Nipper

Kevin

A tough decision but I agree with many of your followers above - it's the right one in order to give your loved family friend a chance to enjoy the remaining days. I'm sure you will make every one of them special.

Nipper

I love looking at your work OC, and I admire and agree with your pursuit of realism. 

It looks like you have abandoned the idea of representing the smoke from the firearms.  Certainly, it is very hard to create smoke that is convincing.  Also, if one is going to take realism to its full extent, one would have to include more than the smoke from the muskets and rifles.  How to create the pall of smoke that would have been blowing over the whole battlefield, obscuring your beautifuuly painted figures?!

Best to leave that to the paintings, like the one above of LHS.

Nipper

It's fantastic B.E. - no wonder you feel such a sense of achievement!

I notice the sheathing from telephone wiring that you have used for the lanyards on the gunports.  Doesn't that work well! That's another great idea I will borrow from you, if you don't mind.  What thickness are the gunport lanyards - 0.20mm?

Nipper

Excellent idea Chris - so that a new generation of modellers will say, in 20 years' time, "I cut my teeth on Vanguard's Sherbourne" !!

Nipper

You have to do what works best for you, as we all do!

I glued the front and back axles to one side of the carriage first, then painted all those plus the other, separate, carriage sides. Then I painted the barrels and when all was satisfactory I glued the assemblies together.  Which worked best?  I think I would prefer to paint the whole carriage assembly first rather than the two halves, but I definitely preferred not to have to attach the separate caps.  The built in caps look neater to me but probably the whole job took a bit longer.  Not that time really matters.

You could make one of each method and decide which works best, before going on to complete them all.

Nipper

2 minutes ago, usedtosail said:

If this isn't correct, please let me know.

You're quite right!  There is the same arrangement for the Sphinx.  Chris has designed the built-in caps, so you paint them as you have guessed.  Separate photo-etched caps are very fiddly!

Nipper

Hello Aa

I've just discovered your build and I am fascinated by the story of Mars and by what your research has found.  To me, this is the joy of ship modelling - following the historical records and using this to create the closest possible to an actual ship - brig in your case.

In reading your log I've seen the book about the brig Irene, and I'm tempted to buy that book in order to build a model of her (Irene is my wIfe's name and we have family connections to the Netherlands!).  I'm wondering what brig model might be the best to bash into an Irene.

I had decided to build a brig once I've finished Sphinx ( I have tenuous ancestral family connections there too), but I think that Chris Watton's Speedy (which I had thought about being my next project) is too small to become an Irene.

Nipper

What a brilliant idea to make a template for fixing the depth guages!  I have found glueing the little numerals really tricky on both my builds, so thank you for a solution for my next build.

With the eyebolts, using a metal preparation before painting helps, but I've always had to do some touching up afterwards anyway.  I hink it's more important to keep control of the glue than to worry about paint coming off.

Nipper

I've only just found your log and I'll now follow!

What a great job you're doing on your first build.  I've picked up your anxiety about doing the rigging, and I see that some members have given you some good hints and encouragement. 

I just want to say this:  I found the rigging to be the most enjoyable and satisfying part of the whole build on my first boat - which was Chris Watton's Alert.  I took ages, but so what?  Like you, I have Petersson's book, and John Harland's Seamanship was also brilliant because I learned so much about how a sailing ship worked.

I really enjoyed making the rigging as complete and realistic as possible and I relied heavily on the wonderful build logs here on MSW, especially Blue Ensign's.  The information here on MSW gave me lots of ideas on stropping, whipping, seizing  etc.  So much so that I plan to do Speedy as my next build after I've finished Sphinx, and to build her in full sail.  My satisfaction with the rigging came from learning so many new techniques and realising that, yes, I can do it!

If you can do planking as well as you have done, then you'll have a breeze with the rigging!

Nipper

Happy Christmas to you and your family, including the Carpet Monster.  Thank you for your wonderful build log during 2023 and here's looking forward to more in 2024!

Nipper

That looks superb!  You really have  succeeded in creating a balanced look that complements and enhances your Indy.

Nipper 

If you are still wondering about the colour of the bricks, I suggest that this was determined by what was available locally.  So researching about brickyards near to the shipyard might be of help.  Brickyards tended to use local clays to lessen transport costs, and the colour of the clay as well as the temperature and length of the firing determined the colour of the brick.

Nipper

4 hours ago, Tyguy35 said:

Repetition is not such a big deal just do a bit at a time. But yes decent instructions would

be best. The only thing I think I would struggle on with any of them is just the planking of the hull. I’m just not sure which technique is best to go with a a learner. 

Agreed - planking a hull really is a challenge for the inexperienced.  I followed the video instructions provided on MSW by Chuck Passaro and it helped enormously.  It took me several months to plank my Sphinx, working for an hour or two several times a week.  That's slow going and you have to be prepared to accept that.  But it was great fun and I got better and more accurate as I learned.

Several very experienced posters here are recommending that you learn on something smaller first, then move on to your frigate.  Why not go for a small fishing boat on which you can learn planking, It shouldn't take long and you can always leave it unfinished if you're desperate to get onto the three master!

Nipper

My experience is limited.  I know two models only, both from Vanguard, and both have been very satisfying to build with excellent instruction manuals.  The Sphinx is expensive but it is good value for money.  It is classed as "experienced" but it is OK for a beginner as long as you are prepared to be patient and take your time to try things out, and redo things, before committing to glue.

One of the best things about Vanguard models is that there are people here on MSW who will help with any questions, in particular the designer himself, Chris Watton, who will respond himself if asked.

