hollowneck

Bug, I bought my Pocher Aventador kit on eBay at a knockdown price a couple years ago. It was going for approximately one-third of the "Suggested Retail" at online hobby dealers. As you know, if you're interested in Pocher models you need to go "International" on your searches as well as do some risk analysis on transactional things. I recall my kit came from Hong Kong (pre-shakedown). Shipping wasn't inexpensive (weight of 25 pounds, boxed!), but heck - I got the kit for an amazing deal. Related to all this, I've kept an eye out for the current Pocher Lambo kit (Huracan), but so far, no luck on a good price; they're hanging tough at about $2K. You may be aware that Pocher car kits come with decent plastic tires - nicely molded, but shiny and given the level of execution and detail in these amazing kits = lame. There is an aftermarket for genuine rubber tires for the model supercars and I went for it: low profile Pirelli's in genuine rubber. $100 for the set, bought with lots of spare $ on the kit steal. These 255/R20's even sit correctly with a little "squish" from the actual weight of the model! I have a good friend from my former ship modeling club who built a Pocher Rolls - made years ago and it's stunning. Here are a couple more pics you may appreciate. Driveway & Dining Room Table moments. ..and three with my Bright Orange Babe Magnet and my HMS Ardent (1764- 64gun) in the photos for the MSW bots. Any guess which one the ladies go for gjdale - the model ship or the car? Cheers, Ron

Moonbug, Take your pick: Ducati, Lambo...a couple more Pocher photos to inspire. The company has some nice looking models.😆 I've not seen the Ducati model in person, but I'll wager it's awesome, like the bike. Too bad a Build Log here won't work... Ron

Hey Moonbug, I'm a Pocher fan. I asked my wife if I could get a Lamborghini for my 70th birthday. When I told a friend I was granted my wish he was flabbergasted when I texted him these photos of my new, screaming orange Aventador (the first two pics here). The Pocher kit is superb. A real treat to build. I understand that part of the deal with copyright permissions with Lambo was that Pocher could also use the same paint on their kit models as the actual car. Not sure this is true, but damn! - that paint job is amazing on the die cast parts of the kit which has 1,500 parts BTW. The engine, all suspension bits are included (talk about hidden details!) First two photos below are of my completed model which I photographed lying sideways on my front lawn. I waited for a real car to appear in the background not too far from my driveway. The interior is just as detailed and amazing as the exterior. The next two photos are the Real Deal. The last one is a Pocher Kit pic. Cheers, Ron

Thanks for everyone's comments, questions, suggestions. Much appreciated. This is the type of feedback that makes online participation with other MSW member's so rewarding. First, Quoting Allan: The Vanguard yawl hull looks really good. (I assume it is a yawl as it is clinker built) As the boat will be sitting right side up, are the thwarts, knees, supplied with the hull or will you be making and installing them? I looked at the Vanguard website but only see the hulls. Will you also be including the longboat and pinnace which 6th rates carried in her time? My boat is the yawl which I partially went for BECAUSE it shows the "clinkered hull" detail nicely. The Vanguard hull doesn't come with the interior bits, however, the three boat builds supplied in the Sphinx kit has everything one needs to detail them. I'd like to also suggest another possibility: were I the ship's bosun, I'd make my boats ship-shape with tight, tarpaulin covers so they don't fill up with water when it rains in a sudden squall. Depicting three, bare-naked, open boats is a ship modeling convention I'd wager. What say others, here? I decided early-on that HMS Camilla would carry only one boat, a medium-sized one. My modest yawl will ferry crew and provisions as well as transport a French captain back to Camilla to negotiate terms of his surrender. So, no inside bits for the yawl since it will be lashed to the skid beams upside down, despite the casting's details being outstanding. I'll take a photo of the interior - post it on this thread - it really is quite tasty (see next post!). When I examined the little yawl firsthand, I have to admit I had thoughts about switching plans to add the interior goodies and display it right-side up. druxey Lovely progress. However, you might consider 'softening' the edges and corners of your mast caps. Here is the advantage of dye: once you have rounded edges off, simply re-dye the exposed wood ((I use a Q-tip) and buff. Thank you for the suggestion; I'll do just that, break the hard edges of the mast caps ever so gently. And, absolutely, if the native wood gets revealed I'll just touch-up with some more black dye. DelF More great work, some of which I'll shamelessly copy. I'll try that wood dye as an alternative to spraying, which I find a pain - especially the cleaning up. I'm also seriously tempted to get one or two of Chris's new boats. As I've noted - and another comment here attests - the black dye is messy and you need to carefully control where you want it as it tends to migrate throughout the grain. Again, the main reason to use dye over paint is that it doesn't hide details and actually does quite the opposite. To prevent "grain bleed" I painted a thin band with flat black acrylic where the dye would meet-up with it so I avoided this possible disaster; so far, so good. This "combo" technique seemed to have worked well despite there being a minute reflectivity difference between the two finishes. We'll see how a poly coat applied to some areas that have black dye will work, after I do some testing on this approach. I recommend Chris's boats wholeheartedly. At 1:64-scale and with several size options from which to choose, they are a brilliant, better-looking solution than trying to build these little guys. I acknowledge that some will enjoy building the three boats in the Sphinx kit; I'm just not one of them. I'm moving on to masting, rigging, sails and...oh yeah, H2o. Blue Ensign 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. Totally artistic license here. I imagine myself and my mission as captain of my own ship; this is all part of my motivation in building these art objects - if you will - my time travel back to the 18th-century, my favorite. In HMS Camilla's case, I'm a post captain and my assignment from Whitehall is to harass and capture as many French ships in the Channel as I can, then maybe speed to North America or the Sugar Islands to help with KIng George's cause. For the mission, I only need one boat but I really need more provisions - including munitions. I also need a spare topmast (or two). Three boats is an unnecessary luxury when I 'm counting pounds (not currency ones) burthen. Wait until I finish that upward facing yawl hull! It is going to look really nice. I agree, the decision to blacken the masts, as conventional as it is, was a good choice. Even my 8 yo grandson agrees. glbarlow I believe the boats are always sitting up to make them faster and easier to launch, but i could be wrong. The leather dye is an interesting choice, but I recall from using it back in my time the army as being a total mess to work with. No matter how careful I was it wound up in places I didn’t want it and near impossible to remove. Still a nice effects, you seem to have kept it in control. Yep. Your points are well taken: Fast n' Furious on the boats. I've drilled my crew well; I guarantee they'll get Camilla's single yawl off the skids and in the water in record time after we capture those illegal vessels operated by belligerent frogs and insurrectionist Yanks! I've worked with Fiebings dyes for other components on my build and I am watchful on where and how I apply it. Tricky bizness, fer sure. ------ I'd like to offer the thought to my modeling colleagues that I try, to the best of my abilities, to present realistic portrayals of all my models, but stopping short of full-on "weathering" and embellishment with things like: broken spars, hull barnacles, cannon splintered bulwarks, dead sailors...you get the idea. Like the majority of others here, I like to create models which, at the end of the day, elicit from onlookers a response of: "Wow. That really is a big, beautiful boat. It looks so real." There are many different motivations and goals, challenges and pleasures to our modeling passion(s). As I previously noted here on this thread, one of mine is to hopefully create an ART OBJECT, crafting a ship model with the beauty of their simplicity and complexity at the same time. Ron

