Justin P.

Wow. I sure wish I could be a fly on the wall in your workshop. Just wonderful skill. That longboat is a thing in and of itself.

As I recall the secretary will send you an email when it is time to renew.

Triton Hull part II: Not much technically to update other than to say Ive finally finished reframing the hull. Lots learned, so in the end Im happy to have gone through with it. I did a few things differently which helped tremendously in time, cushion and level of frustration. Namely, I waited to take down the material to the plan lines until after I had the entire frame built and I stopped trying to make treenails of the same diameter as the hole drilled, fit. Taking them down one step made for a much better fit and a lot fewer broken pieces. Roughly faired, with keelson ready to go.

Thanks Patrick: I should have known UPDATES It feels like ages since Ive last posted on my Syren progress. Aside from actually working on the model itself Ive been doing some background on miniature carving and sculpting to get some headway on the transom decorative work, and the figurehead. Reviewing Chucks stuff here, as well as reading Bill Short's "Carving Ornamentation for Ship Models," both of which I found helpful. Work is returning as COVID restrictions ease, so time is slipping away sadly.. back to my 2.5 hour commute and lots of reading time. I think Ill have a crack at both methods suggested in the Syren instructions. Ive some Sculpy experience so Ill take a crack at that before trying the carving. I built a dummy stem and made some transom stencils to practice on... Ill update as things move forward.

As said above, depends entirely on period. Not every pintle and gudgeon was made of iron and I think it reasonable to say that new sheathing on a ship would have been shiny (for a time at least). Otherwise, my knowledge on the subject is not comprehensive, but based on the MANY HOURS of bright work duty I was assigned as a young naval serviceman I can tell you Naval officers invariably like their metal bright and polished 😏 https://ussconstitutionmuseum.org/2016/11/18/new-copper-sheathing-2/

I agree. It looks great. Clean too!

Perhaps looking into a feather board mod might help? I too have trouble occasionally making cuts and a lot of the time the answer comes down to how Im holding/supporting the wood, blade height choice and feed speed. Many of the videos online about doing similar things on full size table saws have directly applicable tips that can be helpful to understand the mechanics of what you are asking your tool to do.

Thats a lot of knots to tie! Take breaks and rest your eyes often!

Me too. All the time Ive had is slipping away as we ease out of COVID restrictions. I guess there was a silver lining in all this.

It really is looking wonderful!

One step forward... one giant leap back. Geez.... where do I even begin. Last week I started fairing a bit, having completed most of the major hull construction. Needless to say the big lesson here is that fairing hardwoods is not the same as fairing basswood or plywood bulkheads. No big deal, just sand and sand and sand... takes time. However - one must always watch the backstroke. Somehow... and Im not entirely clear on how this happened... I messed up. I hope the problem is obvious in the photos... My theory is that I let my mind wander a bit too much while I was sanding, and just didn't pay enough attention to how my downstroke was rounding out. A phenomenon that carried on far too long...ha. Sadly, I cant even recall what I was so busy thinking about. There were seven complete stages of grief, Ill spare you all the grisly details but will share that one of my daughters asked that night at dinner "So... what happened in the garage earlier Poppa? - It didn't sound great." --- Its been almost a complete week since this happened. I can say that I honestly tried to find a way to recover. In the end I settled on rebuilding that "C" frame, hoping that I could simple fair back the new frame into the existing shape of the hull and everything would be fine. And I did remake that frame - and this would have been a fine solution - but in my haste to remove the offending frame, I damaged the keel. This being the display "face" of the whole model it was all just too much for me to accept. As with any build we accumulate a list of "we'll do it differently, and better next time" items. My list, reached the threshold with these last two errors. The keel had a few issues, and the frames have had a running list of their own. My threshold for acceptability has been reached. So.. Im starting over. Ill remake all the frames and though Ive remade the keel about 4 times, Im going to do it again. While some might argue that this is a case of perfect being the enemy of good - for me, its a case of making sure the lessons are learned. Learning was the whole point of this build as I understand it, so as painful as it is - Im retiring this hull to the boneyard. Not to mention that if ever there was an argument for rookies NOT to buy a bunch of boxwood this is it ;). Im thankful I stuck with domestics as the hit on my wallet is far less than it could be. Precision takes time, and even when I think Ive learned the lesson to slow down, I learn yet again that I must slow even more - to think everything out more than twice. To try and envision how each decision will impact the next three steps and never let my mind wander too much! Its times like these that I have to remember to tip my hat to the Antscherls, Herberts, Passaros, and Tostis out there whose skill and precision likely didn't come overnight. I like to think their bone pile is much higher than my own ;). Not to mention those unpublished folks here on MSW whose work has me always wanting to do better, and whose contributions teach me something new almost every day - there are just too many to name.

Hull details cont... After finishing out the gunport lids on the port and starboard side I started in on the stern port lids, the ships name and other smaller details. The first thing was the lettering. I cant recall exactly who first described the method I used, but it always stuck with me as the most fool proof approach. I took a very thin piece of basswood and painted it hull black, after which I cut it to fit the appropriate area on the transom. Then after painting the lettering white and marking up the spacing best I could, mounted the letters to the plank. Then all that was needed was to insert the plank. After that I set about putting the stern port lids together and got them mounted. Im still happy with leaving the rabbet area unpainted on these lids. This was followed by the ladder, fenders and main and fore channels. Fairly straightforward work, but it took time and this weekend was competing with the obligatory spring yard work and clean-up so I only got the starboard side completed. Still have sheaves to do, quarter badges and stern decorative work. All of which Im dreading and procrastinating on big time... lots of planning for the badges and stern work but nothing yet to really write home about.

