HMS Sphinx 1775 by aydingocer - Vanguard Models - 1:64 - Revision #2

[aydingocer]

Build Day 67: 1 hour / Total 156 hours

 

Photos 582-584: Quarterdeck Fife Mail Rails. Nails used for aligning  the three parts glued together. Glued by fitting the slots with the stanchions and then painted in black.

Edited January 30, 2023 by aydingocer

[aydingocer]

Photos 585-586: Toilets.

That's all for today. Thanks for watching!

[aydingocer]

Build Day 68: 0.5 hour / Total 156.5 hours

A short resume at build after a few weeks of break.

 

Photo 587: Bow main rails, made of 3 parts each.

Photo 588: Glued together. They look like wild goats with the clamps

Photo 589: The head rail patterns under the bow gratings (i.e.  parts 81,82,83) needed some sanding from the top in order to sit flush with them (Photo is from the manual).

Photos 590-592: Glued in place.

 

That's all for today. Thanks for watching!

Edited February 20, 2023 by aydingocer

[aydingocer]

Build Day 69: 3 hours / Total 159.5 hours

 

Today I prepared and installed the six gun port lids. It took about 3 hours.

 

Photo 593: Labelled the part numbers after removing them from the sheet. I paid attention to keep them in the same alignment on the table as they were on the sheet as you should not really mix them. They are each to be glued to their own counterpart and they have their own place on the hull.

I painted the back pieces to red already while they are on the sheet.

Photo 594: Touching with a Staedtler Lumicolor for finishing the edges (see the piece on the left)

Photo 595: Metal parts painted, fitted and matt varnish applied, waiting to dry.

Photo 596: The tiny holes are easily clogged with varnish etc. I reopened them all using 0.5mm drill. That is 6 holes for each lid (3 on the lids and 3 on the hull).

Edited February 20, 2023 by aydingocer

[aydingocer]

Here is my process: 

Photo 597: Apply some CA glue to the tip of the thread and insert it through the hole. The CA will hold it in place.

Photo 598: Apply a drop of glue to each hinge end and insert them to their holes.

Photo 599: Tie the thread, drop a tiny amount of CA and cut off the excess.  

Photo 600: All six lids in place (3 on each side).

That's all for today. Thanks for watching!

[aydingocer]

At this point it made me wonder why only on some of the gun ports have lids. Did they not exist at all, or temporarily removed time to time, or was it just the kit design choice to expose the cannons better? 

Edited February 20, 2023 by aydingocer

[Oldsalt1950]

They aren't really needed on any of the weather deck ports. Their purpose was to keep water from entering the ship through the gun port openings. For the weather deck cannon's tampions were used.

 

Jim

[aydingocer]

2 minutes ago, Oldsalt1950 said:

They aren't really needed on any of the weather deck ports. Their purpose was to keep water from entering the ship through the gun port openings. For the weather deck cannon's tampions were used.

 

Jim

That explains it well, Jim! Thanks a lot for sharing the information!

[chris watton]

Trust me, if she had gunports for each gun port, I would have added a lid for each.

[aydingocer]

15 minutes ago, chris watton said:

Trust me, if she had gunports for each gun port, I would have added a lid for each.

No doubt! It is just the curiosity made me learn something new.

[aydingocer]

Build Day 70: 2 hours / Total 161.5 hours

Boat Cross Beams construction. There are four of them. Each one has its own location on gangways and you must not mix. I labelled them  with tape as well as on the plan.

Photo 601:

Photo 602: The 4th beam seemed to touch the chain pump handle which I had set in upright position (dry fit). I turned that pump handle a bit lower and also the other one to match with the position of the former.

 

Photos 603-605: You'll need to transfer the holes on the gangways to the beams. These holes on the gangways will host the support brackets. This is how I did it with the help of  transparent tape.

Photo 606: The support brackets are in their places accurately. I still double checked the accuracy before gluing them on the beams.

 

 

Edited February 21, 2023 by aydingocer

[aydingocer]

Photos 607-610: Preperation of boat cradles. Altogether six (two for each boat). Their places are engraved on the beams, if you have noticed. Work consists of cleaning the laser char, inserting the painted eyelets and finally gluing them on the cross beams.

 

These constructions will wait aside for now so that they won't impede rigging work.

 

That's all for today. Thanks for watching!

[aydingocer]

Build Day 71: 1 hours / Total 162.5 hours

Today Ladderway Stanchions and Quarterdeck Breast Rail Hammock Cranes.

Photo 611. Ladderway stanchions. Quite straightforward.

Photo 612. Painted (while on sheet) and removed the Quarterdeck Breast Rail Hammock Cranes. They look like Poseidon's spear to me

Photo 613. I needed to open up the holes a little, mostly due to clogging by paint. Luckily I happen to have a suitable drillbit with a long business end, that will drill straight through both holes st the same time. 

Photo 614. All in place and rigged. 

 

That's all for today. Thanks for watching!

Edited February 22, 2023 by aydingocer

[aydingocer]

Build Day 72: 1,5 hours / Total 164 hours

 

Photo 615: Waist Hammock Cranes and Waist Stanchions. Like before, I needed to use a 0,5 mm drillbit to open up the holes where the thread will go through. I still use a drop of CA glue to stiffen the end of the thread to help insert easily. Needless to say, I will retouch later the paint peeled of from the parts during process.

 

Photo 616: Though not seen in the manual photos, according to the plans the Waist Stanchions are to be rigged with a 35mm long natural thread. I guess you grab them to help climb the ladders to the deck.

