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GaryKap

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Everything posted by GaryKap

  1. GaryKap
    Bob - Beautiful job!!! Thank you for allowing us to look over your shoulder and learn from your fine craftsmanship. I can't wait to see you start your next project. <<Gary>>
  2. GaryKap
    Thomas - Great job on the cannons. I wish I had your skills and equipment. They look very nice...what's the next level above "museum quality"? <<Gary>>
  3. GaryKap
    Jesse - Wow!!! Nicely done. You clearly found a better solution to the problem. Keep us posted on your progress. <<Gary>>
  4. GaryKap
    Hi Jesse - More thoughts after reading comments by recent reviewers. The carronade barrels from Blue Jacket are $3.49 each times 16 with shipping comes to over $60. Whether this is a lot or a little depends on the circumstances of individual modelers. It is about a third of the price I paid for the entire kit. These are better than the barrels supplied in the kit but are not perfect. As SalD shows on page 15 of his build log, the part on the back that the elevating screw passes through needs to be added, and the lug on the bottom needs to be re-shaped. Too bad Chuck Passaro does not offer some nice replacement brass carronade barrels for the SYREN kit at a reasonable price... Notice that the barrels he shows in the "Instruction Manual" look much nicer than those we got. Some folks suggested turning the barrels from wood. Nice idea. I wish I had the skills and the lathe to do it. If I did, I might be tempted to machine them from brass or aluminum. So here we are. I will be interested to see which alternative you select. Good luck. <<Gary>>
  5. GaryKap
    Jesse Regarding the carronade barrels, my inclination is to leave them as is...or invest in the pricey brass alternatives. I think that if you try to "fatten them up" by any means it would just look worse. But I do agree with you - those poorly cast cannon barrels detract from the overall model and do not add to it. But sometimes you have to play the hand you are dealt. <<Gary>>
  6. GaryKap
    Robbyn - Good job on the coppering. And like you said, once you figure it out, it is not that difficult. It certainly adds a lot to the model. <<Gary>>
  7. GaryKap
    Hi Richard - No, I did not start a build log for SYREN. I am a retired guy who enjoys building model ships to pass the time during cold winter days and hot summer days. I would grade myself as a C+ modeler...lacking the skill and patience shown on many other build logs, and am reluctant to display my work in closeup photos online. Plus, when I did build logs for FAIR AMERICAN and BENJAMIN W. LATHAM I discovered that it takes a lot of effort to do a good one that is useful to others. So instead, I prefer to contribute stuff where I think I can be useful, as I did in the original post here. There are several excellent SYREN build logs on this site, notably by Dubz, SalD, JesseLee, and Gahm. By the way, in my SYREN build I have the hull mostly completed and am working on the carronade sleds right now. I still have not glued the quarter badges on and am trying to decide whether or not to do it. <<Gary>>
  8. GaryKap
    Hi Jesse - Sorry to hear that you are still feeling low. I hope things improve for you soon. I am also in the process of constructing the carronade sleds, and STRONGLY agree with your assessment of the (lack of) quality of the cast barrels and wheels (trucks ?). For an otherwise excellent kit, these are horrible. And just like you, I can't afford the nice brass Caldercraft cannon barrels. So I've been doing a lot of filing as well. But I guess it keeps me out of trouble... Hang in there! <<Gary>>
  9. GaryKap
    Sal - As others have said...GREAT work! And not just on the ship, but on your build log as well. All those tips and details on rigging will certainly come in handy for me and for many future SYREN builders. Thanks for taking the time to share your wisdom with us. <<Gary>>
  10. GaryKap
    Hi Robbyn - No, I did not start a build log for my SYREN. One of my inspirations for my coppering method was the excellent instruction sheet on copper sheathing by Gene Bodnar in which he uses strips: http://modelshipworldforum.com/resources/Framing_and_Planking/CopperSheathing.pdf He also uses a pounce wheel. I had success with the stamp method that Chuck describes in his Instruction Manual, so I went with that. You can find pounce wheels on eBay if you decide to go that route. <<Gary>>
  11. GaryKap
    Robbyn - I am also building the SYREN and I would guess that you and I are at roughly the same skill level. I recently completed the copper plating and am very pleased with the result. It is one of the FEW times where I did as good as any of the other Syren posts here. But I did things a bit differently. To construct the stamps, I used the short brass nails with heads that are supplied with the kit. I photocopied page 33 from the instructions and glued the "actual size plates" template to my wood block, drilling a hole at each black dot. I then pushed a nail into each hole, with the heads all sticking out at the same level. When embossing the copper tape, I gave the block two good taps with a hammer. BUT instead of cutting the copper strip into individual plates, I simply creased the tape where the ends of each plate would be. A dull knife works for this - crease but do not cut. I then worked with embossed copper strips that were typically from one to almost two feet long, removing the wax backing as I applied the copper to the hull. I found that this resulted in a good clean even row of plates. Also, this eliminated the problem with edges of the plates curling up that some build logs report. You also need to know that the kit supplies much more copper tape than you actually need ( I worried about this). So if a strip does not turn out well, you can easily re-do it without worrying about running out of copper tape. I hope this helps. If I can do it, so can you. There is more than one "right" way to do the copper plates! <<Gary>>
