HMS Sphinx 1775 by mtaylor - FINISHED - Vanguard Models - 1:64

[Keith Black]

13 minutes ago, mtaylor said:

breathes a sigh of relief, repairs have been completed.   The replacement PE went well.

 Mark, that made me smile, I'm glad you found your mojo. Looks good.  

[mtaylor]

Still working... slow but steady.   Seems once I start working, the "how to" part comes back.  Weird the way the mind works.

 

I've been focused gundeck, aft and middle.  And forget to take a photo of the two cabin areas.  But in the main area, I've added eyebolts, coamings, grates and the furniture around the main mast.  For those who noticed, the pump stanchion iron work missing, I'll CA it on after doing the cranks.  I think it'll be less fiddly trying to get the cranks in position without the iron work being in the way.  I still need to clue the stanchions for the pump hands in place.

 

Here's photos... more coming as I've moved forward to the area around the foremast.

[Keith Black]

 Mark, it's nice to see a update from you. The Sphinx is looking great, is vision no longer an issue? It must have been taken care of because of the nice, tidy work you're producing. 

[mtaylor]

Thanks Keith.  Vision is still up in the air.  Appointment later this month <sigh>.  I've found the best I can do is work for maybe 30 minutes tops and then go do something else for an hour or so.   

[Keith Black]

I hate hearing that, Mark. I so hope and pray they can provide you with a remedy that enables you to continue working with a smile. I'm almost there myself, I've pretty much give-up working past daylight. 

[Glen McGuire]

Good progress and very nice work, Mark.  Your perseverance is inspiring.  

 

I do have a dumb question though.  What is the thing I've circled in the picture below and what is its purpose?  Obviously I've still got a lot to learn about this stuff!

[mtaylor]

Keith, I hope it goes well for you also.   I really believe I just had a bad prescription for the eye doc... it was a second bad one from him, so I'm changing docs.

 

Thanks Glen.  Those are the chain pumps to pump water out of the bilge.  See pic attached.  If you've seen Master and Commander there's a couple of scenes where they're using it.

[Keith Black]

35 minutes ago, mtaylor said:

Keith, I hope it goes well for you also.   I really believe I just had a bad prescription for the eye doc... it was a second bad one from him, so I'm changing docs.

 Hopefully that's all that it is, Mark. 

 

 Thank you, Mark. I helped my situation some by adding a floor lamp with three 100 watt daylight LED bulbs. I can see what I'm working on better but I still need to take frequent breaks to rest my eyes but the breaks give me a chance to smoke my pipe.  

Edited April 6, 2022 by Keith Black

[Glen McGuire]

Got it.  The pic certainly helps my understanding.  Thank you, Mark!

[mtaylor]

1 hour ago, Glen McGuire said:

Got it.  The pic certainly helps my understanding.  Thank you, Mark!

Glen, get a copy of zu Mondfeld's Historic Ship Models.  The info is massive, covers the British, US, and French vessels.  It has it's issues but can give you a lot of good info and if nothing else, a starting place for research.

[mtaylor]

A minor update for the build but a major step for me.  The stove.  Lot of fiddly work and after a couple days work, I'm pretty pleased and getting comfortable working with PE.   All the brass was blackened via Birchwood Casey and after assembly, the wood was painted.  I'm working on painting the bricks now.

 

Sorry for the quality of the photo...  Needed heavy "zoom" to be able to see any thing and some serious lighting.

[Keith Black]

 Mark, the stove looks great! What bad vision? 

[mtaylor]

5 minutes ago, Keith Black said:

 Mark, the stove looks great! What bad vision? 

Extreme magnification is the answer... but still need a lot of breaks to rest my eyes from it.  I use a set of reading classes and then over that a head mounted magnifier.  

[mtaylor]

Thanks for the likes and comments.  

 

Still making progress.  The bow area of the gundeck.   I did have to do some serious thinking here.  I dug out my little yard master and did some eyeball work and more thinking.  I finally decided, Captain's prerogative needed to be applied.   With the wall/door section added there just didn't seem to be enough room for the cooks to work.  So didn't use it but did add a very small bit of "brick" to cover the hole. 

