Blue Ensign

Unless we can go back in time to 1775, we shall never fully know the reasoning behind the onboard arrangements on a British Naval ship. Trying to equate 18th c practice with modern health and safety concepts is a pointless exercise. Sailors of any age are if anything practical and I’m content to accept that they knew what they were doing. Historical evidence does confirm that such screens were in use, whether we as modern model makers choose to display them or not. B.E.

She certainly has presence Ron, I don’t think you will have trouble achieving that "Wow. That really is a big, beautiful boat. It looks so real." accolade. I think the resin Yawl can be made to look natural, and I see that Chris has moulded the thwart supports onto the hull. Always a tricky business getting those right on a small boat. Dressed with Pear or Box fittings, I think it would certainly look the part. What a great choice of small boats Chris has now provided. B.E.

This has also puzzled me as well, between the Riding Bitts and the Galley stove there is barely room for doors to open. On my Pegasus build which has the same situation I fitted the cants on the deck into which the Forecastle bulkhead fitted (Including the Galley Doors) but left off the bulkhead as it obscured the view beneath the Foc’sle. None of my reference books indicate why the doors were there only that they were a feature. The bulkhead obviously provided weather protection/security but why not place the doors either side of the stove in the bulkhead. There are many such questions that bedevil us of the 21st century, but those of the 18th century no doubt had their reasons. I am prepared to leave it at that and get on with the model building. B.E.

Cheers Guys, for your interest and supportive comments, much appreciated. @ - Bug - One of the great things about MSW is the information about stuff useful for our hobby. I picked up the reference about VMS elsewhere on the forum as I have done with so much else. @ Ron – heat shrink tubing comes in all sizes and I bought a box of short length mixed diameters many years ago. It is very useful for the iron bands on anchor stocks, and around the tops of things like Swivel gun posts. I’ve painted the columns ochre at present, as I intend to do for the rest of the decoration, using different shades to bring out the relief. I’m likely to be re-visiting the finish a fair few times. The Figure of the Sphinx at the Bow will also be painted in shades of Ochre. I took this approach with the rather wonderful figure of Pegasus on the model of that name. For this I used Artists oils I prefer the look, and the Marshall Painting indicates this even if in reality some figures may have been painted in colours, but that’s a whole different subject. @ Glenn - I tend to use slightly undersize tubing for the task, stretch it a little, and then heat shrink it. If it proves uncooperative I sometimes put a tiny spot of ca beneath and manipulate into position. B.E.

Post Sixty-nine Stern Facia and Upper Counter Major items of photo etch come into use next, the Window frames and decorative columns of the stern and Quarter Galleries. These require priming and painting, but before that they were given a good scrub with washing up liquid using an old electric toothbrush head. The painting will take place with the parts still attached to the fret, both for ease of handling and security. For priming I am using VMS Metal prep4k. This dries clear on the surface which is a bonus as I am using light colours. I considered whether to paint the window frames white as per the kit or a shade of Yellow ochre. Most contemporary models don’t show white window frames, and I think they may be a little stark for the effect I’m after. An ochrery shade it will be. 2417(2) The frames are painted with Vallejo Ochre Brown (127) It was also used on the other decorations highlighted with Yellow Ochre(121) The stern of Sphinx is highly decorated both in kit and contemporary painting. Artistic license no doubt, not reflected on the actual ship, but as I’m giving a nod to those 18th century models, I am happy to include it, but gold paint will not feature on the palette. 2416 The acetate windows (or lights) are fettled to fit without removing the protective cover, and are then fixed into place. Gluing in clear acetate always makes me nervous. I wear surgical gloves and use plastic tweezers for handling. I ensure there is a snug fit of the panes into the recess and use spots of Vallejo Matt Acrylic varnish applied with the point of a toothpick. 2432 Even so the window ‘glass’ always seem to to have a degree of smearing, which I remove using a moistened electronics wipe folded over a rounded stick The window frames follow; these really are finely crafted with beautifully scaled window bars. Careful handling is required once removed from the fret, any trace of the fret nubs is filed away, and I don’t handle the pieces with bare hands. 2438(2) Again tiny spots of Vallejo varnish are applied to the frame edges only and the piece is pressed into place. 2443 I hope it is sufficient to hold, and I suspect Capt. Grim is thinking the same. 2458 Finally in this section the stern column panel is secured in place. I found this quite tricky to do getting all the columns in the right position before the ca sets. 2455(2) Checking out the fit of the resin Tafferel, I will have more thought on this in my next post. I have reduced the use of red on the stern. The Cove was traditionally painted red on the sterns of British ships but I painted the secondary arches containing the stylised Eagles with a blue ground as per the Marshall painting. I’m quite pleased and relieved that the blue paint tones in nicely with the ground of the printed stern decoration. Work on the stern continues. B.E. 24/01/22

Just a curiosity Ron, I have seen inverted boats on 19th c Clippers but never seen one as I recall on an 18th century warship. Is this just a bit of artistic licence on your part? that clinker finish on the Yawl does look good tho'. ps: I like the finish on your mast tops, very nice effect. B.E.

