Glenn-UK

Thanks. I do refer to the pdf version which I keep on my laptop. I have also downloaded the photos in Jim's build log which really helps as I can focus in on key areas of interest.

Gammoning Completed

Hello Chris I understood your instructions on the rigging sheet regarding when the pendants should be added. It was simply a complete lack of understanding on my part as to what function a burton pendant served. I wrongly assumed it was another rigging line where the thimble end would be rigged to either a deadeye, block, eyebolt or belaying pin, etc. I failed to comprehend these were simply used as hoisting tackle lines and would should be left to dangle.

Bowsprit Work Continues The bowsprit complete with the jibboom and spritsail yard has now been installed. I will add the boomkins and spritsail topsail yard later on once the gammoning, bob and fore bowsprit stays have been rigged. The Sphinx is starting to take shape, but there is still a long way to go. The spritsail yard is looking good. I am really happy with how the various spritsail yard blocks look and they are correctly positioned and aligned in readiness for the rigging. The next photo is a close up of the spritsail yard and jibboom where they are secured to the bowsprit. I opted to fit the spritsail yard to the jibboom before adding them to the bowsprit. I did find this much easier to do off the boat. I started to add the gammoning and it appeared to be going well. Thankfully I took a break and realised I had made a fundamental error in that I was looping the thread under the bow grating without taking it through the slot in the stem post, as can be seen in the photo below. I have restarted the gammoning, this time I am passing the thread through the stem post slot. As can be seen in the photo below I made a loop hole to get the gammoning thread secured to the bowsprit. Once the gammoning is complete I plan to add the fore and bob bowsprit stays. I spent last night studying the rigging plans and ended up on a wild goose chase. On the first rigging sheet it advises that the burton pendants should be added to the mizzen, main and fore masts before the shrouds. I then spent about 15 minutes looking over the 4 rigging plan sheets to see where the thimbles ends should be rigged / belayed to. I could not seem to find any other reference to them on the plan sheets and began to think that Chris had simply missed something off the rigging sheets. I then searched through the photos on Jim Hatch's build log and the pictures in the build manual and I could not seem to find a clear picture that would help me. I was becoming very frustrated. Eventually I found a post on MSW where @Blue Ensign provided the answer, see the bold red italic text below. My very limited knowledge base on rigging period ships is slowly expanding. They are the first item of rigging over the mastheads and are used to attach tackles for heavy lifting. This can be by a thimble spliced into the end of the pendant into which a tackle is hooked, or by a block spliced into the end. They are followed over the masthead by the shrouds, back stays where appropriate, and finally the stays.

Bowsprit Work Status I will be in position to start the bowsprit rigging tomorrow, as detailed in the rigging plan sheets. I think I start by add the spritsail yard to the bowsprit as I think it will be easier to this before fitting the jibboom. I will then secure the spritsail topsail yard to the jibboom before I secure the jibboom to the bowsprit. Once everything has been secured I will glue to bowsprit assembly in place. I also have an idea to make the rigging of the bowsprit deadeye a bit easier which I may try out. I will detail the method should my idea prove to workable. Moving on here is an update of all the work I have undertaken on the bowsprit, jibboom, spritsail yard, spritsail topsail yard, and 2 x boomkins. Jibboom I have now completed the work on adding the 4 off 3mm single blocks to the end of the jibboom. I am very happy with the end result. I did take time to ensure the blocks were correctly aligned, as detailed on the plan sheets. This should make the rigging task much easier and neater. Before adding the blocks I will refer to the rigging plans for the thread size and then I like to check to see if I can feed the thread through the block holes. I usually find it necessary to run a suitable sized micro drill through the block holes to slightly enlarge the holes. In the photo below I have a 0.25mm thread passing through a 3mm single block and a 0.75mm thread passing through a 5mm single block. Boomkin The basic shaping of the two boomkins was relatively straight forward, I decided round off the end, as can be seen in the photo below where the boomkins were test fitted to the hull. There is a single block to be added to the end of each boomkin. When referring to the rigging plans it refers to a type M (5mm single block) on insert section and a type N (6mm block) just below the the insert. Chris did confirm this should be a 5mm single block. The boomkins have been painted black and the 5mm single blocks have been added, in the correct orientation. The boomkins are now ready to be added to the hull and rigged. Spritsail Topsail Yard A length of 3mm dowel was tapered from 2.5mm at the centre point of the dowel down to 1.5mm at each end. The 6 cleats were added and the yard painted black. Finally I added the required threads. A pin was also added to allow the spritsail topsail yard to be secured to the jibboom. The yard has not been glued to the jibboom in the photo below, which was just being test fit. You will also note the end of the jibboom has also been painted black. Spritsail Yard This started life as a length of 4mm dowel. The dowel was tapered down to 1.8mm to each end with a hexagonal shaping added to the central section. The various cleats were added and the yard painted black before the threads, central 3mm single block and two eyebolts were added. A securing pin was has also been added. The spritsail yard has been test fitted to the bowsprit in the next photo I just need to add 4 x 3mm single blocks, two to each end of the spritsail yard to complete the work on the spritsail yard. I have prepared the first two blocks, using the technique I detailed in my previous post, using flying thread for the whipping and I have opted to add 10 loops per block.

