gieb8688

A few pictures of the printed parts, so far.
 
I am using light gray Polylactic Acid (PLA) from Overture to print all these parts. The diameter is the standard 1.75mm which is extruded to 0.4 mm, at 200 Degrees Celsius. The bed (glass plate) is warmed up at 60 Degrees Celsius for adhesion and nice bonding of the filaments. The PLA is sold in spools of 2.2 pounds (1 Kgrs) and my understanding is that it will take about two spools to complete the hull.
 

 
First part printed: Took about 2:00 hours. All the parts displayed are direct from printing and I have not sanded or refined anything, yet. The Fused PLA is very hard, much harder than the polystyrene used in plastic model kits.
 

 
This one took 3:28 hours. The rear of the stern has some waves which are actually very superficial and will be easy to remove with light sanding and priming.
 

 
Hull_8 part took 17 hours. I prayed that the printer would not stop .... and it did not. Very nice and crisp details. The welding traces are actually very nice and will be perfect after some light sanding. Ports have to be drilled.
 

 
The entire stern put together. Very precise assembly and probably little use of putty.
 
For those interested in the printing process, here are a few pictures of the birth of the Corvette: 
 

 

 

 
8 hours done....7 more hours to go!!!
 

 
Done !!!! 
 

 

 
Yves

Got the display case finished!  Once I decided to cut plexiglass myself, it went about as smoothly as any project like this does.   I had test fit everything several times, so it all went together easily.
 
The lights work great, even better than I expected!  Well worth the effort.   The lights I used are battery powered, remote controlled, for closets and shelves.  Amazon has a bunch of them.  I put 4 in the case and it's about right at 100% brightness.  Reviews said batteries don't last long, so I made it so I can quickly remove lights and change batteries.  I figure I won't have to do this too often, because I'll only use lights when showing off to visitors.
 
I have it sitting on a game table for now, so there's background distractions.  When custom table arrives (I've been told about a month), I'll put it against a wall and I think it will look even better.  Photos picked up some reflections, which you don't actually see.
 
 

Just a brief update on my progress. I have fitted the gaff and boom to the mizen mast to try the fit of the driver sail.  Then the sail was made up using my paneling method, the bolt rope, linings, cringles, reef points etc. were  added.  Then the sail was bent to the gaff using two robands per sail panel. The brails will be added at a later time, before hanging the gaff/boom/sail assembly.  Still more to do before then, though.
 

 
I mounted the crojack spar, adding the sling, truss and lifts, Then temporarily set the mizen top yard, which allowed me to get the critical dimension of the mizen topsail height. That number, along with the cleat-to-cleat dimensions of the crojack and top yard, allowed me to make a paper template for the top sail.  This will be used in the next step, which will be the assembly of the topsail from the sail panels and then cutting the sail to the template.
 

 
Here are a few shots of the current state of the build. Excuse the messy background, that is my garage workshop space!
 

 

 

 

 

As I went along with my Victory build, I decided that I wanted to display her as she went into battle, including with her hammock cranes full.  It was common practice, especially in times of war, for His Majesty’s ships to wake all hands an hour before dawn to prepare for a battle with any enemy ship that may appear nearby at dawn’s break.  Hammocks were broken down, rolled and triced up, with the sailors’ bedding and other belongings inside the roll.  The hammock tricing, as per the bosun, was with the regulated 7 circumferential turns of small stuff.  The roll was then folded in half and stowed in a hammock crane at the sailor’s assigned position under the watchful eyes of one of the bosun’s mates.  The reason for doing this was twofold; one to get them out of the way as there was little storage space below decks for personal belongings, and secondly to act as some degree of protection from the wood splinters that were the result of an incoming cannonball’s impact, and also from musket shot from the enemy’s Marines stationed in their fighting tops.  The filled hammock cranes were also an impediment to boarding parties coming over the side. The weather deck of a line-of-battle ship during an engagement was not a nice place to be! The filled cranes were usually covered with tarps to protect them from the weather, but I decided to display them without covers so the individual hammocks could be visible. Hammocks were also lashed to the aft net barriers on the fighting tops to afford the Marines positioned there some protection from enemy musket fire.
 