 

Photo 617: Glued and rigged. I also opened the holes using 0.8 mm drillbit to fit the parts. By the way it is a good approach to treat these holes mainly as a reference where to drill than assuming as ready to fit holes, since all the paint, varnish and glues usually clog them up during construction.

 

Photo 618: Forecastle Stanchions and drill dusts.

 

Photo 619: Glued and rigged.

Edited February 26, 2023 by aydingocer

[aydingocer]

Photo 620: Coming up Next! Ship's boats. This is the most intimidating part of the build for me. I had tried to build the life boat once and failed in one of my earlier models. Ever since I always chose the easier option and went with the ready plastic hulls. This time I want to give them a try. Let's see how well I will achieve.

 

That's all for today. Thanks for watching!

Edited February 26, 2023 by aydingocer

[James H]

Just remember to taper those planks as you fit them. Take a few of them and soak them, then add a gentle curl into them also. That will help get those first ones installed a little easier if you're not used to working on them.

[aydingocer]

1 hour ago, James H said:

Just remember to taper those planks as you fit them. Take a few of them and soak them, then add a gentle curl into them also. That will help get those first ones installed a little easier if you're not used to working on them.

Thanks for the advice James. I will certainly take my time with building these boats. 

[aydingocer]

Build Days 72-75: 14 hours / Total 178 hours

 

It has been a while since my post. Last time I posted I was about to start ship's boats. I wanted to make sure I finished a boat before I share the build process. 

 

I started with the 28 foot pinnace. It took 14 hours to get it ready. 

Photo 621: I used the same method of brushing diluted wood glue for fixing the bulkheads to the keel. 

 

Photos 622-624: Left it overnight to let the glue to dry. Then fairing the bulkheads and planking commences.

 

Photo 625: Planking went overall well. I think after the 4th row of planking from the top, I coninued from bottom (i.e. keel) up.  At this stage I am relying on sanding and filling the gaps in order to get a smooth surface, which will be painted.

 

 

Edited March 27, 2023 by aydingocer

[aydingocer]

Photos 626-628: Time to remove from the base and rip the bulkheads. 

 

Photos 629-630: Installed the ribs abd the other components seen in the photos. There are some optional paint job steps in the manual, to give a more realistic wooden look to the etched parts, which I skipped. Here I used a brown paint I had in my stock. 

 

[aydingocer]

Photos 631-634: Rudder, anchors, oars and spears.

[aydingocer]

Photos 635-636: Here the 28 foot pinnace ready. Overall I am happy with the result. This is one down and I hope I can apply my learnings to building the remaining two boats. The boats will stay aside for a while in order not to obstruct rigging.

 

That's all for today. Thanks for watching!

[Gus M]

Fantástic build log  and work, on board

[aydingocer]

11 minutes ago, Gus M said:

Fantástic build log  and work, on board

Thanks Gus!

[aydingocer]

Build Days 76-81: 12,5 hours / Total 190,5 hours

 

24 Foot Launch construction, spread to six build days from March 23rd to April 10th, altogether 12,5 hours. Build sequence goes similar to the 28 foot pinnace hence not many details worth sharing here.

 

Photo 637: I use this plank bender throughout (bought from Mikromark), which leaves dents on the inner surface, which is partly visible. Using an electric heat bender would give a smoother result but it would take much longer time and anyway this looks acceptable to me. 

 

 

The number of seat benches in my boat is one less than in the plan. It was due to spacing them maybe 1-2 millimeters wider than normal. Fitting the last bench would look too tight so I just left one out. I also made four openings for oarlocks, one for each of the 4 pairs of oars.

Photos 638-642: Here is the progress.

 

 

That's all for today. Thanks for watching!

 

Edited April 17, 2023 by aydingocer

[aydingocer]

Build Days 82-85: 7 hours / Total 197,5 hours

Photos 643 - 646: 22-foot Yawl construction, spread to 4 build days from April 13th to April 16th, altogether 7 hours. Build sequence goes similar to former two boats hence not many details worth sharing here either.

Photo 647: All boats safely in a box, waiting to be mounted permanently, which will take place after some progress with rigging, as per the instructions.

That's all for today. Thanks for watching!

[aydingocer]

Build day 86: 1 hr / Total 198,5 hours

 

After the boats, the hull is back on the table for completing three details left before starting masts and yards: Boomkins, the figurehead and the lanterns.

 

Photo 648 : boomkins are made of 46mm long 3mm diameter walnut dowel, tapered to 1mm thickness at the other end, as per the plan.

Photo 649: I used my handheld Proxxon and a sheet of sand paper for tapering. 

Photo 650: Nails for fixing them to bow (nail tips clipped before doing so)

Photo 651: Boomkins in place taking care of the alignments from the plan.

[aydingocer]

Photo 652: Figurehead, nicely detailed. I inserted two nails at the back to help grab while painting.

Photo 653: Painted in gold (I used Vallejo Liquid Rich Gold available in my paint box) after priming with white primer.

Photo 654: Figurehead in place.

[aydingocer]

Build day 87: 2 hr / Total 198,5 hours

Photos 655-657: Lantern construction. Refer to plans for preparing the rods and final positioning of the lanterns on the stern.

Photo 658: Lanterns in place.

 

That's all for now. Thanks for watching!

[James H]

Loving this build. Nice work in that gold too. 

[aydingocer]

16 minutes ago, James H said:

Loving this build. Nice work in that gold too. 

Thanks James!