 

Now to go onto more of the gundeck work.

[Glen McGuire]

That looks so cool!

[bdgiantman2]

The galley stove turned out great, Mark.  Your model of Sphinx is looking great.

[mtaylor]

Thanks.   I've been sweating blood on this build to get it right and overcome my personal issues.   So far, I'm feeling pretty good at this point.  I admit to coming close to packing it in

[TBlack]

Dear Mark,

Perseverance will save your day. You've got it! Keep going!

Tom

[mtaylor]

Thanks Tom, 

The Marines did teach me this and throughout the decades, it's served me well...   "Improvise, adapt and overcome" which is the unofficial slogan of the Marine Corps. I

[Dave_E]

Stay tough Brother! 👍 Your ship looks OUTSTANDING!

[glbarlow]

Glad to see you’re still on it Mark. That unofficial Marine motto should also be the modeler’s creed and one I use often: Improvise, adapt, overcome!  There is no quit…

[usedtosail]

Mark, your stove looks great, as does the rest of your model. Your picture got me thinking though (not always a good thing). The references I have been using have the stove installed with the spit at the aft end. This would make it even tighter with the doors, which I think go between the bitt pin and the stove on this model, so the way you have it would make more sense. Lavery shows a stove in the orientation you show, although it is not labeled fore and aft. Is the stove orientation something that could go either way do you think?

[mtaylor]

Thanks Tom,

The instruction manual and drawings show it oriented with the spits forward.  The riding bitts knees also go forward and seem to block access to the stern side of the stove even more.

 

Speaking of the riding bitts knees, the instructions do call them out in Instruction 478 for removing from the parts stock, but do not have an "installation".  The drawings do show them though.

 

Edit:  I found where they get installed.  My bad for not reading and remembering that far ahead.

 

BTW, you can download the manual for free here:   https://vanguardmodels.co.uk/product/hms-sphinx-1775/

[mtaylor]

Still slogging away at the coal face, so to speak.   Waiting for the new glasses but still working.   Currently I'm at the gun building stage.  Work maybe 15 minutes then back off and rest the eyes for a bit.  Definitely some fiddly bits.   Anyway, below is a photo.  I have one finished and ready to go as it was my test.   I'm now doing a production line.... assemble gun and carriage, next shape axes, install the cross bar and eyebots and finally the wheels.  So, currently shaping the axles at this point.  As this point, I'm unsure if the quion will be needed as my first one looks good in all ports without it.

 

[druxey]

Aren't you glad she is not a 74? Looking good, Mark.

[Oldsalt1950]

Mark, put in the quion. There is bound to be that "one" that will need it. Easier to do now than later.

[mtaylor]

41 minutes ago, druxey said:

Aren't you glad she is not a 74? Looking good, Mark.

Thanks.    I am giving thought to 74 or maybe a razee.  I'm not minding this.  I just wish my new glasses were here and I could work longer.

16 minutes ago, Oldsalt1950 said:

Mark, put in the quion. There is bound to be that "one" that will need it. Easier to do now than later.

I'm keeping that as an option just in case.   Once they have all the their wheels I'll put them into position and if needed, adjust accordingly.  

[bdgiantman2]

The Sphinx is getting her teeth now! Keep up the progress on your model, she is coming along!

 

Brian D

[starlight]

Hi mtaylor,

 

Your build looks phenomenal! Those look like some pretty substantial 9-pdrs. I'm also currently working on the guns for my build and am quite enjoying it. Do you have any tips for rounding off the axles and sanding off the laser char on the wheels?

 

Cheers,

starlight

[Moonbug]

23 minutes ago, starlight said:

Do you have any tips for rounding off the axles and sanding off the laser char on the wheels?

Rounding off axles is always a pain - but for char on wheels, I’ve found that sliding them onto a toothpick until they “lock” in place, then rolling them very gently along a flat piece is sandpaper let’s you sand a minuscule amount at a time without altering their shape.