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

[usedtosail]

Been there, done that Rich. It is a wonderful feeling when it all set back up just the way you like it.

[HIPEXEC]

Finally!!  I've re-opened my new shipyard. I had to get a new turn table since the movers broke the old one.

 

I have a large closet that I turned into my supply locker. The first project I have will be to repair the first wooden model sailing ship I ever built. The moves got to that also.

 

I've put in the corner my flight simulator since even at 80 I can't get the flying bug out of me after 30 years as an aviator.

 

I'm very happy to re-join my Model Ship World friends.  

[HIPEXEC]

Repaired my first build. Had to re-rig some of it

Now onto my main mission...building the Argus.

[HIPEXEC]

Well it felt great to get back in the game. I fabricated the open hearts for rigging the bow. Typical with this kit the wood parts are very fragile and the cordage very difficult to work with. It keeps its memory of the card it's wound on and doesn't not want to lose all those bends making it difficult to do anything with. I'll have to shop for better cordage since just tying a knot with this stuff is difficult. Can anybody suggest where to buy good cordage.

Edited March 11, 2019 by HIPEXEC

[src]

Rich,

i have been very pleased with chucks rigging material. 

I have been using the syren instructions for places where my enterprise instructions are lacking. They recommend wetting Your line for the foot ropes and putting a small amount of weight to it and letting it dry completely.  It seemed to work well with chucks line for the foot ropes. Maybe it will work with what you have? 

sam

[HIPEXEC]

4 hours ago, src said:

Rich,

i have been very pleased with chucks rigging material. 

I have been using the syren instructions for places where my enterprise instructions are lacking. They recommend wetting Your line for the foot ropes and putting a small amount of weight to it and letting it dry completely.  It seemed to work well with chucks line for the foot ropes. Maybe it will work with what you have? 

sam

I'll try that.

Thanks Sam

[HIPEXEC]

I soaked and am drying the Syren rigging. Seems like a lot of work since the rigging lines I got with my Constructo Constitution just came off the roll and was easily worked?

[src]

It sure does seem like a lot of work Rich.

If it turns out to be too much work and you go with Chucks line, he has a lot of satisfied customers.

Sam

[HIPEXEC]

Not me

[JesseLee]

Chucks line from the Syren Co. is the best quality line I have ever seen. Look for it at the bottom right side of the Home page where it lists businesses that sponsor MSW. It it well worth the effort to order and it is a decent price for quality that it is. The line sent with the kit just does not compare.

 

Jesse

Edited March 12, 2019 by JesseLee

[Chuck]

Thanks for the mention....

 

Rich, that "rope" that comes with the model shipways kit is not natural fibers.  In fact its Nylon.  Its plastic so using water wont do anything because it wont absorb.  It just evaporates right off the surface.  They really shouldnt have wrapped it so tightly around those little cards.

 

The stuff they use is literally Griffin Nylon beading thread...see here.   

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HK928W6/ref=twister_B01HK928Y4?_encoding=UTF8&th=1

 

 

There is no getting the kinks out of that.   The thick stuff is wound so tight around the large cones that it will literally flatten out and not have a round profile.  Thats also why it wont hold a knot.....its too slippery because its nylon.  You may want to replace that with some softer natural fiber rope.

 

Chuck

 

 

[HIPEXEC]

20 minutes ago, Chuck said:

Thanks for the mention....

 

Rich, that "rope" that comes with the model shipways kit is not natural fibers.  In fact its Nylon.  Its plastic so using water wont do anything because it wont absorb.  It just evaporates right off the surface.  They really shouldnt have wrapped it so tightly around those little cards.

 

The stuff they use is literally Griffin Nylon beading thread...see here.   

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HK928W6/ref=twister_B01HK928Y4?_encoding=UTF8&th=1

 

Thanks, Chuck,

The cord with the kit just loves to keep whatever shape it comes off the flat card. 

I'll just buy some natural fiber cordage.

Rich HIPEXEC

 

20 minutes ago, Chuck said:

There is no getting the kinks out of that.   The thick stuff is wound so tight around the large cones that it will literally flatten out and not have a round profile.  Thats also why it wont hold a knot.....its too slippery because its nylon.  You may want to replace that with some softer natural fiber rope.

 

Chuck

 

 

 

[HIPEXEC]

All progress stopped. I'm not happy with the small amount of rigging I did using the nylon cordage. Now I've stopped all building  until I can get natural fiber cordage.

[Ebomba]

Not a good situation, but it would be a shame to use such inferior material on a great build, hope the problem is resolved quickly, know you are itching to get going

 

Ed

[Griphos]

I highly recommend the line you can get from Chuck here:

 

https://www.syrenshipmodelcompany.com/miniature-rope.php

 

It's all natural fiber, and not only does it look realistic, but it handles beautifully.  Chuck can tell you what sizes you need for the Syren if you need him to, I'm sure.  

Edited March 15, 2019 by Griphos

[vossiewulf]

I'm a beginning ship modeler and even I know that one of the top five rules of kit work is throw away all the kit-supplied line or use it to make cat toys and replace it with Syren.

[JesseLee]

I recommend Chuck's line too. It's the best stuff I've ever used.

 

Jesse

Edited March 16, 2019 by JesseLee

[HIPEXEC]

I just ordered rigging rope from Chuck's company. Can't wait to get it

[src]

You wont be disappointed Rich, other than all the hard earned cash you will start sending him once you discover all the goodies he offers.😀

Sam

[HIPEXEC]

13 hours ago, src said:

You wont be disappointed Rich, other than all the hard earned cash you will start sending him once you discover all the goodies he offers.😀

Sam

I just did an inventory of my future rigging needs and again this kit has substandard parts. I will have to but a whole arrangement of parts from dead eyes on. Oh Well...this kit never ceases to disappoint. Chuck's parts look first rate.

