Duchess of Kingston 1778 by Rustyj - FINISHED - Vanguard Models - 1:64 - Royal Yacht

[Rustyj]

Hi All, Like Bob (Rafine) I'm in between chapters with the Winnie and the Duchess of Kingston caught my eye. I thought

it would be a great change of pace and Chris's Vanguards models have looked so good I had to give it a try.

 

I started a little while ago and have been meaning to post my progress but everything I'm in the shop I get distracted

and start working on the DOK. 

 

The hull pieces all went together very smoothly. I didn't have to adjust any and all slots were a nice firm fit. I too dry

assembled it and then used a brush to apply the wood glue.

 

 

 

After assembling the hull I added the fore and aft sub decks and the cross braces.

 

 

 

Be careful adding the sub deck. The two up right circled below are fragile and can be easily damaged like I did.

Luckily I could move them back in place and glue them and all is well.

 

 

 

 

 

[James H]

I never tire of seeing this one come together. Looks like you've gripped this with both hands.

[chris watton]

Looking good, Rusty. Don't worry too much about the thin vertical pieces on bulkhead 9, these are just a leftover from an earlier idea of having the cabin doors separate, and open if the modeller wished. However, this never got passed development stage, as I feared the pear bulkheads would be way too fragile with an opening and very thin door frame (as the pear bulkhead requires very slight bending in order to fit in place), so that idea was ditched. The thin verticals are simply the leftovers...

 

I almost filled in that door area on bulkhead 9, but decided to leave it...

[glbarlow]

This will be fun to follow Rusty. I have Flirt and will be first in line Sphinx so I’ve passed on this one and will enjoy it vicariously. 

[Rustyj]

3 hours ago, James H said:

Looks like you've gripped this with both hands

Is there any other way?

 

That's good to know Chris. I got them back in place and it was good practice fixing one of what will be several heavy handed oops.

 

1 hour ago, glbarlow said:

I have Flirt and will be first in line Sphinx

Well I'll be right in line next to you!

 

I've faired the hull and the MDF sanded well but caution should be used as it is easy to remove too much if you're not careful.

Also the stem has been added in anticipation of placing the bulwark patterns.

 

 

 

 

[Glenn-UK]

Great to see another build, great work so far.

[Rustyj]

Thanks Glenn. I'm taking a lot of inspiration from you!

Also thanks for all the likes. 

 

[Rustyj]

Upper bulwarks were soaked and bent around a can, blown dry and then fitted to the hull. This is

only the second time I've used a one piece bulwark pattern and it went on better than I had hoped.

I had to use some extra clamps besides the nails to get a good tight fit but I'm real happy with it.

 

[Rustyj]

The first layer of planking has been completed and the outer patterns shaped and installed.

Very straight forward and went on without any issues. Did use most of my clamps to do both sides.

 

 

Now the hull is ready for the second planking and I've sorted through the provided pear strip wood getting the 

ones that the color is very similar. 

[James H]

She's looking real purdy 😍

 

There's not too much bare pear can be seen above the waterline, so it should be easy to sort a few of identical shade. I know my poly varnish did sort of level the colour across the ones I chose.

[glbarlow]

Fine work Rusty, your skill is showing thru as usual with the quality of the planking not to mention how quickly you reached this point. 

[Glenn-UK]

Great work, I agree with Jim the polyurethane varnish sorted out any minor colour match issues.

[Rustyj]

Thanks Jim, Glenn and Glenn!

 

The pear is really nice and there wasn't very much variation so sorting wasn't 

much. Just my personnel fetish. 

 

Glenn the speed is deceptive as I'm catching the log up.

 

 

[Rustyj]

Here is the start of the second layer of planking. I used the edge bending with heat method at the bow to get the planks to lay properly.

 

 

 

[Rustyj]

The hull is planked with the pear wood and I'm pleased with how it came out. 

She's been sanded with 120 grit so far. You can also see some filler where unfortunately

some of my seams weren't as tight as I would have liked. Good news is it's all below the 

water line and will be painted. This pretty much catches the log up.

 

 

 

 

[Glenn-UK]

Nice work, looks neat and tidy

[James H]

That looks great! That pear came out real nice 😁

[BobG]

Just got caught up on your build log. She looks great!

[rafine]

Wonderful planking Rusty.

 

Bob

[glbarlow]

Nice looking hull, very smooth. 120 grit, go big or go home🤪

[Rustyj]

Thanks Glenn, James, Bob, Bob again and Glenn too. Also thanks for all the likes. 

 

14 hours ago, glbarlow said:

120 grit, go big or go home

 

I always start with 120 to knock down the high spots etc. Then 180 and finish with 320. Apply a coat of WOP. After it dries I steel wool it with 0000 and apply a second coat. So I still have some sanding work ahead of me.

 

[Rustyj]

Next I took out the temporary beams and the MDF bulkhead tabs. Everything was sanded smooth. 

Although Chris's laser cut deck is really nice I've always enjoyed planking the deck so I decided to plank

the deck myself. I cut boxwood to the same width and thickness as the laser cut deck.

 

 

I then cut the margin planks and marked the center line and commenced planking outwards from there.

 

[glbarlow]

My kingdom for an ample supply of boxwood. It’s going to look great!

[Blue Ensign]

Nice work Rusty, and quick progress too. 👍

 

B. E.

[Rustyj]

Thanks Glenn and Glenn and also all the likes.

  

On 12/22/2020 at 3:53 PM, glbarlow said:

My kingdom for an ample supply of boxwood

 

It only took one 2" wide billet but the stash is getting small all the time....

[Rustyj]

I've completed planking the deck. It was a fun project and I'm happy with how it came out. 

 

Here it is rough sanded with no finish.

 

 

And here it is sanded with 320 and a coat of wipe on poly.

 

 

I will lay Chris's laser cut deck back over my deck to mark off the various precut hole, hatches

etc. to make sure they are in the correct location on my deck.

[Glenn-UK]

great work, looks very good

[JpR62]

Beautiful deck planking. Very nice rendering with this coat of wipe on poly.

The boxwood is really a very good choice for this deck.

 

[Rustyj]

Thanks Glenn and Jean-Paul and all the likes too!

 

Trying to catch up the build log.

 

Here you'll see the inner bulwark patterns, the outer bulwarks painted blue and red, upper fore and main upper rail patterns clamped in place to dry.

 

 

Now the fore mid and aft gunwales have been painted and glued in place. 

 

Here are the main upper rails and wales formed and painted and glued in place.

 

 

Edited December 28, 2020 by Rustyj

[Rustyj]

Now a word of warning. Chris has done some fantastic laser work but because of this some

pieces are very fragile. Please use caution when handling some of the pieces. I knocked off a

piece inside the red circle. Luckily I found the piece and was able to glue it back on.

 

 

So let my meat hooks be an example of what not to do! 🤪