HMS Victory Model ; scale model of Nelson's Flagship HMS Victory.

This detailed model of HMS Victory is carved from original oak from Lord Nelson's Flagship HMS Victory by sculptor Ian G Brennan. The actual carved hull of this unique Victory model, 'Trafalgar Day 1805' is being carved entirely from within a centuries old oak beam removed a decade ago from the lower gun deck, during the historic warship restoration .

All of the models masts, flags, 104 cannon, anchors, small launches, rigging, flags are also being carved from original Victory oak, along with the 37 seven bellowing sails which the Victory carried are being carved as thin as egg shells in such a way as to represent the historic 18 century warship approaching Cape Trafalgar, 'running before the wind'.

The history and the various stages behind the producing of the scale model of HMS Victory :-

During 1989/90, Ian G Brennan was commissioned by The Royal Naval Dockyard in Portsmouth to make an exact replica of the original Starboard Side Entrance Port on Admiral Nelson's Flagship's HMS Victory. The original carved oak entrance port was badly decayed and in many places it was only the thick layers of old black lead paint that was keeping most of the original entrance port together.

The replacement starboard side entrance port carved from mahogany by Ian G Brennan

Whilst Ian was carving this replacement entrance port on the lower gun deck the centuries had also taken their toll on some of the other oak timbers which also had to be removed from within the Victory's hull during the restoration process.

These old oak beams were also found to be badly rotten and worm damaged, beyond repair and required replacing. Ian was asked by members of the ships crew as some of these beams were obviously not in any condition to be restored and then returned to the ship, if he would be able to carve something with them which could then be auction off to help the ships crew with their annual fund raising for the 'BBC Children in Need' TV program, something Ian was pleased to be able to do.

It was always rather difficult to try and find the most suitable pieces of oak for the carving as the beams were often covered in many layers of old lead paint, although it might initially appear to be a quite reasonable piece of timber, more often than not the moment the surface paint was removed the rot and worm damage was found to be more extensive than you hoped and in the end nothing really worthwhile could be carved from it.

Usually when you first started carving into the old beam, great lumps of oak would simply crumble away in your hands, however from some of the timber eventually good oak started to appear, it was then possible for Ian to produce some bas-relief carvings which were then auctioned off in the ships mess on board HMS Victory with the monies raised going to the BBC fund raising event.

A few years later with the bi-centenary of the Battle of Trafalgar around a decade away, Ian thought that perhaps with bits of the victory oak he had left over still in his studio, he might try it might be possible to preserve the oak in a somewhat different form, namely a full three-dimensional scale sculpture of HMS Victory in full sail heading towards Cape Trafalgar.

Ian knew it would obviously take him a long time to carve, especially as he had never tried to produce a sculpture of a ship before and more particularly as it was going to be carved from this old victory oak which had certainly seen better days; however he thought it must surely be worth a try.

The picture’s above shows how extensive the rotten and worm damaged oak was and how all those years in such adverse conditions on the gun deck had taken its toll. It also shows one end of the original iron bolt that had once fixed the beam in position on the Victory’s lower gun deck and also an old rusting iron hook which would have held one of the gun decks mess tables still firmly embedded in the beam..

Although most of this victory oak beam due to its age was badly decayed and worm damaged on first inspection it would appear to be quite unusable; however after carefully removing large junks of the rotten oak and treating the worm damage wood, sound oak started to appear through and work could begin. Although having to try and carve fine detail often against the grain and through the embedded nails and bolts still caused quite a few problems at times.

The 32 pounder cannon and mess tables on the lower gun deck on HMS Victory, when battle stations was announced the ropes holding the mess tables were removed from the hooks in the beams which enabled the mess tables to be quickly stored away.

Ian’s initial problem was to try and work out exactly where the hull of the scale model Victory could best be carved using the remaining sound piece of oak, trying to avoid the old nails and bolt holes which were still present in a lot of the beam, which would then enabling him to make the Victory sculpture hull as large as possible.

To produce a scale model of HMS Victory in the traditional model makers way of carefully cutting and fashioning small pieces of good quality timber together may well have been the most practical and no doubt most effective way of making such a scale model, however Ian thought carving this scale model entirely from one of the ships original oak beams would be a slightly different approach.

On many occasions the merits of trying to produce the model warship from within one of the original oak beam that was once an integral part of the very structure of HMS Victory's soon began to disappear. The problem with trying to produce the hull of the Victory in perfect scale carved from one piece from rock hard old oak which was full of rusty hand made nails, iron bolts and other metal fragments, not to mention rotten timber riddled with holes from the long departed wood worm, were all too soon apparent.

However on this particular beam after again removing all the rotten oak at the very heart of the beam sound oak started to show through which would enable at least the hull of the Victory sculpture to be carved in one piece and it would appear that by carefully cutting around the potential carved hull sufficient size off cuts of oak could also be used elsewhere on the sculpture.

One of the large iron bolt which was present in the beam had passed right through the timber and would originally have been used to bolt together this and the other interconnecting beams. The victory's skilful construction by the 18 century shipwrights was such that the ship was cleverly held together by bolts and an assortment of nails and mitred joints, each carefully shaped to lock together into the corresponding beam.