Some progress on masting details this week. The "fid" hole. Drill a hole, then square it off. Tricky, but doable, if... ....one has a tapered broach cutting tool. This, if carefully used, will shape a round hole into an approximation of a square one. This is necessary to fit the tiny square "Fid" (essentially a supporting stop piece) through the hole where it rests the topmast across the lower crosstrees. You can also see the "faked" sheave (rigging pulley) on a side face of the octagon. Note there are three (3) different profiles at all three of the topmast's areas that fit into the lower masts and through the tops; from the bottom and upward: an octagon, a square (with the hole) and another longer octagon section. Above the last octagon the mast turns into a round shape and tapers to the upper support. A micro chisel (1mm diameter) to fashion the fake sheave. At 1:64-scale, I'm o.k. faking this rigging detail in the topmasts. Were I building in 1:48-scale, I would take the time to insert a real pulley here (wood or brass). A completed fore topmast in position. My lighting is too over exposed in this photo, but MSWer's should get the picture. There are no fewer than eight (8) different profile transitions to successfully make all the square-rigger topmasts. These difficult pieces take quite a bit of time to get right - and, as such need to be scratch-built. A round walnut dowel is on a far, far shore from a convincing, completed topmast. I enjoy building high-quality ship kits, using the best of what's provided but also super-detailing and modifying them - as is evident by now. However, to complete most sailing ships to my satisfaction, I choose to scratch all the masts and spars. These get me to the fun stuff: the myriad challenges of all the rigging bits. I do understand this is NOT the choice of many sailing era ship modelers! The followers of my thread will clearly note that I decided to blacken my masts and go "Kosher" (per my historical accuracy choice). A topmast is test- fitted to the lower foremast. The lower octagon, the square section that fits into the crosstrees, and the upper octagon that will support the mast shrouds are clearly visible here. The wooldings (rope) hold the front fish and side pieces (cheeks) securely to the main mast stick (they're also glued with white glue). Dual-sheave pear blocks are prepped and mounted , ready to do what pulleys do. Another view of a semi-completed topmast affixed to the lower mast. The fid (inserted through the square section) and the fake sheave are easily seen. This lower portion of the topmast will get "blackened." The lower foremast and its top now "painted" black and ready for its topmast to be mounted. Rigging blocks (pulleys for mast rigging) are seen on the backside. I've chosen to "paint black" with Fiebing's black leather dye. This is very messy stuff to work with as it dyes everything - including fingers and possibly your shop wardrobe - and a permanent dye that soaks into the wood and thusly, its unlike a paint that coats. It also imparts a very flat looking black hue to whatever wood it colors; I plan to use a satin poly on most blackened portions - but not all. Black dye - as opposed to black paint (even flat matte) - emphasizes your woodworking details nicely. Another finishing option is to use a coating of wax applied to the dyed wood to impart a delicate sheen to these components. Chris Watton's beautifully 3D-cast small boat arrived! Not bad: about a week from the U.K. to Pennsylvania. I opened the box (Thank God it wasn't crushed by the U.S. Post Office), and after studying this little £18 gem, I grabbed my Tamiya grey primer rattle can and coated the clinker hull side up since this will be how I mount the 22' launch on my model. Of course, it will be painted to look like wood and lashed with the appropriate-sized rope at some not-to-distant point. No oars, no thwarts, no rudder necessary. Camilla's captain is supervising the boat mounting dry-run so nothing gets damaged amidships... Another bird's eye view of the captain and his launch. He's ready to take prizes! Board and capture! The launch will suffice for this latter activity, as well as to bring the ship's officer's aboard and shuttling some supplies to end up in the ship's orlop. In both these photos you can see a spare topmast (either fore or main, Captain's choice). Like the launch, this lifesaving "spare" will also be lashed to the skid beams at the right time. Even small frigates like this Third Rate warship carried spare topmast when they were on post ship duty, patrolling, escorting or raiding. In some cases, more than one topmast was placed in the ship's waist. Think of it as an 18th-century spare tire, without it, you're not going very far. This photo is to show the difference with the blackened tops vs the unpainted, natural version(s) - main and mizzen at this juncture. I still like the natural naked pear, however I chose to go the traditional, historic route for my masts and spars. This is close to the last time an uncluttered view can be had of HMS Camilla's open deck. Future images will have stays and shroud rigging and then all the running rig for the spars and gaff. Lastly, once sails are formed and bent, their control lines added, a clear view like this will be a thing of the workshop past... The bowsprit and jibboom got the Fiebing's blackening dye too. Once all the masts are completed, I'll hang the rigging bits onto the bowsprit for the many stay blocks that inhabit it. Onward dockyard workers - there are more skinny top masts to make- the thin, spindly buggers that present their own challenges to scratch. I love my DB250 Proxxon mini-lathe and various wood turning accoutrements. I couldn't do a very good job with this mast and spar work without them. Ron

