rvchima

Mail Order Blues I ordered a selection of rigging line from Model Expo. It took 15 days to arrive. When I realized that I would run out of blocks I decided to hedge my bets and ordered from three different companies. Here's how that turned out. Model Expo I used their on-line Tech Support form to request replacement parts. The <send> button echoed my input to a new window but didn't seem to send anything. After a week with no response I tried again, and the same thing happened. I think their site is not working correctly. I called them yesterday and the woman on the phone told me to send a request by e-mail. (Their are no e-mail addresses posted on their site.) No response yet, but it's only been 24 hours. Ages of Sail On July 14 I ordered 3 sizes of blocks, hoping that 2 would match. $14.75 for the blocks, $18.20 postage and handling. I got an immediate e-mail saying that my credit card had been charged and that I would get another e-mail when my order had been shipped. After 9 days I checked their on-line order tracking feature and saw that my order had been canceled. I e-mailed the company and got a response saying that they were not sure why the order had been canceled and would let me know. Yesterday I still had not heard anything so I e-mailed them again and asked to have the order canceled and my credit card refunded. No response yet, but it's only been 24 hours. Bluejacket Shipcrafters On July 23 I ordered blocks from Bluejacket Shipcrafters, and offered to pay extra for priority shipping if available. The next morning a very helpful woman called to tell me that next day air would be very expensive, but that they would ship the blocks priority mail for the standard $10 shipping charge. They arrived two days later. The bad news is that they are cast metal. Caveat emptor. Rod's Model House A few days ago I decided to make my own 1/8" blocks using a leftover basswood strip from the kit. I made about 30 at a time in one long strip. I used Dirk's trick to score grooves down the center, filed little notches every 1/8" to round the corners, drilled between the notches, and finally separated the blocks with a razor blade. I stained the blocks with some walnut stain. The results were "acceptable," and allowed me to rig some hallyards that have been hanging loose for a month. The only problem is that the basswood blocks tend to split when I wrap a wire hook around them. Here's a row of blocks ready to be cut apart. I still have a ways to go and hope that Model Expo sends replacement blocks soon. I am not looking forward to making 3/32" blocks.

Bob, When I built my Flying Fish in 1969 I made a cradle for it. Forty three years later it had been bumped off the cradle several times and was looking pretty sad, so I decided to switch to a pedestal stand. I built and finished the base, drilled and countersunk the holes, and clamped the base to saw horses with the bottom exposed. I balanced the ship on the pedestals and base, and my wife held it while I lay on the floor and drilled into the hull. The old Flying fish had a solid hull so two long screws held it securely to the base. The attached base gives me something to safe to hang on to when I have to move the model, so I like it a lot better than the cradle. Rod

Congratulations Augie! Your Syren is magnificent. Thank you for sharing your build log with all of us, and thank you for all the help you've given me. Rod

Your Syren is looking great Thomas. I like your well-used building board too! Did you take painting lessons from Jackson Pollock? At this stage you don't really need a vise anymore. Make a stand with a cradle or a couple of brass pedestals and just use that.

Dolphin Striker Modification I think I've broken my dolphin striker 4 times now. Reach for something under the bow on my bench, bump a line, and SNAP! Today I reinforced my dolphin striker by gluing an inverted V of music wire to it. Don't know if it will help, but I'd recommend it to anyone else building the Syren. Do it early and maybe you can hide it better.

More Extra Parts My kit included 15 13/32" single blocks that were also listed in the parts list. The photo below puts these blocks into perspective - they are huge! These must be included by mistake. Or did I miss something major? Update According to Chuck, the 13/32" single blocks were added to the kits by mistake, and that ME is aware of the error.

I've already contacted twice them about missing cannon balls and shortages of deadeyes. They did replace both for free, but it took 2-3 weeks to get the package. I ordered the deadeyes specified in the kit and received a scribbled note asking me to order from the catalog, which didn't match.

Beautiful work on your Syren, Thomas. I love the little ring bolts on the gun port lids. I used bent eyebolts, but some of them look too much like bent eyebolts. You will be glad that you made the rings. Rod

I'm Out of Everything My lower yards are lofted and mostly rigged, but I have run out of all kinds of supplies: 28 gauge black black wire 0.008" black line 0.008" tan line (almost out) 0.012" black line 3/32" single blocks (I might have exactly enough but it sure is hard to count ahead) 1/8" single blocks I ordered blocks and wire from Model Expo, but their parts descriptions on-line are completely different from those in the kit. They don't seem to have the right size blocks at all, so I ordered those from Ages of Sail. I hope they match when they arrive. The weird thing is that I have enough boxwood strips left over to build another boat! Has anyone else run into shortages or surpluses with the Syren kit?

