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

[Theodosius]

In my imgaination, this ships are allways bigger as the are, as you're paper-captain points out again 🙂

 

And: great build!

[desalgu]

I've been fighting with the little cannons and sometimes feel like the cannons are winning.  I've made a couple of mistakes, one being really dumb.  First mistake was I violated one of my rules when building models.  For some reason when building the cannons I failed to test fit.  Didn't test fit the first one or any of them, and I always try to test fit everything as much as possible.  So when I finally got them all ready to put on the deck, I found one or two barrels barely fit thru the ports and the others touched the bottom of the port.

 

I could live with them if they barely cleared the ports, and they weren't off my much, so decided the best fix was to sand a little off the rear wheels of the carriages.  I sanded them off flat at first and then rounded them so you won't notice.  The carriages and wheels are small enough, no one will notice, but it was annoying because I knew I should have test fit as I was making them.  It would have been easy to adjust elevation of the barrel before I glued it to the carriages and installed the trunnion caps.  The barrels barely clear the lower edge of the ports, but that will have to do.  Hopefully, it's lesson learned....if I don't forget!  😁

 

Instead of using the eyebolt locations in the kit for the breech ropes, I wanted to add eyebolts just below them.  But this turned out to be very awkward at this stage.  It would have been trivial if I'd drilled holes in the inner bulwark pieces before I put them in, but at that time I wasn't thinking about cannons.  I used my little battery powered screwdriver and had trouble, because of the bulwark and drill bit angles,  the drill bit wanted to slip even though I'd punched a starting hole (it wasn't big enough).  So some of the holes aren't exactly where I'd like them.  Again I doubt anyone will notice, but the process was a lot trickier than I expected, and result wasn't very good.

 

Of course, while doing this you have to be careful not to drill all the way thru.  And of course, that was the dumb mistake I made. I was trying to be careful and still did it.  So now I have a small hole, less than 1/32" dia, on the outside of the bulwarks to repair.  Haven't started on that yet, but it will be tricky.

 

I've got one cannon installed on the deck and the rest are ready to go.  It's helped that I stopped doing deck fixtures to install the cannons.  It's easier to get my fingers and tools in there with having to work around other stuff on deck.  I used 70mm for length of breech ropes and that's been plenty long enough.  I tried to shape it like what I've seen in online photos of cannons on Victory and other museum ships.  They are all a little different, so this is my version.  I used diluted PVA to get it to hold the shape.  

 

Now that I've done one, the others should be straightforward.  

 

 

[desalgu]

Finished the cannons and here are some pictures of each side

[desalgu]

And here is view from forward

[desalgu]

I also glued in the staircase railing

 

And repaired the little hole in the bulwarks.  This photo shows that side of the ship and cannons

 

I ended up using a tiny bit of filler and tried to match paint color with the wood plank.  That particular plank has a wide variation of colors because of the grain, so did the best I could.  From any normal viewing distance, it doesn't show.

 

I have the two pumps about finished and have started working on hatch gratings.

 

[BobG]

Looks really great, David!

[desalgu]

Thanks Bob!  And I really appreciate all the "likes" from everyone.  

 

I added the gallows bits and bilge pumps to the deck.  I liked the way Glenn (@glbarlow) added an outlet to the pumps on his Flirt, so I did the same on these pumps with small pieces of scrap aluminum tubing.  I also tried to paint the dowel to look like brass instead of leaving it wood as in manual.

 

[desalgu]

18-ft Cutter Ship's Boat

 

A while back I ordered the 18-ft cutter ships boat from Vanguard Models.  It arrived quickly and I'm just now getting around to building it.  I plan to put it in between the fore and main masts on a platform raised above the deck about 1/2" to 3/4".  The Duchess needs a boat to get to her parties on shore!

 

It builds upside down on a MDF jig.  The jig holds temporary bulkheads used for planking.  After planking, they are removed.  The first few steps are to place the bulkheads in the jig and glue them to the keel.  This was very straightforward, and here is picture of what it looks like along with the remainder of kit.

 

The next step is to fair the bulkheads before planking.  The sanding sticks and files on the right side of the photo are what I used.  This boat is small, about 3.5" in length, so I mostly used the small files and sanding stick. 

 

However, it was quickly obvious I had a problem with the 2nd from aft bulkhead C-14.  It has tabs to fit into the jig, and I had used those and slid it into the keel piece.  But it didn't fair into the other bulkheads.  Then I noticed that I hadn't pushed it all the way into the slot on the keel.  I loosened the bulkhead with alcohol (I'd glued bulkheads with PVA as recommended), and slid it all the way into the keel slot.  Now it faired into the other bulkheads and looked right.  But the tabs for the jig didn't fit.  They are even with the top surface of the jig.  I may have found an error in one of Chris' parts, which is extremely unusual.

