Syren by JesseLee - FINISHED - Model Shipways - scale: 1:64

[rtropp]

Jessie,

I understand that sometimes life gets in the way.  I am retired and I still have difficulty spending as much time on my build as I would like.

 

I am going to continue trying to see what I can accomplish in wood. I have been seriously considering a sherline lathe and if I go to brass I will definitely pull the trigger.

 

Richard

[JesseLee]

Got past the appraisal. Now have to get past my body crashing from all the work. Hope to get back to the shipyard soon. I'm really missing it.

 

Jesse

[cog]

Congratulations with the appraisal, JesseLee. Take it easy, the shipyard won't move, and we can wait (just hurry up   )

 

Cheers

[JesseLee]

Finally after a longer than expected delay for multiple reasons I have got my carronades turned. They still look messy at this point. I tried putting a coat of paint on some before they were sanded down to the right thickness so some of them show traces of paint. The earlier ones I cut off without thinking about the big ring on the back. After a few of these I made sure I left enough wood sticking out to file out the rings.

 

Two of the kit supplied metal ones are laying beside them as a comparison. The ones without them I shaped out a ring plug in wood, drilled a hole & glued it in.

 

The holes still need to be drilled out of the rings and the lugs still need to be added. The barrel holes still need to be drilled out too but they are moving along now!

 

Jesse

 

 

 

[alde]

Those look great Jesse. A big improvement over the kit parts for sure.

[mtaylor]

A big improvement Jesse.   

[cog]

JesseLee,

 

Those are carronades!!! Just chuck that other flimsy stuff .... you are really doing your build proud ! Hope you're doing well yourself. Keep it up, better slow, than not at all ...

 

Cheers

[Elijah]

Those carronades are a major improvement from the kit stuff! They will look great on the ship!

[JesseLee]

Drilling out and shaping the rings that the elevation screws will be in. Sanding toothpicks down to make the elevation screws. Drilling small holes & gluing metal eyebolts for the breech line rings. Haven't completed these steps on all the carronades yet but showed the pics for the few that I have so far.

 

Making & painting the sleds, pics coming......   Also have to make lugs & add them to the bottom of each carronade.

 

Jesse

 

 

[mtaylor]

I caught myself smiling at those, Jesse.  They are looking great.

[gjdale]

Very nicely done Jesse.

[Piet]

Mighty fine looking carronades JesseLee.

 

Cheer,

[Elijah]

Nice job! They are looking great!

[JesseLee]

Thanks for all the supportive comments and Likes!

 

When I started on the sleds he parts did not get cut through very good & most of them broke in the process. Made a template to keep all the eye bolts in the same place on all of them. Got them all done & ready for the carronades.

 

Jesse

Edited June 13, 2016 by JesseLee

[Elijah]

Nice job Jesse! They are going to look fantastic with the carronades on them, not to mention when they are rigged on the ship!

[cog]

Looking good, JesseLee. You seem to find a way to make the jig you need every time!

 

Cheers

[Stubby]

I'm not sure if I'm inspired or intimidated Jesse!  You do some awesome work!  I can't wait to get to this project myself.

[ca.shipwright]

Outstanding Jesse. Looking at your work,  I am drooling at the thought of starting my Syren. Your work is truly inspiring.

 

Regards

[Piet]

Nice work JesseLee and very inventive.  Really admire your perseverance in solving these little set-backs.

 

Cheers,

[JesseLee]

Thanks for the comments and likes everyone!

 

Did the lugs and got them on the carronades. Painted them with Testors gunmetal enamel. Having trouble with them not looking as smooth as I would like after painting. Some have a slight lumpy look. We have very humid summers here and the paint isn't drying very well. Wondering if the paint is too thick and maybe thinning it down will work better. Some of the rings are breaking off and I'm having to re-do them.

 

Getting a little frustrated because I feel like I'm spinning my wheels in the mud and getting nowhere. I feel like I've been on these forever. Seems I can't get these carronades done so I can get to putting them on the sleds and rigging them.

 

Jesse

 

 

[Beef Wellington]

Jesse - don't get discouraged. It's a marvel what you have done to build these scratch. If it's any consolation, carronades are just a pain to build, even using the CC aftermarket kits was a very time consuming, expletive laden experience so hang in there. On the flush decked ships they are so key to the overall look that you'll be glad you took your time.

