scasey88

I have also been thinking ahead in the build and planking will be coming up soon, so I ordered some boxwood strips for above the wales, and some Alaskan yellow cedar, if I like it I will use it on the deck planking, still not sure what to do about the carronades, they are not good, and they are lacking detail, and don't match the plans, and look more like cannons, not sure which ones to order and they are kind of pricey so I am still pondering this. I will start thinking about new rope and rigging from Chuck.

A new toy, I mean tool came in as well. Now I should be ready for the fine detail and rigging work.

15/32" block to keep lintels square with the sills, then I used the block as a stop to start cutting  the gunport sides.

Lintels are in, a little more sanding to do and they will be done, got a lot of the material off with the dremel, and then the emery boards

last night I got the sills done on the port side, and did some sanding nothing too major to report, so I think I will post up some more pics when I get the lintels done and everything sanded flush.

looking great Peter, you are going to pass me up in no time, I have been lucky so far and have not broken a bulkhead, I came close, just like you did I caught them on my shirt a couple of times but not enough to break them

41 minutes ago, MD11pilot said:

Glad to see that there are still folks building the Syren. I’ve been on such a long break that I feared I might be the only one left.

I shared your fear of this kit being too advanced for a beginner, but with the excellent instructions and the very detailed build logs on this site, you'll do fine. Have fun!  Looking great so far. 

Eric

Thank you Eric, totally agree with you, and yes I am having fun with the Syren, that is why people are still building it, its such a great kit, and with that and the awesome people on MSW for support, it gives beginners like us a fighting chance to build a great model, Honestly I have never enjoyed building a model as much as this one, Thanks to Chuck. 

1 hour ago, fnkershner said:

It looks pretty good to me! 

 

One more suggestion - As many other builders have suggested I created a block that was the size of the Cannon port. But I did it slightly differently. I made sure my block was long enough to reach across the deck. This way I not only made sure the cannon ports lined up to each other from Starboard to Port. But I also made sure the sills were flat in relation to the deck. On my first try I had some that were at a bit of an angle. This also helped with alignment of the Lintels.

 

Since you have the binder clamps to you know how to modify them to be planking clamps? They are the cheapest clamps you can find and I think they are the best for planking.

Thank you, and yes I do know how to modify those binder clips, I bought a ton of them at Office Depot and left some unmodified, Good idea about the block spanning the deck, I did not think of it that way, I did make a little 15/32" jig to square up the lintels with the sills , I like your idea though and if I would have done both side of sills at the same time, a block spanning the deck would have made it easy to use a spirit level to get the sills flat, I tried using the level but it was not working, it was too hard to balance it on the sills. Darn you! I hope I don't tear those sills off again! I think they are flat enough though, but I will see about making a block and using it to line up the gun ports though. I felt really good about my sills last night, as long as gremlins did not come in and move them overnight while they were setting up. Thanks again Floyd

Ok, I still wasn't quite satisfied with my sills yet, so I took floyd's suggestion of using the template, finally I was satisfied with a nice smooth run, so I glued up the sills and then I noticed the tops to some of the sills were not as flat as they should be, so last night I took them apart again and glued them again, good, I am satisfied now, they are in their final resting position, will get a pic tonight probably, but here is a pic with the template, not bad but I think they look even better now.

Good catch Doug, I must have been half asleep and just checked my drill bit chart for the .055 drill, sorry Floyd. according to the chart in this link it falls between a #74 and #75 drill. http://news.bmotorsports.com/faq/drill-bit-sizes-conversion/

Hello Peter, welcome to the Syren Club, It looks like you are off to a great start, your build is looking real good so far, I will follow along.

Hi dydale, it looks as if the Golden Hind is more on the beginner side, so it might be a good model for you to build, alot depends on how good the instructions are, i am a beginner too and have not built an Occre kit, so maybe someone that has can comment on the instructions etc., One thing you said is "I like it" and I think that is important, I started with a kit labeled as beginner from the company and I just was not that interested in the model itself and did not do a great job on it, and it turns out it really was not that easy of a kit, but my current build of The Syren is labeled as advanced, but it has great instructions and I really love the ship and want it to come out great, so I am enjoying the build much more, and so far I am doing a much better job on it. Plus there are lots of other people that have or are building The Syren and everyone here is very helpful.

