reklein

Thanks for checking in. Work progresses, albeit a bit slow.
Regarding the Viking long boats. I think the design worked in their favour. Both building rather big ships that sailed the North sea and Atlantic as well as their raids up on rivers in Russia and elsewhere. 
Up river, when they came to a stream, they "just" hauled the boat out of the water and got some logs to roll it on until they'd got past the culprit. You don't do that with a 16th-17th square rigger...
Anyway, 5th strake is on. In the book, the 5th round is where he used three boards instead of two. I missed that and will cut the 6th strake in three pieces instead. Joggling the scarphs as I progress.
The shape is really hard to get right. The last couple of strakes are adjusted in-situ.


And a picture for reference..

To be continued...

Thanks for likes and comments and thoughts.
 
Unusual or not, I can't really tell. Yes, the hull is held on the frames with rubber bands as can be seen in an earlier post. I've seen other small boat projects where the keel structure is fixed to the mould but I thought it more convenient if it was removable (or the truth told, I didn't figure out how to make it stick...).
Since it is removable it is far simpler to look at the lines and correct when needed (not if needed...).
 
About the backing pieces for the scarfs. Good point, in IRL they are 9-10" long, scaled down that is 7,7-8,5 mm long. Mine are 9 mm. However it is a just comment, and I will shorten them slightly moving upwards.
Frames and other stuff will be added once the hull is completed. Like it's done in full scale.
 
Not that I have a B Sc in boat building of small crafts even though I've read a fair deal about it. But for small crafts it is very common here in Scandinavia this clinker technique. Pros are it makes for a light, flexible hull.  Reference is a Viking long boat. Early findings from the first centuries shows that lapstrake in one way or another was how the boats were built in northern Europe. My guess is that the overlap made it simpler to get them watertight. It is not until medieval times carvel came in practice up here. Driving factor was probably merchant and armed navies that required bigger stronger hulls.
Well, that was my 2 cents of knowledge ;-)
It is an interesting discussion though.
 
Cheers!

Hi guys,
the day is only half-gone here, but I just had to share this update with you.
First task for today was to clear a path to the shop... about 20cm/8" of snow overnight.

 
A short business trip took away a couple of days from the week, but back in the shop I made some progress.

Clinker/lapstrake is really something tricky to get right. Spiling and all that. In a later post I will show my trials and tribulations. On the trip I re-read H.A. Underhills chapter about clinker built boats, which was useful.
This far two full strakes are on. The scarphs are just plain butt ended with a backing piece on each. Joggled of course. Later each strake will be of three pieces.
Rubber bands and teak buns keep planks in place. I need to figure out some way to have the clamps not slipping off. Maybe a bit of tape will do the trick with enough friction.



Backing pieces have beveled edges for appearance. Should be pinned also, will see if I do that.
 
I am really enjoying this build. The result is far from perfect, but this is also my first time doing this. And since I have this first build as a practice run, my second will undoubtedly be better. 

To be continued...

Hi guys!
Thanks for likes and comment.
Progress has been slow despite quite a few hours in the shop. 
Why? Preparatory work.
It's like when all you want to do is to get that wallpaper up and instead you find yourself put up drywalls, fill screw holes, and then some sanding and after that more filling and more sanding. And just before you break the seal on the first roll of paper you realize that you need to prime the drywalls otherwise there isn't enough glue in the world that will keep your wallpaper up.
First, a picture to soothen the soul.

With a multi-tool equipped with a drum sander it was quite a quick job to get the skeleton close to shape.

However, to really get it down to specs took some grater care. When I gladly thought I was done prepping I cut the first strake out of cardboard.

Not happy with the run I turned to the book.

Yes, that man has like a lifetime experience of building boats. I have not.
While contemplating the planking I marked every plank on frame five (middle one). Then it appeared to me that the frame templates needed protection and with a sealed surface it would be easier to mark runs and all that. 
So first a sealer then a layer of some very old Humbrol paint. Fascinating enough, the paint is something like 20 yrs old and still "usable".

By that I also put an end to this weekends affair in the shop.
In the background can be seen blanks for planking. 20 mm (3/4") in real world translates to 0,67 mm on my work bench. Not that they are EXACTLY 0,67 mm thick, more like 0,7 mm. Close enough me think.
 
To be continued...

