MD11pilot

Chapter 11 complete, all carronades assembled and rigged (I didn't rush Joe).  Except for the repetition rigging the cannons wasn’t as bad as I had anticipated. Using the hooks from Syren help a lot.  If I had to make all the hooks and drill them into the blocks as described in the manual I don’t think I’d be a happy camper plus they look a lot better than any hook I would have made.   I also did not seize the line to the blocks or strop them as you would normally do.  I did this first to keep my sanity and secondly because there wasn’t enough space between the outhaul tackle eye bolts for the blocks plus the hooks plus all the seizing.  I just used a simple overhand knot to tie the hook to the line that I wrapped around and glued (CA) to the block and a modified slip knot to tie the rigging line to the block.  All the rope coils were made off the ship and glued in place.
 

Eight down eight to go!
Finished rigging the eight port side carronades which was pretty straight forward with just a lot of repetition.  The Syren company hooks worked out well and I followed Brian’s (GuntherMT) advice to thread the hooks before cutting them off the sprue. I’m not sure if this is proper but I decided to run the outhaul lines underneath the  gun tackle lines for a couple of reasons.  One, I thought the ropes would have a more natural looking droop leaving the block and two, I didn’t want to obscure the gun tackle ropes with the outhauls going over the top of them (personal preference).
 

After making a number of blocks with hooks for the carronade tackles I decided to make up a couple tackles to ensure they were going to work.  I am using the kit supplied 3/32” blocks with Chuck’s 3mm hooks from Syren.   I’m glad I did this because I discovered a slight problem.  I found that I positioned the upper sled too far forward on the lower sled which made the outhaul tackle very tight.  The upper sled was originally positioned that far forward so the barrel of the carronade was slightly beyond the outboard planking of the gun port.
 

 
Not being able to make the tackles any smaller I decided to reposition all the upper sleds farther back on the lower sled.   Using an x-acto chisel blade I carefully pushed it between the two sled parts wiggling it side to side as I pushed.  I’m glad I used white glue to fasten these to pieces together.  I repositioned the upper sleds with the barrel of the cannon just flush with the exterior of the gun port thus giving me a little more room for the outhaul tackle.
 

 
In retrospect I should have positioned the eye bolts for the outhaul tackles on the sled as far back as possible and spread the eye bolts on the bulwarks a little wider to provide as much length as possible for the tackles.
 

Congratulations on the new Syren kit Gundorph!  I'm looking forward to your build.

Congratulations on the new Syren kit Gundorph!  I'm looking forward to your build.

Now that all the pieces are ready I started to install them.  Started with the swivel brackets for the carronades which I lined up by eye and the installation was pretty straight forward.   Then the pin rails were installed followed by the cleats. After all these pieces were installed I gave the entire inward bulwarks another coat of paint.
 
 
 
To help position the eye bolts around the gun ports I cut out the portion of the drawing showing their location to make a little template.  The template was placed at each port and a tick mark was made for drilling the holes.  The split rings were made from 28 gage wire wrapped around a T-pin with a diameter of about 1.3 mm. After putting the rings on the eye bolts I soldered the gap using silver solder.  Used a piece of drywall for the soldering board.
 

 
Eye bolts and belaying pins in place.  I used the brass belaying pins that came with the kit and blackened them prior to installing them.
 

Welcome to the Syren club Gundorph! I'm looking forward to following your progress.

Anything designed by Chuck! He makes you feel that anything is possible.

And so I ordered the Syren... What a great day... 

Hi all.
 
Yup, another Syren.  It's popular for good reason - a quality kit, Chuck's detailed instruction set, lots of Forum support, and it's a gorgeous little ship.
 
This is my first ship model.  Yes, I know, it's too ambitious for a first build.  But I've been a hobbyist, woodworker, do-it-your-selfer all my life so I thought I'd dive into the deep end.  If I want to learn the entire skill set needed for my ultimate dream boat, the Surprise, then I need to practice on a ship that has all the same elements.
Feel free to chime in if you see me heading in the wrong direction.  I don't plan to stray from Chucks practicum, so hopefully I wont make any irreparable errors.
 