Looks good to my eye Doug.👍 B.E.

Thank you Jason, it was pre-sealed with Artists fixative, but it will stand a coat of w-o-p without any issues. The rails were designed with the curve designed in, courtesy of Mr Watton, no effort needed by me. B.E.

Post Sixty-eight Dressing the lower counter With the rudder hung I can attend to the lower counter, something I have been looking forward to. Many contemporary models of this era, or in this case a painting of Sphinx by Joseph Marshall 1775, show a classical painted design on the Lower counter, far beyond my artistic capabilities. In the spirit of the style, and with the permission of Chuck, I am using a printed classical design from the Winchelsea model kit, modified to suit Sphinx. The print has been scaled to fit and modified to include the two stern ports which are merely outlined on the print with the addition of the hinges. 2397 The lower counter rails have been fitted, and also the stern port hinges, at this point painted only with a surface primer. 2403 2413 Not entirely sure at this stage how I will finish the lower finishing piece of the Quarter Gallery. 2411(2) I think I have achieved the result I had envisaged, so the next stage is to attend to the transom and the Upper counter. B.E. 22/01/22

Post Sixty-Seven Rudder Fitting (Part Two) In recent times I have preferred to use the Syren laserboard representations of the rudder pintle and brace straps rather than etched brass kit versions. With rudder straps it is so easy to mar the blackened surface when fitting to rudder and hull on an uncoppered or unpainted hull. 5434(2) To my eye the Laserboard is realistic looking and saves the time as well as patience taken up in chemically blackening the brass etch. 2336 A coat of W-O-P is applied to the rudder to finish it off, and the bolt heads will be represented by blobs of pva. 2363(2) At the Rudder head are a set of iron hoops; for these I use my old standby of Heat shrink tubing which gives a fair representation of iron work, certainly at this scale. 2324 During the fitting of the rudder my eye kept being drawn to a gap between the top of the sternpost and the tiller which looked a little too large. 2328 I added a small section of Pearwood atop the stern post, and my eye at least is now satisfied. I would have been less concerned if I were adding a Rudder coat but on this unfinished hull it would look a little incongruous. 2329 The Gudgeons are now painted black to represent the ironwork. 2349 With the rudder in place, I use tape to mark the line of the Gudgeon straps on the hull, before gluing in place. 2351 This is also a convenient time to prepare the Horseshoes, Fishplates, and spectacle plate. 2344(2) I used the brass etched pieces for these which are chemically blackened. Always useful to have some blackened pins to hand. 2366(2) I have started to feather the stern planking into the lower counter and tidy up the line. A moulding strip will cover this. The next stage will be to add the lower counter decoration and fix the moulding rails. B.E. 21/01/22

Not so much the drill bit Tony, the smallest of pin vises prevents level drilling. The best that can be done is to have the micro drill as long it will extend and drill as close to the outer edge as possible without splitting it. The drill is then worked at an angle to enlarge the hole slightly and the pin is ca'd in. An alternative method and more authentic would be to cut a wedge out of the top of the pintle recess and glue in a piece with the pin already inserted. I didn't want to risk wrecking the rudder so I opted for the simple approach. Fortunately it worked and I now have a swinging rudder. Regards, B.E.

Suffice to say Mark, there will be no gold paint on my Sphinx. B.E.

A nice little package arrived today courtesy of Chuck. 14 days delivery from U.S.A. which given the current disruptions I think is pretty good. I have had stuff from Syren arrive in 7 days. The wheel is very close to the dimensions of the brass etch wheel provided in the kit, and I prefer a Boxwood version. I also loved the look of the stern lanterns as I fitted on my Pegasus build. I finally couldn't resist the Winchelsea Stove kit which will eventually join the Capstan kit within the case for the completed Sphinx. I love receiving ship modelling stuff in the post.🙂 B.E.

Not sure what question you're answering Bruce, Bob's question was about vises, an intriguing device nevertheless. B.E.

Sorry Bob, I've mislead you, relying on memory. Mine is the one with the bench edge clamp, it has a slot to fit the clamp into. I've had it so long, and I've never used the clamp so I'd forgotten it was there. I dare say if I could remember where the box is I would find the clamp inside.🙄 It is the nicest and most useful small vice I have, I used it extensively building the Pinnace for my Pegasus build. The slot for the clamp can be seen here. B.E.

Hi Bob, the vise doesn’t have a suction base but It is heavy and I haven’t found it necessary to clamp it down for the stuff I do. I particularly like the adjustable head angle, great for working on small parts. Cheers, B.E.