Maybe I am misunderstanding, but presuming you know the diameter of the rope used on the real vessel you could simply use a scale calculator like this one: here.

Looking wonderful! I bet those chain plate assemblies are bit of a pain!

I actually picked my up on impulse at my local hardware store but looking at the Incra website, it looks like I have the 300mm metric model: here.

Apologies. For those in the US, perhaps one demerit would be the cost of shipping/availability in that market. I thought it might be appropriate to to suggest alternative options or similar products available in their own region. I don’t mind you want to remove my earlier post.

@BobG, Ive gotten a very similar tool from Micromark or maybe Model Expo, along with a cutting guide rail that works extremely well. These are great saws, I have no doubt the ones featured here are just as good. But if you are looking for something stateside you might one of these: https://www.micromark.com/Ultra-Fine-Saw-Blade-pack-of-5?gclid=Cj0KCQiApsiBBhCKARIsAN8o_4hyFJsrsKjKG9Q9xck8HO-7mAdTR8jmgSkTWpzvVOs8xPeo5ciWUaMaAiLZEALw_wcB

Gunport Lids continued... I enjoyed this bit of the build, and though Ive definitely had tighter fits in the past, Im ultimately happy with how these turned out (for now). If it turns out I cant stand the odd gap on the forward and aft ports I might redo them... I deviated a bit from the plan here only in that when I filed down the rabbet around the end edges I decided I did not like them completely painted so I left this and just stained them to match. Its a subtle difference from what is called for in the instructions but I liked the end result. Both starboard and port lids are complete now... on to those pesky sheaves. A note on rulers... For anyone who likes a good measuring tool, I just picked this up on impulse the other day and man do I like it! It has tiny little holes throughout and make transferring a measurement to wood extremely accurate. Using a .2 drafting pencil and this thing has change my life. Making a mark is so much more accurate and repeatable, something Ive struggled with.

Framing Complete. Happy to come to the end of these building steps. Ive built all the frames, cleaned them up, and drilled and installed all the treenails. I was very please with how this turned out, as the Cherry provided a nice contrast to the maple and should balance out with the other Cherry components I plan to make. Today I started installing the frames onto the keel, cut out some spaces and enjoyed watching the hull come together. I used a jig for this process similar to those which others have used and is similar to what we all use to raise and square up bulkheads on kit builds. With each my process was to glue (PVA) the frame in place, using the jig to square up the center lines and frame. I then drilled down through the flour and treenailed the frame to the keel. I use this 3M double sided tape to hold the keel in place. It is incredibly strong, but comes off really cleanly if not left too long. Not seen in the above photo is my upright jig part. The whole thing is very rigid now, and surprisingly balanced and square. Im very pleased. Ive left the keelson area deliberately a bit rough so I can do the final fit with everything in place. Keelson here just set in place, I still need to finish filing that groove to get a nice fit.

I think they were worth it for me, I knew I wouldn't have fun making the things. In the end I think I would do a few things differently if I were to do those plates again, but otherwise IM happy with them.

Nice job.

All I'm saying is that while its fair to "cut them some slack" it is also fair to have basic expectations, and to be vocal if those expectations are not met. I personally had a good experience buying from them, and would do so again. That said, having read the entirety of posts on the subject, I don't think anyone who has a complaint is being unfair.

Agreed. Though I think it is important for people to keep posting their experiences here - especially for a small business. Though a bit odd, the transactions are more or less positive. I, for one, would never have ordered from Sea Watch if I hadn't been able to read the voluminous reports of folks eventually getting their books. Amazon they aint, sure - but trinkets these are not. My order was well over a $500 value that I more less had to go into on blind faith alone (no receipt, no email, no pay merchant info - nothing to account for a substantial drop in my bank account). I think it is totally fair that folks would expect some form of acknowledgement or tracking (it is the law afterall), and be either irritated or worried after a period of time has passed with nothing to go on. As well - this transaction issue and shipping delay has been around for well on three years. Some may find it difficult to accept this as a temporary hiccup. Having read this thread prior to my order, I was well prepared to wait two months - I was pleasantly surprised when my box turned up yesterday - after only 8 days. I think it is important for other potential buyers to see it working out, and in some cases quite quickly. These titles are clearly worth the wait and the money.

Order Feb 11, received Feb 19. Like everyone else, no email confirmation or acknowledgement of any kind (very uncommon). Though I’m happy with my order. Edit: Just a note here that I discovered a random sheet inserted loosely in the box that I almost tossed with the box packaging. I still don’t know which title this is supposed to come with but very odd that it’s just thrown in the box. I could have very easily thrown it away. Keep an eye out for it if you are ordering Speedwell or the Hayling Hoy titles.

Looks great, are you using two layers or did you file down the edges? You got a very clean line.