Victory had a complement of about 850 men, so making individual hammocks of this volume was going to be a challenge. My Vic is the Caldercraft 1:72 version, so the slightly over 6 foot long hammocks are about 1-1/4” in finished length.
My aim was to make them showing the tricing lines, with the fabric a slightly off-white from the natural canvas color, as they would often get a little grimy and gray with use even though they were scrubbed regularly. I didn’t want the tricing to appear too stark, as that would detract from the random look that would have appeared as the hammocks were placed in the cranes. This meant no pure white canvas material, and no dark contrasting lines to simulate the tricing lashings.
 
I tried several types of material, including cloth and paper of all sorts, but none seemed to look right to me or were just too difficult to make in large numbers. I then tried some polymer modelling clay called Fimo, which showed some promise.  Fimo can be manipulated like regular modelling clay, but after taking the desired shape can be oven-baked for several minutes to produce a hard, stable object. As I experimented with the Fimo, I developed a procedure and a simple jig that produced acceptable (to me) hammocks – generally the same, but different enough from each other to present some degree of randomness in their rolling and placement.
 
Fimo comes in a couple of different consistencies, and a limited palette of colors – none of which was exactly what I wanted for the hammocks.  I thought about combining two or more colors of the Fimo into a composite color that approached what I wanted for the finished hammocks, but was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to duplicate it over and over as I needed more material. In the end I decided on the “soft” version of the Fimo in White – I would color them later to the desired hue.
 

 
To simulate the tricing grooves, I glued seven .020” soft iron wires about an inch long at equal distances apart over 1” on a scrap piece of 2” wide, ¼” thick scrap of basswood. 2 more wires were added about 1/8” outside of the first and last tricing lines – these would serve as the guidepoints to trim the finished hammocks to their proper lengths.
 

 
First a chunk of Fimo was torn off the block, about the size of a grape.  It was softened slightly by rolling and warming in the fingers into a rough cylinder.  This was then rolled between two wooden planks about 3” wide to get a long cylinder about .100” in diameter and 4” or 5” long.  The length is not important, and you will soon be able to “eyeball” the proper diameter close enough - some diameter variation is to be desired to simulate randomness. Cut off a chunk of the roll about 1-1/2” to 2” long, place it near the wire strips, and using another flat board press down and roll the Fimo between the boards once to leave the tricing line impressions from the wires on the hammock. Rolling more than once will blur the lines.  If it’s not right, just wad it up again and repeat. I would usually make them up in batches of about 50 to ease the tedium.
 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 
Once the tricing lines have been impressed, carefully fold the hammocks in half, bringing the two outer impressions (the cut-off lines) together.  This will leave a shape like a Greek Omega, with a bulge at the top.  Don’t try to fix this with your fingers, but squeeze the roll together gently between two small chunks of flat wood to make the sides parallel, or they won’t fit right in the hammock cranes. At this point I trimmed them a little longer than the cut-off lines, prior to baking them.  I probably could have trimmed them to the exact length here, but this became my routine.  Now they get placed on a piece of aluminum foil and baked in the oven at 230° F for 30 minutes to harden them. 
 

 

 
 

 

 

 
After they have cooled, trim to the proper length. Now rub the sides on a piece of medium sandpaper, which will make them flat so that they lie properly next to each other in the netting.  Keep a couple of them rounded on one side to use at the ends of the arrays in the netting.
 

 

 
I wanted the finished hammocks to appear a slight grey-tan, so I made up a diluted (abut 60-40 water to paint) batch of acrylic paint in the desired shade in a pill bottle, and soaked the baked batch of hammocks for a few minutes.  Then they were placed on a piece of paper towel and blotted to get most of the paint off the surface, which left the paint darker in the tricing line grooves.
 

 

 
The hammocks were then glued side-by-side in their nettings. I did this in batches of about 5-8 pieces at a time, letting the glue set before adding more hammocks to avoid getting them out of alignment. Foe ease of manipulation, this was all done prior to mounting the hammock crane/cap rail assembly in place on the hull.
 

 

 

 
 
 

Adding the main topyard/sail.  Tyes being rigged.
 