While waiting for the Syren to arrive, I set up shop in the basement using an old computer hutch as my work station.  Gathered all my hobby tools and purchased a few more.  Found some great ideas for planking clips on other folks logs, so I made some of those too.
 
The kit arrived in fine shape - good packaging by Model Expo.
Initial impressions very good.  The hardware kit is very complete.  Glad to see the bags of blocks/deadeyes - thought I was going to have to make all of 'em.  Back in the day, I built RC airplanes just when laser cutting was coming on the scene.  It has come a long way.  The laser cut parts in this kit are very precise and crisp.
 
So after a cursory inventory of all the included parts and a day of reading through the manual it's finally time to start making dust......
 
Eric
 

I love building logs that show the actual techniques and tools used to perform difficult operations instead of just the final outcome. Thanks for the great ideas and nicely done!

I love building logs that show the actual techniques and tools used to perform difficult operations instead of just the final outcome. Thanks for the great ideas and nicely done!

I love building logs that show the actual techniques and tools used to perform difficult operations instead of just the final outcome. Thanks for the great ideas and nicely done!

Head timbers, the little pieces of wood placed between the head rails,   !  These little pieces almost cause me to put this ship on the shelf.  After making a dozen or so pieces that went to scrap heap I finally came up with a solution that worked for me.  For my first few failed attempts I tried to make the pieces fit perfectly between the rails.  I found, however, that with these pieces being so small and having more angles than my crown molding, just a little too much sanding and the whole piece was no good.  What I finally did was to cut and sand the pieces to a rough shape that fit between the rails.  Next I glued the pieces in position using white glue to give me time to move them around.  Once the glue was set I did the final shaping of the pieces in place.  I did one set of head timbers at a time and tried to position them as shown in the manual.  Since I needed to sand the pieces in place I did not apply any stain or finish to them until after they were all installed. One big help in understanding how these pieces were placed, and I'd like to thank him for it, was a sketch made by Thomas (Gahm).  http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/465-us-brig-syren-by-gahm-model-shipways/?p=185267.  Great help Thomas, thanks.
 
 
Starboard side finished
 
 
Port side in place, not sanded
 
 
Port side sanded

 
 To sand the pieces in place I didn’t make such elaborate sanding sticks as Thomas did but cut up an emery board to make some custom sanding shapes.
 

 
Since I was pleased with the way the head timbers came out I figured I’d keep going and finish the top rails.  These pieces were done as described in the manual and were somewhat anticlimactic after the other rails and head timbers, but I’m not complaining.
 
 
 
 
 
The bumpkins were also made but not installed at this time for two reasons.  One, after reading Chuck’s original build log for the Syren, he recommended leaving them off until after rigging the gammoning for the bowsprit and secondly, I’m not exactly sure where these pieces are mounted to the hull.  I'm thinking that end of the bumpkin goes below the sheer stake and aft of the lower eye bolt that's mounted to the hull.  If anyone can enlighten me I’d appreciate it.
 
 
 
 
 
 

I painted above the waterline, actually going about 1/8" below the line to make sure there were no uncovered areas when the coppering reached this area.
 
I was cheap and used regular masking tape.  I tried my best to get good adherence with the tape but still had some bleeding under the tape.  That's not a big deal on the hull where it will be covered with copper, but it's a really big deal when it bleeds on to the planking around the gun ports.  That ended up costing me extra time doing extra sanding.  I've read about good results using Tamiya masking tape on other building logs.  Probably a good investment.
 
And that brings me up to date.
 
 

I had a request to document my method of stropping the single block to include the tackle rope, so this post is a pictorial step-by-step of how I do that.
 
The materials.  I am using Syren 5/32" Pearwood single blocks, Syren 3mm hooks, some generic tan thread I found that is very thin for seizing, .008" Syren brown rope for the stropping, and .012" Syren tan rope for the tackle line.

 
I cut about 8" of .012" line for the tackle rope, this leaves me with about an inch or so left over after creating the rope coils on deck and an extra inch or so for the block end to make it easier to work with while seizing.
 
