Duchess of Kingston by Usedtosail - FINISHED - Vanguard Models - 1:64

[usedtosail]

Thank you Keith and the likes.

 

I finally got the two 2mm blocks attached to the end of the tiller. They are so tiny but the main problem was they were coming undone when I clipped the excess strops off. I am using Dullcote lacquer to fix the knots in the strops which usually works very well, as long as I give it enough time to dry. I glued the tiller to the hole in the top of the rudder. I also assembled and painted the ship's wheel. Here it is just sitting on the deck as the glue dries to make sure it is flat to the deck.

 

 

Next up is adding the rest of the blocks and eyebolts then rigging the line between the wheel and the tiller. I have a short piece of line through the tiller blocks for now as it helps me see where the holes are for the real line. I had to drill these out a bit to get the .25mm line through them.

[usedtosail]

I wrapped the steering line around the wheel and fixed it with lacquer. When it was dry I slipped two of the 2mm blocks stropped to eyebolts on the line,  then glued the wheel standards to the deck and the eyebolts into the holes under the wheel. I then slipped two more blocks on each side and glued them into the holes along the bulwarks. I then passed the lines though the blocks on the tiller and seized the ends to the empty eyebolts near the bulwarks.

 

 

 

I left the ends of the steering line untrimmed for now in case I happen to catch the lines later, so I can re-seize them without having to thread a new line through all those blocks.

 

I have started adding all the eyebolts around the mast holes. After that will be adding the coaming and railing around the circular stair opening.

[usedtosail]

Lots of deck fittings have been added. Starting on the upper deck I added the mizzen bitts and pin rails. I am using the supplied brass belaying pins which I have painted brown. I built the binnacle and glued it to the deck. I did not like the look of the sides which showed the joints of the internal parts, so I glued some thin pear onto the sides to cover them. I shaped the three mast coats but won't glue them on until I fit the masts in place. I added the railing for the spiral staircase using the supplied parts. I like how others have substituted wood posts at the corners but I wasn't confident enough to try it. I also shaped and added the timber heads to the rail. As a reference for future builders, the first picture of these in the instructions shows them upside down. I was trying to visual how to shape them when I discovered this and it was much easier when they are right side up.

 

 

On the lower deck I added the two main bitts and belaying pin racks. I have added the eyebolts next to the gun ports that won't have cannons but I will wait to add the others until I rig the breach ropes on the cannons. I also added the ring bolts to the deck, again using the supplied brass parts.

 

 

I am currently building the pumps. Assembling the pump handles was a bit challenging but they are done and have been painted black. I am also cleaning up the char on the hatch coamings so should have them ready to install soon.

[usedtosail]

I completed the pumps and glued them into the holes in the deck. I added small pieces of brass tubing to the barrels for the dales. I also added the coamings and gratings to the deck.

 

 

I added the bell to the belfry with the PE handle. I haven't added the pawls yet until I put the windlass in place. I dry fit the belfry and the bow sprit bitts for now.

 

 

The mast coats are also dry fit for now until I put the masts in. I am working on the windlass and the kevels.

Edited May 27, 2022 by usedtosail

[usedtosail]

I finished the windlass and glued that into place relative to the belfry. I need to put a coat of wipe on poly on the belaying pin racks. I painted the winch with burnt Sienna and used wipe on poly to finish the supports. The chimney is completed and glued in place as well as the kevels, knight heads and bow timber heads.

 

 

Further aft I have added the quarterdeck rail and the roof to the tiller house, which is not mentioned anywhere in the instructions that I could find. I am using a lathe tool holder as a weight to hold the roof while the glue dries.

 

 

I am assembling the quarterdeck stairs and side railings, then I have the cannons to put together.

[DocRob]

This is a very fine build of that lovely ship. I really like the cleanness of your build, which was inspiring, while I build mine. I'm slightly ahead of you with my first wooden ship, as I have just finished the decks and am fighting now with a planked boat, I want to add to my DoK. I took some peeks into your build, as I gathered as much information as I could possibly get, to help me with my newby attempt.

 

Cheers Rob

[usedtosail]

Thank you Rob and the likes too. Rob, keeping the builds clean is something that has taken me quite a lot of time and I am still not totally there yet. Do you have a build log? I'd love to see your build.

 

I have the quarterdeck stairs and side railings built and installed and the cannon carriages are in the process of being built. I thought the cannon barrels looked a little shiny so I gave them a coat of flat black paint. Here is a weird photo of the stairs and railings.

 

[DocRob]

14 hours ago, usedtosail said:

Thank you Rob and the likes too. Rob, keeping the builds clean is something that has taken me quite a lot of time and I am still not totally there yet. Do you have a build log? I'd love to see your build.

 

Thank you Tom, your build progresses greatly. Installing the fragile side railings was not the easiest task in my build, but they do add a lot to the appearance of the DoK.

I recently joined here and started my build log, right were I was last week with the decks done. It can be found here.
 

