AnobiumPunctatum

Hi Christian,
 
     Yes, I sure do know of Alex Matvijets' set of draughts for HMS Sphinx.  I have them in both 1:64 scale and 1:48 scale.  They're wonderful, and so too is his model .... a 1st class build!
 
Tom

Tom,
 
do you know the fantastic drawings of Alexander for the Sphynx?

The Ship
 
     HMS Camilla was a Royal Navy 20 gun sixth rate post ship, the 4th launched of 10 in the Sphinx class.  To paraphrase Wikipedia a post ship was a designation used in the Royal Navy in the second half of the 18th century to describe a sixth rate ship that was smaller than a frigate.  After 1750 the Admiralty criteria for defining a frigate was that it needed to carry at least 28 carriage mounted guns.  This would include carriage guns mounted on the quarterdeck and forecastle too.  Because Camilla was a rated ship, one with at least 20 guns, the vessel was to have as its senior commanding officer a post captain.  A smaller ship, like a brig, might have a lieutenant  as its "captain".  The term post captain, or posted captain refers to an officer who not only holds the official rank of captain but one who also has been given command of a ship.  When this happened to a captain his name was "posted" in the London Gazette.  While sea officers often referred to post ships as frigates the Admiralty was far stricter and more precise in how they described them.  They were however frigate-built, meaning they had quarterdecks and forecastles, but unlike true frigates, they didn't have carriage guns on those decks, at least not initially, and they lacked an orlop platform amidships.  "Post ship" in itself implies nothing as it regards to the rig of the vessel, however, all sixth rates were in practice ship-rigged, that is square-rigged on three masts.
 
     Ordered on April 15, 1773 Camilla was laid down in May the following year at Chatham Dockyard.  Two years later on April 20, 1776 the ship was launched, and 3 months after that she was completed.  HMS Camilla's service life spanned 55 years.  She served not only in the American Revolution but the French Revolutionary War and the Napoleonic Wars as well.   In March 1831 Camilla, now a tired old hulk, was sold out of service. 
 
     The ship was designed by Sir John Williams, a master shipwright at Chatham Dockyard who eventually took over the prestigious position of Surveyor of the Navy when Sir Thomas Slade died in 1771.  While Williams may have been competent in his field he was always in the shadow of Slade, widely regarded as the greatest English warship designer of the 18th century.  By the early 1770's old age was taking its toll on Williams as both his overall energy level and his mental acuity were waning.  Many Williams designs were little more than slight changes to similar looking Slade designs, and too often the alterations made produced ships with comparatively inferior sailing qualities.  History has not treated Williams kindly as his physical and mental health were not up to the rigor and responsibilities the Surveyor of the Navy position demanded of him.  Also he steadfastly resisted change and wasn't as innovative as either his predecessor or his successor.  So, how was Williams' Sphinx class design?  Well, it's said the post ships were seaworthy but their high center of gravity made them slow and not all that weatherly.
 
     HMS Camilla was a relatively small vessel, one of 432 56/94 burthen tons.  It measured 108'  1 1/2" between perpendiculars, 29' 7" moulded breadth, 30' 1" extreme breadth, and 9' 8" depth of hold.  Up until 1794 the complement was 140 men, but was reduced to 134 men after that date.  On the upper deck the ship carried as her main armament 20 nine-pounder cannon.  When launched Camilla was not armed with any carriage guns on either the forecastle or quarterdeck, but this changed in 1794 when 6 24-pounder carronades were added. (2 to the forecastle and 4 to the quarterdeck)   Strangely there are no swivel canon mounts on any Admiralty draught of Camilla or any other Sphinx class ship except one.  There is a profile view of HMS Vestal that shows them.  I found that odd because his drawings of Swan class ships (16 guns), Porcupine class (24 guns) and Enterprise class (28 guns) all show  swivel gun mounts.  Why would they be on some of his draughts and not on others?   I was always under the impression that swivel cannons, by virtue of them not being carriage mounted, were not officially listed as part of the ship's armament.  Their use, the number of and the location of was something at the captain's discretion.  Any thoughts?  Right now Captain Wyzwyk is leaning toward 12 swivel cannon mounts, 4 on each side of the quarterdeck and 2 on each side of the forecastle.
 
 

Welcome back and good luck with your third attempt.

Prologue
 
     In all my years of building model ships I have never experienced the difficulty of keeping a project afloat as much as I have with HMS Camilla.  This log marks my third attempt to construct a model of this vessel.  It's been a full seven months since the 4th of July accident that did irreparable damage to Camilla II, so I think it's time to bring everyone up to speed on where I'm at.  As stated earlier I purchased and had milled some really beautiful boards of kiln dried yellow poplar back in August.  Since wood is hydroscopic, expanding and contracting with changes in atmospheric humidity, I wanted to air dry the lumber a few more months in the shop environment to insure its stability before starting the build.  Unfortunately the project was delayed even longer when my shop dust filter conked out on me.  Having air filtration is of paramount importance, especially if you're building, as I am, a large scale bread and butter construction hull.  Without one the dust would find its way all throughout my condo and make me and my dog absolutely miserable.  Toby is especially bothered by the wood dust.  To say the hull shaping process produces copious quantities of dust is a gross understatement.  There was no way I was going to work without an air filter so the project was temporarily put on hold.  When Santa brought me a new Jet air cleaner for Christmas Camilla III was finally started.  I've been a busy beaver since then; constructing a new building board, making a much improve set of plywood hull shaping templates, and starting work on the hull.  Yes, the new build is underway! 
 