Nice work on the cranes and planes!
(planes are very convincing, even in the extreme close-up)
btw: as far as the photographic evidence goes: the canopy has norear end. Al pics of the plane show the canopy open (and with a visible gun)
 
Jan

Too thick is good. You can always take em down till they look right. Too thin and then you need to start over.

For a good fit, I'm wondering why you didn't make your pattern from the model instead of the plans?

I stained all my planks before I applied them to the hull' I used min-wax golden oak. I used pencil to simulate caulking. No running, more subtle caulking. I applied the stain with a piece of old cotton T shirt. I like to lay wet stained planks out on triangular blocks to dry. The sharp edges leave little or o marks. I forgot to say I sanded them with 220 before staining.
 
 

Doug, I'd recommend just sanding the exterior first. Then plank the exterior before sanding the interior. After planking the structure is very strong. Specially on the stern where it is really flimsy until you've got planking on it.

According to F Kershner, Shapeways now makes a carronade for the Syren in 1/64. $12.50 for 8. His pics looked good.

Thanks for the compliments once again John, Pat, Reg and Mark.
 
There are two Arado 196 Floatplanes on Bismarck. These took me three days to make. Once AGAIN the Instructions were pretty woeful - luckily I found a couple of good pics of the "real thing" online. Here's the best one :

 
The parts for both planes :

 
Fitting the engine cowling edge piece :

 
The major pieces of the fuselage, wings and tail rolled, folded and glued :

 
The parts for the floats :

 
And some pics of the finished planes. The float supports were not easy to cut and fit :




 
  Danny

I needto finish my US Brig Syren to battle your multy culty crew of bandits. 

Attention Syren Builders!! I may have solved the Carronade issue.  Read below -
 
As many of you know I have been working to find a solution to the terrible Carronades that are provided with the Syren kit. Well as you will see from the pictures below. I have a low cost solution. I have been working with several others to create a CAD drawing for the these carronades so that they can be 3D printed. Many of you may know about Shapeways.com.
This is a web site that offers 3D printing services. There is a section for model ships. The number of available parts is amazing. I was able to make contact with one of the designers of the parts offered there and share with him the plans for the Syren Carronade. He already had USN Carronades to offer, but they were the wrong scale and had slight differences. I explained to him what I wanted and he has now created a set that is exactly what is called for in this kit. He has drilled to hole for the elevation screw, added the eye for the breaching rope, and had the pivot mount as part of the design. He charges $12.80 for a set of 8 carronades that are 1:64 scale. I have just received mine yesterday. I cleaned them as instructed and I have painted 1 set. I am very pleased with the result. You can see for yourself below.
 
They require a very little amount of sanding after the cleaning. As you can see the paint needs some touch up. but I am excited about the results.
 
 

I needto finish my US Brig Syren to battle your multy culty crew of bandits. 

I needto finish my US Brig Syren to battle your multy culty crew of bandits. 

I needto finish my US Brig Syren to battle your multy culty crew of bandits. 

sweet!  

Good idea Bill,
 
lets bring some "life and gunsmoke" to the forum....
 
Nils

I needto finish my US Brig Syren to battle your multy culty crew of bandits. 

I needto finish my US Brig Syren to battle your multy culty crew of bandits. 

I started off laying the keel on a bare surface, then inserting the the ribs with super glue. For measurement, I used a simple 90° triangle from a protractor set.
 
This, as I learned from trial and error, was a huge mistake. I should have known the difference as I had read about this during my research. You have to secure the keel "true" to measure, that is place it into a tight and straight grove or something tbat will keep it straight. Add two ribs at a time at the most until "wood glue", not "super glue" is dry. You must ensure your ribs are true to measure and square. Measure the heck out of it to be sure. Patience!! and time!! 

We want to make this CD as accurate and fun as possible but also affordable to everyone. Some of the higher end animations may not run on everyone's computers. We'll have to see how large the files are when finished. But chew on these for now. Denis is a genius!

I've made knee of the head with holes for gammoning, bobstays and main stay collar, stern post and keel. 
 



To be continued...

She's in!  Just a little more work to do. 
 

 
 

Almost ready for paint. I just have to install some ladder rungs. 
 
Out come my harbor freight drill bits. 

lets see if I can do this without braking many bits this time

success!

I painted all of the main big pieces. 

Next I will paint some darker grey areas, life rafts white, all deck fittings and stairs, do alot of shading, install the decks, assemble everything and gently place it onto the Bismarck. See everyone soon!