niwotwill

Good Morning Patrick

 

I've never heard the statement about the garboard strake as being no upswing, I can see how that is true after planking and watching the stem get crowded. Good thing to remember. I used Chuck's method of marking off the frames and using that to determine individual plank widths at each frame and I still had to make adjustments at the stem. Your doing great work here and I look forward to your posts.

 

Will  

It's looking brilliant. I love the straight clean paint lines with the black. I had to read the monograph about the sweep ports to realize what you meant with your scrap wood comment it is really nice. 

Will 

 

Thanks Patrick and all others who liked my post.

 

Had a couple of productive days on the Syren. Margin planks installed it was difficult to cut the scarfs on the margin planks as they were bending with the shape of the bulwarks so when I had a good scarf fit on the bench the dry fit with the slight bends opened up the scarf joint. What I did was to glue the forward piece in place and then carefully shape the after pierce to fit the scarf. I got them close to the bench fit but I'm hoping that the carronade sleds will cover up a lot of the margin plank. I then figured a way to make the waterway strips. It turned out to be fairly easy in the end. What I did was take a piece of timber and mill it down to 1/16" thick (I'm using boxwood on the margin planks, waterways, and deck planking) I then used the Byrnes table saw tilting table set at 45 degrees and ripped off two 1/16" strips. I used my plank bending jig to shape the waterways to fit the bulwarks. It worked liked a gem and even left the 1/16" below the gun ports as Chuck stated.

With the margins and waterways completed I built the frame for the companionway ladder without any drama involved. That being done I looked at Dubz's planking plan and saw that I could use full length planks down the middle of the deck as all the deck fixtures would make it unnecessary to use individual 20' planks. So I then placed 8 planks down the middle and relieved the mast holes and the companionway opening.  Next will be the 20' planks in the 4 butt shift layout with  the nibbing on the margin plank.

 

Some photos of the work

Margin planks installed

 

 

Companionway frame

 

 

Tilting table on the Byrnes table saw

 

End view close-up of the finished waterway 

 

End of the day. Margin planks, waterways, companion framing and deck planking

 

 

 

Thanks everyone for looking and likes

Stay well

 

Will  

Thanks Mike and Michael for the comments. Hope you stay with me as I think is going to be fantastic learning experience for me. And thanks Jeff for moving my log to scratch builders.

 

On further review of the frame plan view and section view of Stem parts I realized that I'd cut the rabbit incorrectly so I'll make another keel. (Good think I've got plenty of wood) I started cutting out the stem parts and now need to sand them to shape of the plans pattern. 

 

Just a question though! The plans do not indicate treenails in the scarf joints of the keel or pieces of the Stem and Stern deadwood, trying to be correct would the shipwrights of a 1776 Galley made in months taken the time to treenail or just nail the joints? Any help would be appreciated.

 

I'll make another post when I finish the new keel and stem.

 

Again thanks for the likes and comments

Stay well

 

Will  

I have made model ships with kits and found that the kits take modeling liberties in their design. I build the Charles W. Morgan by Artesania Latina and liberties became evident when I looked at kit by Model Shipways and more so when I visited the Morgan at Mystic Seaport. While at Mystic Seaport I bought the original plans for Morgan’s deck furniture. i.e. hurricane house, rendering oven, crews head, boat shelter, rendering oven shelter and windless. I spent the next year whetting my apatite scratch building everything from deck up. To continue learning I decided to build the NRG’s plans for the 1776 Washington Row Galley last year. 

 

After studying, dreaming and planning I’ve finally started the build. So here if the first post or many to come. This project will be a long time to completion as I have not and will not make any project timeline. Last Christmas my daughters bought me the Model Shipways kit Syren. I’m working on this and it will be in conjunction with the Washington. 

 

This first thing I did was to build the model board and a couple of jigs. One for the bow support and another for frame setting. I’ll build more as needed with the build.

