niwotwill

Forgot to take picture of how I marked the ZZ frames so I'll just say I used the same method as Rustyj and glbarlow. That being a lead taped to a piece of wood that is used to slide down the sides of the frames while marking the cut line on ZZ frames. That done it used a small sanding drum on my rotary tool to remove all excess material up to the line. I then used sanding block to fair the zz frames to the line of the hull. frames glued in before marking frames ground and sanded fair. Used a strip to verify the fairing after sanding, checking, sanding, checking, sanding and more checking. Kept working until the strip was flush to the frame surfaces. Starboard side being checked from top to lowest Port side being checked Made copies of the stern frames from the drawing and held to the frames. I was amazed how the 12 pieces of framing aligned with the copy. Best I have ever done. Taking time and repeatedly reading, measuring, and checking shows the results. Translucent photo showing the alignment of all the frames. The angle taken gives the impression that there is misalignment but it is aligned as the frame tops show in the previous photo. Now to lintels, sills, square tuck and fillers which I'll try to get done before we leave. I'm taking some of Chucks mini-kits for the Cheerful to work on while we're away.

Took time today to cut the forward gunports fortunately without any mishaps as on the port side. Filed and sanded the opening to match my .571 tool and now on the stern frames. Now on the stern frames removing the laser char was quite a challenge as the boxwood takes the char into the grain deeper than the other part of the wood which resulted in removing more surface than I would have liked. The X and Y were done singularly and I decided to glue the two Z frames together before removing the char. After the Z frames set the char was removed and while removing the char I glued the two sets of ZZ frames together and then glued to the Z frames. Removing the char from this assembly was much easier to keep the shapes while sanding to remove the char. With char removed from all the frames it was time to glue the Z assemblies to the rear frames. When the glue sets the Z frame assembly will be marked for the fairing as is the monograph. Waiting for glue to set before marking to start fairing with a small sanding drum.

Well I snuck out into the shop today telling my wife I was ready to go on vacation. 😜 Got the starboard sills installed and stiffeners installed in the open bulwarks. Starboard side went much faster and easier. It looks ugly but no one will see it when planked. Placed the gunports sides making sure that everything was level and in alignment with the port side. Finished up by fairing both sides getting ready for the next step planking the wales and bulwark planks. Before any planking I need to pick a red color and paint the gunports.

Well done its looking great. Hard to believe you've finished the Syren in such a short time. Great job. The whole project and the log are fantastic.

Thanks guys I go and give it a try.

As Druxey said not to worry we all used/use filler on planking. It looking fantastic for your first planking.

Well back to fairing the portside and fixing the first gunport sill. I had placed reinforcing spacers at the top of the open frames which needed to be faired along with the sides of the ports. That was a straight forward process without changing the existing faired line. Using a strip of 1/8" x 1/32" boxwood I kept checking the existing fair making sure that I had not changed it while bringing the stiffeners and port side in line. The port side is done and now on to the starboard side, but it will have to wait as I'll be out of town for 6 weeks.

I have never been able to paint flat surface without brush strokes and would like to hear how other people do it. Any and all help is appreciated.

Still more problems with first gunport. Sanded down the 1/32" filler shown in previous photo and still not enough to stay in line with the sills. I removed the balance of the filling shim and went to option one and and made up filler with sawdust and glue. Evenly spreading a thin layer of this mixture on the sill of the port to be sanded when dry. Mixture drying Closeup of the mixture I went ahead and added fillers between the empty positions between bulkheads without gunports. Everything ready for final fairing hopefully tomorrow. Then on the starboard side without the OOPS I'm hoping.