Nipper

Congratulations Chris for the great progress your business has made and it is so well deserved for the quality of your products and your customer service.  I remember your post on here saying that you had decided to set up your own business, and that is clearly paying off now.

The question now of course is how to manage the business as it has grown so much since the release of Alert.  I agree with your reply above about employing staff to do the kit production.  Although this would free you up to concentrate on kit design, once you are employing others you are bringing in a whole lot of potential problems as well as additional costs.  To my mind, the issue is how to make sure that you and your wife (whose assistance on top of her own full time job must be a huge bonus) are enjoying running the business.  Sometimes, success means a business can grow to the point where it becomes just a chore, or even too stressful.

An alternative to employing your own staff is to contract out to other businesses to do the basic work for you.  This brings other problems of course as well as the cost, but maybe this could be something for the future.

It seems to me that you are saying  that you are having fun with VM - and so you are right to keep it like that.  As long as Mrs W is happy too!

Thank you for the happiness your work has brought to me.

Nipper

Welcome to MSW Robert!

Another new member, JBH, has recently asked the same question.  Have a look at his page - see below - because there are some very helpful suggestions there about a first build.

Nipper

5 hours ago, JBH said:

Wow! I am totally impressed with all of your suggestions. Thanks so much for giving me a lot to think about. Much appreciated, and I will let you know what I decide. So glad to have found this forum. 

Welcome JBH to the most informative, enjoyable and friendly website I have ever come across.  I'm not surprised that you've received so much help already.  People on this forum are genuinely interested in helping each other and I find sometimes that I have to drag myself away from the screen, otherwise I might be here all day and never get my boat built.

I'm sure you will really enjoy researching the suggestions made above, and we look forward to hearing what you have chosen for your first build.

Nipper

On 6/30/2022 at 5:49 PM, Blue Ensign said:

Problem solved for me but I believe the one sized middle and lower chains of the Sphinx kit may create issues for other builders, in relation to the Main Channels.

 

That remains to be seen.

BE - It certainly has created issues for me too!  After a lot of experimenting with the different components of the chains, I've concluded that the best way out of this is to use some 0.5mm wire to make my own upper links on the main chains - a potential solution that you had identified until you found that your old Pegasus chain sets would do the job.

I've looked at the other Sphinx build logs and only Hollowneck seems to have had the same problem, but some of the other Sphinx models have the lower bolt of the preventer plates on the wale itself, not on the upper strake of the wale, which does not look right at all.

So thanks once again BE for your detailed build log, which has helped me find a way through this problem.

Nipper

BE:  You didn't warn us that you were going to go full dolls' house!  It's magnificent and the colours you have achieved on the furniture is outstanding,  That subtle mix of varied "mahogany" colour on the table top looks so realistic.

Is that a wash basin or a commode you have built?  And who is the portrait of?

Nipper

I see that you've been referring to Blue Ensign's build log in which he goes into a great deal of care to create an authentic rig for Alert.  Like you, I wanted to make my Alert as realistic as I could, and I used all the usual reference books to check what is correct.  After a great deal of (very enjoyable) time researching, I concluded that I could do no better than follow Blue Ensign's lead.

22 hours ago, Blue Ensign said:

This famous painting of Nelson on the eve of Trafalgar, gives the sort of idea.

Come on Chris, how about it?

BE - I love the idea of your "inner dolls' house maker" coming to the fore!  Chris' furniture is fantastic for this, but you are right about the figures.  I'm in the process of furnishing and fitting the cabin of my Sphinx - maps, books, quill, inkpot, potrait of the wife etc. - but figures?!  It is the pose that is so important, which is why I fully support your nudge to Chris.  My Sphinx captain is a bashed version of your Captain Grim, hatless to fit in the cabin but still clutching his telescope unfortunately.

I'm looking forward to seeing how your cabin develops - and many thanks for your detailed commentary which is so helpful.

Nipper

1 hour ago, TBlack said:

Nipper,

Speaking of Chris Watton's resin offerings, you have prompted me to mention that I think I will go with his resin ship's boats rather than the wooden kit included. If Hollowneck can do it, so can I! Besides, I think I need 2, one for the davits and one for the deck? Or should I just put one on the davits? How many boats would a brig have had?

Tom

Tom

I've looked in Lavery's "Arming and Fitting" and he says that at the end of the 18th century "large sloops of 300+ tons would have three boats, and smaller vessels 2".  Speedy was 207 tons, so I think it is right to assume 2 boats for Sophie.  But sometimes captains or masters and commanders might decide differently.  Is there anything in Patrick O'Brian to indicate that Jack Aubrey had more than 2 boats?

Nipper

I agree - it's more fun to have a try at building something first.  There's a lot of useful learning in tasks like this.

That said, I spent a lot of enjoyable time last year trying to make a set of furniture to go in the captain's cabin of my Sphinx, and then Chris Watton brought out his super resin furniture, which I couldn't resist!  So I spent some time making miniature books, including a logbook, to go on the captain's table, and a framed portrait of his wife.  The results are so-so, but the enjoyment was immense.

Nipper

It's a lovely build and a lovely commentary.  I assumed that the penny was the lucky penny - the actual one in your pocket at the fateful moment - and surely you would not hide this for ever in the bowels of the boat!

Nipper

"The stage of a build I enjoy best" - could this be headworks and sternworks?   I've nearly completed these on my Sphinx and aren't they tricky?!  Like most difficult tasks, it's very satisfying to have achieved them, but apart from painting, shading and highlighting the stern decorations, I didn't enjoy it as much as, say, planking.  The latter was repetitive but I found my skill improving after each plank.

Nipper