 

 

 

 

 

I'm going to build the skeleton structure out of boxwood and have not decided if I'm going to use other woods for color, but I have a lot of time before that decision. I bought 4X4X36 boxwood blanks for Cooks Woods to use for the model. They have a great website and excellent service. I resaved the blanks to 1" X 4" to make them more usable. I then ripped off sheets of 5/32" and 7/32" to mill down to 1/8" and 3/16" and said to myself "here we go"

 

Started with the keel as in the downloaded monograph 

My first scarf joint many to come hopefully I'll get better and quicker as I learn. I used Ed Tosti's method of coloring the glue to simulate the joint tar. It really makes an nice joint. 

Thanks Ed

 

 

Basic keel structure with 3 scarf joints completed now is the time to cut the rabbit. I used a scratch tool as described in Ed Tosti's " The Naiad Frigate" page 45. I used the back side of an old hacksaw blade to make my pattern. Light strokes of the scraper making the rabbit cut deeper with each stroke until it was 1/16" deep as per the plans. That done on both sided of the keel it was time to cut the frame floor recess. Measuring the plans it appeared to the be a basic room and space pattern with the frames being 1/4" and a 1/8" space so I planned on using the mill to cut the recesses, except during the planning process I realized it is not a standard room and space pattern. But instead a 1/4" recess with a 9/64" space making a pattern nearly impossible on the mill. I first thought I could cut the recesses using a staggered pattern meaning 9/16" equals .1406 so on the mill I could cut .140 on one and then .141 on another but on a trial piece the spaces still kept growing and with 41 recesses it could become out up to 3/32" an unacceptable amount. So I made a spread sheet with each dimension from the baseline (first recess). I lot of work but the result is the last recess is only .002 from the baseline after making the cuts from the baseline. 

 

 

 

This completed the basic keel with the ends needing to be cut to size and shape and the false keel added. The mounting holes need to be drilled to align with building board.

 

 

That brings this up to date. On to the Syren for awhile.

 

Stay well

Will  

Washington first post.docx

Ok so tomorrow was a week away and I finished the cap rails. Had somewhat of a difficult time getting the top surface between the cap rail and the 1/16" trim even and smooth. Sanding tended to radius the top of the cap rail so I removed the 1/16" trim and made a new one. I made sure the new trim was above the cap rail about 1/64" so I could fill any gaps with putty and then sand the top flat and smooth without seeing a seam. Painted and sanded until it looks like one piece.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The cap rail being completed it was time to attack the margin plank. As others had seen and noted the laser cut pieces don't align with the inside of the bulwarks. I was going to use them as patterns to cut pieces out of cedar, so reading others on using the print of the deck as a starting point off I went making my own. A little digression. Ive found that while making the Morgan I really enjoy scratch building as others have said so I started the NRGs 1776 Washington Row Galley and it is quite a challenge. Ok back to Syren. I had some boxwood from the Washington so I decided to use it for the deck planking and made my bow planks from it. Ripped some 3/16" X 1/16" strips for the margin. I have to cut the scarf joints for the planks. Ive decided to make the length of the pieces to scale and since the construction used wood usually no longer the 24'  to 26' I going to make the margin at 25'. I went ahead and milled more lumber to 1/16" and ripped enough 1/16" X 1/8" strips for the decking material. Now its on to the margin planks scarfs and installation. I've read several method to make the 1/16" X 1/16" X 45 degree waterway and am not sure how i'd like to proceed so any ideas would be appreciated. 

 

All the pieces for the margin planks and deck planks along with Dubz layout for the planking.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stay well

 

Until the margin planks

Will   

Very nice Patrick. Thanks for sharing the cutting discs that'll make cutting the scraping shape much easier. I've been filing them, just ordered some discs and can't wait to try them. I know this will be quicker and make better scrape patterns.This is what the club is about sharing and helping all of us get better.

 

Will 

Transom and counter planking is looking nice, I especially like the rebate around the gun ports. Overall looking good.

