HMS Sphinx 1775 by Glenn-UK - FINISHED - Vanguard Models - 1:64 - V2 Kit by Glenn Shelton

[mtaylor]

B.E.  is right on all counts.  You're getting there.

[Glenn-UK]

I have started to add the outer patterns. Starting with the prow patterns after a dry fit to make sure the parts would fit OK I applied a liberal coat of glue to the stem post with the two locating tabs also added to the stem post.

 

The two outer prow patterns were then fitted. In addition to using the two locating tabs I also check the patterns were aligned by running some brass pins through the horseshoe holes. The prow patterns were then held in place using a few clamps.

 

The above process was then repeated for the keel outer patterns, plenty of clamps used.

 

The Alert, IJN Yamato and Speedy can be seen in the background

 

The V1 Sphinx build is also looking on with great interest.

 

 

Edited January 15, 2022 by glennard2523

[Dave_E]

Nice Glen! Are you going right after the second planking?

[Glenn-UK]

1 minute ago, Dave_E said:

Nice Glen! Are you going right after the second planking?

Once the outer patterns have been fitted I will start the second planking. The lower counter pattern is correctly positioned (I think) this time around so I think all is good.

[BobG]

Nice line-up of models, Glenn, and a great, long windowsill to display them on!

[Glenn-UK]

Progress is going to be slow for the next couple of days as I soak, bend and allow time for the upper and lower outer patterns to dry before fitting.

 

After soaking the top upper patterns in hot water for 30 minutes they were carefully clamped to the hull and they will be left for approx. 18 hours to fully dry out. Before I glue these patterns in place I will soak, bend, clamp and allow time for the lower outer patterns to dry out. This will ensure that when I glue these patterns to the hull I can confident everything is correctly aligned.

 

The picture below shows the right-hand side upper outer pattern clamped to the hull.

 

The next photo is a view from the left-hand side. You will note I used a map pin to hold the bottom edge of the left hand upper outer pattern in place. I also clamped the stern upper and lower patterns in place to double check if there were any alignment issues. Everything looked good.

 

In the next photo you will see I have added the stern post outer patterns. I did ensure the 1st planking terminated before the stern post and keel which should ensure the 2nd planking will be flush with the stern post and keel. When looking at the photo I have highlighted an area which looks wrong. The actual model looks fine and the highlighted area which seems to stick out is an optical illusion, related with the lower stern counter.

 

 

Edited January 16, 2022 by glennard2523

[KirbysLunchBox]

Looking good!!  I know my patience would be tested taking it so carefully!

[Glenn-UK]

28 minutes ago, KirbysLunchBox said:

Looking good!!  I know my patience would be tested taking it so carefully!

It goes against my nature to be be slow and steady but also but I know through experience taking ones time is the right way to go.

[Glenn-UK]

After soaking the lower outer bow pattern in hot water for 30 mins it was clamped to the hull and left for 18 hours to dry. I did use some map pins to hold the lower edge in place. I also ensured there was  room in the rabbet for the lower pattern to be inserted.

 

Once I was happy with how the upper and lower outer patterns would fit it was time to apply the glue. I brushed a coat of titebond original on  the hull and clamped the upper bow outer patterns in place. Once the glue had gripped the pattern I repeated the process for the upper stern pattern. This was then repeated again for the lower bow and stern outer patterns.

 

This is a photo of the right hand bow section, noting the lower pattern is held on the rabbet.

 

Midships where the bow and stern patterns meet. Not a perfect match but pretty close.

 

The stern

 

 

 

 

 

[Glenn-UK]

I have concluded that, despite all by best efforts, I am still not very good at planking. It is not a task I relish and look forward to undertaking but is one I am striving to get better at. I have read and watched several videos on the art of planking and feel I should have the tools and know how to be much better at it. That said, compared with previous builds, my 2nd planking on the V2 Sphinx is much improved.

