jml1083

This is Syren Ship Model's soon to be released kit. It is plank on frame and will be built admiralty style with frames showing. Chuck has come up with an ingenious way of constructing frames with floors and futtocks that uses laser cut parts. The kit uses cherry for most of the parts but some embellishments will be in boxwood.
 
This is a photo of a similar model from the National Maritime Museum

 

The Keel
 
The first element I tackled is the keel which is made up of 8 laser cut pieces. Before removing them from the billets I sanded off the char that was left on the backside of the billet from the laser. There really wasn't a lot but it's easier to remove it from the faces before you remove it from the billet. Once that was done I liberated the pieces from the billets.
 
The keel has rabbets, which are nothing more than bevels, on the top side of the keel. The keel itself is 5/32" thick and the rabbets need to be 1/32" x 1/32". I cut a piece of 1/32" scrap and used it to trace a line on the sides and top of the keel which I then pared down using a #11 scalpel blade. On the curved stem I did the same thing using a scrap piece that had the correct curve traced from the stem. On the sides I used a compass with a very sharp pencil.
 

 
This photo shows the side of the keel with the rabbet line drawn. The top of the keel would look the same. This step is done after the various keel sections are glued together.
 

This is a shot of the curved 1/32" piece I used to trace the rabbet line on the stem. Just slide the piece into position and trace your line. Flip the stem over and trace the line on the other side.
 
 
 
 

This is a photo of the kit right out of the box. The cherry is beautiful and this will be a striking model when it is completed.
 

 
The top piece is the build board, also made out of cherry. It comes in two pieces with slots where each of the frames will be positioned. This type construction eliminates all of the added bracing people used to try and keep frames square when they build the Pinnace. This type build board keeps the frames square and level making construction that much easier. The location of each frame is labeled on the build board to reduce the chance of placing a frame in the wrong location.The large blocks to the left are feet that will be glued onto the build board to raise it off the workbench so the tops of the frames have clearance.
 
In the middle are the sheets that contain the floors and futtocks. In another post I'll go into detail about how these are assembled.
 
At the bottom of the photo are some of the thicker elements, also made of cherry and also laser cut.

This is Syren Ship Model's soon to be released kit. It is plank on frame and will be built admiralty style with frames showing. Chuck has come up with an ingenious way of constructing frames with floors and futtocks that uses laser cut parts. The kit uses cherry for most of the parts but some embellishments will be in boxwood.
 
This is a photo of a similar model from the National Maritime Museum

 

The Keel
 
The first element I tackled is the keel which is made up of 8 laser cut pieces. Before removing them from the billets I sanded off the char that was left on the backside of the billet from the laser. There really wasn't a lot but it's easier to remove it from the faces before you remove it from the billet. Once that was done I liberated the pieces from the billets.
 
The keel has rabbets, which are nothing more than bevels, on the top side of the keel. The keel itself is 5/32" thick and the rabbets need to be 1/32" x 1/32". I cut a piece of 1/32" scrap and used it to trace a line on the sides and top of the keel which I then pared down using a #11 scalpel blade. On the curved stem I did the same thing using a scrap piece that had the correct curve traced from the stem. On the sides I used a compass with a very sharp pencil.
 

 
This photo shows the side of the keel with the rabbet line drawn. The top of the keel would look the same. This step is done after the various keel sections are glued together.
 

This is a shot of the curved 1/32" piece I used to trace the rabbet line on the stem. Just slide the piece into position and trace your line. Flip the stem over and trace the line on the other side.
 
 
 
 

The Keel
 
The first element I tackled is the keel which is made up of 8 laser cut pieces. Before removing them from the billets I sanded off the char that was left on the backside of the billet from the laser. There really wasn't a lot but it's easier to remove it from the faces before you remove it from the billet. Once that was done I liberated the pieces from the billets.
 
