James H

I did try 🤣 (from the Sphinx manual)

I think we recommend that the pear should be allowed 12-24hrs to throughly dry. I know I've still had the stuff swollen by a few mm even after almost a full day's bench session. It's like the final welling only goes back in last hours 🤪

Ah, and if that piece is still damp, it won't have shrunken back to its proper size. Pear swells a LOT, so you need to make sure it's bone dry.

If you temporarily sit the the upper counter and stern fascia in place, and the fascia sits about 2mm above the bulwark level, then you'll be perfectly ok.

Looking at the counter, I think you placed it lower, not higher, than mine. Higher is closer to top of stern, not higher when upside down. Take a look where mine falls in relation to the rudder post, and then elevate yours about 2.5mm closer to top of hull than that.

Just add a little piece to infill there. It won't be seen.

I can confirm that my tests with these show they can be thinned with regular tap water and also brush-painted. I'm really picky about paints as I've trialled and used lots of garbage whilst working for magazines, but these are superb. Very nice indeed.

Ok, this topic has been pruned of around 30 posts that were asking status, and those trying to explain things. When I have news on this project, then here is where I'll post it. If there is no post, then I have no news, so please don't keep enquiring.

This has been such a wonderful project to follow and nice seeing the little things you've done throughout to change her too. As for lodging and hanging knees, I had real pleasure fitting those on Indy 🤪 I help we'll eventually see you try your hand at the new super frigate.

Hi Glenn, Those sides needed fairing in far more before you added the bulwarks. Sanding needs to be done to fair the MDF into the deck edge at the rear, and that will also bevel those stern timbers, possibly by half. Take a look at my pics. Also, that lower counter needed sanding into the hull. Check out the subsequent pics in manual. You need to ensure the lines of the hull flow and you have maximum bulwark contact to the timbers.

Nice to see her progressing so well. The broken ear you had on bulkhead 13: there was a temporary blank panel in the bulkhead which protected those ears, and the panel was designed to be removed after those gun port strips were fitted, and that bulkhead had some strength. Nice work on the BE mods too.

That is lovely work and a nice, clean edge too.

Just incredible. It makes me want to give up and play video games full time! 💯 The time spent is clearly seen in every detail.

I would always advise priming/painting 3D parts as the resin does probably have a few microns (at least) of translucency to a normal depth. Where the part is thin, you'll easily see daylight through it.

Before I glue the roof into place, it needs to be tested against the gallery once the outer skins are added. WIth those glued into place, the roof is finally trimmed to size and also glued to the model. On top of that is the pear cap which will slightly overlap the shingles that will later be fitted. The pear parts that make the lower galleries are now shaped and fitted. Time to fit the outer stern panel and quarters. I highly recommend you use CA for this so there's no curling of the parts. These are then shaped and the gallery/stern area given a finishing sanding to even up all edges etc. And lastly, the engraved upper stern is fitted and then also sanded into the rest of the hull. More next time...

Another update as at least it's now looking a little different. Well, like it or not, the cabin areas now have to be decked over and here you see the beams in the fore cabin area, including the timbers for the original position of the skylight. This was likely moved rearwards when razed. And here you see the new skylight position over the main cabin, which sort of does make much more sense as that area can now be subject to some direct down sunlight. With all beams in place, the 0.8mm laser-engraved ply sub-deck is now installed, notched into the protruding bulkhead ears that you can see. With the poop deck now installed, it's time to turn attention to the quarter galleries. This always gives a hull some character and definition. Here you see the frames, now painted, being glued to the indents on the rear of the hull sides. The inner stern panel can now be fitted, as well as the counter. As with Sphinx, the quarters are sheathed in two layers of timber with the upper parts creating a recessed frame. Here are the inner skins for the galleries. And here is the stern up to this point. Three MDF layers are used to create the roof, except for a pear caping piece that's fitted soon. These will eventually be painted black and covered with laser-cut shingles. The reason for the layers is that it makes it easier to sand to the correct angles as you temporarily sit them on the hull side. After fettling, the finished roof will look like this.

In fact, you can see the deck isn't properly located as it should be. Take a look here at the gaps between the ply deck slot and the bulkhead ears:

The comparison of the engraved deck to the ply sub deck is correct. The engraved part is smaller as it doesn't extend into the bulwark area. The problem you have with fitting the ply decks is definitely that the halves aren't pushed completely back into the slots in the bulkhead ears, no doubt. The deck width across each bulkhead I a set width, with zero variation between kit. Try using a jewellers file to remove the char from each ply deck slot, and also slightly bevel the upper, innermost part of the slot so that it catches the notch in each bulkhead ear. I absolutely guarantee that this is the cause. I've seen this a couple of times before and know this is the issue. Just be careful in your test fitting to make sure the deck halves are slotted in 100%.

Doesn't it feel great to have finished something as complex as Sphinx! Well done, and it was definitely a nice move in starting over too. If I have one suggestion it would be to re-angle and tidy up the hammock cranes and rope along the gangways. ✌️

Here's HMS Victory's cabin:

It'll be a little difficult on a fully rigged ship. You can open things up more if you wanted though.

I re-took the photo of the cabin area as there was too much glare on the deck and the background was dirty. So, here it is.

We look forward to your purchase 😘

The cabin walls and internal cabin screen are now painted, and the screens fitted out. I can finally glue into place the cabin walls, screens and partition. Note the eyelets are added to the ports and floor. Did I say this came with a cabinet? No? Well, it does, and this is now fitted into place. The carronades in this area differ from the others as they will retract into hull during the hull painting process. They can be rolled out into position when that job is complete. These are now fitted to the cabins area. Time for some furniture and maps too. Hope you like the work so far. Onwards!!

This is my weekend update time as I'll be working flat out from this stage to get the upper deck work done. Getting the cabin built and fitted out seemed like a good time to post. The first thing that's to be done is to fit the vertical face for the benching in rear of captain's office. With that fitted, the parquet floor is added. This is supplied in card and it looks nicer than the maple version, and a cool contrast. Titebond is used to fit this. The remainder of the rudder housing boxing is then completed. The bulkhead screens are supplied in two 0.6mm engraved laminates. Instead of using wood-curling white glue, 3M Spray Mount is used. The parts are lovely and glass flat. The outer bulkhead screen is fitted with laser-engraved columns. The inner bulkhead screen and the partition wall are temporarily fitted so that the engraved maple floor sections in that area can be trimmed to size. Once they are done, the floor sections are glued into place and the screen and partition removed until later. This picture will give a good idea about the post design process that I am engaged in when building the production prototype. I will invariably find a small number of things which needed amending. This is either because it was missed during the initial cut build, or because something in the design was changed and a small number of affected areas may have missed an update. Here you see the cabin side wall and the changes made from the initial part. That includes shifting details by 2mm to align gun ports and also packing out the rear to cater to the lowered cabin shelf. Hey, at least we can show you how we do this as a tag-team! I temporarily fit the cabin walls and the screens so that I can draw a demarcation line to guide me for painting the cabin interior.