GuntherMT

Just a bit of progress from this weekend and this evening, as I was working on moving lots of stored stuff (10 years worth of storage room accumulation) in preparation for a new hobby room.
 
I had tapered the gaffs and booms, and glued the jaws?, clamped them, and left them to dry on Saturday.  I completed the boom shaping yesterday, and then tonight I shaped the gaffs, and rigged all 4 pieces.
 
These display an interesting 'history' of my block stropping, and I'm leaving them as is just for my own interest.  First, the double blocks were stropped with the kit's copper wire to the eyebolts per the instructions.  Second, after I got the blackened wire, the single blocks on the booms were stropped with the blackened wire in place of the bare copper.  Third, tonight I read about the 'figure eight' rope stropping technique for attaching blocks to yards, and used that technique for the 6 single blocks attached to the gaffs.  The rope system is really nice, and fast, and looks pretty good too!
 
Here are the completed pieces before varnishing.
 

 
And now, complete and drying.
 

 
 

Here are some photos of the wales.  Most of the job was straightforward, particularly since the sweep of the hull planks was correct, so the wales just needed to follow the planking.  Another good reason to have scratched the bulwarks.  
 

 
The compound curves at the front meant spiling planks for the wales, just as for the hull planks.  I used scarf joints for the wales though, and then scribed joints at regular intervals along the rest of each wale.
 

 
The rear of the wales as they hit the quarter gallery framing.
 

 
Next up was the quarter galleries, which were...difficult.

Thanks Daniel shipmate.
 
Ok unshipped the guns from this deck(middle) added wood dowls to the base from Keiths suggestion for secure fitting.
 
Drilled and glued inplace.
 
Next its a test fit of the upper deck, all seems well.



still some work on the stern, but want to finish up to the quarterdeck before finishing the outer hull properly.

Atmospheric view.
 
Having a break for my trip to the US, so more soon folks.

foxy

Hi Mates,
 
Continuing with the bow anchor cathead details, now turning to their needed kevels.
 
It turns out that I had built and installed a second pair that was at one time attached to the quarter-deck, turns out that this was incorrect (see first two pics).
 
 An early Vasa museum plans set (1980) showed two sets per side at that location, as did Landsröm. A second plan set dated 1981 had one set removed. I communicated with Fred Hocker, who indicated that the ’81 set had been corrected.
 
So the two kevels were just lying around, how convenient; shortened them for use at the bow railing, and just added a framing bit for attaching.
 
After gluing, then drilled small holes and inserted black fishing filament to simulate the needed nails.
 
The brilliant fishing line idea is not mine but belongs to one of our MSW members; apologetically I don’t remember whom (I did post a notation on his build log at the time of seeing his very clever idea)
 
Inserted the lines from the rear and left the front ends just a tad proud to simulate nail heads-sort of J
 
G-S cement is perfect for this task. If there were a bit of glue that travelled through the hole to the front end, after a few moments it can be removed with your thumb nail or tweezers, pulls completely off as would rubber cement. LOVE this glue! It has proved to be so versatile. Ferit thank you Again!! You found this.
 
Hint: I attempted to just “hack of" the front tips of the black filament to adjust them, but the blade snagged them and some resulted in angled cuts. Solution was to actually use the razor blade as a slicer moving the blade as I cut. Worked very nicely allowing for a nice clean flat cut. PS: Exacto type blade not up to the task.
 
--------------------
 
Thanks for your “likes”, dropping in for a look, as well as the very welcome supportive suggestions and comments J
 
Regards, as always
 
Michael

Minor setback on Sunday when I slipped my disc (again), thankfully after a couple of days rest I've been able to resume work on the Victory build, in small sessions.
 
Started planking the quarterdeck, I have been adding a caulking effect to the edges as each plank is fitted.



 
I have also used micro glaze on the quarterdeck screen assembly, which I have dry fitted.


 
 

With the Main Deck glued to the Hull, construction got more interesting as I was able to add more parts: the Engine Room Walls A, the Steam Pipes B, the Boiler Assembly C, and two of the four Wood Piles D.
 

 
Then I added the V-Shaped Stanchions A and the two Boiler Guards B and either side of the Boiler Assembly.
 