 

I am currently using Titebond original to secure these planks to the hull which are held in place with map pins whilst the glue has time to grip and cure. I have used ca glue in the past which is much better for speed but I usually end up with glue on my fingers and on unwanted areas of the build. Also using wood glue gives me more time to adjust the planks and means I have to take my time.

 

The first photo shows my progress to date. After fitting 3 full planks (above the water line, noting the manual only requires 2 full planks) I am now fitting half planks.

 

The bow planks are being held in the rabbet which really helps when I adding the map pins, the holes left by the map pins can be seen in the photo below, which is of the right-hand side.

 

This is the bow left-hand side

 

A view down the right-hand side bow to stern

 

I am still not very good at fitting the planks around the stern. It may look a mess but compare to previous builds this is a marked improvement. More map pin holes can also be seen. I am a bit concerned about the position of the top edge of the low stern counter pattern. I will cross that bridge when it is time to fit the upper stern counter pattern.

 

A view looking of the left hand side from stern to bow

 

Another view of the left-hand side

[chris watton]

OK, if this was me, I would address the planking issues like this:

 

 The hull below waterline level is white, and the area above waterline up to the top edge of the main wale to be painted black, leaving just the pre cut and engraved hull sides natural.

 

Now, even this decision means a lot of long hours. You will need to paint, fill and sand multiple times.

 

The dip in planking near that stern is another problem that can be addressed, but again, it will not be quick.

 

So, first, mask off the areas not to be worked on, so everything above the top of the main wale.

 

Second, get rid of that dip near the stern, where you have sanded off too much of the bulkheads there. This will need to be filled, sanded filled etc., and will take a while a do until it 'flows' with the rest of the lines.

 

Third, once this is done, spray the unmasked hull white, you may need two to three cans for this, as it will take a lot of coats and sanding/filling in between each.

 

Forth. mask off the hull below the waterline and then paint that area between waterline and top of main wale black. The area should be OK as you dealt with this with the white paint, thus covering all plank work.

 

Others will have different solutions, but this is what I would do if it were my model.

 

 

Edited January 21, 2022 by chris watton

[Glenn-UK]

3 minutes ago, chris watton said:

OK, if this was me, I would address the planking issues like this:

 

@chris watton many thanks for you input and very sound advice. I agree there will be a lot of time and effort required to sort out the planking issues.

[Glenn-UK]

I am still making slow and steady progress with the second planking. As per my previous posts I am using Titebond Original to glue the planks to the hull which are then held in place with map pins. I have been working top to bottom, however I have also fitted three planks to the keel (garboard).

 

 

Close up of bow area.

 

The stern is looking much better than first feared after a very light sand but this area will still require a lot more work.

 

I have made a series of measurements regarding the number of planks require to fill the gap at various points.

 

At the widest point requires 10 planks and at the bow it require 6 planks to fill the unplanked area. 6 planks x 4mm = 24mm therefore each plank needs to be 2.4mm wide at the bow. I made a template plank which shows the require plank widths at different points which can be transferred to each plank in turn. I have found it beneficial to clamp the ruler (which provides the straight edge cutting line) on top of the plank to be cut.

[allanyed]

Good progress Glenn!   One question, are you going to replace the strakes of planking so the butts on adjacent strakes  are not on the same frame?  There is usually a pattern of the butts that you can see on an expansion drawing.   

Allan

Edited January 28, 2022 by allanyed

[Glenn-UK]

I have finally completed the 2nd planking on the right-hand side of my V2 build. I have approx. 10 planks left to fit on the left-hand side to complete this stage of the build, which should take me 3 or 4 days to complete.

 

I have added a few photo's of the completed right-hand side. After completing the planking I did use a damp paint brush to clean up the surface, hence the blotchy nature of the hull in the ensuing photos.

 

 

This is a close up of the bow area. Overall not too bad, but it will need sanding and filling to get a nice smooth surface for the painted area below the waterline.

 

Close up of the stern area, this will require a lot more work to get smooth compared with the bow area.

 

The next picture shows the midship plank joints, below the waterline.

