Blue Ensign

Hi Anja,
 
I've secured the lamp with some extra (self-made) eyelets.
Hammock cranes (only midships in this build) are done and furthermore I made sure that the lads on my ship could not break their backs by falling down the stairs.
Another thing is puzzling my mind since a long time : how about the color of the figurehead in the bow section ?
I've seen intersting approaches on "the net" , however I'm more inclined to give this a more "wood-look-a-like" touch but how and which coat to apply on this cast figure ?
Any suggestions ?
Anyway, here's the actual status
 
to be continued

continuation

that's all folks !

Looking good hamilton you're certainly making her special. Love the kevels, I know they are tricky little beasts to make.
 
B..E

I am a fan of adding some 'ballast' to models particularly for plastic kits. In my opinion it gives a better feel to the hull and does add a little stability when working on the hull. I use washed gravel packed in plastic bags and taped and pva'd inside the hull.
 
I find it less necessary and convenient with wooden pob kits by the nature of their structure, and certainly with my current build with mdf keel and bulkheads it is heavy enough. If I think it is appropriate to add weight to a pob kit I screw metal plates along the keel  between the bulkheads.
 
B.E.

I find it easier to attach some detail whilst the parts are flat. In this case I added the small doors on to the sides.
 
I made all the doors from 0.25mm sheet N/S. They were all the same width so again I produced a strip of N/S to this width then cut the individual doors from it. The hinges and latches were made from 0.5mm N/N wire. These I attached to each door before separating it from the strip - it made it a lot easier to hold. I then ran a smooth file over the hinges and latch to make them flat.
 
The completed doors were then soldered to the sides. The hinge/latch detail is a bit crude and cries out for etched brass overlays.
 
Photo 5 shows (from left to right) The three parts to make the boiler end, the two sides with the middle spacer, the hearth end which includes the rear of the hood. 
 
Photo 5)
 

 
Time to start soldering. Because no parts will come under any strain I am happily using soft solder. I have soft solders that melt just above 100 degrees C up to 230 degrees C for which my iron has plenty of grunt. I use liquid (acid) fluxes. I also have silver solders and a variety of blow torches for the heavy jobs.
 
I soldered the cross pieces to one side. Purists say that you should fix one end to one side, fix the other end to the other side then bring the two assemblies together - but hey ho.
 
Photo 6)
 

 
Photo 7)
 

 
 
 
 

Next up was to solder the other side in place and create the hood.
 
The rear of the hood was already in place but pointed backwards at too great an angle. So using the piercing saw I cut a grove along its rear face immediately above the sides. This allowed me to bend it cleanly upwards to the right angle.
 
The front of the hood was cut from the strip used to make the cross pieces above.
 
From the rear of the hood I measured the height for the hood side pieces, produced strip to this size and cut off two over length pieces. The hood sides were then soldered to the hood rear and the hood front soldered between them. This left the hood sides overlapping the front. It was simple job to file them back to the correct size.
 
Photo 8)
 

 
Next came the grate. I threaded 5 lengths of 0.5mm and 2 lengths of 0.75mm N/S rod though the stove sides - not forgetting the middle spacer. The rods were soldered in place on the outside of both sides. The middle spacer was then carefully positioned centrally and squarely. This part only needed flux applied, no extra solder, before the iron was touched on it. The solder still on its surface from the earlier stage flowed in to all the joints - leaving firmly in place and tidy. Photo 9 shows it before I trimmed the excess rod off.
 
Photo 9)
 

 
 
 

Unfortunately, during the last few weeks I had very little time for working on my Syren. Too much focus on business and competing projects with higher priorities . . . 
 
Nevertheless, here is a little update. The lids of all open gun ports on both sides are in place, sheaves and fenders are done, and work is progressing on the bridle ports. 
 
Thomas
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

Completion Photos
 
This post concludes my log of a nine month build.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
More to follow
 
B.E.

Some fine detail on those shots Ferit, I like the neat little sheave for the Fore sheets, very nicely done.
 
B.E.

I'm going on with the rigging. Heart blocks are used for the mizzen and foremast shrouds and these are fixed to deck. I’ve attached also every possible standing and running rigging to the main mast at this stage. For convenience I’ve modified some cloth pegs which proved to be very useful.
 
 
 
For large and more detail photos see also:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ilhan_gokcay/sets
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ilhan_gokcay/sets/72157626433922489/
 

Thanks for the words of commiseration/encouragement guys!
 
