Blue Ensign

It looks like Algo Rithm has developed critical judgement of photos and is rejecting any it doesn’t like.😳 I found that Glenn, if I fiddled around with the photo in photo editing, it may eventually accept it. I hope it doesn’t decide my logs are not worthy and summarily removes them😬 B.E.

Post Fifty-four Completing the Great Cabin. The cills are made using 0.8mm x 6mm Pearwood strip. 1832 The unused seat pattern (198) made a good template for cutting the cill to fit between the frames. 1838(2) The slots were cut out on the scroll saw. 1835 Fitting was a case of slowly adjusting the slots to fit. 1841 The process went far more smoothly than I dared hope. 1846 The bulwarks have been given the w-o-p treatment and I’m still not sure whether to paint the panelling with an ivory tone. Also wracked with indecision about the kit provided ‘parquet’ flooring or use of the alternative b/w chequer. 1845 This I can defer until I see how things look between the Qtr deck beams. The Gallery doors present something of a problem, I removed these when I modified the Qtr Galleries, and the question is how or whether to refit them. I don’t think Chuck fitted doors to the Quarter Galleries of Winchelsea. The doors are engraved on one side only, are not square, and if to be displayed open need reversing to show the patterns. If hinged on the left they open against the bench arrangement, and either way they open onto the spirketting and deck clamps. Another feature that I can’t get my head around and I’ll leave them off for the present. The port linings and inner bulwarks have been painted; careful masking of the port surrounds is required to avoid getting paint on the ‘bright’ outer planking. 1850(2) Tedious business this, using a fine brush and not too thin a paint mix to decrease the risk of bleed. I note that Chuck leaves the inside edges of the planking around the ports clear of paint, an arrangement I followed on my Cheerful build. I do like this effect, but it is not one reflected on many contemporary models and I think I would struggle to replicate it on the 1:64 scale Sphinx. 1867 1861 1859 1857(2) Four months into the build and I am now ready to set out the centre line deck fittings. B.E. 21/12/21

Recently when I upload a series of photos for my log, the system seems to randomly fail to upload some of the photos stating 'unknown error'/ error code 200. There is nothing unusual in these photos, file size for instance. Any thoughts? B.E.

Cheers Guys, @Mark - I think you’re probably right Mark, the section plan in the Pandora book shows the bench set up higher on a step but that arrangement didn’t transfer well to the Sphinx model. @ Kirby – I started looking into Greek mythology for suitable depictions when I remodelled the Pegasus stern decoration, there were far more characters to play with in that tale. @ Thomas – You can’t go far wrong following Chuck’s example.🙂 Regards, B.E.

Post Fifty-three The Great Cabin flat pack assembly continues. I faffed around with the octagonal style cover but couldn’t get it to sit right with my eye. With the kit set-up the Rudder head position throws the cover too far backwards when the forward edge at least should meet the deck edge. To achieve this the cover would have to be too broad and not fit between the stern frames as required. This also has implications for subsequently fitting the rudder and seating the rudder head within the cover. Back to basics I considered the purpose of the fittings; to give a reasonably realistic impression as viewed obliquely and from above thro’ the Quarterdeck beams. With that in mind I have opted to follow Chuck’s lead. A rectangular cover masks the actual line of the rudder head and provides a clean line to set the benches against. The cover is fashioned from some Pear sheet, and decorated with some ebony strip, and a depiction of a Greek sphinx. Very keen on Greek mythology were the Georgians, altho’ the Sphinx is a far less attractive subject than the rather elegant Pegasus. Both winged creatures, but I wouldn’t fancy meeting this Woman/lion/Raptor combo, who delighted in tearing humans limb from limb if they couldn’t answer her bloody questions. Still one young likely lad who went by the name of Oedipus did indeed answer her riddle correctly, and in a fit of pique, Sphinx threw herself from a cliff and smashed on the rocks below . Fortunately, a fate not shared by the ship named for her. Still I digress. 1816 Trial fit of the cover, I basically followed Chuck’s method, without the luxury of laser cut parts. 1826 The benches are fitted each side of the cover. Fairly straightforward using Pear strips of 6mm and 10mm widths. 1829 I use scale figures to set the fittings at the right height. I find that such figures do aid the setting up of these things. 1830 The distance between the bench tops and stern Window cills is around a scale 4½ feet, which seems a little high to me, the Captain would have to stand on the bench top to see out of the stern windows. The cills and the Gallery doors are yet to be fitted, then the area can be cleaned up. B.E. 19/12/21