Bowsprit and Jibboom Work It has been slow going over the last couple of days working on the bowsprit and jibboom but I am getting there but it will probably be another few days before the work in complete once the two spritsail yards have been fabricated. Bowsprit As can be seen in the first three photos the various bit cleats, fairlead, jibboom support and whipping have been added. I then moved on to adding the various deadeyes and blocks to bowsprit and end cap. I used the method detailed in DELF build log for adding multiple deadeyes on one thread. In simplistic terms the deadeyes are added to the thread and given the nature of the whipping the deadeye positions can be adjusted. When adding the eyebolts to the end cap a length of thread was added to the bottom eyebolt in readiness for rigging to the spritsail yard, the manual suggested 400mm, but I've included 500mm. The end of the bowsprit was then painted black and the jibboom was then temporarily added for a couple of photos. Jibboom There are 4 blocks required to be added to the end of the jibboom and I have been puzzling for the best method. My first idea was to add a ring to the end each block, The four blocks could then be threaded on a length of thread and positioned as required when the blocks are to be rigged. In the end I decided to abandon this approach as I was finding it very difficult to make an acceptable looking block. My best effort is shown in the photo below which looks to clunky. I then decide it would be easier to simply add each block in turn, the photo below gives an indication of the method, but the block rigging needs to be much better, the whipping is to bulky and I need to swap the colours, so the whipping is white. I then cast my mind back and remembered how I use to rig the blocks on Alert and the Duchess which is copying a method shown and described brilliantly by DELF in one of his build logs posts. The block is held in the quad hands and a length of black thread is held in position ready for the whipping to be added. I also remembered it was better to use a fly tying thread for the whipping, using a series of half hitches (top and bottom). In the picture below the first 6 knots have been added. I ended up adding 10 knots, the completed block is shown below, which looks so much better. It did not take long to repeat the process to make another block The two completed blocks were then test fitted to the jibboom. The first rejected block is also shown the next two photos to get an idea of how the end of the jibboom will look. I should be able to complete the work on the jibboom in the morning. I will then move on to making the spritsail and top spritsail yards.

Bowsprit and Jibboom Fabrication The last two days have all been about making a series of school boy errors as I worked through the fabrication process for both the bowsprit and jibboom. Bowsprit I start this process by transferring the details on the plan sheet to a set of instructions, as seen in the photo below. Please note I did amend the final dimension of the start of taper of 135mm, after double checking my notes. Given the detailed plans and my notes what could possibly go wrong? For some unknown reason I decided it would be a good idea to trim the end and cut off the end squared bit required for the end cap. On to take two. I started by taping the start and end of the taper sections. I do like to allow a bit extra at the end. The dowel is then placed in my mini lathe ready for adding the taper. I use a course sandpaper for the bulk of the sanding and the reduce down to a 400 grit for the final smoothing. It does not take too long to get the required taper. I do stop and check the dimensions up and down the dowel several times during this process. Once the taper section is complete the dowel returns to my work bench where I add the flat required for the bee. To do this the dowel is clamped to the work bench. I make a saw cut where the edge of the bee will locate and the flat edge is created. I use a craft knife to create the flat edge and then finish off using a Florey sanding stick. The bee is checked several times during this process until I am happy with the end result, as shown below. I also remembered to leave the extra bit for the end cap. As can be seen in the photo below I started to make a saw cut on the side and will be filled prior to painting this section black. The end cap sits at exactly the right angle as shown on the plan sheet. The various bit are now ready to be glued to the bowsprit. The first item I will add are the gammoning cleats. I have add the tape and marked the positions of the cleats. Jibboom Looking at the plans this appeared to be a relatively easy piece to make. Boy was I wrong. It took me 4 attempts before I actually managed to make one. The first one I simply misread the plans and reduced the dowel down to 3mm which was far to slack for the end cap. Take two was going much better but the small end bit snapped off during the shaping process. Take 3 went really well, except I managed to snap the drill bit. I was unable to remove the broken end so I ended up cutting the end bit off, thankfully I had plenty of length left on the dowel as I had not added the octangle bit of the other end so it was not a total disaster. These are my failures. This is picture of the completed bowsprit and jibboom in position. In the final picture of this post I have trimmed the main and fore masts, ready for their shaping.

