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

[schooner]

I’m a little late with this comment but your ship’s boats look great! 
Did you put anything on the interior wood or did you just leave the pear wood as it came?

[brunnels]

47 minutes ago, schooner said:

Did you put anything on the interior wood or did you just leave the pear wood as it came?

I just left the pear as it came with some Wipe on Poly as a varnish. 

[brunnels]

Yards

I've been working on the yards for the last several weeks.  Yards definitely took longer than I was expecting and my kit was short on a couple sizes of the dowel rods so my progress kept being halted. My local hardware store didn't carry walnut dowel, so I had to go with the basswood for a few which isn't a big deal as the yards were painted. 

 

Completed yards

 

Yards are hung up, it took me the better part of the weekend to make the harnesses and get the yards on the ship.  

 

 

I started on rigging the lifts but my progress was halted as my kit didn't have enough of several of the blocks so I ordered some pear 3d resin blocks from Syren.

Question on the fore studding sail yards

The kit shows the dimensions and plans for the studding sail yards for the main mast, and comes with the hardware to install the main and foremast studding sail yards on the channels, but I don't see any dimensions or plans for the fore mast lower studding sail yards.  Should these be on the ship? Am I overlooking them somewhere on the plan sheets?  I don't see them on anyone else's build, but if the ship should have them I would like to put them on and will need to purchase more dowel.

 

[wvdhee]

There's 2 versions of the Sphinx kit right? I can check my paperwork later to see if there's something about the fore mast lower studding sail yards.

[chris watton]

1 hour ago, brunnels said:

Question on the fore studding sail yards

The kit shows the dimensions and plans for the studding sail yards for the main mast, and comes with the hardware to install the main and foremast studding sail yards on the channels, but I don't see any dimensions or plans for the fore mast lower studding sail yards.  Should these be on the ship? Am I overlooking them somewhere on the plan sheets?  I don't see them on anyone else's build, but if the ship should have them I would like to put them on and will need to purchase more dowel.

 

This is a screenshot from my master file for Sphinx yard plans:

 

There is only one version of Sphinx, not two - there has only ever been one, designs never changed.

Edited March 18 by chris watton

[wvdhee]

But I think OP means the yard attached to the channel, which is done for main mast but not fore mast it seems.

Edited March 18 by wvdhee

[brunnels]

42 minutes ago, wvdhee said:

There's 2 versions of the Sphinx kit right? I can check my paperwork later to see if there's something about the fore mast lower studding sail yards.

Not sure if there are two versions of the kit but I know there are multiple versions of the instructions, I believe I have the earlier version as well because the instructions aren't as complete as what is on the Instructions on the Vanguard website. 

 

27 minutes ago, wvdhee said:

But I think OP means the yard attached to the channel, which is done for main mast but not fore mast it seems.

Yes I am referring to the yards that hook onto the fore mast channel.

[brunnels]

38 minutes ago, chris watton said:

This is a screenshot from my master file for Sphinx yard plans:

Apologies for the confusion, I don't always know the terminology. I am referring to the lower yards that attach to the fore mast channels.

These are what I am referring to but on the fore mast.

[chris watton]

2 minutes ago, brunnels said:

Apologies for the confusion, I don't always know the terminology. I am referring to the lower yards that attach to the fore mast channels.

These are what I am referring to but on the fore mast.

Ah, I see.

 

They are not shown because they are not included - It seems main lower booms were fitted, but not the fore, at least from what I could garner. This is why they are not shown - you are looking for something that the kit does not have.

 

If you wanted to include them, you can, but perhaps have them stowed on the boat beams, in-between the boats, as the anchors would probably smash them up otherwise...

[chris watton]

47 minutes ago, brunnels said:

Not sure if there are two versions of the kit but I know there are multiple versions of the instructions, I believe I have the earlier version as well because the instructions aren't as complete as what is on the Instructions on the Vanguard website. 

 

Yes I am referring to the yards that hook onto the fore mast channel.

No, there have only been two verssions of the manual. The first 50 manuals stopped at the mast assembly, as the kit was released before the prototype model was fully finished.

 

Once the 50 manuals from the first run were used up, Version 2 of the manuals were printed, with the only change being a few more pictures of the masting and rigging. Nothing else has ever changed, not the laser cut files, not the plan sheets - once designs are finalised, they are not changed again unless there's a very good reason. But in Sphinx's case, designs and plan sheets have never changed, just a few more pages added in the manual.

Edited March 18 by chris watton

[brunnels]

Small update, I have been working hard on the running rigging and should be able to complete the rigging by the end of the week.

I took a few breaks in the rigging to check a few more tasks off of my build list.

Quarter Deck Cable port lids - Not sure the correct term for these, they are the openings right in front of the Quarter deck companionway intended to run cables up to the capstan.  The kit does not offer anything to cover these up, and I felt the openings just looked off, so I fashioned up a couple quick easy lids out of some spare wood.  Nothing special but they satisfied the captain.

 

Hammock Crane netting- 

 I was at the point in the rigging where I needed to put the netting in the hammock cranes at the waist.  I am using some tannish color toule for the netting.  When I put the netting in on the Quarter deck rail, I used on piece length wise and it was super fiddely and frustrating to work with the netting just caught on everything.  This time i followed what @hollowneck did on his Camilla, and cut the toule into smaller vertical strips, I found about 25mm wide is just about perfect.  

I start by attaching one end of the net to the inboard crane rope.  I experimented with several types of glue, but CA glue ended up being the winner as I needed something that set really quick.

