rvchima

Side Trim Completed
The upper sides of the hull are mostly blue with splashes of red. The gun ports are red inside. This all required a lot of masking. I started to mask off each gun port with 4 strips of tape but realized that I could put a large piece over each port and cut out the centers.

After painting, a number of extremely delicate trim strips were attached. I stained them all with Watco natural oil stain on the top only. The bow pieces were soaked in water and pre-bent. The manual says to glue them with PVA and lots of clamps. I did exactly that, but as soon as I removed the clamps half of the pieces fell right off. It's tempting to blame the oil stain, but I was very careful to leave the wood bare on both sides of the joint. Maybe the PVA is soaking in and drying too quickly? Anyway, I cleaned off the dried PVA and reglued everything with CA. It's not going anywhere now.


 


Did I mention that I finished the quarter galleries a few days ago? There are a lot of pieces in there that required a lot of trial and error fitting.


Just checking that everything fits.

An Almost Brilliant Method for Coppering
In the last few months since I ordered my model this product has popped up on eBay. It is standard copper foil for stained glass with plate patterns for model ships stamped on it. It is available in 1:48, 1:75, and 1:96 scale, 500 pieces to a roll. There are now over 30 vendors, all in China, selling what appears to be identical products. I ordered two rolls at 1:75 scale at the end of November. They were delivered about three weeks later. I just used them up on the Sphinx, ran a bit short, and just ordered another roll. I also ordered a second roll at 1:48 scale to cap the keel and rudder post.

The plates were nicely spaced for the first few feet, and I thought I could cover entire rows without cutting the strips.  Then the spacing became irregular, with small gaps between the plates. I decided that I could live with that. Then very long gaps started to appear in the roll, and I had to cut individual plates.

It's easy to cut the foil with scissors but tedious to remove the plastic backing. A much easier technique is to cut a length of foil about 18" long, attach the end to the hull, and tear the foil against a razor blade held after the next plate. Then repeat. I coppered the rest of the hull in this manner, basically with individual plates.

I wondered if I had been cheated of plates, so when I opened the second roll I measured the length and counted the plates - 32 feet, 509 plates as advertised. The 1:75 plates are 18 mm x 6 mm, almost exactly 1 cm^2. They stick very well and look good. I do regret leaving the blank gaps near the keel. Live and learn.
 
The product would be perfect if the plates were spaced without gaps so that you could lay down entire rows without cutting (at least until the curvature got too great.) It would be nice if some US vendors carried it.
 
I have about an inch left to cover on each side, plus the keel, the rudder, and a band around the water line. I will weather the copper with vinegar and salt when it is all applied.

 

Nautical Question
At the bow the keel has a ring of holes shaped like a U. What is this?

Filler

2 hours with Timbermate wood filler. It looks like my hull is made out of clay.

5 minutes with a random orbit sander - nearly smooth.

20 minutes with a sanding pad and Proxxon sander - ready to paint.

Sanding Done, Filler Needed
I did maybe 80% of my sanding with a random orbit sander, and much of the rest with a Proxxon pencil sander. It's mostly done but I had to order some new wood filler to match the color of the pear. It should come tomorrow. In the meantime I marked the waterline with a high-tech marking tool, and wet-bent the main wales to shape.

Second Planking Complete
I put in a marathon build yesterday and completed the second layer of planking. "Completed" as in "all the planks are glued down." I've done a little sanding but still have a lot of sanding and filling to do. The second layer of planks took about 28 hours for 29 planks on each side. So roughly 1/2 hour per plank.

Chain Pumps, Hand Pumps, Grates and Finally the Stove
This part of the build is quite enjoyable. Each little component adds something interesting to the model. I built the stove almost two months ago and finally got to install it, and to jump ahead three pages in the manual past those instructions.

Chain Pumps, Hand Pumps, Grates and Finally the Stove
This part of the build is quite enjoyable. Each little component adds something interesting to the model. I built the stove almost two months ago and finally got to install it, and to jump ahead three pages in the manual past those instructions.

Chain Pumps, Hand Pumps, Grates and Finally the Stove
This part of the build is quite enjoyable. Each little component adds something interesting to the model. I built the stove almost two months ago and finally got to install it, and to jump ahead three pages in the manual past those instructions.

Chain Pumps, Hand Pumps, Grates and Finally the Stove
This part of the build is quite enjoyable. Each little component adds something interesting to the model. I built the stove almost two months ago and finally got to install it, and to jump ahead three pages in the manual past those instructions.

Chain Pumps, Hand Pumps, Grates and Finally the Stove
This part of the build is quite enjoyable. Each little component adds something interesting to the model. I built the stove almost two months ago and finally got to install it, and to jump ahead three pages in the manual past those instructions.

Chain Pumps, Hand Pumps, Grates and Finally the Stove
This part of the build is quite enjoyable. Each little component adds something interesting to the model. I built the stove almost two months ago and finally got to install it, and to jump ahead three pages in the manual past those instructions.

