US Brig Syren 1803 by Overworked724 – Model Shipways – Scale 1:64

[abelson]

Novel idea on the window frames. So far so good.

[Redshadowrider]

Gotta give you a huge amount of credit @Overworked724 on your custom side projects.  As a newbie to this hobby, I spend my time thinking how to make things easier.  😁

[Overworked724]

Ok. Got the windows made. Also made spares. See below for my quick and dirty process. 
 

1. Smash some sculpy into your window template. 
 

 

 

2. Lift plug of sculpy gently and bake at 275F for 30 min. 
 

 

 

3. Shave off the windows after they cool. Trim off the excess. 

 

 

Also decided I would recess the windows. So got those set up along with some spares. 
 

 

Carved out the ceiling and floor sections (trim pieces) using 1/32” boxwood. 
 

 

Made a quickie scraper to cut in the trim piece edge detail…

 

 

Checked the overall fit…

 

 

Think I’ve left enough room there to mess up if something happens. Trying to noodle my way through the shingles…🤔

 

Moving on…

[niwotwill]

You're on the right track. Its looking like the way to go with sculpy. 

 

[Overworked724]

Decided on the overall plan of attack on the quarter badges. 👍🏽 
 

We’ll see…proof is in the pudding. 

[PRS]

Looking great!

[Overworked724]

Quarter badge bashing continued. 
 

1.  Decided to use some translucent sculpy for the roof base. Had plenty of templates handy so just shaped and formed with my fingers and the edge of a flat razor.  
 

 

 

 

 

Looks weird but after baking is nice and solid. Holds super glue well…tried gluing my wood shingles on it and held them like iron. That part will come later. 
 

2. Bases/undersides were a problem. Making them individually is beyond me. So measured out the thickness, and made a wood sandwich block. Then drew out the general shape. 
 

 

 

3. Used my rotary tool with barrel sander to knock out the basic shape. Then fine tuned with sanding pads. 
 

 

 

You can almost see the layers…but the roof and base sections are all curves. 
 

 

4.  Now I’m soaking the little pieces in water to separate them. I will remake the middle section a bit wider to etch in the detail and provide the visual separation seen in the plans. 
 

 

 

Still a long way to go.  I’m not doing replicates of these as they are too much work. But working in sections and experimenting before putting in practice helps. 
 

Long way to go, but happy with the progress so far…moving on. 
 

[Overworked724]

Ok….a couple things….the little lower portion pieces of the quarter badge build (see above post) floating in water look like oysters. 
 

Second…I’ve decided on my mounting method and mounting wood. Going with flamed maple using brass pedestals. Already have my mounting holes and embedded screws…now I can measure out my case height/width/length and place the order. 
 

 

The wood figuring should give a nice illusion of waves while the traditional pedestals should show off the copper plating. 
 

That’s my current idea…but I might change my mind later. We’ll see. 😎

 

Moving on…

 

Edited August 10, 2021 by Overworked724

[abelson]

Excellent work on the quarter badges. You obviously can see three dimensionally - not everyone can.

[Overworked724]

5 minutes ago, abelson said:

Excellent work on the quarter badges. You obviously can see three dimensionally - not everyone can.

Especially after a tin of ship’s grog!

[Overworked724]

Someone slap me.  That actually worked. 😳

 

[Overworked724]

Well…time to button up the shipyard for 4-6 weeks. Shoulder surgery tomorrow (☹️) and I’ve got no more time left to spare to plunk on the quarter badges. 
 

However…with the main parts made, and my ideas for the garlands, scroll work, roof details, etc. tested…I think I can take a pretty good run at finishing these up after I recover.  
 

Next steps are drilling pin holes (yes…pins for the win when mounting these things…I’m not bloody guessing), painting the windows, staining, putting on the shingles and detail work…yada yada. 
 

Gratuitous photo of the unglued bits (mounted on some Tamiya tape) before I put the shipyard to sleep for a while. 
 

 

 

I’m still not done…but I’m feeling pretty good about my progress so far on this little side trip. 
 