Thank you, gentlemen. Bottomline: I'm hoping the details here are informative and will migrate across to other high-quality kit builds for MSW'ers. Chris Watton's plans are excellent and there are lots of them! The HMS Sphinx kit has no less than seventeen (17) B"-sized prints with eight (8) dedicated to masting and rigging alone. For my build, I will develop a "sail plan" (not included) and I'll use some excellent reference books for making a full complement of Camilla's sails - as well as their required management lines. Her sails will be bent (furled and set) to their respective spars (and mizzen/gaff) prior to hanging them. A majority of my first models were from the Caldercraft and Amati/Victory ranges and their plans (all drafted by Chris) have always been robust, clear and never skimpy; I recall large "C"- sized prints for HMS Agamemnon (1:64 1764 - 64gun). These early kit plans were "old school," hand drafted and before Chris generated later ones that are now in nicely-delineated CAD. I would venture to say that if the HMS Sphinx Building Manual disappeared, an experienced ship modeler for this era could quite successfully build this kit with only the supplied plans that include detailed identification of parts for all the lasered as well as P/E frets and patterns. As I mentioned early-on in this thread, I believe the manual and plans alone exceeded five pounds!..as in weight, not currency. Which is to also say, they're both of considerable value to the builder for this milestone of a kit. Thanks Again for watching. Ron

