TJM

Log entry 9 - more planking I am slowly progressing with the first planking layer, adding planks symmetrically at a rate of about 4 planks per work session. I think the modifications at the bow has made it a bit more difficult to plank - it is certainly more difficult to get the planks to sit flat on the bulkheads compared to Flirt! Here's a bunch of pictures of the current state: I have tried to show the shape at the bow, but it is a bit difficult to photograph well. At it's most extreme it is more than 2 cm wider than Sphinx, so quite pronounced! I think I will finish this first layer in a weeks time or so. I am enjoying this operation much more this time around, so that is great! BR TJM

Thanks Ronald 😃. It is definitely much cheaper to go the DIY route, but I would definitely recommend getting someone to cut the acrylic to size unless you have a table saw! And I was surprised at how much was needed. I used a 100x150 cm and a 100x75cm sheet with only a few strips left over!

Log entry 40 - epilogue I have been debating, mostly with myself, where to permanently display Flirt. It has been standing on top of a driks cabinet for a few months, but it will quickly become very dusty and it is at risk from jumping cats and flying toys (I have two small kids). So I knew I had to get it into a case. But boy, those are expensive! Especially as I have only found good options from UK and US and before all is said and done, I would be paying an additional 60% or so plus shipping to get it into Denmark! That would probably be 1.5-2 times the price of Flirt itself... So I decided to build my own. A local model shop stocks brass corners and wooden parts from OcCre for a DIY case. Cutting the frames were easy enough, but I did not get the acrylic glass pre-cut and as I dont have a table saw, it was an excercise with a heavy duty craft knife to score the acrylic from both sides repeatedly and then breaking the sheet. Many, many times. That was a bit of an ordeal and I will have to find a different solution for future projects i think. But the final result ended up ok! At present, I dont have a good place to display it in the living rooms, as the case is so big. So I opted for the staircase to the basement. Not many people will see it there, but I will, several times a day, and there was a well placed light already in place for a pretty nice final setup. Cheers everyone! Now on with Christiania! BR TJM

Log entry 8 - first planking continued First post in a while - i have been spending a lot of time trying to save files from a failing hard drive. Managed to get most of the data out before it died completely. So now I am back in the workshop continuing with the first planking layer. All in all it is going well, with 4 planks on either side added as well as the garboards. It looks a bit rough in places but I am confident that sanding a nd probably a bit of filler here and there will make a sound basis for the second planking. I am taking it slow and making sure I get things as even as I can. I also have to adjust a bit when a plank sits a little too high or low on the modified bulkheads. It is small margins, perhaps half a milimeter here and there, but better to adjust now than later! BR TJM

I have som Amati nails that I got directly from them - they seem to be identical to the ones that come with Vanguard kits.

I totally agree, it looks really good, very well done! I guess you paint the decorations off the model and then add them after?

Log entry 7 - starting the first planking layer As expected, I had to cut off the ply bulwarks just before the first gunport at the prow. It was a bit daunting to just chop up this part, but I am happy I did, as it would not have been possible to get the required shape at the prow with these. And it was not difficult to plank this section with 5 mm strips instead. From the side, you almost can't tell that is i not the Sphinx - as It should be! But from other angles, Christiania is slowly starting to appear. I really like the process of the first planking with the hull shape becoming more and more clear as I progress. I am going to have a bit of of hassle getting the pins out, as I had to insert the fully in many places to make the the planking sit tight against the bulkheads. I did so on my HMS flirt too, ad it was ok, if a bit fiddly, so I am sure it will be fine in the end. BR TJM

Log entry 6 - fairing and pre-forming outer bulwarks First, thank you for your likes, comments and general interest so far, all are much appreciated! I have faired the hull leaving small traces of the laser char to make sure I don't sand too deep and to make the char pattern the same on both sides - hopefully this will ensure some consistency between the sides. I managed to break a few of the bulkhead ends, but they are glued back in, and I don't think it will effect the final result, annoyed though I am at my own clumsiness. The soaked outer bulwarks were clamped in, the fit being good until and including the forward most cannon port. After this, the flairing at the bow causes troubles. It basically needs to form what I guess is mathematically a saddle point surface, where the plywood needs to bend one way horizontally and the other way vertically. I don't think that is really doable with one piece of plywood, it is not stretchy enough for that. So I will likely end up trimming the part at the bulkhead right after the last gunport and then planking the very front with thin strips of first planking material. I did try to iron it in place, to form the saddle point, but it does not seem to have made much of a difference. Will see how it looks tomorrow. BR TJM

I will be following this for sure!

