Nipper

6 hours ago, CiscoH said:

I agree the lowered topmasts look most interesting and least obscuring.  Gets my vote, if you were looking for opinions

This has my vote too, BE.

I like the appearance of a working ship because it adds a great deal of interest and uniqueness to the model.  On my slowly building Sphinx, for example, I intend to have one of the boats being lowered from the pendants.

Nipper

This will be praise where praise is due BE! 

The above sequence is an excellent example of the care and time you take to explain step by step how you deal with a tricky issue, and the carefully composed photos are such a help for us to see what you mean.

I don't know how you find the time to do it, but I hope you find this a satisfying thing to do.  All I can say is, your time spent on building up a set of instructions like this is an incredible help to everyone.

Thank you.

Nipper

On 4/19/2025 at 9:24 AM, chris watton said:

Me too! Will eat it whilst watching Ben Hur tomorrow!

Chris

This morning my wonderful wife gave me my Easter egg as expected.  But, she said that because I love working in miniature, she'd found something really appropriate.  A Cadbury creme egg.

Nipper

Chris

From your last photo I see that you get your Easter egg on Good Friday.  I have to wait until Easter Sunday!

Nipper

I've only just found this log, Walter, so now I'm following.  As a fellow Sphinx builder, I'm really looking forward to seeing your modifications.

Have you thought as far ahead as rigging and sails?  What's the plan for these, if any?

Nipper

That square tuck looks much neater with your framing arrangement.  Great thinking on your part although I realise you haven't defintely decided to go with it.

This is a good example of how your blog is so helpful.  Your willingness to go off-piste in order to improve a model (even such great ones as Vanguard's), helps me to think a bit more outside the box as well (pun unintentional but it's appropriate!).  Little alterations such as these make the model more personal and more satisfying.  

Nipper

What a wonderful job Andrew!

The figures really do add a lot of interest and it's a lovely model - congratulations.

I agree with Thuky about shading.  I use Army Painter Quickshade - easy to use and makes a huge difference especially on figures so well detailed as Chris's.

Nipper

Wonderful work Andrew!

There is no doubt in my mind that you would have regretted not putting in the proper number of reef points. 

Looking at your model makes me realise how wonderful a boat looks with the sails gently billowing!

Now I am even more determined that my next build will have sails - fortunately it's a brig not a three master.

Your build log will be such a help to me. 

Nipper 

That sail looks fantastic Andrew.  Thank you for the excellent explanation and photos.  Now I  can't wait to get onto my next build  for which I will fit sails, once my Sphinx is finished.

I especially like the way you've created the wind in the sail effect. To me, that looks much more lifelike and interesting than the Antscheri approved version. 

Nipper 

That is fantastic planking on your Sphinx - congratulations!!

Nipper

Andrew

I pondered on the same issue when adding furled sails to my Alert - i.e. the issue of the mains'l yard fouling the foremost shroud whenever the yard was  braced round.

I couldn't see a way round it, unless the force of the wind caused the yard to move forward away from the mast, thus giving a bit more of an angle for the yard to turn.

What a great build you are doing.  Definitely right to re-do something rather than forever sigh whenever you look at the finished model!

Nipper

I will follow along, and I look forward to this very much.

I'm especially looking forward to your thoughts and conclusions from the research that you will do.  I think that the research is as enjoyable as the building of the model, especially when it leads to a bit of creativity in changing the model to better match the historical evidence.  Or as you refer to above - to those occasions when the evidence is inconclusve and you have to decide which way to go!  Some of the most enjoyable moments I have experienced in buildng my models have been when I've gone to bed, with my mind still mulling over a problem - do I do what source A says, or do I follow source B? Sometimes the clearest solutions appear at those sleepy moments!

Nipper

Lovely work Andrew!

What make is your mini-lathe, pictured above?  I've been planning to buy a Proxon in order to make the masts for my Sphinx, but yours could be another option.

Nipper

Thank you Chris for perservering with the figures.  

There is nothing comparable to this on the market!

