Overworked724

Just because I knew these custom galleries were going to be a tight fit, I decided to button up my train of thought and make certain the guide holes were in and the positioning was good…since I didn’t want to mess with it later…especially if I mucked it up. Here’s how I did it. The pins in each gallery were created as a mirror of the other…so I couldn’t accidentally glue them in onto the wrong side of the ship. I got some foam display board from Walgreens. Cut a section out and layered it with Scotch tape. Pressed in my gallery, and traced out the outline in pencil. Note how I left some tape hanging… Remove the gallery and you get your image trace with pin locations. Pull up the tape and position it on the ship at the correct location (I have to eyeball a bit since my double blocks don’t sit flush against the stern). Then used a T-pin to scribe in the pin hole locations. Removed the tape. And drilled in the guide holes. Test fit the little monsters and if you did a good job tracing, they should fall right in place. Now I am settled, and the galleries are put away…to be glued in when I feel like it. But ready for that day. 👍🏽. (I still can't believe how friggin nice these things came out...it was worth the journey...and makes me remember the ship model is 1000+ projects which all come together to create something wonderful). I can safely say that I am NOW officially moving on. 🧐

Ok. I’ll call this long winded side project done. I’ll put these in the ‘glue on last’ box of goodies. I’ll put in the guide holes later. Here are the baby pics!! They aren’t perfect, but they are pretty. I’m not unsatisfied with my efforts. 👍🏽 Here are the mismatched kit pieces: Here is the front view of mine: Bottom view: Top view: Here they are all tucked in! 🤣 Moving on….

Finished (at least as best I can manage) with the galleries. The bottom portion was easy. I can make a tear drop shingle in 2 seconds. So making the lotus pattern at the curved apex of the base was simple. Sanded a bit and waalaa! The flower pattern in the middle section was a bit cleaner and easier than trying to create the wreath. So opted for that simple decoration in the front and sides. Threw it together and here is the result. I may or may not try the volutes again later…I can always add them if I can make them cleanly enough. t And again compared with the metal cast piece from the kit (starboard side). One thing I did before putting the windows in was ensuring I had predrilled my pins. The back shows the sandwich sections quite nicely. It is certainly worth the extra time to make these. The lack of consistency between the two metal cast pieces from the kit are comical. They have different lengths and patterns between the two…Shame on Model Shipways! But in truth, I’m a crappy painter and there was no way I’d be able to make a realistic looking product from the metal kit pieces. Another minor hiccup…my handmade galleries just barely fit between the upper shear strake and wales. So I needed to trim the needle heads and sand down…can’t even tell I did that. 😎 Next pic will be the final product after some tung oil and test fit on the sides of the ship. Moving on…

Work in progress…windows in but didn’t turn out as clean as I’d hoped. Still…much better than the metal kit pieces. Moving on to the bottom halves. Going to go simple here…just because. 😁

So, I can say the roof sections turned out pretty nice. My second attempt (left) gave moderately better results as my technique improved. Took a while to complete, but hopefully worth the time. Call it practice for the arduous task of coppering soon to come. 🤣 Moving on…

Second time around was much better. I got the shingles much more symmetrical and aligned…not finished, but the roofs are done. Hard part’s over. Cant wait to see what they look like when finished. Right arm is holding up well. 👍🏽

Yeah. The roof was the bug bear. More ‘art and eyeball’ than ‘exacting measurement’. Now noodling over the scrollwork.

Ok. So decided to jump back into the ship yard. Attacked the first gallery roof. if you recall, I’d made the shape of the roof using sculpy because…what the hell. Then cut thin strips of boxwood for my shingles. Bundled them and cut them in manageable sizes enmasse. Shaped the ends before trimming. Then individually chopped off the ends and clipped the edges with a straight razor into a teardrop shape. I wasn’t going for perfect fit here. Then put them on one by one using a touch of gel CA. After the layers were on, I sanded a bit to smooth out the rough spots. And used a simple brass nail to finish. I’ll follow a similar approach for the bottom. The shingles are frigging TINY!! Moving on the roof #2 for the port side.

