Glenn-UK

Quarterdeck work

I started today with a few simple assembly tasks starting with the belfry required for the forecastle deck. The belfry knees and handle have not been added as yet.

I then moved on and built the binnacle and ships wheel. The brass binnacle chimney part has not been fitted as it currently in the paint shop where it has had coat of primer and a coat of black paint. After a trial fit I went ahead and glued the quarterdeck in place. Once the glue had cured I placed the various deck items in place, dry fitting only at this stage. I have also test fitted the various cleats in the stern fascia panel and inner bulwarks. The two holes required for the two lanterns have also been drilled through and then checked that the brass rod will pass through.

Close  up of mizzen mast, ships wheel and binnacle

Close up of capstan

Capstan and coamings.

In the final picture of this post I have added the inner bulwarks, noting they are not glued as I need to sand flat the removed bulkhead tabs

More Deck Work - Cannon, Bowsprit, Quarterdeck and Forecastle Deck

The remaining 8 cannons have now been assembled. I have added them to the deck in the following two pictures, but they have not glued in place for the time being.

Closeup of one side, the two wooden cleats can also be seen as can the walkway deck hanging knees

The Sphinx guns are ready and waiting to fire a broadside to any enemy ship

I then decided to check the fitting of the bowsprit dowel. Initially the dowel would not fit through the access hole at the front of the bow. This was to be expected as the build manual did show the hole being enlarged. I used a large round file to gradually open up the hole. After a few minutes work the dowel passed smoothly through the hole and through the hole on the bulkhead. I did camphor the bottom edge of the bowsprit support to complete the process.

A close up of the bowsprit dowel located through the hull, bulkhead and support

A photo showing the bow area, noting all the deck items are still dry fitted at this stage.

I have ordered some brick red paint for the stove base which will probably arrive on Tuesday. I already have a grey wash for the tile edges. Therefore my next task will be to remove the laser char from the forecastle deck support beams and carlings. However before I start this task I decided to test fit the quarterdeck. I was very pleased that the deck was a perfect fit. The mizzen mast and capstan dowels were also test fitted without any problems.

Using the "unplanked" forecastle deck I did a dry fit. Generally it would appear to be a good fit but it will require a little bit of sanding in a couple of places. The foremast and stove chimney could be positioned without any issues. Once the forecastle deck support framework has been installed I will use the  "unplanked" forecastle deck as a template, and once I am happy with how it fits it will used with ensuring the "planked" forecastle deck is a good fit before it is installed.

Bow Area Deck Items

I have completed the basic assembly work on the gundeck items required for the bow area, with the exception of the 8 remaining cannons.

I started with removing the laser char from the aft ridings bitts posts and associated cross beam. Next I assembled the gallery door frame and gallery doors. I set the gallery doors slightly ajar when fitting them in the door frames. The stove was a nice little item to build comprising a wooden frame which is then encased with some PE parts. The chain pully is affixed to the stove with 2 lengths of brass rods. I used 0.8mm brass rods as the locating holes in the chain pully and chain pully inner & outer discs were much too small for a 1mm brass rod detailed in the build manual. Finally I removed the laser char from the ridding bitts knees. The items were then trial fitted to the deck, as shown in the photo below noting the wooden stove base still requires to be painted.

Next I removed the laser char from the fore ridings bitts posts and supports, the bowsprit support and the fore jeer bitts. These items were then trial fitted. The following two photos show the bow area of the gundeck with the deck items all dry fitted.

Before gluing the deck items in place I needed to check the forecastle deck support beams and carlings. It would seem everything is a good fit, noting I will need to remove the laser char from the top edges of the forecastle deck support beams and carlings.

Quarterdeck Support Beams and Deck Items

I started off by gluing the main mast support disc to the gun deck,  the main mast dowel was used to check the position.

I then did a trial fit of the chain pump assembly items. No problems were encountered.

I completed the installation of the hanging knees for the midship walkway deck. Although not shown on the photo below I have also added the wooden cleats (2 per side).

Now that everything has been trial fitted it was time to glue the various deck items in place. The final installation went very smoothly. The completed areas have been coated with a  varnish / white spirit solution. The final three quarterdeck support beams when then added.

The hand pump dowels are missing a coat of varnish, this will be added when the remain areas of the completed gundeck are varnished.

The sphinx is ready to have the quarterdeck installed, but I will complete all the work on the gundeck before moving on the the quarterdeck work.