While placing the port side sills I borrowed Glenn Barlows method of aligning a level to the starboard side sills thereby ensuring that the sills would be level. I made a port sizer out of some scrap cheery and surfaced on direction to .531" and the other .524"; I use the smaller side as a quick check so that when sliding the sizer into a port I don't scrape the ports surface. Thats the sizer in the photo. With all the ports done and the glue set it was time to cut the forward port. I measured and measured again. checked the monograph, looked at logs and bought the bullet 3/4" from the aft end of the fillers and the forward face of "J". Who knew scratch building would be so hard, whew. Scribed in the aft line and 17/32" forward for the forward side. I don't take enough pictures to show the individual steps, I'll try to get better. I started to the first cut using the razor saw but the blade started to flex so I went to a mitre saw. Getting the cuts just inside the lines so I could finish the port with files. I used a #11 knife to slice down to the bottom or top of the sill. As I got close to the sill level I encountered an OOPS or should I say "a learning experience". After so many cuts the blade had become dull and dug a gouge below the sills top surface. I don't know if I'm cheap or lazy but whatever you can't make that many cuts and still be sharp. So to fix this left two options as I saw it 1) to fill the gouge with filler made with sawdust and glue 2) would be to carefully cut lower and fill with a piece of .031 AYC. I remembered that someones log had lined the ports to make them smooth so I chose option 2. As you see while filing the top piece of ply broke off. I'll fix this when I see what happens as I progress or if anyone has thoughts please send them. Now only to put fillers in the open frames and fair it all down to final surface. Oh yeah the starboard side. Make it a good day Will

Finished lacing up the first starboard aft netting. I haven't trimmed the netting as I plan to wait until I look at it again tomorrow with rested eyes. I was able to use admirals needle threader to pull the thread through the top outboard holes in the cranes and it really made it fairly easy to get everything straight and secure. Lacing the inboard side onto the wood was another story though. I use the clips to hold the threads out of the way while working on other areas. Just couple photos of the completed section Ive decided not to put the hammock rolls in the cranes for several reasons. The first is I like the uncluttered look and they would hide some detail when the model is displayed in a case on a shelf. Another thought that comes to mind is on painting and drawings of the Tripoli engagement some had bed rolls up and some did not leaving me wondering. Just another thought is if they were up during an engagement all the carefully coiled rigging would not be the case so why have both? Just my opinion though. Make it a good day --- My dear old friend Carl "Nick" Saids salutation to you whenever you parted. succumbed on May 20th to his battle with time. May he rest in peace Make it a good day Will

Welcome aboard sailer. ⛵ I'm in my very late 70's and my dad did not teach me such things to busy making money. I've been modeling for 3 years now and am on my 5 kit. I just started the scratch plank on bulkhead HM Cheerful cutter. Make it a good day Will

Finished the hammock cranes rigged the black line and touched up the paint and now ready for netting. Added rudder pendents and I'll add the coiled lines when I add them for the rigging. Ruddert pendents Netting tomorrow Make it a good day Will

Had a good catch while measuring for the boarding panels that was no inboard boarding ladders. Made up a set of ladders using the plans as the pattern. Filed slots in the sides for the steps as before keeping the steps perpendicular to sides. Glued together and when dry stained them golden oak. Now on to hammock cranes and boarding panels. Using the laser panels I carved a recess feature as in the monograph. Sanded the cranes to thin them up slightly and burnish them for better paint adhesion. Spray painted the cranes to get complete coverage before mounting and then just a touchup after assembling. Putting the cranes into the pre-drilled holes was a fiddly process. Just the slightest friction between the cranes pin to the hole walls caused them to bend. Got them in and after letting everything set overnight the wood strip was installed without any problems. Everything made and glued now on to paint. and then the netting. I still am trying to decide if I want to install hammock rolls but I have time to make up my mind. I placed the mast rods in to get an idea of how its going to look and when I saw the photos I noticed the masts not being perpendicular and appearing to point away from each other. I use my Apple phone for photos and you can really see the wide angle lens making a bubble lens effect. The masts are correct. Make it a good day Will

You just keep amazing me. Make it a good day Will

Maury I used Lepages white glue and water loosened a dry joint after soaking with paper towel wrapped joint. Have a good day Will