Thank you, druxey. Ron

A major update on mast making, and as promised, some photos and info on keeping my plane and chisels sharp. My steel Ibex plane blade has been removed from it's two-part brass carrier assembly and securely mounted into a honing guide at the proper angle (30 degrees). The shiny, hexagonal pattern is a diamond sharpening (honing) stone that has two surfaces at 400 & 1000 "grit." This is the 1000 grit side which is the principal one I use on my finger plane and some small chisels. Here is the arsenal for sharpening my plane blades and small chisels: a diamond honing stone, a smaller conventional two-sided sharpening stone, the honing guide and behind these a leather strop and honing compound. My favorite small finger plane sits atop the diamond stone. Note: always "rest" your block planes on their sides if you can, never on the shoe. My plane's blade is mounted in the honing guide at the proper angle (blade protrusion where it contacts the stone surface at a flush angle and evenly across the blade's width). The diamond stone is held tightly within a heavy steel and rubber bed with thumbscrews that clamp the honing stone material with thick rubber blocks (essentially, non-slip feet); this beefy arrangement keeps your stone stationary once you begin blade honing. This particular honing guide has the amount of extension for your blades imprinted on one side; in this instance, I've set my blade - clamped it into the guide - at 38 mm from the honing guide's face (per the ruler's measurement above). This extension will position your blade's cutting edge at the proper flush angle to the stone surface for full sharpening contact. Once the blade is firmly clamped into the guide (a single thumbscrew), one simply presses down with two hands on the guide to hone the blade's cutting edge on the stone. I use a small amount of water to "slurry" the metal particles that result from the back and forth honing action. The water and the metal particles simply wipe off the stone with a rag. A Tip: if you don't use water to accomplish this necessary by-product, don't use an oil that has a lubricant in it like "3-In-1." These oils will defeat the purpose of honing since they will leave a thin film residue on the honing material and prevent good contact of your blade against the sharpening surface. Oil is messy too. Water is best in my opinion (it's is NOT a lubricant); having a fluid "slurry" also isn't necessary for the types of tools we typically use. NOTE: there is an "up market" honing guide called a Veritas Mark II which is coveted by many toolheads. It's about $50-$100 for the precision guide which has a built in "blade angle setting fixture" (depending on the model); if you have a number of conventional chisels and flat plane blocks - and do a lot of wood carving and planing - it's probably worth the investment. For me, my honing guide was $14 (blue item), and the diamond stone (and its kool holder), the leather strop & compound (Schaff) were all about $50+. These work a treat for my small block planes (but not my micro chisels which have no guide, but I do employ all the other honing items noted here). There are numerous informative YouTube videos on honing that are worth watching. It is absolutely a truism that the quality of one's woodworking is only as good as the sharpness of one's cutting tools! While on the subject of useful (essential) tools, I use this simple, little plastic jig a lot when it comes to making masts and spars. I need to find the exact center of square stock so I can chuck an octagonally-planed "stick" into my small lathe, on-center (the free, rotating tailpiece). I forget where I got this handy little, inexpensive guide; should I recall I'll post it later on this thread. I use my "deadly" pointed awl (in the background on my cutting mat) to scribe two intersecting lines across the stock's corners, and on one end of the square. Where these lightly scribed lines cross, I prick a tiny hole smack in the center of the end grain and thus, form a small starter hole for the lathe's tailpiece. Believe me, if this starter hole isn't located exactly on-center, it's miserable to attempt shaping the round section from the octagon! Here's Chris Watton's Lord Cochrane inspecting one of the new-fangled carronades on the quarterdeck of HMS Camilla. "Jolly good!" I heard him exclaim as he reminded me that the King will be pleased Camilla carries the officially-branded mark - a monogram insignia that shouts-out: "The Crown Reigns." (the crown profile and fancy script letter "R"). I'm speculating that this raised, cast mark on the weapon was to show sovereign ownership and remind everyone who was boss. I've mounted these tiny insignia to all of my visible cannon, carronades as well as the long cannon on the midship's gun deck. I used Liquitex Matte Medium Acrylic adhesive which is easily applied with the end of a toothpick. It dries transparent and isn't shiny, unlike CA, aliphatic or epoxy glues. The monograms, laser-cut micro-beauties from SyrenShipmodels. The #72 drill (.079mm) and a toothpick to show the scale of these tiny pieces. Three sizes are available from the company's online store. In this close-up you can clearly see the (Royal) crown and "R" image (Reigns) entwined. All lower masts test positioned for HMS Camilla. The three vertical masts have their rigging hardware and blocks pre-mounted. DO THIS BEFORE you do any standing rigging! The bowsprit is mounted but will get its stay blocks soon, but also prior to any standing rigging attempted. MSW'ers with Eagle eyes will note that she stands on a hardcover copy of "Lees." I frequently use this book - along with two others* - when I'm diving into square sailer rigging and I have questions or need a reminder of some detail I've forgotten. *Lennarth Petersson's "Rigging Period Ship Models" and SeaWatch's Swan Series, Volume IV by David Antscherl. All three lower masts are complete with their blocks. The wooldings (rope windings along the length of the fore and main masts), were accomplished with Syren's new "Ultra" rigging rope which is a dark brown hue. It appears nearly black when contrasted to the lighter pear but on closer inspection the color is a really good approximation of "tarred" rope. The tops, trestletrees, top supports and fish pieces (three of them) come together quite nicely once the proper flat profiles to the mast's sides are created. This is a result of the exacting manufacturing tolerances in this kit; the precision laser cutting continues to be very precise at this later building stage where the pear pattern pieces are provided to create all the masts. However, as thread reader's have already noted, I set aside the kit's walnut dowels for the masts and yards into a spares box. The walnut dowels will still work for making masts but I preferred to shape my own pear stock to capture more accurate details as well as to keep the finished color of the kit's pear hardwood consistent. Fashioning the masts (I've only shown the lower sections on this update - as well as the completed bowsprit) is a wood-shaping task that requires many critical steps to accomplish with any degree of accuracy. Rounds, octagons, squares, angles- all present carving and fitting challenges that are not enumerated in the kit's excellent manual. But the good news is that the kit's provided plans - multiple large sheets devoted to masting and rigging - offer very well drawn and dimensioned guides to what you'll need to accomplish with your "scratch work", but not HOW to do it. To state this observation in another way: a separate and quite extensive set of detailed instructions could be created just to guide one's building of this model's masts, spars and the many intricacies of accurate and convincing square sail rigging. Two suggestions come to mind for some HMS Sphinx builders who will complete her as a fully-rigged model: if available, refer to author David Antscherl's excellent Swan Series books, particularly the fourth (and final volume, IV) - or - alternatively, spend time reading through MSW's sub-forum threads and posts here under resources - "Notes, Tips, Techniques & Research." The main mast is ready to slip into position. A rigging stay block (the deadeye) is pre-assembled, as are the eyebolts for other rigging blocks. Earlier, I mentioned shaping the bolsters; here you can clearly see the half-round section of one. These (and the thin wood battens on the upper square section) will take the force of the shroud lines and in practice would reduce the amount of chafing on these ropes as well as give them proper purchase when multiple lines overlapped around this post. The topmast(s), when completed, are dropped through the mast caps openings and secured adjacent to the bolsters and trestletree supports. On the level: it is critical to set the proper angle on all three mast tops when one finally glues the assemblies together. Here I've lined-up the top of the main mast to be perfectly level with the ship's waterline. When mounting the various blocks to the tops of the lower masts, I used a thumb drill to ensure there is sufficient clearance in the block's holes for rigging lines. Regardless of the blocks one uses in rigging (in my case, aftermarket pear ones from Falkonet and also, Syren), it's a good idea to take the time and do this now and not later when you'll find it difficult to accomplish this simple task. How do I know about this seemingly insignificant step?...haha. Try to access and drill-out these tiny block openings to fit a balky line of rope when most of the standing rigging has been accomplished and is in your way! A gulls-eye view of the Main Mast top, ready for a topmast to be dropped into place. I won't mount the safety rails (rear edges of all the tops) until all the shrouds (lower and upper) have been rigged. I usually attach safety netting to my rails too; this is considerably easier to do once most of the primary (standing) rigging is completed. The rails - and the netting - also interfere with some of the rigging processes and are prone to being damaged if they're done at too early a stage. The completed bowsprit. With the mast making process, this assembly is the most difficult to create. It involves numerous steps to fashion both pieces (bowsprit and jiboom). The identical rope I used for the lower mast wooldings is also used here. One of the trickier steps - a seemingly innocuous one - is to properly locate the tiny cleats that will meet the gammoning lines that attach the bowsprit to the stem as well as the tiny forward cleats that keep the stays and preventer ties - open heart blocks, deadeyes, etc.- from slipping. The fairlead (just above the gammoning area) also requires precise placement for optimum arrangement of the running rigging lines. I will add all the standing rigging blocks to the bowsprit BEFORE I mount it and secure the gammoning rope. I'll use a slightly heavier, larger diameter Syren "Ultra" brown rope for this task. When creating the bowsprit assembly, I noted that the kit only provided the "Bee" at the tip of the bowsprit; I added the "Bee Blocks." This isn't that big a deal, however the naked Bee didn't look right to me. In practice, this flat piece that guides critical standing rigging lines needed reinforcement with additional carpentry pieces to either side. Also, these Bee Block support pieces carried built-in sheaves for handling thick foremast rigging lines. I omitted adding sheaves here since they really won't be easily seen, but the bee blocks will be noticed on close inspection. A detail compromise, but what the heck, this isn't a 1:48-scale model either. A separate and important personal building consideration: the plans specify the painting of tops and the corresponding carpentry to be black. This also applies to the yards (all of them) and portions of the bowsprit (per the above spec on the kit's plans). I'm not certain I'll do this to my model, although the black paint is historically accurate. One argument is to stay "kosher" and go for the black which presents a quite dramatic image to one's model. On the other hand, the beautiful pear woods and the delicate lasered details look very attractive to this modeler's eyes. The satin poly-finished pear wood on the majority of the hull looks especially nice to me too - and I rationalize: "why not stick with this look with the masts and yards?" Decisions. decisions. I've got a couple weeks to think about all this and complete the masting and yards. I'm nearing the point where the "strings" need to be strung! And...I just can't wait to do hundreds of ratlines...mmmmmm The mizzen mast has a belaying rack (ring) and I've placed the belaying pins into the holes (after drilling them out). I attached the pins with Matte adhesive so the pins don't "disappear" during the rigging process. I did the same with the belaying pins on the foc'sle bitts and mid-deck belaying rails near the belfry. None of the belaying pins need to be removed during rigging; after the termination of lines are made to these, rope coils will hang from these pins. The next stage is fashioning the topmasts with some of the same techniques I've already described in earlier posts. Thanks to all the forum members who have commented on this Build thread. Much appreciated. Ron