 

Nice Job

 

Will  

Cap rails are on! It was an all day process as I had to mill a 1/8" cedar board down to 1/16", make the bow patterns, rip strips for the rear, cut the bow pieces, cut the scarfs, sand and glue. Cutting the bow pieces was troubling me as they crossed the grain of the wood and I feared that they might split while cutting. To keep the wood secure to the cutting mat I placed strips of double sided tape on the cutting pad and pushed the wood onto the tape holding it secure while I cut the arc. I then used a drafting compass set to the correct width and followed the outside cut after I had finished sanding. Sanded the inside arc and cut the scarf joints. Mounted the cap rails without any mishaps. Yea!!! Reading the instructions Chuck mentioned cutting a double bump on the outside of the 1/16" strip to be added to the exterior of the cap rail. So I thought I'd give it a try. I read that you could use a piece of metal and cut a shape into the edge and scrape the wood creating the shape.

 

I used an old hacksaw blade and put it in a vice and filed a 1/16" wide x 1/321" deep slot into the edge of the backside of the blade. I use a small circular swiss file to cut to half circles in the corners of the slot. I then ripped a 1/16" square cedar strip to pull through the slot cutting the bumps. Using flat nosed pliers i pulled the strip through the slot while holding it in place with my left index finger. It worked and after a couple pulls the bumps were deep enough to be seen even at 1:64 scale.

 

Cut piece still on the tape. You can see the tape on the pad.

 

 

Closeup of the hacksaw blade with the slot cut into

 

 

Closeup of the 1/16" strip with my finger as reference

 

 

Tomorrow I'll sand and glue the strips onto the cap rail and then start painting them black along with touching up the the black paint everywhere.

 

 

Stay Well      

Patrick

 

I vote for "B" I like the pattern. A lot of holes to fill though. The stain on the cedar treenails darkened them too much for my taste. They seemed to obvious and with so many on the deck it might be too much. Have you tried to stain, drill, install treenails and just use wipe on poly it might keep them from getting to dark.

 

Love you idea of cutting thin sheet metal when a shear is unavailable. I'll use your method on my metal work. I tried knifes with questionable results and too many blades.

 

She's looking really really good!!!

 

Stay Well

Will  

I just read through your log of Syren and am truly impressed. Outstanding work. I really like your throw description of making the quarter gallery's. Many of the things you point out during your build left me wishing I had used similar techniques. I can't wait to see you stern carvings.

 

I know I'll be reaching out for help with my quarter gallery's as I'm going to start tomorrow.

 

Stay Well

Will

Thanks Edward I'll read WalrusGuy's log tonight. Really appreciate the look into.

 Will 

I got back to working of the model and completed the bulwark planking and sanding without much ado. Spent a quite a lot of time one the gunports and sweep ports getting the edges even and square. I've started painting the bulwark planking with a quick picture of the first coat.

 

 

 

 

I keep looking at other logs looking at peoples carving of the galleries and the stern carvings thinking of how I might attempt mine. Looking at the gallery castings in the kit it became apparent that the quality was not up to the kit. The port and starboard have pieces missing in different places and the definition of the window and roof detail is filled in with casting material. No sharp edges. a couple of photos to explain.

 

 

 

 

I moved on the the longboat to keep me moving ahead while I try to figure out the castings and how I'm going to carve them. Do I use wood or some other media. All ideas would be welcomed.

 

Stay well

Will    

 

Yes the cedar cuts much easer than the basswood as we can see in you photos showing your excellent craftsmanship. The plank spacing is amazingly straight. I think the cedar edges really help with plank to plank fitting. Really looking good your doing wonderful work. 

 

Stay well

Will  

Well I finished the bulwark thinning. The top is at 1.8" around the entire perimeter and 5/32" around the deck level perimeter. While examining the bulkhead stanchions I noticed a small radius from horizontal to vertical so I spent several hours using a chisel and #11 blade making the corners square. I then took a triangular swiss file to finish off the corner now the the planking sits on the deck surface correctly. I didn't have a 3/16" piece of yellow cedar so I had to surface plane a 5mm piece to 3/16" and then rip the 3/16" vy 1/16" strip for the first plank. Placed the port and starboard forward planks on. They sit very nice I very happy with the fit after all the work the frame/bulwark runction.

 

The Koreans had the turtle boat but my Syren (with clamps) looks like a porcupine boat.