I have now shipped and rigged the two lower main stay sails (the main stay sail- the lower one, and the main topmast stay sail- the upper of the two).  There will ultimately be two more above these - the middle stay sail and the main topgallant stay sail.  These will have to wait until later, when I install the topgallant masts and their respective stays.
 
Next up will be the main top yard/sail assembly. already made and awaiting placement.

After I add the 2 lower main stay sails, the waist/boat stowage area will also be cramped and mostly inaccessible, so I'll add the boats now. The 4 boats have been made since summer 2011, when I had to be away from home for several months.  The main Caldercraft kit was too big to take with me, so I concentrated on making the ship's boats that summer.  I have resisted adding them permanently up until now, mainly because they are dust-catchers.  My workshop area is located in my garage, and the dust level up til now was very high.  I've had the garage floor epoxied recently, and now don't kick up as much dust, but still cover the model every night with some very light plastic to keep most of the dust off. Here's the last look at the unencumbered waist area, prior to adding the boats and their tie-down lines and tackles.  Most of this will no longer be visible after the boats are mounted
 
 

 
 
Here is the 34' launch being added to the boat tier.
 

 
 
Now the 28"  pinnace and the forward main stay boat tackle.
 

 
 
Finally, the 32' barge and the 18' cutter, along with the after boat tackle.
 

 

 

I am trying to get the belays at the fore mast foot completed, as an upcoming step, adding the main stay sail and the main topmast staysail, will almost make this area inaccessible.  It is very congested here now that I have added the belays to the focs'l breast beam assembly (fore course bunts, leeches, etc).  The stays for these two staysails are belayed in this area (note the bullseyes behind the pinrail).  The main staysail, which by name would seem to hang from the main stay, actually is rigged to what was known as a "spring stay", which runs sort of parallel to the main stay, but terminates at the fore mast foot. This was necessary due to the fact that the staysail hanks would not be able to slide along the actual main stay because of the snaking between the main stay and the main preventer stay.  I have extensively used Hubert Sicard's method of using what he called "zip seizings" on most of my rigging, which enormously makes tightening the rigging lines easier, and also lets one pre-rig lines while the zips hold them in place without glue.  The main topmast stay belay is located on the bullseye behind the pinrail.  Also, I have not yet shipped the topgallant masts/sails, and their belay points here and on the fore shroud cleats will be inaccessible after the staysails are shipped, so I must add them now and let the upper ends of these lines flop in the breeze until I get around to adding the topgallant mast. Attaching these line later at what should be their standing ends, will be much easier because of the zip siezings. This is the case for many of the running rigging lines, hence the jungle of slack lines that appear in the pix. 
 
 

 
 
 
 

This is a shot of some of the belays at the foot of the main mast. Here the port truss pendant tackle fall is being attached.
 
 

 
Belay of main course sheet at starboard staghorn.
 

   

Jeers bowsed up. Note that the running ends were pre-attached to the bitts on the upper gun deck, abaft of the main mast.  This was done ages ago, before the quarter deck was installed, which would have made access impossible. Same goes for several other lines, such as the fore yard shhets, main yard tacks, main top yard sheets, etc.

Reeving jeers.\; sling routed but not snugged up yet,  Trusses attached to yard, but not yet routed correctly.

I haven't posted here for the last 5 weeks or so, but here are some updates.  Again, I apologize for the cockamamie way that I am posting; a mix of historical pix from the early stages of the build, and some current ones.
 
 I finally got to shipping the main yard/course a few weeks ago.  
 
The yard/sail assembly with most lines pre-attached:

Somewhere along the line one has to tackle the assembly and installation of the gunport lids. After they are painted, the hinges have to be added.  For those ports shown in the open position, the hinges have to be bent to about 90 degrees. This can be tricky on these tiny photoetched parts.  In my bag of tricks I had a Mission Models Etchmate 3C, a tool designed expressly for bending small photoetched brass parts. It is a little pricey at $60, but if you do a lot of this work it is worthwhile.  I bought mine a decade or more ago, and a quick look online indicates that they are no longer available; perhaps Mission Models no longer makes this item, but it seems that one can find them on eBay for about $30. Here are some photos of the 3C bending hinges, and some simple jigs to locate them.