I use sandpaper. I do not have any lathe tools

Mizzen, Mizzen Top and Mizzen Topgallant Masts I have managed to reduce the warping on the mizzen mast main platform. It is not completely flat but is much improved to an accepted level. I have now completed the basic shaping of the three masts required for the mizzen mast assembly. I did cover the shaping of the mizzen mast in my previous post, so this post will cover the topmast and topgallant mast shaping. All three masts have now been dry fitted with the various platforms and end caps. The photo below shows the mizzen and topmasts in position. There was quite a bit of work required to get the shaping right for the topmast which started life as a length of 5mm dowel, which I cut approx. 5mm longer than required. I started with using my mini lathe to shape the different round taper sections. Next I sanded the 3mm square top section. Once I was happy that end cap and topmast platform would fit as required I trimmed the topmast to the correct length. I then moved on to sanding the lower section to the required square shape, such that it would fit through the lower end cap and platform access holes. Next I sanded the square section with camphor edges which would allow the topmast to pass through the mizzen mast end cap hole. The final task was to drill a small hole ready for the FID, noting I am using a length of copper wire for the time being. The topgallant mast was manufactured from a length of 3mm dowel. The basic tapering was done using the mini lathe. I took great care as the dowel does become weakened when being reduced down from 3mm to taper section of 1.8mm down to 1mm. Once again I used a piece of copper wire for the FID, whilst test fitting. The end cap does sit square on topmast but it was a bit fiddly to get right for the when taking the photo shown below. This is a full length picture of the topgallant mast, showing the top cap in place. The final photo is shows the complete mast assembly in position, noting everything is only dry fitted at present. I will now shape the main and fore masts along with the bowsprit.

There are two bulkheads between the ship yard and gallery.The salmon was in poached in milk, covered with foil. The vegetables were oven fried. Very little steam. I have clamped in situ. A picture of the clamping in situ is now attached in a previous reply.

Moisture is a killer with the thinner parts.

Everything was clamped and dried flat before I moved on to the assembly. As per my other reply I think it is due to moisture engress when wiping away excess glue. I am going to try clamping whilst in situ to see if I can reduce or remove the warp. If not then it will be a fraught hour or two disassembling the mast to release the platform. I will leave this to dry overnight

It is strange. When the two parts of the platform were glue together I clamped the entiire platfirm flat. This then allowed me time to build the crosstress and check the mast bibs. After a couple of hours I released the platform from the clamps and noted it was flat. I added the crosstree frame work and glued everything in place. Finally I added the banding and mast battens. I can only assume this was due to moisture engress when wiping away the excess glue, which resulted in the warping whilst I took an hour away from the shipyard to cook and eat lunch (poached salmon fillet with red and yellow peppers, red onions, cherry tomatos, mushrooms, cucumber and french fries.

