fnkershner

LOL, Welcome to the club. Yes the instruction book is the best of any kit I know. And yes most of the planking is hidden. So have fun! Just wait until you are tying knots with lens hood and tweezers. 

Let me see if I can help. When raising the anchor. The actual anchor rope (line) does not go around the barrel of the windlass. There are a couple of reasons for this. One is the anchor line is too big in diameter and it is very messy. So a messenger is used. This is a smaller line that is attached to the Anchor line with a tool called nippers. So as the windlass goes around you often have to pause and release and reattach the nippers. Also once the Anchor is raised the anchor line is made fast by tying the messenger to the grating etc. Remember the Anchor is one of the heaviest items on the ship and could do a lot of damage.

ok here are the pictures I promised. They are all the same. I am just playing with lighting to find the best solution so they don't look washed out. Planking the deck continues. Starboard is done, working on Port. Any suggestions how you clean up the smudges and excess CA?
 
 

ok here are the pictures I promised. They are all the same. I am just playing with lighting to find the best solution so they don't look washed out. Planking the deck continues. Starboard is done, working on Port. Any suggestions how you clean up the smudges and excess CA?
 
 

Let me see if I can help. When raising the anchor. The actual anchor rope (line) does not go around the barrel of the windlass. There are a couple of reasons for this. One is the anchor line is too big in diameter and it is very messy. So a messenger is used. This is a smaller line that is attached to the Anchor line with a tool called nippers. So as the windlass goes around you often have to pause and release and reattach the nippers. Also once the Anchor is raised the anchor line is made fast by tying the messenger to the grating etc. Remember the Anchor is one of the heaviest items on the ship and could do a lot of damage.

Vallejo has a white foundation paint, which I used on the waist and stanchions at the port quarter area.
Good or bad I don't know but I have a feeling this base might good enough for a single layer regular white.

It's bright but probably a good contrast as well.

The buffer house is now completed with the buffer inserted, some touch up paint is in need.
The part along with the rail is not glued into place yet, but I am pleased with the result.
 

 
 
The over view of the decking is showing the second layer of varnish, I used golden oak which is very universal varnish.
It's now drying and waiting for more add-ons.

 

After considerable contemplation, I've decided on the US Brig Syren as my first build. I was thinking of getting my feet wet with the smaller English Longboat and English Pinnace kits. Then I found the Tigersteve and Blue Ensign build logs showing their fine work, especially the planking. Yikes! I got to thinking about that skill: I need something I can practice on so that it won't matter when I screw things up. 
 
Ah ha! The copper sheathed Syren! I can mangle the planks to my hearts content, slap on a coat of wood filler, sand it down, and no one will know the difference. Once I get good at it, I can order some hard maple (like Tigersteve did for the English Pinnace: see 30-Apr for the order list, 29-Sep for the results) and tackle the Longboat and Pinnace, where the planking is much more visible.
 
"Wait!", you say. Statistics show that 90% of first time builders who tackle a Big Boat give up early and the other 50% don't finish either. "Au contraire", I respond, I'll go ahead and purchase all three kits. Some time after Chapter 5 - Hull Planking, when I hit the doldrums and get dejected with the thought of never ever getting done (copper plate number one thousand thirty two, one thousand thirty three, ...), I can amuse myself by puttering around on these two more manageable craft. Plus word gets back that the Syren's User Manual is terrific (with color pictures no less!).
 
Now, having said all that, where did I put that order form ...
Jonathan

ok here are the pictures I promised. They are all the same. I am just playing with lighting to find the best solution so they don't look washed out. Planking the deck continues. Starboard is done, working on Port. Any suggestions how you clean up the smudges and excess CA?
 
 

Let me see if I can help. When raising the anchor. The actual anchor rope (line) does not go around the barrel of the windlass. There are a couple of reasons for this. One is the anchor line is too big in diameter and it is very messy. So a messenger is used. This is a smaller line that is attached to the Anchor line with a tool called nippers. So as the windlass goes around you often have to pause and release and reattach the nippers. Also once the Anchor is raised the anchor line is made fast by tying the messenger to the grating etc. Remember the Anchor is one of the heaviest items on the ship and could do a lot of damage.

Let me see if I can help. When raising the anchor. The actual anchor rope (line) does not go around the barrel of the windlass. There are a couple of reasons for this. One is the anchor line is too big in diameter and it is very messy. So a messenger is used. This is a smaller line that is attached to the Anchor line with a tool called nippers. So as the windlass goes around you often have to pause and release and reattach the nippers. Also once the Anchor is raised the anchor line is made fast by tying the messenger to the grating etc. Remember the Anchor is one of the heaviest items on the ship and could do a lot of damage.

ok here are the pictures I promised. They are all the same. I am just playing with lighting to find the best solution so they don't look washed out. Planking the deck continues. Starboard is done, working on Port. Any suggestions how you clean up the smudges and excess CA?
 
 

Happy Thanksgiving to all that celebrate it. After much turkey eating I was able to get some work done on my long boat. I completed the thwarts and added a mast step.
When making the windlass I had a bit of a time figuring out how to get the the cuts correct. So I decided to make a jig. I took some 3/32 brass tube and filled down one side about 1/64 which made a nice flat spot in order to glue it onto  piece of wood. On the ends I used a straight razor and just glided it along the brass tubing once I made my stop cuts. It gave me nice level smooth finish. The middle section was tricky. I used a #11 blade and repeated the process but I found that it would try to cut deeper into the wood. But after 2 more attempts I managed to get a fairly good result. I used a flat diamond file to finish the diagonal cuts.
Now I need to make the cap rail. The one that came with the kit was a little too short lengthwise.
 

