'Most accurate ever' scale model of HMS Victory set to fetch £30,000

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'Most accurate ever' scale model of HMS Victory set to fetch £30,000

« on: October 19, 2012, 04:30:12 pm »

A magnificent model of HMS Victory that is said to be the most accurate ever made is tipped to sell for £30,000.
Dedicated modeller Tim Davies spent more than 10 years on the painstaking project which he meticulously researched.
The result is a 2ft long, 1:96 scale model of Lord Nelson’s flagship that has the tiny figures of the naval hero and Captain Thomas Hardy stood on the poop deck.
Mr Davies, 74, has kept the model in his study for 15 years but has now decided to sell it to raise money to fund his grandchildren’s university education.
The model ship, made from 12 varieties of fruit wood, is so accurate it is believed to show Victory as she was on January 19, 1805 at 3.45pm precisely.
Mr Davies’ research revealed Victory was moored off Sardinia at that moment as Nelson prepared to chase the French fleet through the Mediterranean. The hunt came to a head at Trafalgar.
He sourced weather reports and tidal information from the time so he could tell exactly which way the ship was pointed and got her position to within 10 yards.
He used historic photos to discover what the topography of Sardinia looked like in 1805 and commissioned a marine artist to paint the background.
The ship is housed in a specially-designed glass case that is airtight and temperature controlled with carefully arranged lighting that shows off the green glass sea.
Behind the Victory is the rest of the fleet that includes the frigates Active and Seahorse that arrived to tell Nelson of the French fleet’s movement.
On the ship herself the signal flying from the mizzen mast reads 'unmoor', meaning one anchor is being raised, suggesting they were preparing to sail.
The sails are made from draughtsman’s linen and contain 20,000 stitches which Mr Davies could only make after adapting his wife’s sewing machine.
The colours of the hull are alternately black and yellow and on the upper two decks the gun ports are open and the cannons showing.
The decks are correctly planked and pinned and the rigging is even of the right weight for the size of model.
It is even possible to see inside the ship and view the internal fittings in the quarter galleries.
On the decks the figures of crew members and officers can be seen furling sails, stowing anchor ropes and preparing to raise a small rowing boat.
There is also a small boat being rowed towards Victory.
Mr Davies, from Cranleigh, Surrey, who is semi-retired from the family’s wine and spirit business, said: 'My grandfather was a marine artist and built two ivory models so it was in my genes.
'It took 10 years to complete and I wanted to pick a specific time in Victory’s life. It couldn’t be when she had no sails up or when she was at sea with all her sails up.
'I chose the time in January 1805 and this was when the fleet was blockading Toulon and Victory had left for Sardinia for supplies.
'While there Nelson learned that the French had left the port and at this time he was preparing to sail.
'I managed to pin-point the location of Victory to within 10 feet, but had to find out how the magnetism had changed over the years so I could find the bearings taken at the time.
'I also found out what the tide was like at the time, and the weather. I flew out there for a week and took photos and also found some very old photographs of Sardinia.
'I built the model in the same way Victory had been built.
'I used about 12 different types of wood and made planks and the hull.
'She is fully rigged and the rigging took over a third of the total time to make the model.
'Another big job was the sea and in the end I used coloured glass, but it has to have the correct lighting or it changes colour.
'The glass is about six inches deep and makes the whole thing very heavy - about 140 kilos.
'There are 152 men on the model, which my wife Catherine painted.'
He added: 'I am selling it to help raise money for my grandchildren’s education. It has been sitting in my study for the last 15 years since I finished it.'
The model, which measures 4.5ft long including the case, is going under the hammer at Charles Miller auctions in London on October 31.
Mr Miller said: 'I have never seen a better or more detailed model of Victory than this.
'The research and effort that has gone into it is incredible and it is all handmade.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2219810/Magnificent-model-HMS-Victory-complete-Lord-Nelson-Captain-Hardy-deck-took-pensioner-10-years-complete.html