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

[BobG]

31 minutes ago, desalgu said:

I only taper the top edge of plank and then bevel the top edge of the entire plank.  I'll bevel it a little first, test fit, and then bevel a little more in places, if I think it needs it.

Sorry if I'm being a bit dense but, just to clarify, when you say that you bevel the top edge of the entire plank, does the bevel looks more like the chamfer in the diagram I posted or the bevel in the diagram? Is the bevel just on the top, inside part of the plank or does the bevel start at the top, inside edge and go all the way to the bottom, inside edge of the plank? I hope that makes sense!

[glbarlow]

I do the same with beveling the top edge, you get a feel for it after a while. I taper, bevel, bend, and test fit until the plank lays there nice and tight and follows the hull lining marks. It’s much slower that other methods I guess, but I’m not in a hurry so…

[bartley]

On 8/18/2021 at 2:29 AM, glbarlow said:

Where did you get your drill?  I’ve been looking for something like this for a while. 
 

 

Glenn,

 

I have used a Wecheer for some time now. It is rechargeable and has six speeds.  The slowest  very slow (about the same speed yo would use with a pin-vice) and great for working directly on the model where my Proxxon would be too large and aggressive.  And it is very small (only 140 mm long).

 

John

 

Edited October 4, 2021 by bartley

[bartley]

Glenn,

 

Just one further thought.  Be careful with chucks on these devices . They are quite massive compared to the device itself and sometimes do not run true for small bits. They tend to precess  so the drill does not run radially but describes a small circle.  So you may be better off with collets or use a Kyocera bit because they have 3 mm shafts.

 

John

[glbarlow]

It’s not my first Rodeo John, the reason I was looking for a different one is my Dremel is to fast, too large, and does what you describe. I prefer hand drilling with my different sized pin vices for accuracy, but wanted this for more tedious and repetitive work. I now have David’s combination of screwdriver and chuck. It has one speed, very slow, so just what I was looking for. Now, back to David’s build. 

Edited September 4, 2021 by glbarlow

[desalgu]

On 9/3/2021 at 11:29 PM, BobG said:

Sorry if I'm being a bit dense but, just to clarify, when you say that you bevel the top edge of the entire plank, does the bevel looks more like the chamfer in the diagram I posted or the bevel in the diagram? Is the bevel just on the top, inside part of the plank or does the bevel start at the top, inside edge and go all the way to the bottom, inside edge of the plank? I hope that makes sense!

I sometime use one or sometimes the other.  I usually try the chamfer in your diagram, because it removes the least material.  If that doesn't fit and it looks or feels like a bevel might work better, I try that.  I try to only take off what I need to.  I think it's easy to overdo and take off too much.  I think I've done that a few times.  

 

I'm learning too on this.  I think tapering or contouring the plank is more difficult and critical than beveling.  I get impatient and sometimes when I can't get a perfect fit, I glue it anyway.  Other times I think I have a good fit, but when I apply glue, it doesn't seem to fit as well as my test fit, and it's too late at that point.  I'm better about this now than last time around, but I'm still constantly fighting it.  

 

[desalgu]

I haven't posted anything in a while.  Got a little sidetracked with other stuff, plus I've been going real slow with planking.  I think I'm doing ok on the bow, but the stern area has been giving me problems.  Here's photo of where I'm at.  

 

You can see I did the garboard plank along the keel plus 2 more rows of planks.  Then I started working down toward these planks.  About 6 more planks should fill in the gap.

 

[desalgu]

Here's closer view of the bow planking.  I've just done rough sanding on it.   As a side note, I bought the foam soft sanders and find them very useful.  

 

[desalgu]

And here's photo of planking in what I'm starting to call the dreaded stern area.  I suspect this is more difficult for me because this is the first time I've planked this type of stern.  Like anything, it obviously takes practice.  

 

I ended up having to put a tiny piece of filler wood between two planks about where the stern post and bottom of counter meet.  I needed a plank with a sharp edge bend and was unable to make the bend without cracking the wood.  Later on I realized I probably could have tapered the adjacent plank more to avoid as sharp of edge bend.  