Nice ashes on the brick, B.E.! You've added a great detail that will be seen (and for some, appreciated) with your superb build for this exceptional kit. What about a roast on the spit of the rotisserie?...😉 Ron

I Like it! Very nice work. Can't wait to see what you'll do with the Sphinx. ...don't forget to place a period after "Bob." - when you add his (?) name to the transom. Ron

When I retired fifteen years ago, in 2006, I had lots of free time to read for leisure. I picked-up Patrick O'Brian's "Master & Commander" on a friend's recommendation because he knew I had lived in England. I got hooked, totally consumed for a couple months reading the entire Aubrey/Maturin series; absolutely brilliant writing, storytelling of epic proportions (and really stunning artwork on the book covers). Three years later, Peter Weir made one of THE classic films for us shipmodelheads! Master & Commander: The Far Side of The World. About ten years later in 2013, an embryonic ModelShipWorld was launched. I give my "high fives" to Mr. O'Brian, Mr. Weir and the many, many Tars - and Officers - of MSW for introducing and then guiding me in this fascinating, engaging and challenging world of model ship building. Ron

Indeed, SHARP is Good, Tom. I'll show a few photos of my sharpening guide, stone and the honing strop & compound I use to keep my favorite plane in tip-tip condition. The same sharpening and honing tools work for my conventional chisels too, but not my tiny (2-3mm) carving ones. Keeping razor sharp blades takes some attention and time but the tools I use to help achieve this are neither fancy nor expensive. Ron

Excellent work, B.E. Scratching the coamings and gratings was such a worthwhile effort for your model. Your extra, accomplished detailing is especially important for an Admiralty-styled build. Ron

Thanks B.E. & dodgeyhack (love your alias!)... your look-ins are much appreciated. The Ibex planes are essential tools in my bench arsenal. I'm quite lucky now that I have a separate work area where I can make clouds of sawdust (my lathe, a mini tablesaw, a disc sander, etc.). The double work rooms are a fortunate (and unplanned) result of a major house move this past summer where my wife and I agreed we needed to "downsize." 😳... I'm certainly not complaining...who gets to have TWO workshops a few feet from each other?!😁 Of course, my "sawdust room" has a portable room vacuum as well as a large air filtration unit. I'll take photos of my air cleaning solutions in a future post. They are not too expensive and work quite well for ship modeling's small stuff. I'm NOT making big furniture or cabinets - or turning Zebrawood fruit bowls. Ron