This update takes me up to hull completion (apart from fitting the lanterns and quarterdeck hammock cranes which will be fitted later).
 
Work starts on fitting out the forecastle deck, fitting out with the hatch assembly, belfry, fore bitts cross beams and the breast beam rails.





 
 
Of course, there's those catheads which need fitting. These are designed with engravings that mean each cathead is an easy, multipart assembly, and they look rather nice when built up. Opening up the bulwark holes for the catheads was the longest task here, taking about 90 mins in total, but they fit superbly.




 
 
Ok, back onto the quarterdeck, fitting the stairs I made much earlier in this build. The same goes for my capstan and hatch assembly. The ship's wheel unit is something I made up in the last week, and that goes nicely into position.



 
 
 
Now, the quarterdeck breast beam rails are installed. These did look fiddly, but they fit together as easy as Lego! That's right down to installing the PE hammock cranes through all slots in each layer. When complete, these are painted black.




 
Time for timberheads! (and quarterdeck rail stanchions).


 
 
Followed by the rails:

 
 
Off to the other end of Sphinx now as I build up the head rails. These are made from laminated pear and the top of these are shaped as I did with the timberheads on the gunwales. Those 'seats of ease' are also installed.


 
 
 
Remember those cannon port lids? Here they are, finally installed.

 
 
 
The boat beams are now slightly different to the ones I used as they are engraved with the positions of the specific boat cradles, making things a little easier for the builder. The mounts for the beams are cast in a tough resin, attached with CA once I'd measured the 'between centres' to the holes in the gangways.

 
 
 
Hammock cranes are now installed and rigged.



 
 
The boomkins and figurehead parts are fitted, completing this update...


 
 
Here's a few pics of the build so far. Tomorrow I'll be sending Chris a pen drive with over 830+ photos and 24,000 words of text. Your instruction manual will be epic, in every sense of the word 😆






 
 
 

Thanks to all for the comments and the likes – it is always greatly appreciated.
 
 
Hello Ron.  I'm glad you found my log and thank you for the kind words.  Thanks also for the comments regarding the dory, but I'm going to respectfully disagree on the dory's purpose for the following reasons.  First, as I researched these small western-rig boats, I found references to the roof mounted dories as indeed being lifeboats.  I agree with you that present day F/Vs mostly do not carry lifeboats, only inflatables.  But even as late as the 1970s they did. In Peter Prybot's book, White-Tipped Orange Masts: (Gloucester's fishing draggers in the 1970s), the author states that the eastern-rig boats carried two life boats atop the pilothouse and smaller boats carried one.  Here is an image of eastern-rig boats in Boston in the 1960s/70s all carrying dories painted in the same high visibility color.
 

 
The image above doesn't prove anything by itself, but it shows that the boats were common in an earlier time.  As the decades passed and the dories became increasingly rare, it must have been due to the movement toward CO2 canister inflatables.  If the dories were part of the fishing gear, they would not have vanished because the basic method of trawl fishing during this period didn't change.
 
A second reason I believe the dories on these small draggers were not part of the fishing gear is that I have never read where auxiliary boats have ever been used in conjunction with otter trawl gear.  I don't see how the dory would assist in that process or what it could do that the winch or boom hoists could not, especially considering the weight of the gear (wire rope, otter boards, roller gear, etc).  And my final thought is that without a davit, getting the dory down off the roof and back up routinely seems impractical.
 
Of course I could be totally wrong about all of this, but certainly without some way out of the frigid New England water, a person would quickly suffer from cold incapacitation followed by hypothermia in short order.
 
Thanks again Ron.
 
 
Finished
 
This simple diorama base has been a painfully slow slog.  I re-did it several times with each version being tossed into the trash.  But I have surrendered and it is done.
 
I began with a framed platform that measures 7.5” x 13.5”. Like the model, it shows signs of wear.
 

 
 
I then made a landscape foundation of Hyrocal.  This is great stuff – mix with water and it cures hard as a rock, doesn't shrink, crack or flake apart.  I poured this mix onto a piece of waxed paper so I could work the stuff away from the base in anticipation of do-overs.  The rock out-crop is also Hydrocal that I formed in a flexible mold manufactured by Woodland Scenics.  Trailer tire tracks are laid in.
 

