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

[desalgu]

Photos uploaded the same as I cropped them, so I'll continue.  Still have no idea why a few of them won't upload - I get an error message from the MSW server.  Only one photo gave me problems this time.  It seems very random.

 

 

[BenD]

Looking very good!

[glbarlow]

The crop doesn’t matter, I always crop freehand for uploads. 
 

Nice looking work, you’ve done a great job, not only the model but recovering from the mistakes we all have. 

[DelF]

Looking great David. 

 

Like you, I'm still getting the odd photo refusing to upload resulting in the 200 error code. I noticed there were two Windows 10 upgrades on 17 December which is when I first experienced the problem. Coincidence?

[glbarlow]

I’m all Apple products so not windows specific as I’ve encountered the problem as well. 

[desalgu]

I have apple also, iMac, but suspect it's a problem with server, not those of us uploading.  Maybe it was an upgrade to server software?   It's gotten better.  All but one uploaded fine this time and same last time.  Couple of weeks ago I couldn't get anything to upload.

 

Thanks everyone for compliments and "likes".  It keeps me going!

[Gregory]

FWIW, whenever I get an upload error, I change the format of the picture, say from .JPG to .PNG and it usually works..

[Theodosius]

Very clean and crisp work, I like that!

[desalgu]

Thanks Gregory for the suggestion on uploading.  I'll certainly give it a try if I run into problems again.

 

And thanks Theodosius (should I say emperor?) for compliment.  This kit allows someone with my limited experience to make a halfway decent model.  It's one of the most intelligently designed kits I've ever made (I've only made a couple of ships, but many airplanes).

 

I made and installed the rudder without any major problems.  The straps are held to the rudder and hull with nails that have been cut off to shorten.

[desalgu]

Here is the fancy quarter gallery door and windows leading aft.  The laser engraving adds some very nice detail.

 

Extra thanks to Gregory.  After upload error, I converted 2nd photo to .PNG in LR and it uploaded ok.

[desalgu]

Tiny pieces!  Here's steps for the ladder on the side of the hull.  

[desalgu]

Here are ladder steps glued to side of hull.  Spacing is not even because of the bulwark decorations.  I followed the plans best I could, and positioned them by eye.  They are supposed to be parallel to the keel, but I ended up with them aligned in between wales and keel.  It's such a small angle, I decided it was ok.

 

Photo editing I do exaggerates contrast, so it looks like I didn't sand edges enough.  But it looks a better when viewed by eye.  

[desalgu]

The channels are pinned to the hull, so first step is to put small wires in hull as shown in photo.  Predrilled holes show where to put them.  I drilled them slightly deeper for a little more strength.  I used 5-min epoxy to install the wires, and I'll cut them off a lot shorter before gluing channels in.

 

The channels are two pieces of wood (the channel and a channel edging strip) glued together which form the holes for the chains.  The manual says to glue channels on hull first and then glue on the channel edging strips, but I decided it would be better to glue the channel and edging strips together before mounting to hull.  That way it's easier to clamp them together, and I can sand the channel and edging strips as a single piece.

[desalgu]

While letting glue or paint dry, I've been working on the spiral staircase.  It went together without any problems.

[desalgu]

Installed the spiral staircase after some ham-fisted struggles.  I managed to drop it under the deck and had a hard time getting it back out.  A few appropriate words helped the process, ha!  There is a slot in the lower deck and you fit a tab in the bottom of the staircase into the slot for positioning.  Very handy, except you can't see the slot, so it's all by feel.  I also found the tab on the staircase needed to be shortened some, which is easy, except you can't see how it's fitting very well. I did a lot better by shining a small flashlight thru the windows so I could get glimpses of the fit.  Ended up being fine.

 

I forgot to stain the staircase, so wood color doesn't match the rest of the boat, but it's minor, and something I can live with.  

 

[desalgu]

Derek (@Delf) made waterways on his Duchess.  I'd thought about it, because in a couple of small places, it would improve the look of the joint between bulwarks and deck.  He inspired me to give it a try, so I've been trying to make small triangular shaped strips.  I don't have a Brynes table saw yet, so used xacto and sanding block.

 

I started with edges of laser cut 1mm sheet pear from kit.  On my first try (the top 2 strips in picture) I sanded an approx 45 deg angle along the edge of the sheet, and then used xacto to cut off the strip giving me a triangle shaped strip.  This is same process you'd use on a table saw or pretty much any tool.  It worked, but my "45 deg" angle wasn't too great, it was a bit too rounded looking.

 

I decided to try again using xacto to carve the angle and then lightly sanding to clean it up.  Then I cut off a strip like before.  I think this worked better and the strips are definitely smaller which is a good thing.  If I can manage to install these without getting glue all over everything, I think I'll have waterways.  I wouldn't have tried this without seeing Derek do it, so thank you Derek!