I am now turning my attention to the deck items required for the bow section of the gun deck. I thought it would be prudent to recheck the bitts and foremast would still fully locate in the slots on the lower deck and thankfully everything still fits.

I did a trial fit of the forecastle deck beams. I encountered a slight problem with the alignment of the two forecastle beam carlings when they were fully engaged in their respective locating slot, I had no such issue with my V1 build. I believe I have a solution to the problem but I will put on the back burner until after I have completed adding the remaining gun deck items, as this will help ensure the deck beams are correctly positioned. My next task will be building the following items:

a) Galley stove

b) Galley doors

c) final 8 cannons

5 hours ago, Rustyj said:

Hi Glenn, you're progressing nicely, and everything is looking great!

Thanks Rusty

Deck Items Work In Progres.

When working on the V1 build I did find fitting the walkway hanging knees after the deck items had been installed a little troublesome. Therefore I will fit the knees before the deck items have been fitted. The various knees have been removed from the wooden sheet and the laser char removed, the parts will now be painted red before fitting.

I have also continued to work on installing the quarterdeck support beams. The aft hatch and associated parts (cannons, capstan, pawls, cannon balls, aft ladder and stanchions rigged with 0.5mm natural thread) were fitted prior to fitting the beams above them.

I have also dry fitted the midship deck items, as can be seen in the photo below. The chain pump handle bars (fore and aft) and end caps are currently in the paint shop. They have been given a spray with a primer and I'm now waiting for the second coat of black paint to fully dry before they are test fitted. I have not test fitted the cross members to the bitts but will be doing so.

8 More Cannon Built, 8 more left to build

The various wooden cannon parts were removed from the wooden sheet, along with the remaining hanging knees. I have already primed and painted all the PE parts which will be cut from the PE sheets when required to be added.

With regard to the wheels I had a light bulb moment to remove the laser char. I placed some cannon wheels on a metal rod and wrapped some tape on either side to keep the wheels in place. I then used my rotary (dremel like) tool with a sanding head fitted. When the rotating head was placed on the wheels they spun around and the laser char was removed. The wheel retained their circular shape. It is not a perfect method but it is so much better and quicker compared with using a sanding sticks and sandpaper.

The next task was to remove the laser char from the various edges of the cannon sides and hanging knees. I used a narrow Florry sanding stick for this task.

It was then time to paint the cannon parts and the hanging knees. The following photo was taken after the first coat of paint had been applied. Once the paint had dried I did apply a second coat.

Using some 2mm tape the cannons were masked so the integral end caps could be painted black.

With all the wooden parts prepared the basic cannon frames were assembled. The two axles were glued to the left hand side. Once the glue had time to grip the cannon was added, checking the emblem was face up.The right hand cannon side was then glued in place.

Once I had allowed time for the glue to cure the eyebolts and cross beam PE parts, the wooded quoins and wheels were added to complete the task.

To finish of this post I dry fitted the completed cannons to the gun deck. I did start to sand the bottom edge of the coamings so they follow the curve of the gundeck for a better fit, a little bit more is still required.

The cannons are ready to fire a broadside when required. I must remember to paint the top side step blue and bottom two side steps black.

8 minutes ago, Blue Ensign said:

Nicely cleaned up deck beams Glenn. 👍

 

B.E.

Thank you.

Gun Deck Coamings

I thought I would start this post with a couple of photos of the current state of play with the V2 build. With the first photo I have added some dowels to check the mizzen, main and foremast are properly inserted fully in their respective locating slots

The next photo shows the current progress with fitting the quarterdeck support beams.

Before I can go ahead and fit the remaining quarterdeck support beams I need to assemble and fit the various deck items which sit beneath the quarter deck. The first items to consider are the coamings and aft ladder.

The coaming parts, removed from their sheets, waiting for the laser char to be removed before the parts are glued together

The aft ladder parts ready to be assembled, noting the laser char will be removed from the leading edge of the rungs before the assembly.

The various assembled coamings are dry fitted to the hull, the aft ladder is also ready to be fitted.

Close up of the aft coaming with a dowel fitted ready for the capstan.

The mid ship coamings

The coaming closest to the bow

The next job was to add the deck eyebolts and rings, the coamings are still only dry fitted. I have also dry fitted the aft ladder

I am currently building 8 more cannons, so as I was waiting for some paint to dry I decided to dry fit of the remaining quarterdeck support beams. The first photo you will note I have not added the longitudinal support beams

With the longitudinal support beams added, noting I have not, as yet, removed the laser char from the top edges of 4 support beams.