 
Next I installed the two remaining Wood Piles A and the two Catwalks B. The Cabin Floor C is seen upside down with the U-shaped Supports attached.
 

 
This next photo shows the Cabin Floor installed over the Wood Piles and the four Cabin Walls attached to the Floor.
 

 
The movable Rudder A was installed prior to cementing the Main Deck to the Hull. The movable Paddle Wheels B, the two Cabin Walls C, the Rear Wall D, and the Upper Wall E were then added.
 

 
Currently I am painting the names on the sides of the Paddle Wheel Walls - a very slow process that I am trying not to rush!
 
 
 
 

I optimized the carronade gun barrel. Image 1 shows the comparison between the prototype (upper barrel) and the final version (lower barrel). The major difference is the beefed up breech ring and an improved blackening process. To build it I use the 18 pounder carronade from Caldercraft, reduce the size of the elevation screw holder, add the 3 pieces shown in image 2, and shape them to the final form. Image 3 shows the mounted barrel with the new elevation screw. The spikes of the screw will be a little longer in the following versions. Also the position of the carronade barrel needs to be better adjusted on the gun carriage. Image 4 shows the carronade in relation to the gun port. It ends up in its upper third, which is not ideal but still acceptable imo.
Well, all that remains to be done now is to build another 15 of these carronades . . .  .
 
Thomas
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 

A little update . . .  just to show a sign of life . I spent some time figuring out how I want to do the carronades. The following 3 pictures show the current state of the prototype. Obvious points of improvement are the elevation screw (in the picture it is really “screwed” up), the wheels need to be a bit smaller, and the holder for the recoil cable on the gun barrel needs to be more substantial. For all of these issues I have ideas how to change them, but so far my chronic lack of modeling time prevented me from doing it.
 
Thomas
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

Thank you very much for your nice compliments and positive feed back. They are greatly appreciated! And Bob, you are absolutely right, it was a "WOW" moment when I realized that I was finished with the head timbers! 
 
Dirk, I am adding a top view and a side view image. I hope this is what you wanted.
 
Thomas
 
 

Top view
 
 

Side view

I finally have my head rails finished.  As this is one of the more challenging assemblies of the Syren build I will summarize in more detail the method I used to make these head rails.
 
The whole assembly was built out of (regular) pear wood as the firmness of the wood facilitates getting clean looking edges and inscribed lines, and especially helps with the making of the tiny head rail timbers. Contrary to Swiss pear regular pear with its yellowish look blends in nicely with the color scheme chosen for my Syren, especially once stained with Golden Oak wood stain (MinWax).
 
Cheeks and rails were all built according to the same method which is demonstrated with the example of one of the middle rails in images 1 – 4. I first used the laser-cut bass wood part from the kit to transfer the correct lines to the pear wood sheet (images 1a and 1b). Then I took the remaining negative shape of the same part, which is left in the kit-provided bass wood sheet when the respective positive part was cut out, as guide to impress and carve the “decoration” lines into the pear wood (images 1c and d). Finally the part was roughly cut out (image 1e).  In the case of the middle rail the part was cut in 2 pieces using the dimensions of the kit provided parts as guide (image 2f). However, to ensure that the head rail timbers would all end up with a concave shape I increased the length of the middle rail piece, which is supposed to run closely along the ship’s hull, by about 2mm. The middle rail was then fitted to the ship’s hull (image 3), the 2 pieces glued together and its shape refined via sanding (image 2g). Finally the knee for the cathead was fitted to the middle rail, the whole piece sanded to its final shape (image 2h) and permanently mounted on the ship’s hull (image 4).
 

Image 1
 
 

Image 2
 
 

Image 3
 
 

Image 4
 
 
That was the easy part  .
 
 
The challenge with making the head rail timbers lies in making the 2 pieces of each timber appear like you are looking at one continuous piece. As demonstrated in image 5 this can be more readily achieved adjusting the timbers like shown on the left side (a)) of the drawing. However, this method implies making tiny pieces with “crooked” angles (image 6). Once mounted these parts need to be adjusted to their final shape. To be able to do so it is very helpful to have easy access to the head rails from the top and the bottom and therefore to mount the ship’s hull upside down when needed. I also made a good number of special sanding sticks (image 7, top) to be able to do the fine sanding required within the head rails with the timbers mounted, and I needed a special wire tool (image 7, bottom) for mounting the head rail timbers, which are closest to the hull. My finest tweezers were too big to get these parts in their correct place.
 

