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.

 

 

[brunnels]

Been working on the rigging whenever I have the time, but haven't been able to get any good modelling marathons in lately.  I never know how to take pictures of rigging, so apologies if items aren't in focus.

I finished up the lower shrouds with the mizzen shrouds.  I will complete the ratlines at a later point.

 

 

Once the lower shrouds were done, the lower fore stays were added.  

 

Next up I needed to complete the futtocks shrouds and catharpins before I could continue up the mast with rigging.  My Occre beagle kit basically just handled the futtock shrouds by trying one end around the deadeye and the other around the mast, so I was a little intimidated by how much more complex these were.  Once I started the task was more straight forward than I was expecting and went together pretty smoothly. 

 

 

The upper shrouds were my next task.  I forgot to take pics during this process, but these are all very straight forward.

 

Next I started the crowsfeet.  I was going to do the upper fore stays first, but realized it would probably be easier to do the crows feet before I had the upper stays hanging over them.  Crows feet are another task I have never done, so it took quite a bit of time studying up how to do them, once you get the hang of the order the crows feet are very easy to string up, the hardest task is figuring out where to start and end.

 

 

Now that the crowsfeet are completed, I was able to start on the upper fore stays for the foremast, there is always something enjoyable about tightening down a series of blocks and tackle.  The spare rope is temporarily hitched around the timberhead on the bow at the moment until I lookup how to secure ropes properly to the timberheads.

 

Lastly I started on the upper fore stays for the main mast.  Here is the block and tackle for the stay. 

 

Next up is completing the fore stays, ratlines, backstays, and then I need to start on the yards before the running rigging. 

 

 

[Blue Ensign]

You're doing a fine job on her, looking very good.

Great to see that you have a new dockyard companion, having a  new pup does help ease the loss of a  much missed friend.

 

B.E.

[Surgeonstone]

I am simply in awe at the beauty of this build, especially it being your second build. Hope to see the finished model soon. 

[Surgeonstone]

6 hours ago, Surgeonstone said:

I am simply in awe at the beauty of this build, especially it being your second build. Hope to see the finished model soon. 

Btw, what is the "WOP" that you covered paint with. 

[brunnels]

10 hours ago, Surgeonstone said:

Btw, what is the "WOP" that you covered paint with. 

It's Minwax Wipe on Poly, you will see it frequently used on this forum.  If your in North America it's fairly easy to find, but I hear it's harder to find in Europe. Wipe on Poly - Amazon

Edited January 12 by brunnels

[Surgeonstone]

Thanks. Love the color blue you chose for the outer hull. Seems more understated and lovely than the more commonly seen darker blue. I’m about to start my sphinx soon. Your log will be invaluable. One thing I was thinking. You have such an outstanding amount of detail in the gun deck nand captains quarters. Did you ever think of enlarging the for and aft cutouts to increase visibility. Also, are there. Other logs on the sphinx that you consider a real aid in your work. 

[brunnels]

On 1/12/2025 at 11:55 AM, Surgeonstone said:

Thanks. Love the color blue you chose for the outer hull. Seems more understated and lovely than the more commonly seen darker blue. I’m about to start my sphinx soon. Your log will be invaluable. One thing I was thinking. You have such an outstanding amount of detail in the gun deck nand captains quarters. Did you ever think of enlarging the for and aft cutouts to increase visibility. Also, are there. Other logs on the sphinx that you consider a real aid in your work. 

I have taken Ideas from more logs than I can remember, but for the Sphinx @Blue Ensign's log is an obvious inspiration for my model you will see many ideas of his on my model, @hollowneck@Knocklouder's is another log I frequent especially when I am a little lost in the rigging, he has nice pictures of his rigging process.  I also look at a lot of contemporary models of the period as an aid for how ships might have looked. 

 

Edited January 13 by brunnels

[brunnels]

I normally love watching the squirrels in our yard, but they got a little too relaxed in my yard with no dog around, and one chewed straight through the power cord for my Traeger Grill.  

 

So now the pup is on duty keeping the Squirrels in the trees and giving them a good old fashioned stare down when they look like they are about to start any nefarious Squirrel business. 

 

Mizzen Top Stay:

 

T'gallant shrouds and fore stays:

 

 

 

Mizzen t'gallant stay connected to main mast top. 

 

Main T'gallant stay connected to foremast top. 

 

Foremast T'gallant stay connected to bowsprit.

 

Next up is the ratlines.

 

 

 

[Knocklouder]

Very nice job on the rigging, the seizeing looks so good. I am kicking myself for letting what I did be my final decision  but I will live with it. Lol . Glad my pictures were of help. But I won't  look to close if I were you lol.  Nice work.   

Bob  M.

