HMS Sphinx 1775 by Ronald-V - Vanguard Models - 1:64

[SaltyScot]

I too like that muted blue color, Ronald. Despite your hiccups (we all have them!), she is coming along so very well.

[Frecap]

18 hours ago, Ronald-V said:

Update:

 

I actually wanted to post an update only after I finished the entire bow...but I had so little time to actually work on the ship, so I thought...might as well post a small interim update. Otherwise, it'll be a very long update.

 

First, I had to fit the gammoning knee. I noticed it didn't quite fit the curve of the prow. I probably sanded away the char a bit too enthusiastically. So I glued some scrap wood to the knee and then sanded it into shape.

 

 

Supervisor 🥸

 

 

Next, I glued the V-brackets to the gammoning knee, but discovered that the middle one wasn't completely straight/level, which would cause problems. So, I loosened it with some alcohol and re-glued it.

 

 

Dryfitting as much as possible, nothing glued here

 

 

Okay...this part wasn't so good, haha. I was too hasty here. I had everything nicely taped off before painting, but I didn't do a good prep (sanding), and with the WOP already in the wood, removing the tape didn't go well. That was just stupid of me and way too hasty. Prepping is very important, especially if the wood has already been treated.

I pulled off a nice chunk of paint while removing the tape  

 

 

But with a sharpened screwdriver I was able to remove the paint again and this time I did it properly with the right pre-treatment

 

 

The bow hair brackets were relatively easy to paint because I could scrape off the excess blue paint with a knife. This gave me a nice, clean decorative line in the center, as the laser-etched decorative lines are slightly deeper than the rest. I did, however, paint the "raised areas" that weren't going to be blue with WOP first. This made the blue paint adhere even less, which was an advantage.

 

 

Glued the bow hair brackets onto the now painted prow.

 

 

It looks like this now  

 

I painted the black line at an angle, this seemed to be the case with almost all the contemporary models I've seen. 

From the side it then appears that the wales continues at the same angle towards the prow.

 

 

I've already finished the bow grating, etc., but I'm still unsure whether I should do anything about the bow lower rails that will be attached to the sides.
Blue Ensign indicated in his log that the slots in the V-brackets could be smaller. But perhaps I'm too far along in the build to do anything with this. It doesn't seem very visible in other build logs, so I might leave it as is.

 

 

Later I will continue with sanding and attaching the bow cheeks

 

 

That's it for now...I hope I can make some more progress in the near future  

Hi Ronald! Your work is an example of how to do things neatly and beautifully! What kind of paint did you use? Was it ready-made, or did you choose the color?

[Ronald-V]

6 hours ago, SaltyScot said:

I too like that muted blue color, Ronald. Despite your hiccups (we all have them!), she is coming along so very well.

Thanks Mark! 🙏

 

2 hours ago, Frecap said:

Hi Ronald! Your work is an example of how to do things neatly and beautifully! What kind of paint did you use? Was it ready-made, or did you choose the color?

Thank you! They're pre-mixed colors (thankfully), so it's just much more convenient to have a large quantity on hand. I'm very happy I found these colors. Incidentally, I don't mind mixing them myself, but for these larger projects, it's more convenient to have some pre-mixed colors.  

 

Colors I use for the black are "matt metal black" or "Ironwork black" is it called now from Jotika/Admiralty colors.

And the blue is "Tamiya Medium blue XF-18". I had seen them on the HMS Diana built by Beef Wellington here on the forum (worth a look)

[FrankWouts]

Beautiful work Ronald! Your pear planking is not only near perfect, but also very warm and beautiful to the eye!
I'm curious if you're going to paint the freezes or use the etched metal?
I'm thinking of painting my freezes on Winchelsea too, but haven't got the nerves to do so till now...
Ofcourse I could use the printed papers as a template and glue them on later when they're allright, but then I'll have two layers of paper, or I will have to remove the existing freezes.

You could paint the freeze white over blue, spray or paint the bleu again using the etched metal as a template and then fill in the left behind white 'negative' forms with darkened (with brown?) yellow ochre, yellow ochre and lightened yellow ochre (with white?)?
Frank.

Edited October 6 by FrankWouts

[Ronald-V]

8 minutes ago, FrankWouts said:

Beautiful work Ronald!
I'm curious if you're going to paint the freezes or use the etched metal?
I'm thinking of painting my freezes on Winchelsea too, but haven't got the nerves to do so till now...
Ofcourse I could use the printed papers as a template and glue them on later when they're allright, but then I'll have two layers of paper, or I will have to remove theexisting freezes.

