HMS Sphinx 1775 by Blue Ensign - FINISHED - Vanguard Models - 1:64 scale

[Blue Ensign]

Not sure what question you're answering Bruce, Bob's question was about vises, an intriguing device nevertheless.

 

B.E.

[Blue Ensign]

A nice little package arrived today courtesy of  Chuck.

14 days delivery from U.S.A. which given the current disruptions I think is pretty good. I have had stuff from Syren arrive in 7 days.

 

The wheel is very close to the dimensions of the brass etch wheel provided in the kit, and  I prefer a Boxwood version.

 

I also loved the look of the  stern lanterns as I fitted on my Pegasus build.

 

I finally couldn't resist the Winchelsea Stove kit which  will eventually join the Capstan kit within the case for the completed Sphinx.

 

I love receiving ship modelling stuff in the post.🙂

 

B.E.

 

 

[BobG]

11 hours ago, Blue Ensign said:

Mine is the one with the bench edge clamp, it has a slot to fit the clamp into.

 

Perfect! I'll be ordering one. Thanks, BE!

[tkay11]

On 1/19/2022 at 2:50 PM, Blue Ensign said:

I say easier but it is quite tricky drilling holes in the upper faces of the pintle recesses keeping the pin sufficiently square to fit in the corresponding Gudgeon.

 

I am intrigued, BE. How do you drill holes at right angles when I would have thought the drill bit alone would be far longer than the space allows?

 

Tony

[Blue Ensign]

Not so much the drill bit Tony,  the smallest of  pin vises prevents  level drilling.

The best that can be done is to have the micro drill as long it will extend and drill as close to the outer edge as possible without splitting it. The drill is then worked at an angle to enlarge the hole slightly and the pin is ca'd in.

An alternative method and more authentic would be to cut a wedge out of the top of the pintle recess and glue in a piece with the pin already inserted.

 

I didn't want to risk wrecking the rudder so I opted for the simple approach. Fortunately it worked and I now have a swinging rudder.

 

Regards,

 

B.E.

[Gahm]

I love these mini kits from Chuck. Seeing your picture I am really tempted to order the Winchelsea stove and capstan, too, just to use them as little stand alone models. The ship's wheel is already part of my Syren 🙂

 

Thomas

Edited January 21, 2022 by Gahm

[Blue Ensign]

Post Sixty-Seven

 Rudder Fitting (Part Two)

In recent times I have preferred to use the Syren laserboard representations of the rudder pintle and brace straps rather than etched brass kit versions.

With rudder straps it is so easy to mar the blackened surface when fitting to rudder and hull on an uncoppered or unpainted hull.

5434(2)

To my eye the Laserboard is realistic looking and saves the time as well as patience taken up in chemically blackening the brass etch.

 

2336

A coat of W-O-P is applied to the rudder to finish it off, and the bolt heads will be represented by blobs of pva.

2363(2)

At the Rudder head are a set of iron hoops; for these I use my old standby of Heat shrink tubing which gives a fair representation of iron work, certainly at this scale.

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During the fitting of the rudder my eye kept being drawn to a gap between the top of the sternpost and the tiller which looked a little too large.

2328

I added a small section of Pearwood atop the stern post, and my eye at least is now satisfied.

I would have been less concerned if I were adding a Rudder coat but on this unfinished hull it would look a little incongruous.

2329

The Gudgeons are now painted black to represent the ironwork.

2349

With the rudder in place, I use tape to mark the line of the Gudgeon straps on the hull, before gluing in place.

2351

 

This is also a convenient time to prepare the Horseshoes, Fishplates, and spectacle plate.

2344(2)

I used the brass etched pieces for these which are chemically blackened.

Always useful to have some blackened pins to hand.

2366(2)

I have started to feather the stern planking into the lower counter and tidy up the line. A moulding strip will cover this.

 

The next stage will be to add the lower counter decoration and fix the moulding rails.

 

B.E.

21/01/22

[Moonbug]

Those straps are snazzy! 

[Blue Ensign]

Post Sixty-eight

 

 Dressing the lower counter

With the rudder hung I can attend to the lower counter, something I have been looking forward to.

