HMS Sphinx 1775 by brunnels - Vanguard Models - 1:64 scale

[Ronald-V]

That cap rail at the stern is definitely an improvement 👍

[cdrusn89]

Soon you too can join the rigging fun - assuming you are going to rig yours.

[brunnels]

57 minutes ago, cdrusn89 said:

Soon you too can join the rigging fun - assuming you are going to rig yours.

Yes I will be rigging, I actually really enjoyed the rigging section of my last model.  First I have to get through the 3 small boats and the masts/yards which will probably take me another month or more.

[brunnels]

Ships Wheel, and Binnacle:
 

Binnacle, Ivory white top, with WOP applied on the wood.  I plan to add the securing ropes to the outside as well.

 

Ships wheel.  I wasn't sure I would like the wheel being made out of PE, but once built up it looks really good and to scale and not nearly as flat as I was expecting it to look.  The hardest part was trying to figure out how to make the two ropes from below deck look like one rope wrapped around the drum.  My solution was to just cut them both as cleanly as I could and glue them end to end at the bottom of the drum, It ended up looking better than I expected, and the two ropes split can only really be seen if you look pretty closely under the drum.

 

[brunnels]

Bow/Head Main Rail:

Finished up the head railing with the large main rail patterns.  These are 3 pieces glued together, then painted blue infill and WOP as a finish. 

 

Next I added all the eyelets and deck cleats to the Quarter deck and forecastle.  I have also started on the Quarterdeck rail by gluing the bottom piece in place.

 

 

[brunnels]

FC/QD Rail Stanchions and Timberheads: 

 

Removed the char off of the timberheads and rail stanchions and glued them in place.  The slots in the gunwale cap pieces make this a very simple task.

 

 

Next came a few coats of black paint and then varnished.

 

QD Breast Rail:

Next up is the QD Breast rail, the hardest part about this process was rounding the stanchions.  I was also pleasantly surprised how little adjustment I needed to do to the stanchions to get all the horizontal railing pieces to line up and slide in their places.

 

Overview shot of how the ship sits.  Getting close to masts and rigging, just a few more tasks on the main ship, and then the three small boats.

[brunnels]

Apologies for my break from updating my build log.  October was a very long month for us, our 15 year old Australian Shepard has been slowly losing more and more mobility over the last year with the last couple months being near 100% immobile.  At the start of October she took a turn for the worse and we decided it was time.  She was my constant companion, nearly always at my side for the last 15 years when I got her straight out of College. Her loss has been a huge adjustment for me to get used to, so apologies for the lack of pictures of my progress for the past couple months. 

 

For October, I spent nearly the entire month working on the ships boats.  I really don't look forward to building these little boats, ships boats are always a fiddley task that always takes me way longer than I expect.  I was planning on buying the 3d printed Vanguard boats so I didn't have to build them, but I needed to take my mind off of some stuff and figured I would give them a try and at least practice some of my skills.  They aren't the best, but I am satisfied with the result.

 

Planking Pinnace

 

Completed Pinnace, work started on the other two boats

 

Finished boats.  I will complete the anchors and oars once they are permanently fixed in the ship after rigging. 

 

I also completed the rope railings and hammock cranes around the forcastle and gangways. After rigging I plan to add netting to the hammock cranes on the gangways.

 

Figurehead.  I painted with Vallejo Ochre brown, and then used a Vallejo brown wash on top.

 

Next is something I saw on @hollowneck buildlog.  He added a couple small doors to the Quarterdeck stairway which I thought looked really nice, so I decided to add something similar.

 

I made the door out of some spare 2mm pear planking that was intended for the ships boats. 3 pieces for each door ended up being the perfect width.

 

I then added some reinforcement on the back side

 

I then used some spare PE rail stanchions that I cut down and bent for the hinges, and a couple eyebolts for handles.

 

How the ship currently sits.  Ready to start on the masts and spars.

[Ronald-V]

Sorry for your loss! Must be very difficult to say goodbye after such a long time together. Wish you all the strength in this upcoming time.

 

The little ships look beautiful by the way...