Post Fifty-two Great Cabin modification With the Qtr galleries now in place I can move onto an area of the build that excites my interest, the fitting out of the Great cabin. Chris’s design lends itself to this type of Navy Board style conversion, but is perhaps less relevant if the Qtr deck is to planked over and the model fully rigged. Having said that I would probably have done it anyway. Again I will be using Chuck’s Winchelsea example as a guide. This shot from Chuck’s wonderful build shows a typical arrangement altho’ with Sphinx the head is octagonal and of smaller proportions. There are drawings of the Rudder cover and bench arrangements in the Pandora book, good for dimensions, but not a good fit for layout. The first task is to create the internal framing to support the cill and internal horizontal planking. 1794 Small sections of 4x4mm square stock are used for this and fit between the vertical stern framing just below the window frames. For the internal planking I am using 4mm x 0.8mm Pearwood. Strip. 1798 This continues down the stern frames to the deck allowing for the rudder head space and cover. I have cut the octagon shaped cover from a section of square stock Walnut, hollowed out to fit over the rudder head. The octagonal Rudder Head cover, which scales to a diameter of 30” (12mm) and a height of 35.3” (14mm) sits between the central stern frames. 1804 1807 I am constrained in the actual positioning of the cover by the position of the Rudder head and stern post, and this will ultimately determine the layout of the bench and other fittings. 1800 I think I am likely to have more than one nibble at producing the cover, my preference is for Boxwood with Pearwood mouldings. 1808 If I can’t get the Octagonal cover to work I may have to follow Chuck’s example of a rectangular box which would give me more leeway. Before I do further work on the cover I need to see about the bench arrangement. The bench seat scales to a depth of 15” (6mm) and a height of 20” (8mm) Without a formal plan to work to a lot of trial and error will be involved, and I expect to be faffing around with this set-up for a while yet. B.E. 17/12/21

The Bellona model is the one I recall as having the stop, wonderful craftsmanship, and if it’s good enough for the artists of the time............. B.E.

If before you re-glue the patterns you pin and use a few clamps to hold the patterns in position you can then run a tape directly below the patterns which will give you the line, and an immediate visual check when you come to glue them in place.. B.E.

Post Fifty-one Port Linings – again. I am using 0.6mm Boxwood strip for the purpose. The cills are the easy bit, the side pieces with their angles not so. 1751(2) A card template was made to cut the sides from 10mm wide boxwood strip. Each side needing final sanding and fitting, forty-four pieces in total, quite a time consuming business, and not a very exciting one. Waiting for the replacement Quarter Gallery part to arrive gave me the impetus to get stuck in. 1757 Fitting in progress, to my eye the ports look better lined. 1790 It has taken 3 days to complete the fit, but the tricky part remains of painting the linings without marking the topsides planking. 1781 Cleaning up the inside bulwarks. A specifically designed sanding stick was required to avoid catching the spirketting and deck clamps whilst smoothing off the inboard linings. In reality the Quick-works should extend over the inboard linings but having used the pre-cut inboard bulwark patterns this option was not available. 1787 I will leave any further work on the linings for the present, as the replacement gallery window patterns have arrived, (thanks Chris) and I can now complete the Starboard Quarter gallery. B.E. 14/12/21

Me too Glenn, We know the dates when names were introduced on the sterns,(1771) we know when the arrangement changed from small letters in a cartouche, to large as possible. (1772) We know they were always painted, never raised block lettering, and that Keppel had the names scrubbed out on his fleet in 1778, during the period of that year. .... but why the stop, yet another of the myriad of questions constantly buzzing around my head that I don't have the answer to. B.E. ps. I note that Marshall in his painting of Sphynx in 1775 did not include her name on counter.

Fine little model the Fifie, I found it a pleasure to build, I’m sure you will too. B.E.

Thank you Mark, I will apply the fixative before I attach them to the model. The beauty of print your own is you have endless goes at the process. 😊 B.E.

It is such a damn tricky business getting the paint lines right, drives me mad at times, spend hours doing countless re-touch ups. I'm sure you will get there in the end Mark. 👍 B.E.

I was keen this morning to see how Chuck’s magic looked on Sphinx. I am not disappointed. 1763 1762 The arrangement will be enhanced once the decorative rails are applied top and bottom of the counters. 1768 Before the final pieces are applied I will lightly spray with artists fixative which may slightly change the colour. I will need to create a paint mix close to the final tone for areas where background painting is required, but that’s a way ahead. Thank you so much Chuck, what an asset you are to the ship modelling community. 👏 B.E.

My plan is to just use the printed paper strips a method often used on contemporary models, and as used on Chuck's Winchelsea to great effect. I believe at some time in the future Chris is thinking about a decal version for use on his models, but I doubt that will be in the time frame of my build. Cheers, B.E.