 

Here's a closeup showing the bulkhead after I got it in the right position, and another photo showing the backside of the jig.  You can see the tabs for all the other bulkheads fit into slots, except for the last one, C-14.

 

 

Once I realized the problem, it was a simple fix, and I proceeded to fair the bulkheads without any problem.  At this point I'm ready to start planking.  The planks are small strips, smaller than I've used in the past.  And the manual says to use PVA for planking, which I've never done, so this should be interesting.  I'm guessing PVA will make it easier to remove the temporary bulkheads later on, compared to using CA.

 

 

 

I'll post pictures of both the cutter and the Duchess as I make progress.

 

 

[desalgu]

I've been continuing work on deck fixtures, which is kind of fun.  This is probably my favorite part of building model ships.  I didn't run into any major problems.

 

I copied @DelF and added a slight curvature to the main hatch grating.  I couldn't find a can laying around to use for bending the grating, so used a plastic cover or lid.  It didn't work as well as a can would have, so I didn't get much curvature and it didn't seem as even as what @DelF did.  Otherwise, I followed the procedure in his excellent build log.

 

 

I left the other two hatch gratings flat.  I felt like they were too small to try to curve, and not worth it at this scale.

 

I also copied @DelF on the belfry by adding a "roof" or extra piece on top to hide the glue joints.  I thought what he did really dressed up the belfry.  I used scrap 1mm wood and sanded it thinner, but should have sanded it thinner than I did.  It still worked though.  I also added the bell handle and pull rope like he did.  As he said, this was not shown in the manual, and you have to look real close at the plans to notice it. 

 

The windlass and belfry are tied together in the same structure.  I had some weathering powder, so gave it a try on the windlass.  Not sure whether it helped or not, but it does look like it's been used before.  I had to fiddle a lot getting all the parts lined up.  I ended up gluing the belfry piece first and tried to get its height correct so the belay racks would be level with the deck.  I needed something locked down to get the rest of the structure aligned.  It took multiple efforts and I finally decided it was good enough and glued everything.

 

The bowsprit bits and the anchor grating show in the pictures, but are not glued in yet.

 

 

 

And finally, I added the staghorn cleats and shot garlands.  The staghorn cleats are very fragile, so you have to be very careful removing laser char.  I broke one, but was able to glue it back together.  The triangular shot garlands are also very fragile, and I broke one of those also.  But there were a couple of spares in the kit, so it was not a problem.  Spares of small, fragile parts are most welcome!!

 

The cannon balls are very small and hard to handle.  I got them inside the shot garlands, but it was more difficult than I expected.  I ended up using thin PVA and a brush.  I'd stick one or two cannon balls to the brush and then try to get them off the brush with a straight pin and my fingers into the triangle.  It worked, but surely there's a better and easier way.  I'm guessing @DelF will come up with a clever and simple solution, and I'll look like a beginner (which I am!).

 

[desalgu]

I've also been planking the ship's boat, Vanguard's 18-ft cutter - new version, that I'm adding to the Duchess.  This has been a challenge because of its small size.  The planking strips are also considerably smaller than I've used before, and I'm using PVA glue instead of CA.  They bend easily, but being small, are hard to shape.  I didn't try to line off the hull as it didn't seem practical at this size.  I've been hand holding each plank until thinned PVA dries to hold it, usually about 5 min or a little longer.  

 

I forgot to taper the first 4 planks.  I should have started tapering at bow and stern after the first plank (top one).  I also could have tapered the garland plank more than I did.  About this point the planks needed edge bending at the bow.

 

 

Here's where I'm at so far.  There's only a few more planks to fit in.  I'm thinking I will paint the hull white as shown in the manual, so I'll be able to sand and fill the hull much smoother than it is now.

 

 

[DelF]

Coming along fine. That main hatch definitely looks better for the slight curve. I think I might have done mine too much - your's looks just right. I'm leaving off fitting my winch and belfry and the rest of the deck furniture until I'm confident I've finished all the major structural stuff, otherwise it just gets in the way.

 

Derek

[DelF]

17 hours ago, desalgu said:

 I'm guessing @DelF will come up with a clever and simple solution

I've used the same method I tried on Royal Caroline. I don't know if it's clever but it's simple enough for me. Here's the link to my log.