 

The full build log was started on MSW's partner forum Large Scale Modeler, where I'm an active member since some years.

 

Duchess of Kingston - Beauty of the Seas - Wooden Sailing Ship 1/64 - Non-LSM 'WIP' and Completed - Large Scale Modeller

 

BTW, I have to find a way to add my current projects to the footer of my profile, but couldn't find out how.

 

Cheers Rob

 

[usedtosail]

That is a nice build Rob. Looks like you figured out the signature, too. Well done.

[usedtosail]

The cannons are assembled and I have added breechings to them. To make the breechings, I first tied a throat seizing to a piece of line to make a loop then seized eyebolts to the ends of the line. I didn't fix any of the seizings so I could slide them to make adjustments. I slid the center loop over the cascabel of a gun barrel then tightened and fixed the throat seizing. I then adjusted the eyebolts to get the length of each side of the breeching right (about 3cm), then fixed those seizings. Here is the first gun installed. I glued the trucks to the deck first then glued the eyebolts into the holes in the bulwarks. I was happy with the way the line played down onto the deck.

 

 

Here is how it looks from the outside.

 

 

Only five more to install. I have the shot holders ready to install too with the shot inside. I found it tricky to get the shot to stay in the holders when I put lacquer on them to hold them together, but with some persistence I got them fixed inside the holders and reasonably flat. I also added all the interior eyebolts and cleats and drilled the holes for the exterior eyebolts, although I won't add those until I rig the lines that they attach to, so I can do those seizings off the model.

[usedtosail]

All cannons now in place. Shot holders will be added next.

 

 

 

[usedtosail]

I have stropped the lower shroud deadeyes and added them to the channels. I don't have any of the included brass nails left so I used some others I had around which are a little thicker, so I drilled out the holes in the strops to fit them. I did this when they were still on the PE sheet. I really liked the PE strops as I found it very easy to fit the deadeyes into them after opening them slightly.

 

 

I am now working on the masts, starting with the tops. Here I am gluing the two halves of the top platform together. Today I started gluing up the crosstrees and trestles.

 

 

 

[Glenn-UK]

Looks like you're doing a great job on your build.

[usedtosail]

Thanks Glenn. You guys that have already built this model have been a big help.

 

I started working on the various mast sections using a combination of the mill for the square sections and the lathe for the round ones. Here are the fore and main masts and topmasts which are ready to go. I have the mizzen mast ready and am working on the mizzen topmast. I made sure all these sections fit into the various holes in the tops and caps so I won't have to fiddle with them when it is time to assemble the masts. I do still have to file the flats in the lower masts for the hounds but I will do that when the tops are ready to fit.

 

[DocRob]

Funny to see, we are almost on the same page of the manual, while building the DoK Tom . You are a little ahead of me, because I wait for my mini mill to arrive for exactly the mentioned square sections of the masts. 
Your Build looks extremely well and if you stay ahead of mine, I will have a wonderful resource for my advancement.

 

Cheers Rob

[usedtosail]

Thanks Rob. It is funny because right after I posted that I saw your build log and thought the same thing. You will do well with the Proton mill. I had one but then upgraded to a Sherline mill and lathe combo a few years ago that I like even better. It was a pre-retirement present to myself. The only complaint I had with the Proton mill was that the mill bits only went up to 1/8" wide, so you have to do multiple passes along the length of the mast. I used a 1/2" end mill bit in the Sherline and was able to do the square sides in one pass.

[DocRob]

Thera are a lot of pros and cons considering the machinery. I mulled lengthy about the mill and was favoring a slightly larger piece of mill. The max diameter of the tools is really a limitation with the Proxxon, as is the high rpm range, not very suitable for metals.
I was an engineer in my former life (long go), but still have a lot of knowledge about metal working. All the smaller machines are a compromise imho and I think I will not need them too often, therefore factors like price and foremost storability led to my decision. Same with the lathe, where I also bought the small Proxxon wood turning device, which will be sufficient for shaping masts and yards. 
I hope it was the right decision, and I read a lot about the credits for the Proxxon mill here.
Enjoy building the Duchess like I do, it's such a great model and beautiful ship.

 

Cheers Rob

[usedtosail]

I am slowly working on the masts between lots of family visiting over the 4th weekend. I have made all the parts of the masts but will not assemble them totally now. I am assembling the lower masts first so that I can slip the shrouds over them instead of seizing them on the masts. I have added the eyebolts and railings to the mast tops and glued the tops to the lower masts.

 

 

I also had to modify the lower mizzen mast to get the correct rake angle. I notched the bottom to still fit into the hole on the inside lower deck, but part of the open hole could be seen, so I made a mast coat that covers the opening. I was able to manipulate it over the hole with tweezers and push the mast through it.

[DocRob]

Looks very good and it seems to be a good idea to install the masts only partly for easier rigging. I will consider that too.

 

Cheers Rob

[usedtosail]

Thanks Rob.

