HMS Sphinx - Vanguard Models 1:64 by Ronald-V

[Erik B]

Your planking is one of the highest quality, Ronald! Congratulations. I will continue to follow you closely from now on.

 

[Ronald-V]

The process of applying the wales. This was quite a tricky item since it is one large piece of thin laser-cut pear. But soaking it in water long enough and then using (lots) of extra small nails, especially on the bottomside, everything turned out fine. Since it was going to be painted afterwards anyway, I could use small nails here to secure it and fill the holes later. Before I glued it in place, I had already painted the sides so that I wouldn't really have to touch them once it was attached to the hull.

Cool engraved details are the "hook and butt" planking in the wales (that's why you need to paint it with caution and don't use to much thick layers of paint)

 

[Ronald-V]

One modification I wanted to make was to open the doors to the side galleries. This was to get more light into the cabin once all the decks are installed. It was a nerve-wracking part, but it went fine in the end.

 

[ERSRich]

Thank you for the planking details. A great reference I’ll use on my next build - maybe Snake?

 

[Ronald-V]

At some point, I decided to lay the deck myself after all. The kit comes with a fine laser-cut deck, but to make it a bit more my own, I replaced it with individual boxwood planks. Also new to me was having the planks taper fore and aft, just like on the contemporary models. This was new to me and took some figuring out, but it actually works the same way as with the hull. Aligning with a piece of tape, etc., so less difficult than I thought. The tapered ends are virtually invisible on the main gun deck since they will be hidden under the upper decks, but I used them purely for practice so I know how to do it on the visible upper decks. As you can see, I also replaced the checkered floor in the captain's cabin and extended the main gun deck planks into it. Just as an aesthetic choice. A rug will probably be added later. (The captain of this ship was less pretentious.)

 

[Ronald-V]

A question came up about how I made the hook planks... here is a series of photos of this.



















And with a knife the last part to get a really sharp edge

 

[Ronald-V]

It will still take a while before the deck is oiled... but to see a little preview... I dampened the deck a little bit and was very pleased with how it will look later.
I really love the yellowish color of the boxwood combined with the dark pear... I think it's a beautiful color palette.

 

[Sloop]

After all this, the oil was applied (polyurethane lacquer mixed with thinner). This was applied with a cloth, 4 layers if I am not mistaken.
I was very happy with the end result and glad that it wasn't so bad that I needed to paint the hull white afterwards haha

The planking process took me 4 months

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Probably best planking I’ve ever seen in a build log!

 

[Ronald-V]

Probably best planking I’ve ever seen in a build log!

Thank you!

 

[Corsair]

Beautiful work !

 

[refugee]

Your planking, hull & decking is exquisite. The Swiss Pear & boxwood combo works really well - complementary harmony in wood hues.

 

[Ronald-V]

Beautiful work !

Thanks!

 

[Ronald-V]

Your planking, hull & decking is exquisite. The Swiss Pear & boxwood combo works really well - complementary harmony in wood hues.

Thank you Ron!

 

[Ronald-V]

Installing the spirkitting, these are also nice lasered with lots of detail. I painted these before installing so you don't have to be careful with painting so close to the deck. Next, a small addition from my side. Installed a waterway (an oversimplification), but I think it looks nice and makes the deck look tidy and finished. Made of boxwood, of course. And finally, drilled the scupper holes.

 

[RichardG]

Lovely tidy work.

 

[Ronald-V]

Placing the stern section, all the pieces need to be aligned and "look right". First some dry-fitting and when it looks okay then the glue is applied.

Needed some creativity with clamping, but in the end it worked well.

 

[Ronald-V]

The side gallery has been significantly modified. (Credits go to other pioneers who preceded me in this, and whom I simply copied). The original kit was actually quite closed off, and I opened up both galleries considerably so that more light could come in. Plus a toilet, as you can see in this photo series. It's cool to see that the new generation of kits, like the Indy from VM, do have these open galleries.

 

[Ronald-V]

Further construction of the side gallery's. Key is to get a nice curve/flow in these parts.

 

[Ronald-V]

Side note...camera quality gets a little better later in the log. All these pictures were taken with old phone...it's not that great

 

[Ronald-V]

Installing the decoration rails on the side of the hull. This is done in sections, which are of course pre-soaked first. I eventually filled the alignment holes with some leftover belaying pins I had lying around. I also applied the necessary paint before installing the rails so that it wouldn't become a mess afterwards. The blue color is Tamiya XF18 Medium Blue. It's a bit of a tricky paint to work with (in my opinion), but it has a beautiful matte vintage look.