Landlubber Mike

Ahoy Buck
 
I worked with Willy a few times. Lets just say it was an experience. The second hand smoke only adding to it. I am not a big fan but love him personally. He is a great guy.

I've had pretty good success doing that - there are a lot of tools out there that are used a couple of times and then are sold for less than half the price of retail.
 
I don't know if you have the equivalent of a Craigslist in Australia, but I was able to get a Dewalt scroll saw, used once by the original owner to try it out, for a third of the retail price.
 
Unfortunately, I haven't seen any second hand Byrnes tools on eBay or elsewhere - probably a very good testament to their quality and utility.

Very nice work on a really beautiful ship! I feel like your pics sell this kit much more than the promo shots I've seen from Corel! 
hamilton

Its gonna be a while until I build up some stock....but "Chucky Blocks" are coming soon.       
 
 
Lets take  a look.   
 
Model Expo price for 3/32" single blocks 100 QTY = $20  You know what these look like 
Lloyd's price ..................................................... = $35
Jerzy's price - 2 mm .......................................... = $45
My price in boxwood will be ............................... = $27
 
Expo blocks compared to Warner's blocks below
 

 
My blocks compared to Jerzy;s (Jerzy's on the right) 2mm
 

 
And another shot of my 2mm blocks...the single blocks on the right have no finish on them yet the doubles have some wipe-on-poly.  This is an old image that doesnt show any strop groove.  I will have to take some new pics once I start up production.  These were basically my tests....I have made some adjustments (sheave slots wider slightly so the holes for rigging can be larger).
 

 
Hopefully soon.....depending on how much interest in this there is out there. 
 

Hello Frank,
 

 
Take care,
 
Anja

Hi guys, since I am new at this I hope that it has been set up properly, and I don't get Capn's Mast before I get started. I'll be trying to post some pictures later today as I get started. This will be a slow progress as I am in no hurry, I am also completing a Revell Constitution, I'm retired - and I do have a life besides model ship building...cooking and good cold beer do come first...life does have priorities you know. I'm not sure if shipbuilding causes me to drink my beer or drinking beer causes me to build ships....that one is still being investigated, but so far no results...gotta have my Grog....not much of a Rum drinker, so daily Rations won't help much, however a good Malt Whiskey never hurt....
 
Anyway, back to ships. This kit has been of interest for many years, and I now have the opportunity to do my first wood ship. I have scratch built models of oilfield production equipment from wood and have enjoyed doing that for many years, so the wood, being intimidating but not overwhelming should be fun - but slow, so bear with me guys, and I'll try to keep current.
 
Let the voyage begin....Bon Voyage and if I can get the pictures downloaded, I should be posting them soon....
 
Hello interested individuals, an update for this build log is that as of 10-10-2014 I have transferred my interest in building this log to my own website. If you are interested in following this please click on the link below to go to the website. There are quite a few pages of pictures in this log (MSW)that are missing due to a glitch that occurred earlier in the year. Therefore, I have committed my time to my own log, which has a lot of information for building this model in it. Sorry for any inconvenience, however, I think you'll like it better than this log. My site has a complete Build Log in it up to the point that I currently am at in the build. MSW is a wonderful site, and one can learn much from it. Please follow your friends and their logs here it will be rewarding.
 
the link is: http://www.charleswmorganmodel.com
 
Thanks,
John

Hi, my name is Rod Chima. I started building the Model Shipways Syren back on Jan. 2, 2013, and started posting a Model Ship World build log about a month later. I was learning so much by reading other build logs, and I hoped that my postings might help someone else. It sure was disappointing to lose all that information with the recent hard drive crash, but I did find my posts cached on Google and will try to recreate them here.
 
I am a rocket scientist recently retired from NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio. If you are interested in computational fluid dynamics you can check out my work web site,

http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/5810/rvc/

I have built stick and tissue model airplanes since I was 8 years old, and a few ship models when I was in high school and college. But the ship models were SO much work that I swore that I would never build another. Then I went to a hobby show at the Cleveland International Exposition Center and saw Chuck's magnificent Syren kit. The guys from Model Expo made me an offer that I couldn't refuse, and here I am.
 
I am about 90 hours (over 1 month) into the kit, and have the hull and deck planked. More on that soon, but first some previous builds.
 

I wish I could take credit for this model, but it was built by my Grandfather in 1933. I still have his original plans and construction article from Popular Science. I did some major restoration work on the model when I inherited it about 10 years ago.
 

I received the Flying Fish kit by Model Shipways as a high school graduation gift in 1969, and I was working on it when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. It got pretty banged up over the years, so last summer I made some repairs and replaced most of the running rigging. I also built the display case shown in the photo. It is my own design and is built from walnut and plexiglass.
 

My girlfriend went to New England in 1970 and brought me this kit of the brig Hurricane Bird by Hobbies at Home. It must have been the right gift because we've been married for 38 years.
 

The plans for this Roman bireme ship by Mantua Models clearly shows an open stonework castle on the deck. I could never figure out why you would want one there, but I dutifully followed the plans. This was the only planked hull that I had made before I planked the Syren.