Post Sixty-six Looking at the Rudder. This is a nicely formed piece with pre-drilled holes for the straps. It is faced by patterns that display the sections that would normally make up a rudder. The blurb at section 251 mentions as an option slightly tapering the rudder before adding the facings. (see plan sheet 14) 2265 The rudder should be tapered toward the aft and down the vertical. The inner edges should also be chamfered to assist with movement of the rudder. I used the plan taper as a template to guide the sanding. Bearing in mind there are two extra mm added to the width of the rudder by the addition of the facing patterns, I think there is somewhat more tapering required than indicated. I also slightly tapered the inner sides of the facing patterns. The result should be that the rudder matches the taper of the stern post. 2277(2) With the rudder assembled I had a decision to make; either to go with the faux gudgeon/pintle set-up of the kit or use Chuck’s Syren gudgeon and pintle mini kits which allow the rudder to turn and is more authentic. 2271(2) The kit version using combined pintle/gudgeon etched profiles do provide a quick and simple answer to rudder fitting but lack authenticity. The Gudgeons are properly solid cast pieces with a hole drilled for the pintles. 5434 The Syren method reflects this using shaped Boxwood blanks. They are designed for 1:48 scale but can be reduced in size to suit. With the rudder temporarily taped in place the top line of the Gudgeons are marked on the Sternpost. 5436 They are glued to the sternpost and a length of brass tubing is fed thro’ all of the holes in the gudgeons to check that the set up is central to the sternpost. They are then carefully sanded and filed to shape and scale. 5430 Testing the fit of the rudder to the Gudgeons. The pintle straps need to sit at a level with the top of the Gudgeons. The Pintles are easier to represent by simply inserting a pin in the recess in the rudder. 2302(2) I say easier but it is quite tricky drilling holes in the upper faces of the pintle recesses keeping the pin sufficiently square to fit in the corresponding Gudgeon. 2297(2) I don’t fit the pins in sequence; I start with the lower one and check, then one of the higher ones, and check, and proceed from there fitting each pin and fettlin’ it to fit. 2309 They should slide into the gudgeons without much pressure, otherwise the gudgeons may become detached from the sternpost. There should be close fit between rudder and sternpost, as close as possible, whilst allowing movement. 2313 One advantage of this system is that that the rudder can be unshipped. 2319 2317(2) Hanging a rudder is one of the rites of passage in ship modelling and I would suggest that doing it in the traditional manner should be tried at least once. In Part Two I will complete the rudder. B.E. 19/01/22

I consider myself lucky then Chris that I only have one shade to deal with, and on this model at least there is no weathering involved. Regards, B.E.

Great result Bug.👍 B.E.

As Grant says a blob of pva is a good option for the knob, I used that for the swivels on my Alert build. Also good for replicating bolt heads on rudder braces etc; B.E.

Great looking masts Ron, and excellent photographs. B.E.

Cheers Guys, @ Bug, - I tend to just use hand held on auto macro settings sometimes with flash or supplementary lighting. As long as they sufficiently impart what I’m trying to get over it’s good enough for me for general w-i-p photos. @ David, - thanks for looking in, and for the link, interesting stuff. In the case of the Sphinx build, painting of the topsides and other areas will take place over several weeks with additional touch -ins subsequently. For that reason, I have decanted the mix into a small paint pot. The transom decoration is pre-printed ‘borrowed’ from Chuck’s Winchelsea build. My artistic talents are unfortunately not up to recreating that level of decoration by hand. @ Ron, - unfortunately the cook has run and the Purser is thought to be ashore arguing with the Victualling Board rep. @ Glenn, - it was kind of Chuck to modify the Upper counter frieze with the Sphinx name, a much better representation than I achieved. Just held on with double sided tape at present but I will eventually use a smear of pva. It will eventually be fitted in conjunction with the top and bottom rails. I do have several sets printed off to allow for any cock-ups. For the colour I just played around with the basic formula for creating a Turquoise shade tending towards the blue spectrum rather than the green. Regards, B.E.

Post Sixty-five A question of colour. The time is approaching where I need to decide whether I am going to use the printed decoration on the Upper and lower counters, so kindly modified for me by Chuck. 2235(5) The patterns were scaled to size, printed on best setting, and sealed with Artists fixative. The ground to the printed pieces is a pastel shade of Turquoise with elements of Blue/green. I need to produce a paint mix that is a good match to the printed elements, and to this end I am using Vallejo acrylic paints. 2236 After a some time of trial and error I finally produced a mix that will I hope suffice. 2248(2) The mix contains 1:1 ratio of Prussian Blue and Tan Yellow with added drops of White and Pastel Blue. Sufficient has been produced to hopefully complete the model. 2253 The only point of contact between paper and paint will be the Quarter Gallery Berthing pieces, and these have been given a preliminary coat for test purposes. 2254 Always difficult trying to represent colours on photo’s, and my eye has to be the final arbiter on the actual model. I think I can work with this and tweak the shade as necessary. One other minor paint job completed, that of the ‘brick’ base on which the stove sits. 2261 This was painted with Vallejo Hull red ( which looks brown) over-washed with a red ochre, and finished with a dry brush using Vallejo Light slate grey weathering powder. I thought this would provide a nice contrast to the ‘iron’ stove. I think it is now time to attend to the rudder and progress the stern completion. B.E. 17/01/22

I know your game Bug, just testing us to see if we’re paying attention.😉 B.E.

I think you have the Catheads the wrong way up Bug, the angled end should be deck down to provide the stive to the Cathead. B.E.