Heronguy

Moving right along! Well done.
 
Are you planking from both the keel up and the bulwarks down at the same time?  

Yes,  but which one will be the better of the 2 -  not necessarily the 2nd!
 
Anyways there will be different mistakes on each because I have an abundance of goofs I can choose from!

I mentioned earlier that I'd ended up with a second set of bulkheads etc when the wood in the 1st set crumbled.  I've pushed ahead with the 2nd set and hope to plank it as well.  This one I'll plank in pear or walnut and finish it as natural wood rather than coppering it.  
 
I just got to the point of adding the stern formers on mkII.  Since I had good luck with the stern formers I cut from the plans by pining them for some additional strength I decided to do the same with the mkII.  I don't find the stern feels at all fragile even before adding all the lintels, sills and reinforcements.
 




 
My two Syrens

For what its worth (I like planking but I'm not very expert at it) this is my current process for the Syren.
 
Glue is just carpenter's glue (brand available here is LePage).  
On previous hulls I have followed the planking routines suggested in MSW docs and in Jim Robert's "Planking the Built Up Ship Model".  I have done the belts as suggested. I used a micro-plane from Lee Valley to taper the planks before bending them.  If required I also try to put in a lateral bend and/or a twist (especially at the stern).  I wet the planks for a few minutes then use a soldering iron-plank bender- to get the bends.  I have often used CA glue to tack the plank at the bow and then work back with carpenters glue on the bulkheads and the edge of the planks.  I use whatever clamps I can get to fit and hold depending on where on the hull the plank is going.  I usually only put on a pair of planks then leave it for glue drying.I plank both sides of the hull to keep everything balanced.
 
Back to this planking - I'm only using carpenter's glue - no CA this time. (I don't like CA very much).
Chuck's instructions on pages 22 and 23 seemed right for my hull so I've just started tapering the front 5" of each plank down to 3/16" at bulkhead N.  I keep measuring the remaining gap and haven't yet had to deviate from that formula.  
I taper the strip (usually 4 at a time).  Then I soak them for a while (longer soak since I'm not using heat oaths bend).  Put them in the jig that I made for the wale. and leave them overnight(or longer if I don't get around to it).
At the bow I thin out the plank so it will lie nicely in the rabbet and cut an angle to that it follows the curve of the stem. Clamp and glue the 1st 4 or 4 bulkheads and leave it to dry.
I leave the plank strip overlong at the while I glue the bow end. Once I'm far enough back on the bulkheads to be sure where the plank will end I trim it and taper its thickness as required to fit well into the counter.  As the bend is getting sharper now I re-wet the very end of the strip and use the plank bender again to get a good fit on the stern. (obviously I have to have enough of the strip still free- 4 or 5 bulkheads- to manage that).
 
 
 

With you 100% Alan.  I find as the hull is planked the wonderful shapes become so much more apparent.  Very satisfying indeed!

I feel like I'm planking the hull in slo-mo but I really enjoy the process of planking so it isn't a hardship. Current state:
 

Much too long since I posted any progress on the Syren.  
 
After my whining about the finish on the gunwales I have sanded hem down and used finer paper to achieve a finish that I'm pleased with.  I'm leaving it for the now.  I've done a couple of attempts at a coppering jig.  I tried the insulin needles but wasn't having great success.  I've got a solution that looks like it will work for me but haven't finished it yet.  I'll be back!
 
But primarily I've been struggling with the transom.  I didn't like the way it was coming together - 
 

 
- so I tripped it off and did a "redo".  I think some of my problem with the transom came from the shaping of the stern filler blocks.  I don't have a good 3D sense until I see it finished and as a consequence I don't believe the shape of my ships stern is very accurate.  Rather than the straight planks I tried 1st time I've bent the planks  this time.  The transom piece from the kit has a curve at the bottom that I matched.  I'm happier with the results now but until I plank the hull I won't really be sure how it will all fit together.  My finger are crossed that It will be OK.  I like planking the hull so I'll be glad to get off the stern!
 

 

 

Dirk - why didn't I realize that!! (I know the answer but it isn't flattering to me)  You have such a wonderful eye for detail and determination and skill to do it right! 

That's encouraging Thomas. Thank you for the advice on staining as well as the encouragement on the insulin sharps.  I have to be away for a few days so I won't try it til next week.  

Nicely done Alan.  I wouldn't have thought of that way to use the insulin needles.  I couldn't imagine drilling .03mm then glueing them in!  Maybe I can try out your technique. 
 
I'm sure you're right that if I use the jig for a while I'll get more proficient with it.  
 
With your density of rivets I'm impressed that you made 2 different impressions - it would be for yourself not the viewer I think!

Thanks Rich,
 
Just to clarify for me - you're referring to the bulwark planks not to the copper plates right?
 
 

I have taken a short diversion from planking to play with coppering alternatives.  I plan to copper both the Prince de Neufchatel and the Syren.  I'm at the stage to do the PdN.
 
