HMS Sphinx 1775 by mugje - Vanguard Models - 1:64

[mugje]

46 minutes ago, Chuck said:

Nicely done.

Thanks Chuck! And everybody else for the likes!

 

First glue attempt of the main gun deck failed 😂. It's really a tight fit and with the diluted PVA....lot's of warping etcetera...I couldn't get it flat on the false deck. So took it quickly off. Tried to clean as much glue off the parts with some acetone. After that I made the lasered gun deck a bit moist with some water and put something heavy on it so I hope it's getting a bit flat again. Maybe need to do that several times before it's flat. We'll see...

Edited August 24, 2023 by mugje

[glbarlow]

Looking good. Your attention to detail at this stage is impressive and will pay off further down the line. 

[mugje]

17 minutes ago, glbarlow said:

Looking good. Your attention to detail at this stage is impressive and will pay off further down the line. 

Thanks Glenn, that's nice of you to say  ...your Winnie is a very good example for me regarding attention to detail 😮 

[rlwhitt]

Wow, that is some superb fitment right there.  Kudos.

 

[mugje]

I let the lasered gun deck drying for 2 days and it's flat again, so that's good. But what I noticed is that the diluted PVA fixated the wood in such a way that it is substantial larger than it was. It doesn't fit anymore. I need to sand it quite a bit more to get it right again. It's even bigger then the other gundeck that I replaced with this one and that one isn't even sanded haha.

 

So this morning the idea slipped in my head that maybe planking the deck myself would be a better option for me. It's a bit easier to handle, only more work...but that's not a problem. 

I'm first going to plank the outer hull so I can let this idea sink in a bit and decide later on. 

Edited August 26, 2023 by mugje

[Jack-in-the-Blue]

I like your work and your words and the kit looks pretty good too. This is one to watch’ 👀

[mugje]

18 minutes ago, Jack-in-the-Blue said:

I like your work and your words and the kit looks pretty good too. This is one to watch’ 👀

Thanks and welcome! I like this kit a lot and it's so well designed, I enjoy working on it  

Edited August 26, 2023 by mugje

[mugje]

Starting to make some sawdust again...fairing the hull.  

 

 

 

Edited August 26, 2023 by mugje

[Jack-in-the-Blue]

1 hour ago, mugje said:

maybe planking the deck myself would be a better option

 

I think it would be worth the extra work. 👍

[mugje]

I think I reached the point that the hull has her final shape after fairing. It's for me a bit of a uncertain point...because you always think...is this enough, is this her shape?

Did I sanded too much or too little...and reading through other build logs, I'm not the only one experiencing these thought in his building process. But there comes a point

in which you say....I think this is it   I found it a enjoyable process to see her lines slowly emerge out of the rough shape.

 

So after a lot of sanding, producing a big heap of sanding paper this is the result, and i'm looking forward to the next stage  

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jack-in-the-Blue]

Judging from the tell-tale remnants of charting, she looks spot on to me. 

[mugje]

1 hour ago, Jack-in-the-Blue said:

Judging from the tell-tale remnants of charting, she looks spot on to me. 

 

Thanks! That's encouraging  

Edited September 4, 2023 by mugje

[Landlubber Mike]

Nice to see you back Mugje.  I hear you on losing interest in models and wanting to jump to something else.  I've got a lot of models on the shelf.  To keep myself building, I'll pick up a new one or go back to one I had started earlier when the mood and motivation hit me.  For me, it's always been about the building, not finishing a model.  

 

By the way, that kit looks fantastic!  The way the framing locks in like that is amazing.  A lot different from older kits for sure.  Looks like the fit of the parts is very precise. 

[Theodosius]

Good progress! Fairing looks fine to me, but I have it only done once till now, and messed it up, so this is not from a pro 🙂

 

[mugje]

14 hours ago, Landlubber Mike said:

Nice to see you back Mugje.  I hear you on losing interest in models and wanting to jump to something else.  I've got a lot of models on the shelf.  To keep myself building, I'll pick up a new one or go back to one I had started earlier when the mood and motivation hit me.  For me, it's always been about the building, not finishing a model.  

 

By the way, that kit looks fantastic!  The way the framing locks in like that is amazing.  A lot different from older kits for sure.  Looks like the fit of the parts is very precise. 

 

Thanks Mike! Yeah I stored the Pegasus in the attick, so I can always return to that. But this kit is indeed so different then everything else. It just feels like play, how everything connects and clicks. Don't get me wrong, you still need skill to get a neat and tidy result, but it's a lot of fun working on it. 

