Blue Ensign

A fine planking job you've done there Glenn, Boxwood is my preferred wood for ship models, even with a bit of shade variation. B.E.

I think Glenn and me are in accord on this one, Jacek. Cutting the legs would introduce a weak point, and could subtly affect the angles Different approach for show deck stuff, but sufficient for the lower deck. Cheers, B.E.

Post Eight Upper deck supports A couple of the support beam legs needed a little fettlin’ to get them to sit right down on the Bulkhead shoulder. This only entailed sanding the leg bottoms by degrees until the beam was firmly down. Depending on what arrangement I finally decide upon there may be a glimpse of the upper deck support beam legs. In reality these are shaped columns and for those that may be seen thro’ the upper deck openings a little shaping is in order above coaming level. 0235(2) This relates to support legs 4a thro’ to 10a. Dry fit only at this point. 0237(2) There is a risk of breaking the mdf legs so the shaping process was done very carefully using scalpel and light sanding strokes. 0229 Upper deck base temporarily in place. 0227 Whatever remains to be seen will link the two decks in a more realistic manner, all about smoke and mirrors below the Upper deck. 0231(2) The shipyard is now closing for a week or so while I spend some time at the coast. B.E. 01/09/21

I remember those breast rails, tricky little beggars to fit, well done Richard. 👍 B.E.

If I were masting and rigging the model, and not cutting away more than the existing unplanked areas, i would say it is not really worth the effort. B.E.

Post Seven Gunport patterns These fitted perfectly in the slots altho’ there was a little spring in the patterns which gave me cause to think about the diluted glue joint brushing approach. I did it, but light clamping was required for several of the slots. TheY feel very delicate and soft hands are required to fit them, whilst ensuring the rails fully fit into the slots. 03902(2) To my annoyance the port side extension at the top end of Bulkhead 12 came away. (It’s the one with the yellow tape on it) Nowt to do wi’ me Gov, I swear it fell off on its own accord; re-glued, but it remains to be seen what subsequent stresses it will be subject to. With the rails in place the hull is beginning to look the part and with the glue set it is now a rigid structure. Still need to be careful with those bulkhead extensions in the Quarter deck area. 03903 Finally, I removed the infill from Bulkhead 13. I took this very slowly and ensured that I could slip a scalpel blade between infill and bulkhead before I applied any pressure. Fitting out the Lower Deck I will be using the provided coaming/grating sets for the lower deck; they will only ever be viewed from above once the upper deck is fitted. I note that there is no round-up to the head ledges, which appears to follow some of the drawings in the AotS book on Pandora. Some of the general isometric and deck plan drawings in the book also show picture frame corner joints to the coamings, hmmn. 🤔 The cross section drawings do appear to show a round up, so this is an area I will re-visit when I get to the Upper deck fittings. The Pearwood Laser cut coamings are cleanly cut, remember to apply glue to the top half of each set, helps to keep glue off the grating rebate. 0197 The gratings are accurately cut and are a perfect fit to the coamings. At this point I can also add the ladders down to the Platforms. I had run out of generic ladder sets and considered buying and converting the Pearwood set supplied for Speedy. 0190(2) Chris was kind enough to knock me a set out from earlier Sphinx plans he had when he considered fitting out the ladderways. He does not intend to generally include these as separate fittings but will supply them on request. (He tells me) 0194(2) 0201(2) 0205 Fore hatchway 0213(2) I will leave the Fore lower deck hatch open. 0209 There will be a view of the Fore Platform down thro’ the Upper and lower decks and it will enhance the impression of a fully fitted out model. 0206 Aft hatchway. 0210 Here the grating will remain in place as it sits below the Capstan, and there is no open space below it. Less will be seen of this ladderway as the Upper deck ladderway sits above it. B.E. 31/08/21

Hi Bob, The sanders I use are made by Model Craft, are spring loaded and come in various sizes. Being angled at one end and round at the other they are useful for fairing hulls. B.E.