Image 5
 
 

Image 6
 
 

Image 7
 
 
The top rails were built following Chuck’s instructions in the Syren booklet. They did not pose any significant challenges. Images 8 - 10 are different views of the finished head rails.
 
 

Image 8
 
 

Image 9
 

Image 10
 
 

After not posting anything for several weeks here is a brief update about my head rail efforts:
First I ended up not really liking the middle rails shown in the last images, so I finally tore them down. The major reason for that was that the part which was mounted directly on the wall of the ship turned out to be too short and as a consequence the shape of the head timbers would go from concave to convex.  Then I tried to figure out which method of building the head timbers would lead to some decent looking results. I tried the method mentioned by Chuck in the head rail design of the Confederacy as there the head timbers do not consist out of 2 parts each but just one continuous piece. However, the Syren plans do not show any head timber profiles, so that method ended up with too many “degrees of freedom”.  I finally went with the method described in the Syren instructions. With this method one of the challenges consists in generating the perception that each head timber, although constructed out of 2 parts, looks like it is made out of one continuous piece of wood. As I was not quite sure whether I ultimately would get acceptable results I finished middle rail and head timbers just on one side. So the good news is I have finished half of the head timbers. The bad news is I still have to do the other half. 
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

After several weeks of interruption due to traveling I finally resumed work on the head rail of my Syren model.  Upper rails and middle rails are finished, and I started with the head timbers. I am using the method described by Chuck in the instruction book. Building those head timbers is a bit tricky and clearly not my favorite occupation!
Below are different views of the current state of the head rail.
 
Thomas
 

Backboard view
 
 
 

Top view
 
 

Front view
 
 

Starboard view

[My last post may have left you wondering how you were going to get down from the poop deck to the quarter deck.  The answer is with curved stairs.  I have to admit that of all the challenging features on this ship I was most concerned about doing the stairs.  You have three pairs to do and the good news is that they aren't difficult at all, but do require a lot of care and planning.
 
The kit includes trapezoidal shapes which are the steps.  The first step is to cut dowel rods which form the central support. Carefully assemble the steps in a spiral taking care to have the steps all even sized.  You also need to have the top step and bottom steps at a ninety degree angle.  I taped the sections together to try out the spacing and also to make sure the height would be correct.  This is a good shot of how you have to play around to get the spacing correct and spacing problems.  Here I am happy with the height but need to even out the spacing.
 

 
Once you are satisfied with everything, glue the steps to each other and to the dowel.  Then you build the curved walls around the steps.  The  walls are dark walnut on the outside and lighter walnut on the inside and the kit includes a plastic cylinder that you use to build the curves.  Follow the instructions and you won't have any trouble, even if the instructions seem counter intuitive.  You glue the white walnuts strips to the cylinder and then glue the dark strips over the top and let them dry,  I was terrified that I'd end up gluing the whole thing to the cylinder--which theoretically you could do.  Just use enough glue to secure the first layer of walnut strips so they don't move around.  And its a good idea to move the assembly on the cylinder as the glue dries.  Once everything is dry, you cut the assembly to the right size, glue it to the steps and add the decorative strips.  
 

 

 
And then you can install the steps.
 

 
I thought that the end faces of the walls looked a little too much like plywood so I made a stringer to go on the ends of each stair case.  
 
 

I stayed for a few days in Amsterdam, and I recommend the National Maritime Museum (especially the room with navigation instruments).
 

 

 

Next, I performed the second planking.
 
I used this kind of drawing pin to fix plank during PVA drying (the point diameter is smaller than that usual drawing pins):
 

 
and a wood ruler in order to bend planks:
 

 
Before filling and sanding.
 

 

 

 

 

 

Just a bit of progress from this weekend and this evening, as I was working on moving lots of stored stuff (10 years worth of storage room accumulation) in preparation for a new hobby room.
 
