HMS Sphinx by myxyzptlyk - Vanguard Models

[myxyzptlyk2003]

Hello fellow modelers

This build log will not be nearly as detailed as the other excellent logs by others.    But I do want to share some of my experiences with this excellent kit.

 

Got the kit on Friday and went to work on it the next day.    Construction is incredibly logical and straightforward.   I think anyone who has built just one kit can tackle this one.   The instructions are just so incredibly detailed.    I can't thank James and Chris enough for producing this incredible kit.

 

I am ready to start placing the gun deck halves.    To this point I have only encountered very minor issues that were easily solved.   Some points:

1.  Some of the gun deck support beams needed trimming to their upright leg length in order to fit snuggly. 

2.  With the longitudinal deck beams be careful if you clean them up.   They can be somewhat fragile.   I was cleaning the top of my first one and it broke.   No problem as the break was clean and did not affect the construction.     Also these beams have a tendency to spring back up amidships.   I would advise using a very fast setting glue or place some weights on the ship in order to prevent this while your glue sets.  

3. The stern counter frames are a very tight fit  (which is good).      After slotting all the bulkheads and other pieces I got used to a perfect fit.    I could have sanded the slots a bit but I chose to use a few light taps of a hobby hammer.    Very snug fit but those parts aren't going anywhere now. 

 

I'm really looking forward to the placement of the Upper Hull Side Patterns.   The instructions talk about soaking and  bending over a can and letting it dry for a day.   I am hoping my method will work well and allow construction to proceed without the soaking/drying process.     I recently picked up nice wood bender that was recommended by someone on this forum.   It's a bit pricey ($150US) but so far in my modeling experience it is a wonderful, must have tool.   I have done a few passes through the tool with the Upper Hull Side Pattern and it is curving very nicely.    Once I get to that step I'll provide some more detail and pictures. 

[chris watton]

Cripes, you've cracked on with that!

[myxyzptlyk2003]

Thanks Chris.    That is just a tribute to the quality and buildability of the kit you produced!

[Jasseji]

Another one to follow - Cheers 

 

[myxyzptlyk2003]

Just glued the gun deck on.     I had to deepen the outboard bulkhead slots about 1-2 mm on each side.    I used the center line of the model to determine how much to deepen each slot.    Averages about 1.5mm each side. 

[chris watton]

13 minutes ago, myxyzptlyk2003 said:

Just glued the gun deck on.     I had to deepen the outboard bulkhead slots about 1-2 mm on each side.    I used the center line of the model to determine how much to deepen each slot.    Averages about 1.5mm each side. 

That is very odd, I add more than enough tolerances on slots so they should all fit perfectly, you should not have deepen them by so much! Stuff like this is nailed very early in the designs.

[James H]

17 minutes ago, myxyzptlyk2003 said:

Just glued the gun deck on.     I had to deepen the outboard bulkhead slots about 1-2 mm on each side.    I used the center line of the model to determine how much to deepen each slot.    Averages about 1.5mm each side. 

 

That's very, very odd. With the deck halves in place and fully seated into the slots, the deck edge falls directly on the centreline and both sit nicely up next to each other. 🤔

[myxyzptlyk2003]

Sorry.   Not on my build.   Both halves when placed tightly up against the bulkheads overlapped by about 2mm.    Basically, I don't think this is a very big thing.    In all the kits I've built most have needed this kind of adjustment.   And while I certainly can screw up things, in this case, I don't see how that would be possible as the open width between the bulkhead ears is established in the kit cutting and I made no adjustments 

 

In the near future I can take a close up picture showing the adjustments.   You will see that the bulkhead slots are tight up against the bulkheads and the centerline of the two pieces meet perfectly after removing that bit from the slots

[Jasseji]

38 minutes ago, myxyzptlyk2003 said:

Sorry.   Not on my build.   Both halves when placed tightly up against the bulkheads overlapped by about 2mm.    Basically, I don't think this is a very big thing.    In all the kits I've built most have needed this kind of adjustment.   And while I certainly can screw up things, in this case, I don't see how that would be possible as the open width between the bulkhead ears is established in the kit cutting and I made no adjustments 

 

In the near future I can take a close up picture showing the adjustments.   You will see that the bulkhead slots are tight up against the bulkheads and the centerline of the two pieces meet perfectly after removing that bit from the slots

 

can you try to test-fit those separator jigs from steps 123-125 and 127 ?

