Glenn-UK

That is the plan, slow and steady.

I have finally reached the stage where I will stop work on the V1 build and move on to starting work on the V2 build. I have really enjoyed the V1 build. I am currently undecided if I will progress the build further at a later date. My current thinking is probably not and keep it as a hull only build. The first picture is the current state of play with the V1 HMS Sphinx. The right-hand gangway hammock cranes are a bit wonky as the gunwale has a slight inboard lean . The plan sheets show hammock cranes for the stern area, but I noted there where not fitted in the prototype build so I opted to omit them from this build. I also decided not to fit the gun port lids. Given the mistakes I have made during this build process the end result (so far) does not look anywhere near as bad as I first feared it would. This proves, without doubt, what a great design this kit is when a ham-fisted error prone builder like me can produce a reasonably nice looking model. A big thanks to @chris watton and to @James H for the all the work they have done. vanguard Models continue to design and release amazing kits and to my mind are the best kits on the market. This is a picture of the figurehead. The resin part was primed and then painted gold before the installation. The bow main rail assembly has also been fitted. I did like the description of the heads in the build manual as "seats of comfort", the tops of which are just visible. This shows the forecastle with everything fitted. I think I overdid the weathering of the stove chimney. The gangway walkways caused me more problems than I was expecting. Initially with the curling issue and then I totally misunderstood where the gangways were to be fitted in relation to the gunwales, but once the penny dropped it all made perfect sense. I have also added the step and rail up to the quarterdeck A close up of the step and rail To finish off this post I have added a couple of pictures of the quarterdeck

I am planning to start work on the v2 kit in the next day or two so exciting times ahead

The parts started to curl as soon as the wood glue was applied. I think they need to be clamped flat before the glue cures. Fingers crossed they will be be flat in the morning

I have come across some very informative videos on YouTube which have been posted by Olha Batchvarov who is a professional model boat builder. The first video covers the first planking - First Planking Video There is a nice section where a drop planks are added. There is also a video which shows the sanding process afterward - Sanding The Hull This video also covers fitted the stem and stern posts There are several more videos on her YouTube channel

When I glued the gangway deck patterns to the waist gangway patterns I have the same problem as with the gallery cabin bulkheads. The photo below shows the problem, in that the glued parts have curled. The parts were well clamped after the glue was applied so I need to think about the best method to do this on the V2 build to avoid the curling issue. The parts have been soaked in water and clamped flat. I will leave the parts clamped like this overnight and hopefully this will resolved the curling issue as the parts cannot be fitted with a curl as they do not sit on the supporting knees. In the meantime I have done a bit more work on the forecastle. The gunwales and catheads have now been fitted. I have also fitted the Forecastle Rail assemblies and ships bell. Looking at the photo below there is a gap between the deck and righthand side inner bulwark by the bowsprit. I did not notice this when the part was fitted, must do better on the V2 build. The fitting of the catheads took quite a bit of work and I need to think how I will do this better on the V2 kit. I just need to fit the deck hammock cranes, eyebolts, belaying pins and timber heads.

Work is progressing nicely on the V1 HMS Sphinx build, as can be seen in the photo below I believe I have now completed all the work on the quarterdeck. This is a close up of the quarter gallery and rail. This shows the hammock cranes. I have also added the rope round the ladder hatch This shows the capstan, binnacle and ships wheel I have added the gangway knees, the gangway deck is only dry fitted at the moment. I have done quite a bit of work on the forecastle. I just need to fit the catheads, gunwales, timberheads and hammock cranes.

Caldercraft Fittings Ship Boat hulls (cornwallmodelboats.co.uk)

Many thanks, it is only the stern fascia and quarter galleries I am unhappy with which was all down to an alignment mistake on my part

Yours look great and I think will be much better than my first attempt.

My work on the Sphinx has been a bit haphazard as I have not been following the build manual in sequence. I decided to concentrate my efforts on the Quarterdeck. To that end I have almost completed the work in this respect. The following picture shows the current progress in this respect. I am currently partway through work on the breast rail assembly. The beams and stanchions have been fitted. I did sand the stanchions pillars to try to get a rounded effect. I have only dry fitted the hammock cranes and the top beam but as can be seen every fits together perfectly. I have added the items to the inside of the stern fascia panel and painted in red, there is a slight bit of paints spillage but I am not overly concerned about that for this build. I have not painted the inner bulwarks red but I will on the V2 build. The next two pictures shows quarterdeck deck furniture. The tape on the mizzen mast indicates that the dowel has been fully engaged through the holes in the lower decks. The eyebolts, deck cleats and gunwales are still to be added. The gangway deck patterns have been dry fitted in the next photo. I do need to trim the gangway patterns to allow for the fitting of the gunwales, as per build instructions 551 - 553. I also have to paint ands fit the gangway support knees to the inner bulwarks. The forecastle bow inner bulwarks have been soaked in hot water for 30 minutes and bent. They have been clamped for 48 hours so far, The clamps will be removed once I ready to start work in this area which should be in the next few days. The bell tower has been built and is only dry fitted for the time being, noting I have not added the bell or bell handle as this assembly need to be painted black. There is also a bit more work removing some laser char before painting. The bitts are glued in place and ready for the crossbeams to be fitted. The coaming has been dry fitted, noting I do have to sand the laser char from all the visible edges.