Edited January 13 by Knocklouder
Guessing typos lol

[brunnels]

Ratlines:

For the past week I have been at work on the ratlines.  The ratlines on my previous model (Occre Beagle) turned out not so great, so I tried a different method this go around.  My method this go around has been 1) Tie all lines with clove hitches.  2) Go back over all lines to ensure knots are tight and lines are where they need to be 3) Secure all knots with diluted PVA glue.   4) Snip excess rope.

This process seems to have worked so far, none of my knots have loosened up on me like my last model.

 

Template I am using, lines spaced 6mm apart.

 

 

 

 

I still have to complete the Port shrouds on the main mast, and finish the port upper shrouds on the fore-mast, and then I will be finished with the ratlines.

[brunnels]

Was able to finish up the ratlines over the weekend.  Then spent the last few days removing char and installing the shroud cleats.  Next up will be the backstays.

 

[chris watton]

That looks fantastic, I love the colours, especially the frieze background and figurehead.

 

I cheat when it comes to shroud cleats. Instead of cleaning off the char, I paint them black...

 

Never fail to be gobsmacked at the quality of people's work on these forums..

[AlanDavison]

I agree, a wonderful crafted model

[eatcrow2]

On 9/20/2024 at 7:30 AM, brunnels said:

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.

 

Really like the idea of the work base out of foam!  Will make use of that..

[brunnels]

25 minutes ago, eatcrow2 said:

Really like the idea of the work base out of foam!  Will make use of that..

It's pretty versatile and super stable as well, this is the second model I have used this piece of foam on and I'll probably use it for my next one as well lol.  I've tried to switch to a couple other bases to work from and I always end up switching back to the foam.

[alde]

Wow, she looks absolutely beautiful. I can't imagine this as a second build.

[brunnels]

I appreciate all the likes and comments from everyone.  

Question on the backstays.  Is there an order that the stays go on? I started on the foremast with the furthest forward backstay and working my way rearward while alternating between port and starboard pretty much in the same order the shrouds went on.  But as some of the stays have deadeyes, while others have block and tackle setups, I wasn't sure if there was a distinct order they went on.

 

Here is what I have done for each side of the ship on the foremast. 

 

[brunnels]

Main Mast Back Stays: Still working my way aft on the back stays.

 

-I decided to stop at the main t'gallant stays to give me better access for the hammocks on the quarter deck netting.

Quarter Deck Hammocks 
My plan on this model is to fill the QD and waist hammocks with netting and add hammocks. When I built my first ship the Beagle from Occre, I wanted to try my hand at making some hammocks.  I used sail cloth to make the hammocks and I wasn't happy with how they turned out, the sail cloth was hard to work with and roll/fold into something that looked to scale, the finished result was super large hammocks that I wasn't happy with but I had sunk so much time into them I felt I had to use them, a sunk cost mistake many of us have probably made.  When @Techtonic posted his Album of his Bellerophon model in the gallery section I was extremely impressed with his model and his hammocks really caught my eye.  He pointed me in the direction of @tedrobinson2000 build log where he made a nice guide on making the hammocks in that style using FIMO Modelling clay.  

I won't go too much into the process as I pretty much followed tedrobinson2000's guide almost exactly.

I was able to make up the hammocks pretty quickly, I made probably 50 in less than an hour.  I used a Light Gray wash to try and tone down the white.  These are still a work in progress some are blotchy in spots from me handling them, so I will go over the hammocks once more before I glue them in.  I also wanted to make sure the scale looked correct, I like to use one of Vanguards figures to help me visualize the scale, sometimes thinks measure out one way and then look completely wrong at scale.  

 

Next came the test fit

 

Here is my first test fit, nothing is glued down.  After I had filled up half of the QD netting I quickly remembered that I had forgot to sand the sides of the hammocks flat.

Here is how the hammocks look when the sides are flattened a bit with some sand paper. They fit much better, I was much happier with how they looked after sanded. 

 

With a figure to show the scale, I think as far as size they look alright, but please let me know if they look too large or small.

 

 

I will probably have a few more tweaks before I glue them in, but I think i'm pretty happy with the result so far.  Just need to tweak the wash a bit, and debate if adding any rope around the hammocks will be too large and out of scale.

Jibboom Horses (Footropes)
Deviating from the stays a little more, I decided to add on the Horses for the Jibboom.  Between Lee's and David Antsherls Swan Class Rigging book I was able to come up with the dimensions of the rope, and how it might have been attached.  I used an eye loop on one end to secure at the end of the Jibboom and the other end was wrapped and tied around the aft end of the Jibboom behind the Bowsprit Cap.  

[brunnels]

QD Hammocks:

I finished sanding the sides of all the hammocks, after I removed a good majority of the gray wash that was blotchy.  I think I am happy with the result and will probably move on.  In the pictures they look much more grime ridden than they do in person, I think its the shadows from the masts and ropes making  them look like that in the pics. 

 

As she now stands.