Shazmira

Perfect Fam, that was showing me better how to get the flat retangular plates to follow the curvature. Much clearer now, thank you!

Thank you Gary, I had seen that particular pdf. I did order a set of pounce wheels as well, as the stamps I made gave me blurry results on my tiles. I keep finding all sorts of U-tube videos and the likes, but they all lack what exactly I am looking for. Even the logs on here show me the keep area very well, but none I have seen show me how to achieve the curve sweep of tiles up the bow, which is where I am having the most issues. I can't seem to get my lines to curve naturally, either in going row by row, or using the brick method.

Do you have a build log Gary, with pictures of this process?

Perfect Fam, that was showing me better how to get the flat retangular plates to follow the curvature. Much clearer now, thank you!

Thank you Gary, I had seen that particular pdf. I did order a set of pounce wheels as well, as the stamps I made gave me blurry results on my tiles. I keep finding all sorts of U-tube videos and the likes, but they all lack what exactly I am looking for. Even the logs on here show me the keep area very well, but none I have seen show me how to achieve the curve sweep of tiles up the bow, which is where I am having the most issues. I can't seem to get my lines to curve naturally, either in going row by row, or using the brick method.

Do you have a build log Gary, with pictures of this process?

Progress has been made. I completed the planking of the inside of the bulwarks, and constructed, attached and painted my cap rails.
 

 

 
Then I attempted to move on to the next step which is to put in my margin plank, then lay the planks on the deck. Well....that is on hold, as I discovered the two laser cut pieces I used for the bow of my cap rail were supposed to be the margin planks at the bow. I attempted to use the cut outs as a template and cut them from some spare wood I had laying around, but I ran into all kinds of problems. If I used wood the proper thickness, then because the curve often goes against the grain, my pieces kept breaking. So I broke down and contacted Model Expo for a replacement sheet for those parts. Now I am waiting, waiting, waiting. lol
 
While I am waiting, I built the jig for stamping my copper according to Chuck's included plans. The jig itself was quite easy to build, the stamps however are proving more difficult. I made them, drilled the tiny little holes into which I dropped nails, but then of course when cutting the nails it was impossible to get them all to the same length. No problem thought I, I just used a metal file to bring them all to the same height.
However, when putting them to actual use, the imprint I am getting on the copper tape, is not very clear at all. I have never done coppering before, so I am not sure if it is my stamps, or my technique. How in the world do you get a nice clear "stamp" onto the copper tape?
The other question I have, is in the real world, this would have been done with plates (which have edges). When using the copper tape, how do you you make it look as if it is individual plates?
Any suggestions on coppering are wlecome!
 

I am attempting for the first time to put copper plates on the hull of my Syren (actually I have started this process over 3 times already). I have looked through all the logs I can find through searching, which have copper plated hulls, and I have looked at many photos of the completed process, but I am at a loss on how to actually put the plates on the hull in the proper way.
I have the copper tape, I have the plates made, but following the curve of the hull seems to be a major issue. Either I get my rows going too straight, or I can't seem to keep the proper curve going.
Does anyone have any in-process photos of how they get the curve, and keep the plates on it correctly?
 
Any help or suggestions would be most welcome.

Well after a long protracted absence, I am happy to report the new drydock has been completed and I can resume modeling. I must say I really have missed it. Planking of the Syren has resumed, ad I hope to have some progress to show next week. 
Here is the new drydock
 

Well now, When last we spoke Sjors was confused/not understanding, J was describing going through mine and Better Halfs life's collections as lovely and I was having to arrange for the repair of a grenaded garage door. Since then the holidays have past we took a trip to "Lost Wages" where had a great steak at Binnions, and work has gone from zero to 100MPH again. Needless to say, very little progress has been made in the shipyard.
 
Sometime back I picked up a piece of lumber for a base, I really liked the grain, it reminds me of flowing water. Yesterday I made up an alcohol dye of vintage maple and wiped it on I will get some clear on it this week i hope. I am contemplating on doing a French Polish on it but only going to satin rather than a high gloss. I am mildly concerned that the finish is too light though, it may compete with the ship itself. I may go with a dark garnet shellac to darken it a bit more, we shall see.
 

 
I have more or less finished the bowsprit and jib boom. I am not sure haw HOW far I will detail this, its very easy for me to get carried away looking at other builds here. So much of this build has been simplified that I need to reign myself in.
 

 
That's all for now, hopefully more soon.
 
Sam
 
edited for (some) typos

Joel,
Thank you, that's more or less what I figured.
Sjors, Its always a pleasure to make your life interesting my friend!!!
 
