Duchess of Kingston 1778 by rafine - Vanguard Models - 1:64

[rafine]

I received my kit today ( likely one of the first in U.S.). All arrived in good order and looks great. For those not aware from my Winchelsea build, I am in a pause on that project ,and decided that this would be a perfect way to fill whatever time I may have before being able to resume Winchelsea. Having followed James's prototype build, I'm looking forward to getting started on this immediately. I expect to have a first progress post within a few days.

 

Bob

[Matt D]

I'm going to follow this for sure, Bob!  I'm looking forward to seeing this highly anticipated beauty come together.

[Jim Rogers]

Did you order through Age of Sail?

 

[dkuehn]

17 minutes ago, Jim Rogers said:

Did you order through Age of Sail?

 

I don't think they have them yet. We ordered right from Chris. https://vanguardmodels.co.uk/

[Rustyj]

4 hours ago, rafine said:

I am in a pause on that project ,and decided that this would be a perfect way to fill whatever time I may have before being able to resume Winchelsea.

 

I'm in the same boat as you Bob. 

It'll be a lot of fun building along side with you and the others.

[cookster]

Pulling up a chair, good luck Bob on another superb build!

[Sjors]

I’m in also Bob.

Have fun!

 

Sjors

[gjdale]

I’m in too Bob - always a pleasure to follow your builds.

[rafine]

Thanks all for your interest. Glad to have you on board.

 

Bob

[Glenn-UK]

Enjoy the build, it is a nice build and I'm enjoying it so far. If you have not seen James Hatch has a build log of the prototype for this model.

[AlanDavison]

Your build is really motoring along - are you looking to set a record?

Keep up the good work 

[AlanDavison]

Sorry, my mistake. The comment was to gennard2535's build.

[rafine]

 My first progress post. I have done the basic hull framing. Here are my initial thoughts: 1) the laser cutting is excellent. The parts come out of the carrier sheets cleanly and easily.; 2) the fit of the framing parts is generally very good, but I did find it best to lightly sand the slots on each part to ease the fitting, while not making a sloppy fit. I used an emory board for this; 3) I followed the recommendation to dry fit all of the parts and then to brush glue onto the finished assembly. This was the first time that I had tried this method and it worked very well. I used diluted Titebond; 4) the framing is as square and stable as any kit I have ever seen.

 

Bob

[dkuehn]

I really like brushing the glue on after it's put together. None of the panic and stress of trying to quickly fit everything with glue on it.  Just casually fit it together and brush on glue. Much more relaxing. 

[James H]

Nice to see another Duchess coming together. You can tell it's a very solid frame!

 

Yes, there are so many interlocking slots that applying glue afterwards is the safest way and PVA/Titebond have good penetration...and even more so with a little dilution too. I've had to use this method on Victory too because of the sheer size of joint coverage area. By the time I'd be half way through applying, the chances are the glue would be going off, so application afterwards was key.

[Rustyj]

Very nice Bob. I agree that it all fits together quite nicely and the brushed on glue method really works well.

[chris watton]

There was a 'stray' slot on parts 16, the inner longitudinal patterns (Bulkhead 10 area) that was 3mm instead of 3.1mm. I have since corrected this, but for all the ones that have been cut already, the one slot is 3mm. The slot in Bulkhead 10 is 3.1mm, so it is only the one slot on parts 16 that is affected. Under normal circumstances, the 3mm would be fine, but as there are a lot of parts to slot into each other, it really should be 3.1 to make a hassle free fit.

[rafine]

After wrestling with computer issues that were preventing me from posting, I can now document some progress. I have completed hull framing, added the cabin deck and the two sub-decks ,as well as the temporary bulwark cross pieces. Lastly, I have faired the hull. Now, it's on to the bulwark pieces and then the first planking.

 

Bob

[James H]

That's looking spot on.

 

Those ply bulwarks are easy enough too. You shouldn't have any ripple with them on the bow either. Just get the top of them as close to the tops of the bulkheads as you can.

[Dave B]

Regarding the brushed on glue method, I am not building this kit but assume it would work well for any kit so I was wondering about it. Do you dilute with water? And what is a good ratio of glue to water to use?

Thanks,

Dave

[BobG]

I just took my seat to watch this build as well, Bob. It looks like you are moving right along so I don't expect any dull moments in this show!

[rafine]

Thanks for the comments and "likes".

 

Dave, I did dilute the glue, but no science was involved. My method was simply to put some glue ( Titebond) on a piece of styrene, take a brush and dip it in water, then pick up some glue with the wet brush. I'm sure the amount of dilution varied from one brushful to the next.

 

Bob

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[rafine]

I've added the base stem piece and then added the ply bulwark pieces. I'm not a big fan of one piece bulwarks, preferring to frame them, but I chose to go with the kit parts here. They actually went on pretty easily and smoothly, after soaking in hot water and shaping around a former. 

 

I've now begun the first lower hull planking.

 

Bob

[Glenn-UK]

NIce looking build

[Rustyj]

3 hours ago, rafine said:

I'm not a big fan of one piece bulwarks, preferring to frame them, but I chose to go with the kit parts here. They actually went on pretty easily and smoothly, after soaking in hot water and shaping around a former. 

 

Looks good Bob. This is only the second time I've used a one piece bulwark and I agree they went on nicely.

[rafine]

Thanks so much Glenn, Rusty and the "likes".

 

Bob

[rafine]

It took me a bit, but I've finished the first planking. I used scale length planks, rather than full length, because I've done it that way for years and find it much easier. I didn't worry about a prototypical planking  pattern, however, since it will all be covered over by the second planking, which I will do properly. The goal was merely to get a smooth, even surface, which was achieved with a little filler and a lot of sanding.

 

After the planking, I added the keel pieces.

 

Bob

[Old Collingwood]

Looking very smooth Bob.

 

OC.

[rafine]

Thanks so much OC and the "likes".

 

Bob

[rafine]

I have now added the outer bulwark facing pieces, as well as the facing pieces for the stem and keel. I have also added the stern post assembly. The precision with which these parts have been manufactured is truly impressive The use of the pre-drilled pin holes to key the parts together leaves virtually no room for error. Finally, I added the two counter pieces.On reflection, I would add them before doing the  first planking to avoid leaving the gap (my mistake) below the counter  that I will have to deal with when doing the second planking.

 

Now, it's on to the second hull planking.

 

Bob