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.
 

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.

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.

some special, non-quality photos....

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.

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.

Post One Hundred and Forty-five
 
Twelve month review.
 
The final completion of Sphinx will now be put on hold whilst I attend to the ships boats.
 
A convenient point with the twelve month anniversary of the build start coming up.
 
I have worked on Sphinx  pretty much daily over this time, and it is a testament to Chris’s  design that a model of this detail and appearance can be produced in such a relatively short time.
 
I have tweaked the kit in quite a few areas to reflect my Navy Board Style version, but my Pegasus build which necessitated far more scratch adjustments, took over two years to reach this point.

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Pegasus at two year stage.
 
As a change from my usual hand held cluttered work bench shots, a tidy up, and tri-pod photo shoot to mark the twelve month stage.

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These last three shots  show the Hammock Cranes temporarily in place to help me decide if I want to fit them.
 
The contemporary Navy Board style model of the Amazon does show them, and the kit provided versions are very nicely detailed, but at this point I’m still undecided.
 
Sphinx will now be put into her case while I make the Ships boats.
 
Thank you to all who have shown interest in this build over the past year.
 
 
B.E.
26/07/2022
 
 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

After years of dust and battle damage she was put up in dry dock; cleaned layers of dust and battle damage repaired due to young growing girls. Then a brass plague added, new base to index a custom built glass case she now resides for years to come completely protected. The granddaughters now truly appreciate the work involved in building models having grown up watching me build various model subjects. In fact the younger one now builds Star Wars spaceships with LEGO blocks that are quite intricate.
Fair winds and following seas in her new home!

Cannons well on the way to completion, still no finish on them.
The head parts were painted black ready to fit the head rails.
All the windows in the stern and QGs have been installed along with their “glass”.

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.

Well if I've not missed anything all the stays, jeers/tyes and braces have been added.
I'll have to go back over everything and make sure the lines are all snug.
Then I'll have to clean up all the belaying points and add the rope coils.
 
Here's what some of the mess looks like.
 

Shrouds . . . topmast, topgallant and royal.
 
I’ve been busy building, not taking very many pictures, and not writing at all.  So I’m a little behind with this blog.
 
First, a couple of general comments about these upper shrouds.
I have not served any of the shrouds.  I do not have a serving machine, and while I would be willing to purchase one if I really wanted to, I’m concerned that serving would make the shrouds very difficult to work with, and would add a detail all but the most discerning eyes would never notice or appreciate.  In other words, not worth the effort. Feel free to disagree and show me the error of my ways. The instructions have you use the same thread for the lower and topmast shrouds, but it seems to me that the shrouds should decrease in diameter the higher up the mast they are. The following screenshot from the Google tour makes it clear that the topmast shrouds are noticeably thinner than the lower shrouds. Also, on the real ship, no need having any more weight than you need up there. I used the kit supplied .040” thread for the lower shrouds, and I think I used kit supplied .020” thread for the topgallant and royal shrouds, but I found something in between for the topmast shrouds.  That thread, left over from some other build, was extremely stiff, and although I soaked it two or three times and hung it weighted to dry, it proved difficult to work with.  Worth the effort though.  As mentioned previously, I rigged the topmast shrouds before stepping the topgallant mast.  That way I could do the following:  I seized a deadeye onto one end of the shroud, lashed it to the corresponding deadeye in the fighting top, ran the shroud up and around the top of the topmast, back down to toward the fighting top, and tightly tied a thinner piece of thread around it right where I wanted the adjacent deadeye to be. I then unwrapped it from the mast and brought it all down to earth where I could easily seize on that second deadeye.  The first photo below shows that, but it’s not a very good picture and you have to look at it pretty closely to see what I mean.
 
What I just said applies to the four aftmost shrouds on each side.  The forward shroud on each side goes up and around the mast, but back down the opposite side of the ship to be the forward shroud on the other side. Same approach though in undoing it all after marking where I wanted the deadeye to be on the second side.
Too much text . . . time for a couple of pictures.


Next challenge was installing short (½” long) futtock staves even with the bottom of the topmast cheeks. These are not only seized to the topmast shrouds, but each is prevented from being pulled outward by a catharpin; that is, a piece of rigging seized to one end of the stave, wrapped around the topmast and seized to the other end of the stave. These are needed because the topgallant and royal shrouds will run up the inside of the topmast shrouds, run inside and above the futtock staves, then run up and out to the topgallant crosstrees as futtock shrouds, before running further up to their endpoints on the topgallant mast. I found it easier to seize these catharpins to the futtock staves first, then seize the staves to the topmast shrouds.

 
With the topmast shrouds completed, I installed the topgallant mast.With all the masts now in place, I installed the Jacob’s ladder, which was pretty straightforward.  Except that the top of the ladder has a built in twist, and I haven’t figured out how to straighten it (pictures taken out of order, after rigging the upper shrouds).  


A photo in the instructions numbers the eyebolts in the fighting top just behind the topmast shroud deadeyes, 1 through 5 aft to forward. As described in my prior post, I seized lengthy pieces of thread to hooks that I attached to eyebolts 2, 3 and 4.  Number 4 was rigged first, and that one ran up and around the futtock stave, through the hole in the middle topmast cross tree, and up to the topgallant mast just above its crosstrees where it was seized in place.  Number three ran a similar course, but it went around the topmast and back down, through the hole in the forward topmast cross tree, and after passing behind the futtock stave, down to a hook to be attached to unoccupied eyebolt 5.  The thread attached to eyebolt 3 did the same thing except after passing through the notch in the middle topmast cross tree, it passed through holes in the topgallant crosstrees, before wrapping around the topgallant mast at the shoulder, then took the same long route back down, where it eventually hooked into eyebolt 1.   
 