The keel has rabbets, which are nothing more than bevels, on the top side of the keel. The keel itself is 5/32" thick and the rabbets need to be 1/32" x 1/32". I cut a piece of 1/32" scrap and used it to trace a line on the sides and top of the keel which I then pared down using a #11 scalpel blade. On the curved stem I did the same thing using a scrap piece that had the correct curve traced from the stem. On the sides I used a compass with a very sharp pencil.
 

 
This photo shows the side of the keel with the rabbet line drawn. The top of the keel would look the same. This step is done after the various keel sections are glued together.
 

This is a shot of the curved 1/32" piece I used to trace the rabbet line on the stem. Just slide the piece into position and trace your line. Flip the stem over and trace the line on the other side.
 
 
 
 

The Keel
 
The first element I tackled is the keel which is made up of 8 laser cut pieces. Before removing them from the billets I sanded off the char that was left on the backside of the billet from the laser. There really wasn't a lot but it's easier to remove it from the faces before you remove it from the billet. Once that was done I liberated the pieces from the billets.
 
The keel has rabbets, which are nothing more than bevels, on the top side of the keel. The keel itself is 5/32" thick and the rabbets need to be 1/32" x 1/32". I cut a piece of 1/32" scrap and used it to trace a line on the sides and top of the keel which I then pared down using a #11 scalpel blade. On the curved stem I did the same thing using a scrap piece that had the correct curve traced from the stem. On the sides I used a compass with a very sharp pencil.
 

 
This photo shows the side of the keel with the rabbet line drawn. The top of the keel would look the same. This step is done after the various keel sections are glued together.
 

This is a shot of the curved 1/32" piece I used to trace the rabbet line on the stem. Just slide the piece into position and trace your line. Flip the stem over and trace the line on the other side.
 
 
 
 

This is a photo of the kit right out of the box. The cherry is beautiful and this will be a striking model when it is completed.
 

 
The top piece is the build board, also made out of cherry. It comes in two pieces with slots where each of the frames will be positioned. This type construction eliminates all of the added bracing people used to try and keep frames square when they build the Pinnace. This type build board keeps the frames square and level making construction that much easier. The location of each frame is labeled on the build board to reduce the chance of placing a frame in the wrong location.The large blocks to the left are feet that will be glued onto the build board to raise it off the workbench so the tops of the frames have clearance.
 
In the middle are the sheets that contain the floors and futtocks. In another post I'll go into detail about how these are assembled.
 
At the bottom of the photo are some of the thicker elements, also made of cherry and also laser cut.

This is Syren Ship Model's soon to be released kit. It is plank on frame and will be built admiralty style with frames showing. Chuck has come up with an ingenious way of constructing frames with floors and futtocks that uses laser cut parts. The kit uses cherry for most of the parts but some embellishments will be in boxwood.
 
This is a photo of a similar model from the National Maritime Museum

 

This is Syren Ship Model's soon to be released kit. It is plank on frame and will be built admiralty style with frames showing. Chuck has come up with an ingenious way of constructing frames with floors and futtocks that uses laser cut parts. The kit uses cherry for most of the parts but some embellishments will be in boxwood.
 
This is a photo of a similar model from the National Maritime Museum

 

This is a photo of the kit right out of the box. The cherry is beautiful and this will be a striking model when it is completed.
 

 
The top piece is the build board, also made out of cherry. It comes in two pieces with slots where each of the frames will be positioned. This type construction eliminates all of the added bracing people used to try and keep frames square when they build the Pinnace. This type build board keeps the frames square and level making construction that much easier. The location of each frame is labeled on the build board to reduce the chance of placing a frame in the wrong location.The large blocks to the left are feet that will be glued onto the build board to raise it off the workbench so the tops of the frames have clearance.
 
In the middle are the sheets that contain the floors and futtocks. In another post I'll go into detail about how these are assembled.
 
At the bottom of the photo are some of the thicker elements, also made of cherry and also laser cut.

