Glenn-UK

Progress update on the rigging of the Duchess. I am taking small breaks from the rigging to build some of the deck items for the HM Cutter Alert but I am spending the majority of my build time on completing the DOK rigging.

I have now added the shrouds to the foremast. I still have to add the shrouds to the fore topmast and fore topgallant mast. Once all the shrouds have been installed I will have add all the ratlines. I do like the process of adding the ratlines as I find it quite relaxing and therapeutic.

Prior to adding the foremast shrouds I did pre run the spritsail yard brace lines through the platform blocks. I think this proved to be a good call.

Before moving on to the adding the fore topmast and fore topgallant mast I decided to fit the foremast stay and foremast preventor stay. I found this a good way to rig before the futtock staves and shrouds are added as it less cluttered.

This is a picture showing foremast shrouds and 2 x foremast stays. The rigging of the 2 x spritsail yard braces had not been completed when this picture was taken, but the lines have been run in ready.

I like the angle of this picture showing the foremast stays and shrouds

The two spritsail yard brace lines were fastened to the foremast stay just below the mouse. The lines were tensioned and then belayed to the appropriate belaying pins.

This is a picture showing the spritsail yard braces

This picture shows the current progress of the rigging

35 minutes ago, DelF said:

Have you found yet another use for the quadhands here? Certainly looks like the base!

I used the quadhands base to aid the clamping of the sheets. I am only doing bits and pieces on the Cutter Alert at the moment when I feel the need to take a small break from the rigging of the DOK. It should be a nice build. 

I took a 15 min break from the DOK this morning to build another deck item for the Cutter Alert, namely the two deck hand pumps.

Deck Pump Assembly

There are two identical deck pump assemblies. Each deck pump requires the following parts:

1 x 40mm length of 4mm dowel.

2 x hand pump upper side bracket (photoetch part)

1 x hand pump upper main body (photoetch part)

1 x hand pump top cap (photoetch part)

2 x small pins

The photoetch items for both deck pumps were cleaned in acetone and then blackened using a photo etch burnishing solution. The 2 x 40mm lengths were cut from a piece of 4mm dowel. The parts are now ready for the assembly phase.

I started the assembly process by gluing (ca gel) each hand pump top cap to the top of their respective dowel, ensuring the hole in hand pump top cap was positioned in the centre of the dowel.

Next the hand pump upper side brackets were fitted to each side of the hand pump upper main body using ca gel. The small pins were used to ensure these parts were correctly aligned. The small pins were also glued in place and the excess pin material was trimmed flush with the side of the hand pump upper side brackets.

I always like to test fit items before adding any glue to ensure everything is a good fit. When doing this I noted the hand pump assembly did not quite fit in the hand pump top cap locating slot. I solved this by running a needle file through the top cap locating slot. After a few quick passes of the file the hand pump assembly was a perfect fit and could be glued in place, again using a ca gel.

2 x Completed Deck Pump Assemblies

7 hours ago, VTHokiEE said:

Nice work Glenn; I’m not certain it matters or that you care but the handles (at least according the the instructions) would be placed 180 degrees opposite each other.

Thanks for your comment.  I hope you enjoy the rest of the build as it progresses. The instructions simply state:

"The handles (PE-33) are to be bent and glued to each end of the shaft on F-2".

The picture in the manual does however show the handles placed at 180 degrees opposite each other. I opted to have the handles placed inline with each other as I liked it that way. I don't think it matters either way in my opinion.

I completed adding the foremast shrouds to the DOK build this afternoon so I had a little bit of time to kill so I decided to build another deck item for the Cutter Alert, which was the Jeer and Topsail Bitt.

Jeer and Topsail Bitts Assembly

This assembly comprises:

1 x mast bitt cross piece (3mm wood)

2 x mast bitt and standard (3mm wood)

1 x jeer and topsail bitt windlass (resin cast item)

2 x handles (photoetch parts)

The wooden parts were painted ochre red. Once the excess casting resin had been removed from the windlass resin part the central barrel part was painted walnut brown and the spindles and gears were painted metalwork (iron) black. The two photoetch handles were cleaned in acetone and then blackened using a photo etch burnishing solution. The parts are now ready for assembly.