My righthand side of the Sphinx is the one I'll use for display purposes. I will also buy the bigger ship when it becomes available to add to my Vanguard Model collection.

You could always take my approach and buy a second kit🤣, yours look much better than mine however so I am sure you can fix the issues. I am currently working on the quarterdeck and forecastle on my V1 kit, as soon as that is complete I will start work on the v2 kit

Ron I do need to learn how to measure. I have learnt such alot from the first build so I am hoping the 2nd build will be much better, planning to start work on the v2 kit in the next couple of weeks, once I have finished with the forecastle and quarterdeck.

There is a slight gap on mine also, but I made a right mess when I installed the left hand side. I had to rip it off and reglue due to a misalignment on my part.

The first task today was to install the anchor cable into position. This has to be fed through the hawse hole to the inner pair of bulkhead holes. I used a brass rod which I shaped so it would go through the two holes. I put a touch of ca gel on the end of the anchor rope and then pushed the brass rod into the end. It was then a very easy task to feed the rope through the two holes. Once both cables were installed I added a knot to ensure the cable would remain in place. This picture shows the first anchor rope in position with the brass rod still in place. The next picture shows both anchor cables in position with the knots in place. A view of the cable in hawse holes. The anchor cable was fed through the holes nearest the bowsprit The next task was to check if the 8mm bowsprit dowel would fit. I started this task by rotating (by hand) a 7mm, then a 7.5mm and finally an 8mm drill bit. I then used my large round file to gently file the opening a tad bit more. This picture shows the dowel in place through the two angled holes This picture shows the Sphinx fitted with the Mizzen, Main, and Fore mast dowels on place along with the bowsprit dowel. I have also sanded the laser char from all the forecastle beams which have now been glued in place. The forecastle deck pattern was then dry fitted. The edges did not require too much sanding to get a good fit. To ensure the forecastle deck properly positioned during the sanding process you will note that the bitts, mast and stove chimney were positioned as the deck was added to the deck. The deck is only dry fitted at the moment. I repeat the process with the quarterdeck pattern, using the mizzen mast and capstan dowel to aid the correct alignment of the quarterdeck deck Finally a picture of the Sphinx with the decks in place along with all the masts and bowsprit.

Today I have been working in fitting the quarterdeck beams, which was a fairly easy task to complete. Once the beams were in place the pattern for the leading quarterdeck beam was added. The leading beam pattern has been glued and clamped in place All the quarterdeck beams are glued in place. I did add the thread around the coaming openings as can be seen in this photo I have also started work on the forecastle beams. The laser char has been removed from the beams, I will also remove the char from the longitudinal locking beams. Before the beams are glued in place I will feed the anchor rope through the their respective holes, hopefully this will be a fairly straightforward task. I will also need to sand the bowsprit opening, as necessary so the 8mm dowel can be located.

I have had a couple of quite days in the shipyard so not too much to report (as if🤣). Here are a few pictures of the current state of play. As you can see all the deck items have been added, I just need to run some 0.5mm natural thread through stanchions surrounding two coamings. I have also started to add the quarterdeck beams. The stern area. Midships Bow area. The stove chimney is only dry fitted, as it is fitted once the upper deck has been installed. I also need to work on the grey wash on the stove base method. I painted the pattern brick red, coated it with an acyclic varnish and then used a light grey wash which flowed nicely in the lines. However when I used a cotton bud to remove the excess wash, the excess wash remained on the base.

Due to my poor attempt at building the v1 so far (the kit is excellent but I need to improve my build skills) I have bought a v2 kit, which is currently waiting in the shipyard while I press on with completing the v1 kit.

Many thanks Yves, it does not look too bad when viewed at certain angles but I know I can do so much better so I'm keen to have another go at this magnificent design.