Deck is complete after the eyebolts and rings. Using the kit eyebolts and making split rings out of 26AWG copper wire. I tested the rings for strength against the pull that rigging will exert and they seemed to be strong enough so I didn't solder the rings. Moved on the timber heads using the plans for a pattern. Timber heads made from AYC which is easier to carve that basswood keeping sharp edges and smooth surfaces. While placing testing how to cut the transom I discovered an old problem surfaced it ugly head again. Way back in fairing I over cut the rear frame causing problems with fitting wales, upper planking, fashion pieces and transom. Spending a lot of time making the stern overcome the problems while still look correct. These modifications caused to top rail to be to high in relation to the transom so when the davits were fit the were also to high above the transom. The fix I came up with was to flatten the top rail, make small notches in transom, and move the davits rearward. So instead of the davits being against to forward edge of the transom the davit angle is now an extension of the rear of the transom. Its not right but it looks ok. Now on to the hammock panels when suddenly I realized I had not made the interior boarding ladders so on to ladders then hammock panels. Make it a good day Will

Glad to you see you're back at it. Hope life wasn't too bad for you. Mounts look good being made out of wood be sure to post the painted ones. Make it a good day Will

Finished the port sills and will do the gunport framing when the sills to bulwark dry to a hard cure. My comment on the first sill has since proved me wrong so its back to measuring and markings. My first method works fine if the sill stays at the level evaluation but when they start to sweep with the line they present two angles for each cut. Fiddly little buggers. Cutting the top and bottom angle and the the side upsweep angle required many oops. Got to feed the scrape barrel mouth. Got all the port sills in now on to the framing and starboard side. The process I finally settled on was to cut the bulwark angle first then making minor amounts of sanding until the sill rested against the bulwark. Hardest part was to make them so the slide between the bulwarks without forcing the geometry. Just enough of a slide fit to hold in place while the glue sets. Oops, feed the scrap barrel again. First sill done Feeling good about myself and then OOPS I saw the upsweep missing between 0 and 2. Breakout the alcohol and start soaking. Wasn't bad though as the glue was still fairly soft. Fixed the placement and continued on to adding sills. All sills placed waiting for glue to set. Looking good I think for my first scratch build. Make it a good day Will

Thank you Chuck and Glenn for the nice comments and everyone for the likes. Glenn I've been following your log from almost the beginning and I must tell you it is amazing. I use your log daily as a reference to see how you've done things and as I said I now read the last page of the book as you add them. I ripped a 1/4" square strip for the gunport sills and started with the first sill on the port side. Fitting the sills with the angles is going to be a challenge. I measured, measured again, remeasured and cut the first piece. Wrong angles. My woodworking buddy gave me a marking knife for my birthday and all of a sudden it hit me to lay the strip on top of the bulkheads and use the knife from below. Cut close to line and used disk sander to get to the line but I came to the line making the part about a hair short. No worries I know how to do it and leave the line. Tomorrow is a new day. Make it a good day Will

I've been following this build from the beginning and have watched your work in wonder. Photography is amazing I use your log almost daily to see how you've done things and learned a lot. Make it a good day Will

Finished fairing port and starboard sides. Made fairing strip 1/16" by 1/32" to verify rough fairing. Spent 2 days checking the fairing with the strips using 320 grit sandpaper until getting the fairing so each bulkhead had complete coverage. The bow was the hardest to get the fair into the stem rabbit. I tried to use 1/8" by 1/16" boxwood to verify the gunports but the boxwood split when a pin was pushed through and into the bulkhead making a uneven surface with bumps at the pin locations. Then decided to use basswood and ripped and milled two strips 1/8" by 3/64". I used 3/64" thick as that will be the planking thickness. Pinning the strips using the laser marks showed only very minor adjustment to 3 locations on the port side and 2 locations on the starboard. Viewed the strips from front, back, top and bottom when satisfied marked the outside face of the bulkheads. Next on the gunports sills and sides and I will also keep checking my lines before the gunports. Make it a good day Will

AH! toothpicks the wonder tool or wood of modeling. Great idea and as I said I noticed the different spacing of the coils. I did that on my carronade riggings coils to keep from being to uniform. Will

I looked at Tom Laurie rope coil video and i feel his method makes the coils too uniform. Looking at yours makes me keep looking and seeing more details. I really like the varying lengths of the coils. WELL DONE JUST LIKE THE REST OF THE SYREN I just finished chapter 13 and now onto chapter 14. Reading logs to see how you and others dealt with the hammock netting. Make it a good day Will

Amazing pumps and using the rod for alignment a great technique. Like match drilling on building hot rods in my past. Make it a good day Will