Chain Pumps, Hand Pumps, Grates and Finally the Stove
This part of the build is quite enjoyable. Each little component adds something interesting to the model. I built the stove almost two months ago and finally got to install it, and to jump ahead three pages in the manual past those instructions.

Chain Pumps, Hand Pumps, Grates and Finally the Stove
This part of the build is quite enjoyable. Each little component adds something interesting to the model. I built the stove almost two months ago and finally got to install it, and to jump ahead three pages in the manual past those instructions.

Interview with Chris Watton in Nautical Research Journal
If you haven't seen it already, there is a fascinating interview with @chris watton, designer of the Sphinx kit, in the latest issue of Nautical Research Journal. When I was looking for a new project I was debating between the Diana by Caldercraft and the HMS Fly by Amati. Moderator @ccoyle told me that I had a good eye because both models were designed by Chris Watton, and suggested that I consider the Sphinx. After reading the article I realize that I could have chosen any number of kits and that Chris would probably have designed most of them.
 
The only thing missing from the article is a photo of Chris' private collection. My house is getting crowded. Chris' house must be a museum.

Thank you Thukydides. The patina is more intense than I ever imagined but I like it. I was hoping for a visually striking model (even if not quite historically accurate) and it is certainly turning out that way.
 
By the way, do you have another name besides Thukydides?
 
Two Ladders - Never to Be Seen Again



Chain Pumps and Supports

4 Hatch Coamings and 88 Cannon Balls
I figured it would be easier to place the cannon balls before the coamings were installed.

Outside of the Hull (Finally) Complete
The rudder, displacement numerals, and random reinforcing plates are now attached.
The rudder was hard because of about 120 nails holding the gudgeons and pintles. Those parts are non-functional - the rudder is actually held in place by 5 PE pins. A while ago I mentioned that my rudder wouldn't fit past the rudder post so I removed 1/4" at the top. Now the top pin has nowhere to attach. And with the pins the rudder was now a few mm wider and wouldn't tip in place. I had to use my trusty rotary tool to enlarge the hole in the hull, which is what I should have done in the first place.

I glued the displacement numerals with CA. The plans showed the starboard side so I did that first using a cutout copy of the plans for placement. For the port side I made a mirror image of the pattern with Photoshop and started gluing. After a while I realized that Roman numerals look the same forwards and backwards, but XI is not the same as IX. So I had to remove and reverse a few numerals. That removed the patina, which turns out to be fairly delicate. I touched it up with random green and black acrylic.
 
When I attached the copper plates I covered up the holes for the horseshoe and keel plates. I laid the paper cutouts in place, poked a pin through a marked hole, and hit the corresponding hole through the copper on the first try. Amazing!
 
 

Chain Pumps, Hand Pumps, Grates and Finally the Stove
This part of the build is quite enjoyable. Each little component adds something interesting to the model. I built the stove almost two months ago and finally got to install it, and to jump ahead three pages in the manual past those instructions.

I very much like this:
 
(STEVEN DEWS (1949-) 
HMS Centurion & the Spanish Treasure ship Nuestra Señora de Covadonga

Look what just arrived in my mailbox.
 

 
I enjoyed your interview -- maybe someday in this life I'll get a chance to tour your new facilities before getting James to take me to a proper fish and chips establishment.

Looking good, she does have really nice lines. It is a great moment when you get the shrouds and stays in place, I feel it is the moment they start to look like a sailing ship.
 
Slow is good on the rigging, lots of skills and tricks to learn. By the time you are done you will finally start to know what you are doing 😄.

I have very few completed models in my house, no room! All the models I did for other companies are with them. I only have a few fully completed models here, Alert, Speedy, Trial, Adder and Sherbourne, and then some of hull only for Duchess, Fifie and Zulu, and then only three prototope hulls (what I used to check designs) for Indy, Sphinx and the re worked Speedy.

Thank you Thukydides. The patina is more intense than I ever imagined but I like it. I was hoping for a visually striking model (even if not quite historically accurate) and it is certainly turning out that way.
 
By the way, do you have another name besides Thukydides?
 
Two Ladders - Never to Be Seen Again



Chain Pumps and Supports

Interview with Chris Watton in Nautical Research Journal
If you haven't seen it already, there is a fascinating interview with @chris watton, designer of the Sphinx kit, in the latest issue of Nautical Research Journal. When I was looking for a new project I was debating between the Diana by Caldercraft and the HMS Fly by Amati. Moderator @ccoyle told me that I had a good eye because both models were designed by Chris Watton, and suggested that I consider the Sphinx. After reading the article I realize that I could have chosen any number of kits and that Chris would probably have designed most of them.
 
The only thing missing from the article is a photo of Chris' private collection. My house is getting crowded. Chris' house must be a museum.