So, life slowed down a bit for me and I thought I would have time to get a whole lot of building done this week since I had Monday and Tuesday off. Murphy however had other plans for me. We have a roll up style garage door and it chose Sunday night to explode. Better Half was bringing in Christmas ornaments to decorate, I was in the house moving stuff around when I heard this horrible mechanical screaming and Better Half cursing like a sailor (amusing if it was different circumstances as she is rather petite and ladylike) Come to find that two rollers on one side of the door fell off and the other side bound up and the balancing wheel and cable were all spun off, the bracket that holds the opener was twisted off and several panels off the door were slightly buckled. So, Monday was spent moving several shelving units and everything on them - 30 plus years of accumulated hand and bench top carpentry tools as well as 20+ years of her accumulated broadcasting stuff. Needless to say I accomplished very little in the way of building.
 
I did manage to get a block built to anchor the Bowsprit as well as the Bees shaped and glued on. Now of course since I have once again charged full speed ahead with out really considering the ramifications I realize I have put myself in the position of deviating from Constructos rigging plan. The rigging plan shows the Fore Top Mast Stay anchored to the end of the Bowsprit and no Fore Top Mast Preventer Stay at all. From what I can gather based on Chucks Syren instructions and Fully Framed these stay will terminate to lanyards either at the hull or the wale just below the cap rail? I cant imagine the splash guard would be strong enough, besides the angle created from the Bees to the splash guard looks totally wrong.
 
Thoughts?
 
Sam
 

 

 

Robbyn -
I am also building the SYREN and I would guess that you and I are at roughly the same skill level.  I recently completed the copper plating and am very pleased with the result.  It is one of the FEW times where I did as good as any of the other Syren posts here.  But I did things a bit differently.  To construct the stamps, I used the short brass nails with heads that are supplied with the kit.  I photocopied page 33 from the instructions and glued the "actual size plates" template to my wood block, drilling a hole at each black dot.  I then pushed a nail into each hole, with the heads all sticking out at the same level.  
 
When embossing the copper tape, I gave the block two good taps with a hammer.  BUT instead of cutting the copper strip into individual plates, I simply creased the tape where the ends of each plate would be.  A dull knife works for this - crease but do not cut.  I then worked with embossed copper strips that were typically from one to almost two feet long, removing the wax backing as I applied the copper to the hull.  I found that this resulted in a good clean even row of plates.  Also, this eliminated the problem with edges of the plates curling up that some build logs report.  You also need to know that the kit supplies much more copper tape than you actually need ( I worried about this).  So if a strip does not turn out well, you can easily re-do it without worrying about running out of copper tape.
 
I hope this helps.  If I can do it, so can you.  There is more than one "right" way to do the copper plates!
 
<<Gary>>

I need serious help with the copper plaiting, see my plea for help http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/12838-copper-plating-help/ here, thanks.

Thanks Steve, I will do a search and see if I can find it

Thanks Steve, I will do a search and see if I can find it

I am attempting for the first time to put copper plates on the hull of my Syren (actually I have started this process over 3 times already). I have looked through all the logs I can find through searching, which have copper plated hulls, and I have looked at many photos of the completed process, but I am at a loss on how to actually put the plates on the hull in the proper way.
I have the copper tape, I have the plates made, but following the curve of the hull seems to be a major issue. Either I get my rows going too straight, or I can't seem to keep the proper curve going.
Does anyone have any in-process photos of how they get the curve, and keep the plates on it correctly?
 
Any help or suggestions would be most welcome.

Thanks Steve, I will do a search and see if I can find it

I need serious help with the copper plaiting, see my plea for help http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/12838-copper-plating-help/ here, thanks.

Thanks Steve, I will do a search and see if I can find it

I am attempting for the first time to put copper plates on the hull of my Syren (actually I have started this process over 3 times already). I have looked through all the logs I can find through searching, which have copper plated hulls, and I have looked at many photos of the completed process, but I am at a loss on how to actually put the plates on the hull in the proper way.
I have the copper tape, I have the plates made, but following the curve of the hull seems to be a major issue. Either I get my rows going too straight, or I can't seem to keep the proper curve going.
Does anyone have any in-process photos of how they get the curve, and keep the plates on it correctly?
 
Any help or suggestions would be most welcome.

Progress has been made. I completed the planking of the inside of the bulwarks, and constructed, attached and painted my cap rails.
 