 

Derek

[usedtosail]

Nicely done. I also will use these additional details when I get to the deck fittings. Thanks to you and Derek.

[desalgu]

I was looking ahead in the manual, and the handle and rope on the ship's bell is in there, but much later at step 232.  I'm guessing he waited thinking it might get in the way when doing the anchor cables.

 

I started working on the side quarterdeck rails and discovered the posts are very fragile.  The part with the posts is all one piece, so the wood grain in the posts runs the wrong direction for strength.  One post broke off, and I was being very careful.  Easy to glue back on, but a warning that these have little strength.  I'm thinking I should add thin strips to the posts with the grain running the other direction to add some strength.

 

I added the ladders and quarterdeck railing that goes over the door frame.  The ladders were quite easy to make because of the way they are designed.  The only hard part is making sure there are left and right versions.  But the quarterdeck railing gave me problems.  I decided not to glue the posts to the railing first, because both ends have to fit into slots and I didn't think I could get it all aligned without doing it on the deck.  There is a left and right post, but the differences are subtle, just enough to account for the deck and rail curvature.  Once painted black, I couldn't see the laser etching, so I didn't worry about keeping it facing the bow.

 

There is a little tab on top of the door frame.  Part of the little crown decoration is glued to this extra tab.  From the plans and manual it looks like the railing sits on top of this tab.  But the tab is small and it's hard to hold the railing on top of it, and keep it all aligned, even with tape.

 

Somewhere along the way, doing a lot of test fits, the crown decoration came off.  I didn't notice until it was gone, and of course, it's lost.  With the crown not there, I thought it made more sense to cut a little depression in the railing for the tab above the door frame.  The tab would fit into this depression which would give the railing a lot more strength and would hold it in alignment.  I proceeded and it worked and looks good to me.  

 

There's a gold smudge where the crown used to be.  If Chris can find an extra PE sheet or scrap crown, I'll glue it on the door frame just below the railing.  Or if he can't find an extra one, there's a spare small PE decoration I can use. 

 

 

 

[desalgu]

I got the bow timberheads shaped and glued on.  The main problem shaping them is holding them.  I used xacto, files, and a little sanding to shape.  Doing them by hand, I know they aren't that consistent, but it was the best I could do.

 

 

I decided to glue paper to the posts of the quarterdeck side rails for added strength.  These are painted black, so it won't show after it gets painted.  I'm adding a slight bend with dry heat to the rails to match slight curvature of stern cap rail. 

 

I'm thinking I'll just get them fitting and then wait to glue them until a little later.  The rails will stick up some and with my luck, I'd break them off handling the model.  I'll see how strong they are when test fitting and then decide what to do.

 

 

 

 

 

[desalgu]

Ships cutter progress:  I finished planking a few days ago and added some filler.  It wasn't the best planking job I've done.  The small size gave me fits.  But I plan to paint the hull white, so I can use as much filler as I need.  I put on a coat of primer (sanded off today) just to see what it looked like with a coat of white.

 

 

 

I've been nervous about removing the temporary bulkheads used for planking.  But it turned out, most of them popped out fairly easily.  I had a couple that took a lot of slight back and forth with the pliers to remove.  I was starting to wonder and then they popped out.  

 

Glue marks show where the bulkheads were.  I've very lightly sanded them and will continue.  They are hard to sand because the little boat is fragile and hard to hold.  The planking is very thin.  You can see my struggles planking when looking at the inside of the boat.

 

 

[Theodosius]

I realy like the look of the unpainted gun-cars! Perhaps I will also go this way and paint much less on the deck furniture, but undecidet jet. Your build is a great inspiration for such things! 🙂

[desalgu]

I took a few weeks break.  The past week I got going again, mostly working on the ship's cutter that I'm adding to the Duchess.  I've mostly been struggling with the small size.  The next step was to add simulated frames or ribs to the inside of the hull planking.  The only problem was to get them straight, parallel to each other, and spaced evenly.  I measured where they should go at the top, and then did the rest "by eyeball".   The result is they are not perfect, but good enough for government work as they say.

 

Here's the first few glued in.  I put in every other rib at first, and then added the ones in between.

Here's some more added.  I didn't worry about the CA glue marks because I planned to put on a coat clear matt acrylic.

After all the ribs are in place, seat support "rails" and the floor planks are added.  The floor planks are photo-etched, so you have to paint them to look like wood.  I used Vallejo acrylic and mixed a color close to what the hull planking was.  It was mostly "light brown" with a dab of "red leather" and a dab of "brown leather".  At some point I may add some weathering powder to make it look somewhat used, and perhaps more wood-like.  