 
 
I glued the slab onto the base with crazy amounts of PVA and filled in around the perimeter with a fresh batch of the Hydrocal. There is an interval of time before it has cured (hours) where the stuff is “green” - hard, but very workable with carving tools. I then cut and glued down the wood blocks that will support the boat.
 

 
 
Slide switches and a battery holder for the LED lighting are mounted to the underside.
 

 
 
The Hydrocal was painted with a brown gouache and then landscaping materials are added on top.  The rock out-crops are also colored with gouache.  The “dirt” is pulverized cat box absorbent (unused mind you).  It's placed into a plastic zip bag, smashed with a hammer and then sifted into piles - powder, fine and course.  The scant vegetation is dry bits of things from the flower garden that were then painted with acrylics.  And the scattered rocks are, well - small stones.
 
Once things were arranged to my liking, I sprayed wet water (more like a heavy mist) over everything until good and wet.  This helps the adhesive to flow.  Before it had a chance to dry, I used a craft style syringe/eye dropper and applied a 50/50 PVA/wet water mix over the entire diorama.  A lot of this mixture was applied- everything soaked but no puddles.  Below is how it looks when dry.  I can shake it vigorously upside down and nothing falls off, but that's not a recommended practice.
 

 
 
I make up a few details. An extension ladder colored with acrylics and pigment powder.
 

 

 
 
And a step ladder.
 

 
 
A 55 gallon drum filled with scraps.  The drum is injection molded plastic from Tichy Train Group.  It is based painted rust enamel then over-painted with acrylic, chipped and pigments applied.
 

 
So I grab the boat and bring it over to the base for final mounting.  Before I make it to the base, I sneeze violently and the boat jumps from my hands like it was possessed.  I watched in slow motion horror as the model pitchpoled end over end and landed on the floor like a cat, right side up and flat on its keel.  I could barely believe my careless stupidity or my undeserved good fortune.  The model remained in completely undamaged condition with only the engine stack having been slightly loosened.  Sometimes the gods smile upon you.
 
The LED wiring is run down through holes in the wood blocks and the boat is attached to the base.  Details are glued on and boat stands are added.
 

 

 

 
 
A worker in a pensive moment contemplates the world and his place in it.  The figure is by Arttista.  And at the last minute I decided the scene needed saw horses and a couple of planks.
 

 
And some other direct lighting shots.
 

 

 

 

 
Some indirect lighting photos.
 

 

 

 

 

 
Well, this model is finished and it has been a pleasure sharing it with you.  I thank everyone who looked in on the build and all the folks that clicked the “like” button.  And to all of you who have generously given comments of support, suggestions, information and expertise – I thank you so very much.
 

 
Be safe and stay well.
 
Gary
 

Hi to all following this build. 
 
I haven’t posted in a while, but I’ve been working steadily on “The Pauline”.   
 
I’ve been busy getting my full scale boat ready for the season! We splashed last Thursday. The weather for Memorial Day weekend set us back a bit, but we’re in the water and looking forward to the season. 


 
As far as “The Pauline” goes I am getting close. I have all the deck features built and mounted, now I have to rig her and I’m going to be adding some additions based on some photos I have of her. 


 
Thanks if you guys are still following. 
 
 

Well it got to me, I could not stare at it any more to the point that I was ever going to be satisfied with the look of this without dealing with this mast. Also, fiddling with bits of the mast, trying to adjust the length of the lower mast was not going to work so I am remaking this section of the mast, sorry dad, but yours had to be replaced, I am keeping the the mid and upper sections.
 
This gives me the chance to learn from my first attemps on the iron work which while ok, but were not the best I can achieve.


Having read NenadM's comments on the scale of the bands on this section, I have bought a supply of 8mm brass belaying pins. I know they are way to big for scale but for practicality, they will at least hold the ropes and give me the chance to apply the rope 2-3 turns and still have a bit of room to hang the ends loops of rope for the lines.  
 
When making the lowest band, I will install 6 hoops aligned vertically for the blocks to hook onto and horizontal in the next hoop for belaying pins. I will also change the universal joint on the lower gaff to match the design of the one on the upper gaff but hope to refine the finish a bit.
 
