US Brig Syren by Peter Bloemendaal - FINISHED - Model Shipways - 1:64

Peter Bloemendaal · December 4, 2017

Hi Alan,

Thanks for that info, you definitely got me thinking. I am a bit worried that by darkening the wood to even the colors my treenails might disappear. With some of the darkest planks they are already difficult to see. I will give it a try on a small test panel I still have.

I had a quick look at your build log and I'm impressed with you work. Next time a might have a go as well making those treenails with a draw plate like you did.

Peter Bloemendaal · December 14, 2017

Just a few more progress photo's.

I decided against fiddling with the outside stain colors for now and gave the whole outside a clear matt varnish for protection. Next I went on with the inboard planking and painted it red. The bulwark thickness ended up a little bit too thick for a 3/16" cap rail to create an inboard overhang, so I plan to use an 1/4" plank and make it a bit wider.

Peter Bloemendaal · December 20, 2017

I decided to cut the cap rails out of plywood in one piece which worked out OK. They may be a little too wide but I don't think it's too bad.

Next stage is the deck.

I like the deck layout that Dirk used on his Syren, so to get a feel on how the treenails and the plank cut lengths would work out with the bulwarks and filler blocks I overlayed his drawing on top of one of my photo's (I hope you don't mind using your drawing Dirk...). No accuracy in the overlay because of the distortion of the photo, but I just wanted to have a look.

I think I will go this way. I may need to add some supports next to the filler block where the planks are cut.

I also started to play with the stand supports and drew up a few profile options. I like to get the stand sorted before the copper plates get added to avoid scratching them.

This will be my last post before Christmas, so: Have a Great Christmas everyone. :piratebo5:

Dutchman · December 22, 2017

in Dutch; Vrolijk Kerstfeest en een Gelukkig Nieuwjaar!

Peter Bloemendaal · December 30, 2017

Thanks Dutchman, I hope you survived Christmas all right. Here is a "Gelukkig Nieuwjaar" back. (My Dutch has been a while so luckily I could check my spelling with your post just above...)

My internet was out for more than a week (just came back on today). A real estate company decided to put in a rather large for sale sign and severed a main telco line. Apparently it happens more often.

It's amazing how many nice discussions the admiral and I had with our sons once their gaming, facebook and internet movies/series options, etc. weren't available. We won't see them again for a while now.

Anyway, I have finished the deck and have attached some photo's to show the progress. I ended up adding some filler blocks next to the centre ones so I had somewhere to glue the planks onto. Had a bit of a sore wrist after drilling 900 odd holes and filling them with wax.

The result of the stain on the deck is much better than the hull. Still a little bit patchy in places but I'm very pleased with it.

I haven't warmed up to doing the copper plating just yet. I'm not sure how I am going to go, but I will soon find out with some practice.

Peter Bloemendaal · January 17, 2018

The Copper plating didn't turn out as difficult as I thought it would be.

I kept the jig relatively simple and stuck to the instructions. The only difference is that I kept the nail heads on and didn't glue the nails in. I just glued the second tier of wood straight onto the nail heads (after filing them down a bit to create an even surface), using wood glue.

Next I'll make up a few test boards (Luckily I made way too many plates...) and practice with ageing the copper to get it a bit darker.

Cheers,

Heronguy · January 17, 2018

I really like the idea of the spacers between the rows of nails on your punch. It looks like it would do a great job on controlling the depth of the rivet head in the copper foil. The copper inn job looks very well done!

Peter Bloemendaal · January 18, 2018

Thanks for all the likes everyone. :dancetl6:

Thanks Doug,

No, the spacers were not used to control the depth of the nails into the copper.

I drilled the hole pattern with a dremel, fitted on the stand. With a slight travel of the small drill bit (and the large variation of my eyesight lining it up...lol) the row alignment wasn't perfect. I pushed the spacers in to try to align them a little bit better and to prevent the nails bending during the whole process. I'm not sure if they made a difference.

There was no advanced vertical process. Just a few taps with a small hammer, move the tape, look at the result, adjust the hammer taps with the next tape, move the tape, look at the result, etc.

A very manual process with a variation of how the plates look.

I also found I had to move the jig a few times. As I was hammering onto a soft pine base under the copper, I was slowly putting a pattern into the base affecting the look of the copper indents.

