First Take A Solid Piece Of Oak,

in this case taken from H.M.S. Victory’s lower gun deck, then give it to Ian Brennan who is the official sculptor for the Royal Household, (he was given the piece of wood while working on the restoration of Victory), and 5,000 hours later his model was finished, the beam provided enough raw material for Mr. Brennan 60 to create his 47 inch model, during its creation, he has worn out four sets of overalls and cut himself countless times, the model of Nelson’s flagship contains 200ft of intricate ‘rope’, 104 miniature guns, 37 little wind-filled sails, and flags spelling out Nelson’s stirring signal: ‘England expects every man to do his duty.’ I just hope my train set does not take as long!

this is the real deal at Portsmouth,

a few Victory facts,

• Victory entered service in 1778, it took 6,000 trees to build her. • The name was unpopular with sailors, the previous Victory sank with all hands in 1744. • After Trafalgar, she returned to England with Nelson’s body preserved in a barrel of brandy. • In 1831 she was due for scrapping but Sir Thomas Hardy, First Sea Lord and her captain at Trafalgar, refused to sign the order. • Left at Portsmouth, by 1920 she was at risk of sinking, after a national appeal she was moved to her present dock. She now has 400,000 visitors a year.