     Because I foolishly had Chuck Pasaro, the MSW site administrator, remove the Camilla log after the July 4 accident I'm now saddled with the task of doing it anew.  Initially I had planned to make my first post only when I was beyond the point where I was at when I had that mishap, but a problem I encountered this past week has forced me to rethink this idea.  My computer, where I store all my build log photos, crashed on me.  When that happened I had to work hard to get the machine up and running again.  It scared me.  I had only 40 pictures of the new start but these could have been easily lost.  Because the material wasn't backed up I thought maybe I shouldn't wait any longer to post the images I have to the MSW build log site.  This week I will be doing just that.  Please forgive me if you've seen much of this material before, but know that I'm actively working on the model and will have posts containing new stuff in the not too distant future.
 
     Build logs are all different, as each model builder has his/her own style.  Because I most enjoy build logs where construction steps and modelling techniques are clearly and fully explained, and ones where there are lots and lots of photos, I too will do mine in this fashion.  That means my log won't automatically assume the viewers have a lot of knowledge on a particular subject, and that sometimes basic things will be covered.  More experienced builders will no doubt find some of the material I will talk about or show pictures of old hat, or just plain elementary.  To those model builders, of which there are quite a number, I ask that you bear with me when this happens.  At least keep the laughter and snickers to a low decibel level. ;-)  In many ways my build log is geared toward a neophyte scratch builder, especially one who might be interested in trying a bread and butter construction for the first time.  Over the years I've developed a method that's proved very successful for me, albeit one that's quite messy and a bit more labor-intensive.  In this build log I welcome any and all comments, from effusive praise to biting criticism.  If you have a question I'll do my best to answer it.  When I employ a technique and you feel there's a better way please speak up.  Your suggestions will always be welcome.  And if all you want is some good-humored banter, well, I'm up for that too.  You can say anything that's on your mind, providing it's not an infraction in Chuck's rule book ;-)  I'm not thin-skinned so you never have to worry about hurting my feelings.  These MSW build logs have become, for me, a wonderful window into the model shipbuilding community.  They truly make the world a bit smaller by bringing us all together.  Seven months ago I followed very few builds, maybe 3 or 4 at most.  Today I must be up to a couple dozen, and the number continues to grow.  I immensely enjoy your build logs.  Perhaps you too will enjoy mine.
 
Tom
 
    And yes, third time's a charm! 
 
      
 
 

Third time's a charm?
 
     I haven't posted anything in the HMS Camilla build log recently because, for the last month, there hasn't been a log.  What???  There used to be one.  What happened?   Well, here's the story.  From the start of the Camilla project I have had problems.  Yes, some were self inflicted, but one giant one was not.  If you remember six months ago I got schizo about what model I wanted to build, made a premature move to another project, and then gave the newly started Camilla away only to change my mind once again.  Yes, that was a mistake.  I shot myself in the foot with that ill-thought-out move.  A few months later I started the project again.  All was going well with Camilla v. 2 and I had made some good progress on the model out of the gate.  I had completely shaped the hull's exterior using templates.  This was no small job for a large scale bread & butter construction, very labor intensive in fact.  I was also well along with carving out the interior too.  Then came that fateful night over the 4th of July holiday when tragedy struck.  I had been working in the shop for over six hours and was about to call it a day.  As is my usual practice I spend a little time cleaning the shop before locking up.  I had just finished vacuuming the work table and building board when I heard an explosion.  One of the neighborhood kids set off a powerful firecracker nearby, probably a cherry bomb or an M80.  Whatever it was it was VERY LOUD!  It startled me and terrified my little dog Toby.   He was in the shop trying to find some comfort lying on the cold concrete floor.  The poor little guy becomes inconsolably frieghtened by loud sounds, and with the explosion he Immediately ran to me.  At that very moment I had just put down the vacuum hose and was moving towards the the work table to reseat the model in its place on the building board.  I had taken it out and placed it upside down on the far side of the work table in order to vac the surface of that board.  With Toby under foot I had to quickly sidestep so as to not walk on him, but in doing so I stepped on the vacuum hose, tripped, and fell forward onto the work table.  My full weight came down on the building board sending it into the model.  The Camilla shot off the table and landed hard on the concrete floor.  Time stopped!  When I peered under the table my worst fears were realized.  The model was in pieces.  Both support arms had broken off the hull, the temporary keel was cracked and had partially come loose, and worse, 2 large pieces of the starboard side had splintered off.  Oh sh_t!  The damage to the Camilla was extensive.  I was sickened to my stomach and so freaked out and upset I just closed up the shop, went upstairs, and looked for a bottle of booze.  Even with a few stiff drinks in me I didn't sleep well that night.  Early the next day I went down into the shop and gave the model a thorough examination, all with the hope the Camilla could be fixed.  Alas, much to my disappointment, the model had sustained irrepairable damage and was now little more than firewood.  @$*%&!$  Where did I leave that bottle?
 
