Duchess of Kingston - Beauty of the Seas - Wooden Sailing Ship 1/64

[GazzaS]

Nice, Rob!

[DocRob]

Finally some progress, with the renovation of the hose and different other activities in the books.

First a vanity shot with all the mast parts in place. These are not glued yet, as I plan to only add the lower segments first for easier rigging. But the next step will be painting the mast platforms and their surroundings black and to add the wooldings (ropes slung around the masts at different height levels).
But the picture is not only for vanity reasons, it's meant to be self motivational as of now, my work on DoK is supervised.  

The Gentlemen Pellew and Hornblower have arrived my dock. They are made from Vanguard Models and are already primed. Their first job will be to fell victim to my desolate figure painting skills. I'm not decided, if I use oil- or acrylic colors or a mix of both. This will be challenging as the gents are in 64 scale, not exactly my go to scale for figure painting. As a reward, they brought a set of pear blocks for my HMS Sphinx kit with them.

 

Cheers Rob

[Peterpools]

Rob

So glad you're making progress on your home renovation. Having gone through the same since late December and taking many more months to complete, I know exactly what you are going through. Unfortunately, it seems never ending and at some point, a line needs to be drawn in the and as where to stop adding additional projects. 

Finally, the DOK is back on the Bench, making headway and updates will be coming - I surely need my fix.  The Gentlemen Pellew and Hornblower are going to be a nice sub-project to follow and no question they will see to it work continues at a steady pace.

 

[GazzaS]

It's good to see progress, Rob.  The masts look great!  I'll be interested to see how you go with those figures.

[DocRob]

14 hours ago, Peterpools said:

So glad you're making progress on your home renovation. Having gone through the same since late December and taking many more months to complete, I know exactly what you are going through. Unfortunately, it seems never ending and at some point, a line needs to be drawn in the and as where to stop adding additional projects. 

Finally, the DOK is back on the Bench, making headway and updates will be coming - I surely need my fix.  The Gentlemen Pellew and Hornblower are going to be a nice sub-project to follow and no question they will see to it work continues at a steady pace.

Thank you Peter, and you are absolutely right about these additional projects around the house. We had a master plan, last year, it was a remade of the roofs, preparing and repainting of the outer walls of the houses and now it was interior painting and doors and windows. The next projects will be smaller, at least time wise, some carpenter work outside to substitute some rotten beams and a photovoltaic system with batteries onto the roof and the batteries will heat my cave in wintertime and even mor important, dry the air a bit.
The Duchess will develop slow, I guess, I prepare myself well for the following steps, taking my time. Rigging is completely new to me and I will do it right, at least right enough. 
Summer on the other hand has a lot of distractions, so bench time is shrinking, but I'm willing to pull through with the DoK. If doing otherwise, the officers will let me keelhaul soon.

Cheers Rob

[DocRob]

2 hours ago, GazzaS said:

It's good to see progress, Rob.  The masts look great!  I'll be interested to see how you go with those figures.

Thank you Gary, building the masts was fun, but more time consuming than thought, it's only some rods, ... . With the figures, I be interested too .

Cheers Rob

[DocRob]

38 degrees Celsius and the world is turning very sloooowwwww , but anyway, I glued on the lower mast platforms and varnished the whole mast parts with Wipe on Poly. Then I masked the mast platform areas and airbrushed them with Tamiya's lacquer paint flat black.

Then I started with the wooldings, I guess, they are for the enforcement of the lower mast parts. Luckily the plans showed a way, how to tie them correctly. I used masking tape as an indicator for the right positions and made six turns for each, which I secured then with water thinned PVA and cut off the ends.

Cheers Rob

[Peterpools]

Rob

Very nice progress on the first chapter of rigging. The wooldings (see I already learned something new today) look perfect and thank you for including the instructions showing how they are to be tied. 

 

 

[GazzaS]

More great detail, Rob.  Are you using hardware store polyurethane or something sold to us hobbyists?