Moving on…

[CPDDET]

Looks great Pat. You may not be able to work in the shipyard but  I'm sure the gray matter will won't be taking any time off.

Wishing you a successful surgery and a speedy recovery.

[abelson]

Very nice! Good luck with shoulder surgery.

[Ryland Craze]

Big improvement over the kit supplied quarter badges.  Wishing you a speedy recovery on your surgery.

[Overworked724]

OK ... I've been thinking about how to make the quarter gallery roof tiles, and have thought up a couple of different ways. But I think I want to stay with making individual tiles out of some material to make the roof look as real as possible. This is one thing I really liked about @WalrusGuy's handmade galleries for his build. So, I think I'm going to stay with using wood (rather than paper...my original approach) and staining the wood a darker color before cutting and placing on the roof tiles... The main challenge was how to make the tiles consistently same thickness. I think I have a good approach .

 

Now... I only have to wait 6 to 8 more weeks until I can use my right arm. Sigh...

[CPDDET]

Hang in there, Pat. The old noggin will work it out.

[Overworked724]

3 weeks post surgery and I have one thing to say about rotator cuff surgery…This Sucks. 
 

 

[CPDDET]

Pat, I can empathize with you after going through surgery myself last year. Hang in there, take care of yourself and remember, this too shall pass.

Edited September 2, 2021 by CPDDET
change

[niwotwill]

Can[t say it'll be ok soon as I know from my wife's 2 surgeries but it will get better and as said "this to will pass". Hang in there.

 

[GrandpaPhil]

Hang in there!

 

Syren is looking great!

[Overworked724]

I’m still here…icing my frickin’ shoulder…staring at my ship…wishing for the Love of God I was left handed…

[niwotwill]

We're here wishing you the best. Please don't go off the recovery program. That will set you back and maybe have to start over. I've never had shoulder surgery but my wife has had to have both sides repaired and recovery is a long process.

[Overworked724]

The long, cold winter of post surgery recovery has begun to thaw!!!!  I am out of the sling and past the post operative pain. I’m sleeping again!!!  Thank God!

 

Slowly figuring out where I left off with my build…🤔.

 

In the meantime…while I get my collective ‘ship’ together (pun intended), I decided on extra curly maple for my mounting board. I was able to get some on line (my buddy who is a luthier pointed me to a good piece when he saw one up for bid on eBay)!

 

Just a couple of baby pics…got the piece cut and planed…the grain is stunning, and runs cleanly perpendicular to the direction the Syren will be mounted. So, my hope is it gives a nice illusion of waves as one views the completed model once mounted). 

 

Moving on!!!  
 

Edited November 8, 2021 by Overworked724

[WalrusGuy]

My first thought seeing the wood was that it resembles waves. Nice find! Looking forward to seeing how the model looks on it. 

Edited November 8, 2021 by WalrusGuy

[CPDDET]

Glad to hear your recovery is progressing, maybe not as quickly as you like but progressing. And nice choice on the wood!

[Overworked724]

Ok. So decided to jump back into the ship yard. Attacked the first gallery roof.
 

if you recall, I’d made the shape of the roof using sculpy because…what the hell.
 

 

 

Then cut thin strips of boxwood for my shingles. Bundled them and cut them in manageable sizes enmasse.

 

 

Shaped the ends before trimming. 
 

 

Then individually chopped off the ends and clipped the edges with a straight razor into a teardrop shape.  I wasn’t going for perfect fit here. 
 

 

 

Then put them on one by one using a touch of gel CA. 
 

 

After the layers were on, I sanded a bit to smooth out the rough spots. And used a simple brass nail to finish. I’ll follow a similar approach for the bottom. 
 

The shingles are frigging TINY!!

 

 

 

 

Moving on the roof #2 for the port side. 
 

 

 

 

[WalrusGuy]

The roof is looking amazing! Great job 😄

[CPDDET]

Great work, Pat!

[Overworked724]

Yeah. The roof was the bug bear. More ‘art and eyeball’ than ‘exacting measurement’.  Now noodling over the scrollwork.