HMS Sphinx by myxyzptlyk - Vanguard Models

[myxyzptlyk2003]

While I'm sorely tempted to mast and rig this model, I just can't.       I already have 6 Caldercraft kits including Victory, Diana, Snake, et al, rigged and encased.   Plus about 6 other kits of various manufacturers finished and encased.     There just isn't any room.

 

So it looks like I am nearing completion.    As you can maybe see from the pictures I had no problem placing those 4 timberheads where I missed the slots.   I think it was the right decision to not include the galley doors.     They just didn't make any sense being there.   And given the positioning of those doors, in real life who would use them.    Looked to be very tight quarters with the bits directly in front of the doors. 

 

I am concerned about my ability to construct those ship's boats.   They are are so tiny and my planking skills are not the greatest.  I am just hoping that given the quality of this kit that maybe they won't be much of a problem.

 

 

[Glenn-UK]

Very nice job so far

[mtaylor]

Nice work.  If mine comes out looking half that good, I'll be thrilled.

 

[myxyzptlyk2003]

While working on the boat cross beams I learned that when you install the chain pump handles do NOT have either of them vertical.   They will interfere with the beams.   On the prototype it appears they interfere just a bit.  I have one of mine almost vertical and it will require notching the beam by about 1mm just like Jim says in his prototype build. 

[Tankerman]

Further to your problem in post 88 and the replies from James and Chris, here are the slots to which they refer on my model,

 

[myxyzptlyk2003]

2 hours ago, Tankerman said:

Further to your problem in post 88 and the replies from James and Chris, here are the slots to which they refer on my model,

 

 Thanks.   It must be that when I got to the stage of sanding that area even I didn't like the fact that you would see the layering of the various pieces and not realizing that those slots were there for a purpose, I just used wood filler to even out that whole area.    Actually, I kind of like my solution as that whole area if very even and the timberheads sit nicely.

[mtaylor]

15 hours ago, Tankerman said:

Further to your problem in post 88 and the replies from James and Chris, here are the slots to which they refer on my model,

 

 

I wish you were doing a build log for this kit.    The more, the merrier.

[myxyzptlyk2003]

Now it's on to the ship's boats with lots of uncertainty on my part.  This will be the first time I have attempted building such small boats.  Given the quality of the instructions and materials I am fairly optimistic that they will turn out fine.  

All that's left to do is string the photo etched pieces that were installed today. 

Up to step 690 in the instruction book and other than the boats there doesn't appear to be much more to do besides lots of touchups and refining of small details.   

I am sorely tempted to rig this model but there just isn't room in the house. 

So Chris, when is the next big model coming out???   I'll be one of the first in line to get it.

[VTHokiEE]

Looking great! Can’t wait to see her with the ship’s boats.

[glbarlow]

Do you have a bet with someone on how fast you can build this, 🤣😂

[myxyzptlyk2003]

I guess my concerns about my ability to build the ship's boats is justified.   I'm very unsure of my ability to work with such small, fine planking.  I'm sure I will be using a lot of filler.   But I'll just keep plugging away.   Updates will not be nearly as fast as my previous posts.  As always quality parts.    But be careful.   Particularly with the stern pieces.   1mm think stern bulkheads break VERY easily.   So use a gentle hand particularly when sanding.   Also it appears there is not a great deal of excess planking material so be careful about wastage.

[James H]

Are you tapering any of those planks?You'll never get them to fit around the bow otherwise. I see plank(s) that aren't sitting on the bulkheads.

How well did you fair the frames?

[myxyzptlyk2003]

I am definitely tapering the planks.    Absolutely have to.    And the fairing was pretty decent I think.   The problem is  completely  with me.    These are such small planks and relatively fragile pieces.    If you get a bit heavy handed with sanding and fairing you are going to break things.    This is my first attempt at something of this small scale.    My experience with the larger hulls led me to be able to apply some significant pressure when fairing.    Not so with these boats.     I'm sure I will do better on the other two boats. 

[myxyzptlyk2003]

Given the level of frustration I am experiencing with these small boats I will probably end up "cheating".    Caldercraft makes some very nice small boat kits with resin cast hulls that I have used in the past on their larger models with great results. 

[myxyzptlyk2003]

I have never been any good at single planked models.     And at my age, I believe I will never attain any degree of competence in that area.

[myxyzptlyk2003]

Rather than hijack someone else's thread I would like to make a few comments that were made about this model on another thread.    In summary, the poster was lamenting how much better some of the models can/should be due to the poster's perceived deficiencies (removing char, sanding, speed of build, etc).    Note that the deficiencies sited are legit.   But the poster is maybe missing  some points.

 

I don't build these kits with the goal of achieving museum quality models.   Can they be done better?   Absolutely.   Do I want to make them better?   Probably not.   For 70+ years I have had a consuming love of building models of all types.  And in many if not all cases the result has never come close to the best.   But for me the satisfaction is there with the physical 'build' and I never dwell on the deficiencies that some may point out.     I will never make the perfect model nor do I strive to achieve that.   All of the people who are going to see my finished models ( they probably number in the single digits) all marvel at how great they look   They look at and see the overall effect and don't focus on the small, individual sections.  

 

And given the relatively few years I have left on this planet and with so many models to build, speed kind of is a priority.   I know there are plenty of sayings about quality vs quantity.    But there is something to be said for quantity also.

 

Model building is a large hobby.  There is room for all levels of achievement and quality. Not everyone has the same goal in mind.