Looks very nice, great work 

Screens

Today I added the windows, frames, hinges and door handles to the forward and aft screens. I also continued to move from stern to bow with adding the quarterdeck support beams and hanging knees. I have now reached the point where I will have to move on to assembling and fitting some deck items before I can continue with adding more deck beams, starting with the gun deck aft hatch coaming, the gun deck aft ladder coaming and the gun deck aft ladder. I will also need to assembly 6 more cannons and fit all the iron work (eyebolts and rings) to the gun ports and deck.

The following is a photo of the Sphinx in all her glory. Please note I have also inserted a dowel for the mizzen mast. This was to ensure the mizzen mast base was correctly positioned with the elongated hole running from stern to bow when it was glued to the deck. The yellow tape on the dowel is an indication where the mast should be aligned with the quarterdeck, when the mizzen mast is fitted and fully engaged with the bottom locating slot.

The window frames are not great looking, will be OK when the quarterdeck is fitted as not easy to see. The ships captain also needs to get a rating to clean the windows

The next photo show the dividing screen

A cheeky picture of the cannon, the hanging knees may be painted red to match the bulwarks.

1 hour ago, Theodosius said:

Sry, if you have already talked about this, but I could not find it now, but what will you do with your V1, when the (realy much better) V2 has overtaken the old one? 🙂

The V1 is currently on display in the conservatory along with all my other models. The conservatory is also my shipyard. I am not sure what I will do with her when the v2 build is completed 

Quarterdeck Beams and optional Hanging Knees

My plan for moving forward with the adding the deck items is to work steadily from stern to bow. With that in mind I have therefore started with adding the quarterdeck support beams. Before each beam is fitted the laser char is removed from the top edge. I used a medium grade Florey sanding stick initially to remove the bulk of the laser char and then I finished off the process with 320 grit sandpaper. The hanging knees will also be added at the same time, as I think there are much easier to fit along with each beam.

When dry fitting the first hanging knee I noted a couple of things which needed some minor attention. As can be seen in the photo below the bottom edge of the handing knee is too long.

Also the top edge of the hanging knee will require a bit of trimming to match the curve of the quarterdeck beam, as shown in the photo below.

After a few minutes work the I was happy with the fit. I then removed the laser char. The hanging knee was then glued in place as can be seen in the photo below.

The first four quarterdeck beams have now been installed without any problems. The 2 cannons have not been glued in place in the picture below

It is important to ensure the cannons are secured in place as the quarterdeck beams are added because  the cannons will not fit between the gap between the deck beams, as shown in the photo below. The leading "n" quarterdeck beam in the picture below is only dry fitted and will only be added once the cannons have been glued to the deck.

Cannons

Today was spent preparing and assembling 4 of the cannons required for Sphinx. In my last post the wooden parts had been given a WOP preparation in readiness for the painting. With the exception of the wheels, all the wooden parts were painted red, noting I did remove the laser char from all the edges. Two coats of flat red were applied. I had also previously spray painted the PE parts with a primer and then black paint. As a waited for the paint to dry I removed the laser char from the wheel rims.

4 sets cannon materials ready for assembly.

The cannon side pieces have integral cap squares which has to be painted black. I masked the sides pieces using 2mm tape.

Two coats of black paint was then applied.

Moving on to the assembly phase I started with the left hand side piece and glued the two axles into place with Titebond Original glue

I waited a few minutes to allow time for the glue to grip before the cannon was added, ensuring the George III emblem was upward facing followed by gluing the right-hand side piece to the axles.

The four cannon assemblies are now waiting for remaining parts to be fitted.

The cannon carriage cross bars were added next, and the excess material was trimmed away. Each cannon has 7 eyebolts, each eyebolt was trimmed and fitted, using a touch of super phatic glue to secure in place. Once the iron work was completed the 4 wheels were added, again using super phatic glue to secure in place. Finally the carriage quoin was glued in place, with a touch of super phatic on both the cross bar and rear axle.

Screens

I did note a slight error in the plan sheets with regard to the forward screen assembly which caused me a little bit of confusion, hence why they were shown the other way around in my previous post.  I have now repositioned the screens so the dividing screen is on the right-hand side. I have also test fitted the two deck beams which the screens will be secured to and all looks good to go, as can be seen in the photo below. I will remove the laser char for the top edges of the deck beams before installation.