This is Syren Ship Model's soon to be released kit. It is plank on frame and will be built admiralty style with frames showing. Chuck has come up with an ingenious way of constructing frames with floors and futtocks that uses laser cut parts. The kit uses cherry for most of the parts but some embellishments will be in boxwood.
 
This is a photo of a similar model from the National Maritime Museum

 

This is a photo of the kit right out of the box. The cherry is beautiful and this will be a striking model when it is completed.
 

 
The top piece is the build board, also made out of cherry. It comes in two pieces with slots where each of the frames will be positioned. This type construction eliminates all of the added bracing people used to try and keep frames square when they build the Pinnace. This type build board keeps the frames square and level making construction that much easier. The location of each frame is labeled on the build board to reduce the chance of placing a frame in the wrong location.The large blocks to the left are feet that will be glued onto the build board to raise it off the workbench so the tops of the frames have clearance.
 
In the middle are the sheets that contain the floors and futtocks. In another post I'll go into detail about how these are assembled.
 
At the bottom of the photo are some of the thicker elements, also made of cherry and also laser cut.

This is a photo of the kit right out of the box. The cherry is beautiful and this will be a striking model when it is completed.
 

 
The top piece is the build board, also made out of cherry. It comes in two pieces with slots where each of the frames will be positioned. This type construction eliminates all of the added bracing people used to try and keep frames square when they build the Pinnace. This type build board keeps the frames square and level making construction that much easier. The location of each frame is labeled on the build board to reduce the chance of placing a frame in the wrong location.The large blocks to the left are feet that will be glued onto the build board to raise it off the workbench so the tops of the frames have clearance.
 
In the middle are the sheets that contain the floors and futtocks. In another post I'll go into detail about how these are assembled.
 
At the bottom of the photo are some of the thicker elements, also made of cherry and also laser cut.

This is a photo of the kit right out of the box. The cherry is beautiful and this will be a striking model when it is completed.
 

 
The top piece is the build board, also made out of cherry. It comes in two pieces with slots where each of the frames will be positioned. This type construction eliminates all of the added bracing people used to try and keep frames square when they build the Pinnace. This type build board keeps the frames square and level making construction that much easier. The location of each frame is labeled on the build board to reduce the chance of placing a frame in the wrong location.The large blocks to the left are feet that will be glued onto the build board to raise it off the workbench so the tops of the frames have clearance.
 
In the middle are the sheets that contain the floors and futtocks. In another post I'll go into detail about how these are assembled.
 
At the bottom of the photo are some of the thicker elements, also made of cherry and also laser cut.

This is Syren Ship Model's soon to be released kit. It is plank on frame and will be built admiralty style with frames showing. Chuck has come up with an ingenious way of constructing frames with floors and futtocks that uses laser cut parts. The kit uses cherry for most of the parts but some embellishments will be in boxwood.
 
This is a photo of a similar model from the National Maritime Museum

 

This is a photo of the kit right out of the box. The cherry is beautiful and this will be a striking model when it is completed.
 

 
The top piece is the build board, also made out of cherry. It comes in two pieces with slots where each of the frames will be positioned. This type construction eliminates all of the added bracing people used to try and keep frames square when they build the Pinnace. This type build board keeps the frames square and level making construction that much easier. The location of each frame is labeled on the build board to reduce the chance of placing a frame in the wrong location.The large blocks to the left are feet that will be glued onto the build board to raise it off the workbench so the tops of the frames have clearance.
 
In the middle are the sheets that contain the floors and futtocks. In another post I'll go into detail about how these are assembled.
 
At the bottom of the photo are some of the thicker elements, also made of cherry and also laser cut.

Mike
 
 
I understand what you are saying....but rest assured ... this is most certainly an advanced kit.   Although the parts are all laser cut and the jigs and design concept will alleviate much trouble....the builder will need to proceed very slowly and with much care.  To explain a bit about my philosophy for kits.
 