Edited June 22, 2016 by Beef Wellington

[Piet]

Hey JesseLee, I'll echo Jason's advice, don't get discouraged now and that after you have done such an outstanding job in hand-making those carronades.  If the final paint job looks a little rough try to twirl them in some fine sandpaper, like 360 grit or so.  Then put another coat or two of thinned enamel.

Actually, a little roughness to the finish may simulate cast iron and once on the ship it should look just fine.

On the photo they look quite nice, great job so far.

 

Cheers, 

[alde]

Jesse, I think they look pretty darn good. The paint is a bit rough. Once you come up with a good way to smooth them out you will find that thinner paint will go on much better. Don't get frustrated. You have a knack for working things out.

[DenPink]

Hi Jesse

 

AI is correct 2-3 coats of thin paint is better than one thick one.

 

But you could have used a sanding sealer, then a rub with some fine wire wool and repeat that twice then apply your paint.

 

Denis.

[DenPink]

Hi Jesse

 

I said use fine wire wool to rub them down, I said this because wire wool will mold its self round the contour of the cannon.

Sand paper will not.

 

Hope this helps you.

 

Denis.

[cog]

JesseLee,

 

You'd better thin the enamel. When it's humid it will dry quicker, but you need to add some more layers.

 

The fibres coming up, that's what I wrote about some time ago: First layer should be very thinned, than you sand with a fine grid paper, or as Denis wrote wire wool, although, that can leave metal particles, and in humid surroundings: rust. After that more layers of paint. I like Piet's remark about the cast iron look though.

 

Depending on brush or airbrush you thin it down as required. The advantage of an airbrush is the drying. If you spray well, you can almost immediately spray again. It should be dry to the touch. After that the paint needs time to cure/harden and that will take time. Although, with the modern acrylic paints that takes considerable less time.

 

Hope you're feeling better again

 

Cheers

[Gahm]

Hi Jesse,

first of all I also want to emphasize that you did and excellent job on those carronades. Handcrafting these little guys is not easy at all, and yours look very nice! Where the painting is concerned I can only agree with what was already said here by our fellow modelers - the trick is to have several coats with VERY THIN paint. And yes, it can get frustrating at times as building these carronades takes quite a while. I think it took me close to a year from start to finish until I had my carronades done - and I have not even rigged them yet. However, on the good side - on the Syren you only have to do 16 + 2 guns . . . now just think of a ship of the line 

 

Thomas

[rtropp]

Hi Jessie,

You cannons look good. I think that the suggestions about sanding or using steel wool should help greatly.  Your cannons are carved nicely and have a great appearance.  Much nicer that the ones supplied.  It is especially nice to see them to scale and happily they still work with the sled supplied. 

 

I am working on turning my own out of boxwood.  I tried a few different ways to paint but was not happy with any of them. At my skill level they looked painted.  So, to try and get a smoother look that kept the detail, I decided to try wood dye.  As I experiment I liked the way it is turning out.  If I look really closely I can see it is wood not brass. 

 

Actually, after a coat of poly it is beginning to look better.  Just for a comparison, I may go back and try painting using the suggestions listed here.  I am experimenting on cannon rejects. The good news is that I have lot to experiment on.  The bad news is that... I have a lot to experiment on :-) 

 

I will be posting the pictures on my build log. Your work has been great to watch and since I am only a bit behind it is very helpful.  

 

Thanks,

Richard

Edited June 23, 2016 by rtropp

[popeye the sailor]

super progress  since I last looked in       your cannons came out great!    yea,  it's taken a bit of time,  but look what you've done.

 

well done!  

[JesseLee]

Thanks as always for all the input & support!

 

The fine steel wool is working pretty good. I'm still having one problem with the paint. Even though I'm using thinned enamel (Testors), When I handle them it still gets grungy & picks up super fine dust & stuff & turns really dull looking somewhat losing the metal appearance. Were cannons dull looking? Would a clear coat make them look too shiny?

 

I also just found another potential problem. The instructions say the barrels should be about center or very near center of the gun ports. Test fitting the carronades & sleds mine look like the sit too high. It seems to show more by eye that the picture shows. I have experimented with thinning down one sled & lowering the plug. This lowers it some but it is still not centered. Is this acceptable? How would you raise the gun ports at this point without almost complete deconstruction of the sides? Kinda freaking out here.

 

Jesse