Mizzen Mast The mizzen mast is to be fabricated from a length of 6mm dowel. I cut a length of 6mm dowel that was approx. 5mm longer than required. This allows me to cut to the required length once the end cap has been trial fitted after then end of the dowel has been reduced to 3mm. I applied some tape to the lower edge where the bottom of the mast bibs would be located and some tape to the upper edge of the 4mm squared off section. With the dowel clamped to my workbench I used a Florey sanding stick to create a flat edge between the taped section. I then rotated the dowel through 180 degrees and created another flat edge. I kept repeating the sanding and rotating process until I had achieved an even width of 4mm. The lower tape was then discarded and a new piece of tape added to the position where the bottom of mizzen mast platform would sit. I simply repeated the same sanding and rotating process until I had an even 4mm square section. The dowel was the taken to my Proxxen mini lathe where the end of the 6mm diameter dowel was reduced down to approx 3mm. It was simply as case of checking to see when the end cap would fit over the reduced dowel diameter section. The end result of the mizzen mast fabrication process The platform section was then assembled. I shaped the two bolsters once they had been glued to the crosstrees, prior to fitting to the platform. The crosstree frame was then glued to the platform. The mizzen mast was checked and was a perfect fit. After checking the alignment of the two mast bibs with the platform they were glued in place along with the platform. The plaform is nice and flat. It was clamped flat to my bench whilst the glue had time to cure. The mizzen mast belaying pin ring was also test fitted, as can be seen in the photo below, slightly hidden by the ships wheel. The platform is still nice and flat. The banding strips and mizzen mast battens were added. I glued each banding strip in place as shown in step 860 of the build manual. Once the strips were set in place it was a simple job to add a touch of glue to the banding strips and to wrap each one around the mast in turn. The excess banding material was then trimmed away. Adding the mast battens was a fiddley task but I took my time to complete the task. With everything looking good I was very happy with a good mornings work it was time for a lunch break. Upon my return to the shipyard after lunch I noticed the platform had become warped along the back edge as can be seen in the next photo. I am now in a bit of a quandary. I could try removing the platform from the mizzen mast to see if I can correct the warp by wetting and clamping the platform flat. The mast banding and battens can be removed without to much effort and I can always make new battens if any become damaged. I am concerned if I can remove the platform without damaging it. I know I can brush some water to help release the platform from the Titebond glue. I think I will have to take the bull by the horns and try to sort out the warp, so fingers crossed I can do this😧 The warp can be seen on the photo below also It does not look as bad when viewed from a distance but it is still noticable.

Hull and Deck Work Complete I have completed the finishing touches to the hull and deck. The two lanterns have now been added to the stern fascia. It is not my best work but they look OK. Next the rudder chains were attached. I may have left the chains a tad long but they are both the same size and look symmetrical so I am happy. The 6 gun post lids have bee assembled and affixed to the hull. I took the decision not to add the thread from the central eyebolt to the hole in the hull. I might change my mind but I think once all the rigging is in place the missing threads will not be noticeable. The last task undertook was to add the figurehead. The resin figure head was washed in acetone and then soapy water before I painted her gold. It took a bit of effort to fit as initially the part would not fit over the stem post. After a bit of sanding the figurehead could be fitted. To finish of this post I decided to place my V1 and V2 builds side by side. The one of the right is V1 build and will destined to a visit to the local tip once the V2 build is complete. I have started work on the mizzen mast and have built the mizzen mast platform assembly.

Thanks, I'm looking forward to starting work on the masts and yards.

Many thanks. Like most builders I've made mistakes but thankfully they are mostly hidden to the naked eye. I have previously built Speedy, Alert and Duchess of Kingston. I did cut my teeth on building Caldercraft's Victory a few years ago which sadly I never got rigged. I have finally learnt to take my time on this build which has been beneficial.

It certainly where the term "heads" comes from. Throne comes from Louis XIV who would continue to conduct his royal duties whilst sat on the toilet, which became known as the Throne room

Thanks Yvez, she is a wonderful looking boat.

Many thanks. There are a few bits I wish I had done better but overall I am pleased with this build so far.

Deck Work - Nearing Completion I have made good progress over the last couple days and the work on completing the decks and hull is almost complete. I have attached three photo's of the current state of my Sphinx V2 build. I will then provide a bit more detail of the various bits added later on in this post. The gunwales were glued in place followed by adding the timberheads and fife rail supports for the quarterdeck. I lined the various timberheads and fife rail supports in the correct order on my workbench and then dry fitted them to the gunwales. With everything in place the slots of the underside of the fife rail slots were then checked with the position of the supports on the gunwale. With everything looking good I proceeded to glued the parts in place. I noticed the kit does have a set of hammock cranes for the quarterdeck section, which are shown on the plan sheets. It does not appear these were fitted on the prototype. I opted to follow suit. Picture of the fife rail and timberheads. I did not fill the pin locating holes after assembling the fife rail The quarterdeck breast rail assembly was then completed with adding the two stanchions to the walkway deck, the support bracket to link the stanchions with the breast rail assembly and the two hand rails down to the walkway deck. I used 0.5mm black thread to rig the hammock cranes. I then built the two bow main rails and rounded the top section as detailed in the build manual. I did manage to break the top parts of both main bow rail assemblies but thankfully I was able to repair them both before they were glued in place. I am not totally happy with how they sit against the side of the hull but they do sit flush with the sides of the bow grating deck which was my main aim when fitting them in place. The timberheads, hammock cranes and eyebolts were added to the forecastle and walkway gunwales and then they were rigged using 0.5mm black thread. The final items added to the Sphinx were the two seats of comfort to the bow grating deck and the two PE hull decorations which sit either side of the stem post beneath the bow grating deck. I have started work on the two lanterns, I am currently painting the resin parts. I also have the 6 off gun port lids to build which will be my next task. I also need to add rudder chain. Once all that is done I can either start work on making all the yards and masts or I can try building the small boats. I suspect I will split my time between mask/ yard fabrication and small boat building. I think the small boat build will be quite a challenge for me.

