Glenn-UK

A good couple of days work in the shipyard where I have added all the blocks and stirrups to various yards. It seemed a never ending task of seizing blocks and then securing them to the yards.

All the yards have now been painted black and they are ready to be be rigged.

The fore yard has been tied in place and I'm currently in the process of rigging the two jeers which is proving to be very fiddley.

On a side note there has been an addition to the shipyard with a gift from my sister in law. The boat shape planter was made by a local craftsman and will look resplendent once it has been filled with some hanging basket bedding plants in the next few weeks.

She is really coming together now, you are doing an amazing build.

1 hour ago, DelF said:

Really coming to life now!

 

I hope you'll come back to Speedy at some stage.

Thanks Derek

My original Speedy build is dead in the water as I made far to many mistakes. It was  a fun build and I learnt so much about building these models. I might build a new Speedy at some stage depending on what new designs Chris comes up with. My next two projects will be the Cutter Alert and then the Sphinx.

6 minutes ago, James H said:

It's all coming together 🤗

Thanks, I hope to start rigging the yards in the next couple of days

Work has progress well on the manufacture of the various yards. All the mizzen mast yards are fully complete and are now ready for rigging.

The main and foremast yards are made and they are now ready for the blocks to be added and then will be painted black, noting I have already painted the two topgallant yards. I have also added a pin to each yard so I could dry fitted them to the masts. This gives me a an idea of how the Duchess Of Kingston will look when fully rigged, it looks very impressive.

I have attached a picture, noting the yards are only pinned so they are a bit wonky, especially the fore top gallant yard. I do really like how the Duchess Of Kingston now looks. My completed IJN Yamato model can be seen in the background as is my partially built Speedy which I had to abandon due to my many errors in the rigging.

39 minutes ago, drjeckl said:

Been following since the beginning, Glenn.  Really outstanding work and the detail in your posts is at the highest level.  Well done!

 

John

Hello John

Many thanks for you kind comments.

Glenn

10 minutes ago, DelF said:

Well done Glenn! She's looking fine with all the masts and standing rigging in place.

Hello Derek

Many thanks for your very kind comments. There are a few flaws as I continue to learn and adapt my methods so I can enhance my rigging skills. Overall I am very pleased with how the Duchess has turned out so far.

I have now finished rigging all the masts which for me is a major milestone completed.

I will now be moving on adding the yards to the masts however I have to finish making all the yards before they can be pinned to the masts  which should keep me busy for the next few days.

Here are some pictures of the completed mast rigging.

Sorry this picture is a bit of out of focus

58 minutes ago, Rustyj said:

And so is your log! Well done Glenn.

Thanks Rusty

Just now, BobG said:

Superb, Glenn! The fine work you are doing on the rigging has really brought the model to life.

Thanks Bob

My pictures do not show the model in the best light or the justice it deserves. It is a excellent model and full credit must go to Chris Watton for his design work and quality of materials. Also many thanks to Jim Hatch for his build log for the prototype which has been  essential reading.

I have continued to make good progress with the rigging phase of the Duchess of Kingston. All the shrouds, lanyards and ratlines have now been installed. All the stays have been rigged apart from the 3 off required for the fore topgallant mast which I plan to add in the morning.

I have provided some pictures of the current stay of play.

Once I have added the fore topgallant stays I can move on to rigging the 9 yards (three per mast) and then finally the anchor. I am expecting to spend 2 or 3 days per mast (famous last words) so hopefully the Duchess will be completed within the next 3 to 4 weeks

Great work Derek, your Speedy build is looking amazing.

The build is coming along very nicely. Very impressed with both your speed and workmanship with this build.

24 minutes ago, Theodosius said:

 

how do you apply your primer? I ask, because one can see, that the inner strips don't get a lot primer.

 

I use a spray can of primer which is designed for photo etched parts. I gave a quick spray over and was not too bothered about the inner strips for this part as the skylight was cleaned in acetone prior to adding the primers. The red paint was applied with a paint brush to the skylight without any issues. The finished part will get a thin coat of polyurethane varnish to protect it.

Currently I am adding the ratlines to the foremast shrouds. This is a task I really like doing.

I decided to try and record a video of me installing the ratlines. Although I did my best to stop my hands obscuring the view, at times it was impossible to do so. The quality of the video is not very good but hopefully you may find it interesting and useful.