Okay, so re-painting is underway. I used a new tin of Humbrol today, just in case the last lot was "off".  Spent a lot of time mixing the paint back into itself - don't know about you folks, but whenever I open a tin of Humbrol the paint pigment seems to set in a semi-solid ball in the bottom of the tin and its a B* of a job to get it to re-combine into the paint.  I was assisted in this by a neat little battery operated paint stirrer that I picked up from MicroMark some time ago but had not yet used.  Have managed to apply three coats today (thinned and applied with the airbrush).  I'll see how it looks in the morning but might need to do one more.
 
In the meantime, I've been working on some of the internal fittings.  To start with, I made up the thwarts using a combination of Pear with a Holly trim.  I then made a mast support from a piece of brass tube and some brass strap that I silver soldered together and then blackened with Casey Birchwood Brass Black.  The big news here is that I think I have finally passed my Chemistry Prac., as it actually seemed to work.  I discovered a huge secret - follow the instructions on the bottle!!!! :P Honestly, instead of all the variety of combinations of dilution strengths and soak times, etc. I just did what it said on the bottle.  Clean thoroughly (I used the Casey Birchwood cleaner), rinse in cold water, apply blackening solution straight from the bottle using a cotton bud (you might know them as Q-tips), wait for one minute, rinse in cold water, then repeat until you have desired depth of colour.  I ended up doing this four times to achieve a result that I was happy with, and it didn't rub off either!
 
Here's a picture of the completed support fixed to the thwart:
 

 
There is a little bit of glue residue evident in the photo, but that should clean up okay.
 
I have also completed making up the footwalling.  I used Holly for this and ran a pencil lead along one edge of each plank to bring out the joins.  I made this up on a paper backing, which was subsequently removed.  In the picture below it is ready for installing.
 
I have also completed the cap rails and painted them in preparation for installation.  And I have made up the risers to support the thwarts.  I did these on the Byrnes saw by temporarily spot gluing the two pieces together, marking out for the rebates for the thwarts and then running them through the saw.  These too are ready for installation. The thwarts are all assembled as blanks with one end finished and the other end to be cut to size on fitting.
 

 
All I need now is to successfully finish off re-painting and I'll be ready to move forward again.

Knightheads usually had sheaves running tho' them two, sometimes three, and often with  belaying pins horizontally thro' the top part.
 
Lees shows lines attaching to knightheads in his rigging plans of ships of the first quarter of the 18th century.
 
B.E.

Ahoy Mates
 
Well I have finally climbed out of the hole I dug for myself, or I should say drilled for myself.
 
First off,  I did not intend to do this.
 
Next I will be preceding with phase two of my repair, Painting the hull "lol'". Worry not, I have a plan.
 
It started with adding a few tree nails. I was not happy with the result so I added a few more. Then a lot more. After I finished I was still was not happy with the way it looked. At that point I made the decision to fall back and paint the hull; but only after I repeated what took over 30 hours to do. I still had the other side.
 
Was this a mistake, I would go with it was a whopper.
 
Ironically I have high hopes regarding how she will turn out in the end.  There are over 3000 treenails (I estimate it at 3400) and I plan to do a light coat which I hope will allow the treenails to have some effect on the finish. We shall see. Right now I am telling myself that what I have planned will be something that I will be very happy with.
 
Truthfully,  I am just happy to have gotten through this.Thank you MSW, for providing me with the much needed inspiration. I read a lot of logs during this period.
 
 I am now looking forward to doing something a little less repetitive, its a shame I couldn't start the ratlines
 
Thanks for stopping by

Also the futtock shroud chains...
 

 
... with the hooks ...
 

 
... turned 90° towards their rings.
 

 
So that´s the report from etching front, all parts tried and only one thing left to say:
 
Dinner is served!
 

 
XXXDAn

Some helping "shrouds" to straighten the parts ...
 

 
... and glue the irons into the slot.
 

 

 
The main channels got the missing iron support bracket - ok it is brass now - ...
 

 
... and the preventer chain plates are added on the bottom ...
 

 
... but aside this it is almost business as usual :-)
 

 

 

 

So the last part of the etch orgy: the channel chains.
 
Here the old mark 1 ...
 

 
... and as I believed that this was still too big here the refined mark 2.
 

 
And here some more details :-)
 
Either fixed on Heller´s deadeye-machine where the lanyards could be fixed before assembly ...
 

 
... or - as I personally prefere - the deadeyes being first build in and the lanyards being put later while rigging as on the original.
 

 
Deadeye with iron put into the slot and the lower parts hooked in.
 