Except when I forgot to run it behind the futtock stave on the way down, a potentially costly mistake I noticed (fortunately) just before applying glue to the hook seizing at eyebolt 1. 

In each case where a shroud wrapped around the mast and headed back down, I seized the two parts of the shroud at the mast.  Perhaps not necessary in the case of the topgallant shrouds but certainly necessary in the case of the royal shrouds.  These royal shrouds also secure the top end of the monkey rope in place.  Three blocks will eventually be seized to the mast at this location, giving additional security to the top end of the monkey rope, and this end of the rope will not be clipped off until those blocks are in place. 
 
Now several pictures, somewhat random order.







Next will be sheerpoles seized to the bottoms of the topmast shrouds, and then there is something else. . . oh yes, ratlines!
 

Just a quick little update. I really didn't like the edges of the Plexiglas case so I took some copper tape and wrapped it around the edges. I think it looks much better.

Thanks cleat and Popeye. This was a fun little project despite the issues with the mahogany. Adding the name to the back was a small project in itself. The first round of decals I made up didn't show at all on the hull. I was going for some fancy gold lettering but the printer just couldn't get it dark enough. For the second attempt I tried white letters which again did not show up well. I finally made some decals with black letters that did show up. The logos are also done in black so they can be seen. I used a product called Micro Set to place the decals and they looked pretty good, but then I tried a product called Micro Sol that was supposed to make them set even better. It did the opposite and bubbled up the decals and made them very soft so that trying the flatten them messed them up even more. So I took those off, made another set and placed them with just the Micro Set. They are not as nice as I would have liked but they will do.
 
Here are some pics of the completed model, and I will add some more to the gallery. Now before you think I am too narcissistic, my screen name actually came from the name of my first full size power boat. I had always had sailboats before that so I was more "used to sail" than I was power. So I had to name my first power boat model the same.

Happy Easter.
 
I glued the seat bottoms into the cockpits and started adding the seat backs. The forward cockpit was fine, but in the middle and rear cockpits the balsa bulkhead was showing above the seat backs. I could have just painted them black to hide them but instead I used some left over mahogany from the deck sheet and the openings from the balsa sheet for those bulkheads to make two mahogany filler pieces to fit behind the seat backs. I cut these out and sanded them until they fit, then finished them the same as the rest of the cockpit mahogany pieces. Here the middle cockpit piece is in place and you can see the rear piece on the deck and the bulkhead piece that it will cover.

I then glued in the seat backs and it here is how it looks.

The next steps are to add the cut water and the rub rails. I started treating the plastic trim for the rub rails with the black and chrome spray I used on the other plastic pieces.

It starting to get there...

I finished planking the sides of the hull and have started planking the bottom. Here is the port side with a little sanding. Underneath, you can see the first of the bottom planks along the keel. Most of the bottom will be planked with full width planks, trimmed along the edges at the chine.

I have started the hull planking using the mahogany planks that came with the kit. The instructions say that there are plenty but by my calculation I have exactly enough if I don't screw any up, which I already have. Luckily I have mahogany sheets that I can use to cut more planks, which I will use on the bottom. I started my gluing a plank along each chine, leaving enough over the chine so that they will overlap the bottom planks. I am now planking up from those planks to the deck. After measuring off the hull I trim each plank to the width at the marked lines. I made a jig from two pieces of aluminum angle and some thumb screws for a previous build to hold the planks while I use a small plane to trim them. After the planks are trimmed I taper the cut side and curve the bow end with a plank bender to fit the curve at the bow. For the last few planks near the deck I also need to edge bend them slightly which I am using Chuck's method of clamping around a form and heating with a heat gun. So far so good but there are a few minor gaps that I will need to fill with wood glue and saw dust, mostly on the port side.

So I had a major set back today. After more sanding of the deck I was noticing that in some areas the sanding was introducing gaps and splinters in the joints. Also, there were some areas where there were deep gouges in the mahogany that when sanded out made the deck much too thin. So I made the decision to remove the planked decking and replace it with the kit supplied deck, which, except for the absence of the white caulking, looks pretty good. I am not happy that I had to remove the planked deck, but I am not unhappy with the kit suppled deck either.  I used medium CA and rubber bands to hold the deck to the hull while the glue dried.

The cockpit openings fit perfectly over the cockpits and the rest of the deck fit really well too. I had to trim some of the balsa under the deck so that the side planking fits underneath it, but only in a few areas. I used an X-Acto knife and flat scraper to trim the balsa.

You can see in the above picture that even the supplied deck has some gouges along the port side. I do not want to try to sand these out because that will sand through the deck lines, so I am only going to give this a sanding with medium and fine sandpaper. I am coming to hate mahogany for modeling. The supplied mahogany planks for the hull were also pretty rough, so I ran all of them through the thickness sander to clean up one side. I only took off about .004" but they look much better on that side. The edges are also pretty bad so I need to clean those up as I fit the planks. I now need to measure off the sides and bottom so I know how the plank widths need to be tapered to fit.
 

So here are some pictures of the sanding of the front deck. Here the starboard side is sanded down.
And here is the deck with both sides sanded. This is still rough and needs to be leveled out but the caulking is now showing the way I want. This was done with a sanding disk in a Dremel tool but now I will finish it with a sanding block.
Still a lot more to go but I know I can get there eventually. Remember the outside edges will get sanded to shape when I plank the sides of the hull.