I cut 6" or so of thread for the seizing to give me plenty to work with.  If you leave it too short it can be hard to grab while wrapping the seizing, and it's thread, the spool is something silly like 300 yards long, I'll never run out and if I do it's cheap.
 
For the same reason (ease of working) I cut 5" or so of the brown rope, even though less than an inch is actually used in the strop.
 
1) I put the single block into a clamp that I secured in my vise, and then tape down the tackle rope to the clamp across the base of the block.  Before I tape the rope, I apply a very tiny dab of CA glue to the base of the block where the rope will cross it.  I use the tip of a steel X-acto punch tool to apply the glue from a drop on a piece of tape.

 
2) I thread the stropping rope through one of the hooks and tie a single knot in the rope *before I cut the hook free from the sprue*!!  I lost about half the hooks I tried to thread to the floor when I was trying to hold these tiny hooks and thread them when cutting them free first.  Once I have a hook tied to the approximate middle of the brown rope, I soak about 1" or so on either side of the hook in CA glue (from the same drop on the tape I used above).

 
3) I don't really know how to capture a photo 'in progress' of the next step, but I'll try to describe it.  Take the hook on the rope and put it in behind the block, centering the hook on the top of the block.  Pull the rope down both sides of the block, cross them across the bottom of the block where the tackle rope is, and then continue up the other side of the block and then back across the top where the hook is.  This will give you a double rope strop all the way around the block.  Continue back down to the base, and then hold them steady for 30 seconds or so to let the CA take a good set.  If the ropes are not even on the sides of the blocks, it is easy at this point to use the back edge of an X-Acto blade to push them into place.  You can add glue at this point if needed, or in the next step.

 
4) Remove the block from the clamp.  At this point if everything is looking good, you can trim the rope at the top shoulders of the block.  If you need to adjust things, it's pretty easy with either the X-Acto blade or a very small set of pliers or whatever tool works to prod the rope into place.  Add another dab of glue if anything comes loose and squeeze it into position with the pliers.  

 
5) Using small flat blade pliers I then squeeze the tackle rope into shape at the base of the block.  It will be stiff because of the CA.  I also use the pliers to flatten down the ends of the trimmed stropping ropes, adding a tiny dab of CA if needed to get rid of the cut ends.

 
6) Put the stropped block back into the clamp, but this time clamp in the seizing thread with an inch or more going past the block.

 
7) To seize the tackle rope, form a loop with the seizing thread, with the top coming back up to the clamp.  Leave the loop large enough to be able to thread the other end back through it, which is why I cut this thread longish.  Take the top of the thread and while holding everything else in your left hand (or right hand if you are one of 'those' people), and wrap the thread around itself, starting at the block and working away from it.  This part takes practice to make it work, as you really can't watch it, as it's all happening between your holding fingers to keep a tight seizing.  I use only about 5 wraps on these tiny blocks or the seizing looks way too big.  Once you have 5 wraps, take the loose end, and thread it through the loop between your fingers, and pull it firmly until it goes through your fingers so that it's tight.  Bent nose tweezers can be helpful for this.

 
8) Now remove the assembly from the clamp, but keep holding everything with your left hand.  Using your other hand, grab the end of the thread that was clamped with the block, and start pulling it.  This will pull the loop closed between your fingers.  Feel for the loop to close up against the seizing, and then pull the back of the thread tight again.  Now you can stop holding with your left hand, and see how the seizing looks.  If needed, slide it up closer to the block now, and play with the bottom thread to tighten up the seizing coils.  Then finally, pull the top thread firmly until it completely pulls the loop inside of the seizing.  You should end up with something like this (the practice part is important here, it took me doing a bunch of these before they didn't look a total mess).  Now apply dabs of CA glue to the three points that will be trimmed - both ends of the seizing, and the extra tail on the tackle rope.  Trim them off with nippers or nail clippers or whatever you have that will trim very close.

 
9) Dab a bit of CA on the trimmed ends, and using the flat nose pliers, crimp them to make them blend into the overall seizing.  I use a very fine Xuron needle nose plier for this.  No substitute for good quality tools I've learned. I get more use out of a single $25 plier than a full set of pliers from Lowe's that are cheap.