Before committing the parts to the glue process, I tried a dry fit. I noted the windlass spindle would not locate in the respective holes of the mast bitt and standard wooden parts. I ran a 0.8mm micro drill bit through the holes which solved the problem. I used some wood glue to secure the mast bitt cross piece to the mast bitt and standards, ensuring the jeer and topsail bitt was fitted at the same time. Once the wood glue had cured the two photoetch handles were bent to 90 degrees along the fold line and glued (ca gel) to either end of the jeer and topsail bitt windlass spindles.

This was a simple build and produced a very pleasing deck item as can be seen in the photos below.

10 hours ago, Theodosius said:

Did I allready mentioned, how beautiful this one is? 🙂

Thank you very much, it is a very nice model to build.

I took a day off from the DOK rigging yesterday and spent a couple of hours on the Cutter Alert, building the winch drum and pawl bitt which was a nice distraction. Cutter Alert Winch Drum and Pawl Bitt assembly post

Today I returned to the DOK rigging and commenced rigging the foremast shrouds. Before I started with adding the shrouds I decided it would be a good idea to run 2 lengths of 0.25mm natural thread  for the spritsail yard braces through the 3mm blocks as it would be tricky to run the thread through these 3mm blocks later as they located behind the shrouds. I have temporarily  belayed the each thread to the bitt rail to keep a little bit of tension in the line. These lines cannot be fully rigged until the foremast stays have been rigged as the other end of the spritsail yard braces are secured to the foremast stay.

This picture shows one of spritsail yard brace thread which has been run through the two 3mm blocks. The shroud lines have been added but need to positioned in front of the spritsail yard brace thread, and not behind it has shown in the picture.

I have also added all the foremast shroud lines and they are now ready for 5mm deadeyes to be fitted.

3 hours ago, Rustyj said:

Very nice work Glenn.

Thank you Rusty

My main priority at the moment is completing the DOK rigging therefore I will only be tackling some easy sub projects on the Alert. Today I decided to build the winch drum and pawl bitt assembly. I have uploaded a video to YouTube which contains more images and commentary of the build process.

Winch drum and pawl assembly - YouTube

The winch drum is a nice resin item, however there is some excess resin left from the mould.

I used a craft knife fitted with a brand new blade to excess the resin.

The winch drum needs to be painted a dark wood colour. I opted for a walnut finish. I used an iron metalwork black for the teeth.

There are 4 x carrick bitt iron straps and 2 x pawls which are photoetched parts which need to be painted black. I opted to clean these parts in acetone and then used a photoetch burnishing solution to blacken them.

All the wooden parts, with the exception of the two belaying pin racks, need to be painted red. I have decided to use Red Ochre for all the deck fittings. I decided to paint the pieces in situ before removing them for the 3mm sheet. The edges can be painted red during the assembly phase.

As I removed the wood parts I did remove the laser char from the exposed edges this will be better when the edges are painted red. The various parts required for the build were checked against the build instruction. The 6 x belaying pins required for the 2 racks will be fitted when I'm ready to start the rigging phase.

The parts are now ready for the assembly phase.

The winch drum assembly and pawl bitt head assemblies are complete and ready to be joined together using the 2 belaying pin racks

The two belaying racks were fitting to the winch drum assembly and their positions adjusted so the two pawls lined up with the winch drums teeth.

Thanks Bruce, Jim and Chris.

I only brushed on some water, I did not wish to saturate the sheets. When I removed the clamps and metal plate this morning the warp had been removed.

7 minutes ago, Oboship said:

Good luck with your new kit!

I'm looking forward to your build log as Alert will be my next build as well.

Uwe

Thanks Uwe.

I hope to produce a detailed build log, detailing all aspects of my build for the Cutter Alert which I hope other modellers will find helpful and informative.

As I had completed the work on the DOK main mast rigging earlier than planned today I thought I would start the Cutter Alert build process with a complete dry fit of the bulkheads and various securing patterns to the false keel.

I placed sheet 1 of the 3mm MDF on my cutting mat and fitted a brand new blade fitted to my craft knife, I was all set to make the first cut.

However before making the first cut I noticed the sheet was not laying flat on the mat. On closer inspection I noted there was quite a significant warp to the sheet and more to the point it ran along the length of the false keel. I also checked sheet 2 3mm MDF sheet which was also warped.

Sometimes this is not an issue with kits as the assembly process will naturally straighten the parts during the assembly process. Having a quick look at the build manual I was not sure if this would be the case with this kit. There are two securing patterns (part 12 bow and bulkhead securing pattern and part 14 bow pattern) which may take care of any warping issues. I decided to air of the side of caution before removing any parts from either sheet and applied some water to both sides of the MDF sheets. I then clamped both sheets together with a heavy metal plate on top. I will now leave the sheets to fully dry out, whilst clamped. Fingers crossed this does the trick.