Post Six Stern and bow patterns. I wasn’t too keen on working the bow and stern patterns off-model, particularly the stern. As it happens, for the bow pattern the off-model option was removed; unlike the bow pattern bulkhead which wouldn’t shift after fitting the patterns. It slid on ok and I was careful not to allow glue onto the keel, but move it would not and I had the nightmare vision of snapping the false keel which at only 3mm wide and quite long is very vulnerable at this stage. So, on-model fairing it will be. For preliminary fairing of the stern pattern I am using 10mm and 20mm Finger sanders, initially with coarse grade paper. It is worth slipping a couple of lengths of waste strip from the keel fret between the stern patterns to support them during sanding, particularly parts 24. One of mine fell off during sanding, probably due to insufficient glue used to avoid sticking it to the keel. 3816(2) So, this is as far as I felt comfortable with off-model fairing. 3825(2) 3819(2) 3826(2) All Bulkheads glued into place now. 3812 Only been four days and look at the state of my working area, think I need a general tidy up. B.E. 28/08/21

Post Five Aft platform modification This involves cutting away a section of the false keel between bulkheads 9 and 10. 3805 I have restricted this to the area covered by the ladderway only, the hatchway is grated and covered by the Upper deck capstan. I used a section of unused maple decking from my Zulu build for the platform, sufficient for the purpose. 3802 Checking the level. 3808(2) The aft ladderway down to the platform from the Lower deck is almost directly below the Aft Ladderway on the Upper deck, so that ladder will probably obscure most of the view down to the Aft Platform, but I'll know it's there.😀 Time to get back to the main event. B.E. 27/08/21

Yes it can, I detailed my approach in my Pegasus log - Page 9 post 246, Here's a link to Chuck's Cheerful instructions where he used the same system Chapter-Thirteen.pdf (syrenshipmodelcompany.com) Give it a go, nothing to lose except some printer ink. B.E.

Hi Jacek, look up BECC Model flags, I think they have EU Stockists. Have you thought of printing your own using Modelspan tissue, gives a far better scale appearance. B.E.

Well done Glenn, great photos of the bow/stern off- model fairing process. 👍 B.E.

Thank you Phil, they are nice little projects, and don't take up hardly any room at all 🙂 B.E.

Post Four Creating a Ladderway This post involves modifying things to create a Fore hatch ladderway on the Lower deck down to the Fore Platform. This is not for the faint hearted as it involves cutting Bulkhead 4 in half and trimming the false keel. 3716 The bulkhead is halved, and the centre section is removed. 3718 The short keel piece sticking up in the centre will also be removed. 3719 A test check of the Ladderway with the lower deck in place. 3723 Bulkhead 5 is glued into place along with the Fore Platform. 3722 The lower deck is temporarily refitted to hold the bulkhead in place until the glue sets. 3753 Bulkhead 4 halves are glued into place against the False keel and forward connections of the Platform. 3747 Bracing blocks are glued to the lower part of the bulkhead and the keel. 3725 The Lower deck was again put back to square the bulkheads. 3755 The completed area opened up. 3735 3752 A ladder can now be installed once the hatchway coamings are fitted. Onto the stern Ladderway and Aft Platform, which is a less dramatic modification. B.E. 26/08/21

Well Chris, at least you have provided a run through upper deck which has saved me the trouble of the serious mod necessary on Pegasus, and for that I'm ever grateful.👍 B.E

Post Three Platforms Unusual in this type of kit, Chris has provided a short section of what would be the forward Platform below the lower deck. In reality there would also be an aft platform which is not supplied. These Platforms sat above the hold and are version of the Orlop deck on larger vessels. I doubt very little will be seen of this with the hull planked and decked. I considered the possibility of fabricating false frames and leaving an opening in the hull at this level, but what would be the ladderway above it is blocked by a bulkhead, and it is only clear above the Fore Hatchway. As a ladderway leading up to the Lower deck would be the only feature of interest I decided to pass. Lower deck This deck is another nice touch for what otherwise would be a re-inforcing piece to square up the bulkheads and provide some rigidity to the hull. This is also supplied in engraved plywood with the Hatchways and Ladderways detailed. The Fore Ladderway leads down to the Platform deck, or it would if the bulkhead wasn’t in the way. My deck had some Laser burn on the engraved side which needed sanding to remove. This didn’t have any effect on the planking lines. 3681(2)text With the Lower deck slotted into place, gently does it on this exercise, it can be seen that altho’ the hatches will be covered by gratings, the Ladderways simply open onto bulkhead tops. 3680(2) The Upper deck base is placed roughly in position to gauge what will be visible of the lower decks. The Upper deck Fore Hatch is covered by a grating, but without it there is a view directly down to the Platform deck, altho’ the deficiency in the ladderway will be visible. 3684 To rectify this would require removing a section from bulkhead 4 and a section of false keel between bulkheads 9 and 10 for the lower deck aft ladderway. None of this of course is necessary but as my version will be open decks only, it is another option to think about, and I am sorely tempted. B.E. 26/08/21