Absolutely magnificent. So many fantastic details, and the log itself is invaluable as a reference. Thank you for sharing!

Log entry 5 - fitting the deck and more cabin and prow modifications Quite a few things have happened since my last post. I managed to fit the two deck parts without any incident (phew!) and then moved on to the cabin. Due to the modified stern, I had to make replacement parts for the raised platform (does it have a name?). I started with a paper template based on the stock part and when the fit looked ok, I moved on to 0.5 mm gray board. Then I scanned that on a flatbed scanner, imported into QCAD and traced the outline. Down to the laser cutter and voila, new part! Here you can really see how much wider the cabin is at the very rear. The material used is 1 mm pear from Arkowood in Germany. It is very nice, though not quite a good colour match to the kit pear. But it doesn't look too off once fitted, I think. I turned the grain direction as I had to bend the part to get it in place, as the part is widest at the back. I also cut some prow parts to get the shape at the front somewhat close to the Christiania plans. I will have to remove all the middle parts again later, but I think I need them for now to fit the first layer of planking and get a nice run of those lines. This is how she looks now, ready for fairing! Edit: after I add the temporary braces, of course! I like how the prow shape has turned out and it will be really fun to see it with the first layer of planking on. I don't expect the laser cut ply parts to fit very well at the prow, but I will deal with that, filling and trimming as needed when I get to it. The important thing is to get the gunports to lign up perfectly. BR TJM

Log entry 4 - inner bulwark patterns With the bulkhead modifications complete (for now...) I have moved on to the inner bulwarks. These are such nice laser cut pear parts! And they are obviously just the first of many, many to come. This is the state of things: The fit at the rear is somewhat different from the stock build due to my modifications. As the windows are a bit wider, I have to bend the pattern outwards to widen the rearmost part of the cabin. Fortunately, this turned out well, and the slightly too long parts slide on the outside of the last window frame (2 mm further out than the stock Sphinx build). Of course, this widening means that I have to fill in a bit on the floor. It is not much and hopefully won't be very noticeable inside the cabin, when all is said and done. The checkerboard pattern is only dry fitted at the moment, and I am working on fitting the main gundeck, but a bit of sanding at the edges is needed still. I am very afraid of breaking the deck! A lot of bending is needed to slip it in! I have not tried to seat it in yet and I am working on each side separately at the moment. Lastly, I have obviously painted the window supports red. As mentioned in the first post, the window frames were often (perhaps always?) this colour on Danish ships of this era, and I though I would keep this colour on the inside as well. I will keep as much of the cabin and inner bulwarks natural wood as possible, so this will be the colour contrast in the cabin (perhaps I will make the roof beams red as well? Hmm.... Long time yet left to decide). BR TJM

It is truly a fantastic build, and the paint job is second to none. A great inspiration! Are you planning to start a new build when this one is all done? I do hope so!

Log entry 3 - continuing the bulkhead modifications A small update. I have added the 'between decks' bulkhead mods to one side. It looks ok for the most part, though I am sure I will run into some trouble with the forecastle deck not fitting with that last very fleuted bow bulkhead! I thought long and hard, looking far forward in the manual, but I have concluded that I will have to del with it at a later point. But this will likely kome back to bite me... You can now clearly see the difference between the two sides/ships in the first image. It will be fun to see how it turns out once it is planked. I will obviously also need to build out the vertical parts at the bow and I am considering how to best do this. BR TJM

Actually, scratch that last post - we had a few hours left over on this last day in Stockholm and since the basement of the Maritime Museum contains a nice playground for children, I was graciously allowed to visit the exhibition 😁. Thanks for the heads-up @hollowneck, there were some very nice models in the collection. The number of models of ships from pre-1800 (my main interest) is not so large - the War Museum in Copenhagen have quite a few more, but there were some interesting models amongst them. Some very large archipelago galley frigates for one! But the highlight for me was the very nice contemporary model of a warship (Swedish/Danish = orlogsskib) from the mid 1600's: I really like the aesthetics of this type of ship and I have a long term aspiration of building a ship very much like this one, so it was very interesting to see an actual contemporary model of such a ship. Anyways, I will be back from the trip in a couple of days, which should see this build log back on track 😉.