  12. GaryKap
    I also have this kit sitting in my closet, so I will be looking over your shoulder as well. For some reason, many of the Emma C. Berry build logs on this web site seem to go dormant after a while. I hope you will keep going with this one. I have come to realize that maintaining a build log can be a chore, but your effort will be welcomed by us "followers". You are off to a very good start. Keep up the good work, and thanks for sharing. <<Gary>>
  13. GaryKap
    Sal - What a great idea! And I actually have an old 45 - 45- 90 drafting triangle similar to yours. Glad I never throw anything out. I have such a bad "eye" that I could never do it freehand. In the past, I tried to line the mast up eyeballing with a door frame in the background to get it straight. Your approach is so much more straightforward. Thanks for sharing. <<Gary>>
  14. GaryKap
    Jesse - Very nicely done, and a good "save". Your head rails are a metaphor for many other things in life - never give up and keep on going. You worked with what you had and produced a result that looks as good as any of the other build logs on this site. Keep it up. <<Gary>>
  15. GaryKap
    Thomas - And two for me, please. Beautiful work. Its nice to have the tools and skills to produce cannon barrels as you did. <<Gary>>
  16. GaryKap
    Modelers building the MS SYREN have an option with the quarter badges. According to Chapelle (The History of the American Sailing Navy, p. 186) “The quarter badges were removed from the Syren before 1812, apparently – if indeed they were ever placed on her.” So, for those builders who think she looks better without the quarter badges, if they are dissatisfied with their paint job, or if they are unhappy with the quality of the metal casting, there is the historically accurate option of leaving them off altogether. I'm not offering an opinion here; nor am I showing a preference. I am simply passing information along to other SYREN modelers who might find it useful. Honestly, I have not attached the quarter badges to my build yet, and am conflicted as to what to do. But hopefully this small bit of information might be of assistance to somebody. <<Gary>>
  17. GaryKap
    Jesse - Just to let you know...I am working on the SYREN head rails and am having the same problem as you: they keep splitting and breaking . I have to keep getting up and walking away until my frustration settles down. So you are not alone in this. On balance though, many other ship model kits don't provide nearly as much material and direction for construction of the head rails as the MS SYREN. <<Gary>> Added at 4:50 pm Well...I just broke both middle rails AGAIN!!! I have just joined the club of posters who have been saying that at least some of the wood parts of these model kits should be of a decent quality so this does not occur. It does no good to have lovely laser cut finely engineered pieces that break in your fingers or with the slightest pressure from a tool.
  18. GaryKap
    Jesse - Ouch! Events like that are really painful. If I might offer a suggestion for retrieving those small lost parts - if you have a shop vac, clean it out and then carefully but thoroughly vacuum under and around your work area. Then sift through the "can" on the shop vac to look for the small parts. This has worked for me in the (recent) past - those gun port hinges on SYREN. If you don't have a shop vac, you could maybe borrow one from a friend, or buy one at WalMart. They aren't that expensive and are a great help for keeping the shipyard tidy. Good luck. <<Gary>>
  19. GaryKap
    Ken, that's beautiful work!!! You are certainly becoming a master ship modeler. As I agonize over the tiny "fiddley bits" on my SYREN build, I can only envy your skill. The wolf hounds look very good and are a nice addition to the model. And that whole construction of the cheeks and head rails is one of the greatest challenges with a period ship model. You nailed it. <<Gary>>
  20. GaryKap
    Hey Jesse - Your quarter badges look good to me. I don't think you could get a closer color match. What was your "recipe"? I know you said you used the Golden Oak stain as a wash, but what color and brand of paint did you use under it? And Happy Thanksgiving. <<Gary>>
  21. GaryKap
    Michael - Thank you for posting the link to a very detailed old photo of a ship's copper bottom. I am currently building the Model Shipways SYREN and will soon be at the coppering stage. The photo will be a help to me in putting the copper plates on correctly. <<Gary>>
  22. GaryKap
    Dave - Very nicely done!!! The quality of your work shows through on every photo. Even the display base radiates craftsmanship. <<Gary>>
  23. GaryKap
    Jesse - I think your letters look GREAT - straight, centered, and evenly spaced. I hope I can do as well. I like your choice of paint colors for your figurehead. She certainly looks like a syren (anatomically correct) . And she looks very much like the real figureheads I remember from nautical museums. <<Gary>>
  24. GaryKap
    Hi Ken - Nicely done!!! all that cannon rigging practice from FAIR AMERICAN must be paying off now...with these smaller cannons. Keep up the good work. <<Gary>>
  25. GaryKap
    Jesse - It would be good to know Dirk's (Dubz) reason for saying he would "strongly suggest NO Minwax Wipe on Poly for the copper!" It would also be good to know if there is another product available in the U.S. that would serve as well to protect the copper plates (a varnish or lacquer maybe?). Honestly, copper paint is sounding better all the time...less tedious work and more durable. And Jesse, thanks again for your informative build log. It has been a great help to me. <<Gary>>

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