Decks The forecastle deck work is now completed, with the exception of adding the eyebolts, belaying pins and gunwales complete with timberheads and hammock cranes. The gunwales have been painted black and are ready to be secured in place. I plan to dry fit the timber heads prior to securing the gunwales in place just to make sure there are no unforeseen installation problems. As can be seen in the photo below I painted the catheads and cathead knees black but opted to paint the front pattern gold. The forecastle breast rail assembly was a great fit, as was the belfry. When fitting the breast rail one of the knees, when coated with glue sprung away from my pliers. I spend a fun 20 minutes searching everywhere for the missing knee which I eventually found it in a dish where I keep the all the unused cut-outs from the various decks. The dish is kept on the window ledge next to my workbench so it was an amazing leap for the knee to end up there! The more eagled eyed will also spot the walkway does dip down a little in this photo. There is not a lot I can do about that now but once the Sphinx is fully rigged I am sure will not be noticed. The two walkways have been added as have the two steps to the quarterdeck and ladders from gundeck up to the walkways. I should have trimmed the width of the two steps so they were the same width as the walkway - oops! All the gunwales have been painted black and test fitted. They are shown in the following three photo's but they are only placed in position and are waiting to be glued in place which will explain the gapping that can be seen. A slightly out of focus full length shot of the current build status

Catheads I did not have too much time to spend in the shipyard today. The forecastle inner bulwarks had been soaked and clamped to the hull last night prior to fitting. Before fitting them I decide it would be a good idea to assemble and test fit the catheads. The assembly of the catheads was a simple task. The access slot for the catheads through the hull does require opening up however. In the build manual this was done after the inner bulwarks and gunwales had been fitted. I thought it might be a bit easier to open up the hull for the catheads before the inner bulwarks and gunwales were fitted. The bulwarks could then be worked on before fitting. I started by placing the cathead on top of the hull, centrally to the pre-marked cutout for the catheads, and made two pencil marks. I carefully removed the excess wood, using some tape to protect the forecastle deck. I took my time with this task, checking the fit of the cathead several times. Once I was happy with the cutout I clamped the inner bulwark to the hull and marked where the excess material needed to be removed. Once again I took my time with repeated checks. It might not be the best method but it certainly worked well for me. The following photo was after I had started work on opening up the inner bulwark which had then been clamped in place for a fit check. The outer hull will require a little bit of paint touch up. A little bit more work is required on the inner bulwark as the cathead is not quite sitting flush on the deck IN the next picture I am checking the fit with the gunwale clamped in place, all looks good. The cathead is now sitting flush on the deck. I will need to open up the cathead holes on the finishing inner bulwark patterns also. My best guess estimate is that I will complete all the hull work in the next 2 to 4 weeks. I will then move to manufacturing the bowsprit, masts and yards. I also have the three small boats to build. Exciting times ahead.

Many thanks

Forecastle Deck The forecastle deck has now been glued to the support beams. I was really happy with the end result. I have also dry fitted all the deck items and everything seems to be a good fit. The belfry assembly has been painted black. The forecastle breast rails / knees have been assembled but they have to be painted black before they can be glued in place. The coaming / grating assembly has had the laser char removed and is now ready to be glued in place. The two foremast bitts have been glued in place but the two crossbeams are only dry fitted as I will need to check the belaying pin fit before they can glued in place. My next task will be to add the inner bulwarks and deck iron work before moving on to adding the two walkway decks. I also completed the work on the quarterdeck breast rail assembly. The hammock cranes rigging will be done once all the deck work has been completed. This is a nice view of the three decks.