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

[cdrusn89]

I can state now that doing the cannon first made that as easy as it can be. I would go so far as to say adding the eyebolts to the inner bulwarks before they are installed on the hull would have made that job easier (IMHO).

 

I will reserve judgement for now on how easy installing the "inerds" is until I actually do it. I have many of the pieces (capstan, chain pumps, stove, etc.) already assembled and painted so it should not take long to have an answer.

Edited August 12 by cdrusn89

[brunnels]

Well looks like I am going to need to by some more replacement parts.  Not sure how or when this happened, I opened up my fittings box this weekend and noticed the lanterns had somehow got crushed.

 

Does anyone know if the Syren lantern kits are similar in size and shape to the ones that come with the Sphinx?  Trying to decide if I should order another Vanguard set or go with one of the Syren kits.

[cdrusn89]

The Syren kits come in both 1/48 and 1/64 scale so the 1/64th should be the same size (more or less) as these.

 

I did notice that there appears to be a PE version of the stern lantern on the PE sheet (PE-30). If you are familiar with bending PE into shape this might be a faster solution.

 

I have built the 1/48th Syren stern lantern (for Wincheslea) and it takes a steady hand - you have to glue each side of the lantern to the base keeping the sides just in contact. I think it took me three tries to get one acceptable lantern.

 

You can see the final one in these photos.

Edited August 12 by cdrusn89

[brunnels]

Before I secure the cannons in the ship I wanted to install the deadeyes and chain plates.  Looking at all the pieces required on the photo etch was fairly intimidating, but it all went together fairly easily and I had no real issues other than needing lots of touch ups on the paint. 

 

 

Next I finished the carriage quoins which was the last non rigging piece of the cannons I had left to finish.  Cannons aren't glued in yet, as I will do that after I figure out the rigging of the guns.  Next step will be rigging the guns (if I can manage the super small blocks)

 

 

[brunnels]

Here is my first dry run at rigging the cannons, nothing is glued in place, I just want to get my process down before I start an assembly line.  My feelings are mixed, for the amount of work that is involved I'm not really sure if the effort pays off at this scale.  I'm fairly happy with how the breeching line went, but the gun tackles and rope are so tiny that I can't really get a good looking result yet.  The blocks are Chucks 2.5mm resin printed blocks, they look fantastic but their size isn't easy to work with. 

 

I was going for something like this on the gun tackles where the excess rope is wrapped around the line, but the .1mm rope is so small that you Its hard to make it look nice without looking like a blob of white rope.  I know many like to coil the ropes to the side, and I think that looks great but I don't really want to go with coils at the moment, plus I'm just horrible at making coils.

 

Here is the other side

 

At this moment I'm considering just doing the breeching lines, but I'm still working on alternative ways to rig the tackles to make them look good.  I just don't want to spend a huge amount of time working towards a result I won't be 100% happy with.

[Ronald-V]

It does look goed Brunnels! But I know what you mean...I think the difference with real life is how the ropes are looking.

 

For me a great example how I would like to rig my cannons is @Katsumoto with his "Xebec" build. I'm really impressed how his ropes are looking (He replaced the kit ones)

 

https://modelshipworld.com/topic/26982-cazador-jabeque-xebec-by-katsumoto-finished-occre-160/page/3/

Edited August 15 by Ronald-V

[brunnels]

3 minutes ago, Ronald-V said:

 

For me a great example how I would like to rig my cannons is Katsumoto with his "Xebec" build. I'm really impressed how his ropes are looking (He replaced the kit ones)

That's exactly the look I was going for, but I believe his ropes are larger diameter and I don't think they would fit through the 2mm blocks I am using, heck its difficult to get the .1mm thread through those blocks. I may try messing around with some slightly larger Syren rope I still have to see if it looks too out of scale, .1mm thread is just so thin its hard to make look like real rope.

[Katsumoto]

7 minutes ago, brunnels said:

That's exactly the look I was going for, but I believe his ropes are larger diameter and I don't think they would fit through the 2mm blocks I am using, heck its difficult to get the .1mm thread through those blocks. I may try messing around with some slightly larger Syren rope I still have to see if it looks too out of scale, .1mm thread is just so thin its hard to make look like real rope.

Wow, those are really small blocks you've used....you can always drill out the holes with a larger diameter drill bit to make them a litte bit bigger. Carefully and low speed should do the trick.

I found the rigging of the guns fun to do actually, however I was glad I had to do only 20.....😰
 

[brunnels]

I needed to order some more rope for the cannons, so while I wait for that I started to work on the Great Cabin furniture.