Adding ratline video

With reference to the video content I start the process by securing the ratline with a simple half hitch knot which I position behind the shroud line which is then adjusted to the correct horizontal position (as provided by the paper ratline template).

The line is then tied to the next shroud line using a standard clove hitch knot. As can be seen in the video I use the tweezer's to position and tie the clove hitch knot. This process is then repeated to tie the ratline to the other shroud lines.

A touch of ga is applied to the first and last knot before the excess thread is trimmed away. Finally  the lines are coated with a diluted pva solution.

Great to see the progress you've made and there is plenty of very useful build information.

Nice work Rusty

I can confirm the cutters are brilliant. Best I have.

Main and Fore Companionway Hatches

I will not add a lot of detail of the build process as they are both essentially a repeat of the rear hatch skylight build process. The only difference is there is an inner and outer framework which allows the hatches to be seated.

My jig was adjusted slightly so that the inner main hatch frame assembly could be positioned and held secure once the glue had been applied to the joints.

Once the glue had cured the outer frames were attached to the inner framework.

The main hatch was dry fitted in the framework. It is a nice tight fit.

I repeated the main hatch build process for the fore companionway hatch.

The assembled frameworks were painted ochre red. The hatches are only dry fitted at this stage. Another assembly task completed. 

The only deck items still to build are the 12 sets of the 6-Pounder cannon and carriage assembly.

Rear Hatch / Skylight Assembly

This is another simple deck item build. The rear hatch / skylight assembly comprises the following parts:

2 x Rear Hatch Combing End (wooden part)

2 x Rear Hatch Combing Side (wooden part)

1 x rear hatch skylight (photo etch part)

These parts were removed from their respective sheets and the laser car was removed from the visible edges of the rear hatch combings.

The photoetched rear hatch skylight part was cleaned in acetone and then given a coat of grey etch primer. It is now ready for painting.

The jig I used aft companionway assembly was modified so the rear hatch combing parts could be aligned and held in place.

Once I was happy with the fit in the jig a touch of pva glue was applied to all the joints. The rear hatch frame was then removed from the jig after the glue had cured.

Next a thin layer of pva was applied to the top edge of the frame assembly and the skylight was positioned and clamped.

The completed assembly was painted red ochre. Another simple deck item assembly successfully completed.

2 minutes ago, Theodosius said:

The small deck assemblys look like a ton of fun to build! 🙂

They are nice to build. They are also a welcome distraction when I need a small break from rigging the DOK.

Batch Hatch Assembly

Today I have built the batch hatch. This only comprises two wooden parts. The hatch fits inside the combing. When complete there are two eyebolts and rings to be added to the hatch.

This is a picture of the Batch Hatch Assembly (minus the eyebolts and rings)

I thought I would try enhancing this part, so I added some thin wooden strips to simulate wooden construction. The instructions require the wooden parts to be painted red. I added an oak stain which I think think looks quite nice.

This is a picture of the modified Batch Hatch Assembly (minus the eyebolts and rings).

Great work Derek. I always need new tools so I have ordered the cutter😀

41 minutes ago, AlanDavison said:

Hi Glenn,

just curious, are you still recording you “time spent”

Sorry Alan I'm not. I normally spend about 3 hours a day on the build

I have built the Aft Companionway Assembly which was a nice simple task. Aft Companionway Assembly Video

The wooden parts were removed from the sheet, and the laser char removed from the visible edges.

To make the assembly easier I decided to make a simple jig to hold the frame in place whilst the parts were glued.

PVA glue was applied to all the joints and the assembly aft companionway frame was then securely positioned in the frame.

Once the glue had had time to cure the frame was removed from the jig. It was checked to make sure it was square.

The completed frame assembly

A thin layer of pva glue was place on the top edges so that the two roof parts could be fixed in place

The roof parts were clamped in place while the glue was curing

The first coat of red ochre paint was applied, which highlights any defects which may need attention, as can be seen in the photo below.

A second coat of paint was applied after a quick fix with a sanding stick. It looks much better now.

The photoetched handle was cleaned in acetone and blackened. It was then fixed in place. The deck item is now complete.

https://youtu.be/BayCkBRd-PQ