16-gun sloop-of-war HMS Fly

**ccoyle** · #1 08-14-2009, 10:29 PM

Just thought I would show all my card modeling buddies the subject that currently has me working in unprocessed paper (i.e. wood).

16-gun sloop-of-war HMS Fly-waterline-1.jpg

16-gun sloop-of-war HMS Fly-waterline-3.jpg

This is the Victory Models 1/64 scale kit of the English 16-gun sloop-of-war HMS Fly, launched in 1776. Fly was one of the successful Swan-class of ship-sloops, many of which were given names suggesting great speed (Fly, Swan, Pegasus, Zebra, etc.). Her main armament consisted of 16 6-pdrs. The Swan class were among the last classes of British warships to carry significant ornamental work. Fly had a fairly pedestrian career and foundered off New Foundland in 1802.

I'm currently working on painting the hull, using a contemporary painting of Fly's sister-ship, HMS Kingfisher, as a guide. The painting shows Kingfisher in her launching livery. The blue bands along the hull of the original were painted in extensive trompe l' oeil frieze work; the kit replicates this with 0.1 mm photo-etched brass. When the ships went on station, the hull bands were painted black with no frieze work. I have made or will make a significant number of changes to the kit as originally designed, including adding beaded moldings, sails, screen bulkheads, and gun tackles. I hope to finish by 2020.

Kits of this magnitude take me a while to build, and interest flags from time to time (I started this one in 2006), hence the need to pause now and then and knock out a paper model or two...or five...

Cheers!

**birder** · #2 08-14-2009, 11:04 PM

That looks like it is coming along nicely, Chris! I think you have posted on this at msw? It is a nice looking ship and I 'm sure will be very nice when completed. I have not stopped working on my shipyard build myself, but progress is slow to be hardly noticable..

**Amazyah** · #3 08-15-2009, 03:00 AM

Wow Chris!
That is absolutely awesome!
I can't wait for further progress!
Even if it is from another model!
Let me see dem pics! Bing 'm on baby!

Russell

**Don Boose** · #4 08-15-2009, 06:00 AM

Beautiful model, Chris. I really like the smaller 18th-19th century warships -- the brigs, bomb ketches, sloops of war, dispatch vessels, and the like, and this is a very good-looking vessel. Thanks for giving us a look.

Don

**eatcrow2** · #5 08-15-2009, 06:19 AM

Ditto on all the other comments Chris.. Wonderful work, and I hope you post further updates. Nice bikes in the background...

**Papercut** · #6 08-15-2009, 12:10 PM

Nice work. I too have the same problem, the only way to keep building is to switch between projects so I do not get burned out, this means it takes me alooooong time to complete, but alas the key word is completed. Great work and your painting skills are good. Not everyone can get a smooth even finish on wood.:DRick

**redhorse** · #7 08-15-2009, 12:33 PM

Looks very nice! I've only built one wooden ship and it took me around 7 years. You do need some breaks with those!

**ccoyle** · #8 08-15-2009, 01:47 PM

Thanks for your kind remarks, gentlemen!

Quote:

Originally Posted by birder

I think you have posted on this at msw?

That's correct. The log can be visited here. There are a number of card models being documented at the moment at MSW, including this jaw-dropping IJN Fuso by martanek41.

Quote:

Great work and your painting skills are good.

Thanks! Only the waterline requires a real fine line. The other lines will be hidden under moldings

Quote:

You do need some breaks with those!

I have seen similar models knocked out in a few months, but that is way beyond my ability.

Cheers, all!

**cdavenport** · #9 08-15-2009, 02:52 PM

I've seen those Victory kits but never purchased one. Can you comment about the kit itself: fit, finish, fidelity to scale, fittings, instructions, details and the like?

**ccoyle** · #10 08-15-2009, 04:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cdavenport

I've seen those Victory kits but never purchased one. Can you comment about the kit itself: fit, finish, fidelity to scale, fittings, instructions, details and the like?

Charles,

The Victory Models kits are very, very nice. They are designed by Chris Watton, who formerly was the in-house designer at JoTiKa, Ltd., where he designed most of their Heritage and Nelson's Navy lines. The kit makes extensive use of laser cutting and photo-etch brass; it is designed based on original admiralty drafts of Fly from the English National Maritime Museum. The plans are excellent, and the instructions are written by a native English-speaker (virtually unheard of for a kit manufactured in Italy!) There is an upgrade kit available at a reasonable extra charge. It is a top-notch kit in every respect and devoid of the scale fidelity problems that plague many European kit designs.

Victory Models recently released a kit of HMS Vanguard, a 74-gun ship that can also be built as either Elephant or Bellerophon, that is IMHO one of the finest ship model kits ever produced, and kits of HMS Pegasus, HMS Prince 1670, and the Russian brig Mercury are all in various stages of development. The prototypes of Pegasus and Mercury are completed, and both look fantastic. Chris Watton keeps adding additional details and design innovations to each kit he produces. If Fly in particular strikes your fancy, you might want to hold out for Pegasus, which is a sister-ship; the kit will include the stuff that is now sold separately for Fly, and it will also include copper plates.

Cheers!