 

 
Then I attempted to move on to the next step which is to put in my margin plank, then lay the planks on the deck. Well....that is on hold, as I discovered the two laser cut pieces I used for the bow of my cap rail were supposed to be the margin planks at the bow. I attempted to use the cut outs as a template and cut them from some spare wood I had laying around, but I ran into all kinds of problems. If I used wood the proper thickness, then because the curve often goes against the grain, my pieces kept breaking. So I broke down and contacted Model Expo for a replacement sheet for those parts. Now I am waiting, waiting, waiting. lol
 
While I am waiting, I built the jig for stamping my copper according to Chuck's included plans. The jig itself was quite easy to build, the stamps however are proving more difficult. I made them, drilled the tiny little holes into which I dropped nails, but then of course when cutting the nails it was impossible to get them all to the same length. No problem thought I, I just used a metal file to bring them all to the same height.
However, when putting them to actual use, the imprint I am getting on the copper tape, is not very clear at all. I have never done coppering before, so I am not sure if it is my stamps, or my technique. How in the world do you get a nice clear "stamp" onto the copper tape?
The other question I have, is in the real world, this would have been done with plates (which have edges). When using the copper tape, how do you you make it look as if it is individual plates?
Any suggestions on coppering are wlecome!
 

Hi all,
Its been the summer from hell but I am finally able to get back to my Syren.
 
I thought I would begin with a photo of its current state which is a few rows into the coppering. It was not just a question of figuring out the stamp, but also learning how to use the tools. I will post my coppering saga in another post when I have more time. 
 
I was not thrilled with how the deck came out. Not all of the tree nails lined up as well as the should.  I was at the point that I was seriously considering scrapping it and starting over.  But, I realized that I still do not know what mistakes I have yet to make.  So, I decided to continue on with this. I figured some of the deck furniture / cannons would cover up some of the mistakes and it should end up ok.
 
Richard
 
 
 
 

You understood my last question perfectly. I was not aware I had to cut the tape into small plates after stamping (so yes, I am in idiot). That thought actually occurred to me during the middle of the night and I woke up and went DOH.
I did try the pressing and rocking method as well, and got almost no imprint at all. I feel like my nails are too blunt, and as they are so close together in that tiny little space I do not have a file thin enough to try to "sharpen" them a it.
When I struck with a hammer, it felt like the stamp was "jumping" slightly and the results look that way as well, as some of the "rivets" appear double struck, you know what I mean, just a hair off on the second strike.
After I posted this I read through all the posts on coppering I could find in the "How Too" forum. I am thinking I will hobble my way into the basement today and go through my grandmas old sewing kit and see if I can find her old ponce wheel. I know using this will not leave the proper pattern behind, but I beleive it will be better than leaving the plates blank, as the instructions also suggest

I spend the weekend in the shipyard doing some initial repairs, then some new work.  Because Augie hadn't been able to work on the Confederacy for quite some time, it had collected a little bit of dust and had a small amount of disrepair, including some deck planks that had separated a bit and seemed uneven. So I cleared off some of the cannons and fittings, resurfaced the deck, filled in gaps with sawdust from sanded down Swiss Pear,  then applied some tung oil and a light coat of satin poly.  I also ended up touching up some of the black and red paint that had been negatively affected by dust, etc.
 

 
    During the course of that - I noticed that the steering wheels that had come with the ship, well - just weren't that awesome.  After doing some searching for bits and pieces, it turns out it's actually pretty difficult to find good wheels that are not metal and painted.  So I set about creating new ones. 
 
Attempt #1
 

 
I cut off part of a dowel that was 15mm in diameter - the same diameter as the existing wheels.  I mounted it onto my Dremel vertically, using a small screw attachment to create a version of a lathe.  Then I used dental tools to notch and carve the piece giving it texture.
 

 
However, because the kind of wood I used was hard, but a little too porous and brittle, it crumbled when I attempted to cut it off the end of the dowel with it's new shape.
 

 
Drat.
 
Attempt #2
 
During the second attempt, I used a softer, but more dense piece of wood for the framing of the wheel.  This wood is actually from an old pen case that I had from somewhere.    You never know what you're going to dig up in the extra supply bin.
 

 
I cut it square, rounded the edges, then mounted it on the Dremel as before.  I smoothed out the top and bottom and used my mini level to make sure it was even.
 

 
I used miniature files to care out the edges and give the wheel some shape. 
 

 
For the spokes, I used a strip of boxwood, split it to 2mm, then rounded it with sand paper.  Once again mounting it into my Dremel Lathe, I used a miniature file to shape the spokes. 
 

 
I then mounted them around a center piece, and sanded my frame out to fit, notching the edges slightly to give room to the spokes.
 

 
For the outer handles, I used the same process, and notched the frame out to fit the pieces.
 

 
Finally, I lightly sanded and added a cherry mini-wax stain.  When it's dry, I'll sand it out with 1000 grit sand paper.
 
Now I just have to do another one!  heh

Great work Bug !!!
I have the feeling that I look at the work of Augie !!!!!
 
Sjors