US Brig Syren by niwotwill - Model Shipways - scale 1:64 - 2nd wooden kit build & 1st build log

[niwotwill]

`I've finished my Morgan and now can concentrate on the Syren. The next thing will be the wales and sheer strake. Discovered a big OOPS after getting the wales on I have the last frame and filler pieces not faired properly which was causing the joint between the counter and wales tone misaligned. I took the wales off back to frame middle and the four frames aft of this. 

You can see from the photos how the counter meets up with the filler pieces which caused the wales to land to high. So I then went and removed the filler pieces and started aggressively fairing the last frame. I then made new filler pieces and during the fairing process I could see the the counter had also taken the wrong shape when I faired the transom frames for the counter planks. I had to remove the counter planks and add some strips on the transom frames so I could then reshape them to correct the counter to frame and filler geometry. All's looking much better so I went ahead and removed the two strakes the were also offending the stern shape. Tomorrow I'll start adding wales, so we'll see how it turns out. This has been the largest mistake Ive had to fix and a very good learning experience..

 

Good Night 

Will

[Overworked724]

Hey, Will.  Love your choice of Alaskan cedar.  I have a stash of that as well as some boxwood which I plan to use for planking and deck.  Basswood is hit or miss...mostly miss.  It's so thready and difficult to work with.

[niwotwill]

Thanks Patrick and everyone on the likes.

 

I spent the last week planking and finished today. When half finished I marked off the frames with tape to located where to drill for the simulated plank nailing on the bulwarks. Then I finished the planking's and sanded to a smooth even surface. Covered planking with putty and sanded and sanded more putty more sanding more sanding what a mess. Spent an afternoon cleaning the shop. This afternoon I spent working of my idea of how to make working sheaves. Was able to prove that I can make them as I envisioned so now I'll start making them in boxwood (easier to machine).

 

In this photo you can see the work I did to get the counter into proper shape. Doesn't look pretty but it'll be covered with black paint and copper plates. You can see the tick marks on the frames which tell me how much to shape and if I'm staying on the marks.

Plank symmetry is looking very good. I guess I'll press ahead.

 

 

Here the tape shows where the frames are behind the bulwark and this allowed me to make the pattern.

 

 

Planking finished and the bulwark nailing clearly visible. I had stained the alaskan yellow cedar with golden oak and applied a coat of satin wipe on poly.

 

View of finished stern planking before sanding and putty. I had also attached the stern most to see how much filler i would need.

I sanded the stem so the mermaid fits as she should.  I'm not a carver but I have to do something about this casting its quality is right in order with basswood. Sorry another gripe. I'll try to do better.

 

My double sheave plans

 

 

 

Short video of how my setup works on the mill.

 

I used a 1mm dental burr in the mill and made many .030 passes and you can see the slots. Notice the fuzzy edges with basswood.

 

Drill setup using the adjustable angle plate with the vise mounted. The plate is set at 15 degrees which should give the main braces lines the correct angle. I drilled a .021 hole through the part and thens used a .020 copper wire for the axel. I'll turn .093 dia brass rod for the sheaves with a .031 dia hole through which the copper wire will pass making a working sheave.

 

One last photo of the Syren sitting in front of the Charles W. Morgan that I just finished.

 

All is well here everyone stay healthy

 

Will  

 

 

[niwotwill]

Thanks everyone for the likes it really helps me overlook my oops and keep moving ahead. Slow but steady as Patrick says.

 

Been a while since my last post  and after finishing the planking I sanded it smooth and filled are the cracks with putty and sanded some more. More putty more sanding. I finally was satisfied with the shape and smoothness without voids or cracks. I started getting ready for painting by masking off all areas not to be painted black.

 

During taping of the transom to wales intersection looked very rough so I studied and studied and came to realize that the fashion pieces will cover this area so it won't be seen.

 

I sprayed the hull with 8 coats of hull black paint with a light rub with 400 wet-n-dry paper between coats. The painting process took a week and in-between coats I built a display stand. painting came out very nice and gave me an excellent finish to look at the fairing that I had done which was smooth with no hills or valleys.

 

Sitting in my spray booth an old box.

 

One side done let it dry and turn around to the other side.

 

 

Last coat whew 

 

 

Closeup of starboard bow

 

Closeup of the starboard stern

 

I paint the hull black for a couple of reasons first is I use a machinists surface gauge pointer to scribe the water line into the paint giving me a fine permanent line. second as I said it gives me a good look at the fairing shape and lastly I think it gives a better surface for the copper plates to adhere to.

