US Brig Syren by Nirvana - Model Shipways

[reklein]

Hey Per, don't close this thread yet, I haven't finished down loading the PDFs yet.

[Nirvana]

Bill and everybody else, don't worry I won't close the thread, it's on hold for the time being.

The pdfs from Chuck will be available for everyone.

 

[Chuck]

Anyone can always contact me if the need some clarification.....and PDFs.   

[Nirvana]

Thank you Chuck!

[HIPEXEC]

2 hours ago, Nirvana said:

Rich,

you don't have to write with capital letters, I understand you anyway.

Yes, ship modeling is always about winging it, however, it is good to have a solid base to work from.

 

I must have hit the "all caps " button. Wasn't looking

[Nirvana]

My Syren is back on a steady course.

With a big Thank You to Marc Mosko at ModelExpo I am back.

The replacement part was so straight and accurate it was a very easy job to get the "skeleton" together.

 

Anyone reading this, make sure to taper the stem piece before gluing it into place.

See picture two.

This is where the figure head will be attached.

Tapering after attachment will be much harder.

 

I am now at the stage of doing the planking between bulkhead 16 and 20.

The pre-fairing of the bulkheads came out good as well. 

So far no incidents.

[Nirvana]

I didn't put any fillers in-between bulkheads prior the planking inside of the hull.

Doing this opened up space for the planking and using my fingers.

I think having the fillers would had the planking a little harder. 

[Nirvana]

I mentioned the pre-fairing of the bulkheads, when I applied the batten it fell into place so naturally.

[David Rice]

Looks like you received some nice clean material. 

[Tigersteve]

A beautiful thing when things fall into place like that. 

Steve

[fnkershner]

So Dr. Per you have not uploaded any recent pictures. come one rub it in you have almost caught up with me. and yes this weekend I will dig up my long lost log and do some updates. But for now I am going to steal your log and ask a question of our esteemed group. in the wonderful instructions it says after you have installed Lintels & sills to sand everything an fair it down. then install the gun port frames and the sweep frames. So My question is: Since all of the framing is made with the same dimensional lumber wouldn't it make more sense to finish the frame installs and then sand?

[Heronguy]

One possible reason for the fairing before installing the sides - to mark the positions for the side timbers you have to trim and tape on the paper templates.  You'll want a smooth run on the outer bulwarks for that.  

 

My second reason was that I used a blade and chisel to trim quite a bit of the excess away before sanding.  That's easiest when the grain is all the same direction. 

 

I'll be interested to hear other opinions.

[reklein]

I'm with Doug on this. I also carved off most of the excess wood. The reason Chuck uses such heavy material is to get enough "meat"  to create the shapes needed in the finished project. Also you could do a little carving now and break up the type of work you are doing to break the tedium.You gotta admit that not every second of model ship building is full of creative wonderment.I used 100 grit to start sanding after carving back the wood. Just don't get too aggressive with the carving. Be careful of the grain.

 

[Nirvana]

Floyd, I was thinking the same but reading the instructions it made sense to trim and sand as you go.

This will create less stress on the structure while doing it.

And no problem of using my log to ask the group. 

[Nirvana]

As Floyd requested, here is a picture of the latest state.

[Heronguy]

Per,  Your work looks so much neater than mine!  Nice work.  One thought for you though - it look like you haven't yet faired the inner side of the bulkhead extensions at the bow.  I think it would be easier to do that before the gunport frames are installed.  

[Nirvana]

Heronguy,

Thanks for the headsup, That's what Chuck writes in the instructions, sand it all once lintels and sills are in place.

Page 11.

[Heronguy]

Oops - Missed that sentence. It always amazes me that I can read things 3 or 4 times and yet miss information.  

 

Edit:  When I checked the instructions I also found advice on page 7 - the bottom photo where he suggests inner bulkhead extensions to be faired.  I guess we can have it either way - which is our prerogative anyways!

[Nirvana]

Friday evening update

This as my lintels and sills for starboard are in place. 

[Nirvana]

At my last visit in Seattle one of our MSW member cut me a perfect 15/32" x 15/32" stick to be used for the cannon ports.

The stick was cut using Byrnes table saw with micrometer.

Instead of marking of each bulkhead from a caliper I used the stick to get the correct height between the lintel and sill.

The stick turned out to be a good tool as well.

[reklein]

Good tip  . Now your gonna need a jig to accurately cut some 40 pieces of 15/32 for the gunport sides,and forty more 1/8 pieces for the sweep ports. Lots and lots of parts in this model. Meditative.

[Nirvana]

Glad that I have my little saw..... will make it quick and easy I hope, with a jig.

[fnkershner]

Your welcome! Now tell me what kind of jig you are going to use for the ports? I have been trying to come up with a solution for the chop saw.

 

PS its time for you to switch models so I don't fall behind. Also tell me about the sanding. What did you do?

[Nirvana]

Floyd, no sanding so far.

I have an idea for the chop saw, once I have it tried out (hopefully this afternoon) I will let you know. 

[hamilton]

Nice work overcoming the early problems you experienced - I'm building the Syren too, but my kit was purchased a few years back or more and all seems well in order - templates fine and plywood in good shape (though I've read elsewhere about scale issues with the carronades.....). Anyway, I'm also in agreement with Doug and Bill regarding the framing - this part of the build requires some sensitivity and trying to work with grains in opposite directions would be tricky and frustrating. I had the sills and lintels on for a long time before picking up a sanding block - mostly because I thought it would be incredibly tedious to sand these down....in the end it went quite quickly with 100 grit sandpaper...

 

One other piece of advice - when you install the gunport frames try to keep them flush with the lintels and sills on the inboard side - it is much easier to sand outboard than in inboard....

hamilton

[Cathead]

Thanks for the early tutorial in overcoming QC issues. I definitely like your marker stick. Keep up the good work!

[Nirvana]

Didn't get as much building done as I wanted during the weekend. 

Only one lintel left to install. 

[Nirvana]

Tuesday morning update.

The last lintel is installed.

[Nirvana]

This morning I was told to slow down with my build. A friend building Syren wants to keep even steps with me.

So tonight, I am to work out a jig to cut 40 each of 15/32" posts. This jig will be attached to the chop saw. 

[fnkershner]

That's right! So give me until the weekend to catch up.