More scratch mast making details in this update...these photos focus on shaping the foremast. The processes here will apply across all three lower mast sections (the bowsprit will have some of these steps too). Shaping the crosstree bolsters on all three masts is an important step. These two, symmetrical rounded-off pieces are fitted to the tops and will support the shroud lines that wrap around the square mast post above the top landing. I have found it considerably easier to file these small square sections down AFTER they have been glued to the crosstrees below them. Take your time doing this to give both bolsters a smooth, evenly rounded profile. Also, insure the inside edges are perfectly flush with the crosstrees before gluing. There will be a little "tweak sanding" before the lower mast section can be "press-fit" inserted between the tree opening in a later step. I've used a thin, tapered nail sanding file (with a higher grit of 4 or 500) since the sanding angle is alternately steep and shallow. Larger files are difficult to properly form these bolster pieces and you don't want to remove too much material. Here the foremast top has been mounted to the built-up, completed lower mast. The mast cap has been fitted to the rounded section carved at the very top of the square section (that didn't get the octagonal planing and subsequent rounding-off). Note the position of the bolsters mentioned in the previous photo. I also recommend mounting all the eyebolts to the tops BEFORE mounting them to the lower mast assemblies. On the foremast there are ten (10) eyebolts for various blocks;. I'll rig the blocks after the top is firmly mounted. Pay attention to the profile angle of these tops; they should be parallel with the waterline since the masts have aft-leaning rakes. Don't forget to subtly "break" all the edges on the tops, above and below. Same goes for the square section edges up to the capping piece. An 8mm square pear wood "stick" has been cut to length and here you see how planing will shape the majority of its length into an octagonal shape. A closeup to show how the first passes of the finger plane removes very small, even curls of material. The plane is held level to the upward-facing square corner and when one pass is made the required length, the piece is rotated and each presenting corner is planed until all four have been reduced; this step is repeated until a perfect octagon is formed from the previous four sides. The plane's blade has been honed to razor sharpness, which is quite critical even with high-quality hardwoods like pear and boxwood. I've learned how to control the finger plane shown here (Ibex 7/8" wide blade), but some builders who use this mast making technique use a chisel, bevel side down. The plane works in a normal bevel up position and each successive pass removes more material until quite wide strips peel off the stock as long as the blade remains razor sharp. Here is the resultant octagonal section from the previous planing steps and how turning the octagon shape on a lathe will round it perfectly; this process works for the lower mast as well as for the topmasts (lower post section that inserts into the crosstrees and is supported by a "fid."). Note the transition from octagonal to round shape. The "lands" are even and when shaping the stock you'll need to double-check measurements quite often while planing to insure uniformity of all eight sides. I use a Proxxon bench top lathe (DB250) to turn the octagonal shaped pear into a perfectly round, smooth mast. I use a couple different grits of normal sandpaper to gradually work down the octagonal section. The sanding nail file is great to get into transition areas between square to octagon and/or round shapes. I run the lathe at its lowest speed setting. This particular lathe will chuck up to about 10mm of material and the length of material - from chuck to maximum extension on the moveable tailpiece - is more than adequate for all mast and yard turning, up to about 15". Here is a completed 8mm octagonally planed pear lower mast section; all eight sides are even the entire length. My calipers show the measurement of the planed lands to be 8mm across all sides. By making these lands consistent along the entire length, very little material will need to be removed when reducing the octagon shape to a round one. From this stage, the pear piece is put into my lathe for rounding-off. Note the various sizes of pear shavings, tiny-to-large "curls" of material. Next update I'll show closeups of the built-up lower mast showing the three fish pieces (fore & main masts) as well as the iron banding and wooldings. Also, I'll add the battens and align the capping to ready the lower mast assembly for the topmast which is considerably more involved to make correctly. Ron

Thanks for sharing these photos Eric. I really like your finishing choices. Nice job! Ron

I just ordered a 22' boat from Vanguard for my HMS Camilla build. $36 USD inc. shipping (standard post from the U.K.) This will now replace the previous resin hull one from Caldercraft I was planning on using (I showed this one as a temporary placeholder on my HMS Sphinx Build Log). I won't be needing it for a few weeks, but I'll wager that Chris will get it shipped out before I hit the submit reply button here...😆 I anticipate this added clinker hull boat - once pimped-out so it looks like wood - will be the cherry on top once I'm done with rigging and sails. Ron

I agree that the Vanguard small boat option is a good one! I intend to order a 24-footer from Chris and tie it down on my Sphinx (HMS Camilla) model. After some painting and minor detailing, the clinker hulled launch ("turned turtle") will look really nice as well as more historically accurate. Personally, I have no particular desire to make one of the supplied boats in the kit although these lasered pear items look very nice. The construction pieces and manual all look good for those who want to follow the entire kit to it's finalé with all the boats presented (whether Admiralty-style, or masted & rigged). These additional little "mini builds" in the Sphinx kit will please many modelers I suspect. I've noted Chris' small figure on the deck here; I've been researching scaled figures for my model over the last few weeks. I'm hoping there may be a new source for 3D-printed ones that I can use since I'm placing my model in a fairly dramatic diorama setting. The NRG Store is now offering scaled 3D figures that I'm looking at seriously, but only a handful are in my build scale (1:64). I may resort to the same 'ole Italian castings I've used previously... Ron

Mark, Thank You. I appreciate your additional information. You've called it a "coat." Perhaps I can make a rudder coat out of black bear skin(fur)...that way nobody will be able to notice any details...and I will have "nailed it." Ron

Thanks for all the suggestions, gentlemen. I LOVE my Ibex too, Glenn.... ...and, you're correct...there's not enough "play" in my rudder boot. I need to revisit the bagginess (and B.E.'s remedies), and start over. No problem; I used acrylic adhesive (Liquitex Matte Medium) for attaching the foil piece to the transom. It will peel right off without damaging anything. Thanks to Jason too; there are a couple excellent logs to guide me on a better solution. On the snatch block B.E., I purchased these well-made pulleys from....wait for it, Falkonet (CraftySailor). I believe they are turned from pear stock, available in multiple sizes. Camilla's capping rail is now coated in satin poly and looks good, like it should! Happy New Year's - All...and thanks again for the tips. Ron

An Observation: Never attempt to "out pun" an Englishman. They invented the language. I never blame my dog since I don't have one now. But I do have a black hole in my shop floor.🤯 Ron