 

This is the display stand I made while waiting for paint to dry.

Two of the supports laying on the drawing to compare. I turned the dowels from some square swiss pear. You can see the square ends before being cutoff.

 

 

This the completed stand dry fit still needing sanding staining and some poly.

 

 

 

A view of the Syren resting on the dry fit stand.

 

 

I finally got the fashion pieces and transom cap rail. It was pretty eventful make fit remove make fit remove and then after 3 attempts the 4th fashion pieces looked as the should. I had to make the cap rail 3 times as no matter how much I soaked it and how slowly and carefully I bent them they split in the corners. On the fourth attempt I tried to lay a wet paper towel on it as the wood was drying and whew again it worked. I should have used Gahms method of build a jig and saved me all the work. But here it is:

 

A little touch up of black paint and treenails in the transom planks an on the chapter 7.

 

Its coming along slow and steady. Thanks Patrick

 

Everyone stay healthy and well during these trying times.

Will  

 

 

 

[niwotwill]

Started chapter 7 today. Not very exciting sanding and sanding the bulkwarks, I got the top of the bulkheads down to 1/8" and to deck level down to 5/32".BTW the bulwark is really strong now with all the planking.  I'm hoping this is enough but we'll see as I'm going to sit on it for a couple of days, measuring and thinking. Chuck mentioned the up front by the bow It will get a little thicker but this will be ok, not sure what he meant by that. Any ideas? I could you some direction.

 

Here's a picture of one area as a sample of the thickness.

 

 

 

Finished up the fixed blocks the go into the bulwark for the main braces, fore sheets and main tack. Where I originally planned to use 3/32" dia rod I discovered that with a part .04 thick using the partoff tool  on the lathe was beyond me so I switched to wood. Turned down a square dowel to 3/32" dia dowel, drilled a .031 hole in the center and used Ed Tosti's method of parting off the disk. Used a #11 blade in a craft knife and it worked great making a clean smooth surface of the cut. I then cut the pieces apart and inserted the disks with wire as the axle. Parts are ready to install when I get the inner planking done. My wife thinks I'm crazy as no one will be able to see the parts. I tell her I'll know that they're there.

 

Drilling the holes

 

 

Cutting off the parts

 

 

Turning the rod down

 

 

Finished fixed blocks ready for staining, tomorrow, and installation after planking completed.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the likes and views

 

Stay safe and well

 

Will     

 

[niwotwill]

Well I finished the bulwark thinning. The top is at 1.8" around the entire perimeter and 5/32" around the deck level perimeter. While examining the bulkhead stanchions I noticed a small radius from horizontal to vertical so I spent several hours using a chisel and #11 blade making the corners square. I then took a triangular swiss file to finish off the corner now the the planking sits on the deck surface correctly. I didn't have a 3/16" piece of yellow cedar so I had to surface plane a 5mm piece to 3/16" and then rip the 3/16" vy 1/16" strip for the first plank. Placed the port and starboard forward planks on. They sit very nice I very happy with the fit after all the work the frame/bulwark runction.

 

The Koreans had the turtle boat but my Syren (with clamps) looks like a porcupine boat.

 

 

I cut the fixed block holes in the bulwark planking and then I stained the blocks golden oak. I put the in the slides after the stain drys tomorrow.

 

Closeup views show everything all though I do have a lot of touchup to do.

 

 

Thanks for the likes

 Will    

 

[niwotwill]

I got back to working of the model and completed the bulwark planking and sanding without much ado. Spent a quite a lot of time one the gunports and sweep ports getting the edges even and square. I've started painting the bulwark planking with a quick picture of the first coat.

 

 

 

 

I keep looking at other logs looking at peoples carving of the galleries and the stern carvings thinking of how I might attempt mine. Looking at the gallery castings in the kit it became apparent that the quality was not up to the kit. The port and starboard have pieces missing in different places and the definition of the window and roof detail is filled in with casting material. No sharp edges. a couple of photos to explain.

 

 

 

 

I moved on the the longboat to keep me moving ahead while I try to figure out the castings and how I'm going to carve them. Do I use wood or some other media. All ideas would be welcomed.

 

Stay well

Will    

 

[Edwardkenway]

@WalrusGuy has made his own quarter badges and explains his methods with good  detail and very good photos. If you haven't already you should check his Syren log out

[WalrusGuy]

Thanks for the shout-out Edward!! Feel free to ask me questions regarding any of the steps. The process was time consuming but it was worth the effort imo.. 