Just on a side note, I am really enjoying this built (famous last words???) and I am glad I picked the Syren. The instruction are the best I have seen (thanks Chuck!) and the additional info from existing logs and feed back from other builders like you are inspirational.

I probably don't say this enough, so here it is...

Peter

Peter Bloemendaal · January 29, 2018

I have done some more work on the rudder and the stern section. You definitely have to take your time making the hole for the rudder. I have added the ships name, stern carvings and the quarter badges. The quality of the quarter badges are a bit disappointing but I tried the best I could with what was in the kit. I don't think it's too bad.

When adding the letters and carvings I put the ship in a near vertical position to create a horizontal surface to work on and used the Gorilla wood glue, which gave me plenty of time to fiddle with the locations before the glue set. I avoid CA glue in these cases because of the speed it sets.

I tried a few options ageing the copper but I am not happy with the results so far. I haven't included any photo's of the copper test plate yet.

Here are the photo's.

Heronguy · January 29, 2018

She's looking beautiful Peter!

Peter Bloemendaal · February 19, 2018

Another update with Chapter 9 almost finished.

I haven't added the scuppers yet as the brass tube supplied in the kit was 1/8" in size and not 1/18" as listed in the parts list. Luckily I tried fitting one on a test piece and found the scale a bit 'odd', before going 'gung ho' drilling holes in the hull. I ordered a new tube on line.

I chemically blackened the eyebolts before fitting them. The cut-offs are used to 'pin' the main and fore channels to the hull as shown on the first photo. they are also used as the port hinge pins.

I have been a bit slack making progress photo's. I obviously am having too much fun.

Next on the list are the head rails and figurehead. I will be doing some serious carving practice on test bits first before touching the laser cut ones.

From when I bought the kit, I always feared the head rails would be the most challenging part. But then again, I wasn't even sure I would even get this far.

So, onwards we go :dancetl6:

Cheers,

Peter

Heronguy · February 19, 2018

Quite gorgeous Peter. Great progress.

fnkershner · February 20, 2018

Peter - Can you tell me what you used to paint the stern decorations? I am very close to this step.

Peter Bloemendaal · February 20, 2018

Hi Floyd,

I used some acrylic paint tubes from an arts & craft shop. I got two colors and mixed them 1:1 to try to get a color match.

I will upload a photo when I get home from work tonight.

Cheers.

Peter Bloemendaal · February 20, 2018

Hi Floyd,

Here is a photo of the paints I used.

Peter

kscadman · February 20, 2018

Beautiful work so far Peter. Simply amazing

Richard

Peter Bloemendaal · February 20, 2018

Thanks Richard,

I have been quietly admiring your build too. I'm probably not in the same league, but I'm certainly enjoying the ride.

Peter

Peter Bloemendaal · March 11, 2018

Another update. I haven't been confident to start the head rails yet so instead of this stage slowing me down, I decided to have some fun with the carronades and building them instead. At one stage I had all 16 sled components with the eyebolts and photo-etched part ready and glued together. I felt quit smug with myself lining them all up and did a final check against the instructions. Yep, I got it wrong. The eyebolts of the top sled were at the carronade side, not the photo etched detail side. DOH... :default_wallbash: So I had to pry the sleds apart, remove the photo etched part of the top sled and redo the lot. I was not in the mood taking photo's.

One thing I benefitted from is that I got into the habit of using the least amount of glue where no strength is required. Some parts of my build are not glued at all. So the sleds came apart without breaking any.

Anyway, enough dribble. Here are some photo's.

Peter Bloemendaal · March 31, 2018

A bit more progress. I got as far ahead without doing the head rails and figurehead as I am comfortable with. So I going to bite the bullet and work on the head rails next. (either that or filing down 128x 2.4mm blocks for the gun tackles, I probably work on both...).

I had to do the pin rails twice. On the first attempt I rushed it a bit and placed them by lining up the top of the pins with the railing, placing them way too high. I used the pin locations on sheet 8 to line them up (and didn't check against other photo's, etc.). Some of the pins were butted up against the railing so you wouldn't be able to place a rope around the pins. So I took a breather for a few days and end up prying them off, cleaning the lot up and start again. The photo's show them at the corrected locations.