 

 

I cut the fixed block holes in the bulwark planking and then I stained the blocks golden oak. I put the in the slides after the stain drys tomorrow.

 

Closeup views show everything all though I do have a lot of touchup to do.

 

 

Thanks for the likes

 Will    

 

Started chapter 7 today. Not very exciting sanding and sanding the bulkwarks, I got the top of the bulkheads down to 1/8" and to deck level down to 5/32".BTW the bulwark is really strong now with all the planking.  I'm hoping this is enough but we'll see as I'm going to sit on it for a couple of days, measuring and thinking. Chuck mentioned the up front by the bow It will get a little thicker but this will be ok, not sure what he meant by that. Any ideas? I could you some direction.

 

Here's a picture of one area as a sample of the thickness.

 

 

 

Finished up the fixed blocks the go into the bulwark for the main braces, fore sheets and main tack. Where I originally planned to use 3/32" dia rod I discovered that with a part .04 thick using the partoff tool  on the lathe was beyond me so I switched to wood. Turned down a square dowel to 3/32" dia dowel, drilled a .031 hole in the center and used Ed Tosti's method of parting off the disk. Used a #11 blade in a craft knife and it worked great making a clean smooth surface of the cut. I then cut the pieces apart and inserted the disks with wire as the axle. Parts are ready to install when I get the inner planking done. My wife thinks I'm crazy as no one will be able to see the parts. I tell her I'll know that they're there.

 

Drilling the holes

 

 

Cutting off the parts

 

 

Turning the rod down

 

 

Finished fixed blocks ready for staining, tomorrow, and installation after planking completed.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the likes and views

 

Stay safe and well

 

Will     

 

Your carved pieces look much better than the kit cast ones, keep going. Looking at the cast galleys it is apparent that they are not even the same as sections are missing from each in different locations. I'm going to carve mine as my cast cast ones look as bad as yours. I can only hope the my first carving looks as good as yours. My two cents is wait for the wood and treat the carvings as a separate project and move on with the build.

 

They look good

 

Will  

Thanks everyone for the likes it really helps me overlook my oops and keep moving ahead. Slow but steady as Patrick says.

 

Been a while since my last post  and after finishing the planking I sanded it smooth and filled are the cracks with putty and sanded some more. More putty more sanding. I finally was satisfied with the shape and smoothness without voids or cracks. I started getting ready for painting by masking off all areas not to be painted black.

 

During taping of the transom to wales intersection looked very rough so I studied and studied and came to realize that the fashion pieces will cover this area so it won't be seen.

 

I sprayed the hull with 8 coats of hull black paint with a light rub with 400 wet-n-dry paper between coats. The painting process took a week and in-between coats I built a display stand. painting came out very nice and gave me an excellent finish to look at the fairing that I had done which was smooth with no hills or valleys.

 

Sitting in my spray booth an old box.

 

One side done let it dry and turn around to the other side.

 

 

Last coat whew 

 

 

Closeup of starboard bow

 

Closeup of the starboard stern

 

I paint the hull black for a couple of reasons first is I use a machinists surface gauge pointer to scribe the water line into the paint giving me a fine permanent line. second as I said it gives me a good look at the fairing shape and lastly I think it gives a better surface for the copper plates to adhere to.

 

This is the display stand I made while waiting for paint to dry.

Two of the supports laying on the drawing to compare. I turned the dowels from some square swiss pear. You can see the square ends before being cutoff.

 

 

This the completed stand dry fit still needing sanding staining and some poly.

 

 

 

A view of the Syren resting on the dry fit stand.

 

 

I finally got the fashion pieces and transom cap rail. It was pretty eventful make fit remove make fit remove and then after 3 attempts the 4th fashion pieces looked as the should. I had to make the cap rail 3 times as no matter how much I soaked it and how slowly and carefully I bent them they split in the corners. On the fourth attempt I tried to lay a wet paper towel on it as the wood was drying and whew again it worked. I should have used Gahms method of build a jig and saved me all the work. But here it is:

 

A little touch up of black paint and treenails in the transom planks an on the chapter 7.

 

Its coming along slow and steady. Thanks Patrick

 

Everyone stay healthy and well during these trying times.