 

And of all things, I've had a little trouble fitting planks in the stern post rabbit, which I thought should be easy.  I'll think I have it fitting good, but then apply glue, and hold it in place, only to find out I didn't get it positioned exactly the same way.  I'm using medium CA glue, so there's only a few seconds working time.  I should know better than to think something is "easy"!

  

I'm hoping with adequate sanding I can get it to look decent.  At least it's in an area that won't show too much when the boat is finished.  Of course, I'll know it's there.  I get to repeat this process on the other side of the hull, so hoping I can do a better job.

[glbarlow]

It’s looking good. We only get better at planking by planking. Glad you like the soft sanders, they were a game changer for me. 

Edited September 14, 2021 by glbarlow

[desalgu]

I haven't posted for a while, because I haven't been working much on the Duchess and it's just planking.  I finally got one side planked.  Fitting in the last ones was a bit tedious.  I ended up needing a drop plank, but didn't realize it until it was too late to do it the correct way, so I improvised.  I made one plank transition into two planks near the bow.  I'll probably be the only one that knows (and now you all, ha!).

 

Here's couple of photos of current status.  I have the lower section of starboard side left, plus a lot of sanding. 

[desalgu]

Also ordered Veratas mini chisels and they look very useful.  For some reason I was surprised at how small they are, but perfect for building models.  Also ordered Richard Krell honing guide and a couple of sharpening stones which I should get before too long.   I learned about these tools from reading build logs.  Many thanks to everyone for writing them!

 

[glbarlow]

2 hours ago, desalgu said:

Veratas mini chisels and they look very useful.

They are that. Remember they need to be treated and sharp now, they don’t come ready. 
 

I love these tools, I use them a lot and for more than just chiseling. 

[WalrusGuy]

On 10/6/2021 at 5:46 PM, desalgu said:

Also ordered Veratas mini chisels and they look very useful.  For some reason I was surprised at how small they are, but perfect for building models.  Also ordered Richard Krell honing guide and a couple of sharpening stones which I should get before too long.   I learned about these tools from reading build logs.  Many thanks to everyone for writing them!

 

I have the same set and they have been so helpful! I used them predominantly for tapering dowels for the spars and masts of the Syren.

 

Also, the planking is looking very nice and neat! 

[BobG]

On 10/6/2021 at 4:46 PM, desalgu said:

couple of sharpening stones

 

I have a set of these chisels also and I just ordered Krell honing guide. What kind of sharpening stones will you be using?

[DelF]

Rather than stones, I would suggest wet-and-dry paper stuck to a sheet of plate glass - see this. You don't have to worry about dressing stones to keep them flat, you can have as many different grades as you need, and sheets are easy and cheap to replace. Works fine with the Kell guide.

 

Your planking looks great, btw!

 

Derek

 

 

[desalgu]

I bought Shapton ceramic sharpening stones from Lee Valley.  Probably overkill, but they should last for a long, long time.  Both sharpening stones and Krell honing guide have been recently delivered, but haven't tried them yet.  Looks like they will work great.

 

I like Derek's idea of using wet or dry sandpaper (I have some 600 and 1500 grit) on glass.  That's a great idea and would have saved some money buying stones.  Oh well!  I'll certainly use chisels when I start cutting bulkheads along inner bulwarks, and I'm sure I'll find many other uses.

[desalgu]

Finished planking hull!  I enjoy planking until I get about halfway, and then it starts to get old.  I've never been too good at repetitious stuff.  Here's pictures of starboard side.  

 

Closeups always look worse than it actually does, but show where I need to do more sanding, and perhaps a little filler, although I'll go real easy with filler.

 

[desalgu]

And here's port side.  

[BobG]

Well done, David!

[DelF]

Looking good! Like you, I often get fed up with repetitious tasks like planking. However I’ve enjoyed Duchess, probably because I took it more slowly - almost treating each plank as a separate project rather than rushing to get the job done. I’m still looking forward to moving on to the next stage though!