I had tapered the gaffs and booms, and glued the jaws?, clamped them, and left them to dry on Saturday.  I completed the boom shaping yesterday, and then tonight I shaped the gaffs, and rigged all 4 pieces.
 
These display an interesting 'history' of my block stropping, and I'm leaving them as is just for my own interest.  First, the double blocks were stropped with the kit's copper wire to the eyebolts per the instructions.  Second, after I got the blackened wire, the single blocks on the booms were stropped with the blackened wire in place of the bare copper.  Third, tonight I read about the 'figure eight' rope stropping technique for attaching blocks to yards, and used that technique for the 6 single blocks attached to the gaffs.  The rope system is really nice, and fast, and looks pretty good too!
 
Here are the completed pieces before varnishing.
 

 
And now, complete and drying.
 

 
 

Finally completed the main deck planking...
 
 Bob R.

I enjoy planking, it's sort of like a jigsaw puzzle with all rectangular pieces and there's no picture. 
 
Here's the puzzle:  I laid out 6 strips of art tape, (same width as the planks) on a piece of glass and fixed them with the strip of gold tape.  The tapes were transferred to the hull (parallel to the keel) and each strip of tape was then laid flat following the contour of the hull.   The views from the bow and stern show the puzzle the best.    

 

 

 
 
 
Just a few more planks to go. 
Here's a quick review on how I made each plank:
Each plank was steamed, edge bent, then shaped to size.  The measurements at each bulkhead was taken, then divided by the number of planks to go.  My goal was +/-0.03mm at each bulkhead, bow and transom. I averaged 45 - 60 minutes shaping each plank, it's a process that just cannot be rushed.    
 
This target measurement here was 3.58, I got 3.57.  The amount of pressure applied on the calipers will change the reading, so I just tried to be consistent with my process of measuring. 

 
This is the port side #17 plank, it just needs to have the top edge beveled and it will be ready to glue. 

 
Port plank #17 glued and partially sanded.

 
Three more planks to go!
 
There's a slight ridge on the port side, on planks 14 and 15.  It's not visible on the bare wood, but I'm thinking it might become visible after the hull is painted.  So I'm going to follow Cap'n'Bob's suggestion, add some two part epoxy on the inside of the hull, just in case the wood gets a bit thin while sanding that ridge.
 
The kit wood for the cockpit flooring is about 12" wide, way out of scale.  So I'm thinking of going with some maple, 3" wide  and staining it to the gray weathered color.   But before that, the mast thwart is too wide, so I need to extend the foredeck a few inches.  It's really kewl to have an actual boat to refer to.  
 
Thanks for stopping by, suggestions are always welcomed!  
 
Dee Dee

Due to the hull shape, a few planks had sever edge bending.  I was doing well, until 'SNAP!' and I broke another plank.  It wasn't going to get better and didn't want to chance breaking any more.  To relieve the edge bending for the remaining planks, the next two planks were undersized from the 6th bulkhead to the transom.  So instead of 4.42mm, the planks tapered down to 3.0mm. 
 
This photo sort of shows how the last two planks were undersized aft of the 6th bulkhead (in the middle with the cracked plank) to ease the edge bending. 
 

I've been traveling for work again and have got a bit behind in posting updates on my progress.  So I'll a couple of updates to keep things straight.
 
 
In hindsight, I'm thinking I should have added balsa fillers on the bow and stern to increase gluing surface.  I dripped in a few layers of PVA glue inside of the bow and transom.  In Floyd's J-Boat Endeavor build log, Cap'n'Bob suggested epoxy the inside of the hull to stiffen the planks, I think this might be a better plan.        
 
I'm using the 'tic / fan' method to plank my coquillier.  I was a bit lax on the first three planks and I paid the price on the eighth plank.  Edge bending was an issue at the 6th bulkhead and the plank snapped on the port side.  To ease the edge bending, the next two planks were undersized aft of the 6th bulkhead.  
 
Here's my fan / tic planking plan.  Need to redo measurements for the remaining 6 planks.  Then, a new plan with 4, 2 and 1 plank.  Again, I was a bit lax with measuring on the first three planks, but after that my goal was <0.05mm variance.  (A sheet of paper = 0.1mm).  
 
