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

[whitejamest]

Okay, that's pretty fantastic. Especially the fact that you made the rope yourself at Chatham!

[Blue Ensign]

Post Twenty-three

 

Planking down to the lower deck and stern counter.

I decided that a simple approach of taper and edge bend was sufficient for the next four strakes which take me down to just below the lower deck.

The taper applied is modest, only reducing the plank width at the stem to 4mm.

0578

I’m very much old school and prefer to use the wet and heat system of plank forming. Only requirements a long plastic tube for soaking, and an old hairdryer donated by Mrs W.

 

In summary:

Mark the taper, soak, cut taper, mark edge bend centre, (where applicable) form bend, apply heat, pin, and glue.

0574

I work the strakes singly, Port and Starboard, matching the bow tapers as I go.

With Sphinx, the tricky part is to get the sharp bend up to the counter as neat and smooth as possible.

0580(2)

All the stern strips are separate and staggered along the bulkheads between the stern and b/h9.

0573(2)

The bend didn’t prove too difficult to form and should be easier with the thinner Pearwood strips of the second planking.

0584

0586

Once the planks are formed I test fit them using clamps and pins before gluing, applying a blast of heat with the strips in place.

0599(2)

0597(2)

I’m taking things at a leisurely pace at present, other stuff to do, so fitting the four strakes each side has taken several days.

0602(2)

0603(2)

0608(2)

0615(2)

 

 

Moving onto the Garboard….

 

 

B.E.

10/10/21

 

[paul carruthers]

Very neat, taking time pays dividends.

[mtaylor]

Beautiful planking work, B.E.   

[BobG]

Very nicely done, BE, and a good explanation of your process.

[Glenn-UK]

10 hours ago, Blue Ensign said:

Once the planks are formed I test fit them using clamps and pins before gluing, applying a blast of heat with the strips in place.

 

Nice planking, I am a bit unsure what you mean. With the preformed plank is pinned / clamped in place are you then applying a blast of hot air to reinforce the bend?

[Blue Ensign]

Thank you Paul, Mark, Bob, and Glenn(UK)

@ Glenn- Once I have shaped the planks, I re-fit them (dry) using pins and clamps. The hot air does indeed reinforce the bend, there is always a little spring-back particularly with edge bends.

 

Regards,

 

B.E.

[Blue Ensign]

Post Twenty-four

 Fitting the Garboard Plank.

I find it more difficult to visualise the garboard run without the keel and stem in place, so these are temporarily fitted.

0618(2)

I made a dummy stem post for the lower part to better gauge where the Garboard plank should start at the forward end.

It seems to me that certainly for the first planking, this really means running the plank to the very outer edge of the false keel and shaping to match.

0622(2)

I decided to use a 10mm wide strip of Limewood for the Garboard, a sort of Garboard plus.

I keep a small supply of 6mm, 8mm, and 10mm wide strips, always useful when it comes to spiling.

0633

I left the aft end of the plank to run naturally as it will need faying down to nothing towards the keel.

0623

The twist as it meets the flat of the keel is evident here.

0630(2)

The position at the bow doesn’t look too bad to my eye.

0625

How this will work out in practice remains to be seen.

 

The maximum number of full width planks remaining down to the keel is now 14.

So, it’s down to using a tick strip approach to fill the remaining space.

 

B.E.

11/10/21

 

 

Edited October 18, 2021 by Blue Ensign

[Rustyj]

Very nice work and explanation Glenn. B.E. I meant B.E.! LOL  🤪

Edited October 12, 2021 by Rustyj

[glbarlow]

I’m sure Rusty meant BE🤣😂.
 

I struggle with how far forward to carry the garboard every time, definitely interesting and clever to use a wider plank. 

[Blue Ensign]

38 minutes ago, glbarlow said:

I’m sure Rusty meant BE🤣😂.
 

 

A Freudian slip perhaps Glenn, after all, 'very nice work and explanations' fits your bill exactly.😄 

B.E.

