Overworked724

The lettering looks excellent! I think this method is going to look cleaner than trying to get the letters on the transom directly.  
 
Bradley 

The brass lettering came with the kit. Got the ultra thin birch plywood from Hobby Lobby. The boxwood trim I made myself as I am trying to get away from basswood. 😆

Working on transom cap rail. Before I start painting, wanted to figure out how I’ll mount the name plate. 
 
Decided for a simple option. Cut some really thin 0.4mm birch plywood into a strip slightly wider then the brass letter height. Paint it black. Then mounted the letters on the plywood strip. 
 

 
I’ll mount the top trim piece, then the name plate section, followed by the final trim piece. 
 
Although the center section is bowed outward somewhat in the pic below, the letters will not sit proud beyond the width of the boxwood trim pieces. It should look something like below...
 

 
Nice thing here...once the transom is painted, mounting the trim pieces and wood strip with the name will be infinitely easier than trying to stick those tiny letters directly on the transom. 👍🏽

Great thinking! I remember struggling sticking the letters directly on the transform and now I wish I had thought of that! Would have made life a lot easier 

Working on transom cap rail. Before I start painting, wanted to figure out how I’ll mount the name plate. 
 
Decided for a simple option. Cut some really thin 0.4mm birch plywood into a strip slightly wider then the brass letter height. Paint it black. Then mounted the letters on the plywood strip. 
 

 
I’ll mount the top trim piece, then the name plate section, followed by the final trim piece. 
 
Although the center section is bowed outward somewhat in the pic below, the letters will not sit proud beyond the width of the boxwood trim pieces. It should look something like below...
 

 
Nice thing here...once the transom is painted, mounting the trim pieces and wood strip with the name will be infinitely easier than trying to stick those tiny letters directly on the transom. 👍🏽

Working on transom cap rail. Before I start painting, wanted to figure out how I’ll mount the name plate. 
 
Decided for a simple option. Cut some really thin 0.4mm birch plywood into a strip slightly wider then the brass letter height. Paint it black. Then mounted the letters on the plywood strip. 
 

 
I’ll mount the top trim piece, then the name plate section, followed by the final trim piece. 
 
Although the center section is bowed outward somewhat in the pic below, the letters will not sit proud beyond the width of the boxwood trim pieces. It should look something like below...
 

 
Nice thing here...once the transom is painted, mounting the trim pieces and wood strip with the name will be infinitely easier than trying to stick those tiny letters directly on the transom. 👍🏽

Uh Oh....I see a slight scratch on the 3rd board starboard of the main mast hole!  I think you might need redo the entire deck!    (kidding)
 
Remind me again - is your deck made of pear or boxwood?  And did you prestain it?  It looks fantastic!

Outstanding, Robin. 👍🏽⛵️ Such a clean and crisp build. 

Not gone....just distracted by my Syren!
 

Just reading directions and chopping out the bits and doing some dry fit. So far same as the practicum. 
 

Moving on...

As with all new logs, here are the baby pics. 👶 
 
This is a side project focusing solely on planking technique, so will give me a valuable added tool to build some confidence, and when I need a break from the Syren. Besides...should be fun! 
 

Printed out the practicum. Already read it, and I know I’ll have some questions for Toni @tlevine when I get to those parts. Nicely written though and easy to follow for the most part. Stuck it in a spare binder because I’m anal retentive like every other modeler. 
 
Already had a 1/4” trifold foam presentation board I got from Walgreens. It fits the plans perfectly. Used 3M spray to adhere the plans and fixed the border of the plans with some Tamiya tape...just for giggles really. The folded flaps were also sprayed and glued down to make a sort of double layer foam board. 🤓

Let the fun begin...after reading a couple of the other builds for the tutorial kit, I’ll be interested to see if any of the frames seem to ‘bulge out’ asymmetrically. 
 
More to come.... 
 

Got it Pat thanks for pointing it out   All fixed see here
 
The deck is Swiss Pear, I had a friend cut the deck planks for me and he did a fantastic job. I pooled tung oil over all and after several hours it sunk right in leaving a nice sheen. I repeated that again couple of weeks later. Then I picked up a proxon FET and cut up some pear for the furniture. Wonderful wood to work with. 
 
Thanks so much Justin, I've been picking at it all for a while now, hopefully I can pull it off to the finish. Rigging I don't think is going to be one of my strong points. We will see    Cheers ~

One last pic with all the carronade rigging now completed. Will be starting in on both the furniture and bowsprit next   
 
 

Just reading directions and chopping out the bits and doing some dry fit. So far same as the practicum. 
 

Moving on...

As with all new logs, here are the baby pics. 👶 
 
This is a side project focusing solely on planking technique, so will give me a valuable added tool to build some confidence, and when I need a break from the Syren. Besides...should be fun! 
 

Printed out the practicum. Already read it, and I know I’ll have some questions for Toni @tlevine when I get to those parts. Nicely written though and easy to follow for the most part. Stuck it in a spare binder because I’m anal retentive like every other modeler. 
 
