ChrisLBren

Hi Augie,

Your Syren is a beaut !  Look forward to following your Confederacy build.  I'm going on 4 years in this November - started scratch building her the same time as Rusty.  Right now I'm working on the cheeks and headrails - I can't imagine tackling these timbers, the volutes or the moldings with anything other than a hardwood since so much carving, scraping and shaping is involved to get them right - Chuck proved it can be done though !  You could always buy some of Jeff's boxwood for these timbers and it will match the basswood planking nicely if need be.

Enjoy the build !

Chris

Looks spectacular Matti !

Beautiful Karl !

Wow - good to see you back - really nice John

Shes a beauty Greg !!!

Looks brilliant !!!

Looks really great Mark - nice work !

Brilliant work Matti !

Well couldn't resist - i removed the cheek and filed down the lip of the wale on the left side - I think it looks much better at least to me....

Onward!

Hey Mark,

Thanks - the cheeks are identical - what you are seeing is the line of the left wale where it hits the stem is about 1/64 higher than the right.  So once the cheek is mounted the rear of it is slightly elevated making it look slightly thicker.  Once i add the hawse holes and the forward parts of the cheek you probably wont be able to tell the difference (at least im hoping)

Chris

OK Group,

An update at last - starting the headrails.  Up first is the lower cheek.  After careful sanding to get it to fit - the next issue was devising a way to get straight groves along the faces of the cheeks.  The solution is simple - create a handle - which I did with a couple scraps of wood - and a brass nail elevated exactly 1/64.  Then all you need to do is run the piece along the nail several times to create a groove - which was then enlarged with a series of larger nails used by hand similar to an awl.  

Ive also attached a bow shot - alignment here is so critical - and by my eye the right side is a little lower than the left.  Not much can be done here to correct other than possible adjust the height of the hawse hole boards if need be to compensate for the upper cheek.  We will see how it looks once i remove the black strake above the cheek in order to install the hawse hole boards - hopefully this weekend if the twins allow.

Hi Mike,

Basically the formula for painting to resemble boxwood is a 50/50 mix of Raw Sienna and Yellow Ochre as a base coat.  You then go in with light washes of Raw Sienna mixed with a touch of white for your low lights and Yellow Ochre mixed with a touch of white for your highlights.  Use several washes to give the piece dimension.  Then apply Minwax Golden Oak - allow to get tacky for about 30 minutes then brush off.  Repeat if necessary - stole this one from Chuck.

Chris

Hey Mark,

These are all complications i faced when trying to use ebony - i seem to remember somewhere that you might want to try applying some acetone to remove some of the oils before using an adhesive.  Good on you for getting it to bend to fit you hull - thats most of the battle.

As far as filler - another tip i have - is to dilute the sawdust with your finish and apply.  In my case i mix it with pure tung oil - looks much better than PVA mix IMHO.

Chris

Hi Mark,

The planking is looking really good.  As far as Ebony - I attempted using it on my Confederacy's wales using laminations.  I had no success with it.  You may want to ask Rusty how he did it.

I used Fiebings Leather Dye on the swiss pear and it worked really well.  I think i applied 3 or 4 coats to the finished wales (i made sure to apply Tamiya tape and not flood the tape edges with dye) buffing between coats.  And then top coated it with Watcos Danish Oil.  

You need to be extremely careful dying on the model - this stuff does bleed easily - but with some advance planning you should be OK.

Chris

Brilliant work Kay - cant wait to see more photos.

Chris

Love to see it Remco - I have a ton of respect for plastic modeling skills.  The last one I attempted, a Pocher Monza, i smashed into bits after 4 frustrating months into the build. 

Chris

Looks great Mark - I'd follow up the 320 with 400 then 600 for sure!  

Thanks Mike - actually the deck elements were finished with two coats of Watcos Danish Oil - which doesn't involve as much buffing as the Tung Oil which goes on thick.  I used Watcos for most of the smaller assemblies (cannon carriages, binnacles, pin racks, deck beams, etc).  Not sure if that made a difference or its just the lighting of the iPhone camera.

Thanks everyone - Toni - your Atalanta is a beaut !  I'm really enjoying following your log. Always great hearing from you Rusty, Ben, Ferit,  and Mark.  As far as the wood Mike - its Swiss Pear - sanded to 600 and finished with 100 percent pure Tung Oil.  

I spent yesterday cutting out rails with my scroll saw - now Im sanding them to final dimensions with my Dremel.  And just placed final order to Jeff for a the last sheets of wood I'll need to finish this one up.  

Hey Group,

At last all deck furniture is finished with the re installation of the ships wheel (i lowered its supports 1/16) and the binnacles.  All thats left on this one is the headrails, dummy masts, channels/deadeyes, gunport lids/fenders and anchors.  I need to decide if i want to proceed to the head rails or revisit the WVH - it is painting and sanding season outside here in Chicago (if it cools down just a bit).  On the other hand Ive got some renewed momentum on the Confed.  Have a great weekend,

Chris

Hi Ferit 

I dont think so - the WVH is SM28 and the Berlin is SM29.  They would not have made different size fittings/sculptures for these ships - I suspect they share them.  I wonder if Berlin is truly 1/40?  You dont have any secondary sources to compare the plans.  I will do some measurement on the cannons, fittings and sculptures and compare to my plans to see what their actual scale is.

Chris

Appreciate the kind words !  Ben i used the 24mm wheel from Caldercraft - it looks great and worth every penny.  I should be installing mine again later this week.  I think the number is C87152

Hi Ferit,

You could easily scratch build her using Corels plans scaled up to 1/40 or the secondary ones Im using (Hoeckels or Quingers).  The other interesting question this brings up - both models share the same fittings - so which ones are at the correct scale ?  Im going to upgrade all of my blocks - but i should do a scale check the cannon barrels.  

Chris

Hey Group 

Doing more research on her this week - both my secondary plans show her to be between 24 and 25 inches long at a scale of 1/75.  The Corel model is 36 inches long - so the scale is actually 1/50 after all that is stated on the plans.  For some reason on the box and the Corel site its states 1/40. 

Thanks Joe, Mike and Geoff.

Good hearing from you Mike ! Congrats on the twins - mine just turned 6 mos and are sleeping thru the night - I never thought this day would come....

Pear is a great wood to work with - if you want any tips as to how to work with pure tung oil - let me know.  Its actually fairly easy once you get the hang of it.