 

[DocRob]

16 hours ago, Peterpools said:

Very nice progress on the first chapter of rigging. The wooldings (see I already learned something new today) look perfect and thank you for including the instructions showing how they are to be tied. 

Muchas gracias Peter, I learn a bit about nautical terms every day with the DoK build and it's like a language of it's own. In the moment I read Patrick O'Brian's 'Master and Commander', which is the first of many books from him about the fictional British navy officer Jack Aubry. The tenth book of the serial was loosely used for the movie 'Master and Commander'. In the first book, maybe as an introduction to nautical terms an old midshipman explains the whole ship with it's parts and functions to a land based side character in a very lengthy way, my head was swirling, first because it's English and second because of the teminology.

Cheers Rob

[DocRob]

1 hour ago, GazzaS said:

More great detail, Rob.  Are you using hardware store polyurethane or something sold to us hobbyists?

Thanks Gary, Polyurethane varnish is very hard to come by, where I live. Most vendors don't send their stuff here and what they have in the hardware stores is not suitable for modelling choices. A while ago, a found a Polish vendor on big A, who sent me a can of Minwax 40900 Wipe-On Poly Oil-Based Polyurethane Finish Clear Gloss. I would have liked matte better, but with only one coat, the finish is matt to satin and acceptable. If it's to shiny, I can buff it a little with very fine steel wool, but that was not necessary until now.
If I wouldn't have got that can, I would have tried shellac, where I have a dose in my paint shelf.

Cheers Rob

[Peterpools]

Rob

Did you ever imagine so much nautical knowledge, learning and homework would be needed as you approached this build? Amazing work for so many reasons besides bench time.  

 

[DocRob]

1 hour ago, Peterpools said:

Did you ever imagine so much nautical knowledge, learning and homework would be needed as you approached this build? Amazing work for so many reasons besides bench time.  

Actually I did Peter, as I prefer to be prepared. I know a bit about historic ships and read a lot and with the necessary skills, I hoped for the best, expanding my existent skills with patience, creativity and not the least, with you guys .

Cheers Rob

[Peterpools]

Rob

My money would have been riding on you to be more then prepared both modeling and historically to tackle such a demanding project. I just am amazed how you quickly adapted and embraced the talents and skills needed for wood ship modeling. Your approach to learning and absorbing new skills as a challenge rather then a roadblock, is how we should approach all projects.

  

[JohnB]

Really nice work Rob. Something I'd never think of undertaking!

[DocRob]

14 hours ago, Peterpools said:

My money would have been riding on you to be more then prepared both modeling and historically to tackle such a demanding project. I just am amazed how you quickly adapted and embraced the talents and skills needed for wood ship modeling. Your approach to learning and absorbing new skills as a challenge rather then a roadblock, is how we should approach all projects.

Thank you Peter, it really helps to chose a near perfect designed kit for the first build. DoK might not be ideal with three masts and a lot of rigging, but others have managed too and so far, I mastered all the obstacles of the build. It is challenging, but interesting, as there is no routine with this build, everything is new or near new for me.
I got a very sound education in metal engineering when I was young, developing very complex constructions and later studying engineering at the university to back up theory. In the last years, I started with woodworking around the house, building furniture and many other things from wood in real scale.
In general, I love working with different materials and as much as I like building plastic kits, it always feels a bit limited on that side to me. Of course, the limited world of plastic modelling is extremely detailed in itself and has it's challenges of it's own, as we all know.
It's no surprise though, that to me the most interesting aspect in plastic modelling is replicating different materials, be it with painting techniques, decals or whatever it takes. I always would chose artistic license over rivet counting and normally when I start a build (actually mostly when buying a kit), I have something like a detailed final picture of the subject in my head and do everything to reach this point in the end.
Some builds are even by products to having a plan realized. For example my PZL P.11 build of last year was made only to evaluate the possibilities and challenges of brush painting with oil colors on a plane model. Of course, I want to have a result, but when finished I loose interest into the subject. 
The DoK will be different, as it will be the first model to be displayed somewhere in our houses and not in the shelve of 'never seen again' .

