US Brig Syren by Hipexec - FINISHED - Model Shipways - 1:64 - building as USS Argus

[src]

Rich,

I have seen this happen on other builds as well. I have never tried it myself but assuming the bulkheads will never be seen could you perhaps reinforce them with a lightweight fiberglass veil? It is extremely light weight on thin, wets out fast and should add some strength to the bulkhead.

Its not expensive: http://www.fibreglast.com/product/synthetic-surfacing-veil-1581/Surfacing_Veils

 

Where I work we had some animated spiders that had a couple of areas that would tear after a while, when we re-cast the flexible areas we cast some of this type of fabric into the silicone, that was two years ago and they are still going.

 

Wet it out with a thin epoxy and let it cure over night. Perhaps just epoxy thinned with some alcohol and allowed to soak in like you did with your CA. Just thinking out loud, maybe one of the more experienced will chime in. I keep telling myself, should I ever finish the Enterprise my next build is the Rattle Snake and that build appears to have the same fragile bulkheads your build does.

 

Just my 2 cents.

 

Sam

Edited February 4, 2017 by src

[HIPEXEC]

I just received my book about the creation of the US Navy and Marines, "to the Shores of Tripoli". The index show 30 pages devoted to the Argus! And a bunch more to Presley O'Bannon.

[Heronguy]

Happy reading!

[HIPEXEC]

The kit comes with detailed patterns. When I cut them out I carefully cut along the bottom line which depicts the gun sill. This way when laid on the bulkhead frames it will give me the exact vertical as well as horizontal locations for all pieces.

[Heronguy]

Hi Rich,

 

I recall that at one time there had been an issue with the templates in the kit (probably solved now but...).  This post was the only one I can find at the moment but I thought a saw a more recent one where chuck pointed to framing plans to download and print (and printer setting to avoid scaling).  Just thought I should mention this in case it is still relevant.  

[HIPEXEC]

I've been studying my model trying to figure out building the gunwales and gunports when it struck me that there are no holes where the masts will go? I searched many build sites and only found Dubz mentioned the lack of mast holes in the bulkhead former. I think I'll solve that problem before building the gunports.

[HIPEXEC]

I looked very far ahead in the plans about masting. The instructions say to carve a round tenon on the heel of each of the two masts.  Since I am terrible at carving symetrical anything, so I Center drilled the mast material provided in the kit and will glue a dowel to fit that hole. That will be the heel of each mast. Then I drilled holes the size of the dowels in the bulkhead frame to the correct rake angles. The fore mast is almost perpendicular while the aft has a considerable aft rake (on the Argus plan,)

Edited February 9, 2017 by Hipexec

[usedtosail]

Rich, that's a good way to make a tenon. She is looking great.

[GuntherMT]

Good forward thinking for the masts Rich!

[HIPEXEC]

As per the instructions, I nailed a temporary batten along the  starboard side so when I set the gun port sills they will flow smoothly along the side.

[HIPEXEC]

I finished the starboard side gunport sills. They are trickier than meets the eye since each is a miniature trapezoid. The batten helps as well as the provided pattern. 

 

The material provided in the kit is 1/4" wide, but the finished sills will be much narrower so a lot of material will have to be removed. It seems overpowering for hand sanding and I hate to use power tools on my boats. Anyone have some ideas?

[mtaylor]

Rich,

 

Can you preshape them a bit?  Maybe put them in place and mark with a pencil the approximate edges (inner and outer) then cut or shape off ship?   I'd leave some meat on them just to be sure you don't go too far with the shaping.

[HIPEXEC]

l finished fairing the starboard sills, but I had to violate my own rules about touching my ship with power tools. I started sanding and realized I would still be sanding two weeks from now, so I drew a "do not go past" line on the sills and used my Dremel to get rid of most of the extra wood down to that line, then hand sanded the last 1/32". So much for my "rules"

[Heronguy]

I think that's got to be covered in the modeller's "fair use" policy!

 

Looking good Rich!

[mtaylor]

Nice work.  So much for rules, right?

[usedtosail]

Hi Rich. Nice work on those sills. One thing you might want to be aware of is a problem I had with the sills on the Constitution. If you look at the first picture above, the third sill back from the bow is a straight line between the bulkheads, which is how I first did mine. But when I planked along this, there was a very defined flat spot in the planking between those bulkheads. I ended up replacing the sill with a curved piece that following the curve of the hull better and the planking looked much better. You might want to do that on a few of the forward sills.

[HIPEXEC]

Tom,

Thanks, but I laid a plank along the sills and it was flush all along. Good advise, though. I'll keep on checking as I go

[usedtosail]

That's good Rich. I guess it looks flatter in the picture. Great progress.

[HIPEXEC]

I rough finished the port side gunports. I drew a line between the bulkhead extensions with a tick to show curves so I do not sand too much off. Once you sand it off there is no putting it back on.

[Heronguy]

Rich, I was curious whether you marked the midpoint between bulkhead extension by laying a planking batten above the sills or if you had a different method?  Did you consider drawing the whole curve?

[HIPEXEC]

I used a bent plank as a guide, but stayed outside its curve so I can micro sand it to exact size.

[HIPEXEC]

I finished sanding the port side sill. You can see the plank I bent on to use as a sanding guide.

[HIPEXEC]

I made this gunport jig or form to make it easier to install the gunport lintels. It's 15/32" high.

 

I must say...this is a lot of figuring and work to make gunports and gunwales!

[Heronguy]

I made this gunport jig or form to make it easier to install the gunport lintels. It's 15/32" high.

 

I must say...this is a lot of figuring and work to make gunports and gunwales!

 

Yes, but I'll bet a little bit of upfront work will pay dividends later.

 

 

Sills look really good!

[HIPEXEC]

I installed the first lintel last night using my spacer. There's a lot of excess material at the top of these bulkhead extensions. That means a lot of sanding! See you in 23 more lintels.

Edited February 16, 2017 by Hipexec

[Mahuna]

Hi Rich

 

Just caught up with your new build - looks really good, and I like that you're doing some planning ahead.  That always helps!

 

Maybe our next meeting should be in your shop so we can all see your work up close. 

[HIPEXEC]

I didn't disappear. I'm still working on the rough lintels. Should finish soon, then begin fairing and squaring them all.

 

BTW...I put some masking tape over the pre-drilled mast holes so they don't fill up with debris.

[HIPEXEC]

Well, I guess I won't be posting anything until I can figure out how this new page works? 

[HIPEXEC]

Well it took me a while to figure out how to post this picture. New site is pretty, but an old dog like me is slow to learn new tricks.

 

Anyway, I rough finished the lintels. Now I will spend a bunch of time fairing and squaring all of them before proceding to the next step.

[Heronguy]

Hi Rich,

It does look like a fair bit of fairing!  But then the gun port framing!  Leave me lots of good advice for when its my turn!

Great progress though.