You could paint the freeze white over blue, spray or paint the bleu again using the etched metal as a template and then fill in the left behind white 'negative' forms with darkened (with brown?) yellow ochre, yellow ochre and lightened yellow ochre (with white?)?
Frank.

Thanks for the compliment Frank! 

 

My intention was to just use etched decoration because I didn't quite trust myself to paint it freehand (plus the enormous amount of time that would take). But I never came up with it the way you suggest. I have to say, that sounds more plausible to try it that way than freehand. Besides, it would still be incredibly time-consuming, haha. I've also already installed the channels, which would be a huge obstacle to laying the ship on its side for comfortable painting... I don't know, but it's definitely something to consider! Thanks.  

[Ronald-V]

Update:

 

I've been quite ill for the past two weeks, flu, fever, etc., but I'm feeling a bit better now. I haven't had much motivation to work on the Sphinx, but I've already done some small things. So, just a quick update. I actually wanted to update when the whole bow thing was finished, but that's taking too long.  

So I just do small pieces and update them.

 

First, let's move on to the "bow cheeks." After I had cleared them of char, I wanted to paint a nice blue stripe on them, like those seen in other build logs from members like Blue Ensign and Brunnels.
Just painting a straight line wasn't going to work for me; I can't paint that neatly, so I wanted to create a groove in them, just like the laser-etched "bow hair brackets." This would ensure a reasonably clean line.

Now, I do have some nice "scribe plates" from Artesania Latina. I'm not sure if that's the correct name, but I had to make some adjustments. The cheeks are made of 2mm thick material, and when I look at the pattern for the 2mm thick scribing plate, I found the groove in the center looked too narrow (compared to the line in the hair brackets).

 

 

But the 3mm pattern one seemed to have the perfect width. But that one is obviously too wide.

 

 

So I made a very basic jig to put the cheeks in (this one only lasted 2 tries and then I had to replace the wood because I didn't have any good quality wood available)

 

 

But otherwise, it worked fine, and I was happy with the final result. The grooves weren't as clean as the laser-etched ones from the kit, of course, but they were much better than I could paint. I approached the painting the same way as the bow hair brackets, which I showed in the previous update.

 

 

Before gluing the cheeks, I first glued a test piece of wood to a thick piece of painted wood. This was to test whether I could glue PVA to painted wood without sanding the paint away for adhesion. I was very satisfied with the adhesive strength, so I glued the cheeks without sanding.

 

 

After they were glued, the blue line didn't quite match up with the "bow hair brackets" so they still had to be connected

 

 

I still had to drill the "hawse holes" from 2mm to 4mm. I did this by first drilling 2.5mm, then 3mm, then 3.5mm, etc.

 

 

Next up were the "hawse bolsters." The order of work was... first, adjust the height to the hawse holes, then glue them to two pieces of scrap wood for a better grip, then file the rough shape with a file, and finally, smooth it out with sandpaper. Finally, sand in the curve at the rear to make it flat against the hull.
The photos below show this order.

 

 

 

The last thing I worked on were the two wash cants. I saw in some build logs that other forum members had omitted them. Perhaps for aesthetic reasons? I thought it would be a shame not to use them, so I started working on them. Initially, I thought they had to be black so they wouldn't distract too much from the lines of the bow cheeks. But once I had sanded them into shape, I was quite impressed with their beautiful rounded shape and thought it would be a shame to hide them in black. So I decided to leave them natural, and I think they really add something to the bow. Their rounded shape and color make them work well with the hawse bolsters.

 

First, I filed/sanded the correct curves in them to make them sit flat against the wales

 

 

Then I sanded in the nice round shape and finished it with 2 layers of WOP (also covered the hawse bolsters and holes at the same time)

I removed the hair  

 

This is what everything looks like now:

 

 

 

 

The next and final step is the "lower bow rails" that will go between the hawse holes and the gammoning knee...that seems like a really fiddly job and I'll have to see how I can manage that...to get it looking a bit nice.

 

 

 

Edited Thursday at 02:12 PM by Ronald-V

[Javelin]

That planking job really is amazkng. Each time I see it, I'm mezmerized by its perfection. 

It would fit right in a manual or even a book from a museum. 