- My goal is to design kits that wont look like kits when they are built.  The quality of the wood and the parts and the historical accuracy.  No ply for fittings...no metal castings....no skimping on the final visual product. To design them in such a way that folks can build them with the same few tools they would use to build any other kit straight of of the box.  Yet when its done, and placed right beside a scratch version of the same subject...most wouldnt be able to tell the difference.   The design I hope will inspire others to use the same concepts after finishing it to slowly cross over to scratch building.  Or adapt the concepts for other kits that are lacking.
 
-  For example...first I wanted to introduce a model that would serve as an introduction to clinker planking.  Not the whole hull...but just a few planks.  So builders might not be nervous about it.  It will  literally be a step by step intro lesson on clinker planking...how to bevel...what to bevel etc.  See below for the one plank
 

 
- second...this model will also serve as an intro to carving.  Yes there will be three small resin castings, but the majority of the carved scroll  work you see on the sides of the hull and transom will be carved by the builder.  These arent complex figureheads or difficult subjects to scare folks who never tried it.   Or never used boxwood.  You will get the piece laser cut from boxwood flat and ordinary... and you will learn some simple techniques to get started carving...with a few extra pieces just in case of a mishap.
 

 
How to secure the piece for carving,  how to use a stop cut,  how to shave and carve with simple tools....how to undercut areas etc.  Step by step.  Nothing to fancy and elaborate...no expensive tools...just giving it a try with a little help.  At least the way I have always done it...I am sure that others will have a better way but this will show how I do it.  These are the two main features that are the focus for me on this project as well as creating a way to frame the boat properly with floors and futtocks like the contemporary model.  And NO...the carvings wont be that small.  It fits on a dime because I was just testing my laser cutter to see how hard I could push it....how small can laser cut something intricate and still capture some detail.   That is pretty dang small.   The real thing is about six times larger.
 
- So for me...designing this kit was a way to introduce a few things that are lacking with most kits....mainly they all look like kits unless you do some serious bashing with no guidance to go with it.  Why not start out with great materials....and guide the builders through it as if it was stepping stone to scratch building.  
 
Having said that...
 
The jigs and laser cut parts I provide are something I would normally make for myself if  I were building this from scratch...by giving them to a builder who might not have the tools or experience to create them,  they will at least get a chance to see a pre-spiled plank so they can understand and can visualize why using a straight strip isnt going to work.  They will see the spiled shape and think....this is nuts.....then after they place it on the hull without any difficulty, hopefully a light bulb will go off.   Then MAYBE they can apply what they have learned and experienced with this kit on the many other kits they build...or scratch projects.  Its hard to explain but I hope it makes sense.   
 
It wont be a beginner kit.  It will be an advanced kit FOR intermediate builders looking to try something they havent done before.  Now I keep showing the same image of the same contemporary model.  It wont look exactly like this one...but its close.   It will actually look a lot more like the one pictured below except for the transom carving.  I am referring to the colors and the lack of carving inside....just bare panels.  This is remember just an intro to carving.  Note how the planks are fastened....not treenailed....they are nailed.  Nailed to the plank beneath it.  Just something new to learn and I am learning right along with it.  And yes it will be a challenge.
 

 
 
 
 
 
Chuck

David's work is exquisite and you're lucky to have an Antscherl original. Are you planning to build a ship behind it?

Too beautiful for mere words....   

Just thought I would share these incredible pictures of the figurehead for the Swan Class Sloop "Atalanta" by David Antscherl.  The figure is boxwood with a stem of swiss pear.  The brackets and trailboard carving are also boxwood.   Note the gold leafed apples.  Just stunning carving by hand and almost hard to believe possible at this scale.  Its so tiny.   I love the facial expression.....Mona Lisa smirk...    Enjoy!!!
 
The glass dome is just 4" in diameter.
 