Ratlines and Some Backstays Completed
 
Last week my wife had business in Flint, MI, and I went along for the ride. While she was working I visited the Flint Institute of Art, which has an exhibit called Ship Shape, Models of Great Lakes Vessels. The exhibit has about 30 ship models, many freighters and side-wheelers. My favorite was a magnificent 5-masted ore carrier. As if 2 sets of rat-lines isn't hard enough. The exhibit runs through 6-16-13. If you're in the area it's worth a visit. Here's a link to their web site:
http://www.flintarts.org/exhibitions/current/shipshape.html
 
I also stopped in Rider's Hobbies in Flint. They had a nice selection of Model Shipways supplies, so I bought one of each size of rigging line. Good thing 'cause I just ran out of .018 black!
 
After Flint we drove to Dearborn and spent a day in Greenfield Village and a day at The Henry Ford Museum. There were practically no nautical exhibits, but if you're into planes, trains, automobiles, or steam engines, WOW, what a great museum!
 
That accounts for a week of no work on the Syren, but I have made some progress since my last post. My extra deadeyes arrived from MS, and I have finished the ratlines and some of the backstays. Here are some recent photos of the Syren.
 

20 weeks, 375 man-hours
 

Lower shrouds and ratlines                                Upper shrouds and ratlines
 

 
 

Looking great Aldo!  You sure set the bar high for the rest of us

Reluctantly I have to Agree with Crackers. I of course am one of those that replace skill with Power. I have just about every tool you can imagine and I have tirid and given some away.

Must say I love my Jim Byrnes machines. I have the ropewalk and the Table saw (and the draw plate).
I am not the only one in the household that is drawn to the table saw....
 
No matter where I position it  - the cat will guard it with his life. Initially he even used to sit on the table bit - till we had some serious words and safety interactions.
So its not the "corner" that Spotty prefers.. its definitely the table saw.
 
Not the best of photos for his "normal" position..
 

 

You guys are starting to embarrass me.  But if you want to give credit where credit is really due you should be talking about my wife Donna who is actually the owner of the company. 
 
 For those of you that don't know we started Model Machines about 10 years ago on a part time basis.  Just the two of us,  no other employees to worry about. At that time we were both working another full time job at a design and manufacturing firm in Orlando that I was part owner of.  I was head of the machine shop with 3 other partners and Donna was hired as the controller.  The company was in bad shape finantially when we hired Donna and in a year or so she brought the company back from the edge and made it a profitable business again.  Donna has a 4 year business degree from the University of Indiana and there isn't a lot she doesn't know about the business world.  What she doesn't know she makes it her business to find out.  When we started Model Machines she did all the research to get the company up and running and also thought up the name of the company.  She does all the taxes,  pays all the bills,  does all the paper work and keeps everything running smoothly.   I design all the machines and make all the parts,  do the assembly and ship them out. 
 
When you call us with a problem or an order more than likely you talked to her and 99% of the time she can take care of your needs whether it's replacement parts,  lost screws, diagnosing an electrical problem, delivery times or just how things work.  She is on the ball and has you covered.  She is the one who emails you when your stuff ships,  calls you when your address has changed and generally makes sure you get what you need when you need it.  If it was my job to do all that no doubt we would be out of business a long time ago.    She is the boss.  
 
And to this day it remains,  just the two of us.
 
regards
Jim Byrnes
Model Machines

Rusty - How many times have you used your Sander? you must use it more than I have to wear out the switch! I should also mention that my Sander is very close to the tool I use the most.
 
So let me also share my 2nd Jim story. Well actually it is my first which makes it all the more impressive to me. This occured before I had purchased any tools from Jim. I had purchased and X Y Table from Micromark and I had a table top Drill press. The drill press had been acquired so long ago I don't remember how and why. Well no matter how I tried I could not get the X Y table to mount on the press reliably. So I contacted Micromark and they refferred me to the manufacter of the XY Table. They told me that they had an adaptor plate that for $45 would solve my problem. I told them the make and model of my drill press and they assured me it would work.
 
Well I ordered the adaptor plate and guess what? It didn't even come close to fitting. It was a very bad solution. I was pretty upset. I called the manufacter and they essentially shrugged and said send it back and they would charge me a restocking fee. We argued for a while and the result was I did send it back at my own cost for shipping and very late I got partial refund. So now I am out about $50 and still have a useless XY Table.
 
Well I explained my problem to Jim. He offered to make me an adaptor plate custom if I would send him a design. Remember at this point I wasn't even a customer of Jim. I had a friend at work who liked to mess with CAD. He helped me design a plate and I sent the design to Jim and I ordered my sander. For $50 Jim custom made my plate out of solid aluminum and included it in the box with my sander. What I recieved was infinately better than the previous plate and worked perfectly. And there was no additional shipping cost.
 
So I am the proud owner of 2 custom items from Jim's workshop and I will be a customer for life!

I have had Jim's tools for years and everything has performed exceptionally.
 

 
 

 
A little while ago I had an on/off switch burn out on my disk sander. I sent an
email, received a prompt response and within a couple a days I had a package
 
at my door. Not only did I get a new switch but they sent along a second switch
 
just in case. No cost, no haggle just great service.
 

Jim may get tired of my saying this but he deserves the credit. I have a bit of a unique story regarding his service. I currently own the Sander and the Table saw. and like everyone else I can say I haven't owned a finer power tool.
 
One Christmas recently a family member tried to give me a very thoughtful present. A feather board for my Table saw. Unfortunately they bought the feather boards for the Micromark saw and Jim does not offer feather boards. When I explained the situation to him he told me to ship all the pieces to him. He took the Micromark pieces and adapted them to his saw. I now have the only custom made feather boards for a Jim saw made by Jim!