 

 

[Glenn-UK]

37 minutes ago, allanyed said:

Good progress Glenn!   One question, are you going to replace the strakes of planking so the butts on adjacent strakes  are not on the same frame? 

These butt's are all below the waterline. The hull will be painted white below the waterline so the butt joints will not be visible.

Edited January 28, 2022 by glennard2523

[glbarlow]

For your next model if you don’t follow a common butt shift pattern I’d recommend at least staggering the joints fo structural support.  I hope they are indeed tight and smooth enough not to be visible after painting. 

[Glenn-UK]

2 hours ago, glbarlow said:

For your next model if you don’t follow a common butt shift pattern I’d recommend at least staggering the joints fo structural support.  I hope they are indeed tight and smooth enough not to be visible after painting. 

Hello Glenn (USA). I am not too worried about structural integrity for the 2nd planking. I certainly would be staggering the joints if they were visible or load bearing. The joints were not visible on my v1 build after sanding and painting.

Edited January 28, 2022 by glennard2523

[Glenn-UK]

I have made good progress since my last post and I have now completed the 2nd planking. I will start off by showing a couple of pictures showing the completed hull which will then be followed with a bit more detail of the work required to correct some of the defects with the 2nd planking.

 

The first two photo's show the completed left-hand side

 

 

The next photo shows the completed right hand side

 

When looking at the bow area on the left hand side there was a depression. This could be filled by using a wood filler mixture but I opted to try fitting a planking veneer overlay. Using a short length of planking material which I sanded to reduce the depth before fitting. The next photo shows the veneer glued in place.

 

With a bit of sanding it does not look too bad. A bit more work is still required to get a nice smooth finish but I am happy with using this process correcting the bigger depressions.

 

Moving on to the stern area I have added a couple of filler veneers. A short length was used to correct a dip with the stern post joint. The other piece is an experiment to correct a dip highlighted by @chris watton in a previous post. It does seem to improve the flow of the stern area so if I carry on with this method a few more veneers will be required. I need to add the waterline to get a better idea of what will be required. The key will be to use veneers which will match the colour of the base planking strakes, above the waterline. The hull will be painted white below the waterline so colour matching is not necessary.

 

 

I am happy with how the midship joints have turned out after a light sanding.

 

The next picture has highlighted three areas on the right hand side stern area which will require quite a bit of work to get a nice smooth hull. These close up pictures really do magnify the planking defects and make them look far worse than they look to the naked eye. These area will be resolved using filler (stern post area) and sanding for the other two areas.

[Glenn-UK]

The next task on the build agenda was to fit the main wale and strake.  I started this process by soaking the main wale (left and right) in hot water for 30 minutes. The wales were then positioned on the hull to allow the wales to dry for 18 hours so they could retain the bend around the bow area.

 

With reference to the plan sheet I took great care to position the wale at both the bow and stern end. The wales were then glued in place, using Titebond original wood glue. The strakes were then fitted above the main wale, using ca gel.

 

Next I taped above and below the main wale and strake and applied a coat of WOP (wipe on poly) in preparation for adding the black paint. So far so good.

 

As I wiped on the poly the words "Houston we have a problem" suddenly popped in to my head. The stern area looked good, the strake was just a tad low at the stern, so no reason to be alarmed.

 

However as I took a closer look at the midships I noticed the strake was actually drifting south of the guide line.

 

As I then looked toward the bow the strake I noted the stake was now aligned with the line below the line used at the stern - dooh!!!!!!!!

 

 

I have contemplated leaving as is no one else will see the model once complete so only I would really be aware of the error. But then I realised there were other knock on effects, such as the relative position of the bottom of the main wale with the waterline would be wrong, as would the fitting of the chain plates. Therefore I know I have to remove these parts and redo. As I started to gently ease the main wale away from the hull (using water to soften the wood glue) the main wale started to split. I do not think I will be able to salvage and reuse. I did think about making new wales using 1mm planks and strakes using 0.6mm planks but as I really like the laser etched pattern on the wales I have ordered replacements. I will use some spare 0.6mm planks to replace the strakes.