Cheers Rob

[DocRob]

8 hours ago, JohnB said:

Really nice work Rob. Something I'd never think of undertaking!

Thank you John, is that never including the future as well? With your skillful building, it might be a pleasant change from plastic to wood, you would be amazed, how much fun it could be.

Cheers Rob

[Peterpools]

Rob

Your background and evolving interests are the foundation and road course your hobby pursuits and explains so much. Your thoughts on the differences between plastic scale modeling and wooden ship modeling is close to my own feelings as well.

A turning point came for me in my modeling is when I purchased a large glass display case, where they my models are presented of how someone would view small replicas in a museum, a store or even a school; it adds value and rarity. When I use to have my models just sitting on a shelf in my studio and collecting dust, almost no one ever saw them and rarely commented. What is on display in our home is my other passion; my photography and always draws compliments and created discussion. Now enter my glass display case which I feel is the best way to present and protect your work and as my collection grew, most who sees it, do stop, look and comment. 

Presentation is the missing key to displaying our work for others to see and appreciate.  No question, wooden ship building is an art that goes back as far as ships themselves and how we feel about them. Most view wooden ships as an art form and built by skilled craftsman plastics are not. I find the manor of display and presentation is a game changer.

 

 

[JohnB]

5 hours ago, DocRob said:

Thank you John, is that never including the future as well? With your skillful building, it might be a pleasant change from plastic to wood, you would be amazed, how much fun it could be.

Cheers Rob

Yes indeed Rob. That includes the future LOL. It might be fun but I don't think it would be something I'd want to undertake. I'll just stick to airplanes but I do have a few plastic ship kits and I might decide to build one of those.

[DocRob]

I do a lot to distract myself from starting with rigging on the Duchess lately, but I'm not sure, if painting 64 scale figures is a good substitute. For now, I will leave the Gentleman Hornblower and Pellew (the names just in case, I rendered them unrecognizable) as they are and when I'm in the mood, I will do some more touchups and detailing.
All blame on the figures are on me, Chris from Vanguard did a marvelous job, designing them.
I used acrylic colors from the Fantasy range of Scale75, which are reasonably good to work with on a wet palette.
When ready, I will cut away the standing plates and substitute them with clear acetate.

My next 64 scale figure will be only if there is a decent rendition of the Duchess of Kingston herself. 

Cheers Rob

[Peterpools]

Rob

Awesome painting on the figures. Highlights and shadows look very good, eyes need a bit more work. Of course, that's from a guy who has only painted one figure years ago, that doesn't come close to your efforts. From what I remember (right there and then I'm in deep water) I think the eye pupils should be a thin vertical line instead of a dot. 

 

 

[DocRob]

1 hour ago, Peterpools said:

Awesome painting on the figures. Highlights and shadows look very good, eyes need a bit more work. Of course, that's from a guy who has only painted one figure years ago, that doesn't come close to your efforts. From what I remember (right there and then I'm in deep water) I think the eye pupils should be a thin vertical line instead of a dot. 

Thank you Peter, I repainted the eyes sometimes and let  them at this vague state for the moment. Even with my smallest brush, I couldn't do better. Mind, these figures ar not even 3 cm high and half as big as the usual 32 or 35 scale figures, much  closer to 72 scale. I definitely have to do better with figures and have to learn a lot. I will do some larger scale busts and figures soon for training purposes.

Cheers Rob

[DocRob]

5 hours ago, Peterpools said:

Your background and evolving interests are the foundation and road course your hobby pursuits and explains so much. Your thoughts on the differences between plastic scale modeling and wooden ship modeling is close to my own feelings as well.

A turning point came for me in my modeling is when I purchased a large glass display case, where they my models are presented of how someone would view small replicas in a museum, a store or even a school; it adds value and rarity. When I use to have my models just sitting on a shelf in my studio and collecting dust, almost no one ever saw them and rarely commented. What is on display in our home is my other passion; my photography and always draws compliments and created discussion. Now enter my glass display case which I feel is the best way to present and protect your work and as my collection grew, most who sees it, do stop, look and comment. 