[Rustyj]

Sorry B.E. After reading the two Glenn's logs I guess I had a brain cramp!  Your work was excellent too! 😊

[Blue Ensign]

Post Twenty-five

Planking, planking, and more planking.

 

After a further eight days the first planking is completed, and a first rough sanding applied.

0687(2)

0680(2)

0672(2)

The keel, stem, and stern posts temporarily in place.

0671

0684(2)

0674(2)

0710

Pleased to see that the hull formation sits quite well on the stand.

0713

The sanding will now continue until I achieve satisfaction, or my patience runs out.

 

B.E.

18/10/21

Edited October 18, 2021 by Blue Ensign

[Glenn-UK]

It looks very good.

[Blue Ensign]

Post Twenty-six

 

Sand fill and sand again.

There are the usual (for me) strake ridges to attend to, I didn’t pay much attention to variations in plank thickness during planking, and there was a fair variation across the plank supply. Several of the planks were below 0.7mm and effectively unusable, being too soft to span the bulkheads without flexing.

Only minimum filling was required in small areas. For this I use Deluxe Wonderfill a lightweight filler that dries quickly and sands well.

It works well for small indentations and hollows in planking runs.

0742(2)

I take photos under harsh lighting to reveal irregularities, along with the blind feel test.

 

At the point I think ‘That’ll do’ I take more photos and faff around some more.

0753

With the model on my desk I can compare with macro photos where areas need a little more attention.

 

After a day of sanding, filling, and feeling, I reach the point of enough is enough and move onto the Pearwood keel, stem, and sternpost.

 

The fit of the stern post to keel was excellent, but the stem to keel at the bow needed some fettlin’ to get a nice tight fit between keel and stem.

 

This is important if the option to not paint the lower hull is to be retained.

I didn’t need to mess with the stem piece, just clean the false keel up.

 

Keeping the stem piece hard down against the keel piece proved quite tricky using pva.

0760(2)

This is the only clamp that had sufficient bite to secure it in position until the glue grabbed.

Might have proved easier to use cyano for this joint.

0770

0772

At the stern area I have reduced the planks to a feather edge where they meet the stern post, not difficult with a soft wood like Lime.

0779

0777

The white filler generally indicates where the planking strip was undersize in thickness.

0780(2)

0800

0789(2)

0786

0791(2)

0790(2)

After eight weeks work, I have the basic hull completed, and something that is recognisable as a bijou Frigate.

 

Moving on…

 

B.E. 20/10/21

 

 

[Glenn-UK]

It is good to get to this stage and it looks like you have done a really good job. I did sort though the planks and then grouped them in batches based on the thickness, ranging from 0.8 to 1.15mm and I took note of the depth variations along each plank. I still ended up with ridges and dips🤣

[Chuck]

Very nicely done.  That is a solid foundation for final planking.

[glbarlow]

It does indeed look like a frigate, very crisp foundation for the next layer, well done.

[Moonbug]

Great job as always BE - I'm always happy to pick up some additional nuance each time I see your work.

 

- Bug

[mtaylor]

Looking good, B.E.   

[Blue Ensign]

Cheers Guys, thanks for your comments and likes, it’s always good to reach this point in a build, before the next testy little exercise begins, which is about now.

 

Post Twenty-seven

That tricky business of the stern

Getting the stern right is one of the key areas of a build, if this isn’t right nothing will be right.

I am aware of the issue Glenn experienced in his build, and of the modification indicated by James for the positioning of the lower counter.

My approach in relation to any build is to look at the stern area in its totality, with all parts temporarily fitted before committing to glue.

In the case of Sphinx, trial fitting of the lower counter in conjunction with the upper counter inner (part 156) and stern facia inner (part 88) is necessary.

I am working primarily from Plan sheet 15 which shows the Bulwark pattern, even with the addition of the 1mm capping rail, sitting a fraction below the rise of the Facia.

It seems to me that one should start with the Facia position.

0808

Here you can see 1mm thick strips atop the Bulwark pattern to represent the capping rails.

0809

In this macro shot note where the lower line on the facia pattern sits level with the top of the stern frames.

