Jack12477

I have enjoyed the limited rigging on this project and haven't found it too difficult or challenging.  I think the pictures are self explanatory.  The only thing left to do is to rig the cannon door and install the tools then I'm pretty much complete.
 

I got my Rope Rocket last week and could not wait for the videos to become available.  My previous ropewalk was a bobbin-type and I literally melted the plastic gears running it too fast.  Even without the videos, it took me only a few minutes to make beautiful three strand right hand laid rope.  (I have not tried left hand laid yet.)  I have always found that the most difficult rope to make is at the extremes of thread size but I had no problems using either the included #50 crochet thread, #100 or #10.

Thats just as good for me....but really, its kinda fun if you dont have to make 5,000 feet per week. 
 
Chuck

I pulled the pre-cut pieces off the formers this morning, and they bent very nicely to the hull. After pondering the not insignificant program of shaping a curved blank, I think I will have more success with the original plan of bending pre-cut pieces. This allows me to shape tight fitting joinery while pieces are still flat, then bend.
 
There was a little more spring-back on the these pieces that I had previously boiled, compared to the blank I bent the other day that had not been steamed or boiled before. So the boiling did seem to affect the wood before the steaming. Only steaming from now on..
 
Mark

Thanks, Michael. I always appreciate your keen eye and ideas for tooling.
 
Now I have successfully bent a piece, I need to think how I am going to shape it. I am thinking about attaching it to a backing piece that would allow me to clamp it in a vise, as shown in the drawing. Unless someone has a simpler idea.
 
Just for fun, I steamed the original pre-cut pieces that I previously boiled and could not get to the right curvature. They appear to have bent to the former after steaming, as seen in the last photo, and we will see how much spring-back I get tomorrow morning.
 
This is an impromptu experiment in the advantages and disadvantages of cutting and then bending, or vise versa...
 
Mark

Thanks, druxey and Mark, I found a little guidance in the book, The Complete Manual of Wood Bending, by Lon Schleining. It recommended forming a curve around a male form only, so the clamps can progressively and smoothly pull the wood up to the curve. My earlier former tried to capture between two halves, and it did not work nearly as well.
 
Mark, the holes in the PVC pipe are for a row of ¼" diameter dowels 1" O.C., which hold the steaming wood out of the condensed water in the bottom of the tube. The entire tube slants to a drain hole at the end opposite the opening, for getting rid of this water. This all came with the instructions I got with the steamer unit, which I found at Woodcraft a few years ago. There are also a number of instructions online, which would be more reliable than mine.
 
I used a rag stuffed in the opening, fearful of creating a bomb with a tight fitting on both ends. The thermometer only got up to 115 degrees, while I was expecting more; but it seems to have worked. I used the formula of 1 hour per inch of wood, multiplied by 2 for kiln dried wood. Since my wale planks are ⅛", this was ⅛ hour times 2 or 15 minutes. It took about 15 minutes from cold to 115 degrees (I put the wood in the cold tube, before heating up), and then another 15 minutes or 30 minutes altogether from beginning to end. I let it dry overnight in the forms, and hit it with a hair dryer the next day just in case.
 
Slow, but I only have to form curved planks from the wales up to the point where the hull flairs out for the catsheads. I am retired, plenty of time! ;-)
I might make a few more formers based on the first, using a piloted trimming bit in the router table. then I could steam and clamp a number in the same session.
 
Best wishes,
 
Mark
 
 
 
 

After a weekend of helping the Admiral at her Bird Festival Show selling her artwork as grunt labor I am now back to work. I am working back and forth between the bow and stern mooring decks along with the foremast. These parts are a combination of brass and wood materials as appropriate. Here is a picture of the foremast showing parts prior to painting and adding the signal lights. The wood blocks are flood lights that light up the area in front of the bow. The large horn id the fog horn, the smaller facing forward id the ship's bell and the rear facing is the loud speaker for bridge commands to the decks. 
 

 
Here is an in progress bow mooring deck with the winches in place with white ropes and yellow caution painted areas. Here you can see the lights have been added and lenses painted white. I still have to add the rope guides at the openings as well as the platform between the two anchor winches.
 

 
Now back to more fittings.
 
   

Chuck - yep she’s a fun build but only just getting going you know.
 
Sam - most of the slots needed some small adjustment to get just perfect. I have not used any sealer so far as I haven’t decided between WOP or an oil finish like Tung/Watcos.
 
ben

Lookin good.    You framed up the entire barge very quickly,  I hope you are having fun with it and find it interesting to build.  

Here is the keel glued onto the frames in preparation for fairing.
 
Note how on the forward frames, the floors face forward and on the aft they face aft as per the plans.
 
The build boards were taped together with gorilla tape.
 
ben

'Good Samaritan'  escorting Trawler picks up enemy aircrew from downed Hienkel 111
Jim

Chuck, my preference leans toward the Dutch Boeier and the American Chebacco equally.  I'm more interested in models of boats that are unusual and not offered by the major model kit companies.  Personally I do not have a lot of interest in building cross sections altho I do admire them, just not too interested in building one. I also prefer the smaller boats because I am running out of display space.