Hi Ron, Your advice is much appreciated, thank you! I did drool over Fred Hocker's book in the museum shop, but decided to not go for it at this time. I would have liked to visit the Maritime Museum as well, it looks very interesting with original models by the famous Chapman amongst others, but have to balance the family's wishes as well - my 6 and 3 year olds had enough of ship related stuff at the Vasa museum 😉. But I will keep it on the shortlist for potential future visits! Stockholm is only a 7 hour drive from Copenhagen, so it is not too difficult to get there for me.

This looks amazing! Very much looking forward to more!

No updates as I am on vacation with the family. But! Since we are visiting Stockholm, we went to see the Vasa museum, and that was really incredible! The wow felling you first get when you step into the hall is really rare. I know many people on this forum will have visited the museum at some point, but I will just share a few phone photos with you all here. The exhibit is so well done and you can view the ship from almost all angles. If you ever get the chance to go there, this is definitely a must-see kind of thing 😃.

So interesting to see Chris' construction techniques evolve with each new model. Very intriguing! And looking great, of course!

Log entry 2 - hull build and modification of the frames After being down with a summer flu I have now finally gotten a little further. First, I glued up everything from the last post: Then the deck was glued in: After this, I though I better start modifying the hull lines: So far, it seems to be working well! In a few places close to the bow and stern Sphinx is broader that Christiania, but I will just take a dremel to those few places and get them shallower than the new bulkheads. I have to re-do the last stern bulkhead (#27) as I had not realised the deck didn't go that far back. And then I will start to add the modified bulkheads between the two decks. So far, I am happy with how it is going and for now, things seem to be working out well. BR TJM

Looks very good! What a huge difference these few steps make to the overall appearance!

Very exciting, I'm really looking forward to this build log!

Very, very pretty planking - well done!

Log entry 1 - prepping, the first steps and starting the stern modification I had been eyeing theS phinx kit since I first came across the build logs of @Blue Ensign and @hollowneck. But it was to big of a bite for a first build for sure! Halfway through my Flirt built, I decided to go for this modded Sphinx built as my next project. Probably a little bit over my head, but you only learn by doing, so here we go! The kit arrived in early March and I did a quick check of the parts, while drooling over the magnificent design of the kit: Flirt was great, but this is another level entirely. Cue the nerves when I think about modifying this! I did a bit of (strictly 2D) CAD designing, getting into this, trying out adapting plans from the Danish National Archives, also getting to know the laser cutter. A few days ago, I started assembling the first steps: The fit is very tight, it takes a bit of force to seat the frames. So far so good, now the time has come for the first modification, the lines below the stern. I decided to remodel the last two frames with Christianias lines below the widest point and no changes above. Here you can see a comparison: Original on the left, my modification on the right. It was probably overkill to redo this part as the differences are small. I could probably just have sanded my way to the same result. But the more important thing to consider is the adaption of the stern post positions to work with Christianias window spacing! After an initial rough sanding: Here is my CAD drawing of the modification (I hope I am not violating any rules as this is base on a commercial kit and If I am, please let me know and I will remove the image ASAP!): Here you see my modified last frame (red) with an overlay of Sphinx (yellow) and Christiania (magenta) stern patterns. The blue lines show where the original supports are located, the green show where I have added new slots for my need. Only 2mm wide, as the window frames are so slim! I decided to keep the original structure as well, to avoid modifying more frames, and only add the new ones. I removed the vertical parts from the original ones. Three different part sets of various thickness. This was the really interesting moment: I have only modelled in 2D and now I had to see if everything fits 🫣. But it actually did! Nothing is glued in yet! Adding these come later, but I wanted to make sure it would fit before I glue in my modified rear bulkheads! With the cardboard template of the stern patterne lightly attached with nails, you can see how it will look down the line. I didn't get in on quite straight, but it shows the viability of the mod. The modifications to the inner structure seems to work and be correctly spaced for the new stern pattern. Phew! This was the design element I was most worried about. I think it will work and with this done it will be mostly building the kit according to the manual for a while. This log is now up to date and progress will be at a slower pace 😁. BR TJM

Thanks for taking the time to look into this! You are right, provided that the comparison is done at the same scale (which you normally would, of course!), but due to the difference in hull length between the two ships, I will be building a 1:67 scale for Christiania, to match the length of the Sphinx at 1:64. The overall proportions of the ships are very similar with Christiania only being slightly wider. I think the difference when comparing 1:67 Christiania to 1:64 Sphinx is only 3-4 mm at the widest part! So my tumblehome will be a bit less pronounced. I will compensate a little by making the ship a few mm wider than it really should be at my scale - a compromise that I hope will result in a not quite metrically accurate but visually good representation of Christiania.