Let me see if I can help. When raising the anchor. The actual anchor rope (line) does not go around the barrel of the windlass. There are a couple of reasons for this. One is the anchor line is too big in diameter and it is very messy. So a messenger is used. This is a smaller line that is attached to the Anchor line with a tool called nippers. So as the windlass goes around you often have to pause and release and reattach the nippers. Also once the Anchor is raised the anchor line is made fast by tying the messenger to the grating etc. Remember the Anchor is one of the heaviest items on the ship and could do a lot of damage.

Thank you, Per! I'll be sure to measure twice (or more) and cut once for those filler blocks.
~john
 

That slight bow you have in your frame will straighten up with filler blocks, make sure they are accurate sized, so they do a proper job.
Once out of that, things will be easier.
By the way, warm welcome to the Syren land.

Got those bulkheads roughly shaped and in place: not glued yet until I can cut and shape all the filler blocks. The ship is taking on a shape, which just makes me smile a lot.  Long way to go!  Looking at the second image, you can see that there is a slight bow to the bulkhead former, which I will need to figure out how to un-bow, or straighten. Your choice of verbs. Any ideas for easy ways to do this? 
 
~john
 
 

I am using my Holiday weekend to complete my deck. There has been some discussion on this site about whether or not to have a sub deck. Since I did not create one on my Bluenose I decided not to have one on the Syren. Well I have run into a problem. This is just a heads up for those of you trying to decide. some of the planks between the hatches are not long enough to reach from bulkhead to bulkhead. So they have nothing to rest on. So I had to take some scrap and fill in along the centerline. Pictures tomorrow.

Got a little work done on the Syren this week, between cooking chores for the big Thanksgiving thing. I have most of the bulkheads sanded and dry fit (no glue yet) and am working on the filler block concept. I also fashioned a jig to hold her straight while all this is taking place. I decided on a jig with one half bolted in place and the other fence made adjustable and managed by using clamps. This way I can keep it tight, but also remove the ship, when needed, with ease.
Happy day to you all.
~john

While I am waiting for varnish to dry on Bluenose I tried out the red colors I have available.
I think I found my red color.
It's the one to the right, I will make a try of mixing them as well. Could probably turn out nice.

 

So there is always curve-balls thrown at us ship-modelers, and this ball at the stern has really got me going.
For a while I was on my own creating my own boom sheet buffer. But I couldn't get it right so I stayed with the metal piece provided in the kit.
However, the legs weren't long enough to have them sticking down into the deck as the plans were showing.
Again, the think hat had to come on.
And this is the outcome.
Some extra sanding is needed and final painting too.



Oh, I had to add some extra material on top of the side parts as they were shorter than the stern piece.
 

Now back to the model. As mentioned above I was struggling with 2 problems. The first was how to drill the hold in the copper plate stamp. I hope the new replacement tool I ordered from MicroMark solves this issue.
 
The 2nd was using Holly for Deck planking. You will see a picture below that shows a sample of the Deck. I think the indoor lights add a lot of yellow to the photos. Anyway I mentioned that scraping did not remove all of the putty from the Treenailing. Well I got the bright Idea to try a bit of Danish oil. This worked perfectly. So I am working on the deck now. In the picture below you will see the before and after with the Danish Oil. The picture is poor but you can see the smudging around the 2nd row of treenailing. the top show after 1 coat of Danish Oil. I think it also darkens the planks just a little bit. I really like the result.
 
First I cut out from a copy of the plans the deck layout. And I cutout the gratings from these Plans. I used this to mark the model for the gratings. Then I marked the bulkheads on the plan template. Next I painted the area on the model under the gratings Black. And finally I am now test laying out my deck planks on the plan template before I install them on the model.

Also I mentioned that I was rushing to get the model in a presentable state. I got far enough but did not get the deck on. I took it anyway to the Birthday celebration at the US Navy Station in Everett, WA. Unfortunately almost no one understood what I was showing. They asked if it had oars and many other similar questions. I guess I need to wait until I have masts. It was a good event. We had 30 people there. One of our members told about how he had to bail out about 40 years ago. He is till the only person to bail out of a US Navy plane and end up floating in Crater Lake.
 
 

So I tried various varnishes for my deck on separate planks.
Fell for one that enhanced just a notch, here is the fore-deck still wet.
I think together with the grey waterway and white inside of waist and stanchions it will turn out okay.
This is a lighter varnish, and maybe gives me a chance to make it darker if I like.

I felt like putting the holes for the mast in before adding the deck. It was a bit of a struggle because I only have the dremel drill stand (max drill size for the chuck is 3mm, the rest hand drill) and I used pine blocks. So the mast hole in the blocks were expectedly way out of alignment (no surprises here). I then lined the hole in the bottom of the block up with the location of the mast on the deck and screwed the block down. Next I added a dowel, loosened the block a bit and started adding packers under the block until I was happy with the alignment.
I'm not sure if I would recommend doing it this way, because I am not 100% happy with the end result but I thought I'd share it anyway. When (if?) I get to the point of adding the masts, I don't think it will be too hard to fix the angles. At least they are in the right location and they line up across the length of the ship. So I got two out of three...