It's not a hobby where you want to rush things to keep things moving. :rolleyes:

Anyway, here are some photo's.

svein erik · March 31, 2018

Its a beauty 😄

Svein.erik

Peter Bloemendaal · April 16, 2018

Time for another update. I got stuck into the head rails. Boy, that was a fiddly exercise, definitely the most tricky part of the build so far (in my case anyway). I think I got away with it. There are plenty of mistakes I can point out (and will be obvious for most of you on the forum), but overall I am pleased with the look.

For each head timber in between the rails there are a few in the bin and a few still on the floor bounced out of sight. The carvings are also a fit iffy.

I also want to give a bit of a plug to John Garcia from Model expo. I ran out of small eyepins and couldn't find them on line. When I asked John if I could buy them from model expo, he just asked for my mailing address and sent them to me free of charge. Now that is service... :dancetl6: .

Now for some photo's.

Cheers, Peter

Tigersteve · April 17, 2018

Your Syren is looking fantastic.

Steve

Peter Bloemendaal · April 17, 2018

Thanks Steve and also thanks for all the 'likes'.

I originally decided to stay with the content of the kit and not to upgrade. But I finally couldn't help myself and I ordered some rope and some blocks from Chuck. So once that arrives I can make a start with the rigging of the carronades which should keep me quiet for a while.

I must also admit that I was originally a bit disappointed with the castings in the kit. But as I am applying some TLC with a file, sandpaper and some paint, I am pleasantly surprised with how they end up looking. Even the basswood I find great to work with.

Anyway, back to work (real work that is, not modeling...sigh).

Cheers, Peter

Peter Bloemendaal · April 26, 2018

Some more photo's. I wasn't happy with the location and look of the inboard hawse holes so I added some guides to give them a more 'even' impression. I decided to paint them red. Looking at other logs, maybe keeping them the same colour as the deck may have been a better choice. Shaping these using a scalpel only was a bit of a challenge but fun to do. I don't think they ended up too bad (you can be honest if they do, to deconstruct and re making them is still an option...).

I also added the 2 12 pounder long guns and the bumpkins and started in earnest with making the blocks and hooks for the gun tackles. To avoid going crazy (the sort of crazy where you have long conversations with your dogs and ask them to help you look for blocks), I'll probably mix this up by making a start with some deck fittings as well.

Peter

JesseLee · April 26, 2018

Just found this log. This is looking very, very nice!

Jesse

Heronguy · April 26, 2018

Peter, it is developing beautifully. An inspiration for me. Well done.

Peter Bloemendaal · May 6, 2018

Thanks Jesse, Doug and all the likes.

Just a small update after finishing the rigging of the first carronade (only 15 to go....sigh). I now fully understand the feedback by some of this stage being a tad bit tedious. I tried to mix it up and start on some deck fittings but I am terrible with multitasking (the admiral nods very enthusiastic in agreement...), so I gave that up and will keep concentrating on the guns until they are done (or until I am done and have gone crazy....).

I don't get it how some modelers can even work on multiple ships at the same time.

Here are a few photo's.

Edited May 6, 2018 by Peter Bloemendaal

Peter Bloemendaal · May 27, 2018

Well, I managed to get through the carronade rigging without any major drama. I had to re-do the rope coils a few times before I was happy(ish) with them (used quite bit of rope in the process). And of course a hook occasionally decided to part with a block while tensioning and had to be re-glued.

Some photo's..... :cheers:

Just a note, The photo's came in back to front. (I didn't disassemble the rigging...)

Edited May 27, 2018 by Peter Bloemendaal

MESSIS · June 19, 2018

fine work Peter!

Christos

Peter Bloemendaal · June 19, 2018

Thanks Christos,

the Hermione was on my shortlist before I decided on building the Syren so I have been admiring your work quietly on the background as well.

Also thanks all for the likes.

A little bit more progress on the Syren. I finished the rigging on the long guns, the tiller (not glued yet) and some of the hatches. I had a bugger of a time getting the colours of the hatches right as I wanted to make them just a tad darker to create some contrast.

I did a sample strip with the cannon balls provided in the kit but found them a bit on the small side. I ordered a batch of 2mm cannon balls on line and will make a second strip to compare how they look. Murphy's law will probably prove that the right size will be in the middle...lol.

Just a few photo's this time.

Cheers,