Ryland Craze

Welcome to Model Ship World.  I look forward to seeing you build your Sphinx.  You will do just fine.

Welcome to Model Ship World.  I look forward to seeing you build your Sphinx.  You will do just fine.

Welcome! What a lovely model you have build, I love the old look of it  
 
And a great choice regarding the Sphinx kit; you won't be disappointed. I'm having a lot of fun building this kit myself. 👌

Welcome and congrats on retirement! Best of luck on the Sphinx, I'll keep an eye out for your build log:)

Bob  M.

Welcome aboard! Your model looks great -- happy you were able to restore it.

Since the beginning of this year, I have been member of MSW. During this time, I have followed many hours with admiration many workpieces and building logs.
 
The result ....
 
The die has been cast, the order for the HMS Sphinx (Vanguard Models) has been passed on and will hopefully be delivered soon. I did not take this decision lightly. It has been quite some time since I have built a ship model, largely due to lack of time due to professional work. Because of my retirement, the necessary time has been freed up to be able to take up my hobby again.
The many professional posts on Model Ship World and the preference of myself and recently also by Chris Watton have been the deciding factor in choosing the Sphinx.
Already in my youth after a visit to the local maritime museum in Antwerp, I built a model of the Wasa from a block of wood, in my father's carpentry workshop.
The model went up in smoke during a fire in the building of our youth association.
This was followed by the Mayflower (Airfix), the Cutty Sark (Airfix) and a first wooden construction kit the Seeadler (Billing Boats). Unfortunately, these models were shipwrecked moving from one house to another.
Fortunately, the model "Gunboat n°2 - Kapt, J,C, Van Speyk (Mantua Kit 797)" survived and was restored this year after a lot of work in the dry dock.
I will, with respect for the many builders and the designer of the HMS Spinhx model, try to get the best possible result, and foresee the possibility to create a build log.
The Quality of the result will determine the speed with which the model will be finished, so it will certainly not be fast.
En-Dan

Good start Danny and welcome to Model Ship World.

Gunwales
To attach the gunwales, I applied PVA and CA alternately.

The gunwales of the poop deck were applied flush with the inside. The bow end was slightly bevelled to create the transition to the bulwark.
 

 
 

The gunwales of the quarterdeck were applied with the same overhang on the inside and outside (overhang estimated by eye).

 
 

There is no adjacent upper decorative strip on the forecastle, so the overhang is correspondingly larger. For adjusting  the forecastle gunwales, I used a strip approximately 2.4 mm wide and 1 mm thick to standardise the overhang. These were applied to the outside and then the gunwales were glued flush with them.
 

 



At the bow end, the gunwales were adjusted to fit the inserted filler piece.
 

 

Next, the planking on the hull must be checked again before painting and copper plating can begin.
 

Build Log – Post 28 (16th Dec 2025)
 
Task 48 – Main Rails and Gunwales
Adding the main rails has been a bit of nightmare as I made a schoolboy error by applying a coat of tung oil to the hull. This meant that when I was ready to add the main rails it was difficult to get the to hold, once dried. The rails are now in place and hopefully they will now stay in place.
 
Next the gunwales were added. They were painted black before they were fitted. Once fitted I decided to paint the upper bow and stern rail black.
 
 Photos
Current status of the build

Bow area main rails

Midships main rail

Stern area

Gunwales

 

Me too!
 
I don't know if I'd do it again. It makes the hull pretty heavy. I've seen other using carved styrofoam or insulating foam, which I might try out in the future. I do however like to use wood reinforcement in specific areas, particularly where I expect to add mounting pins or screws. I did that with the V108, and I think it helped a lot when I went to mount it using brass rods. But, in that case, I'd used small basswood blocks, and they don't extend out to the surface of the hull, but are just for internal support.
 
Chris, Johnny, I see what you're saying about perfectly filling out the hull. I was just never concerned with anything other than avoiding the distended ribcage look, and I don't think that'll be a problem now. The gaps I'm talking about in my hull, I don't expect to be a problem. But, perhaps you're right. I'll go over it one more time to get rid of what are kind of like 'nicks' in the spackle. 
 
My main concern now is that I've done a lot of sanding, and I'm concerned that this inner core of the ship will have shrunk too much. I was considering taking one of the reject sheets I printed out to test fit a few of the main hull parts to see if I've messed anything up yet.
 
Also, the stern on this model is a bit funky. The aft most frame kind of hangs out, and I have no way to judge how the paper is supposed to create the proper curve without trying it out. This also affects the shape of the filler, which at this point, is shaped based on a "best guess".
 