[JesseLee]

I agree, you will love the line and you will want to get more. The blocks he makes will make you want to throw all others away.

 

Jesse

[src]

Rich,

His parts really are top notch in my opinion. Take a look at the picture below. The block and dead-eye on top are Constructos offerings, the parts below are Chucks.

The dead-eyes can be a bit fiddly to assemble but he has planed it out well, if you follow his instructions you shouldnt have any problems. I did have to open the holes up after I glued them up and tumbled them but otherwise no major issues.

Now Chuck, if your listening, how about some belay pins??? 😉

Back to you Rich.

Sam

[HIPEXEC]

4 hours ago, src said:

Rich,

His parts really are top notch in my opinion. Take a look at the picture below. The block and dead-eye on top are Constructos offerings, the parts below are Chucks.

The dead-eyes can be a bit fiddly to assemble but he has planed it out well, if you follow his instructions you shouldnt have any problems. I did have to open the holes up after I glued them up and tumbled them but otherwise no major issues.

Now Chuck, if your listening, how about some belay pins??? 😉

Back to you Rich.

Sam

I'm putting a shopping list together.

Thanks Sam, Jesse Lee  and Chuck

[Peter Bloemendaal]

Hi Rich,

To help you with your shopping list I copied and pasted some correspondence between Chuck and Dubz a while back with regards to the rope sizes and quantities. I followed their advise with regards to the upsizing. I hope they don't mind me passing the info on.

Here it is:

 

"Dirk....just found time to detail what needs to be changed as far as rope as you requested.   I figured I would post here so other folks building her will also know.   Expo has a very limited amount of sizes to choose from when designing kits.  They use Nylon beading thread and its pretty rough to work with.  Its essentially like plastic.  They dont have the larger sizes so the stays and shrouds should be changed for historical accuracy.  Most of the larger ropes were too small for the standing rigging.  I had to unfortunately use what was available from them when designing the kit at that time.

 

whenever you see .021 listed in the instructions this should be changed to .025

 

whenever you see .028 it should be bumped to .035

 

Changes are as follows and only with standing rigging.  The running rigging is fine.  I went through the instructions and found what needs to be changed so you can upgrade your rope.

 

Breech line for guns - .025 tan

 

Standing Rigging Changes

 

Lower Shrouds .035

Topmast shrouds .025

lower pendants .025

Lower stays .045

lower preventer stays - .035

Futtock shrouds .025

Topmast stays .035

Topmast preventer stays .025

 

Here is what you would need to buy to rig your model if you decide to get it from Syren Ship Model Company.

 

Black or Brown standing rigging

 

.045 - 1 pack

.035 - 2 packs

.025 - 3 packs

.018 - 3 packs

.012 - 1 pack

.008 - 7 packs 

 

Tan running rigging

 

.062 anchor 1 pack

.025 - 2 packs

,008 - 12 packs

.018 - 2 packs

.012 - 4 packs

 

There you go...

Chuck"

 

[HIPEXEC]

1 hour ago, Peter Bloemendaal said:

Hi Rich,

To help you with your shopping list I copied and pasted some correspondence between Chuck and Dubz a while back with regards to the rope sizes and quantities. I followed their advise with regards to the upsizing. I hope they don't mind me passing the info on.

Here it is:

 

"Dirk....just found time to detail what needs to be changed as far as rope as you requested.   I figured I would post here so other folks building her will also know.   Expo has a very limited amount of sizes to choose from when designing kits.  They use Nylon beading thread and its pretty rough to work with.  Its essentially like plastic.  They dont have the larger sizes so the stays and shrouds should be changed for historical accuracy.  Most of the larger ropes were too small for the standing rigging.  I had to unfortunately use what was available from them when designing the kit at that time.

 

whenever you see .021 listed in the instructions this should be changed to .025

 

whenever you see .028 it should be bumped to .035

 

Changes are as follows and only with standing rigging.  The running rigging is fine.  I went through the instructions and found what needs to be changed so you can upgrade your rope.

 

Breech line for guns - .025 tan

 

Standing Rigging Changes

 

Lower Shrouds .035

Topmast shrouds .025

lower pendants .025

Lower stays .045

lower preventer stays - .035

Futtock shrouds .025

Topmast stays .035

Topmast preventer stays .025

 

Here is what you would need to buy to rig your model if you decide to get it from Syren Ship Model Company.

 

Black or Brown standing rigging

 

.045 - 1 pack

.035 - 2 packs

.025 - 3 packs

.018 - 3 packs

.012 - 1 pack

.008 - 7 packs 

 

Tan running rigging

 

.062 anchor 1 pack

.025 - 2 packs

,008 - 12 packs

.018 - 2 packs

.012 - 4 packs

 

There you go...

Chuck"

 

Thanks, Peter

[HIPEXEC]

The mail just delivered new line and parts from Chuck's company. All the stuff looks five star. Now I can start building again.

Thanks everybody

[JesseLee]

You will love this line!

 

Jesse

[HIPEXEC]

Let the rigging begin!  What a joy to work with natural fibers again. Zip, zip, zip and it stays in place. Thank everyone.

[HIPEXEC]

Right or wrong this is how I rig. First, I made the heart fast to the stay off the ship. Next, I cut a length of the stay line a bit longer than needed. Then I made a "needle" with crazy glue on the tip of the rigging stay. I cut the hardened tip to a sharp point and that made threading the line through the very narrow spaces in the top with ease, 

 

I then made a jig from a paper clip to space the heart in just the right position and started to wind the cord between the two hearts.

 

 

 

 

Edited March 26, 2019 by HIPEXEC

[HIPEXEC]

Both forestays rigged. QED with the correct rigging