Chuck
 

 

 

 

 

Depends on the ship and type of gun.  Guns may have been made of iron or brass (actually bronze) and a ship might have both kinds aboard.  However it was common practice to paint guns black to make maintenance easier.  Bronze guns are a bear to keep shiny in a marine environment and unprotected iron will rust quickly.  I am sure there were captains that insisted on keeping all that bronze nice and shiny but most would take a practical approach and keep them painted.

As many of you are aware....we have had many group project forums in the past with a couple going on right now.   I just closed the Longboat group which had been going for several years.   It had soon run its course.  All closed groups will have their logs moved to the appropriate forum.  None will be lost.  Keep in mind all groups are not permanent.   They will wind down and close as  they lose steam and participation.   This will done to preserve valuable forum real estate and also keep the site fresh and exciting with new possibilities for the membership.  As the administrator I will pose the question in each group forum when it looks like interest and participation crawled to a stop.  It will be up to the membership if they want to keep it open...but that means its up to the membership to keep it active.
 
 
 
 
If closed....All pinned topics and non logs will be moved .  Nothing will be lost.
 
 
 
 
 
                             
 
 
 
 
 
To start a new project forum, it must meet this criteria.
 
 
 
 
 
- must have 6 - 8 current members actively building the project and willing to start a log in a separate group area.    Group will be open to any member wanting to participate.  No exclusions.
 
 
 
 
 
- subject can be suggested by any member as long as they meet the criteria.  Its time to rally your fellow members should you wish to start one.  If you are among many building one model now and there are more than 6 - 8 logs already started,  why not take the initiative to contact them to see if all of you want to start a group.  Just an idea.
 
 
 
 
 
- the forums must contain only Build logs following the same guidelines for naming them as the other build log forums.  
 
 
 
 
 
-all non-build log specific info related to the project that will help the group of builders, will be posted as a pinned topic above the build logs by a moderator.
 
-Every group project must have a named leader/mentor who will take charge of the group and agree to moderate it.  If you can not find one please contact us and we will try and find one for you.
 
 
 
 
 
 If you would like to suggest a topic for such a group build area...you may list it in this forum.....Try to rally your fellow members to start and participate in a new group.....or if there are already more than 6-8 "scratch" or "kit" forum build logs started and you can convince those builders to move their topics here.....we can do that as well.  But if that happens.....we will move all similar build logs here for convenience and consistency....even if you are NOT among the 6-8 who want to start such a separate group project forum.    But PLEASE...be as detailed as you can when suggesting a new group be started.
 
 
 
 
 
List the name and type of ship or item.....scratch or kit......POF or POB....solid hull....what will cost....time frame....where to get plans....kit...or supplies.   What would the goal and aim be if any for the project you are trying to start.
 
 
 
 
 
JUST ONE MORE SUGGESTION.....The project DOES NOT need to be for a complete ship or boat.  For example.  If members wanted to start a group about making a ship's stove or a capstan....that is fine too.  As long as there are 6-8 members who are actively doing so.  Trying new techniques and sharing them as well as working on the same exact thing.....if you want to start a group about using a lathe to turn cannon and it will active participants...that is great and worthwhile.
 
 
 
 
 
A group project such as this....its about learning together and exchanging ideas as a group on any one subject.   This structure is offered to make it easier and more convenient.  So think outside the box.  But we need 6-8 members to start one.   And the key word is ACTIVE PROJECT.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Chuck
 
 
(MSW admin)
 

I'm re-painting the cannons per Greg's suggestion.  Here's how it looks in the case.  It's a "Football Display case" from Hobby Lobby.  A piece of birds eye maple veneer held in place with Contact Cement (no warping this time).  Just the right size.  The officer in the foreground is cut from Chuck's Cheerful plans and glued to a piece if 1/4" wood...shaped a bit.  No way am I going to try to carve one yet.  It's a good prop to show the scale.
Maury

Ed,
 
Impossible to add words to this astonishing project that you are working on. So I will just click "Like This" and all the words of praise will be in my clicks (:-)
 
PS: I'm sure others who are following feel the same ha ha..
 
Michael