Hi Kirby. Generally, and particularly on small ships like Sphinx the frieze work and counter decoration would be painted, but often in a style to represent carved work. In reality such painting would be very limited on small ships, and probably not present at all. Actual Carved work of varying degrees was applied to the stern facias particularly on prestige ships, but even this reduced significantly as the 18th century moved towards the early 19th century. I think there was a fair bit of artistic licence used by artists and contemporary model makers, to impress potential funders of the real thing, but they probably all knew that the Navy Board put strict limits on how much they would pay for such decorations. The budget got tighter and tighter as the American and French wars dragged on. Sphinx as painted by Joseph Marshall, shows her highly decorated with a Blue ground to the frieze and counter work, it makes a very nice looking model. In reality the blue work officially should be black, but I am happy to follow the Marshall example. B.E.

Wow Chuck, thank you so much, that is brilliant. I can’t wait to scale and print one off tomorrow. Thank you John, I wasn’t aware of the Photoshop option, my version is very old (2013), but it looks like Chuck has done the business. B.E.

Nice modification Bug, it looks spot on. 👍 B.E.

Thank you Guys for your supportive comments. @ Ron – early days but I will probably go for something like Baskerville old face, based on a style originally developed in 1766. I would aim for a slightly less strong colour contrast with the lettering, but all this is in the future. B.E.

Wishing you a swift recovery Mark, hope things go well. B.E.

Post Fifty. Completing the Galleries. Now is the time it will become apparent whether my meddling has adversely affected the proper lie of the window and berthing patterns. 1696 Starting with the inner window pattern. I have worked on the basis of keeping the frame unaltered and running along the top line flush with the top of the frame. I am using pva for this fixing to give me time for minor adjustments to the position. The outer pattern is checked for fit before the inner sets. I was always expecting to have to do a fair amount of fettlin’ as I had gone off piste with the gallery construction, and so it came to pass. The day didn’t start well, the dog ate one of the outer window patterns another split during fitting, and the back edge of the assembly seemed to overhang the stern facia by 1mm, almost certainly due to my fiddling with the frames. Not an unsurmountable issue as I will fix a work-around. The Berthing piece is a short strong section of Pearwood that should follow the curve of the pattern (45c). I felt the need to soak this piece and shape using the pattern I no longer needed as a former. 1694 In the end I scratch made the Berthing patterns to better fit my build. The Berthing was pinned over this former and left overnight. On the subject of Berthing patterns I had some discussion with James about which way around they were fitted. 1700(2) It would seem that the end with the broader angle (on the right here) fits at the stern end and butts against the Upper counter. As the decorative mouldings follow the relative lines top and bottom around the stern counter and gallery this makes sense. So, the basic portside gallery is completed. 1721(2) 1722 1720 My purpose in undertaking this modification is to bring a sense of light and element of depth to the Quarter Galleries rather than a dead black space behind the lights. Opening up the doorway and the absence of planking on the Quarterdeck will fully achieve this. 1730 Rather than use the provided Upper counter outer pattern I planked the counter with individual Pear strips. I don’t intend to use the etched brass lettering on the counter and I didn’t want the pre marked positions limiting my choices. 1745 A little more work is required on the lower finishing piece where it meets the wale but overall I am fairly satisfied thus far. 1731(2) 1732(2) 1733(2) I’ll leave this aspect of work until I receive the replacement window part for the Starboard Gallery. In the meantime it’s back to port lining, at least with the outer Topsides patterns now in place it is easier to see how the linings should sit. B.E. 10/12/21

That's a generous thought Bob, but he applies Spaniel rules - if it hits the floor, it's mine. I live in fear of stuff dropping off the bench that may harm him. My biggest fear are needles and scalpel blades, he's had both. Unable to find a missing needle one day I had to take him to the Vets for an x-ray. I dropped him off, returned home to find the needle on the kitchen floor- he had had it. That episode cost me the price of a medium sized kit, I'm now paranoid about needle and blade control. B.E.

Sabotage in the Dockyard ……..and things were going so well. Until Mrs W arrives and asks is this something to do with you? 1698(2) I had minutes earlier been searching my bench and floor for a missing Window pattern. 4447 The face says it all, and the perpetrator is confined to Quarters for the present. So unless I can prevail upon Chris to supply a replacement I will have to fashion one from some scrap, and I was hoping to complete the Galleries today. Hey Ho B.E.

1761, and nope there are two. B.E.

In my own defence I merely followed the arrangement on the contemporary model Lowestoft, but as I wasn't there at the time I simply can't confirm. B.E.