 

 

Edited February 3, 2022 by glennard2523

[glbarlow]

ISO alcohol does a nice job of releasing glue. 

[Theodosius]

This looks verg good to me! 🙂 Hope the second try works out for you!

[Glenn-UK]

The replacement main wale and strakes I have ordered from Chris are due to arrive tomorrow. It did take a lot more effort than I expected to remove the main wales and strakes from the hull. As can be seen in the photo below the hull did suffer a little bit of damage in that some of the 2nd planking also came away with the main wale. Thankfully it was a very easy repair.

 

Whilst I wait for the UPS delivery I decided to start the first stage of preparing the hull for the white paint. I started this process by applying a coat of white paint to the hull, ensuring I had taped the hull. I really like the waterline marker tool, which I purchased from Vanguard Models.

 

I decided not to go to mad and did not apply paint all the way to the taped waterline.

 

Once the paint had dried it was time to sand the paint away, noting that any depressions in the hull construction would still contain traces of the white paint. The next few photo's show the left-hand side. I have not as yet sanded the right-hand side.

 

 

Based on the first pass of painting and sanding I think the left-hand side will look pretty good once the process has been completed. There is one area on the bow which will require a bit more attention to get a nice smooth line, as shown below.

 

I know from my V1 build, and from reading the manual (and Jim's excellent build log) there will be plenty more work required applying  paint and sanding/ filling before I end up with a nice smooth painted hull.

Edited February 7, 2022 by glennard2523

[James H]

Getting that hull to the point I was happy with it, took the best part of a week.

 

Constant sanding, filling, sanding, filling, touch-ups etc. It's hard work, but it is worth the effort. 

[Glenn-UK]

8 hours ago, James H said:

Getting that hull to the point I was happy with it, took the best part of a week.

 

Constant sanding, filling, sanding, filling, touch-ups etc. It's hard work, but it is worth the effort. 

Thanks for the information. I know from my V1 build it took me a few days of painting, sanding and filling to get a nice looking finish. The V2 hull has had it's first coat of paint, which has been sanded away to show areas which then required filling. Filler was then added to the depressions and then sanded smooth. I will continue to repeat this process until I'm happy with how the painted hull looks.

Edited February 7, 2022 by glennard2523

[Glenn-UK]

The hull has now been painted, filled and sanded a couple more times. I am now reasonably happy the hull is smooth for the most part and I think the hull is ready for painting. I am sure the hull will require more sanding and filling as the painting coats are applied (and not sanded away).

 

The replacement main wales and strakes arrived today so tomorrow I plan to bend the main wales to the required shape so they can be glued in place, this time making sure I align the wales correctly.

 

Here are some pictures of the hull. I did brush the hull with a damp brush to hull remove the sanding dust, hence the colouration effects visible in the photos.

 

 

 

[Blue Ensign]

You're taking the right approach with this one Glenn, by not giving ground on the preparation, or accepting major flaws.

I would also do blind feel tests as you go along, the fingers often tell more than the eyes.

 

B.E.

[James H]

18 minutes ago, Blue Ensign said:

I would also do blind feel tests as you go along, the fingers often tell more than the eyes.

 

That's generally how I work, with occasional looks along the hull towards a light source.

[Glenn-UK]

43 minutes ago, James H said:

 

That's generally how I work, with occasional looks along the hull towards a light source.

I have been using my fingers to check the hull. I also use one of my camera's portable LED lights, which I find works really well in the evening. I'm not over the finishing line just yet as I know there is plenty more work required.

 

That said this is the best I've planked a hull. I'm still not very good at it, but I am getting better at planking with each build.

[Glenn-UK]

1 hour ago, Blue Ensign said:

You're taking the right approach with this one Glenn, by not giving ground on the preparation, or accepting major flaws.

I would also do blind feel tests as you go along, the fingers often tell more than the eyes.

 

B.E.

Thanks. I do use my fingers quite a bit when sanding. I have discovered that cleaning the dust off with a damp brush also helps to highlight the flaws.