Dry fit of screens and deck beams

Cannons

Before moving on to install the screens I have decided the time is right to start work on the cannon assembly. I have started the process by applying a WOP coat to the cannon parts (both sides). These will be left to dry before the various parts can be painted, as required, prior to the assembly phase.

WOP coating of cannon parts

Screens

When I looked at the completed hull first thing this morning I realised the gun ports needed some attention. I applied some red paint to the sides and bottom of each port. They now look much better but I am thinking about adding some gun port linings. I have ordered some wooden strips from CMB so I have the material available.

I then moved on to the rear cabin area and fitted the metal work (floor and gun port eyebolts). As can be seen in the photo below the gun port looks Ok but would look much better if lined.

Next I started to assembly the three screens, each screen comprises a back and front 0.6mm sheet which need to be glued together. I remember from my V1 build that these parts warped badly as soon as the glue is applied. To combat this I clamped the parts flat as the glue cured, using the quad hands base. This method worked a treat. The picture shows two completed screen, the third screen is clamped under the yellow quad hands base.

When putting the aft screen in place in became apparent that the screen would need a little bit of work to make it fit. This was indicated that it may be necessary in the build manual.

To ensure I got a good fit I made a card template of the screen and trimmed it so it was a perfect fit.

The modified template was then clamped to the screen so the excess material could be removed using a sharp craft knife.

The trimmed part was then test fitted, it required a quick sand before it was a perfect fit.

The side screen was then added.

The forward screen was also test fitted. It was necessary to make a cardboard template so the screen could be trimmed to fit. It is a tight fit in the photo below so I will give it a light sand. I also need to remove the laser char from the top edges.

The various parts will now be added to the screens, such as windows, frames, hinges and door handles before they are glued in place.

Hull Decorations, Channels & Knees, Side Hull Steps

I have now added all the side hull decorations to the hull. For the most part these was a fairly easy trouble free task. I did have one piece, either side which would not fit in the space under one of the small forward channel and above the lower rail. I did end up trimming the PE part a little bit to make it fit.

I will add the hinges, eyebolt and thread to the gun port in the morning. The bow grating v patterns look a bit messy, but this will be hidden when the Bow Main Rail patterns are added.

It is a shame I did not get the alignment perfect over the right hand gun port in the photo below, but when all said and done I do not think it will be noticeable with the naked eye unless one really looks hard to spot it.

Before I added the hull decorations I did fit the channels and knees.

Mizzen Channel with knees fitted

Main Mast Channel with knees fitted

Fore mast channel with knees fitted

I also glued the hull side steps in place. I will paint the upper step blue and the lower two steps black in the morning.

Just now, Blue Ensign said:

Looking good along the QD topsides and Galleries Glenn, a vast improvement on V1. 👍

 

B.E.

Thanks. I am so much happier with take 2.

1 hour ago, Rustyj said:

Hi Glenn, Your Sphinx is coming along very nicely. It's a joy to watch your progress.

Thanks Rusty. It is very unlike me to be taking my time with a build, but I am definitely seeing the benifits.

Channels and Hull Decorations

I started to fit the hull decorations, starting with stern and moving toward the bow. The top row from the stern to midships, on both sides, went on without any problems. I constant checked with plan sheet 13 that I had the right PE part and that it being positioned correctly.

To secure the PE parts to the hull I brushed some super phatic glue back of the part and then gently manoeuvred it into the required position. I used a cotton bud to wipe away the odd bit of excess glue. As can be seen in the photo below I have also started to dry fit the channels to the hull.

I decided it would be beneficial to dry fit all the channels before progressing further with added the hull decorations, as the lower layer of PE decorations from the stern to midships needs to fit around the channels. I thought it would be better to do this with the channels in place.

As you will note I have removed the laser char from the edges of the channel, even though they will be painted black.

Fore mast channels dry fitted

Main mast channels dry fitted

Mizzen mast channels dry fitted

With the channels dry fitted I carefully positioned the lower layer of PE parts, prior to adding the super phatic, to check they would positioned as shown on plan sheet 13. I realised it would be better for the channels to be glued in position before these PE hull decorations were added. The photo below shows the lower layer of PE parts dry fitted to the hull around the mizzen and main mast channels.

