HMS VICTORY WOOD SCULPTURE
Sunday October 24th, 2010
VICTORY FOR WOOD SCULPTOR
It has taken 17 years and over 5,000 man hours but sculptor Ian Brennan is proud to unveil his perfect replica of HMS Victory carved from a single block of timber. But not just any old timber. The 400 year old block of wood was taken from a beam just above a cannon on the actual ship itself.
The Official Sculptor for the British Royal Household was hoping to finish the project for the bi-centenary of the Battle of Trafalgar in 2005 but the 400 year-old oak proved so hard it was like carving concrete. The model has 200 feet of wooden rope, 104 guns, 37 sails and flags that spell out Admiral Nelson’s battle cry – “England expects every man to do his duty!” It weighs in at 44lbs and is 47 inches tall.
When asked about his labour of love the 60 year old said, 'I had thought of cutting it up a gluing it together like many model-makers would, but in the end I decided to do it from one section... I only had one chance at this - there will never by another piece of timber from Victory that I could use.'
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