  

Again, the obvious is I should have done more prep work back on page one:  Drop the cockpit floor height, build up the mast step, the bow stem, framing for the wells and more.   Oh well, but I'm learning and having fun. 
 
It was a puzzle, trying to figure out what to do first, but slowly I figured it out.
 
After removing the balance of the false deck, I removed most of the 6th bulkhead and the keel between the 6th and 7th bulkhead.  Added outer framing on all four sides.  The mast thwart is 12" wide, that's too wide, so I added an extra 6" of framing and built out the foredeck.  Since the hull is single planked and a few spots are a bit thin, I add some epoxy for strength (OK, I added A LOT of epoxy.....)

 

 
Before the side framing was glued, I cut a notch for the thwart.  

 
This first section of planks will be cut in half, at the thwart and permanently glued, still need to drill a hole for the mast.  Three short planks will be cut and fitted.  In post #2, in the 6th photo, you can see these short planks.  

 
Next up, i made 20 floor planks, only needed 14.  I'll use 3 planks when I cut down the center plank and the other 3 will be for 'just in case', as in just in case if I / when I loose one or two.............
Next, need to make the planks that will fit on each side. 

 
These side pieces were an adventure to make!  These will be permanently glued, which isn't quite right, but that's the way it is.........

 
Finally, all of the floor boards in place! It's a real tight fit and they easily pop out, so will need to reduce each very, very slightly.  
 
 
Before I glue in the end pieces or do anything else, I first need to decide if I should do some painting first. 
This took a month to figure out and make all the pieces, but I'm happy with it and again, I learned a lot!
 
 
As always, thanks for stopping by, I appreciate your interest in my build.  
 
Dee Dee

Jpett, Thanks for stopping by
 
Thanks for stopping by Adam. I do like the walnut, but the hull will be painted.  What I really like about the walnut are the nice sharp edges. 
 
Thanks Cap'n'Bob.  I really appreciate your taking an interest in my build.
 
John, I use the fan method, but take it a step farther.  After I mark off the frame, I calculate the with of each plank at each bulkhead, bow and transom.  In post #39 I posted a copy of my measurement plan.  This way, I could custom fit each plank to make sure I stay on target with the tick marks.  With 18 planks, if each plank was a quarter millimeter (0.25mm) too wide, that adds up to 4.5mm's or one plank.  In post #45, is a photo of plank #17, shaped and edge bending.   
 
And THANK YOU to all who hit the like button
 
Dee Dee
 
Edited to correct 'Adam' to 'John'

At the moment I am lucid and able to think so I might be considered sane or normal.  The next thing was to work on the scaffolding.  This is when I really appreciate how delicate this stuff can be and taking very delicate cuts.  
The first thing was to identify and figure out out to do the job.


When getting this thin I was having trouble keeping everything stiff for a straight cut.  So most of it was done using straight edges.


The scaffolding in the front gave me the most problem in getting everything lined up. This involved quite  bit of trial and error until I was able to glue everything down.  I am also touching up the colors as I go.




So far so good.  
David B

Started some of the upper planking today. On the transom the black is 3/64 by 3/32. All the yellow on the transom and both sides is 1/32 x 3/32

Just finished the first layer of planking.  Quite an experience.  When I first got the model unboxed and saw all the planks and parts, I thought " what did I get myself into", especially thinking about the planking and rigging. Now, am thrilled to death getting it done and having it turn out so well. Still not ready to try a single planked ship, but happy none the less.
 
Ran into a little problem with the starboard side though. I used up all but two of the planks that were at least 5 mm wide, so as I got further along, I knew this side wouldn't fill in as good as the larboard. Most of the planks were 4.9 - 4.97. 
 
I had bought some 1/16 (1.5 mm) x 1/4 (6.5 mm) inch basswood at Menards ( like Home Depot ) right after I got the kit, just in case I needed them.
When I got to the last plank, the gap on 5 & 6 frames were right at 6.5 mm so my purchase was justified. Had to sand a lot on both ends but it worked out.
No gaps, no dropped planks.
 
Tomorrow will put some poly on the main deck and get ready for the bulkheads.
 
Shot of the last plank after glued. I use map marker pins I cut to about 1/4" to secure the planks and push them against the frames.
 

 
Final product