glue the strip down the middle of the dowel and trim the base flush with the cit out in the dowel. continue to plank the dowel with 2x5mm strip, you will need to chamfer the edges of the strips to get a neat join, then sand the roundhouse smooth.
Place the assembly on the 2x10mm strip and draw an arc about 1mm larger to make a roof overhang by this amount. Cut the roof and sand the edges smooth and stain it walnut, if you are painting your model, paint the roof black, with a yellow ochre edge and paint the roundhouse French Blue.

Cut the wooden arches into individual sections, and bend each backwards to match the curve of the roundhouse as far as possible, then paint them gold for the natural finish or yellow ochre for the painted finish.
Glue the centre arch centrally over the roundhouse porthole, and add the half-arch sections to the outboard side, then add the full arch to the inboard side. San any excess at the rear flush with the back of the roundhouse.
Repeat these steps to make the second roundhouse as a mirror image at the opposite side.

Finishing the beakhead bulkhead - Adding the decorative pilasters and arches to the bulkhead using the parts supplied with this issue. I will not repeat the steps here as they are best viewed and followed in the magazine, which shows the markings of the doors and ports on the unpainted natural version of the model, where the markings are clearer seen.

Starting the beakhead - You'll need the parts from this issue to start assembling the network of thin rails around the stem.
Take the triangular beak head frame and stain it dark oak or paint it black.
Carefully slide it down the slot in the stem, using a thin steel rule or similar to shoe-horn it past the wale at the bow top, glue the frame into the base of the slot, making sure that it is straight and square in all planes - front, side and top.

Cut two lengths of 1 x 3 mm wood to fit from the roundhouses to the ends of the beak head frame. The ends sit on the ledge created by the curved 2 x 2 mm strip previously added to the lip of bow deck. Stain them dark oak or paint them black, and then glue into place.

Finish the remaining length of 2 x 3 mm wood with walnut stain or paint it black, then starting either side of the bowsprit socket, cut strips so that the front end butts up against the bracket, and shape the rear end to fit on top of the strips fitted earlier. Make the strips 3 mm wide, and leave a 2 mm gap between them (use a 2 mm wide plank to gauge the gap), and them in place with superglue.

Make two 'heads' (toilet seats) from 20mm lengths of 6x1.5mm wood. Drill a 3mm hole 8mm from one end, then sand a radius on this end. Place the heads on top of the rails added earlier, and shape the aft ends to fit around the roundhouses, and make sure no splinters remain on the seats or your crew ain't going to be too happy!
Stain them walnut or paint them black, and glue them into place using superglue.

Finally, using a razor saw, carefully cut away the centre section of the beakhead frame where it blocks the bowsprit socket, then touch up the cut ends with stain or paint black.

That's it for this issue, carefully store the remaining parts, (the two remaining pilasters will be used in issue 86).

Future issues:

Issue 86 - Contains wood strips, grating strips, beakhead framework, eyebolts, upper & lower stem decorations & figurehead support bracket; and has instructions for fitting the bow bitts, fitting the beakhead frames, fitting the eyebolts, making the beakhead grating, fitting the stem decorations and finishing off the bow bulwarks

Issue 87 - Contains brass wire, thread, hammock netting, brass stanchions & cotton cloth, and has instructions for adding the fore and quarter deck details, constructing the compass binnacle and adding the chainwales (from 75 & 83).

Issue 88 - Contains the bowsprit and spritsail yard plans, assorted dowel and wood strips, bowsprit cap, masthead truck, blocks, deadeyes, threads, boom joining rings, eyebolts brass wire and castings; and has instructions for completing the chainwale rigging and starting the bowsprit.

Issue 89 - Contains assorted wood strips and dowel, threads,brass wire, steel wire, blocks, grating strips & black net; and has instructions for completing and rigging the bowsprit, fitting the first carronade and fitting the gallery rear panel decorations.