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

[rafine]

Thanks so much OC and the "likes". Always appreciated.

 

Bob

[Rustyj]

Great work Bob. I hope you're enjoying it as much as I am.

[rafine]

Thanks so much Rusty. You're right-- it's a fun build.

 

Bob

[rafine]

The following have now been completed: 1) painting and installation of the PE decoration on the hull; 2) painting, glazing and installation of the quarter galleries; 3) installation of the channels; 4) installation of the hull steps.

 

The gold paint that I have used is an antique or old gold and is not as bright as others have used. I prefer a subdued look, but I can understand how others  prefer the "pop" of a brighter gold. Although I am intrigued by use of floor polish to attach the PE, I chose to use a method that I have used before. I used the same Micro Krystal Klear that I use for glazing as an adhesive to attach the PE. It is very easy to  use and leaves no visible  residue. I completed the process by applying a coat of Wipe-on Poly over the entire area.

 

On the quarter galleries, I again used blue, rather than red, as the background color.

 

I have also begun work on the head, but will leave that for the next update.

 

Bob

[Glenn-UK]

Nice work, looks very good. You are making very good progress.

 

I have just completed the assembly of the 6 off 4-pounder cannons. I should be moving on to yards and masts next week. I'm waiting on a delivery of some thin fly tying thread I've ordered before I can start rigging the cannons.

[Rustyj]

Very nice Bob, I like your color choice!

[rafine]

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

 

Bob

[Old Collingwood]

That is looking Beautiful Bob  - you have nailed it with the colour balance.

 

OC.

[rafine]

Thanks so much OC and the "likes".

 

A lot of different items have now been done. They include: the rudder, tiller and tiller housing; the wheel and the rigging for the wheel and tiller; the binnacle; the curved stairway and the railing and coaming for it; deck eyebolts and ringbolts on quarter deck and main deck; the mizzen bitts and belaying pins; quarterdeck timberheads; bulwark eyebolts, staghorns and cleats and drilled holes  for the bulwark ringbolts for the breach ropes.

 

A few comments on this work: 

 

The blocks for the tiller and wheel rigging are really small. I wasn't sure how my aged hands and eyes would do with them, but it turned out well enough to get me thinking about gun tackle rigging again.

 

I pinned the binnacle to the deck because it just seemed so fragile.

 

The ringbolts for the breach ropes won't be fitted until the cannon are in place.

 

Bob

[Rustyj]

Coming along nicely Bob. As far as canon rigging goes I'm gonna play with one and see how much tackle to add and what looks good.

[Old Collingwood]

Beautiful work.

 

OC.

[Glenn-UK]

Great work, and looks very nice.

 

The 4 offshot garland assembly really tested my patience and eyesight.

 

You'll be building the masts and yards before long. All the dowels have be cut to length on my build. I have completed shaping the bowsprit, jibboom and spirtsail. I'm now working on the fore mast assembly.

[Ron Burns]

1 hour ago, rafine said:

The blocks for the tiller and wheel rigging are really small. I wasn't sure how my aged hands and eyes would do with them, but it turned out well enough to get me thinking about gun tackle rigging again

Bob, I can't see any evidence of aging hands nor eyes on your ship. Immaculate work that I am enjoying to the fullest!

[Matt D]

I’m really enjoying this build, Bob.  You’re doing a wonderful job.  The details in this kit are so nice.  

[rafine]

Thanks so much Rusty, OC, Glenn, Ron and Matt for the generous comments and thanks also to the "likes.

 

Rusty, I'm going to do the breach ropes for sure. The tackle are now a 50-50 proposition.

 

Ron, trust me that when you get old, some things just get harder to do. I'm just very grateful that I can still do them.

 

Matt, i'm still pleasantly surprised each time I get to a new part, to see just how well done this kit is.

 

Bob








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[DelF]

7 hours ago, rafine said:

The tackle are now a 50-50 proposition.

I agree with Ron - no sign of age in your work! I was very dubious about fully rigging the guns on Speedy as they are so tiny, but was eventually persuaded - and I'm glad I did. The 2mm blocks needed for the side tackle were not supplied in the kit, but the ones I subsequently got from Vanguard were such good quality they made all the difference. I also used the finest silk fly-tying thread (18/0) to keep the seizings in scale. Here's some information on the method I used. As for age, I rely on good magnification and a quality spare hands tool (Quadhands) that I found out about on the forum.

 

Give it a go Bob, and I'm sure you won't regret it.

 

Derek

Edited January 29, 2021 by DelF
Typo

[BobG]

Wonderful work, Bob, and the blue looks great. I'm amazed at how quickly you can complete so many steps of the build and do the well to boot!

[rafine]

Thanks so much Derek, Bob and the "likes".

 

I've now completed the main deck furniture and fittings. These included the hatch coamings and gratings; the galley chimney; the main bitts; the gallows; the windlass and belfry; the pumps; the bowsprit bitts and the guns. This work was quite straight forward, using the excellent laser cut and PE parts. The guns presented the only issue-- whether or not to rig them . After experimenting with the tackle, I chose to go with breech ropes only.

 

Now it's on to finish the remaining hull items, including the head, which I continue to put off.

 

Bob

[JpR62]

Very nice work, Bob. This Duchess of Kingston is really a very beautiful model.

I have a lot of interest in following its evolution.

[Matt D]

That looks great, Bob.  All the deck furniture pieces look like a lot of fun to put together.  Your bitts look really well done.  I also like the bell assembly (I'm not sure of the proper name for that stanchion).

[rafine]

Thanks so much Jean-Paul, Matt and the "likes". Always greatly appreciated.

 

Bob

[Rustyj]

Looking really nice Bob.

[rafine]

Thanks so much Rusty and the "likes".

 

Bob

[Old Collingwood]

Looking really nice Bob,   each step forward you take with the build the more beautiful she is looking.

 

OC.

 

 

[rafine]

I've now completed work on the hull. This include the quarter deck and aft rails, the quarterdeck ladders,  the bow timberheads and completion of work on the head. The head is always fussy work, even if the parts are well designed and made, and I found this one no exception. The surprise to me was the difficulty that I encountered with the aft rails  Perhaps due to my own clumsiness, they proved to be quite fragile and hard to fit into the mortises. My other problem was entirely of my own making. When I had done the quarterdeck bulkhead, I had added finishing pieces at the end of the deck, without looking ahead and realizing that there were pieces that formed the base of the quarterdeck rail. Without the mortises in the laser cut pieces, I had to pin the rail supports in place.

 

Now it's on to masting and rigging.

 

Bob

 

[Glenn-UK]

Well done, looks very nice.

 

I really enjoying making the masts and yards, which is still very much work in progress interspersed with fitting the deadeye and strops to the channels which is quite fiddly when drilling the holes in the hull for the pins.

[rafine]

Thanks so much Glenn and the “likes”.

 

Bob

[Rustyj]

Very nice work Bob. I too found the aft deck rails very delicate and had to repair a couple.

[rafine]

Thanks Rusty. I'm glad to see that I wasn't the only one with a problem.

 

Bob

[Glenn-UK]

1 minute ago, rafine said:

Thanks Rusty. I'm glad to see that I wasn't the only one with a problem.

 

Bob

I think we all had the same problem. The kit is supplied with spare legs.