scasey88

very cool!

Half of the bulkheads attached, some were slightly too loose in the slot, so I used a strip of card stock glued to the slots to snug them up, I still had to sand on some that got too tight.

Keel attached

10 hours ago, fnkershner said:

If you find a link to order the Caronnades please share.

I will, I would like to find somewhere here in the u.s. that has them. So far about all I have found is complete carronades with the sled, and those are too pricey.

stem piece glued up and left to sit overnight, turned out good. I also picked up some stock to make filler pieces in between the bulkheads.

5 minutes ago, fnkershner said:

Chuck's Corronades will not work. They do not use the same Carriage as the Syren.

Thank you, I was wondering if they would work anyways being 1/4 scale, also I noticed they are sold 5 per package, and I would have to buy 4 of them to get 16, oh well back to Caldercraft.

On 9/10/2017 at 4:45 PM, Peter Bloemendaal said:

Thanks Dan,

 

I'm not sure about that. The AL kits I started with this year were beginners kits and even the San Fransisco is classed as a 2 star kit by Al. I have started other hobbies is the past where I ended up as a collector of the latest and greatest rather than doing the hobby. I (and the admiral) wanted to make sure that this one was not another flash in the pan and was going to stick before getting into the more complex models. I have little doubt about that now. I used to enjoy modeling it as a kid, I enjoy it even more now.

The Syren is an advanced kit and I've been drooling over some of the master pieces being build in the forum. I wont be kidding myself, I'm still years away (if ever) from reaching those skill levels. My goals are to enjoy the journey (tick), and learn and get better as I go (tick?). The rest will fall into place.

I've committed to finish the SF before I start, so I still have a few weeks to go.

I'm also a bit nervous starting a log and putting my work out there. It almost feels like setting yourself up for something to go wrong. I normally prefer to tick along in the background. But hey,.. sharing is caring and if something does go wrong, a log might prevent others making the same mistake.

 

Peter.

Welcome Peter,

I am new here too, and I started on a so called "beginners kit" The 18th Century Longboat, but it was not all that easy, and did not turn out as well as I would have liked, but it did teach me a lot, along with this forum. From the looks of your other models, you should be fine. So far The Syren is going along much better than my longboat and I am enjoying the build even more, and like you I was hesitant to put my build log up and let everyone see my work too, But everyone here is friendly and supportive and will give you tips, I plan on doing a better job on my build log for the Syren than I did for the Longboat. So I hope you start on on the Syren too.

Shawn.

Last night I got some more sanding done on the bulkheads, and tapered the stem and test fit the Syren, So tonight I plan on double checking the fit on all the bulkheads and gluing on the stem and false keel, let that dry overnight and tomorrow I should be able to start gluing up the bulkheads

3 hours ago, Jim Rogers said:

Chuck has corronades but they are in 1/4 scale. Look in the Cheerful section.

Nice, I found them, those are beautiful! thanks Jim.

Shawn

47 minutes ago, fnkershner said:

Its great to see another Syren Build. I replaced the stern chasers with long guns from Chuck. And I will likely go to Coldercraft for the Carronades. Anyone have a link? I also suggest you look at Chuck's ships wheel kit and rigging line. I have replaced all the rigging from my Syren with Chucks. I also replaced the ships bell with one I found at Model Expo. And I replaced the hull planking above the wale with Box wood.

Thanks for the suggestions, I have been looking at Chuck's site and trying to come up with a list of things to purchase from him, and I was thinking about replacing above the wale with boxwood an possibly the deck planking as well

1 hour ago, HIPEXEC said:

Good luck....I'll be watching

Thank you Rich,

 I have browsed your build log as well

Thank you Svein,

18 lb Caldercraft carronades it is then.

