• SUBSCRIBE TO SHIPS IN SCALE TODAY!

    The beloved Ships in Scale Magazine is back and charting a new course for 2026!
    Discover new skills, new techniques, and new inspirations in every issue.

    NOTE THAT OUR NEXT ISSUE WILL BE MARCH/APRIL 2026
  • Win a Free Custom Engraved Brass Coin!!!
    As a way to introduce our brass coins to the community, we will raffle off a free coin during the month of August. Follow link ABOVE for instructions for entering.

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

Great looking space. That window must bring in a lot of light, which is great. I always struggle with enough lighting.
It does! But the LED daylight lamp is almost always on too, you know. I notice that it just feels calmer on your eyes if you turn on some extra light.
 
Dear Ronald! Since the SoS website doesn't allow high-quality images, I've taken a few screenshots of Marshall's famous paintings. I hope they'll help.
View attachment 602812 View attachment 602813 View attachment 602814 View attachment 602815 View attachment 602816 View attachment 602817

Thanks for posting these Igor. I'm aware of these and have them on my computer. They are handy as a reference. Although I am not copying everything from them, I did, for example, copy the paintwork from the Prow/stem—the blue and black lines. Although the kit comes with the necessary side decoration (and it looks really good), I will probably leave that out. I will make a post later explaining why.
 
New day...so back to restoring the log. Not so far anymore from the point where I am now.



Painting the roof of the side gallery. Well... airbrushing in this case. I tried it with a brush first, but wasn't very satisfied with the result. So I sanded everything, then masked it off and airbrushed it. Lead shingles (in PE, of course) will go over this later, but I thought it would be useful to at least have the underside the same color. The rough edges will all be covered with decorative strips later.

IMG_20251222_112327327_HDR.jpg

IMG_20251222_113844000_HDR.jpg

IMG_20251222_115040330_HDR.jpg
IMG_20251222_125243009_HDR.jpg

IMG_20251222_125424324_HDR.jpg





Color that I used was Vallejo Dark grey. Later, when I put on the shingles, I will probably dry-brush it with a slightly lighter color to simulate the color of lead a bit more. Otherwise, I'm afraid it will turn out very flat.

IMG_20251222_125328874_HDR.jpg
 
I made a few color samples regarding the color choice for the decoration on the Sphinx. Personally, I don't like things too flashy, but prefer to give the whole a calm, cohesive feel. This led me to the Vallejo "Gold brown" shown below. I think this pairs well with the somewhat dark tone of the pear wood and the matte blue.



It's the second from the left. Keep in mind that this is the base color. I add some depth and height with a dark wash and lighter-colored dry-brushing to prevent it from becoming too flat and dark.

IMG_20251222_125729527.jpg
IMG_20251222_130548656_HDR.jpg
 
Installing windows and some decoration



First of all, I had to fix a small problem. As you can see, a small crack had formed in the side gallery. This is not due to the sealant design, but to the modifications I made. Afterwards, the wood started to shift slightly, leaving this small crack behind. I filled this as much as possible with glue and paint within the limited space I had.

IMG_20251227_132315768_HDR.jpg

IMG_20251230_115150256_HDR.jpg




The kit comes with beautiful clear acetate windows that have been laser-cut to size. They do need to be sanded a little here and there to ensure a proper fit. Please be aware that the windows have been laser-cut in sequence. They do not all have the same shape.

IMG_20251226_140321764.jpg

IMG_20251226_140433348_HDR.jpg





After that, the PE was sprayed in the correct color. Here is the order of work.

1 First, degrease with white spirit

2 Laquer-based primer

3 "Gold Brown" base

4 Applied a rust-colored wash (the slightly reddish color corresponds nicely with the reddish-brown color of the pear wood)

5 A few highlights with a lighter color than the "Gold Brown"

IMG_20251227_142814194_HDR.jpg

IMG_20251227_155443678_HDR.jpg

IMG_20251230_115253183.jpg

IMG_20260101_104922430_HDR.jpg





Tools for applying the PE with CA (I also used this to stick the windows down very carefully, without getting everything smeared underneath.)

IMG_20260102_103422862_HDR.jpg




I realized later that I also needed to paint the small section under the windows here a bit blue, because you're going to see it later anyway. So I did that first, before I glued in the rest of the windows.

IMG_20260101_105112062_HDR.jpg





The pillars between the windows on the stern are one long, fragile piece of PE. To glue this in the right place without dying of stress... I first put a few small drops of thick CA glue on the two middle pillars and glued them in place. Because the whole thing flexes slightly, you can glue the rest of the pillars one by one using a skewer and some CA glue. This way, you don't have to glue everything all at once... which seemed impossible to me.

In the photo below, you can see the 2 middle pillars glued in place. Maybe Captain obvious here, but perhaps it is helpful for someone.

IMG_20260103_114728363_HDR.jpg





Windows :)

IMG_20260103_143630728_HDR.jpg

IMG_20260103_144121298.jpg

IMG_20260103_143758102_HDR.jpg
 
Back
Top