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

[JesseLee]

Welcome to my log Marty, Thomas & Larry! The pics usually do right but I'm having glitches in my computer today. Murphy's Law is always reminding me of it's authority with me but it just makes me more stubborn!

[cog]

JesseLee,

Good to see you on the move. Take your time. Good save on that bulkhead. And about Murphy ... we all ran into his law at some point ... You just deal with it the best way you can

[popeye the sailor]

there's no easy solution to safeguard those bulwark posts.   your handling it well.......heck,  I've even used brass rod!   nice progress so far! 

[clearway]

Coming along nicely jesse. When the planking goes on it will re-enforce the repair job too- we all been there with dem pesky bulwark timbers!

Keith

[JesseLee]

Got all the frame pieces & spacer blocks glued in place. Cut planks for the partial lower deck. Penciled the sides for caulk lines. When I stained the planks it seemed to have washed the lead off the edges & didn't show much so I penciled them again after the stain dried. I know it doesn't matter much right now but I'm testing this out for the upper decks later.

 

 

[popeye the sailor]

that's a fairly large hull Jesse.......how long is the hull?   looks big in the picture      I use archive pen for the calking......India Ink.  used to use the black crayon,  but it was very messy {blended in nice when sanded though}.   moving along at a decent pace........nice color for the decking 

[JesseLee]

It must be the angle & way the picture is taken. It's about 19 inches long

Edited May 6, 2015 by JesseLee

[mikec]

Great start . I like the tip about using toothpick as a miniature dowel. I have purchased this kit to build after my endeavour. I will follow with interest. Cheers Mike

[cog]

JesseLee,

 

Stain from your pencil depends on the hardness of the graphite to. Here it runs from H, HB, B , B1, ..., to B6, where H is hardest and B6 is very soft. The softest gives the darkest stain though. When you rub - even gently - you spread the graphite and make it lighter, so if you pick it up, touching it it already spreads, you'll probably ended up with some light grey-ish fingers.

 

Nice progress.

[JesseLee]

Yeah, it smears everywhere if you aren't careful

[clearway]

i,ve read in some old books where guys would glue the edges of the planks to black rice paper to imitate caulking- never tried it myself but may do one day.

Keith

[JesseLee]

I made a major mistake. I forgot to check to see if the bulkhead former was warped before I started gluing in all the bulkheads. I laid it (what little bit of the bottom edge that I could) on the edge of the kitchen counter & saw that it wasn't as straight as it should be. Now I have the dilemma of how to deal with this with everything already glued onto it. I came up with this idea. I sat it in about 1/2 inch of water just enough to soak in (as you can see I've had a few more breaks).I rigged tis wood brace with pieces that reach in between each bulkhead. I clamped this all into a bench vice. I will leave this in for about 48 hrs. The warp was very slight so I hope this will work.

 

Been wondering. My kit instructions call the frame pieces bulkheads. I see some on here are calling them bulwarks. Which is right? Are these 2 labels interchangeable?

 

[clearway]

Hi Jesse- the solid frames are bulkheads, the "walls" above deck level are the bulwarks- the bits that broke off are the bulwark timbers if memory serves me right.

Keith

[GLakie]

It might have been straight before the bulkheads were installed Jesse. I've seen a lot of other guys use a build-board during this phase to keep the former straight during drying, not unlike the vise-clamp you have set up now, only on a board. Did you use PVA glue on those bulkheads?

[JesseLee]

Yes, the newer type of carpenters glue

[GLakie]

That's good in case of the off chance they might have to be removed to straighten the keel, but my fingers are crossed, and hoping that won't be necessary.

[Krelis]

courageous, soaking the keel in a bathtub, but the warp is also at filling blocks level I guess? A little warp is not the end of story, I have both a longitudinal and a hogging warp in the keel of my model, its only when you have it on a flat table and against the sun, or keel up and with an eye along it that it catches the eye

Edited May 8, 2015 by Jan B.

[Jack12477]

Hi Jesse, just discovered your Syren build. Pulled up my chair

[jablackwell]

Hi Jesse,

I just caught this build in progress, too, and will be watching along with the others. The Syren is next on my build list when I finish off my current project (the Kate Cory). Your work is coming right along nicely. Enjoy, and thank you for posting!

~john

[gjdale]

Jesse,

 

Bad luck with discovering the warp now rather than earlier. However, as you've used a PVA glue, if your attempted fix hasn't worked, you still have the option of de-bonding all the glued joints using isopropyl alcohol and starting over. I would be careful about soaking the plywood too much in straight water as it may start to delaminate. The alcohol will evaporate quickly, so is less likely to cause this. In the end it's your choice on how to proceed, but speaking from experience, if you take the time to fix something properly now, you will be very glad you did so further down the track. Remember, it's not a race, so take your time and make sure it's to your own satisfaction before moving on.

[cog]

JesseLee,

 

I've been there to. Better to have it done now. I had to rip off the decks too. The problem with wood ... it sometimes got a life of it's own ... so don't overly tickle it Nice solution though, and ... very daring!!!

[augie]

Hoping to hear how the treatment worked.  Give it plenty of time to dry out.  Wood likes to 'spring back' and fight with you.

[JesseLee]

Ok! Well, it worked! (mostly). There was only a very, very slight warp left. I cut thin slits in the spacer blocks in the middle where the slight bend still was. Scraped & shoved glue into these slits as best as I could & clamped them. ( those bulkheads are not warped as it looks in the pic- the camera angle makes it appear that way) This made it all straight! I did have to remove the keel strip & re-glue it on straighter & all is well. I can now move on to the gun port framing.

 

[GLakie]

I'm glad it straightened it'self out Jesse! 

[_SalD_]

Nice job Jesse, glad it worked out for you.

[cog]

JesseLee,

You've got that straightened out rather nicely!!!

[augie]

Whew!  Congrats.  You don't want to build a banana.

[gjdale]

Great to hear your fix has worked Jesse. Looking forward to the next instalment.

[Piet]

Glad to hear JessLee that your efforts worked out okay.  Now on to bigger things - gun ports!

 

Cheers,

[mrangus]

Hey Jesse, I've reviewed your Scottish Maid build many times and continue to use as a great reference for my first effort. Looking forward to following along on this new build.