James H

@Trident Model

I know some purists hate it, and also talk of it crumbling away in years to come, but I used CA (gel). I've seen models that are decades old and made with CA, and they are still just fine. ...but this isn't a discussion on the merits/demerits of glue. It just works for me and of course, no clamping.

Beautiful job, Martin. That case really sets it all off too. Stunning Big question.....what project next?

Can't wait to see you build this. You've paving the way for me and Coureur 😄

UPS seem to be the most consistent out of the couriers I've experienced of recent.

That's the plan, as soon as I have enough of the Duchess built for Chris to get his manual done and kit into production. @cafmodel Exciting to see things coming together like this. I really can't wait to see this and to get a log started here. I'll certainly be out of my comfort zone with a POF!

Welcome back! I'm pretty sure I remember you (back in my Captainpugwash days). Looking forward to seeing you crack on with a build here again.

There's no difference between port and starboard bulwarks. Those are exactly the same.

As soon as DoK is done, I'll build this alongside Victory.

That's why I now just fit a lot of the parts, and especially the deck, before gluing. I just paint glue in from underneath and that works just as well.

Thanks for posting those closer detail photos. I really can’t wait to see this!

Glad your following. I have a few weeks now until Amati send the replacement timber sheets, so I'm working on the Duchess of Kingston at the moment, and Vic is draped in bubblewrap. Won't be too long though!

You painted this?

I really cant wait to see this one! She's going to look very different to a regular POF

And as my Zulu article is in the latest, I highly recommend it 😆

I used aerosol paint for the underside and all the red areas (but you can use enamel/acrylic etc). Humbrol enamel for the blue and yellow areas, and Vallejo acrylics for the small details. Check the manual as I put the paint type and numbers in there. I wrote the manual and did the build, but forgot the blue paint code. That's Humbrol 25 Matt Blue. I also used 74 Linen for the Yellow.

...and so it begins

Time for an update. Of course, these photos are part of the instruction manual, so I've taken a selection to show where I'm currently up to with DoK. There are three 3mm MDF sheets, and I took my time to remove all of them and clean the tabs up with a knife and/or sanding stick. All parts are engraved with a number, and I knew all would be used in this quick bench session. First up, I built the temporary cradle. There's a gorgeous acrylic one for final use, complete with engraved nameplate, so this one is the scrapper that I'll throw away at the end. As the model is single deck and won't have the usefulness of another lower deck into which the masts can align, a simple part is slotted into the keel before any work starts. It's most accessible to add at this stage. The part is a nice, snug fit. This is the main mast position. Before any bulkheads are fitted, I first mark a rough bevel line on the first and last three bulkheads and then grind this away with my Dremel. A number of other parts are also bevelled at this stage too, such as the outer cheek parts and the front of the inner longitudinal beams. All bulkheads are now slotted into place. For the foremast, a couple of parts are added to the outer cheeks. These will create a round base into which the down will sit. These are then slotted into place. Now, those longitudinal beams are now added, starting with the inner two... ...and followed by the outer two: At this stage, I painted wood glue into the joints and left the whole lot for a few hours to cure. I prefer this method when there are so many slots and such perfect tolerances. Construction of the stern gallery areas starts with slotting in three frames, easily recognised with their engraved position ID. These just slot straight into position as shown, and are then glued. Four extra pieces are added just before and after the midships cabin area. These are to support the floor/deck at either side. The cabin floor is also fitted and clamped until set. Both the main and upper false decks are now glued into place. These are 0.8mm ply and you need to bend them and allow them to fit into the slots in the bulkhead tabs. This holds the deck parts remarkably flat across all bulkheads. As an insurance policy, I also add a couple of brass pins to the forward upper deck as there are no slots there to hold in position. One nice little touch are the temporary beams which now slot into the bulkhead tabs. These are to give everything some real rigidity whilst the hull is worked on from this point. Afterwards, the beams and tabs will be broken out and discarded. A few extra pieces at the stern, but not quite all. The model is now setting before I start to sand the hull to shape and add the ply bulwarks. More soon...

Here's a quick build up of the older parts. This won't be used in the build, but gives an idea of how she'll be built.

Good morning! As my Amati HMS Victory is currently on hiatus due to needing a good number of sheet replacements, I'll start work immediately on the future Vanguard Models release of the Royal Yacht, 'Duchess of Kingston'. As with my other VM stuff, this will be for the kit instruction manual. Chris conceded that (1) he hadn't taken enough photos of the original build, and (2) the design had changed significantly enough from his own build to merit a new build anyway, so the manual is representative of the final product. Yesterday, I received a large box with the final production parts, and also a second set of earlier parts, including PE sheets. The photos here are of the production parts, and I'll cobble together a dry fit of the bits later, to give you a very quick idea of how this goes together, before work starts proper. This kit must've taken an age to produce with all the sheets of pear, plus the pear overlays and beautiful engraving too. Here's what you can roughly expect to see in a final production kit: MDF Maple deck Ply parts Pear parts Other laser parts Strip wood Photo etch Resin parts Fittings etc. Rigging cord Acrylic display stand (with engraved name plates) It's interesting to see some of the design ideas, such as the stern/transom where the resin ornamentation sits atop the pear panel, and that panel has recesses engraved into it to allow the PE window frames to sit within! I'll post a dry fit image of the hull a little later on...

Yes, this is for the manual(s), and I will be including many, many photos of stuff which should mean that no one can get it wrong. Despite the possible cost, there should be no reason why this model can't be built by someone at intermediate level with a few other builds already done.

The first model to have these is the unreleased Amati Bellona. That was the kit that Chris used as a testbed for that particular design aspect. With Victory, he told me he'd got it right.

It's a very different beast to build and nothing like conventional wooden ship modelling with the basic construction. So many avenues for those who want to super detail things too.

You get around 10 barrels. They are only representative of the area and provide some visual interest in the area where this stuff would've been stored.

The construction is pretty intuitive with those layers that build up and the cannon carts plugging into decks so all barrels protrude the same distance. Looking forward to posting the progress and completion of this deck, to give you an idea how it builds upwards.