Using the Syren instructions in chapter 8 to build a jig for applying rivets, I thought to use it for the PdN copper plates as well.
 
I have struggled a bit to build the jig.  The main problem was getting the size of the rivet heads reasonable.  Th brass nails that come with most of my kits are .08mm in diameter.  Given that the spacing of the rivets in Chuck's rivet pattern is 2mm I felt the rivet heads were too large.
 
I found some .06mm brass nails - still a bit large but much better.  I have some very small syringes with .03mm needles but the metal is quite bendy - I didn't do an experiment with them.
 
Here's my jig, and the port and starboard pattern blocks - one finished the other ready for grinding down the nails.
 

 
Some plates with the .6mm heads  (the copper is NOT discoloured - artifact of the photo)

 
The alternative was the use of a pounce wheel

 
and a side-by-side comparison of the plates
 

 
I found the pounce wheel process fast and easy.  The Syren jig is slower, and I had some problems with the nails puncturing the foil so that it pulled up when I tried to remove the patten block to move the foil for the next impression.  To be fair I haven't used the jig much yet and I may improve my technique with practice.
 
Now to decide which way to proceed.
 
 

Many thanks Darrell.  As for luck - I'll take it!!

I was hoping to do the trenails (treenail, also trenail, trennel, or trunnel).  Right now I'm so  focussed on the bulwarks and the little flaws I think the trenails would be an improvement.  Also I've never done them, and this is a learning build, I kinda owe it to the build to try them out.  
 
I will watch how you approach the process!   I don't feel like I have a particularly well developed aesthetic sense so it always a dither process for me to decide on colours and finishes!  Your mention of green sounds pretty good!

Followup question Steve - can I use pre-stain effectively now that I've done one coat of stain + subsequent light sanding?

Also Alan when you mention the washes of acrylics to blend the colours are you talking about a similar sort of process that David Lester mentions about his Connie deck?

Hello,
         I am most pleased to let you know that five days after my successful contact with Domanoff, I have received the replacement parts for the ropewalk here in U.K. and am again making good quality rope.
        I accept this as a lightning fast response once my problem was apparent to Domanoff and as consistent with that received by his other customers.
 
           Tony.
 

What does pre-stain offer?  I'm a complete newbie for woodworking so I've never looked into this.
 

Yes David, this is basswood.  I've been painting (other than decking) on previous models and it didn't bother me as much.  However my standards are increasing (always higher that my skill level unfortunately!) and I had high expectations when I woke up this morning.  I was so disappointed.  I've started a light sanding (Steve's suggestion) and it has helped already.  I'm treating this as a learning experience - seems there's lots of those in my builds!
  
As for your head-on 25 feet comment? - sorry I'd take your results any day - they're good.

Thanks Steve and Bill. I was thinking I could solve the starboard problem by displaying the ship's port side.  Of course that just punted the problem to how to do the port side satisfactorily.
 
 Now you've given me some ideas.  Thank you.
 

I finally decided to attach the stern cap rail and fashion pieces.  This has been a difficult step for me and the results are OK but not completely to my satisfaction.
 

I finally decided to attach the stern cap rail and fashion pieces.  This has been a difficult step for me and the results are OK but not completely to my satisfaction.
 

I finished the starboard upper bulwark and I was OK with the result.  The caulking marker I used between planks was good on the edges but there was serious bleeding at the butt joints.
 

 
I wanted to see how ir would look after staining with Golden Oak.  Now I'm NOT OK.  I don't like the appearance at all.  I have to do something to make this better.  I wonder what?
 

 
 

Slowly moving forward.  First strake! 
 
 

Installing the gunport framing proceeded with only minor issues.  The 1st time I attached the template it was too high but I caught it using the cannon cutout.  
 

 
I wasn't sure from the instructions or other build logs how to frame the lintels - the instructions suggest glueing 2 3/16"x1/4" pieces together.  I ended up installing them in "stair-step" fashion so that the top of the gunport would be parallel (bow to stern axis) with the sill.

 
I trimmed the template to get the top of the transom marked on the stern.  

 
As I hoped the use of hardwood stern frames, pinned to the hull, proved to be very robust.  OI had no mishaps sanding the stern and sanding the hardwood did not prove to be at all difficult.  I did have some problems with the glue joints for the filler blocks holding.  When I first received my second-hand ship modelling library I decided to start reading "Plank-on Frame-Models"  by Harold Undersell.  Early in the volume he writes:
 
" ... I never leave anything to adhesive, but ever single item, no matter how small, is always pinned or dowelled. That is one of my pet obsessions."
 
At the time I thought that quite quaint and old-fashioned.  I'm reconsidering - perhaps it will become one of my obsessions given the experience I'm accumulating!
 
I trimmed the template again to the planking curve and compared it to the marks that I made by using a plank to give a fair run at the stern as outlined in the instructions.  

 
Some more sanding and I'm almost there!