 

bc if the decks dont fit, then the lasered deck, quarterdeck and cabin bulkheads wont either

 

[chris watton]

14 hours ago, myxyzptlyk2003 said:

Sorry.   Not on my build.   Both halves when placed tightly up against the bulkheads overlapped by about 2mm.    Basically, I don't think this is a very big thing.    In all the kits I've built most have needed this kind of adjustment.   And while I certainly can screw up things, in this case, I don't see how that would be possible as the open width between the bulkhead ears is established in the kit cutting and I made no adjustments 

 

In the near future I can take a close up picture showing the adjustments.   You will see that the bulkhead slots are tight up against the bulkheads and the centerline of the two pieces meet perfectly after removing that bit from the slots

OK, I have spent 45 minutes checking my cut files to make sure, the master files that are used to actually laser cut the production parts. I checked the distances from the slots in the gun deck and each bulkhead from 2-13.

 

For example, on bulkhead 13, the distance between the tabs is 93.78mm, and the distance between the ply deck slots is 92mm, giving a whopping 1.78mm leeway. This is the same story for all slots I checked, some have a little less tolerance, but always more slack than what is required. There's even plenty of slack in the slot widths, being 4.25mm wide for slots for 4mm thick bulkheads 2-9 and 4.3mm wide for slots for bulkheads 10-13.

 

As these are the exact drawings in the files that I use to cut all kits, there is no way they would cut any different from one to the other. 

 

What I suspect has happened is that the deck has not been fitted fully home in the slots in some areas. I know this can happen, as I did this during one of my prototype builds, but noticed just in time.

 

 

Edited August 30, 2021 by chris watton

[myxyzptlyk2003]

Chris

I suspect you are right on this.  I did notice that the outer edges of the deck are not snug on top of the bulkhead surfaces.   That would indicate that the deck piece needed to be snugged up tighter.   Given the slight curvature of the bulkhead and the flatness of the deck piece that seems to be what my issue was.

Either way this is not going to cause any issues going forward.

 

Have fitted the gun port frames.   They went on very well.   One word of caution to other builders.   Some of upper sections of these frames are extremely fragile.

 

 

[Glenn-UK]

I have added your build log to my Sphinx index, looking forward to watching your progress.

 

You've made a good start

[myxyzptlyk2003]

Hello all

I've reached step 131.   Getting ready to attach the upper hull side patterns.   Construction to date has been very straightforward with parts fitting very well.

With this step I am deviating a bit from the suggested method.    I have this bending tool that will allow you to bend lots of types of wood without soaking in water or heating.     (See the pictures.  Note the second picture is the partially bent hull side pattern).    To date I can bend just about any strip wood that is less than 2mm in thickness.   I haven't tried anything thicker.   For these side patterns you start at a point where you are just barely able to get the piece to flow through.   After the first pass you tighten the upper screws just a bit.   Maybe an 1/8th turn and then refeed the piece.   After about 10-15 pass throughs the piece is bent perfectly.    See the pictures.   That last picture has the piece up against the hull without clamps.   Fits perfectly.    

One word of caution with this device.   Don't be in a hurry.   If you tighten the screws too much you can cause the wood to break.   In general with any plank bending for hulls it should take about 10-15 passthroughs to get the bend you need.

This unit is so nice because you don't have to spend time soaking and drying wood.  

[Jasseji]

39 minutes ago, myxyzptlyk2003 said:

Hello all

I've reached step 131.   Getting ready to attach the upper hull side patterns.   Construction to date has been very straightforward with parts fitting very well.

With this step I am deviating a bit from the suggested method.    I have this bending tool that will allow you to bend lots of types of wood without soaking in water or heating.     (See the pictures.  Note the second picture is the partially bent hull side pattern).    To date I can bend just about any strip wood that is less than 2mm in thickness.   I haven't tried anything thicker.   For these side patterns you start at a point where you are just barely able to get the piece to flow through.   After the first pass you tighten the upper screws just a bit.   Maybe an 1/8th turn and then refeed the piece.   After about 10-15 pass throughs the piece is bent perfectly.    See the pictures.   That last picture has the piece up against the hull without clamps.   Fits perfectly.    

One word of caution with this device.   Don't be in a hurry.   If you tighten the screws too much you can cause the wood to break.   In general with any plank bending for hulls it should take about 10-15 passthroughs to get the bend you need.

This unit is so nice because you don't have to spend time soaking and drying wood.  

 

where did you get that bending tool ? any particular name for it ?

[myxyzptlyk2003]

The device is called "bending machine" and sold by MicroMark here in the US.

[myxyzptlyk2003]

Have the upper hull side patterns installed.   I kind of surprised myself in that the cannon port openings aligned perfectly.   I always expect I am off by a little and have to do some adjusting.    This speaks to how well this kit is designed and produced.

 

I will be planking the hull this weekend.   I do note that the instruction manual states the 1st planking is in bag F36 but it really is in bag F43.    Same thing with the 2nd planking.    Instruction manual says F37 but really is in F44.   

[Jasseji]

interesting info, thank you

[mtaylor]

Good catch on the miss labeled parts.  