HMS Camilla gets her nameplate! Also, in this update, a few fixes and some additional stern detail before moving onto masting. Uploading weirdness continues; four files wouldn't upload. However, I found that re-saving images in .png format (rather than standard .jpg) allowed uploading the same photos. Oh well....curious glitch. I fixed the rudder chain mounting by adding an additional mounting iron (mid lower transom point, both sides). I looked this detail up in Lees Rigging "Bible" for confirmation. It definitely looks better and is historically accurate now. I added additional chain to get the extra length required for the rudder pendent usage. Thanks to B.E. here for the tip on where the rudder chains would be tied-off (in the mizzen channels). If the ship lost normal steering control for whatever reason, these rudder pendents would have tackle mounted to them and then be subsequently fed into an open port - and presumably, lashed to the internal steering system as an emergency, jury-rigged steering fix. A small piece of aluminum foil to be shaped and cut into a rudder boot. After mounting it gets some acrylic paint so that it appears to be leather. I went to our kitchen cabinet for this item...it's good to have a supportive Admiral. I forgot to show a photo in an earlier post that I added a genuine pulley to the snatchblock assemblies on the foc'sle. Anchor lines will feed through the pulleys. Genuine, three-strand rope looks good. It's .30mm dia. from Falkonet. I should mention here that I use rope from three different vendor sources: Ropes of Scale (new), Falkonet (CraftySailor) and SyrenShipModel : Thank You All. I would be highly bummed-out if I had to make rope for my ships. Ta-Da! HMS Camille gets her identity. I've carefully coated the lettering with satin polyurethane using a detailing swab to seal them. This photo clearly shows the "leather" rudder boot. The boot helped to keep water from rushing up into the rudder trunk. My intention is to show Camilla in choppy water with a following sea behind her stern, her cutwater crashing into the next large roller. Thanks again to B.E. who pointed out the necessity of this addition. The Captain's cabin would likely have been swamped without it! As far as I can figure-out and after researching this detail, I think the large leather boot was simply nailed to the transom and also onto the rudder at the same time. Anyone with additional details, pipe up! (please)... This view clearly shows the improved "Tafferal" atop the upper stern decorations, before I added the rudder boot. I'll also coat the flat black strip I used to improve this area of my build with satin poly. The .4mm thin pear wood strip didn't work well, despite soaking and heating. I went forward with a solution I've used in the past - and also suggested by B.E. - a thin section of white styrene. This did a decent job by conforming to all the topside undulations and continuing on over the rather sharp bends required to wrap all the way to the bottom of the galleries; all accomplished with a single piece of the substituted plastic (Evergreen Plastics) from port to starboard. Another view of the styrene capping I used to cover the not-so-nice looking stern layers. This "scratched" addition has dramatically improved the presentation of this part of the model. Other builders of this kit may want to seriously consider adding this easily scratched additional piece not included in the kit. Adding it in advance of how I've done it here will be much easier task to accomplish. My model will now appear more like most legacy models of the era. This added Tafferal will get a coat of satin poly after the black paint has dried. The Swiss pear square stock that I will use to create Camilla's three (technically, four) masts. Shown here are the three main sizes: 4, 6 & 8 mm. The pear stock rests in my planing jig. These 18" long pieces are dead-straight! The tools arrayed on the planing jig I use to shape the square stock for the masts. I use the small Ibex finger plane mainly, but on smaller square sections I use smaller chisels (bevel side down). I also use a sharpening stone before shaping work to keep the blades very sharp; minimal tool pressure is required to remove thin, even slices of wood. A square can become an octagon quite easily. An octagon can become a round easily as well... As I progress with the creation of my masts (including the bowsprit), I'll show how the various sections (round, square and octagonal) are fashioned. In reality, masts were very complicated carpentry wonders comprised of multiple sections with complex joinery. I've read that these specific dockyard workers were the highest paid. The kit's tops are being glued in this photo; I have purposefully indicated that you'll need several small clamps to get these properly glued together. After I rubbed white glue onto the top pattern piece with a fingertip, the piece wanted to curl and pop-up immediately from the base pattern. If clamps were not used there would be a lot of fiddly and messy aftermath of re-gluing of the thin support strips. These detailed pear pattern tops are laser-etched with loads of nice detail which you can't see here (later). When completed, these will be painted black but the laser etch detail lines will still show up, similar to the ship's wale patterns. The crosstrees for the tops have been assembled and the small square pieces alongside are the crosstree bolsters; once dry, I'll remove the "char" from all... 🤣 That's all for now, MSWer's. Ron

Thank You, B.E. I am aware the rudder chains (and ropes) could - in a pinch- steer the ship if the normal steering were out of commission. I wasn't aware that the pendant ropes were tied-off in the mizzen channels; makes good sense, tho! Thanks for this specific info. Presently, I've got these rudder pendants temporarily secured to a brace cleat on the q'deck which I did suspect wasn't the right spot. You've helped me suss out this detail. Correction forthcoming... Ah, yes, the curvy Tafferal. I also solved this identical issue with a thin strip of styrene for my HMS Swan build (neé Pegasus); the attached shows the capping piece in action, so-to-speak. If my thin pear won't do the trick, I'll use some styrene strip since that did work well. I encountered a similar problem years back that I partially resolved with some pear strip (HMS Ardent). Another Yes, I plan to add a small piece of shaped aluminum foil to fashion a rudder boot. I tried other materials but this worked the best in the past. I'll paint it to appear as flexible brown leather. I've envisioned the diorama placing Camilla in a nasty weather trough, between large waves, a large following wave at her stern! 😳 Ron

