US Brig Syren by Jason - Model Shipways - 1:64

[Jason]

Thanks for the suggestions Dirk.

[Jason]

Build Update:

 

Completion of the Exterior Planking:

 

My Syren hull really turned out to be a tale of two halves.  Being that this is the second model that I have ever planked, and that it was a lot bigger than my Longboat, it was a first rate learning experience.  I planked both sides down below the waterline pretty much the same, then I continued with the starboard side until it was complete.  Next I completed the port side, finally putting the wales and sheer strake on.  

 

I had a lot of fun with this step for a couple of reasons.  The first being that, I learned how not to do it on the first side.  The second, that during the planking process I went on vacation to a family camp, which had a wonderful craft space.  Our days were packed with hiking, sailing, and fishing, but the evening was dedicated to crafts.  So I took my Syren with me and worked on it over vacation.  Part of the fun in that, was that so many people came over to investigate what I was doing, that I got to talk about the hobby to quite a few people.  Thirdly, my son has taken an interest in what I am doing, so I have been able to start instilling a desire to make things in him.  I hope that I am also passing on some skills as well  .

 

Crafting on Vacation:

 

The Last Plank:

 

The Next Generation:

 

 

 

 

 

[Jason]

_{Thanks Dirk!  It was all the great help I had sanding...}  

[Chuck]

Very nice planking...shaping up to be a great looking Syren model.

 

Chuck

[augie]

Very nicely done.  Glad to see the little guy being first mate!

[ZyXuz]

nice planking Jason..

your son must be proud of u!

[Jason]

Thank you Chuck, Augie, and ZyXuz!  I am excited to move forward with this build, but work is being very demanding at the moment so we will see.

[Gahm]

Very clean planking job, Jason! A great addition to the Syren fleet!

 

Thomas

[DCIronfist]

Wow that planking sure looks great:) :) keep up the good work

[Blue Ensign]

She looks excellent Jason, a fine looking Syren, beautiful planking job

 

B.E.

[Jason]

Thank you, Thomas, David, and Blue Ensign!  I appreciate the comments!

[Jason]

Build Update:

 

Completion of the Transom and Fashion Pieces.  

 

This segment of my build could have been appropriately titled, "the slippery slope".  In this stage I have redone, or touched up many items both on the transom, and in other areas, to the point that I had to stop.  Telling myself to take a stand, and let this work be a statement of current ability, and not a quixotic quest for perfection.  Ultimately, I am pleased with how the transom came out, though there is an exaggerated curve to the port side of the transom that apparently is in the fairing of the framing, that has translated to the exterior, making it difficult to finish it in a way that looks symmetrical.  

 

A note on the transom cap rail:  As mentioned above in this log, there was some concern over the material used to construct the curve of the transom cap.  I had intentions of purchasing the Beech strip mentioned, however I was spurred on by earlier successes in producing compound curves with the supplied material.  I was able to produce the cap in one piece, with one try, using the supplied 1/4" wide basswood strip.  I let the strip soak first for about 3 and a half hours in the vertical position.  I really do not know if this produces better results in reality, than soaking horizontally in a bath.  However, I have found the method to "seems" to produce more supple planks.  Perhaps this is just an illusion created by the natural variation of the material and the order in which I selected it?  I have observed that when the strips soak vertically, capillary action wicks the water up the strip to a height several inches higher than where the strip enters the water.  Any body have any thoughts on this?

 

Also, as you will see from the photos, I added an additional strip to the after surface of the cap.  I did this because, when sanding the cap, I accidentally made it flush in some areas with the transom.  Wanting some overhang for aesthetic purposes, I added the strip and re-shaped to give the present look.  I additionally, added my own interpretation to the fashion pieces.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[augie]

Good work Jason on what could have been frustrating.  Looks great from my view and I really like the overhang you've produced.  Now I did my cap rail also in one piece soaked horizontally.  Now we need someone to try it at 45 degrees from vertical  

[DCIronfist]

Looking good and I see no flaws . Hmmmm 45 degree I was thinking of making up a PVC capped piece to soak my wood in guess I could put that at a 45 degree angle......of coarse it's an entirely different ship so would have no scientific value lol

[texxn5]

Very nice, glad to see your build.