 

And this remains a great option for anyone who decides to go that route (plus, of course, the builder isn't in deep doo-doo if he or she mangles a part; simply reprint and off you go again). I just decided for myself that I preferred not having to make all that extra effort myself. It's a plus for card that both options are widely available.

It is most interesting to see the use of balsa to fill and stiffen the framing of a card model ... the very thing I want to do (eventually) on the USS Baltimore (CA-3  1890) 1:200 from Heinkel models.  There is a complete build on MSW with many tips and innovations that can help any builder of a steel warship:
https://modelshipworld.com/topic/37247-uss-baltimore-ca-3-1890-by-jsk-finished-heinkel-models-scale-1200-card/#comment-1066761
 
  As for availability, they sold me an economical download version for less than $20 paid by credit card, and I was able to print it out with no difficulties.  As for color and size, I imported a renamed duplicate of each file into Photoshop (not that I'm used to that very complicated - and powerful - program) and was able to do simple enhancements to the color balance and contrast by tweaking the sliders for those by clicking:  Image - Adjustments - Color balance   (or  Brightness/contrast), then I saved as a jpeg file.
 
  Buying a download from the designer gets around all the shipping and tariff expenses (besides costing less than a physical kit).  Of course, one must obtain the needed thickness of card (art board) stock to glue the paper (you print out) to, then the cut pieces out yourself.  A good art store will have various thickness of paper products, and I went to Blicks for mine (now stored flat under our bed ... with the Admiral, out of sight is out of mind).  Parts of the hull (fore-and-aft) are in two pieces meant to be printed on 8 1/2 x 11" standard paper (higher 'pound' weight stock is better) to make about an 18" model.  But by dividing the images in Photoshop (by sizing duplicates) and printing the "halves" (with overlap so no individual part is cut) at the largest scale that would fit the length of 8 1/2 x 14" paper, I was able to get pieces that will make a 24" model (about 1:150 scale) that will be easier for me to fiddle with.
 
  I imagined that using balsa to fill the large voids in the paper framing would:  1.) stiffen the hull and make it easier to work with, attach structures to, and even pin into the substrate enclosed by the paper applied to the frame;  2.)  give the model a little 'heft' so it isn't featherweight and will be more robust;  and 3.) provide great lines of the hull, once sealed, that the paper can be glued to - and will more evenly conform to (perhaps with slight moistening by a water based glue.  This means less creasing or kinking of flat paper trying to assume 3 dimensions.   The builder of Baltimore didn't like how the recurved area in the upper stern came out, and if there was a solid substrate, the paper could have been molded enough to look a lot better.
 
  So as Chris advised, getting a smooth surface with filler will prevent those divots and irregularities from 'telegraphing' through the applied paper.  'Love your progress thus far, and I'll be following your progress as you go along.  Savor each phase of the build and take whatever time is needed to go from step to step.   Clear sailing !          Johnny
 

I'm really keen to see how this turns out. I've always struggled with card hulls, and this is one possible solution I have thought about but not tried.
 
I might beg to differ here slightly. In my own experience, no matter how hard I try to keep my fingers off of sensitive parts of a model, I often end up handling those areas unintentionally. In this case that means that those dimples would inevitably result in areas where the hull skins weren't perfectly smooth. My advice would be to try and get those little divots filled. I think the result would be worth the extra effort.
 
Cheers!

Good news, I don't think I've ruined my model yet!
 
I ended up using Gorilla brand wall repair spackling. The stuff is fairly soft and kind of fluffy going on, or 'in' as with the case of the framework of the paper model.
 


Doesn't look very good right after applying the stuff...

But, once dried, it was easy to sand it smooth, though I ended up having to re-apply it in a few spots. Eventually, got it as good as I think it needs to be. 
 
There are still a couple gaps, but that really doesn't matter. The filler is mostly to give the hull more strength, and to provide even out the framing, so that the exterior hull pieces will lay nicely. A few small gaps won't make a difference.
 

 

I did notice that the deck had a slight bulging in areas. Probably, when I pushed the spackling into the framing, the pressure caused a little unevenness in the deck in a few spots. The result was also that there might have been a very slight apparent twist int the hull. 
 
I found I could actually sand the heavy cardstock deck, leveling out the bulges pretty well. I was surprised at how well the card took the sanding.
 
Next step will be to start adding the hull pieces, starting with the lower hull.
 
I already went back and re-printed my scanned parts one more time, this time in "normal" output quality (according to my computer's printer settings), rather than in "best" output quality. The result was print that wasn't quite so dark, and the gray part were slightly bluer, and maybe a little less muddy. Finally, I sprayed the printed sheets with some Winsor & Newton matte varnish to help seal the paper and to protect the ink. I don't know that it really needs it, but I've followed a number of paper model builds where something similar was used.
 