Found a little shop time post-holidays. This update shows a number of small fixes to various hull areas before the masts are created. I acquired a photoetch bending jig a couple years ago for precise folding/bending of small P/E parts. Shown here is a spanshackle after it's been bent to form its deck mounting pin. This piece will be mounted along the centerline of the foc'sle deck. A little earlier in my log the subject of fish davits and spanshackles came up. On a hunch, I trolled through several leftover stash boxes and found this small P/E piece from an earlier build; it's a scale-accurate spanshackle! After painting it black it gets mounted on the foc'sle deck, near the foremast. Lesson: save all your kit leftovers. I suspect most builders do. I store mine in various sizes of compartmented plastic pill boxes and divider boxes. Like various sizes of clamps, you can never have too many of these either... The flat P/E here is ready to be folded upward; a "lifting" tool- either a single-edged razor blade or the tip of a thin chisel - is used to form the various angles required on flat P/E pieces like this one. The multiple size"fingers" permit an unlimited variety of angles and clamping options; the aluminum clamping bar can be easily rotated to select various sized fingers to suit the P/E forming task. Here's the spanshackle, painted and mounted to the foc'sle deck. The square iron "shackle" could be raised (presumably a hinged asssembly) and one end of a fish davit would be held captive in this iron ring while the length of the davit rested on the "crutch" (indicated by the arrow). The davit beam was quite long and would thus extend well over the bulwarks to aid in hauling anchors. Davit crutches are mounted on the starboard as well as larboard gunwales. I decided to paint the scuppers a light grey color to simulate lead outlet pipes. Earlier in my build they appeared as copper piping. As I'm nearing completion of the hull I'm changing the color of some elements to be more historically accurate as well as more aesthetically pleasing. A NOTE: don't forget to close up the ends of the chain straps once you've mounted the deadeyes. I've mounted the rudder chains shown here but I'm doing some additional research now on the accurate depiction of these. Many legacy NMM models show rudder chains "draped" fully across the lower transom at two or more support points, rather than the single point of support shown here near the edge of the finishing piece. Rudder chains were critical. In heavy seas or with an unfortunate bottom scrape to the keel - or a good shot by an enemy- a rudder could suddenly become "unhinged" from its iron hull straps (pintles & gudgeons). I believe the stress that would be associated with a large, heavy rudder coming "unshipped" (the nautical term) would be tremendous and thus require multiple supports to keep it from breaking away completely from the stern - and thus floating away. Obviously, if this happened, a sailing ship was in rather deep doo-doo. The kit's supplied chain (besides being a little too shiny for my taste) isn't quite long enough to achieve the additional length along the transom, so I'll need to find a replacement that's long enough for both sides... hopefully there's some spare chain in my leftover stash boxes! YIKES! Reviewing my photos here, I just noticed on this particular photo (above) I omitted closing-up one of the mizzen chains, second one to starboard, beneath the channel. As I've commented previously, taking extreme closeup photos of one's model and looking at them critically will definitely reveal details that need more attention. The arrow points to the single point of attachment for the rudder chain, per the kit's plans. I will likely add two additional support eyebolts to show three points of support (per side), not just one and add the lengthened chains. There was heavy rope lashed to the chain to help retrieve an unshipped rudder from the ship's wake. "Jump rings" for attaching the rope to the rudder chain. These are handy little pieces I often use for other rigging tasks. There are none of these in the kit. I typically blacken them chemically (rather difficult to paint). These handy pieces can be found in the "beading craft" section of hobby/craft stores; I buy them (in different sizes) from Joanne's Fabrics. They can also be sourced from jewelry suppliers. Ugh! I am not happy with the funky, raw, unfinished look of this stern area. It doesn't look correct, appears incomplete and more important, doesn't represent a decent shipwright carpentry solution. Needless to say, it needs fixing. Unfortunately, I'll have to work around the stern lanterns to accomplish my fix and also be very careful to not break or scratch other adjacent details. Here's how I intend to deal with this "sore thumb." I have in my pear wood stash several strips of .5mm thick X 4.5mm strips. I need only a single short length to mount along the full width of this curved stern taffrail section (as the temporarily placed piece here shows). I plan to soak the pear wood strip in hot water for only a few seconds and then form it with my fingertips along the existing curved sections while gluing it in-place with some CA. There is no good way to mount this with aliphatic glue and clamp it, so the solution must be CA. Even Bondic won't work. The wetted, warm pear strip - in addition to being extremely pliable and flexible - will activate the CA. Once tightly pressed along the wood and resin edges beneath it, the pear strip will hold fast...at least that's my plan...stay tuned.🤔 Should this work out to my satisfaction, I'll paint this stern capping (taffrail) in black to match all the others. There will also be some inevitable touch-up to the decorative piece. Some may have spotted HMS Camilla's stern signboard badge has been colored in Pthalo blue, the hue I've used in my build. I've chosen this color to be consistent with the background color of the upper stern decorations. The lettering for her identity (in white) won't be added until the additional work at the stern has been completed, taffrail capping as well as rudder chain modifications. I've started gathering my pear wood square stock and planing fixture for mast making - which I hope to get started on in the next few days. I'll show this important fixture in a future post. Ron

I’m commencing from completion of second planking as much has been covered in other posts. This is my second model and I’ve tried to follow the build manual verbatim, nevertheless a few mistakes have been made. Glad for any feedback ----for some reason, the above text didn't import as a "quote" from the earlier, first post by Paul. NO biggie.... Welcome to MSW, Paul. From your photos it appears you've done a fine job thus far. Good planking. Congrats! On a scale of difficulty for high quality kits, I'd place the Vanguard Sphinx at about a 7 or 8 on a scale of 10; a definite challenge for a ship modeler's second build. Although it appears you are off to a good solid start, there are several good Build Logs here you that should help you with the balance of this challenging project. My other recommendation is to seriously study all of the many large plan sheets provided in the kit. If you've never rigged a large square sailer, you'll soon come to appreciate these drawings; they will be very helpful for this aspect of completing your model, particularly if you don't have detailed books on this topic. One more piece of advice: DO look ahead in the excellent Build Manual. This exercise follows very closely with spending time with the plan sheets as you continue your journey. Cheers, Ron (hollowneck)