[Glenn-UK]

Well said, I could not agree more. I build for my own enjoyment and keeps my mind active in my twilight years😃

Edited October 29, 2021 by glennard2523

[Jasseji]

2 minutes ago, glennard2523 said:

Well said, I could not agree more. I build for my own enjoyment and keeps my mind active in my twilight years😃

SPAM NOTICE: when i play video games, i feel old with all the kids around, here i feel like a kid among all you Oldtimers  (no offence meant, i am 40)

[myxyzptlyk2003]

Building is slowly progressing.   The hull is essentially finished with just some touchups to do.   Especially on the stern decorations.  (just ordered some very fine brushes to accomplish this).       The ship's boats are the last stage for me as I am not going to mast/rig this model.     Those boats being a single plank affair are a real challenge for me as you can see by the pictures.   I have always used the second planking to cover up my many defects.   Not so with these.    I have the pinnace planking done now have to work on the interior.    Also will need to do lots of cosmetic touching up to the hull.    I had never really done any fine single planking before so I learned a lot which will be applied to the yawl and launch which you can see are under construction.

 

With these boats I have only been able to do a few planks at a time.    The structures are pretty fragile at the stern so I have not been to find a way to use clamps.   That necessitated my holding the planks in position until the glue set up.    Thin CA is hard to use as it soaks into the MDF pretty quickly,    A medium CA is a bit better but does take a while to hold.    What I found that works best for me is kind of a combination of the yellow glue I use plus some thin CA.     I apply the yellow glue to the plank and then the CA to the rib and quickly place the plank.   I have found this method give a pretty good hold of the plank in about a minute. 

[BobG]

6 hours ago, myxyzptlyk2003 said:

What I found that works best for me is kind of a combination of the yellow glue I use plus some thin CA.     I apply the yellow glue to the plank and then the CA to the rib and quickly place the plank.   I have found this method give a pretty good hold of the plank in about a minute

 

I'll have to try that. I like to use medium CA when planking but it doesn't give much time to adjust. If the combination of yellow glue and thin CA gives you about a minute to make adjustments that would be pretty good. Thanks for the tip!

[myxyzptlyk2003]

Well.    I have failed miserably with the ship's boats.   Just so fragile and tiny planking.   What I am going to do is use some precast resin hulls from Jotika and fit most of the pieces from this kit to those hulls.    So far it is going pretty well.   It will be better than nothing.     I have dry fitted the photo etched pieces to the pinnace and so far they are a very close fit. 

[Jasseji]

On 11/9/2021 at 12:23 PM, myxyzptlyk2003 said:

Well.    I have failed miserably with the ship's boats.   Just so fragile and tiny planking.   What I am going to do is use some precast resin hulls from Jotika and fit most of the pieces from this kit to those hulls.    So far it is going pretty well.   It will be better than nothing.     I have dry fitted the photo etched pieces to the pinnace and so far they are a very close fit. 

Can you tell/link which hulls you have used from Jotika/Caldercraft ?

[Glenn-UK]

39 minutes ago, Jasseji said:

Can you tell/link which hulls you have used from Jotika/Caldercraft ?

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

 

[Jasseji]

4 minutes ago, glennard2523 said:

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

 

yes but i mean which specific ones he chose so the supplied Fittings fit

[myxyzptlyk2003]

At this point I remember using the CC 32 foot pinnace.    I will be doing some modifying of the build to make it as close as possible to the incredible quality that James showed with his boats.     I won't come real close but again, it will be better than nothing.     The 32 foot pinnace is a bit too long but I have test fitted it and to my eye it looks pretty good.    The other 2 I don't remember off the top of my head.   I'll get the details this weekend.     But with those other two the dimensions of the boats look to be close to exactly the same as the kit boats. \

One modification that I am working with is using the wood ribs from the kit on the resin hull.    CC supplies some black construction paper to mimic those ribs.   Basically, I will be using only the resin hulls.   

 

While I know doing this is a huge compromise over the kit boats, there is no one other than those on this forum who are going to see this finished model and will notice any difference.  

[myxyzptlyk2003]

For the Jotika boats, I am using the 

32 foot pinnace

23 foot launch

24 foot cutter.

 

As stated previously, the launch and cutter look to have almost the same shape and dimensions as the kit provided boats.   The pinnace is a bit too long but does fit nicely on the model.      Building is pretty slow at this point as I am using the wood provided in the kit to build all the internal structures.  I can only apply a few wood ribs at a time as I need to clamp them in place to allow the glue to hold.    Once the ribs are in it should be a much faster process.

 

I will be interested in how my fellow modelers do with the kit boats.   They were definitely well beyond my skill level.

 

 

[myxyzptlyk2003]

It's been a very long time since I have adding anything to this thread.    And that is because of my extreme disappoint in my inability to build the small ship's boats I have basically ceased working on the model.   The hull was completed except for those boats.   And since I was never going to rig the model I have just put the hull in a display case and moved on to my next model  (Vanguard's Duchess).    My attempt to use Caldercraft kit boats was not very satisfactory.   (although I now note Chris has some 3d printed boats which I am probably going to try)/

But that brings me to a question.    In real life, how would these ship's boats be carried?     I can't imagine that they would be stowed upright as rain water would pool inside continually.    If stowed upright maybe there would be a tarp covering the boats?   Or would they be stowed upside down?  

[mtaylor]

I hope the 3d boats work for you.   As for stowage... I think the answer is "it depends".   Some were stowed with drain plug installed, others removed. Some were even towed for long distances. Upright does seem preferred though from what I've read and they would dump buckets of water into them to keep the wood swollen and joints sealed.  So much of this during the age of sail was captain's choice.