No photos of this step, but I'll take more when I start adding the lower hull coverings.

If you only break it once, it happens 
. Lol. When you get up to six times you brake it, it does make you laugh 😃. 
Best of luck on your adventure with this kit

Bob  M.

I am modelling in 1:48 or 1:50 scale (O scale) and have had problems finding suitable nautical figures. I still don't have a source of good sailing ship era figures. But I did notice a 50 pieces set of 1:50 figures for US$14.99:
 
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CSC79VSQ?ref_=pe_123509780_1038749300_t_fed_asin_title&th=1
 

 
There are seven different male figures and five different female figures. One of each is seated. At 1:50 the males are about 5'-8" to 6'-2" (1.7 to 1.9 meters) and the women are about 5'-2" to 5'-4" (1.5 to 1.6 meters). These might be typical people found in a railway station or department store. They are made of a fairly soft white plastic - I assume it is styrene. It glues well with plastic cement.
 

I found six of the male figures that were easily painted to represent US Navy sailors for the 1960-1970 period I am modelling. Two were painted as enlisted men and four were painted in various officer's uniforms. Some of the "officers" could be painted as enlisted.
 
I also painted one of the women as a yard worker - maybe Rosie the Riveter - for comparison.
 
 
 
I wanted to use the seated male figure for the Captain on the USS Cape MSI-2 model I am making. However, the seated man had folded arms and looked rather strange. In addition, his posterior/legs were too broad to fit into the Captain's chair.
 
I heated the figure with a hair dryer and squeezed the legs closer together. Then some material was filed away from the outside of the thighs until the figure fit into the chair.
 
The arms were a bigger problem. I used files and knives to cut away the arms below the elbows. Then the remaining plastic was shaped to create the lapels of the officer's dress blue uniform. Well, close to what it should be at least.
 
Then the arms were cut off above the elbows on one of the standing male figures. These were shaped and glued onto the stubs of the arms on the seated figure. They fit nicely with a bit of shaping with small files. No putty or filler was needed.
 
Then I made an officer's cap from styrene rod, with a brim fashioned from scrap  0.003 inch (0.08 mm) brass sheet.
 

 
So here is an inexpensive way to get a few 1:50 scale modern era Naval figures with a little bit of reshaping and add-ons.

Thank you Gary, that was, what I thought, the steering may work, but the suspension, hmm, there were some too loose fitting arms and these tiny cups holding the wheel, ...
The under body supports will help for sure.

Cheers Rob

Outer hull painting is in progress; I have decided on warm white for the exterior and a Prussian Blue (AK) for the interior, rudder & dagger board. I first applied two coats of Minwax Sanding Sealer, with some light sanding and buffing after each coat. I like this stuff! Sands easily, seems to fill well, and a quart should last me a lifetime of models. Two coats of white have been brushed on, and I am now shopping for an airbrush. I have been using my wet palette which keeps the acrylic ready to go and a bit thinned.
 
Also in the works are some of the metal rudder fittings. I first annealed the tubing, per instructions, but, as others have found to their woe, it becomes far too soft and malleable to work with. I made up a quick centerline to work over, and taped my flat pieces down. After annealing I then used Bondic to adhere the tubing to the flat piece, then tried to cut it off. This did not work as the heat from cutting released the Bondic and the tubing bent and smashed.
 
By the way, my first notion was to use JB Weld, as it is very controllable and strong, but I found that I was out of one part. Next trip to the store will fix that, and I suspect it would work beautifully on this little application.
 

 
Bondic is a liquid plastic, which you squeeze from the black handle tube, then harden using the UV light at the other end. Ten seconds sets the plastic up hard, but clear and workable. These little gems are quite handy for a variety of uses.  The plastic remains a viscous liquid, nearly a paste, until you use the UV light on it. Almost infinite working time. It doesn't make for the strongest joint, but as a filler it is fabulous. For this application, I think the strength will be sufficient.
 

 
I next changed gears and used a razor saw to cut off appropriately sized lengths of unannealed tubing, then held them in place on my straps using the rod inserted in the tubing, and hit with the Bondic. This went very well. You can see the clear bead in this shot, but from any distance it is invisible.
 

 
Lastly, I bent the rudder straps and will attach the tubing bits and pintles to the outside of the bends, after attaching the straps to the rudder, again using the rod through both pintle mounts to keep things lined up. That is the plan, in any case.
 