One last thought. When I’d completed my deck I had some ‘low’ areas, specifically between the frames which were further apart. You can’t see them, but I know they are there. If I was to repeat this part of the build, I would try laying the false deck in longer strips lengthwise (like planking). The 0.4mm birch I used bends easily so the deck camber wouldn’t be a problem. I keep going back to that part of the build trying to think what I’d do differently…but there really is no substitute for preparing filler blocks which create the false deck. It’s a bit of a pain…but this the hobby we love! 🤣

Amazon does show the 1/32” birch plywood sheets as available. I went as thin as possible in thickness (false deck plus decking) to be thin enough to allow placement of the swivel brackets along the interior bulkhead at the gun port sills. The thicker plywood may also be more resistant to laying down across the curvature (camber) from port to starboard. This may be a good reason to lay down individual sections between each set of frames. Just a thought. If you’ve taken that into account, that’s great. I’m sure your redo will be worth the time. 👍🏽 Watching with interest!

Just a quick note…if you look on my build starting from post #365, you can see exactly what I did and why. The false deck was made from birch plywood sheets (0.4mm) which is cut to fit cleanly between each set of frames. Doesn’t have to be perfect…and it gave a very solid base. However, I milled my own planks slightly thinner to compensate for the added width of the false deck. Hope that helps!

Howdy! Back to my build and just catching up. Yes, what I did was install some simple sections of plywood sheeting between each set of frames. Not one single piece…much easier to install that way and deck curvature is maintained in both directions. Having a surface beneath your planks will make a universe of difference and you will also be able to even out the surface (sand/scrape) for much better results if it is needed. Damned good efforts thus far though! And I also love the boxes….some crazy grain! 👍🏽

The long, cold winter of post surgery recovery has begun to thaw!!!! I am out of the sling and past the post operative pain. I’m sleeping again!!! Thank God! Slowly figuring out where I left off with my build…🤔. In the meantime…while I get my collective ‘ship’ together (pun intended), I decided on extra curly maple for my mounting board. I was able to get some on line (my buddy who is a luthier pointed me to a good piece when he saw one up for bid on eBay)! Just a couple of baby pics…got the piece cut and planed…the grain is stunning, and runs cleanly perpendicular to the direction the Syren will be mounted. So, my hope is it gives a nice illusion of waves as one views the completed model once mounted). Moving on!!!

Yeah. That paint bleed can be frustrating. The yellow is a great as well as historic workaround. 👍🏽 Adapt! Overcome!!! looking great.

I’m still here…icing my frickin’ shoulder…staring at my ship…wishing for the Love of God I was left handed…

Enjoying your build! Very nice progress! I think you have a very good eye for dimensions and perspective. I’m sure whatever modifications you implement will be fine. Remember, it’s your model! I think you’ve done brilliantly so far!

Awesome! I’d have done the same…I think you’ll be so much happier in the end. 👍🏽 Nice fix and looking forward to your next steps.

I think it's really looking well so far. One thing you could try with regards to the gun port being installed a bit off-center would be to make another gun port midway between the two and maybe make it symmetrical across both sides. I'm really not certain what the other side looks like, but another thing to consider will be that once you have all the deck furniture and rigging up, that your display direction will probably be the best fix unless you want to rip off the bulkheads and start over with the correct alignment of the gun ports. Frankly taking off the bulkheads at this stage above the whales shouldn't give you too much difficulty. In truth it might give you an opportunity to do an even better job since you've already had some practice putting in the bulkheads and carving out the gun ports. It's a lot of work though, and I think so far your build is looking marvelous!

Outstanding!!! Really nice detail! You set the bar!!!

3 weeks post surgery and I have one thing to say about rotator cuff surgery…This Sucks.

That’s coming along nicely!!!

We all have to occasionally request our Admiral’s permission(s) to maintain quality of life! 👍🏽 Nice job negotiating…what did you have to give up in return??? 🤔

Nice clean result, Will!

OK ... I've been thinking about how to make the quarter gallery roof tiles, and have thought up a couple of different ways. But I think I want to stay with making individual tiles out of some material to make the roof look as real as possible. This is one thing I really liked about @WalrusGuy's handmade galleries for his build. So, I think I'm going to stay with using wood (rather than paper...my original approach) and staining the wood a darker color before cutting and placing on the roof tiles... The main challenge was how to make the tiles consistently same thickness. I think I have a good approach . Now... I only have to wait 6 to 8 more weeks until I can use my right arm. Sigh...

Brilliant!!!!