Note also how the Facia top sit just above the bulwark cap level.

0816

I am now able to invert the model and pin the Upper counter which then lets me see how the lower counter relates.

It took several tweaks to get the two counters in the right position.

0829

0814

Back up the right way I check the levels across the Bulwark.

0822

0824

Looking at the set-up from all angles to satisfy my eye.

0825

I will leave the Facia and Upper counter pinned in position while I glue the lower counter in place.

 

This approach gives me some assurance that when I come to finally fit the facia some steps down the line, any adjustments will be minor and I won’t have any nasty surprises.

 

B.E.

21/10/21

 

[Glenn-UK]

This is approach I said I would take when I start the next Sphinx, thanks for testing it out, looks the way to go in this respect.

Edited October 21, 2021 by glennard2523

[James H]

@Blue Ensign That looks absolutely spot on. 

[Kevin]

that looks great

[glbarlow]

Good use of time to map it all out in advance to ensure it works like it should. The stern is always tricky, less so when you plan it out like this. Nice.

[Blue Ensign]

Thanks Guys for your support.

 

Post Twenty-eight

 

Attending to inboard works

With the major dust fest completed, it’s time for a GTU before I get down to applying some paint to the inner bulwarks.

0837

This is about as good as it gets during a build.

0838

Trial fit of the Topsides planking, careful attention to alignment with the ports is the prime concern here.

0857(2)

I am quite impressed with these pre formed topside planking strips, they look good and certainly  save all that planking between the ports.

Fitting them will have wait until I have planked the deck.

 

Painting the inner bulwarks

I have decided to use Vallejo Flat Red, applied by brush, but before I begin I need to consider the inner surfaces of the gun ports.

They have an mdf core sandwiched between thin layers of Pearwood.

 

I am thinking that the ports should be lined even tho’ they have no lids, except in relation to the stern area and Bridle ports. They were lined on Pegasus, and the painting of Sphinx does appear to represent them.

I do like the look of port Stops and I am tempted to add them using 0.6mm Boxwood.

 

Strictly speaking the internal quickworks and spirketting should cover the linings, too late for that now, but as it is all to be painted that aspect will not be obvious.

 

This is mainly viewed as an external feature.

0841

This is a mock-up of a lined port using 0.6mm Boxwood. This thickness equates to 1½” which is about right for the stops.

Lining the ports is a tricky business, particularly the side pieces which must be angled to fit the port; and there are 44 of the beggars to make.

0848

I don’t want to mess with the outer planking patterns so I need to ensure that they meet the edges of the framing exactly, if I’m going to proceed.

 

On the subject of ports I was a little surprised, and somewhat relieved, that sweep ports are not represented on the model, unless of course they had been laser cut by Chris.

 

Pegasus had them, and they are shown on the Admiralty plans; they are not included on the plans for Sphinx. Neither are they depicted on the Marshall painting. The Marshall paintings do show them on the 6^th rate Kingfisher, but not the Frigate Enterprize.

0866(2)

I’ll faff around with this awhile, to assess any potential issues, but I have given the inner bulwarks a very light sanding and the application of diluted wop as a base preparation for the paint.

 

B.E.

23/10/21

 

[Glenn-UK]

Great information, looking like an excellent build so far.

[glbarlow]

Very quality work BE, I’m sure Chris is happy to see his design turning into such a well built model. Taking your time and advanced planning pays off. 

[Malcolm Greig]

Excellent build and very informative. 

 

regards

 

Malcolm

[Blue Ensign]

Thank you Glenn (UK), and Glenn (USA), and thanks for looking in Malcolm.

 

@ Glenn (USA) - this is a kit to savour, like a fine old vintage wine, so much scope to play with it.

Altho' I'm working on it most days, all being well, I fully expect to be still going this time next year. 

 

In a funny sort of way, Chris's design with so many pre-formed parts almost encourages a clik and fit quick build mentality, a fairly finished look can be achieved in a short time.

It's not that easy, there's a lot more to the kit than that.

 

Cheers,

 

B.E.