 
 

Just stumbled onto this log and let me also welcome you the black hole of wooden ship model. Once you jump in, it is very hard to climb out. I have been working on my MSW Constitution since 2017 and still have a number of years to go. This is my 2nd fully rigged plank on bulkhead (POB) ship and my 3rd wooden model. My 1st was a solid hull Mamoli kit of the British schooner Evergreen. My 2nd was the POB Mamoli Rattlesnake.
 
Since you are new to this hobby of wooden ships, may I suggest that when you are ready to start the USS Constitution, you invest in the USS Constitution practicum by Robert Hunt at his Lauck Street Shipyard website. He provides step by step instruction invaluable for beginners. But, be aware, his practicum is not perfect and most of us use his instructions just as a guide. We also review the build logs of others for their guidance as well.
 
It is also important to have the proper tools. Do not make the mistake of buying a tool in anticipation of its use. Check with others, to find out if it really worth the money. I have have bought many a tool, only to have it covered in sawdust from lack of use. One tool however. that I highly recommend, is the Jim Byrnes 4" table saw from Byrnes Model Machines. This is a highly sought after precision tool well worth the money.
 
I look forward to your future postings, especially when you start your USS Constitution kit. There is a wealth of information and active builders here on MSW to help you along.
 
Jon

Not a lot of progress on the 'Duchess' of late. The last couple of times I've been at the museum I've spent most of the day talking to interested visitors rather than working on the model - but that's a good thing - I continue to wonder at the number of kids and teens who say things like, "That's so cool" when looking at the model and asking detailed questions about the building process.
 
The mizzen topgallant and royal braces have now been run, but not rigged to the yards, so that's now the total rigging on the square sails until I get the ratlines on and can finish off the braces. I've also started getting the lead blocks on the jigger, as can be vaguely seen on the image below. Ther's still a bit of fiddling about on deck needed before I actually rig the spanker boom, as the spanker sheet is tucked in behind the steering box and gratings.
 
John
 

 

Ahoy all, 
It's good to finally be at least starting this build log, I had to contend with a lot of shipping problems getting this kit from OcCre (the blame lies fully on FedEx). On its way to me, the package unfortunately took some damage, which I will go over in a bit!
 
So, for my second build I wanted to ramp things up a bit, choosing a larger scale and a very famous ship! The HMS Beagle! 

I have been doing some research on the history of the boat, going through build logs, and looking through a recently obtained copy of the AOTS book by Karl Heinz Marquardt.
I have some exciting ideas for modifying this kit!
Firstly, I made a ropewalk! And will attempt to use only made-by-me rope for the entire build, I'm excited to start using it, but it'll be a while. Here's some rope I've made so far:


Everything will be right hand lay from now on I promise. 
If you want to see a breakdown of the ropewalk itself, I made a post about it here:
 
 
SO onto the build!
I was excited to apply all the lessons I learned from the Albatros, especially the lesson on how-to-not-break-your-bulwark, but the "damage" that Fed Ex referred to was exactly 1 snapped bulwark. 

No big deal I hope, but it does feel like I'm developing a relationship with bulwarks akin to @Knocklouder with bowsprit. 
Glue is drying as I type this, and I have high hopes. 

I won't show off any pictures of the kit, as there are plenty of those on this forum, but everything else is undamaged and in good order! I plan on replacing as much of the kit with homemade or upgraded stuff as possible, I thoroughly enjoyed the few scratch built items on the Albatros, and want to expand that as much as possible with the Beagle. 
 
With that said, I am leaving for Chicago to visit friends (2 whole weeks), and will not be able to work on the boat until I am back:'(
If I get anything substantial done before then, I'll update the log, otherwise I hope you all have a fantastic holiday and new year, I appreciate all your talent and input and will be following along many builds while I'm away from my own. 
Best, 
James

I started this build back in December 2024 and completed the 1st planking at around the 100 hour mark with the planking alone taking up ~57 hours. I'm currently sitting at around ~125 hours with about a third of the 2nd planking complete. I had to finish some other projects so there is a 7 month gap where I didn't do any work on the model but having three weeks of company holiday during Christmas I hope to complete the 2nd planking. The last picture shows the current state of the model.
 
 

Hi guys,
I finally managed to permanently glue the frieze panels.
Now, I have to cut the strips for the planking.
It was originally supposed to be light pear, but the boards that I cut the strips from are all warped, so I'm not happy with them.
So, in the end, it will probably be Castelo boxwood.
But more on that later. 

I love my Dremel stuff. 
 
Just bought the 'Right Angle Attachment' with the same Amazon discount.