If at first you dont succeed, try, try again.
 
Simon

CHAPTER 6- Conclusion
 
From the plating expansion drawing, the plates are mostly 24ft or a scale 3in long.  I estimated that 200 plates will be required.  I selected a common width of 7/8in.  A number of sheets of quality bond correspondence paper were sprayed with a coat of shellac and then standard 3in x 7/8 plates were cut with  guillotine type paper cutter.  As one end of each plate laps it’s neighbor I used a simple jig to mark a 1/8in overlap on one end.
 
With plates mass produced, I began plating.  The In and Out system requires plating two In strakes first, and then an Out strake in between.  The process for each strake begins at the stern and proceeds forward as the aft edge of the forward plate laps over the forward edge of the after plate.  90% of the time the plates proved to be a “developed shape”  in other words curved in only one dimension if at all.  In fact there were only 2 or 3 plates per side that had a complex shape.  These were shaped by draping a wet, untreated piece of paper over the hull and letting it dry.  It was then trimmed to shape.
 
I used a palette knife to spread a layer of ordinary titebond PVA Glue to the back of each plate. When in place the plate was pressed down.  After trying various clamping techniques, I eventually learned that the most effective was simply rubbing with my finger until the glue grabbed.
 
When finished, the hull was a mess, with glue smears, and blobs everywhere. I used alcohol to clean up the worst and then sprayed on a coat of flat model paint.  The hull looked better and I found that the paint stiffened the paper to the point where it could be lightly sanded with 220 grit paper.  Another light coat of paint and it looked even better.  The digital photos reveal several areas that still need work but a this point, “It’s a keeper.”
 
Lessons Learned:
 
The shellac made the system possible.  Several plates  which for various reasons I applied without shellac were easily damaged requiring messy repair.
 
Keeping fingers clean to avoid spreading glue where it doesn’t belong is a problem.  A bowl of warm water and a towel next to the workbench is necessary.
 
I made the In plates just wide enough to provide a narrow land for the out strakes to rest on.  A better choice would be to make the In strakes wide enough so the out strake is completely supported.
 
So far,  I have plated one side.  In plating the second side I’ll incorporate these improvements.
 
Roger

CHAPTER 6. Hull plating
 
By the early 1900’s, following the lead of the great British Civil Engineers of the Mid 1800’s American Naval Architects had come to realize that the primary structural element of the hull of an iron or steel ship was its shell plating.  Steel plates together with hot driven rivets provided a monocoque structure to withstand stresses from hogging and sagging of the ever longer hulls.
 
The wrought iron plating of the first metal hulls was layed up clinker style with the bottom edge of the plate fayed tight against the frame and the top edge overlapping its neighbor.  Experience with these early iron hulls showed that the entire plate needed to be riveted to the frame so tapered liner plates were added to close the tapered gap between the plate and the frame.  These tapered plates were expensive to make and nearly impossible to taper accurately leading to the In and Out system of hull plating which remained in effect as long as riveted ships were built.  The In and Out Bsystem is shown along with the clinker system in a 1916 drawing from Practical Shipbuilding by A. Campbell Holms.
 

this was a weird day........1st off.......I found an innuendo in the Rice Krispy jingle.........it occurs when they get to the Crackle verse.  I looked it up on You Tube,  because the admiral couldn't remember it........I found the original one from the 50's.  Crackle sings his verse,  till he gets to the last line:
🎶 butt Crack {le}, makes the world go 'round 🎶     the things I think of while planking.........  
 
secondly,   if anyone tells you that an x actor isn't balanced........  there are very few times,  that it has fallen off the table,  and hasn't stuck blade first into the floor or carpet.  I tossed it on the table one time,  and it bounced....and stuck into a box I had on the table.   yep.......it rolled off the table today.........and stuck me in the first joint of my big toe!  I had to pull the darn thing out!!!  fresh blade too........
 