I have been working on fitting the deck items today and it is starting to bring the deck to life. I started with the coaming which were glued in place. Next I added the two ladders. The capstan was painted red and placed on the deck. Next I moved on to the chain pump arrangement. The first task was to bend the 4 off chain pump handle stanchion cappings (2 aft and 2 fore) and to drill a hole for the locating pin in each stanchion. The cross beam and eyebolts were added to the two main jeer bitts, ensuring the laser char was removed from the visible edges. I had already fully assembled the two Chain Pump's so I then checked that the main mast would fit, including the main mast base. The two hand pumps were also added, which had been pre built. Working my way toward the bow the main topsail sheet bitts and gallows assembly was completed with the addition of the cross beam, panelling and eyebolts. With all the chain pumps items in place the chain pump handle bars were fitted. They need to be painted black as do the cappings and eyebolts. The chain pump assembly is only dry fitted at the moment but as everything seems to fit together as designed I can go ahead and glue everything in place. I have also added the PE parts to the previously built stove assembly. The instruction manual requires 1mm brass rod to be used for the chain pully. I started with this but found chain pulley holes were to small. Initially I did use a microdrill to try to open the holes but this created a new set of problems with distorting the PE chain pully as the drill was rotated. In the end I used a brass rod from my collection which seemed a perfect fit. I am now in the process of painting the assembled stove black. I have ordered some brick red paint and light grey wash so I can try to get the stove base painted as per the build instructions. Photos to follow in due course.

Before moving on to fit the deck furniture I thought a bit of forward planning would be a good idea. Therefore I decided to dry fit the quarter deck beams. Before each beam was fitted I removed the majority of the laser char from the top edge, using a flory sanding stick. It was very useful to have the various quarter deck beams laser etched with a letter to correspond with the lettering on the Quarterdeck Beam Spacing Patterns. The beams required a very minor bit of sanding at the edges (basically removing the laser char and adding a slightly angle to follow the hull shape to ensure a good fit. The 2 x Quarterdeck Beam Carlings, 2 x Quarterdeck Carling Beams (Mizzen Mast) and the 4 x Quarterdeck Carling Beams – Coaming were also dry fitted. I can now go ahead start fitting the various items, that I have pre built, to the deck. I am showing extreme patience and not starting work on the V2 sphinx kit just yet. I will need to remove the laser char from the visible ends as well as a final clean up sand on the tops of the quarter deck support beams.

I received a very nice delivery from UPS this morning. Yes the V2 kit has arrived. My plan with the V2 Sphinx kit build is to: a) take my time, making sure I am totally happy with everything before parts are finally assembled b) try to be much more careful with this build, my aim is to significantly reduce the number of silly mistakes I normally make c) try out some different ideas to improve my building skills, using the additional spare parts I've ordered. d) take note of the lessons learnt so far with my current build, which has become a practice build e) to have fun and to enjoy the V2 Sphinx kit build and to start and keep a build log charting my progress. f) to continue with the V1 kit build for the time being which is now being used as a practice build.

Just a quick update, the bulkhead screen which was curled has now been straightened with an "invisible mend" I used a thin plank glued to the deck keep the bulkhead screen straight along its length. Looks much better now. I have started to fit the side infill parts. On the next build I think I might change the sequence and fit the infills to the aft bulkhead before fitting the forward bulkhead so there is a bit more room to play with. I need to get my brush out to dust away the unwanted particles, which can be seen in the photo below. I received a very nice delivery from UPS this morning. Yes the V2 kit has arrived. My plan with the V2 Sphinx kit build is to: a) take my time, making sure I am totally happy with everything before parts are finally assembled b) try to be much more careful with this build, my aim is to significantly reduce the number of silly mistakes I normally make c) try out some different ideas to improve my building skills, using the additional spare parts I've ordered d) take note of the lessons learnt so far with my current build, which has become a practice build e) to have fun and to enjoy the V2 Sphinx kit build and to start and keep a build log charting my progress.

I have completed the task of fitting the cabin bulkhead assemblies. I need to rethink this task when I redo this on the V2 kit build The instructions state "Glue the corresponding parts together using wood glue and clamp all the way around so the parts can’t curl. It’s important to make sure that everything is aligned properly" As soon as I applied the titebond the bulkheads started to curl. I clamped the assemblies as shown in the build manual, however once I removed the clamps all three bulkhead assemblies were curled. I dampened the bulkheads and clamped them against a flat surface overnight. The bulkheads were still curled once the clamps were removed. I tried clamping the bulkheads again once the window panes and frames were fitted. The window panes and frames were secured in place using acrylic varnish, as per the build instruction recommendation. Next time around I need to get the window panes better positioned so there is room for the frames to be located within the openings both back and front. The two deck beams to which the bulkheads are glued to were added. I had to modify the aft screen deck beam (beam m) slightly to make it fit. The fore and aft bulkheads were straightened when fitted as the two bottom tabs and clamping to the upper deck beam sorted the curling issue. The screen bulkhead is still curled however, and probably needs a couple of thin planks fixed to each end to cure the curl. The Cabin Bulkhead Infill Patterns are still be to be fitted. I added a 6mm dowel to check the mizzen mast could be fitted. I also checked the Mizzen Mast Base fitting noting the elongated hole needs to run from bow to stern as can be seen in the next photo. The curling of the screen bulkhead can be seen clearly in the photo below. I could probably fettle it with some support strips, but I'm not sure if it is worth the effort given this is a prototype build and most of this area is covered by the upper deck. One of the forward window frames seems to have come loose (2nd one on right hand side) so will need to be moved back.