Hi, my name is Rod Chima. I started building the Model Shipways Syren back on Jan. 2, 2013, and started posting a Model Ship World build log about a month later. I was learning so much by reading other build logs, and I hoped that my postings might help someone else. It sure was disappointing to lose all that information with the recent hard drive crash, but I did find my posts cached on Google and will try to recreate them here. I am a rocket scientist recently retired from NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio. If you are interested in computational fluid dynamics you can check out my work web site, http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/5810/rvc/ I have built stick and tissue model airplanes since I was 8 years old, and a few ship models when I was in high school and college. But the ship models were SO much work that I swore that I would never build another. Then I went to a hobby show at the Cleveland International Exposition Center and saw Chuck's magnificent Syren kit. The guys from Model Expo made me an offer that I couldn't refuse, and here I am. I am about 90 hours (over 1 month) into the kit, and have the hull and deck planked. More on that soon, but first some previous builds. I wish I could take credit for this model, but it was built by my Grandfather in 1933. I still have his original plans and construction article from Popular Science. I did some major restoration work on the model when I inherited it about 10 years ago. I received the Flying Fish kit by Model Shipways as a high school graduation gift in 1969, and I was working on it when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. It got pretty banged up over the years, so last summer I made some repairs and replaced most of the running rigging. I also built the display case shown in the photo. It is my own design and is built from walnut and plexiglass. My girlfriend went to New England in 1970 and brought me this kit of the brig Hurricane Bird by Hobbies at Home. It must have been the right gift because we've been married for 38 years. The plans for this Roman bireme ship by Mantua Models clearly shows an open stonework castle on the deck. I could never figure out why you would want one there, but I dutifully followed the plans. This was the only planked hull that I had made before I planked the Syren.
Glue All of my construction has been done with gap-filling cyanoacrylate (CA) glue. I use the replaceable Teflon nozzles, make a thin bead, and hold pieces in place with my fingers. If you don't wait too long you can always peel your fingers free and clean up with acetone later. (My wife has a HUGE bottle of pure acetone for removing nail polish.)