 

I am using the 3d printed furniture from Vanguard, I painted with some Model Expo Cherry Paint that I had left over from my Beagle kit.  I then added went over with a little American Walnut paint to add a little depth.  I Varnished with WOP, but Its a little glossy so I will probably try a Satin or Matte Varnish to tone down the shine.

 

 

 

I'm also going to try to print out some little maps or papers to add a little life to the cabin. 

 

I also wanted to try out making a captains hammock, so this is my first attempt.  Once I get to the QD beams I will figure out the ropes to hang it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ronald-V]

Looks cozy!  

[brunnels]

Anchor liners/Bill Boards

Not sure what these parts are officially called, but inspired by @Blue Ensign design for the top "bill board" section, and looking at a lot of contemporary frigate models I noticed many had a sort of swooping part over the gunwales which is also present in the AOTS Pandora book.  From what I can gather it seems like these swooping pieces were more permanent, while the top billboard piece were less permanent and could be unbolted from the ship, but I could be totally wrong on that.

 

I grabbed some graphing paper and took some measurements and made a template piece.  I then grabbed some maple veneer off cuts and copied the template over and then cut it out with some scissors.

 

I glued the swooping pieces to the gunwales.  I then added a 1x3 piece on top of the gunwale piece, and then added a couple vertical pieces for the top billboard part to be built on. 

 

I used pear strips, with holes and some small brass wire cut off in the holes to simulate bolts.

 

Then a couple coats of WOP, and this is the finished result

 

I downloaded the Indefatigable instructions from Vanguards website, because Chris included some cool little maps in the instructions you can print and cut out.  I cut a few out and folded them in various ways just to add a little life into the great cabin.

 

[cdrusn89]

Based on the shape of the "swooping" part I would think that was additional protection from errant anchor flukes while the anchor is being recovered. The billboard portion I think is to prevent the anchor from getting fouled in the forward most chain plates. It also provides some additional protection from waves boarding through the gun port just aft of it without obstructing (much) the ability to shoot out of the port.

 

I find it interesting that these small (relatively speaking) ships did not have gun port doors on every gun port. I guess it was not a "real" problem or the RN would have "fixed" it. Would seem the gun deck would be pretty wet in most any degree of bad weather.

Edited August 19 by cdrusn89

[brunnels]

1 hour ago, cdrusn89 said:

 

I find it interesting that these small (relatively speaking) ships did not have gun port doors on every gun port. I guess it was not a "real" problem or the RN would have "fixed" it. Would seem the gun deck would be pretty wet in most any degree of bad weather.

I have had the same thoughts as well, I also would think there would be concerns with the guns being more exposed to the sea water, but like you said it must have not been a big problem as it seems to be the standard an many ships. 

[Gregory]

There was no point in having gun port lids on a weather deck.   In heavy seas, they would have hindered the clearing of water from the deck.

[brunnels]

Finally got the guns in.  I gave up on the gun tackles and just put in the breech lines.  After more than a week I just couldn't get a result I was satisfied with, so I threw in the towel to move on.  I will have something to research and improve upon on my next model.

 

 

 

Now that the cannons are in, I glued in the Great Cabin furniture.

 

My next task is the quarter deck framing, I have started to de-char the pieces and prep for painting.

 

 

[Ronald-V]

It looks great so far! 💫👍

[cdrusn89]

Yes, it looks great.

 

Where is the captain's hammock going to go?

 

Looks like the cabin would have to be rearranged for sleeping or the hammock will block the entrance to one of the q-galleries.

 

Maybe they hung the hammock athwartships above the locker (or whatever its is called) at the transom - not the current custom in the USN (almost all bunks run fore/aft).

[brunnels]

40 minutes ago, cdrusn89 said:

 

Where is the captain's hammock going to go?

 

Looks like the cabin would have to be rearranged for sleeping or the hammock will block the entrance to one of the q-galleries.

Unless I'm mistaken I believe the captains hammock was strung up in the small starboard side cabin outside of the great cabin.  

[cdrusn89]

That would certainly make these easier for the Captain.

 

Did a 6th rate have three LTs or just two? Three could probably share the port side cabin since one is presumably always on watch or on deck.

[brunnels]

On 8/26/2024 at 12:01 PM, cdrusn89 said:

Did a 6th rate have three LTs or just two? Three could probably share the port side cabin since one is presumably always on watch or on deck

From what I have researched they had two LT's.

[brunnels]

Quarterdeck and Forecastle Deck Beams:
Removed the char, painted and glued in place the quarter deck and forecastle deck beams and their corresponding knee joints.

 

QD, FC Decks:

Next I sanded the deck pieces to a good fit.  The forecastle deck didn't take a ton of fitting, but the QD needed a bit of fitting at the rear.  Once glued in place I followed up with several coats of WOP.