[Gahm]

Your transom turned out beautifully. This is one of the more tricky pieces!

 

Thomas

[Jason]

Thank you for the compliments Augie, David, John, and Thomas!  

 

Heavy workload has prevented me from performing the important scientific work on the angle of soaking  .

 

I have however, finally been able to get some build time in, which I will post on next...

[Jason]

Work has really been heavy lately, so I have not been able to get much build time in.  However, over the last week, I have finally been able to work on the Syren.  I decided to produce the port lids at this stage, because I did not want to have to sand the ports to the curve of the hull after the hull was finished.  There are a couple of things that I changed on the ports.  First, I decided to make them in two layers.  I copied this out of Goodwin's The Construction and Fitting of the English Man of War: 1650 - 1850.  To do this, I made the first layer as described gluing the pieces together.  After sanding them true to the outer curve of the hull, I traced the port frame on the inside of each lid.  A 1/32" thick planking was added running perpendicular to the axis of the outer planking.  Unfortunately, I do not have any pictures at the moment, but I will put them up when I finish the ports.

 

After labeling and mapping the port lids to ensure that each one goes back to the port it was made for, they were placed aside for finishing and installing at a later date.

 

I have also drilled the holes for the treenails, which up to this point I have left unfilled.  I kind of like the contrast they offer in that state.  As I get further into finishing the hull, we will see if they stay that way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ZyXuz]

well done on the treenail, Jason!

the hull looks so much nicer now

[Jason]

Thank you ZyXuz.  I am happy with the effect that the Treenails give to the hull, now on to some paint...

[Jason]

Cap Rail and Hull Finish

 

I have been able to put a little more time into the Syren this week.  Finishing the hull with the cap rail, and paint.  I have let the treenail holes blank up until this point, and I am considering leaving them that way.  I like the effect that they give in contrast to the planking they inhabit.  I know on the real thing that would not really be noticeable, except to an inspecting eye and at close range, but for an informative piece showing landlubbers and nautical neophytes how a ship is constructed, I think it fits the bill.

 

I should note here, that I have not stained or painted the planking in between the sheer and the wales, it has been oiled using white mineral oil.  I have been using this in other woodworking projects and for model stands for about a year now.  How it holds up beyond that I do not know, but for the items I have used it on so far I am pleased with the results.

 

 

 

 

[Jason]

Deck Planking:

 

This step brought a particular challenge stemming from a mistake made earlier in the build.  I did not properly set the heights of the port sills above the deck during the framing layout.  Being that I did not catch it until I was ready to plank the deck, it took a little while to figure out how I wanted to deal with the problem.  There was not enough room between the finished deck and the bottom of the port sills to install both the waterway and the carronade chocks.  I didn't need a lot of room, so I chose to make the deck planking thinner.  Instead of using the kit supplied 1/16" thick planking strips, I went to the local hobby shop to acquire a set of 1/32" strips.  Unfortunately my only choice was basswood, but since the rest of the model is basswood that is okay.  Next model I will try something different.  

 

The thinner planks gave me most of the room I needed, a few carronade chocks will have to be made to fit into the waterway.  

 

I was in real danger of tearing the deck out and starting over, being that I am not totally happy with the job that I did.  But I will accept it, and practice joggling into the margin plank before my next build.

 

 

 

 

 

[augie]

Deck looks great Jason.  Glad you resolved that waterway issue with the thinner planking. 

 

Now you're ready for the fun stuff!

[Blue Ensign]

The deck looks fine to my eye Jason, and I suspect by the time all the fittings and ordnance are on board any issues you have will recede from your eye.

 

Cheers,

 

B.E.

[Gahm]

Your Syren is moving along really nicely! Deck looks great!