Many contemporary models of this era, or in this case a painting of Sphinx by Joseph Marshall 1775, show a classical painted design on the Lower counter, far beyond my artistic capabilities.

In the spirit of the style, and with the permission of Chuck, I am using a printed classical design from the Winchelsea model kit, modified to suit Sphinx.

The print has been scaled to fit and modified to include the two stern ports which are merely outlined on the print with the addition of the hinges.

2397

The lower counter rails have been fitted, and  also the stern port hinges, at this point painted only with a surface primer.

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Not entirely sure at this stage how I will finish the lower finishing piece of the Quarter Gallery.

2411(2)

I think I have achieved the result I had envisaged, so the next stage is to attend to the transom and the Upper counter.

 

 

B.E.

22/01/22

 

 

[Beef Wellington]

The counter applique looks fantastic, great idea, assume you will seal this somehow.  The curvature on the counter rail looks spot on, did you prebend this?

[Blue Ensign]

Thank you Jason, it was pre-sealed with Artists fixative, but it will stand a coat of w-o-p without any issues.

 

The rails were designed with the curve designed in, courtesy of Mr Watton, no effort needed by me.

 

B.E.

Edited January 23, 2022 by Blue Ensign

[Blue Ensign]

Post Sixty-nine

 

Stern Facia and Upper Counter

Major items of photo etch come into use next, the Window frames and decorative columns of the stern and Quarter Galleries.

These require priming and painting, but before that they were given a good scrub with washing up liquid using an old electric toothbrush head.

 

The painting will take place with the parts still attached to the fret, both for ease of handling and security.

For priming I am using VMS Metal prep4k. This dries clear on the surface which is a bonus as I am using light colours.

 

I considered whether to paint the window frames white as per the kit or a shade of Yellow ochre.

Most contemporary models don’t show white window frames, and I think they may be a little stark for the effect I’m after.

An ochrery shade it will be.

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The frames are painted with Vallejo Ochre Brown (127)

It was also used on the other decorations highlighted with Yellow Ochre(121)

 

The stern of Sphinx is highly decorated both in kit and contemporary painting.

Artistic license no doubt, not reflected on the actual ship, but as I’m giving a nod to those 18^th century models, I am happy to include it, but gold paint will not feature on the palette.

2416

The acetate windows (or lights) are fettled to fit without removing the protective cover, and are then fixed into place.

Gluing in clear acetate  always  makes me nervous. I wear surgical gloves and use plastic tweezers for handling.

I ensure there is a snug fit of the panes into the recess and use spots of Vallejo Matt Acrylic varnish applied with the point of a toothpick.

2432

Even so the window ‘glass’ always seem to to have a degree of smearing, which I remove using  a moistened electronics wipe folded over a rounded stick

 

The window frames follow; these really are finely crafted with beautifully scaled window bars.

Careful handling is required once removed from the fret, any trace of the fret nubs is filed away, and I don’t handle the pieces with bare hands.

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Again tiny spots of Vallejo varnish are applied to the frame edges only and the piece is pressed into place.

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I hope it is sufficient to hold, and I suspect Capt. Grim is thinking the same.

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Finally in this section the stern column panel is secured in place.

I found this quite tricky to do getting all the columns in the right position before the ca sets.

2455(2)

Checking out the fit of the resin Tafferel, I will have more thought on this in my next post.

 

I have reduced the use of red on the stern. The Cove was traditionally painted red on the sterns of British ships but I painted the secondary arches containing the stylised Eagles with a blue ground as per the Marshall painting.

I’m quite pleased and relieved that the blue paint tones in nicely with the ground of the printed stern decoration.

 

Work on the stern continues.

 

B.E.

24/01/22

 

Edited January 24, 2022 by Blue Ensign

[Moonbug]

  Nicely done BE - but more importantly, you just sent me down the rabbit-hole of VMS products - hadn't heard of them before being on this side of the pond.

 

Curses... I foresee some expenses coming my way soon.