Today I completed adding the main topmast stay, main topmast preventor stay and the main topgallant mast stay. I also completed adding the two main mast back stays.

I am now ready to add the all the shrouds, lanyards and ratlines to the foremast assembly. I expect this will take me around a week to complete before moving on to adding the various yards. I have attached a few pictures showing the current state of play.

Experimenting with the Cutter Alert packing box as the backdrop

Main topmast and main topgallant mast stays

Main mast backstays

Belaying of main mast stays

I have also taken delivery of the Cutter Alert from Vanguard Models which I will start build in earnest once the DOK is complete. I think this will be a nice filler project as we all wait for the release of Chris's next design (Sphinx) in a few months time.

The Cutter Alert kit arrived safe and sound this morning. I have made a very quick video of the kit's contents which can be found on YouTube.

Work will be slow to start with on this kit as I am currently rigging the Duchess of Kingston which should take me around another 4 to 6 weeks to complete.

Work is progressing well on adding the main topmast stay and main topmast preventor stay.

Each of these stays are secured at the deck using 1 x 4mm double block and 1 x 3mm single block arrangement.

To start with the 3mm block requires a hook and loop at either end. A length of 0.1mm natural thread is then fed through the loop and secured. A picture of a completed arrangement is shown below.

The 4mm double block requires a single loop which the stay line will be seized to.

To start with I secured a length of 0.25mm black thread around the 4mm double block using a simple reef knot.

Next I formed a loop, noting the loop is on the big side to start with

With a spare length of 0.75mm black thread the loop is closed up to the right size and then a drop of ca gel is applied to the knot.

The 4mm double block is then added to the main topmast stay line

Once the 4mm block has been secured the 3mm block positioned and the natural thread is thread through one side of the 4mm double block

Tension is then applied to all the lines as the thread is then passed through the 3mm block and then back through the 4mm double block. All the lines are then readjusted as necessary before finally belaying the 0.1mm natural thread.

22 minutes ago, BobG said:

Beautiful, Glenn!

Thank you

On 4/4/2021 at 7:04 PM, Edwardkenway said:

Excellent job Glenn! 

Thank you

16 minutes ago, Gus Martinez said:

looks awasome, congrats

Many thanks Gus

I have now completed adding the shrouds and ratlines to the main mast.

I did find it tricky to tie off the topgallant shroud line to the lower deadeyes but managed to do so eventually.

The fore topgallant mast is missing in the following photo as I damaged it when rigging the main mast. Thankfully it was a fairly easy task to remove it.

DOK

Main topmast and topgallant shrouds

Next on the agenda will be to add both the top main mast and topgallant mast backstays. After that I will move on to adding the main topmast stay, main topmast preventor stay and main topgallant mast stay before starting work adding all the shrouds the foremast assembly.

Thanks, I should have at looked at pictures closer. I can now see the pins.

I'm not I understand what you meant when you said "It is also pinned through the pear."

Nice looking work bench. Mine gets a clean and tidy every couple of weeks, though I do try to be tidy but fail repeatedly 🤣

I really love your attention to detail. Very impressive.

Great build information, and very nice looking cannons.

I was experimenting with a photo editor this morning and decided to import a selection of my build photo's into a video. The build sequence goes a bit awry at times, due to an error when initially saving the photo's. I thought I would upload the video to YouTube, see link below.

https://youtu.be/81qTGQlQoGA

I would like to try to make some video's showing some of my build methods. As I only use my phone to take the pictures / videos I have to rely on the auto focus feature. I have found, at times, the phone does not focus where I would like. I have used the back of the plan drawings to try to overcome this issue which has helped to a degree. I have now bought a photo backdrop kit to try to improve the quality of my photos further.

I have completed adding the top mast and top gallant mast shrouds to the starboard side and I only have two deadeye to fit to the port side main top mast shrouds before I add the ratlines. I will then add the two back stays. Once that is complete I will move on to adding the foremast shrouds, ratlines and stays. Once that is complete all that remains is adding the various yards. Fingers crossed I will complete this model by the end of the month. I have the Cutter Alert waiting in the wings which will fill the void until the Sphinx kit is released.