 
10) It's done!

 
Hope others can find this helpful, it's a system that works well for me, when other systems that I've read and tried just didn't seem to click for me.

Looking good Eric.... keep it going. 

Eric, just rediscovered your build, I'm glad you were able to start again.  Your planking looks terrific.

Been out of town a lot lately so the build is progressing at a snails pace.  Before I left I was able to finish the stern framing.  Seems like a simple step, but had it's own little challenges.  Getting those gun port sills and lintels level fore-aft as well as side to side on the steeply sloping stern frames was tricky.  Plus, the lintels are not directly over the sills, so getting the required spacing was an unexpected problem.  I clamped a piece of wood across the back of the stern level with the sills which allowed me to use those gun port spacers I made earlier.
 

 
Then it was off to work......
Had a nice layover in San Francisco.  I always stop by the Balclutha.  It's a giant iron monstrosity of a sailing ship but still fun to look at.  I spent a lot more time staring at the rigging now that I'm into this hobby.
 
And who could go to San Fran without getting some seafood and sour-dough bread.  It's even better to have them at the same time!
 


 
Back home after a couple weeks.  Time to get to work. 
Next step is to establish the proper line for the uppermost wale plank.  I first pinned a batten following the reference marks on the bulkheads.  Since I'm new to this and have very little personal opinion on how things "should" look I could find no reason to stray from that line.  It looked pretty good to me.  So the wale planks went on, and I got to work on the gun port planking. 
Chuck makes a couple of statements in the instructions about each plank being a little project, and if you're not satisfied with a plank, throw it out and try again.  Now I know what he means.  Each plank on the second row will usually touch four or five gun or sweep ports.  Cutting the notches is precision work and if you mess up one of the notches, the whole plank is ruined.  One of those first planks took me five attempts.  I almost threw the whole damn model in the trash.  But you do get better, quicker, and more precise on each plank.  So, If you're a newbie like me, have faith and do NOT throw the model out the window.  For no particular reason I started on the starboard side.  I should do all my "firsts" on this side -- planking, coppering, rigging, etc.  I have a feeling this ship is going to have one side that looks much better than the other!
 

 
Starboard gun port planking on and a light first sanding.
 

 
Port side planking in progress.  I expect it will go much quicker.

I painted above the waterline, actually going about 1/8" below the line to make sure there were no uncovered areas when the coppering reached this area.
 
I was cheap and used regular masking tape.  I tried my best to get good adherence with the tape but still had some bleeding under the tape.  That's not a big deal on the hull where it will be covered with copper, but it's a really big deal when it bleeds on to the planking around the gun ports.  That ended up costing me extra time doing extra sanding.  I've read about good results using Tamiya masking tape on other building logs.  Probably a good investment.
 
And that brings me up to date.
 
 

Hey Augie, after returning from my sabbatical, I spent a pleasurable hour this morning catching up on your new (at least new to me) project.  You've been a busy boy!!
As always, nicely done.  I look forward to following along for the rest of the project and gaining inspiration and knowledge from your comprehensive building log.

Hey Augie, after returning from my sabbatical, I spent a pleasurable hour this morning catching up on your new (at least new to me) project.  You've been a busy boy!!
As always, nicely done.  I look forward to following along for the rest of the project and gaining inspiration and knowledge from your comprehensive building log.

Hey Augie, after returning from my sabbatical, I spent a pleasurable hour this morning catching up on your new (at least new to me) project.  You've been a busy boy!!
As always, nicely done.  I look forward to following along for the rest of the project and gaining inspiration and knowledge from your comprehensive building log.

Hey Augie, after returning from my sabbatical, I spent a pleasurable hour this morning catching up on your new (at least new to me) project.  You've been a busy boy!!
As always, nicely done.  I look forward to following along for the rest of the project and gaining inspiration and knowledge from your comprehensive building log.

Local hobby store may have them.  Model Expo and MicroMark have them in sets.  Not really expensive.  They are generally used with a smaller pin vise as they won't take much force.