 

The photo-etched floor boards are easy to install, much easier than putting in your own planking, especially at this size.  If it was a little larger and easier to work on, I probably would have opted to plank the center section with wood.  Here is photo showing the seat support rails and the center floor board piece glued in.

In the next picture, bow and stern floor gratings have been added, and everything has been given a coat of clear acrylic.  The clear coat cleaned up all the excess CA that makes the other photos look messy.   One thing I should note is that the instructions do not include drawings of the boat.  They have a lot of photos, but there have been times when I wasn't quite sure where things went.  A side view and top view would have helped clarify matters.  I used the photos and where parts seem to fit best, and I think I figured it out ok.

 

[desalgu]

I finally got the quarterdeck side railings installed on the Duchess.  This completes the basic hull construction other than the adding the ship's cutter.  The rails were a struggle, mostly because the posts are extremely fragile.  I broke several off even while trying to be very careful handing them.  The wood grain runs the wrong direction on the posts, so there's all but zero strength.

 

I tried adding thin paper to one side of the posts, but it really didn't help much, because they still broke at the joint with the horizontal rail.  I ended up having to glue things back together a number of times.  It might have been better to redo the posts with wood grain going vertical and slot them into the horizontal railing.

 

I had to put a slight curvature into the rail to match curvature of the cap rail and get it to fit.  I used the hot air gun approach and let it cool overnight which worked ok.  I fit the rails so the posts were parallel to the side of the hull, which means they are canted inward a little.  This seemed the natural way to install them.  If installed vertical, they looked odd and didn't fit right.  Once I got one of the rails fitting, I glued it before anything moved.  As you can see, I used tape to hold it in place.  There is a post or two missing.  I fit those back in after the glue dried.  I was constantly breaking them off.

Here's the other side rail installed.  It went a little easier because of my experience with the first side.

And here they are installed and painted.

 

 

[desalgu]

I've made some more progress on the ship's boat.  Here are the seats installed:

An extra plank is added to the hull for the wales.  It will be painted black later on.

As mentioned,  I decided to add a cap strip or rail, so I took extra planks and edge bent them to fit the top of the hull planking.

These were glued to the top edge of the hull and painted black.  I also painted the top of the hull and wales black.  At this point the ship's boat is finished except for the rudder and accessories (oars, anchors, etc.)

 

 

 

 

[desalgu]

More progress on ship's boat.  It's almost finished, so I'll be able to return to working on the Duchess.  I'll add oars and a couple of grappling hooks.  Plus there's some touchup and one oar lock needs straightening.  

 

 

 

[glbarlow]

Nice work on the boat, these little things frustrate me far more than any ship model ever has. 

[desalgu]

Thanks Glenn.  This little boat has been a struggle. 

 

I think I'm done and have made some supports to hold it a little above the deck.  I put all the accessories in the boat that were included in the kit, but started to get concerned it was too much.  I won't glue it to deck for a quite a while, because it will be in the way.  Now I'll be able to return to work on the Duchess.  Here are some snapshots.

 

 

 

[desalgu]

Here's a test fit of the ship's boat on the deck

 

 

 

[yvesvidal]

That is so beautiful. 

 

Yves

[desalgu]

Thank you Yves, and thanks for all the "likes" by everyone else!  It keeps me going.

 

I just finished up adding the chains and deadeyes.  No real problems doing this other than hoping I got them angled correctly.   Here's a photo showing the first few that I installed.

 

The masts and yards are next, so the hull will be set aside while I work on those.  It looks like shaping the masts will be a bit of a challenge.  It makes me think about buying some more tools.

[desalgu]

Since I'm at a good stopping point on the hull, I took some snapshots of it.

[desalgu]

I started on the mast platforms and put on one thin coat of black.  The laser cut parts made this fairly easy.

And then I started shaping the masts.  Started with the foremast.  Since I mostly have hand tools, I'm shaping it by hand with files.  I made a little block with a v-groove in it to hold the dowel and give me a surface that I could file parallel to.  

 

[yvesvidal]

26 minutes ago, desalgu said:

 

 

So beautiful, it almost hurts. Fantastic job worth of a Museum.

 

Yves

[DelF]

Just catching up with your log David, and she's looking beautiful! I particularly like your ship's boat - the extra refinements like the cap rail make all the difference. I must get my finger out and start making more progress on my Duchess.

 

Derek