It's good to see you keep that same level of perfection in the bow details. 

[Russ2025]

I completely agree! It’s mesmerizing! I am currently on my first build so seeing this level of skill is intimidating and inspirational at the same time. I will continue to follow and use as a benchmark for my progress. 
 

Russ

[hamilton]

Have to agree with Russ and Javelin - the planking is very impressive - after 15 models I still cannot achieve these results....clearly something is eluding me that is more intuitive for you Ronald - patience, perhaps! In any event, this build is a real treat to follow

hamilton

[Der Alte Rentner]

I love a perfectionist.  Simply magnificent.  

[Beef Wellington]

Beautiful work there Ronald on the head 'foundations', also really highlight your fantastic clean planking.  Great stuff.

[Ronald-V]

3 hours ago, Javelin said:

That planking job really is amazkng. Each time I see it, I'm mezmerized by its perfection. 

It would fit right in a manual or even a book from a museum. 

It's good to see you keep that same level of perfection in the bow details. 

Thank you so much Roel!

 

1 hour ago, Russ2025 said:

I completely agree! It’s mesmerizing! I am currently on my first build so seeing this level of skill is intimidating and inspirational at the same time. I will continue to follow and use as a benchmark for my progress. 
 

Russ

Thank you for your kind words Russ! You will learn so much from your first build, that will be a great springboard to new skills  

 

41 minutes ago, hamilton said:

Have to agree with Russ and Javelin - the planking is very impressive - after 15 models I still cannot achieve these results....clearly something is eluding me that is more intuitive for you Ronald - patience, perhaps! In any event, this build is a real treat to follow

hamilton

Thank you so much Hamilton! 🙏 I must really give Chuck Passaro credits for his planking video's...that made good planking a lot more accessible....at least for me  

Otherwise I think I would still be in the dark about how and what.

 

34 minutes ago, Der Alte Rentner said:

I love a perfectionist.  Simply magnificent.  

Thank you! Luckily these days I can also be happy with something less perfect sometimes  

 

17 minutes ago, Beef Wellington said:

Beautiful work there Ronald on the head 'foundations', also really highlight your fantastic clean planking.  Great stuff.

Thanks Jason! 👏

 

And thanks everyone else for the likes! Really appreciate it!  

Edited Thursday at 05:42 PM by Ronald-V

[Nearshore]

Hi Ronald,

 

You are truely a master!!! You are doing an amazing job. I quite enjoy watching your progress and your explanations on your techniques are second to none. 

 

Cheers

Nearshore

[KurtH]

Immaculate work as always!!

[Ronald-V]

12 hours ago, Nearshore said:

Hi Ronald,

 

You are truely a master!!! You are doing an amazing job. I quite enjoy watching your progress and your explanations on your techniques are second to none. 

 

Cheers

Nearshore

Thanks Nearshore! 🙏

 

2 hours ago, KurtH said:

Immaculate work as always!!

Thank you Kurt!👏

[Frecap]

Hello, Ronald!

I join in all the enthusiastic compliments!This level of skill is something worth striving for!) You write that you glue the PVA directly onto the painted surface. I tried it too, but I couldn't get a solid connection (Maybe it's the paint... Now I leave unpainted the part of the surface on which I'm going to glue something.

Yours sincerely, Frecap

[Ronald-V]

28 minutes ago, Frecap said:

Hello, Ronald!

I join in all the enthusiastic compliments!This level of skill is something worth striving for!) You write that you glue the PVA directly onto the painted surface. I tried it too, but I couldn't get a solid connection (Maybe it's the paint... Now I leave unpainted the part of the surface on which I'm going to glue something.

Yours sincerely, Frecap

Thank you Frecap! Yes, I also had my reservations about gluing PVA to a painted surface. Perhaps it's also because of this specific glue that it grips well. I do try to avoid gluing to a painted part, but in some cases, it would save a lot of prep work if it were possible.

[Frecap]

I use a transparent glue, Titebond. In some cases, when the surfaces are already painted, I clean off some of the paint with a sharp knife

[glbarlow]

Very clever approach to using the scrappers. 
 

The fit and finish on the bow, including the planking is exceptional work.  Well done. 

[Ronald-V]

23 minutes ago, glbarlow said:

Very clever approach to using the scrappers. 
 

The fit and finish on the bow, including the planking is exceptional work.  Well done. 

Thank you Glenn!