     Shortly after this happened I wrote a text message to Mark (MTaylor) to vent my frustration.  He listened and responded with kind words.  He also shared with me a similar model shipbuilding tragedy that happened to him.  It helped.  Still, the accident was quite upsetting, enough so that earlier that day I went on the MSW website, contacted administrator Chuck Pasaro, and asked him to remove all of my Camilla posts from the MSW scratch build logs.  Looking at it in retrospect that was a big mistake, a knee-jerk action I regret.  Yes, it really did hurt, but the more I thought about it the more grateful I was that the model was still in its infancy.  Imagine how I would have felt had this happened when the Camilla was as far along as say  Dan Vada's Vulture.  That would be far worse than getting kicked in the gonads .... multiple times!  I guess I should count my blessings.  
 
     I'm not a quitter so I'll get right back to it when my head clears of this mishap. 
 
    
 
Tom

Five strakes a side are completed now. Note that I had to pare back the extreme ends of the plug so that the planks would run smoothly into the rabbet fore and aft. With this hull form the spiled planks are only slightly curved, except at the stern.

It's not model building, it's an art. Every step so clean and crisp. There I have a lot to learn

HI ALL
TIME FOR A VERY QUICK UPDATE.
ALL FRAMES ARE NOW MADE!!!!
SHOULD SEE SOMETHING THAT LOOKS LIKE A SHIP EMERGE IN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS.
PHOTOS ENCLOSED.
CHEERS.....MICK

Looks wonderful, Albert, very precise work.

Continuing the assembly of the stem..
 
I used temporarily spacers to fit the Knee of the Head, which is only 10'' thick, to the stem.


Next I shaped the Knee of the Head using the info David Antscherl gives in his books. After this I glued the completed assembly to the stem. Therfore I used brass pins and the earlier descriped spacer. At last I shaped the competed stem to the hopefully right thickness.






 
In the moment I work on the lower apron and the rising wood.

The keel is laid down.

The picture shows the current version compared with the old keel in 1/48.



Due to the larger scale it is much easier to display small details such as the treenails to scale correctly.



The next steps in the construction of the complete keel arrangement are the same as described in my old build log. I will only change some smaller details.
 

Continuing the assembly of the stem..
 
I used temporarily spacers to fit the Knee of the Head, which is only 10'' thick, to the stem.


Next I shaped the Knee of the Head using the info David Antscherl gives in his books. After this I glued the completed assembly to the stem. Therfore I used brass pins and the earlier descriped spacer. At last I shaped the competed stem to the hopefully right thickness.






 
In the moment I work on the lower apron and the rising wood.

Looks wonderful, Albert, very precise work.

Using my new Hishika Saw, I cut the slots into the false keel.  From there I traced the template for the rabbet. 
 
           Bob R.

Hello, 
I didn't made much progress on my model as I was busy with the display case I recently received. Payed quite an amount on it to have it custom made and I added myself the lighting. Next I switched to the new stand for the ship. Here are some pictures which for some reason are all mixed up.
 
The case still has to go through a thorough clean up but only once I am done working with it. I put the ship inside to see how it will look but it will stay empty for quite a while.
 
Another interesting thing I discovered doing the new stand (which I will probably stain in the end) is the my model like real ships actually hogged! I've done several close ups with it and you look carefully you can see in the middle of the ship there is about 2mm of space between the keel and the blocks of wood while the front and aft of the keel rests on them. For the last 4-5 years now the model was always in the two legged cradle you can see in the first several pictures.
 
Next I will probably work on the beakhead - I can't feel like doing the decoration on the stern galleries... yet.
 
Regards
Alexandru

Another photos 
 

 

 

 

 

It's not model building, it's an art. Every step so clean and crisp. There I have a lot to learn

It's not model building, it's an art. Every step so clean and crisp. There I have a lot to learn

It's not model building, it's an art. Every step so clean and crisp. There I have a lot to learn

It's not model building, it's an art. Every step so clean and crisp. There I have a lot to learn

Three strakes a side completed now. Rubber bands and small soldering clips make fine hold-downs while roughly shaped planks are drying out.

Continuation.
 
 

 

 

 
 
 
The beginning of the relation is available at this address:
 
 
http://5500.forumact...ndre-1-24#66516
 
 
 
Regards, Paul

Continuation.
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
 
 
The beginning of the relation is available at this address:
 
 
http://5500.forumact...ndre-1-24#66516
 
 
 
Regards, Paul

Continuation.
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
 
 
The beginning of the relation is available at this address:
 
 
http://5500.forumact...ndre-1-24#66516
 
 
 
Regards, Paul