[mugje]

14 hours ago, Theodosius said:

Good progress! Fairing looks fine to me, but I have it only done once till now, and messed it up, so this is not from a pro 🙂

 

 

Haha but you have experience with it! That's all that matters  

 

Thanks everyone for all the likes!

[mugje]

Very little update...30 degrees here in the Netherlands and melting away in my hobby room.

 

I made the inner gunports square. These where left a little bit smaller then the MDF frame so you have a bit of wiggle room. I removed

the bulk of the material with a knife and sanded it flush to the frame with a sanding stick. Not difficult, but pretty time consuming, I really took my

time with this...because nothing more annoying then gunports that don't look square  

 

And today dryfitted the outer gunport patterns, soaked them first for 45 min and then a lot of clamping. Will see tomorrow if all the curves are there (including the slight vertical curve). Otherwise will just another soak fix that. The outer gunport patterns really give the ship some "body", nice to see.  

 

 

 

[mugje]

Yay! First plank of the first planking layer glued on the ship. After glueing the outer gunport patterns it's time for some planking. Looking forward to sharpen my skills regarding planking, because it's not there yet where I want it to be  

Plan is to approach the first layer as if it was the final pear layer (with some liberties, because I have just one size of planks) to practice and refine my skills. Especially lining of the hull etc. The ultimate goal is to leave the pear planking natural (really liked the look of Blue Ensign his Sphinx), but that all depends if i'm happy enough with the final layer. But there is ofcourse always the possibility to paint the hull white, which I also like...but a natural hull has my preference now.

 

First three strakes will be just straight without tapering, measurement, whatever...this is somewhat the position of the wale so from there I will line of the hull and measuring etc.

 

 

[Blue Ensign]

Nice work Mugje, your bow fairing looks very good. 👍

 

B.E.

[mugje]

13 hours ago, Blue Ensign said:

Nice work Mugje, your bow fairing looks very good. 👍

 

B.E.

 Thanks B.E.! Yeah the fillers helped me a lot with determine the final shape.

Edited September 22, 2023 by mugje

[Theodosius]

Yeah, I will save this filler-thing for potential future works :-). Your planking-start looks very promising!

[mugje]

First three untapered strakes...gave them a light sand afterwards. When I was working on the bottom one, I noticed that the fairing of the stern was insufficient. It's one of the more difficult corners in my experience and was a bit conservative there with the previous fairing proces. So I spended quite some time yesterday afternoon to really get an idea how the stern needed to be shaped to have a nice flow in planking. Studying Chuck's build log of the Winchelsea and some contemporary models gave me a good impression how the end result should look like. So I spended quite some time sanding the stern piece...to I believe it's final shape. We shall see when planking proceeds...

 

Now it's time for lining off the hull  

 

Edited September 29, 2023 by mugje

[James H]

That's a beautiful transition at the stern planking. 

[mugje]

Just now, James H said:

That's a beautiful transition at the stern planking. 

Thanks James! It took some time to figure that out, and i'm happy how it turned out

[Kevin]

that looks a brilliant base for ist planking

[Glenn-UK]

Nicely done, looks great.

[Theodosius]

How do you did that? I meant that bending just on top of the corner?

[mugje]

2 hours ago, Theodosius said:

How do you did that? I meant that bending just on top of the corner?

 

Combination of heat and a plank bender from Amati. You can use ofcourse also water and soak the plank first. 

Most important is that you use a plank that is longer then the finisht one. So overextending with a few centimeters/inch will make the bending process

much easier. (same as for edge bending)

And patience....so take your time to get the curve you need....it doesn't have to be in one bend, but a bit further everytime. Otherwise it will just split.

And a bit of CA glue at the tip will hold the plank down. Rest of the plank just PVA.

 

Thanks everyone for the likes! Much appreciated  

[mugje]

Finisht with lining off the hull...I actually wanted to take a little longer for this process, but the tape didn't stick that great on the MDF bulkheads, so I rushed a bit through it because it was quite annoying when the tape constantly fell off. I do think it will stick way better on the first layer of wood when that is ready, due to the larger sticking surface and less porous wood. And that being said...lining of the hull for the first layer is just practice, it doesn't have to be perfect and it's more the experience I gain with just doing it. Lining off the hull doesn't look like a exact science and looks more something that you are getting better at through just doing it, and learn from it.

 

So now I began filling up the first band  

 

 

 

 

Edited September 29, 2023 by mugje

[Theodosius]

Very good craft!