[myxyzptlyk2003]

Just a bit of light sanding of the lower hull and then I will start the first planking.     I found that the forward spacing jig was a nice fit although I am not sure how necessary as during the attaching of the upper hull patterns the pieces came off continuously and in the end made no difference.   The same can't be said of the aft spacers.    J9 in particular required a tiny bit of force to spread the hull sides.    The rest were nice tight fits.

[myxyzptlyk2003]

1st planking is complete.     I don't worry too much about neatness at this stage as my 1st planking tends to be crap but I make up for it with wood filler and the 2nd planking will cover the bad stuff.

 

Hope to have the keel, sternpost, bow and transom piece installed by next weekend.     This thing called work keeps getting in the way of my model building.

 

[Jasseji]

5 minutes ago, myxyzptlyk2003 said:

1st planking is complete.     I don't worry too much about neatness at this stage as my 1st planking tends to be crap but I make up for it with wood filler and the 2nd planking will cover the bad stuff.

 

Hope to have the keel, sternpost, bow and transom piece installed by next weekend.     This thing called work keeps getting in the way of my model building.

 

Your 1st Crap planking is better than my 2nd

[JeffT]

That was fast...lol

[myxyzptlyk2003]

I do apologize for my picture quality.   Certainly not up to the standards of most other posters.  I don't have the lighting or background options others seem to have.    But that being said, here are my latest.     Prow, keel, sternpost and counter are all installed.     I am strictly following the manual instructions.   I am at step 155.

[myxyzptlyk2003]

Maybe this won't be an issue for most modelers but when gluing the outer patterns for the prow, keel and sternpost be sure you have the right side out.   When I cut my pieces from the sheet, I had the sheet upside down so did not really notice the excellent markings on the one side which need to be showing on the outside.     After building so many models I was used to the plain wood being on the outside.       I kind of noticed my error by chance.   I was doing the dry fit for the prow piece and happened to flip the piece and noticed I was almost doing it the wrong way.

 

More and more I am appreciating this kit.  I hope this is a complement for most people but this kit is very close to what building plastic ship kits is like.   With the exception of the fairing and hull planking everything so far is putting premade parts together.   I for one really enjoy that. 

[Jasseji]

1 hour ago, myxyzptlyk2003 said:

Maybe this won't be an issue for most modelers but when gluing the outer patterns for the prow, keel and sternpost be sure you have the right side out.   When I cut my pieces from the sheet, I had the sheet upside down so did not really notice the excellent markings on the one side which need to be showing on the outside.     After building so many models I was used to the plain wood being on the outside.       I kind of noticed my error by chance.   I was doing the dry fit for the prow piece and happened to flip the piece and noticed I was almost doing it the wrong way.

 

More and more I am appreciating this kit.  I hope this is a complement for most people but this kit is very close to what building plastic ship kits is like.   With the exception of the fairing and hull planking everything so far is putting premade parts together.   I for one really enjoy that. 

Some people actually hate this, but i think the model has enough places where modelling and woodworking skills can or could be used, that it still can be a challenge.

 

There are people, for whom even buying ready-made planking strips is considered cheating...

 

I for one like how this kit is designed, definitely will raise the success factor (more people will finish it and less will stumble upon something they can't get around)

 

Even my 5-year old can help me with fitting some parts, so it's a good family bonus

[myxyzptlyk2003]

Got the prow, keel and sternpost out pieces applied.   Those little tabs are excellent to help alignment.

On to the upper planking patterns.    Once again rather than soak the pieces I am running them through my bending machine rollers.     Works beautifully on this material and give a perfect curve.   And without having to wait for the drying of the wood.

More pictures to follow after the planking patterns are applied.  (tomorrow AM  (UStime)?

[Landlubber Mike]

Fantastic job!  I have that bending tool from Micromark as well, and it's quite good.  Sometimes the Micromark stuff can be crap, but this one is well built and I found it to be very helpful.

 

Love your alias as well 👍

[myxyzptlyk2003]

Here is the model with the upper patterns applied.   They fit beautifully.   And have dry fitted the lower patterns and again a perfect fit.    You will see my bending of the upper pattern in the bending machine saving me the time of soaking and drying.  The thickness of the wood for these pieces is about perfect for use in this machine.

I am really loving the detail etched into all of these pieces.

Next will be the lower patterns and then the counter pattern.   Then on to the 2nd planking.   That looks like my weekend project.

[myxyzptlyk2003]

I am now starting on the 2nd planking.    Both upper and lower outer patterns are applied as well as the 2 rows of plank patterns as seen in the last picture.   The ship is really taking shape now.     I am guessing I will spend most of this weekend on the 2nd planking.

[Glenn-UK]

Nice work, looking very nice. I have just started the 1st planking