 

I then soaked the 2 inner bulwark pieces on the forecastle in water and clamped in place to form up.  While the fc pieces are forming, I started work on the QD inner pieces.  These required minimal fitting, and glued easily in place.

[Ronald-V]

Nice   Masting and rigging isn't far off now

Edited September 3 by Ronald-V

[brunnels]

Gangways:

Gangway knees, I removed the char, primed and painted all in flat red.  Each knee is specific to a spot, so it is important to keep them numbered and separated throughout the process.

 

Knees glued into location

 

Next are the gangway decks.  I first glued these together and let sit between some heavy books as they wanted to curl from the glue.  I then applied several coats of WOP. 

 

Next were the gangway steps

 

Before I painted any of the upper decks bulwarks, I wanted to get the scroll work done.  I honestly had concerns how these would turn out as mine weren't perfectly aligned.  I taped off the deck, and added filler to the gaps of my scroll work, and then worked it with some small files.  To my surprise they actually came out looking pretty decent, I haven't painted them yet, but will post better pics once that step is complete. 

 

Now that the scrollwork filing was done, it was time to add some Vallejo Flat Red to the Quarter deck and forecastle. 

 

I then painted the gunwales black.  Here are the waist gunwales installed next to the gangways.

Then I glued in place the QD gunwales.

 

Next step will be adding some filler between the QD gunwales and the scroll work to make it seem like one piece, then the scrollwork will get some paint as well.  I plan on adding the catheads to the forecastle before I cap it off with the gunwale.

 

[cdrusn89]

Be careful with the filler there on the scroll work on the q-deck. Those two slots will house timberheads. Don't ask me how I know but it would be useful to stick a "place holder" in the slots before adding the filler. Will make things easier later.

[brunnels]

6 minutes ago, cdrusn89 said:

Be careful with the filler there on the scroll work on the q-deck. Those two slots will house timberheads. Don't ask me how I know but it would be useful to stick a "place holder" in the slots before adding the filler. Will make things easier later.

Luckily I looked ahead on that part as I was curious what the slots were for.  I removed the timberheads and slotted them in place while I applied the filler.  Definitely a good thing to point out though for anyone else getting to that step. 

[Ronald-V]

These steps tie everything nice together, looks good  

Edited September 9 by Ronald-V

[TJM]

It looks very good indeed!

[brunnels]

Apologies for my lack of pictures on fixing my scroll work, I took several of pics of the process and then when I went to check my photo gallery this morning the pics weren't there.

 

Quarter Deck and Forecastle Gratings:
Started off by removing all the char, sanding and applying a coat of WOP.

 

Gratings glued on framing, painted black and varnished.  I also completed the QD ladder while I was waiting for things to dry.

 

Foremast bitts:

 

Gratings glued to forecastle, along with the stove flute and the completion of the foremast bitts.

 

Quarter deck gratings glued in place

 

Full ship shot showing the current progress.  My next task is working on a black capping rail for the stern piece.

 

 

Can anyone explain the purpose of these two openings in the quarter deck?  No gratings or anything in the instructions covers the openings so I assume there was a purpose to have the openings in the deck.

 

Thanks for looking, have a great friday all. 

[Blue Ensign]

They are supposed to represent Top rope scuttles, top ropes were used to raise the topmasts, but were usually taken down once the task had been completed.

 

Did the kit not have small gratings to fit these openings?

Even so, personally, I find the arrangement unconvincing and prefer to display them as flush scuttle board covers with lift rings.

 

B.E.

[brunnels]

Finishing off the forecastle fittings:
 

Belfry and forecastle railings:  The belfry and railings went together very easily.  I painted the Stanchions and Belfry with Ivory white, and the railing black.  The only issue I had was the Belfry cleats are very fragile, I dropped the Belfry and both the tips of both the cleats snapped off, so I will have to fashion a new set up.

 

Next I painted and installed the 2 catheads and their supports.  It took a bit of time with a file to get the holes opened up just enough, but I do like how Vanguards catheads go together.  This is only my second ship model, but I have learned that catheads always take me more time to fit than I always expect.

 

Now that the fittings on the forecastle are mostly complete, I am turning my attention to the Quarterdeck fittings.

First is the capstan, and the QD ladder.

 

Next I added a cap rail to the stern piece of the ship.  I feel the ship has a more complete look with a capping rail on the stern.  I used a piece of styrene for this, as I didn't think I would be able to get a strip of wood to do the wavy shape the stern piece has.

 

 

And here is how the ship currently sits.  I am in the middle of putting together the ships wheel assembly, and the binnacle.