Will  

 

 

 

The batten line looks very nice and my Syren has the same upturn in the bow so no worries. Sllow but steady is the correct coarse to take ship modeling in not a race. Your point a great job.

 

Will

Patrick loving the way you're progressing it going to be a great model your an artist. You'll be forever glad you've decided to use the yellow cedar. I make a test panel to look at using it for decking and liked that way it looked but I think I'll make another three or four panels to experiment with stain colors trying to get a more weathered look, we'll see   I might one suggestion for staining I've use pre stain conditioner and it helped dull the color differences between grains on the strakes.

 

Looking really good keep it up

 

Will  

The copper pattern looks really nice when the plates are in such neat rows. Greet work. I like your approach to the punch using steel wire as I've read where some people use syringe needles which scared me. Looking forward to your progress.

 

Will

Thanks Patrick and everyone on the likes.

 

I spent the last week planking and finished today. When half finished I marked off the frames with tape to located where to drill for the simulated plank nailing on the bulwarks. Then I finished the planking's and sanded to a smooth even surface. Covered planking with putty and sanded and sanded more putty more sanding more sanding what a mess. Spent an afternoon cleaning the shop. This afternoon I spent working of my idea of how to make working sheaves. Was able to prove that I can make them as I envisioned so now I'll start making them in boxwood (easier to machine).

 

In this photo you can see the work I did to get the counter into proper shape. Doesn't look pretty but it'll be covered with black paint and copper plates. You can see the tick marks on the frames which tell me how much to shape and if I'm staying on the marks.

Plank symmetry is looking very good. I guess I'll press ahead.

 

 

Here the tape shows where the frames are behind the bulwark and this allowed me to make the pattern.

 

 

Planking finished and the bulwark nailing clearly visible. I had stained the alaskan yellow cedar with golden oak and applied a coat of satin wipe on poly.

 

View of finished stern planking before sanding and putty. I had also attached the stern most to see how much filler i would need.

I sanded the stem so the mermaid fits as she should.  I'm not a carver but I have to do something about this casting its quality is right in order with basswood. Sorry another gripe. I'll try to do better.

 

My double sheave plans

 

 

 

Short video of how my setup works on the mill.

 

I used a 1mm dental burr in the mill and made many .030 passes and you can see the slots. Notice the fuzzy edges with basswood.

 

Drill setup using the adjustable angle plate with the vise mounted. The plate is set at 15 degrees which should give the main braces lines the correct angle. I drilled a .021 hole through the part and thens used a .020 copper wire for the axel. I'll turn .093 dia brass rod for the sheaves with a .031 dia hole through which the copper wire will pass making a working sheave.

 

One last photo of the Syren sitting in front of the Charles W. Morgan that I just finished.

 

All is well here everyone stay healthy

 

Will  

 

 

Just jumped on and am very impressed. Great work. I've got copper plating to come so I'm very keen on how you manage. Keep up with the great posts and pictures.

 

Will 😎

Patrick I'm building the Syren and just a little ahead of you. I finished my planking today. Your work looks really good. I like your idea to fair the lintels as you go but not to to the stanchions. Nice work I look forward to you progress.

Will😎

`I've finished my Morgan and now can concentrate on the Syren. The next thing will be the wales and sheer strake. Discovered a big OOPS after getting the wales on I have the last frame and filler pieces not faired properly which was causing the joint between the counter and wales tone misaligned. I took the wales off back to frame middle and the four frames aft of this. 

You can see from the photos how the counter meets up with the filler pieces which caused the wales to land to high. So I then went and removed the filler pieces and started aggressively fairing the last frame. I then made new filler pieces and during the fairing process I could see the the counter had also taken the wrong shape when I faired the transom frames for the counter planks. I had to remove the counter planks and add some strips on the transom frames so I could then reshape them to correct the counter to frame and filler geometry. All's looking much better so I went ahead and removed the two strakes the were also offending the stern shape. Tomorrow I'll start adding wales, so we'll see how it turns out. This has been the largest mistake Ive had to fix and a very good learning experience..

 

Good Night 

Will