Based on my experience with fitting the channels with the V1 build I will add the channel knees at the same time as the channels to ensure there is good contact for the knees on both the channel and on the side of the hull. As can be seen in the photo below I have dry fitted the mizzen knees. Please note I have also started to remove the laser char from the knees but the task is far from complete.

The channels need to be painted black before they can be fitted. I ended up making a simple painting jig to hold the channels before they were sprayed with black paint. Using a scrap piece of wood, as a base, I marked and drilled some holes so channels could be held in place, using the same pins that will be used to help locate and support the channels when fitted to the hull. The channels were then given two coats of black paint. The photo below shows the painting jig with the channels in place, with the Sphinx in the background ready for the next installation task. The paint is still a bit wet so the channels will be given time to dry before I move on to fitting them. In the meantime I need to continue with removing the laser char for the channel knees.

Stern Gun Ports, Steps, Depth Numerals and Hull Decorations (PE parts)

I added the hinges, eyebolts and rigging for the two stern gun ports. This was a straightforward task and was completed without any problems.

Moving on to the hull side steps next I removed all the parts, including the spares. I believe there are 7 x hull side steps required per side. The parts were laid out ready for assembly. The laser char was removed from the visible edges.

The assembly of each step was a little bit fiddly but made a little easier when I used my head mounted magnifier lenses. I applied a touch of titebond to one edge, held in my pliers. Each part was then carefully positioned on top of its associated part. I used a scrap piece of wood to ensure the two parts were aligned along the back edge. I was also able to nudge the two parts so the two edges were also aligned.

It did not take too long to assemble all 14 hull side steps, and they are now ready to be added to the hull, which I will do at the same time as fitting the hull PE decorations.

I sprayed three PE sheets with a primer. The hull decorations and depth numerals were then given two paints of gold paint. I also sprayed alot of the other PE parts black, using tape to mask off the parts that will not be painted black such such as the window frames.

The depth numerals were then added. I applied a touch of super phatic to the hull and gently eased a depth numeral into position. This process  was repeated until all the depth numerals had been added. They are not perfectly aligned but they look OK.

18 minutes ago, Theodosius said:

your galleon (?) looks great! 🙂

Thanks

4 minutes ago, Thukydides said:

Looks good Glenn lots of fiddle work there at the bow, but you have done a neat job.

Thanks, it was a little bit fiddly but I am happy with how it has turned out.

Bow Area Complete

The various parts which for the bow area which I have been working on and detailing in my previous posts have now been glued in place to the Sphinx hull. I think the preparation work paid off as the installation went reasonably smoothly. I used super phatic glue to secure the parts to the hull. There will be a little bit more work required later on in the build process to ensure the edges of the bow grating align with the the bow main rail. 

I am now weighing up the next phase of the build. My currently thinking is I will complete the work around the stern area and then to work my way forward towards the bow in stages.

Bow Work Continues

Continuing with the process I use for working on the Sphinx bow area the next task I undertook was to enlarge the hawse holes ready for the anchor rope. I opened these holes out using a 3.5mm drill which I think will be sufficient but I can soon enlarge to 4mm if required. To help thread the anchor rope (later in the build process) I used a small piece of brass rod inserted into the end of the anchor rope with my V1 build which worked a treat. Therefore I have prepared and bent a small length of brass rod and checked it will pass through the hawse holes to the gun deck access hole in the forward bulkhead panel, as shown in the two photo’s below.

I removed the laser char from the edges of the 4 x bow cheeks, 2 x hawse bolsters and 2 x wash cant’s parts. This is not strictly necessary as these parts will be painted black which will cover the laser char but I think the parts will look better when painted black without the laser char.

Using a round file the upper edges of the hawse bolsters were rounded to match the hawse holes. The bolsters were then soaked in hot water for 30 minutes before being clamped to a large jug so a slight bend is applied to enable the bolsters to sit flush with the hull.

The bow cheeks and wash cant’s parts were test fitted to the hull and they did require a little bit of sanding to get a nice fit.

The lower leading edge of the wash cant’s need to be shaped to create a rounded streamlined effect. I decided it would easier to do this with the wash cant glued to the bow cheek.

I used my rotary tool for the initial shaping process, taking my time with frequent checks to check the look.

I then used sanding sticks and sandpaper to complete the process.

Once I happy with how the various parts looked and fitted they were painted black.