Thanks James, it looked quite a lot in the photos, I was concerned about taking too much off and getting out of shape. On the model you can constantly check progress with a planking strip. B.E.

Thanks Jeff, I haven't got that far yet, but I do intend to check the plans for a suitable profile.👍 B.E.

Post Two Bulkheads Fitting the bulkheads is a painless exercise, the one that gave me some concern is the lower stern pattern. (13-1) 3626 Fairing off the model is indicated but in this area it is all about degrees and I worry about how much to do off the model. This is where the lower planking will sweep up to the transom and it needs to be a smooth convex curve without any hint of an angle. 032 This photo of my Pegasus build shows the run of planking and ultimately the fairing can only be done on the model using test planks. For this reason, I will be very careful how much off model sanding I do in this area, and I don’t think I can trust myself with the Dremel. I found that part 13 needed a little light sanding in the slot and several dry fits before it would slide smoothly down the keel to be glued to 13-1. 3679 These things are fragile and cannot be forced into position without the risk of damage. 3677(2) The bow patterns are easier to fit, and will be easier to fair. 3678 With all the bulkheads in place I get my first real impression of the hull size and shape. She is chunkier than Pegasus and is pleasing to my eye. The Bow and Stern bulkheads will now be removed for preliminary fairing, at this point the remainder of the bulkheads are only dry fitted but will probably not require removal again. B.E. 25/08/21

Building the Sphinx - Post One This is where the build starts in earnest, I always start a build with a keel support, partly to hold the hull in the early stages and partly to keep the false keel straight. It also provides a level surface to check square. 3625 3624 3623 This will be modified several times during the course of the build. I don’t intend to do a step-by-step assembly log, there is the excellent manual for that. I do have to mention what a wonderful job Chris and James have done in producing the manual, probably the best I’ve ever seen. My initial view of what I have seen in the box is very positive, I have not concerned myself with checking every part against the parts list as I know Chris will respond to any issues that may crop up. I will restrict this log to commenting on areas where I have had difficulty or found problems (hopefully very few), areas where I have made modifications, and the approach I have taken in tackling different stages of the build where it diverts from the indicated path. Time to introduce bulkheads to false keel. B.E. 24/08/21

10.25hrs this morning and the much anticipated box arrived. Well protected. A feast for the eyes. Looks like there will be no furlough for you Wills, long days in the shipyard ahead. You can relax for a while tho' the stuff needs to be sorted into separate boxes for ease of working. B.E. 24/08/21

The Fully Framed Model, HMN Swan Class Sloops, 1767-1780, by David Antscherl and Greg Herbert, published by Seawatch Books in four volumes. B.E.

Thanks for the heads up Chris, I am a compulsive book buyer; that one looks interesting but will have to wait awhile. I think I'm pretty settled on the shade I want for this particular model, but in practice it's all artistic license, the official colour for topsides on British ships was any colour as long as it's black. The Admiralty order dates back to 12th July 1715, and is cited by L.G.Carr-Laughton in his book Old ship Figure-heads and sterns. This would apply more certainly in relation to a modest ship like Sphinx, but my model will display her with a fetching shade of blue as ground to the friezes , which in practice she probably didn't have either. B.E.

Great planking job you’re doing there Jason. 👍 B.E.

That's an excellent video Richard, and of great value to the modeller. It informs both scale and use of the many fittings, as well as being of general interest. B.E.