Nipper

1 hour ago, chris watton said:

I think I give up on the figures

Please don't Chris.

You are always so good at sharing your thoughts and plans, but the trouble is that you can never please everybody.  I think that you yourself have said exactly this before.

I think that asking for constructive comments about a project in the planning phase is a good thing to do.  But maybe do this just once, and then use the ideas that you like and rely on your sculptor to get it right.

None of the other miniature figures I have seen (other than yours) look quite right anyway, except for the very expensive large scale ones that are intended to stand alone as a display item.

Nipper

Are the bands around the buoys there to simulate the wicker frame, of which they were sometimes made?

Nipper

Chris

I'm so pleased that you've gone ahead to commission some new figures in appropriate poses to go in the cabin.  The responses above about uniform accuracy etc show how highly we are interested in this.

I've said before that your figures are the best available, certainly at 1/64, so the more you are able to extend your range, the more popular they will be!

Nipper

Congratulations BE, and thank you for sharing your build with us.  

Looking forward to your next one . . . !

Nipper

I've just clicked to follow your build - can't think why I haven't done this earlier.  Great planking! 

Nipper

24 minutes ago, chris watton said:

Cruiser Class was only 5 feet longer along the main deck, and 2 foot broader - both classes carried the exact same armament, but Harpy definitely had the more elegant lines. In 64th scale, hardly noticeable, size wise, but I am sure the nicer rake of Harpy will be.

 

The old kits I did were really just keel, bulkheads, main deck, and lots of planking. The new kits have many times more pre cut parts, with planking usually relegated to the lower edges of the main wale down (for the small to medium size kits at least)
 

Yes, that confirms what I was thinking.  Thanks Chris. 

So I'll base my Irene on the Caldercraft Cruiser hull,  and then I  won't feel so bad about hacking it about!

Nipper 

Now I'm really flung into doubt!  My next build is going to be the Dutch brig of war "Irene" from Petrejus' book, and I was planning to buy a Caldercraft  Cruiser for the basic hull ("Irene" was converted from HMS Grasshopper - a Cruiser class brig) and then scratch build or buy in (from Vanguard as much as possible) the fittings, and bits and pieces.  Now I'm wondering whether Harpy would make a much better starting point, because it will have the up-to-date quality of Vanguard models, and the "legacy" kits from Caldercraft do not compare.

But perhaps the hull shape of Harpy is too different from the Cruiser class brigs, as Chris intimates above.  Chris - I'd be grateful for any thoughts.

Nipper

2 hours ago, Blue Ensign said:

I would like to see a sitting figure produced by Vanguard. A sitting Captain would serve well to give scale to the splendid Vanguard cabin furniture, and also the stern sheets of the boat range.

YES PLEASE CHRIS!!

The Vanguard figures are so good, none better certainly at 1/64 scale.  For those who like to crew their models, it would be wonderful to have figures sitting around, or leaning against the rail etc. etc., not just "in action" as if they are repelling boarders!  Vanguard's fishermen, and the cook, are really good poses.

Nipper

Chris' s manual for Alert - see rigging Plan 15 - shows all three sets of bowlines belayed to the rail in front of the windlass.

Nipper

I found on my Alert that the spreadsail yard had a mind of its own until I fitted the braces.  

Congrats on your beautiful work - a real inspiration and a joy to follow.

Nipper

I don't want to clog up Johann's wonderful build log by continuing the comments on museums, but it is all about money. 

And the continual dumbing down, like you see on TV documentaries, where the makers are attempting to catch the interest of a generation used to stimulation from fast moving images.  So many museums are having to reduce their displays and focus instead on eye catching and interactive exhibitions to catch the interest of young people - and let's hope they are successful in this. 

In some museums, I've found, a room that may once have been cluttered with many artefacts has been transformed to highlight a single object, surrounded by supporting information to truly bring out the object's importance and relevance to historical record.  Done well, this is brilliant, as long as specialists like us have an opportunity to get into the storerooms to see what we want to find out about.  And again, this is about money, in order to finance a museum's cataloguing, storing, and archiving costs.

Nipper