 

Derek

[glbarlow]

Planking defines the model, nothing stands out or shows more. I like the process now that I have a good process for doing it.  Like Derek I treat each plank as a project since each one is fairly unique and then the math of having them all fit correctly...  Now making and rigging gun carriages, that’s repetitive and soul crushing, especially the teeny tiny ones I’m doing now. Even ratlines have more appeal. 

[WalrusGuy]

2 hours ago, desalgu said:

And here's port side.  

Beautiful planking job! 

[desalgu]

Since I've been thinking I'd not paint the hull below waterline white, I wanted to see how it would look stain and with coat of wipe-on poly.  I used a "golden pecan" stain which is not dark.  From tests it's not much different than using wipe-on poly without stain.

 

Here's some pictures:

[desalgu]

I removed the strengtheners and bulkhead tabs along the bulwarks and cleaned them up with little chisel and sanding.  I had no problems doing this, and the mini chisel made smoothing things out easy.  Now I have a clear sub-deck.

[WalrusGuy]

43 minutes ago, desalgu said:

Since I've been thinking I'd not paint the hull below waterline white, I wanted to see how it would look stain and with coat of wipe-on poly.  I used a "golden pecan" stain which is not dark.  From tests it's not much different than using wipe-on poly without stain.

 

Here's some pictures:

The finish makes the wood come alive, it looks really really great!

[desalgu]

I put in the main and aft laser-etched deck planking pieces.  They only required a little sanding on edges to fit.  This is my first experience with laser-etched deck planking.  It's a little different look compared to my other two planking efforts with more detail around the joints at the bow.  Probably a matter of opinion, but plank edges look a little better on the real planking.  Obviously the laser etched planking pieces were much, much easier and faster.

 

 

[desalgu]

I put in the laser cut inner bulwarks pieces and ran into a problem.  (I thought this step would be easy, but nothing is ever easy building one of these models!)  Apparently at some point I ended up with bulwarks on one side slightly higher than the other, about 1/16".  There's several places I could have made the mistake, so I'm not sure when it creeped in.  

 

One side (one piece) of inner bulwarks fit good, but the other was short about 1/16", so I made a thin strip of wood to fill in the gap at the bottom.  I didn't have a choice on where the gap would be, because I had to line up the inner bulwarks piece with the oval gun ports.  I test fit the pieces and it looked like everything fit good.  But when I glued them in, I couldn't get the little piece in the gap.  I managed to force it in, but it never really set in there like the test fits.  

 

After some trimming and sanding, it doesn't look too bad, especially if the light isn't on it just right.  Once cannons and deck fittings are in place, I doubt it will show.  

 

I had pre-stained the bulwarks pieces and gap strip, but after gluing and sanding in place, I had to stain them again.  Somehow I managed to get some stain on the deck.  Fortunately, it's not a dark stain, but it didn't look good with part of the deck stained.  I decided to go ahead and lightly stain the entire deck.  That's why in photos it may look a little darker than you might expect for maple.  

 

I've also done some sanding and filing on top edge of bulwarks trying to even them up a little bit.  It's not perfect, but I didn't want to remove any more material.  I've also wiped on a couple coats of poly.   I'm not going to assume any step will be "easy" from now on!

[DelF]

Looking fine David. I'm glad you're ahead of me on this build as I'm still learning from your log. I'm still in two minds about planking the deck myself. On a positive note, I experimented with sanding the laser decks with 320 grit paper to remove all traces of char, and I was pleased to find that this didn't destroy the pattern.

 

One thing I wondered about after reading ahead in the manual, was this little rectangle in your aft deck:

 

Does this relate to the information in the manual about some early versions of the kit where you need to open this hole out? Here's the part I read:

 

 

Derek

[desalgu]

Derek, Thanks for spotting that small cutout on the deck, that I didn't punch out!  I never noticed it until you pointed it out.  I looked at plans and that should be a hole in the deck.  And although I read about a hole not lining up, I didn't look at it close enough to realize I was missing a cutout.   All the holes looked ok, so I didn't worry about it.  I'm hoping it's not glued down too tightly and I can carefully cut it out.  Much better to fix this now instead of later on.  On plans it looks like it might be for mounting the wheel & structure.