Oh btw Floyd, I still have not found a supplier outside of the U.K. for those Caldercraft carronades, I will keep trying to come up with something though.

Ok Thanks Floyd, I made an extra copy of the template today just in case, so I am going to go home and clamp it to the bulkhead and hopefully glue the sills in tonight. I guess I am just trying to get everything as perfect as my skills will allow. I appreciate it.

12 hours ago, fnkershner said:

Ok, I guess it is time for the weekly update. It seems quite hard to find time in the shipyard during the week. The Port side is planked above the wale. The starboard side is approx. 1/2 way. You will notice I am having difficulty keeping the sweep ports uniform in size. I should also mention that I seemed to lose the transom some where along the way. I contacted Model Shipways for a replacement. Even with the hurricane they came thru and it arrived this weekend. Very timely since the stern is the next step after the Planking above the wale. I am particularly happy that the planks line up from the bow view. I have never got that right before.

 

So I have a question for you Syren Builders - I want to try my hand at treenailing. This will be my first attempt. Chuck mentions that he used a .055 drill. Anyone know what number that is? I have drills number from 65 to 80. Also if I am not mistaken he says to stain before you drill and putty? Is that correct? So if I get the sequence. It is stain with Golden Oak, drill, putty, sand, & wipe on putty.

 

Sorry I didn't look at the pictures before I posted them. Apparently the flash was over powering. I am on my way to bed but I will retake them and post an update.

Hi Floyd, a .055 drill bit is a #54, it is 1.397 mm,  I believe you have the sequence for treenailing correct as well, if you stain first it should keep the color from bleeding into the wood. Your planking is looking great!

 Can I ask you something now? I am at the point of starting the gun ports and I am nervous about gluing the sills up yet, how concerned do I need to be about the height of the sills in relation to the deck planking? I think I read where there should be 1/8" from the opening to the deck, and after the waterway is installed there will be 1/16", at first I just put up a batten and got a smooth run, but I adjusted the sills slightly for 1/8" with a plank resting on the deck. It still looks like a smooth run however, Am I overthinking this? I want to make sure the carronades fit properly. Thanks, Shawn

I also wanted to thank everyone for the Likes, I do appreciate it.

Dry fitting of the sills, I have not got the nerve to glue them just yet, I spent most of Sunday adjusting and readjusting, and then looking at other build logs trying to see if I got everything right, I guess my main concern is getting the height of the gun ports correct in relation to the deck planking, I think when I get home tonight I am going to have to just go for it and glue them up, I think everything is looking pretty good, so far this is one of the most nerve racking parts so far

Temporary batten in place, looks like I got a pretty good run after adjusting it a couple of times, the little nails split two of the bulkheads just a bit, simple fix with a drop of pva glue.

I am ready to start work on the gun ports next, it will be a relief to get some support between the bulkheads,  even though I have been very careful and have not broken any of them yet, The mitre box that I have is a pos, so I went and got a new one today, so I can start cutting out the sills and lintels.

i

I have also been fairing the hull, trying to take my time here because I did not fair the hull on my longboat properly, then I added the the bow fillers and have been sanding the top of the bulkhead to eve out the filler blocks for a smooth deck surface.

I have got a little more progress this week, I added the small lower deck and stained it, not sure if I like the color, seems a little dark, and I need to tone down the caulking lines in between just a bit, but I am not going to worry about it too much since it will hardly be seen.

nice start, I like the build board you made too. Good choice on carving the rabbet by hand

Svein, your Confederacy is looking great!!

I cut the filler blocks  on my chop saw, and got them glued up. The bulkhead former had a  slight warp, so I clamped it into my build board until it was straight hopefully it will stay that way after i take it off the board. I will let the filler blocks dry overnight and take it out tomorrow.

Bulkheads are done, ready to start on filler blocks.