 

[desalgu]

I've been working on odds and ends, one being the resin molded dome behind the door to the quarter gallery.  The manual shows it being painted a copper color, but I thought a silver/gold color would work better.

 

The first problem was to make a "handle" or some way to hold it while painting.  I was able to drill a small hole and glue in a little brass wire for a handle.  A clothespin can be clamped to the thin wire for holding it.  The wire will be easy to cut off, or perhaps pull out when finished painting.

 

It's been cold here, like 10 deg-F or lower, which is too cold for me to airbrush in garage, so I tried brushing metallic paint. I've never had much luck doing that, and this was no exception.  I've done 3-4 coats and brush marks still show.  It's supposed to warm up tomorrow enough to try airbrushing, so hoping that will solve the problem. 

 

The color I'm using is vallejo silver with a little gold mixed in, approx 3-1 silver.  

 

[desalgu]

The tiller connects to the rudder post inside a small box on the aft end of the deck.  The box has laser cut front, sides, and top.  Photo shows the sides and front installed (top installed later on).  I did a tiny bit of carving and quite a bit of sanding to shape the tiller.  Photo shows a test fit into the rudder post.

[desalgu]

I finally finished mounting the channels.  I didn't have any problems, it just took some time to glue & pin them to side of hull.  They look a bit funny because they stick out quite a ways from the hull, but once rigging is installed, they'll look "right".  

[DelF]

Good progress David. 

 

On 1/7/2022 at 10:11 PM, desalgu said:

 I was able to drill a small hole and glue in a little brass wire for a handle.

I liked your idea for holding the canopy and shall copy it when I get round to painting mine.

 

Derek

[Thukydides]

On 1/7/2022 at 6:41 PM, desalgu said:

It's been cold here, like 10 deg-F or lower, which is too cold for me to airbrush in garage, so I tried brushing metallic paint. I've never had much luck doing that, and this was no exception.  I've done 3-4 coats and brush marks still show.  It's supposed to warm up tomorrow enough to try airbrushing, so hoping that will solve the problem. 

If you are using a small hobby/makeup airbrush you can do it inside provided you have a big open space. When I airbrush I set up in the kitchen/dining room. I just do it at night after all the kids are in bed and cover the whole dinning tale with a cheap dollar store table cloth. It doesn't produce much paint so as long as you are wearing a respirator while painting, the room is large and you house has an air exchanger vent in the room you should be good.

Edited January 10, 2022 by Thukydides

[BobG]

On 1/7/2022 at 2:11 PM, desalgu said:

It's been cold here, like 10 deg-F or lower, which is too cold for me to airbrush in garage

 

I have a small, portable, pop-up, spray tent has worked worked well for me. It controls all of the overspray. It's easy to set up too and folds down so it doesn't take up much space at all for storage. I set it up on the kitchen floor and put my model on a turntable. There's very little odor if you are using water based paints also.

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01I1YI09O/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06Y6PW3TH/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

 

[desalgu]

On 1/10/2022 at 11:10 AM, BobG said:

 

I have a small, portable, pop-up, spray tent has worked worked well for me. It controls all of the overspray. It's easy to set up too and folds down so it doesn't take up much space at all for storage. I set it up on the kitchen floor and put my model on a turntable. There's very little odor if you are using water based paints also.

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01I1YI09O/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06Y6PW3TH/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

 

Thanks Bob for the suggestions!  The turntable looks real useful for lots of things.  I'm gradually acquiring various tools.  Just got Quadhands so am giving it a try.  I can tell it will be very useful.

 

I got the small dome painted and it took all of 2-3 seconds to spray.  I'm sure I could have done that even when cold.  The paint doesn't smell, so could have gotten everything ready indoors, gone to garage for minute or two to spray, and then brought it back indoors to dry.  I just wimped out with this being first cold we've had this year.   I mixed a little gold in with the silver, but it ended up looking mostly silver.  I'm happy with it though.

 

Now I'm dealing with the tiny 2mm blocks, which are only 2mm if you stretch them.  They are the smallest blocks I've worked with, and look smaller than what is shown in the manual.  I got the pear blocks, and they are dark in color and nicely made.  I decided to use 0.10mm thread instead of 0.25mm.  I thought the smaller thread looked better on the tiny blocks.

 

I reread @Delf and @glbarlow build logs for ideas on how to seize them, and I think I'm doing better than I did on the last ship, but not as good as I'd like.  I'm going to start calling them Professor Derek and Professor Gene for their well written and extremely useful logs!

[Thukydides]

5 hours ago, desalgu said:

I got the small dome painted and it took all of 2-3 seconds to spray.  I'm sure I could have done that even when cold.

