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

[Ronald-V]

1 hour ago, Frecap said:

I looked at the photos on the Vanguard Models website, and the trims are not painted. It looks good overall. But you have a very beautiful color for the columns, and I think that with careful painting to avoid damaging the relief, the overall look will be stunning! It's worth trying)

Yours sincerely, FriCap

I completely agree with you. The only thing I'm a little hesitant about is that the rest of the rails on the side of the ship is only varnished (and i'm not going to paint these). And how the richly decorated painted side gallery won't look too mismatched with those rails...but I'll only find out by trying.  

Edited Tuesday at 01:37 PM by Ronald-V

[Der Alte Rentner]

I think you're going to have to take a much closer photograph of the problem area for me to be able to see what it is that bothers you so.

 

In the photo above, even zoomed in as far as I can, I don't see the end grain issue you're concerned about.

 

But guessing that you don't have a miter joint there, I'm going to assume the kit didn't give you enough extra laser-cut trim to be able make a corner wedge to hide the end grain. As a bit of a perfectionist struggling with natural finish issues myself - as opposed to painting over flaws, I completely understand your desire to achieve the look you want.

 

I guess you'll be making new trim strips from scratch. Looking forward to seeing the results. Best of luck in that endeavor.

Edited Tuesday at 04:25 PM by Der Alte Rentner

[Ronald-V]

2 hours ago, Der Alte Rentner said:

I think you're going to have to take a much closer photograph of the problem area for me to be able to see what it is that bothers you so.

 

In the photo above, even zoomed in as far as I can, I don't see the end grain issue you're concerned about.

 

But guessing that you don't have a miter joint there, I'm going to assume the kit didn't give you enough extra laser-cut trim to be able make a corner wedge to hide the end grain. As a bit of a perfectionist struggling with natural finish issues myself - as opposed to painting over flaws, I completely understand your desire to achieve the look you want.

 

I guess you'll be making new trim strips from scratch. Looking forward to seeing the results. Best of luck in that endeavor.

That first photo was more to show that the wooden trim wasn't perfectly parallel to the windows. This wasn't the fault of the laser-cut trim, haha, but my incorrect placement

 

In the photo below (ignore the hand), you can see the corners better, which I don't particularly like. The bright light makes the end grain hard to see, but I don't think the corners are very well executed anyway. 😜

 

 

Edited Tuesday at 06:53 PM by Ronald-V

[brunnels]

I really like the unpainted look, had mine looked as good as yours do I probably would have left them with only varnish.  

[Ronald-V]

5 hours ago, brunnels said:

I really like the unpainted look, had mine looked as good as yours do I probably would have left them with only varnish.  

Thanks for your input Brunnels! 👍

[TJM]

I also think what you have looks very good. I see the point of the end grain - a miter connection would have been ideal I guess, but personally, I would be happy with the joint you have. I like the wood look, as long as it does not have obvious laser char, but you always take care to remove this so all good!

 

Whatever you go for, it will look great 😄

[Ronald-V]

1 hour ago, TJM said:

I also think what you have looks very good. I see the point of the end grain - a miter connection would have been ideal I guess, but personally, I would be happy with the joint you have. I like the wood look, as long as it does not have obvious laser char, but you always take care to remove this so all good!

 

Whatever you go for, it will look great 😄

Thanks for your thoughts! I'm experimenting at the moment with making the rails myself to get a nice joint on the corner. If I can pull that off...then I will decide further on color.

 

[Der Alte Rentner]

I would be curious to know if the original Sphinx had mitered corners. I suspect they would have been problematic. Does anyone have photos of the original anywhere?

 

As far as the model is concerned, I think a mitered corner would be absolute perfection.

 

However, as I am constantly being reminded by others, no one is going to look that closely. And judging from what I've seen on other models at model ship world, the butt joint seems to be in the majority.

 

Done well, both work. Done poorly, reach for the paint can?   😆

[Ronald-V]

11 hours ago, Der Alte Rentner said:

I would be curious to know if the original Sphinx had mitered corners. I suspect they would have been problematic. Does anyone have photos of the original anywhere?

 

As far as the model is concerned, I think a mitered corner would be absolute perfection.

 

However, as I am constantly being reminded by others, no one is going to look that closely. And judging from what I've seen on other models at model ship world, the butt joint seems to be in the majority.

 

Done well, both work. Done poorly, reach for the paint can?   😆

 

I don't think you will be able to verify such small details...and it comes down to what you like/find beautiful. Maybe there was a general practice with shipbuilding and trim edges, who knows.  

 

Coincidentally, I was discussing this with someone yesterday...that it won't even really be visible in the final result unless you really pay attention. But even then, it probably won't be...damn, look at that stupid butt joint over there😆.

No, I see it more as an interesting challenge to make a small part of the ship beautiful, or as best as I can within my capabilities. If you do that as often as possible (and as long as it's still fun), I think you'll end up with a very nice overall result. And whether that little thing stands out or not in the final result...it doesn't really matter. If you can enjoy making something in the moment, then I think it's already achieved its purpose.

 

When I bought this ship, I thought...if this is going to be the only show-stopper I make...to the best of my ability, and work on it like I have endless time...let's see how far we get. So that's kind of my approach (also to justify the high cost of the kit to myself, because they are not cheap for me  ).

By the way...now that I've made considerable progress with the build, my thoughts are starting to wander to what I'd like to build next, but that will happen naturally. I'm still a long way from that! 

 

And again...thanks everyone for taking a look and liking...I really appreciate it!

Edited yesterday at 08:14 AM by Ronald-V

[Frecap]

Ronald, it's great that you're so meticulous about the little things! Even if it doesn't seem like it, we're doing it for ourselves! 

[Blue Ensign]

You’re making wonderful progress Ronald, and I fully concur with your sentiments about the small touches on your model.

The thing is whatever others may or may not notice, your eye will constantly be drawn to it.

From a carpentry aspect that sort of butt joint on the rails looks amateurish, and the end grain looked ugly which is why I changed it.

 

From a purely historical view point the real Sphinx would have been much plainer in appearance, without all the Topside decoration.

For my build I wanted to reflect the image as shown on the Joseph Marshall painting, which pleases my eye and provided an additional challenge in replicating the counter decoration.

 

You are going to produce a very fine model.

 

Regards,

 

B.E.