Military Model Scene

Title: ShipCraft 29: Victory, 100-gun First Rate 1765
Author: Kerry Jang
Publisher: Pen & Sword
ISBN: 978-1-3990-8573-1

The latest release in the ShipCraft series from Pen & Sword takes on one of the most famous ships in history, the Victory, Nelson's flagship at Trafalgar. A 64-page soft-cover book in the usual ShipCraft style, which is also available in ePub and Kindle ebook formats.
The first few pages describe the design and construction of Victory, a 100-gun First-Rate ship. This is followed by a section covering the Career Highlights of the Victory, which had seen 40-years of service even before she served Nelson at Trafalgar, and several other admirals before him. That is followed by a detailed section considering the various models available, in metal, resin, plastic and wood. Not surprisingly considering the fame of the ship, there are a lot of them as well as plenty of accessories designed for some specific models. Next is the Modelmakers' Showcase which features 3 stunning models. Two are scratchbuilt, one if 1/300th and another in the even larger 1/48 scales, along with an incredibly detailed build of the 1/100th Heller kit. These have some fantastic detail incorporated into them, more than enough to inspire you if you are considering trying one. The final main section considers the Appearance of Victory over the course of her long career. She was out of main line service before photography was invented, but she underwent a number of significant 'Great Repairs' during her lifetime. There are a number of pages of artwork illustrating the various colour schemes and profiles she had over the years. Modern research into her appearance at Trafalgar influenced her last repaint, which was completed as recently as 2015.
I didn't know much about Victory's career so this makes for some interesting reading in itself, while the details of the many models that are available offer lots of options in a wide variety of scales. The section on Appearance will enable you to pick which period you would want to represent in a model, with the most popular being that of her most famous battle, at Trafalgar. Another first class addition to the ShipCraft series.
Thanks to Pen & Sword for our review copy.

Robin