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...

[brunnels]

Howdy all, over the last week I have started on the masts.  I recently purchased a Proxxon DB250 to turn the masts, on my last model ship I used the battery operated drill method to turn the spars down and I wasn't a fan.   The last time I used a lathe was nearly 20 years ago in high school wood shop class, so it took a little bit of time to get acclimated with it again.  I still have some learning to do, I have forgotten the purpose of each specific lathe tool, and need to learn what turn settings to use for each type of timber, but so far I have had success and really enjoy using the machine. 

 

I started on the bowsprit and mizzen mast assembly, I figured those would be the easiest pieces to get my bearings with.

 

[brunnels]

Howdy all.  I have just about all the masts turned down on my proxxon lathe.  My next step was building them up, I decided to start on the lower masts to first.

 

The main masts need to be flattened out on 3 of the sides, and then the top portion above the tops are square shaped.  To do this I created a very simple jig out of some spare square dowel I had. I can adjust the height of the dowel needing to be cut by inserting different thickness timbers below the dowel.

 

This quick jig worked better than I was expecting, and I was happy with how the lower masts were able to be flattened with a simple file.

 

Next was building up the masts with all the reinforcements, installing the tops, iron bands, and wooldings. 

 

I have never worked with card before on a model, but it was simple to work with and looked much better than I was expecting.  I will probably add some assortment of card in my toolbox, I can see it being a useful material to use in the future.  

 

 

 

 

[brunnels]

It's been slow going on the ship lately.  It's always a busy time of the year with the holidays, but we recently introduced a 9 week old female Australian Shepard into our home as our new dock yard dog.  The majority of my time has been spent with the pup with getting a small piece of rigging completed here and there while she naps, if I have the energy for it. 

 

Since I last left off I have completed the masts and started the standing rigging.  I needed a break from the lathe, so I will probably turn the other spars after the shrouds and stays are done.

 

I made the mistake of gluing the topmasts in place, I then realized when I started on the shrouds, that made it difficult to loop the shrouds over the masts.  Oh well you live, learn and improve your mistakes on the next model, It hasn't been too difficult to put a seizing around the shrouds to make a loop once they were threaded between the lower and top masts.

 

Foremast shrouds and deadeyes rigged.  I also rigged the bowsprit shrouds, I need to take some pictures of those.

 

Mainmast shrouds in place.