Tip of the Day - Needle Threader or Instant Needle? When I have to thread rigging line through a block I'm always tempted to grab for my needle threader. But sometimes it's hard to see or reach the back side side of the block. In that case I dip the end of the line in a drop of CA glue, wipe it with a paper towel, and wait 10 seconds for it to stiffen. Then the line becomes an instant needle that I can push through the block from the front.

Beautiful work Augie! I can hardly wait to see you Syren completed. Do you plan to get a case for her?

Yards Complete 28 weeks, 448 man-hours Saturday I returned from a two-week vacation in Alaska. Now the grass is cut, the laundry is done, and the weather is terrible - a perfect excuse to stay inside and complete the yards for the Syren. The yards took 33 hours to build and are shown in the photo above. You can compare them to Augie's yards at this link: http://modelshipworld.com/index.php?/topic/46-us-brig-syren-by-augie-ms-kit-164-18-gun-brig/page-40#entry42019 Augie's entry was dated April 21 and he's almost done, so I figure I'll be done by the end of September. I decided to paint my yards black like Chuck's prototype. It seemed like a good idea until I realized that I had installed my boom and gaff unpainted. Luckily there wasn't too much rigging in the way and I was able to paint them in place. Maybe I'll be done by Halloween

USS Syren vs. the Diamond Princess Approximtely to scale. They just don't make ships like they used to. Posted from Ketchikan, Alaska. My cabin is on deck 10 of 15.

Augie, You Syren is an inspiration. I can hardly wait to get back to work. Rod Sent from Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska. (I'll bet you would like the fishing here!)

1/2 hour until I leave for the airport for Anchorage and I'm in the basement tying foot ropes.

Bob, Good to hear from you. I was wondering what happened to your build. Frank Mastini's book "Ship Modeling Simplified" has several pages about sails, mostly discouraging you from building them. It does cover a lot of the extra rigging needed for sails. I am sure not the person to ask about sails but I used to make kites and am quite comfortable around a sewing machine. A 1/4" hem is easy but a 1/16" hem will be tough. That could be less than the distance between the needle and presser foot. You can try running a glue stick down the edge of the cloth and folding against a straight edge or over a stretched thread. A touch with a warm iron will set the glue, or a bit of rubbing alcohol will loosen it. Then stitch through the glued hem. I just posted a photo of my yards at http://modelshipworld.com/index.php?/topic/440-us-brig-syren-by-rvchima-model-shipways/page-6 The background is a photo backdrop cloth made of thin muslin. To me it looks perfect for sail material. Hopefully someone else will chime in with better suggestions. I am looking forward to seeing your ship under sail! Rod

By "worse" I mean "harder than." Sorry honey.

Dirk, You say that you know to put down the model and listen to your wife, but you are building two models at once. That is worse than having two wives! But they sure are beautiful. Rod

Yards In Progress 25 weeks, 437 man-hours The lower yards are complete, but I've only shaped the rest. After considering Augie's advice I decided not to paint the yards pink. Instead I decided to follow Chuck's scheme and paint them black. I kind of like the contrast between the black yards and the natural stuns'l booms. One piece of advice - if your wife calls from a business trip while you're tying blocks to a yard, put down the yard and listen to your wife. I tied a whole mess of blocks on the wrong side of the yard. Oops. (They're fixed now.) You won't hear from me for a while. Saturday we leave for a two-week land tour and cruise in Alaska. I'll post a photo of the cruise ship when I return.

Standing Rigging Complete 24 weeks, 415 man-hours Amazing how complicated the foreward end of the ship is compared to the aft end.

Absolutely beautiful Augie! I am building yards now and can hardly wait to start rigging!

Augie, Thanks for the information about the staysail halliards. I can see now how the downhaul would be unhooked at the lower block, and the hallyards would be used to raise the staysails. Thanks also for the links to the Eye of the Wind website. The diagrams and photos of the sails really clarified things for me. I printed a photo of the Eye to hang in the workshop next to the Syren. I have just completed construction of the two lowest yards and am trying to decide whether to paint them or not. I was thinking that pink would look good with the red gun ports.

Does anyone have an image of a ship like the Syren under full sail? I am a total landlubber and don't quite know what the sails would look like on the Syren.

Trying for a more realistic look Ha ha, only joking. I went to an awesome antique show last weekend and had to buy this double block. Next to it is one from the kit for scale. When I finish the Syren I'll clean up the old block and hang it in a place of honor in my shop.

Trying for a more realistic look I've been experimenting with techniques to make the blocks look more realistic. Here's what I came up with.