 

 
Needels put into the Dremel and either ground by a file or the Double-Twin-Super-Drive-Technology to reduce the head in diameter and height ...
 

 
... left the original and the right the worked ones ...
 

 
... inserted half ...
 

 
... some cyano onto the needle and gentle pushed in.

Thanks every one, hopfully many more in the future. At the moment life has sort of got in the way but hoping for some time to work on her in the near future. Thanks Ed, as soon as I get back to the cannon's I keep those sizes in mind. Daniel the carpenter´s walk did go around the orlop deck but not so much like the one you show above. There was a lot of places that was not walled in and one had a good view, of the outside wall. On 74's of Montagu time there wasn't a wall all the way around the orlop deck. Here is some photo's that show how Montagu looked. In the first picture it shows the stanchion's that separated the cable tier from the carpenter's walk, followed by the fwd store rooms and finally the aft store rooms with the carpenter's walk on the outside. Have also included the plan of her orlop deck so you can compare the two. Sort of wish I had added more of the detail on this deck,like metal work and maybe even some cables, in the tier. Of course it would have been even longer to finish this deck then the couple of years that it took. Gary

Hi Jasseij,
 
You know the story : lots of "parlé" and in the end the captain decides ( that will be mrs. Barbossa )
Anyway, think positive :  the sooner you have this kind of debate, the sooner you ( we ) can resume shipbuilding    
 
Hi Mort and David I really appreciate your kind words
 
Here's the update regarding the bow section and in addition : to lamp or not to lamp ? It is still dry fit but I like it.
The blue strips weree made of paper that was overpainted with blue gloss ( humbrol n°14) I believe something similar needs to be done on the catheads.
And regarding the lamp , I'm planning to fix it with some extra supports on both sides (painted in black)

Here is a picture of the poop in preformed woodfoam(?).

I was relatively happy with the result. But it doesn't assemble like mechanical parts...
Here is another view: the forecastle. I wonder if the bulkhead existed actually. You can also see that I added a galley.
You see the chimney (of course not on the drawings).

And, finally, the type of problems I have to face now.
One of my cats appreciated very much one of the catheads.... . I didn't kill the cat when discovering that, but I was obliged to make a new cathead (still not in place).

 
I come back later with a first issue interesting to discuss: the scale of the model.
 
See you soon,
Pierre

Hello,
Some days ago Steve started his Log about his HMS SERAPIS. There are a lot of things to say about that kit.
So, I am happy to start this Log about a construction I started almost 30 yaers ago and I never finished. May be I will do it now.
Around 1984 or 1985 I acquired the HMS SERAPIS kit from Aeropiccola. At the time it was an expensive kit. It costed me about the equivalent of 500 Euros. It should be much more today.
But, I always dreamed to build an english frigate. And this one was not only a frigate but also a two-decker... I had always been afraid to build the poop galleries and this kit offered an apparently nice solution with the preformed wood  pieces.
The quality of the kit appeared to be excellent. Fine wood, nice fittings etc.
Here is a picture of my HMS SERAPIS as she is today.

In a further log I send you more pictures and I start to discuss a number of issues I encountered with this model.
Pierre

I've been missing in action the past few months as my wife had twins at the end of March.  It's been a bit hectic to put it mildly, so I haven't had time to hit the shipyard recently.  Thankfully the girls are almost three months now and sleeping better, so I'm gearing up to get back to work on the Badger.  
 
Here are some pictures of where I left off earlier this year.  Most of the standing rigging is done, and I'm about to start on adding furled sails.  I'm hoping to finish it before the end of the year as I now have the Corel Unicorn and the Amati Pegasus on my shelf.  Between kids and honey-do's, and of course being a complete novice, the build has taken me four and a half years.  

First planking:
 

 

 

 

 
Second planking:
 

 

 

 

 

 
Deck Planking:
 

 

 

 

 

 
Post-planking details:
 

 

 

 

 

 
Cannons Rigged:
 

 

 

 

 
Additional details on hull and deck:
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I marvel at your build each time you update the progress Augie, excellent work.
 
B.E.

Rigging continues.
 
The rigging of the main and fore mast yards has been completed...with the exception of the braces.
 
Here are the t'gallant and royals
 

 

 

 

 
Looking forward to getting on with the braces which are strewn about the deck waiting to attach to the yards.  It will be a pleasure to get away from belaying on and around the deck as it's been really tough sometimes getting to the belaying points.  The # of lines is impressive !
 
After that it will be on to the spritsail yard