Already had a 1/4” trifold foam presentation board I got from Walgreens. It fits the plans perfectly. Used 3M spray to adhere the plans and fixed the border of the plans with some Tamiya tape...just for giggles really. The folded flaps were also sprayed and glued down to make a sort of double layer foam board. 🤓

Let the fun begin...after reading a couple of the other builds for the tutorial kit, I’ll be interested to see if any of the frames seem to ‘bulge out’ asymmetrically. 
 
More to come.... 
 

Sand, Sand, Sand.....  Sand some more.  😀
 
I have done most of the sanding on the tops and sills of the gun ports, but still have finish sanding to go.  I have rechecked the 15/32" spacing and all ports are right on.  I am using the little T shaped tool to measure each port left and right sides.  It makes it easier to check when there is a handle on it...LOL
 
Next is on to the port side......and then?   Well you know sand, sand, sand...

Uh Oh....I see a slight scratch on the 3rd board starboard of the main mast hole!  I think you might need redo the entire deck!    (kidding)
 
Remind me again - is your deck made of pear or boxwood?  And did you prestain it?  It looks fantastic!

Uh Oh....I see a slight scratch on the 3rd board starboard of the main mast hole!  I think you might need redo the entire deck!    (kidding)
 
Remind me again - is your deck made of pear or boxwood?  And did you prestain it?  It looks fantastic!

Nice job!!!  Loving your build!!!
 

Well...I couldn't help myself.  Had to continue on with my train of thought on the elevations screws and elevation handle of the carronades to see if my idea worked and it did.
 
Took an 18G dispensing needle and made a 'tree nail' corer like I did before.  Put it in my drill press (with the drill OFF) and pressed out some larger gauge wooden tree nails.  The cedar wood is pretty nice for this...the nails come out very clean!
 

 
After cutting the bottom off the wooden nails stack and poking them out, I found the hole for the elevation screw on the 3D printed cannon was slightly small.  So I opened them up a bit wider with a #64 drill bit and they slide in perfectly with a small bit of 'wiggle'.
 

 
Used my little 90 degree cross drill jig to make a hole of the side of the wooden dowel I'll use for the elevation screw.  In this case, the wooden dowel size was a #64 drill bit, and the cross hole which will hold the wire simulating the elevation handle is a #77 bit. 
 

 
Drill my hole in the dowel...
 

 
And then slid in a little chunk of 0.4mm black wire as a handle...seized it in with a tiny spot of CA and added to each end of the handle.  
 

 
I think it's worth noting that the 3D printed carronade with sled did not have any detail related to an elevation handle on the elevation screw.  So...I'm going to call this a win...and move on!
 

And now for something fun but ridiculous.  I finished my interior bulkhead sanding (at least as best I can possibly do...) but took a slight detour back to the carronades.  I was wrestling with how I would create the elevation screw handle on the carronade elevation screws.  This would be a piece of wire inserted into the elevation screw (wooden dowel/toothpick/whatever).  The probelm - these things are fricking TINY!  
 
I'm not handy, nor a carpenter, nor a miniature modeler...so this was a bit outside my realm.  It occurred to me I can make the reproducible cedar trunnels/nails of exact width...so why not figure a simple way to drill a hole in the tiny dowel.  
 
My solution.  Use a small scrap piece of cherry wood (hard wood) as a drilling guide.  Make some #80 holes at 90 degree angles to each other so the holes intersect.  The smaller holes can be widened easier with larger drill bits as needed.
 

 
I made a #72 and #80 drill bit size cross angle...and inserted my larger cedar nails (made to fit a #75 drill bit hole).  Inserted the cedar trunnel into the guide hole (marked #72) - and then drilled by hand into the guide hole marked '80' with my rotary tool fit with a #80 drill bit.
 

 
And it worked like a charm...the trunnels don't move, and can be easily drilled at 90 degrees for easy insertion of the wire 'handle'.  
 

 
And just for scale...these things are ridiculous tiny!!
 

 

 
Just a fun aside!  It's probably been done by others on the forums, but it was a nice problem to solve on my own and see it work!
 

Looking good!  Nice job on your planking!

I am pretty sure I will move to the Amati clamp.  I am trying to keep my investment to the minimum for now.  $85 for the clamp is just not on the top of the budget yet, but it will get there.  I went through the Ship Modeling tools on Micro Mark, and settled on the sanding tool, and I have added chisels, diamond files, and sanding supplies.  The Admiral will accept things pretty openly, but I know the boundaries. 😉

Love my keel clamp.  I actually attached it to a rectangular base of 3/4" plywood.  It's as solid as a rock...and I can move the entire assembly with ship attached with confidence rather than leave it clamped on the edge of the desk.  Great investment.

Someone might, dont give away all your secrets!  ha.    Seriously though, consider a keel clamp from Amati.   While the single point of position you have now is useful, you will need more angles and options for clamping as you go.   This has been one of my best investments and provides hundreds of useful and strong positions.   Also, consider gluing a rail along the deck, and then flip and clamp to that to give another angle in your own setup.    You can remove this later prior to planking the deck.