 

 

[hollowneck]

On 1/21/2022 at 10:31 AM, Blue Ensign said:

At the Rudder head are a set of iron hoops; for these I use my old standby of Heat shrink tubing which gives a fair representation of iron work, certainly at this scale.

 

Heat-shrink tubing over the tip of the rudder to simulate the iron banding. Clever. Would never have thought about that as a solution. Black card and even ChartPak artist's tape, but not rubber tubes! I'm assuming you have a selection of tubing sizes to draw from.

Your work is really informative, clever. I like it!

 

For your stern columns will you paint these in a white or off-white color? I also decided to color my window sashes in a natural wood color rather than stark white. Restrained, sophisticated are a couple words that come to mind when it comes to these embellishments. The gold Vallejo painting overall - as indicated in the Vanguard build manual - is OTT (especially on the stern) IMHO and although I retained some of this color, I've reduced it significantly in the interest of visual moderation. Ditto the figurehead. I'll be anxious to see what solutions you come to for her presentation. I also like your decision to 'reduce the red' and extend your blue field shade to match the painted paper stern applique.´ I trust the Right Honourable Captain Grim is good with all this too.

 

Sphinx's stern is looking great. It's going to be superb when it's completed.

 

Ron  

Edited January 24, 2022 by hollowneck

[glbarlow]

9 hours ago, hollowneck said:

Heat-shrink tubing

Left the black card behind a long time ago. The shrink wrap tubing works well, I have a selection of sizes but it can be challenging to heat it just the right amount, clearly BE has that down. These days I prefer black masking tape, more of an iron look that artist tape and easy to fit and then paint to complete the look. 

[glbarlow]

14 hours ago, Blue Ensign said:

Yellow Ochre

Great choice, I’m a fan of Admiralty Paints version, I prefer it over gold (and white), seems more realistic, to me anyway. 
 

Your stern is looking great, creative and just bold enough. 

[Blue Ensign]

Cheers Guys, for your interest and supportive comments, much appreciated.

 

@ - Bug -  One of the great things about MSW is the information about stuff useful for our hobby. I picked up the reference about VMS elsewhere on the forum as I have done with so much else.

 

@ Ron – heat shrink tubing comes in all sizes  and I bought a box of short length mixed diameters many years ago.

It is very useful for the iron bands on anchor stocks, and around the tops of things like  Swivel gun posts.

I’ve painted the columns ochre at present, as I intend to do for the rest of the decoration, using different shades to bring out the relief. I’m likely to be  re-visiting the finish a fair few times.

 The Figure of the Sphinx at the Bow will also be painted in shades of Ochre.

I took this approach with the rather wonderful figure of Pegasus on the model of that name.

 

For this I used Artists oils

 I prefer the look, and the Marshall Painting indicates this even if in reality some figures may have been painted in colours, but that’s a whole different subject.

 

@ Glenn -  I tend to use slightly undersize tubing for the task,  stretch it a little, and then heat shrink it. If it proves uncooperative I sometimes put a tiny spot of ca beneath and manipulate into position.

 

 B.E.

[Gahm]

B.E. you are flying with your build! It looks wonderful!

 

Thomas

[glbarlow]

Using shades…a true artist you are. 

[Blue Ensign]

Thank you Thomas and Glenn.

 

'True Artist' Glenn, I wish , I just play around with the brush until I get something that suits my eye which with less than perfect vision is probably satisfied more easily than it should be.

 

B.E.

 

[Blue Ensign]

Post Seventy

Stern work continues.

The resin Tafferel is the significant feature of the stern.

3378(2)

The  decoration matches both the Admiralty plan (above) and the Marshall painting.

An excellent job, cleanly engraved, and far ahead of the simple Brass etch supplied with the Pegasus kit.

In reality the Quarter figures should really be angled slightly outwards, below and replacing the capping rail  down to the counter.

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This detail from the Admiralty plan shows the arrangement.

 A tricky thing to achieve on a resin casting unless the Quarter figure was moulded separately.