I find the biggest problem with my airbrush is the set up and cleanup time. I would use it more if I didn’t have to clean it after I was done.

[DelF]

On 1/11/2022 at 9:06 PM, desalgu said:

They are the smallest blocks I've worked with, and look smaller than what is shown in the manual.  I got the pear blocks, and they are dark in color and nicely made.

I've just been looking at those blocks too. They're definitely smaller than the ones shown in the manual, which are the ones that come with the basic kit and look closer to 3mm to me. Put a 2mm pear block next to a ring bolt and they look really tiny, unlike the ones in the manual.  Although they look tiny, I think the pear blocks are the right size. I measured them at 2.15mm which equates to about 5.5" full scale, which is the right size for a block with 0.25mm/(5/8") rope. If you look at a model such as @Rustyj's Duchess that uses the pear blocks I think it looks better than versions using basic blocks.  Personally, I would always go for the pear option in Vanguard kits - they are the most realistic kit blocks I've seen.

 

I agree that 0.1mm thread is better to seize the pear blocks, and you'll no doubt need to drill out the holes to accommodate the tiller rope.

 

Derek

[desalgu]

On 1/12/2022 at 3:37 PM, DelF said:

I've just been looking at those blocks too. They're definitely smaller than the ones shown in the manual, which are the ones that come with the basic kit and look closer to 3mm to me. Put a 2mm pear block next to a ring bolt and they look really tiny, unlike the ones in the manual.  Although they look tiny, I think the pear blocks are the right size. I measured them at 2.15mm which equates to about 5.5" full scale, which is the right size for a block with 0.25mm/(5/8") rope. If you look at a model such as @Rustyj's Duchess that uses the pear blocks I think it looks better than versions using basic blocks.  Personally, I would always go for the pear option in Vanguard kits - they are the most realistic kit blocks I've seen.

 

I agree that 0.1mm thread is better to seize the pear blocks, and you'll no doubt need to drill out the holes to accommodate the tiller rope.

 

Derek

 

When I measured, my blocks are the right size also.  I agree, it is amazing how much detail is in the little blocks, and I have no idea how he makes them.  

 

I've been drilling them out with #79 drill bit (0.0145").  If it removes any material, it's an extremely small amount.  I've also been leaving the drill bit in one of the holes so I can handle and clamp the block.  I haven't tried threading them yet, so I may have to drill out slightly more.  It will depend how accurate thread sizes are.

 

I've been seizing them to the tiller and eyebolts, and gradually getting better at it.  I did the tiller before the quadhands arrived.  I've been doing better with quadhands, much easier, and I'm sure I'll get better the more I use it.  I should have used Professor Derek's advice and bought this a long time ago!

 

Here's photo of my new quadhands and a closeup of a block clamped in using the drill bit as a "handle".   I used 0.10mm thread to go around block, and very fine fly tying thread for seizing.  It's so fine, all I can do is tie an overhand knot and then wrap about 5 times.  At this size it's very difficult to handle the thread (or in my case  even see it), and when finished I don't think you can tell what kind of knot is used.  I put a little medium CA on it to hold threads.  The clothespin maintains tension while CA sets.

 

I'm using the same fly tying thread I've seen others use.  I had no problem finding it online.  I'll attach photo in case you haven't seen it in other build logs.

 

[desalgu]

Here are some photos of other little details I've been slowly working on.  After reading what @DelF did, I made some small triangular strips to simulate waterways, and this turned out not as difficult as I thought.  I carved the triangular shape with xacto #11 and finished with light sanding.  

 

I got them fitting fine, and everything was going smoothly, so time to glue.  I thought I'd just tack glue or spot glue them in a few places and that would be enough to hold.  But it didn't work.  For some reason, maybe lack of glue surface, the strips would not stick and hold.  I ended up using much more CA than I wanted, but managed to finally get the strips in place without making too big of a mess.  I'll have to put on a coat of flat clear acrylic, because I got some CA on the waterways and bulwarks fumbling around trying to glue and hold in place.  

 

The joint between bulwarks and deck is not 90 deg, so that may have been why the waterway strips didn't want to stay glued.  Plus they are awfully small, so hard to hold in place.  But after it was done, I think I like the look. 

[desalgu]

As mentioned previously I decided to paint the dome behind the quarter gallery door silver with a little gold mixed in.  Brushing silver didn't work, so used airbrush and got good results.  Here it is installed.

[desalgu]

Here are the blocks attached to the tiller, and some blocks attached to eyebolts.  I can see the eyebolts need a little touchup.

[glbarlow]

I’m glad professor gene is helpful, I don’t think I know him though. 😂🤣