 

Here are some bad photos of the mast parts painted and dry fit together. I have started adding the wooldings to the lower main and fore masts. It is not much different than making seizings. Oops - seems the mizzen mast cap has slipped down to the top. It will be glued in the correct place later, after the mizzen shrouds have been added.

 

 

 

 

[usedtosail]

I finished adding the wooldings to the fore and main lower masts. I used 0.5mm dark brown line that I made from poly thread instead of the supplied black 0.5mm line. I will be making my own line for most of the rigging.

 

I then started stropping the blocks and deadeye for the fore mast. I am using the supplied 0.25mm black line for stropping the smaller blocks, but for the larger ones I served the 0.25mm line with thin black thread. I started by serving a length of the black line then started adding blocks and the deadeye to it. I first started making the loops by serving them but later changed them to use a fake splice, where I thread the line back onto itself in two places. It is a little tough getting the served line back through itself but with a bit of perseverance I was able to do it. I think these loops look better and hold better than the seized loops. Here are the blocks and deadeye in various stages of stropping. The deadeye still has the seized loops.

 

 

You can also see how I am making the two block sets for the lifts. I first tied the two blocks together with thin thread, then added the strop over the thread to hide it. I also started the fake splice but left it loose until the stropping was set around the blocks. I then adjusted the loop to the right size and added the second part of the fake splice. After these are finished I get to make most of them again for the main mast.

[usedtosail]

After a few weeks I have finally finished stropping all the blocks and deadeyes for the masts. This has taken a bit more time than I expected but then again I have only been working an hour or so a day because the weather has been so hot. I am now working on finishing the bowsprit and stropping the blocks and deadeyes for it.

 

 

 

I reverted to using seizings for the smaller blocks. I was able to make a single loop that went around the block and the mast with a single seizing to hold it all together, which to me looked better than the fake eye splice. I am currently serving a length of line to use for the bowsprit deadeye strops.

[usedtosail]

The really hot weather finally broke here this week so I have had more time in the shop. I finished adding the various chocks and other bits to the bowsprit and gave it and the jib boom a coat of wipe on poly. While waiting for that to dry I made a new anchor cable line to replace the one that came in the kit, which was just a little too loose for my liking. I started by making four strands of 0.035" tan line, then twisted these together counter clockwise to make the cable.

 

 

Since I had the rope walk out, I started making the lines for the shrouds and backstays. I am using 0.035" line for the fore and main lower shrouds, and 0.030" line for the lower mizzen shrouds. I already had some lengths left over from my last build but I need a few more lengths of each. The 0.030 line is on the left.

 

 

I painted the first coat of black on the bowsprit and jib boom and will continue stropping the deadeyes for it when the painting is completed.

[usedtosail]

I put the anchor cable in place. I had to drill out the inner hawse hole to get it to fit but to did fit in the hatch grating with no problem. I glued the hatch grating in place but left the anchor cable loose for now after wrapping it around the windlass.

 

[usedtosail]

I served all the lines for the fore, main and mizzen shrouds.

 

 

I also finished the bowsprit with all the deadeyes and blocks.

 

 

Now I will make all the yards before I start rigging the masts.

[Glenn-UK]

Great work, you have a very nice looking model

[usedtosail]

Thanks Glenn. It helps to have other build logs like yours to refer too.

 

I have turned all the yards on the lathe and glued the chokes in place. I have most of them cleaned of char except for a few that fell off while sanding them. I glued them back on and will clean them up tomorrow, then paint these all black.

 

 

I have also started stropping the blocks for the yards. Many of these have loops for other ropes (I can't remember what these are called at the moment) so I started by making a bunch of strops with small loops, as shown on the right. I then used these strops for the blocks, as seen on the left. That is all but one block for the fore yards that have loops.

 

 

 

[usedtosail]

Beckets are what they are called 

[usedtosail]

So I was planning to build the Vanguard Speedy kit sometime in the future but not necessarily as the next build, but we found out recently that we are going to be grandparents for the first time and it is a boy, so I want to build the Speedy as a gift for the baby. WIth luck it will be completed by his first birthday. I ordered the kit today to take advantage of the discount that Chris has going on now, but I won't start it until this model is done and in its case. Perhaps the baby will have some of the traits of Sir Cochrane when he grows up.

[usedtosail]

So in the last couple of weeks I have managed to clean up the yards and paint them black. I have also stropped all the blocks for the yards and added the stirrups for the foot ropes. I added one foot rope to each of the topGallant yards and will start adding them to the other yards soon.

 

 

I have also added all the lower shrouds to the masts and have started adding the upper deadeyes to the shrouds. I am using a throat seizing to attach the deadeyes initially, which I can slide to get them even. I am also using two twisted pieces of wire to hold the upper and lower deadeyes while I get the seizing tight. Once all the deadeyes are on the shrouds I will start doing a final height check and fix the seizings to hold them, then add two round seizings to hold the loose ends of the shrouds to themselves.