1812

I modified the arrangement on my Pegasus build, but I have decided not to mess with the tafferel on Sphinx and leave it as is. I would hate to have to go to Chris and report that I have yet again messed up one of his nicely designed parts.

 

The Resin piece is set up on a mini ‘easel’ and the painting begins with the ground.That’s the easy bit.

To assist painting the raised designs, I make up a palette  comparison to help me  gauge the shadowing and highlights of the various Ochre shades.

2489(2)

Various shades of Ochre against the blue ground.

2482(2)

The Vallejo Ochre Brown is used for the base coat of the figures.

2493(2)

Highlighting and shadowing is applied  using a combination of the ochre shades combined with a little darker wash for the crevices.

I think it is going to take a few attempts to get the lining around the frame right.

2500(2)

Glued into place.

My aim is to get the toning of the raised relief to be in keeping with the printed frieze work.

2524(2)

Fixing the Cove design is a tricky business; very fine etch to be precisely positioned above the columns.

For this I used Roket 10 second cyano glue gel, using pin prick spots on the Cove just above the columns and where the crowns sit.

Above all I wanted to avoid the risk of glue spread from beneath the etch, marring the ground.

There is really only one chance of getting the position right, the etch is delicate and the ca strong, trying to remove it would surely cause it to break.

2522(2)

Onto the Upper Counter.

 

 

B.E.

27/01/22

 

 

 

[Gahm]

Perfect execution, B.E.! You are an artist!

 

Thomas

[Blue Ensign]

Post Seventy-one

 

Stern work – the final stage

The next stage is to add the Upper counter rail which runs directly below the windows and the bottom edge of the Tafferel.

This sits  neatly below the columns and the bottom end  of the Tafferel. I had no need of the ‘filling’ patterns to raise the Tafferel level.

2466

I did however hit a snag, the length of the kit moulding strips is barely sufficient to reach the edge of the stern facia, leaving no excess to form a neat join with the corresponding rails that run along the Qtr Gallery.

As far as I can see on the prototype build the ends of the Quarter gallery mouldings simply meet the stern rails with a cut grain end.

Not so bad if the rail is to be painted as the joint can be fudged, but leaving it as clean varnished wood presents a problem on this highly visible feature.

I wasn’t confident that I could make a decent job of the moulding joints using the kit parts, so the other option is to make your own.

 

These two photos of Chuck’s Winnie build demonstrate how the moulding joins should be.

I hope to emulate this on Sphinx.

2464(2)

I scribed replacement rails using some lengths of 0.8mm x 3mm Pearwood strip, The lower one in the above photo.

The beauty of scribing your own is that you have endless goes to get it right, at least until your timber or patience runs out.

2533

 The Upper rail in place  extending beyond the counter to allow for meeting the adjoining rail.

 

It is now time to fit the  counter decoration, courtesy of Chuck who designed the name lettering.

Tricky this because it has to be tweaked to fit the specifics of the Sphinx counter whilst ensuring that the lower rail of the counter does not obscure the lettering.

Trial and error produced one of the correct proportions.

2535

With the print glued into place the lower moulding is added.

2537

So Sphinx at last is named.

It is interesting to note that on the Marshall painting (1775) the name is not shown on the Upper counter.

As we know the order for adding the names to the counter came in in 1772, is on the Admiralty Plan, and most importantly I like to see the names  on the sterns of ships of this era.

 

Onto the Quarter Galleries.

 

B.E.

28/01/22

[robdurant]

Stunning work, and definitely the right call to remake those trim sections above and below the upper counter. As always your work is an inspiration.

[Gahm]

Wow, the finished stern looks fantastic!

 

Thomas

[Chuck]

Really nicely done!!

[CaptnBirdseye]

You might want to think about doing a production run on the name plate 😀 Boiund to be takers out there! Very well done 👍

[Rustyj]

Great job B.E.

[Moonbug]

Echoing everyone here - that's really good stuff BE.  A real testament to your enviable patience.

 

For what it's worth - I completely agree regarding seeing the name. Accurate as it may be in some cases, it just feels as though something's missing when it's not there during this era. 

[mtaylor]

Wow.... that is a great looking stern.