 

Thomas

[gerty]

Hi Jason -  just seeing this now and congrats on the very nice work !   ..nice pictures of your beautiful model and very nice pic of you with your son !

 

I'm looking forward to following along.

Edited November 11, 2013 by gerty

[Jason]

Thanks everybody!  All of your builds are inspirations for me.

 

Augie, I am looking forward to getting into the fun stuff.  The copper press is built and ready for action.

 

Dirk, I am glad to know I am not the only one with the deck height problem.

 

Gerty, glad to have you following along.

 

Hopefully it will not be another month until I get to work on the hull coppering!

[Chuck]

Very nice work.  That is really coming together well.  I hope to see in person at a club meeting.  Good stuff.

 

Chuck

[Jason]

Thank you Chuck!  I hope to be at December's meeting, as I will be unfortunately out of town for this months meeting.

[Jason]

Copper Sheathing the Hull

 

Wow, this stage of the build gave me a lot of troubles.  I was dismayed to see that the last time I posted to this thread was in November!  The biggest problem that I had in starting this stage was the construction of an appropriate stamp.  After somewhere near a half dozen attempts, I put the project aside to ponder how to solve the problems encountered.  

 

When I started this stage, I decided that I was going to try something a little different.  Chiefly, I wanted the stamp to create a relief above the plate, rather than an impression below the surface of the plate.  Therefore I started by stamping the plates from the paper side of the copper tape.  Two problems surfaced rather quickly.  The first being, that the force required, and the large diameter of the pins I chose, caused the backing to separate from the copper.  The second problem, was that I was not getting a clean impression, some pins were not leaving any trace of their existence on the copper.  The first fix was to try to get all of the pins to leave an impression by sanding, then filing the pins to the best of my ability.  I tried a variety methods, but unfortunately I did not posses the necessary skill to make a perfectly flat plane across the tops of the pins.  I also realized that my pins were at very disparate angles with reference to the the wooden block of the stamp.  I do not think any of them where at 90 degrees from the block!  I should note before moving on, that I coppered about 1/4 of the port side with my original stamp before I got so frustrated that I removed it all.

 

In the hopes that I may save others from some of this same vexation, I will lay out how I came to construct a stamp that I believe works pretty well.  

 

First, I realized that I needed a means to make all square.  Doing all of the work with the hand tools at my disposal, was just not going to produce the results I wanted, so tool shopping I went.  Second, as mentioned before the pins were too large.  I settled on a 1/2 mm steel wire to make the impressions.  So let us begin,

 

After cutting the block of wood that would make the body of the stamp, I used this true sander to create square edges on all faces of the stamp body.  If I could get away with it, without getting nasty complaints from the downstairs neighbor, I would have used a disk sander.

 

 

Next, I marked out the stamp pattern on the stamp face with a pencil.

 

 

Then, I cut the pins with my leatherman tool.  It has a really great wire cutter on it.  In the picture, you will see the blue painters tape on my work surface.  The tape is placed sticky side up, so that when I cut the pins to their measured length, they stick to the tape rather than flying off somewhere.

 

 

Next, the holes were drilled in the stamp to accept the pins.  I used a slightly undersized bit, then lightly tapped them in with a small jewelers hammer.  Make sure to tap lightly and feel for the bottom of the hole, so that all of the pins are set to a uniform depth.  It should be noted here, that the wood block was squared to the vice before being placed under the drill, and that a depth stop was used to ensure a uniform depth for the holes.

 

 

 

To make sure that the pins were set into the block, I poured a large amount of CA onto the top of the stamp around the pins.  I let the glue cure overnight before setting the final height of the pins.

 

 

After the CA was cured I set the rotary tool at 90 degrees to the pins, using a grinding bit and several passes, I produced a stamp that I was happy with.  All of the pins were perpendicular to the stamp, and all set at the same height above the surface of the stamp.

 

 

 

Next time, on to plate production and installation!