Some of the original bolts and nails were temporarily removed whenever possible to assist the carving process these were retained and placed back in the original position later; some of the iron bolts had rusted in position over the years and were initially impossible to remove until the vast majority of oak which surrounded them had been cut away. The larger of these original iron bolts was eventually cut through at what is now the sculpture’s ‘sea level’

The shape of the Victory's hull now carved within the oak beam after most of the damaged oak had been removed

After having taken careful measurements and narrowly avoiding the iron bolts and bolt holes, it was just possible to carve the basic shape of the hull from sea level so to speak, right up to the highest point of the deck in one piece. The white lead paint which was frequently used within the interior of the warship was used to try and improve the rather dimly lit interior. This paint can still be seen covering two sides of the beam as well as the rather rusty iron hook, which is still in its original position which is mow beneath the victory sculpture itself.

Throughout the whole carving process the 'off cuts' of the old victory oak were retained which were later to be used to carve the masts, sails, rigging, cannon etc. Due to the oak due to its great age being is so strong and stable; Ian was able to carve all the sails almost as thin as egg shells, which gave the desired effect of Lord Nelson's famous Warship in full sail upon the Sea.

If you look closely traces of worm holes from long gone wood worm can still be found on the occasional sail and in a few places on the ships hull itself, which under the circumstances cannot be avoided, however Ian feels it adds to the overall effect of the sculpture, these occasional worm holes may well give the appearance of holes made from ‘cannon shot’.

close up of one of the 104 cannon required for the Victory sculpture, alongside a one pence and one cent coin for scale

As Ian is carving the sails realistically with all the creases and folds, the natural colour and texture of the old oak looks remarkably like sail canvas bellowing in the wind. Although Ian's normal way of working is to producing his sculptures from a single piece of wood, however on this occasion due to the size of the beam available it was obviously necessary to carver all the sails and masts separately. It will not be until all the fine detail of the carving has been completed and sanded smooth will the whole carving be finally assembled, with all the masts, sails, flags, cannon, anchors, small launches and the carved oak rigging and flags.

Ian has recently started to carve all these flags depicting the famous signal that Admiral Nelson flew at Trafalgar, ’England Expects that every man will do his duty' and 'Follow more closely'. The white ensign and union jack like everything else on the victory sculpture will be carved from original victory oak and when completed the signal flags will be flown high amongst the carved oak rigging.

On and of for over a decade, whenever he could somehow try and find the time, Ian has been carving the HMS victory sculpture It is still expected to take a further 200 hours to finally complete the carving, "The oak being so old it is just like trying to carve concrete". Ian quickly explains, having broken yet another scalpel blade working on the fine detail. When the sculpture is finished, what remains of the old lead paint will be retained along with the original hand made square nails, old screws and iron bolts which can still be seen in their original position, still firmly attached to the oak beam.

Ian feels at this moment anyway, he might not apply any finish to the oak which may well change the natural texture of the sculpture, although the oak would obviously look rather splendid after polishing particularly with the very pronounced grain pattern showing through. However Ian thinks that perhaps a highly polished finish particular on this oak might not be so appropriate and he would rather leave the sculpture with its natural old oak finish, just as it been for centuries on board the Victory.

Perhaps another rather compelling reason not to apply any finish to the sculpture, if you ever had the opportunity to visit Nelson's Flagship the first thing you would have noticed on entering the ship is the strong smell of old rope, tar and oak which permutated throughout the 18 century warship. Traces of this rather distinctive aroma could also be found in Ian's studio from this old oak whilst he was carving the Victory sculpture itself. It would be rather a shame to have to seal in this centuries old fragrance under layers of modern wax polish.

As Ian is frequently having to carve the warships finer detail going against the grain and with the occasional old rusty nail and bolt getting in the way it is proving quite problematic at times. He has tried to save as much of the off cuts as possible whilst he was working cutting the wood in such a way as he worked to maximise whatever good oak was available. Even without polishing the wood the grain pattern shows up superbly well and gives a very pleasant natural dark and light effect which helps give the sculpture a rather realistic colour in the ships hull and billowing sails

On that historic and momentous day in 1805 off Cape Trafalgar, within the cramp dimly lit lower gun deck, amid the noise and confusion from the fierce battle being fort all around, the Victory sculpture although yet to be released by the sculptors hands, was being protected from all the elements deep within the oak beam, and although this beam containing the sculpture was bolted directly above the fearsome 32 pounder cannon being used so effectively by the ships well drilled crew just inches below, it had manage to survived both the Battle of Trafalgar and the following two centuries.

Throughout the long hours the deadly battle raged, the exhausted gun crews anxieties and eventual exaltation as the battle won, was being absorbed into the very fibre of this piece of English oak. This beam was indeed an integral part of the heart and structure of HMS Victory's great 'wooden walls'. If only walls could talk.

Although Ian G Brennan has for over twenty years been produced a huge variety of detailed and often highly elaborate sculptures, many of which commissioned by the British Royal Household, this scale sculpture of HMS Victory must surely rate as one of the most irreplaceable wood carvings he has ever produced and although yet to be completed, history in the making. The sculpture has already appeared on numerous occasions in television programs, newspaper and magazine articles.

This Victory sculpture must also surely rate as one of the most unique examples of Maritime Art around, especially when you consider not only has the sculpture been produced entirely from original oak from HMS Victory's lower gun deck, but it has also been created by the actual wood carver who worked on-board the historic 18th century warship, commissioned to carve the replacement Starboard side Entrance Port on the middle gun deck of Lord Nelson's Famous Flagship

Who would have thought that a few centuries old discarded rotten oak beams removed from the lower gun deck of HMS Victory, full of rusting hand made nails, old iron bolts and the traces of long departed woodworm once hidden beneath layers of lead paint would, with time and no little skill by Ian eventually be salvaged into something quite so remarkable. It is also know doubt hopped that after all those years of dedication work the Victory sculpture soon to be completed, will then finally find a good home