MD11pilot

Howdy John, and welcome to the Syren club. I'm looking forward to following along. 

39 minutes ago, Robin Lous said:

omg! don't go there...it's a haunted place! 

Now that’s funny,  😂

I'm depressed. Spent some time wandering around the "Scratch Built" side of the website this morning. I don't have the words to describe my respect for those folks. Awesome, astounding, incomprehensible, magical. I can only dream. 

Enjoying a cup of coffee and wandering around the website when I came upon your build log.

Wow!

Beautiful, precise work.

Congrats!  Beautiful little ship. 

I’m really enjoying your build. I agree with the others - I’m going to follow your lead and make wood cleats. The metal ones just won’t cut it. 

Love the little plane. How in the world did you find it. 

I started with the 26 gauge lancets that are becoming popular for this project. They produce a nice, small nail pattern.  However, removing the plastic sleeve is a bit of a pain. You can use nippers to get most of the plastic off.  I then set up a candle in a bowl to heat and remove the plastic part that is adhered to the lancet. 

When I was remaking the second stamp, I remembered that I had a 23 gauge pin driver out in my shop. These finish nailers are becoming quite popular with finish carpenters for holding moldings (and other stuff) together while the glue dries. 

So I switched to the 23 gauge nails. Worked great without the hassle of removing plastic. 

Good afternoon Floyd.  Chuck's copper jig tutorial is imbedded in the instruction manual. Chapter 8.  I’d highly recommend using a drill press to pre-drill the pin holes. I tried to do it with a hand held pin vise the first time. One stamp came out okay, but the second stamp was a complete mess. You’re drilling so close to the edge of the wood that it’s easy for the drill bit to come out the side of the block - either by poor control, or because the very fine bit is following the grain of the wood.  Had to start all over again. And that’s when I figured out that I could chuck my pin vise in my full size drill press as mentioned earlier. 

Just curious. When did you buy the kit?  We've seen some kits recently with poor quality plywood. The plywood in your kit looks good. 

Howdy Peter!  Welcome to the Syren club. Even though you're just a few steps into the project, it's easy to see that you do high quality work. I'm looking forward to watching another beautiful Syren take shape. 

I like that plank bender. Seems easier than the pin boards. 

Thanks Floyd, it’s good to be back in the saddle.  I’m going to need my stamping jig for the Surprise that’s sitting on my shelf, but thanks for the offer. 

I only made Port and Starboard stamps as per the instructions. I know some of the advanced guys make a third one for the belt line, but I didn’t think it was necessary. I could go back and add one more nail hole to each plate, by hand, at the position shown in this picture....

I’ll give it it some consideration. 

The rudder is a fun little project.  Shaped it with a mini hand plane and sanding blocks. 

Added the copper plates with the aid of a small square. 

Copper bottom complete. 

I was wondering how I would keep the lines straight.  In other builder logs, nobody ever seemed to mention it so I figured it must not be a big deal. And sure enough, if you keep your overlaps fairly consistent, it just seems to work out. 

If you’ve got one those fancy lighted magnifying glass gizmos, nows the time to set it up. These plates are small and there are a lot of them. My near vision ain’t what it used to be.

It’s important to get the pins on the stamps perfectly level. I used my water line marking jig to help with this. I squared the jig against the side of my grinding wheel and very gently leveled the pins. 

Now for copper bottom. I didn’t do anything creative. Pretty much stuck with instructions. 

First, I made a mount so could attach the ship upside down in my deskmate. 

Made the stamp jig and and dies. I don’t have a mini drill press but I was able to secure my pin vise in the chuck of my full size drill press. It actually worked pretty well. 

Hi all. It’s been a very long time. Time to dust off the Syren and get back to work. 

With the deck finished, it's time to add the cap rail. 

Hey Floyd!  Glad to see you back. Like you, I’ve been on a VERY long break with my Syren. It will be nice to resume with some of the old chums still hanging around. 

I think your figure head came out quite well. It will look great in position with all the other rigging around her. 

Eric

Glad to see that there are still folks building the Syren. I’ve been on such a long break that I feared I might be the only one left.

I shared your fear of this kit being too advanced for a beginner, but with the excellent instructions and the very detailed build logs on this site, you'll do fine. Have fun!  Looking great so far. 

Eric

Really enjoying your build Sal.  Getting many great ideas for my project.

I don't often stray into the "scratch build" side of the site, but I just wanted to check out what the "sensei" is up to.  Amazing work Chuck.

I swear I'd pay good money just to sit quietly in your shop and watch you create one of those amazingly precise scarf joints. 

Love the case, Rod. Your finishing technique makes the case look like something you'd find sitting in the library of an English estate. Nice!

Great progress Gundorph. There are a lot of Syrens on this forum and every one of them has its own personality given by the builder. I never get tired of watching a new ship take form and hearing how each builder conquered particular tasks.

Thanks Brian.  Like a lot of steps, this one really had me worried.  But you dive in and it just seems to work out.