.......and it's really annoying when someone asks to do something,  you know they are NOT supposed to do.  I have a simple solution.  during the day today,  the admiral asked me to go out and start the lawn mower for her   I had a simple one word answer.........no!  
 
enough tomfoolery........Mark Twain must have though of that word / phrase........I shouldn't be mess'in 'round...this last bit is big!  so the mid ship section is done.  I used the day cabin to guide me through most of it......now the engine cover is involved.

the second turret is cased in as well.......the start of the second torpedo brackets has begun.  the center joint of the deck panels was flattened so the engine cover sat in place without wobbling.  I marked off it's placement and ran a plank,  casing it on both sides.

 

then,  it was just cut and fill.  filling in along the margins wasn't too bad......

cutting around the aft torpedo brackets was interesting......they had to stay full plank.  there are no more obstacles,  except 'round the backside of the brackets.  it got me thinking......was there a platform for the 20 mm gun?  there is one shown in the full layout diagram,  but there are no parts associated with it.  the platform should be as thick as the torpedo bracket bases,  so I went into the PT box and got out the cast off fillers for the bulkheads.  the turret and a {somewhat} square piece of wood was used to trace out the part.

the dimensions should be a bit bigger,  but this will do the trick.  it was cut out on the scroll saw and sanded to shape.  the planking on both side meet the stern margin now.

the day cabin and the engine cover,  along with the aft turret,  sit in place quite well.

 

I will need to make adjustments to the shields,  because of a gap with the helm flooring......I just moved it up 1/16........minor stuff.  my back was killing me,  but I made the push to get the planking done.  happy time!

 

 

it's a shame I can't get the shields to sit flush,  or this would look better than it does.

next will be sanding and painting.......    
 
 

the port side shield worked out well.......it sits in the deck "well" pretty good.  with the deck planked on both sides of the helm,  I thought it was time to lay the floor in the helm area.  I have some of that corrugated siding used in model railroading....painted flat black,  it should look rather good.

the lines go straight........they don't look like that   I had forgotten about the second turret......so I drew the lines for that one. 
 
 

 
 the starboard side shield however......got a little messed up.  in one of the dry fits,  I saw that it fanned out further than what I marked off,  so I drew the new lines to follow......not a good thing to do   as a double whammy,  I seem to have lost track of the butt stagger....that was bad..........what was worse.  was I somehow was off on the planking,  resulting in a 3/16 gap......

I left the gap repair visible so you can see.  later I'll fill it in with filler and render it invisible.  I already filled in the small piece that I fitted in the shield well,  to correct that mistake.  the torpedo tube will hide some of it......and as we all know......paint hides sin 🚫 {so does filler}.

it gets better.........no more surprises.........thankfully!  I'll cue up the big finish   
 
 

OK........I'm back ........still a bit out of joint,  but a few more Advil and moving around,  I should be fine.   my thumb is throbbing too......a result of giving up on the chopper,  cutting and trimming by hand.  primitive I know.......but it works     anyway......once I got both sides of the bow covered,  I could then move back towards the stern.  there was a lot of obstacles to work around....a product of my own doing.  I made it back to the first torpedo brackets.

now to fill in on both sides of the mid ship,  and work around the first .50 cal turret and the shields.

haven't decided if I'm going to fill in around the brackets and stuff.   some of the butt joints show and some don't......I don't want them to be totally obvious,  but after the paint,  have them just noticeable.  when I sand,  I'll have to wipe the hull......and not blow on it {it will clean out the gaps if I do}.
   I mentioned that I would show the structure in place.  you'll see plenty of dry fits....I promise   

 

 

And a little bit of Sphinx progress...(All deck fittings dry fitted, nothing glued yet)

OK, as it is now two years since the first kit release, I decided to have a sale to celebrate! (Feels like it's been much longer)!
 
VANGUARD MODEL KITS – VANGUARD MODELS

Another little update - Not much done of Sphinx (working on plans in CAD) over the past week, as work (day job) has had me very busy and no chance of furlough days - but still on target for July release, just..
 
I did decide to make a minor change to one of her fittings though, and am quite pleased with the new fitting, just a small thing, but they do add up.
 
I now have a decent waterline marker on my site, plus a Minitool mini sander (which needs the transformer), which caught my eye and thought would be very useful for ship modelling (I use a larger version in my day job for certain jobs)
 
Tools – VANGUARD MODELS
 
I should have a full range of spring loaded sanding blocks by mid next week, too, together with spare sanding belts for them.