 

I go down the line attaching all the pieces before moving to the next step.  Once all the pieces are glued on the inboard rope I then brush Matt Acrylic (Vallejo) over the netting where it meets the deck, this will secure the bottom of the netting, this makes the netting hold place securely while I lift up the other end for gluing on the next step.

Next I add the outboard rope to the hammock cranes, and then glue the other end of the netting to the outboard rope again using CA glue.

Lastly I trim the tops of the netting with some cuticle clippers and the netting is finished.

As you can see in my very top photos I also decided to redo the netting and remove the hammocks from the quarter deck hammock cranes.  My initial plan was to outfit the Sphinx's hammock rails with hammocks, but after I finished the waist netting I experimented with hammocks and realized they almost completely blocked what little view of the gun deck I had visible underneath the ships boats.  I slept on it, and the next day decided on going with no hammocks as I didn't want to hide the gundeck, I also decided to remove the QD hammocks and also redo the netting as I wasn't completely happy with my first attempt.

[Ronald-V]

What a lovely work you did Brunnels! She looks so good now...great to see your progress

 

[brunnels]

Over the weekend I was able to finish off the running rigging, and start attaching all the external pieces that were prone to be knocked off during rigging such as the anchors, lanterns, port lids, Captain figure, ships boats etc.

 

Captain Figure
 This is the first miniature figure I have ever painted, while I have modeled off an on since I was a child, my model subjects were always vehicles. This was a first for me and I enjoyed it a bit more than I expected I would, while it isn't something I want to do a ton of, I do feel more comfortable painting figures in the future.  The only tip I had received beforehand about painting mini figs, was to paint them in the order that they would be dressed.  So I did a flat flesh for the skin tone, I then painted the socks and pants in Vallejo Off White, then the jacket in Prussian Blue with Ochre Brown trim, then the hat and shoes in grey black.  I then went over the pants with a light wash.  I basically have little clue if this is the best way to paint these, but I am happy with the result for my first time.  Once the model was complete I cut away the base and slowly sanded away the remainder until the fleet were flat enough to be glued to the deck.

Completed Model!!!
My Second ship kit the Sphinx is 99% complete, the 1% left to do is rope coils but I probably won't get to those immediately as we are having a our first child, a little girl, at the end of April, plus I could use a change of subject from the Sphinx.

Here are some photos of the 99% complete ship, I may try to setup a light booth to get some more professional looking photos as I think it deserves it after a year of work. 

I decided to only lash down the middle boat so I can display more of the gun deck if I wanted in the future.

Overall I am very happy with my model, it turned out much better than I was expecting mainly due to Vanguard just making an excellent kit that goes together so smoothly, plus it really helps when you have excellent database of knowledge on this site and excellent build logs to copy from such as @Blue Ensign, @hollowneck, @Moonbug's Pegasus and numerous others which I have taken Ideas from.  There are a few sore spots like the decorations above the Quarter galleys roof that I goofed up, but maybe one day I will have the means to make something to replace that parts.

Thank you to everyone who helped and followed along the way. The Sphinx was a fantastic model kit and I highly recommend Vanguard models to anyone looking for a kit.  My next kit will be to squeeze in the Speedy 2023 version before the Surprise kit releases, but I am undecided if there will be a build log or not with the baby coming, plus I'm not sure I can really offer much other Speedy log's haven't already covered. 

[wvdhee]

She looks great! 😍

[Knocklouder]

Congratulations on both the finish  and the start of your adventures.  The ship is excellent and the news of a new child is also exciting  ,good luck with both 

Knocklouder.        

[chris watton]

Simply stunning!

[Ronald-V]

Fantastic result Brunnels! You can be very proud of her! She looks so beautiful  Well done!🏆

 

And have fun with the exciting times ahead with the little girl  

Edited 5 hours ago by Ronald-V

[Clark]

On 3/18/2025 at 5:47 PM, chris watton said:

Ah, I see.

 

They are not shown because they are not included - It seems main lower booms were fitted, but not the fore, at least from what I could garner. This is why they are not shown - you are looking for something that the kit does not have.

 

If you wanted to include them, you can, but perhaps have them stowed on the boat beams, in-between the boats, as the anchors would probably smash them up otherwise...

I made the stunsail booms for the fore channel and also built the fastenings on the channel. However, the spars then protruded quite a bit into the room and also hindered the placement of the anchors. I don't know how people solved that problem back then. Inboard? Dismantled the spars again. 

[TJM]

Fantastic result, really striking colour palette! I have enjoyed following along very much 😁.

[Thukydides]

Awesome work, she looks so good.

 

For a first time painting a figure you did very well.  White is a hard colour to paint.

 

Also congrats on becoming a father. Treasure the moments, even the ones you are tempted to wish away, they grow up fast.

[Nearshore]

Your build looks amazing. Congratulations on the Sphinx and on your new family member. 

[JacquesCousteau]

Congratulations on an excellent model, and on the new family member!

[hollowneck]

3 hours ago, brunnels said:

but I am undecided if there will be a build log or not with the baby coming, plus I'm not sure I can really offer much other Speedy log's haven't already covered.

Congratulations on your Sphinx and allow me to congratulate you on your next project: new fatherhood.

 

You've done a superb job with this superb kit and made it yours. I like many of the choices you've made along the way, especially your color palette which tells me you lean toward being an artist, like myself. 

 

I've posted previously on MSW that documenting one's work on a Build Log will roughly double the amount of time involved with the completion of the model. It's more than taking photos and uploading them; there is also necessary prose to explain and detail one's decisions and implementations. With a new child on the way, you're going to be very busy and have limited hobby time for a while: I'm certain you'll understand your new priorities.