That is Dan's baby....as soon as he finishes up what he is working on, I am hoping he will get right back to it.   I am in no rush and I certainly dont wont him to rush.  Basically I laser cut the parts he draws up after we talk about the design and he continues to build his prototype.  Kind of nice actually to have someone else creating a Syren project.  But whenever he gets back to it I am sure he will start a build log.
 
Chuck

Great news glad she is doing better.  While I voted wholeheartedly for the cross section I am also interested in the Chebacco as well.  It looks like an interesting project.

Chuck and family,
  Very glad to hear grandma will be home soon. Best wishes to her, you, and the whole family.
 
Pythagoras (Tom)

On a separate note.   My store will be opening hopefully again.  Just wanted to give everyone a heads up.   Grandma is coming home from the hospital today.  I am shooting for tomorrow to re-open the store but depending on how things go once she comes home....at the latest it will be early Thursday morning.  Thank you all for your patience.  I learned from the last time that this was the best way to handle the situation and closing down for a few days was what enabled me to keep my sanity throughout it all.   
 
I will get organized and see what I have to start making tomorrow as I know my inventory must be a wreck.  Havent stepped into the shop much since last week.  So if you see a lot of stuff out of stock....I am going to get right on it.  But it will take some time to catch up once I get the sweatshop up and running again.
 
Thanks again
 
Chuck

Hi Lawrence, haven't been up to much lately - awaiting some ice on the river so we can bring the antique ice yachts out and do some sailing.  Next build is still being debated; I've been toying with the idea of scratch building a scale model of one of our club's ice yachts. Been waiting for them to come out of storage and get set up on the ice so I can get measurements.  Otherwise it will either be the Constellation or the Picket Boat.

But not to worry...I will be building the Boeier and Chebacco right after the cross section is completed.  Because I agree with you 100%

I would like to keep the poll going but allow me to explain why I started this a bit more in detail.   I appreciate the responses very much. They were indeed extremely helpful.
 
Like many you who have several kits in the closet and pretty much know what you will be building in the future,  I have known for a while that three subjects are what was in my closet so-to-speak.  Regardless of how commercially viable any of these were, I was pretty sure that these were projects I was going to build.  The real purpose of the poll was to help establish the order in which I was going to develop and build them.  Should any of the choices I was excited about been duds with absolutely no interest from the ship model community, I would have still built it.  I would have just left it for later and not commercialized it.  
 
I am happy to say that it looks like there is sufficient interest in all three.  That is good for me.   And based on the results,  it looks like the cross section is the most popular commercially.  Since my current kit/products fund the next projects on my list to bring to market,  it makes sense for me to start there.  So I am talking with Greg Herbert and David Antscherl right now so I can started on developing the plans for the cross section.  I will do so as I build the prototype for the Winchelsea.  But yes the Boeier and Chebacco will be brought to market as well.  I will just be starting with the cross section.  I am so happy that there is actually interest in the later two.  
 
Thanks and keep the votes coming as right now it looks like the boeier and chebacco are neck and neck for the number two slot.
 
Chuck

Chuck, my preference leans toward the Dutch Boeier and the American Chebacco equally.  I'm more interested in models of boats that are unusual and not offered by the major model kit companies.  Personally I do not have a lot of interest in building cross sections altho I do admire them, just not too interested in building one. I also prefer the smaller boats because I am running out of display space.

Not much to report tonight. But what little I did get done made my old hands feel like I had done a full days work. I can hardly wait for the day when I have a ship with a couple of hundred of these to do.
 

All of the blocks are stropped and rigged. I will clean them up and install them tomorrow.
 
That's it for tonight.

I have been remiss in my model building for the past couple years, but I can still dream.  I voted for the Pegasus cross section but the Dutch Boeier is a close second.

I voted for the Boeier, with the Chebacco a close second.  I’m not all that interested in cross sections, though the pictures you posted are beautiful - and it would look nice next to Swan class models a bunch of us are building.
 
At 1/4 scale, how long is the Boeier?  I’d be interested in a larger scale model if there was a lot of interesting detail that could be added.
 
Also wanted to add my voice to those commending you for looking at novel subjects.  These are all quite interesting and different.

Chuck, my preference leans toward the Dutch Boeier and the American Chebacco equally.  I'm more interested in models of boats that are unusual and not offered by the major model kit companies.  Personally I do not have a lot of interest in building cross sections altho I do admire them, just not too interested in building one. I also prefer the smaller boats because I am running out of display space.

Chuck, my preference leans toward the Dutch Boeier and the American Chebacco equally.  I'm more interested in models of boats that are unusual and not offered by the major model kit companies.  Personally I do not have a lot of interest in building cross sections altho I do admire them, just not too interested in building one. I also prefer the smaller boats because I am running out of display space.