23 minutes ago, GaryKap said:

Hi scasey88 -

I recently built SYREN and am currently working on CONFEDERACY.  The short answer to your question is yes, you probably could...but it would not be historically accurate.  SYREN carried 16 carronades.  Chuck sells cannons.  Google the difference.  Carronades were short cast iron cannon mounted on "sleds" and required a smaller gun crew.  Chuck's cannon are "long guns" that would have been mounted on gun carriages.  If you were to replace the carronades, you would need to buy the barrels and the carriages as well.  And yes, I agree...the cast metal carronade barrels that are supplied with the kit are pretty crappy.  I kept hoping that Chuck would opt to sell carronade barrels specifically for SYREN because it is such a popular kit, but it hasn't happened yet.  I wound up using the kit barrels and afterwards wished I had gone with Caldercraft.  Another option is to make your own.  Check out Jesse Lee's build log.  He did a great job making them out of wood.

 

Probably not what you wanted to hear, but I hope it helps.  No doubt others will be chiming in on this as well.

 

<<Gary>>

Ok, Thank you Gary

That is a big help, I understand now, and yes I did see Jesse Lee's build log, I agree he did a great job on making his carronades. Well even though I have a lathe, I might play around with making some barrels from wood or brass, the hard part would be to get them all the same size. So for me it will be Caldercraft, more than likely.

I have a question about the cannons for anyone that might know! I want to replace the kit cannons, and it seems as though everyone is using the Caldercradft cannons, Can any of Chucks cannons from Syren be used, they are beautiful cannons and I would like to support Chuck as much as possible?

18 minutes ago, Heronguy said:

I'm pleased to see another Syren build getting started - I'm pulling up a chair.  I've got one going too and was motivated by similar factors - detailed instructions, beautiful ship, and lots of build logs to motivate and help!

 

You're off to a good start.

Thank you Doug, I will be following along with your Syren build as well.

Started to carve the bearding line next

46 minutes ago, svein erik said:

Good luck on your syren build 

am started on my syren to😊

 

Svein.erik

Thank You, and Good luck to you as well!

16 minutes ago, Jim Rogers said:

A good omen for this build is the lack of the infamous pink plywood. Have fun!

Thank you Jim, yes I held my breath as I opened the box, but no pink plywood, all is good.

Next I formed the strip for the rabbet

I went to Home Depot and picked up some items for a build board.

Sanded the char of the back of the bulkheads and the former.

Started by taking inventory of the parts list and organizing the parts.

So I might be a little crazy trying to build the Syren at my skill level, but oh well, The 18th Century Longboat was just not that exciting for me and I am just not in to it much. I am very excited about the Syren however, What a beautiful ship, well designed by Chuck and great instruction book, I have spent hours looking at other build logs by Dubz, Rafine and Gahm etc, as well as the instruction book online, and with Model Expo having a Summer Doldrums sale the price was right and I went for it. I could not help myself and started taking pictures of the box, I know everyone has seen it but here we go

Looking Good Derek, I like the Teak, what kind of finish are you going to put on it? hopefully something that preserves the natural look of the Teak. hope you stay safe during the hurricane and it doesn't get you too bad.

Shawn

1 hour ago, Slideways said:

Looks good scasey

i enjoyed building my kit and now trying to build one from scratch .

cant wait to see your progress 

Derek

Thank you Derek,

I am glad that you enjoyed building your Longboat, the truth is I am just not that into this kit, and made many mistakes on it. Also I need to get one of those Optivisor things I am struggling with seeing the small detail stuff, I have got to the rigging stage and I am having a hard time with it, I do intend to finish this boat, here are a couple of pics of how it sits right now.

Thanks for the tip Steve,

 I turn pens on a lathe and sometimes you get a crack or chip in the pen if you go down too thin and I have used that technique with excellent results, most of the time you could not even see the repair, the only difference is I would mix the sawdust with a slow setting ca glue fill the gap and sand smooth with the lathe running, I use ca glue for the final finish on the pen anyways, once you master the finishing with ca the results are a glass smooth finish that is durable as well.