Presentation is the missing key to displaying our work for others to see and appreciate.  No question, wooden ship building is an art that goes back as far as ships themselves and how we feel about them. Most view wooden ships as an art form and built by skilled craftsman plastics are not. I find the manor of display and presentation is a game changer.

I find it very interesting to see the motivations and backgrounds of fellow modelers, because this small corner of the world offer so many motives and stories, about why people build models, how they approach it and what drives them.
I can understand your feelings to proper display the fine results of your work Peter, it's an important aspect to our hobby, but one that fails on me. I can admire a great display of a kit and the way it's presented in a beautiful display case, which sums up to something special. 
I only build for the build itself, I would never display a plane or a tank - god grieve - in my living area. I bought a display shelf for my cave two years ago, only to store the finished builds as space efficient as possible. Before they were in boxes, which took up more space than that. Some models I gave away after they were finished.

I can't really explain why it is like this, maybe it's because I can't force myself to see modelling as an art, it's skillful craftmanship. Other projects, be it self made paintings, photographs or self fabricated design objects rate different with me, as I tend to display these, when finished halfway successful.

The Duchess of Kingston will be displayed and the good news it's even accepted by my wife. As we life close to the ocean, maritime subjects fit perfectly and make for an exception .

Cheers Rob

[Peterpools]

49 minutes ago, DocRob said:

Thank you Peter, I repainted the eyes sometimes and let  them at this vague state for the moment. Even with my smallest brush, I couldn't do better. Mind, these figures ar not even 3 cm high and half as big as the usual 32 or 35 scale figures, much  closer to 72 scale. I definitely have to do better with figures and have to learn a lot. I will do some larger scale busts and figures soon for training purposes.

Cheers Rob

 

50 minutes ago, DocRob said:

Thank you Peter, I repainted the eyes sometimes and let  them at this vague state for the moment. Even with my smallest brush, I couldn't do better. Mind, these figures ar not even 3 cm high and half as big as the usual 32 or 35 scale figures, much  closer to 72 scale. I definitely have to do better with figures and have to learn a lot. I will do some larger scale busts and figures soon for training purposes.

Cheers Rob

Rob

I never put two and two together and literally lost sight of the fact howe small they are. Forget what I said about the eyes, I know I could even place a dot in the correct spot. Now going back and looking at the figures, taking into account the very small size, your painting is quite remarkable.

 

[Peterpools]

27 minutes ago, DocRob said:

I find it very interesting to see the motivations and backgrounds of fellow modelers, because this small corner of the world offer so many motives and stories, about why people build models, how they approach it and what drives them.
I can understand your feelings to proper display the fine results of your work Peter, it's an important aspect to our hobby, but one that fails on me. I can admire a great display of a kit and the way it's presented in a beautiful display case, which sums up to something special. 
I only build for the build itself, I would never display a plane or a tank - god grieve - in my living area. I bought a display shelf for my cave two years ago, only to store the finished builds as space efficient as possible. Before they were in boxes, which took up more space than that. Some models I gave away after they were finished.

I can't really explain why it is like this, maybe it's because I can't force myself to see modelling as an art, it's skillful craftmanship. Other projects, be it self made paintings, photographs or self fabricated design objects rate different with me, as I tend to display these, when finished halfway successful.

The Duchess of Kingston will be displayed and the good news it's even accepted by my wife. As we life close to the ocean, maritime subjects fit perfectly and make for an exception .

Cheers Rob

Rob

I completely understand your feelings on why you do not display your plastic modeling and why you feel ships are different. I love airplanes, have been a licensed pilot over fifty years and the majority of my modeling reflects that passion.  My photography is throughout the house as we look at it as art, while my display case is close to the bedrooms. Awards are kept and displayed only in my studio as they are a personal.