[niwotwill]

Thanks Edward I'll read WalrusGuy's log tonight. Really appreciate the look into.

 Will 

[niwotwill]

Cap rails are on! It was an all day process as I had to mill a 1/8" cedar board down to 1/16", make the bow patterns, rip strips for the rear, cut the bow pieces, cut the scarfs, sand and glue. Cutting the bow pieces was troubling me as they crossed the grain of the wood and I feared that they might split while cutting. To keep the wood secure to the cutting mat I placed strips of double sided tape on the cutting pad and pushed the wood onto the tape holding it secure while I cut the arc. I then used a drafting compass set to the correct width and followed the outside cut after I had finished sanding. Sanded the inside arc and cut the scarf joints. Mounted the cap rails without any mishaps. Yea!!! Reading the instructions Chuck mentioned cutting a double bump on the outside of the 1/16" strip to be added to the exterior of the cap rail. So I thought I'd give it a try. I read that you could use a piece of metal and cut a shape into the edge and scrape the wood creating the shape.

 

I used an old hacksaw blade and put it in a vice and filed a 1/16" wide x 1/321" deep slot into the edge of the backside of the blade. I use a small circular swiss file to cut to half circles in the corners of the slot. I then ripped a 1/16" square cedar strip to pull through the slot cutting the bumps. Using flat nosed pliers i pulled the strip through the slot while holding it in place with my left index finger. It worked and after a couple pulls the bumps were deep enough to be seen even at 1:64 scale.

 

Cut piece still on the tape. You can see the tape on the pad.

 

 

Closeup of the hacksaw blade with the slot cut into

 

 

Closeup of the 1/16" strip with my finger as reference

 

 

Tomorrow I'll sand and glue the strips onto the cap rail and then start painting them black along with touching up the the black paint everywhere.

 

 

Stay Well      

[Overworked724]

Nicely done!!!!!

[niwotwill]

Ok so tomorrow was a week away and I finished the cap rails. Had somewhat of a difficult time getting the top surface between the cap rail and the 1/16" trim even and smooth. Sanding tended to radius the top of the cap rail so I removed the 1/16" trim and made a new one. I made sure the new trim was above the cap rail about 1/64" so I could fill any gaps with putty and then sand the top flat and smooth without seeing a seam. Painted and sanded until it looks like one piece.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The cap rail being completed it was time to attack the margin plank. As others had seen and noted the laser cut pieces don't align with the inside of the bulwarks. I was going to use them as patterns to cut pieces out of cedar, so reading others on using the print of the deck as a starting point off I went making my own. A little digression. Ive found that while making the Morgan I really enjoy scratch building as others have said so I started the NRGs 1776 Washington Row Galley and it is quite a challenge. Ok back to Syren. I had some boxwood from the Washington so I decided to use it for the deck planking and made my bow planks from it. Ripped some 3/16" X 1/16" strips for the margin. I have to cut the scarf joints for the planks. Ive decided to make the length of the pieces to scale and since the construction used wood usually no longer the 24'  to 26' I going to make the margin at 25'. I went ahead and milled more lumber to 1/16" and ripped enough 1/16" X 1/8" strips for the decking material. Now its on to the margin planks scarfs and installation. I've read several method to make the 1/16" X 1/16" X 45 degree waterway and am not sure how i'd like to proceed so any ideas would be appreciated. 

 

All the pieces for the margin planks and deck planks along with Dubz layout for the planking.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stay well

 

Until the margin planks

Will   

[Overworked724]

Exciting stuff!  Looking great, Will!

[niwotwill]

Thanks Patrick and all others who liked my post.

 

Had a couple of productive days on the Syren. Margin planks installed it was difficult to cut the scarfs on the margin planks as they were bending with the shape of the bulwarks so when I had a good scarf fit on the bench the dry fit with the slight bends opened up the scarf joint. What I did was to glue the forward piece in place and then carefully shape the after pierce to fit the scarf. I got them close to the bench fit but I'm hoping that the carronade sleds will cover up a lot of the margin plank. I then figured a way to make the waterway strips. It turned out to be fairly easy in the end. What I did was take a piece of timber and mill it down to 1/16" thick (I'm using boxwood on the margin planks, waterways, and deck planking) I then used the Byrnes table saw tilting table set at 45 degrees and ripped off two 1/16" strips. I used my plank bending jig to shape the waterways to fit the bulwarks. It worked liked a gem and even left the 1/16" below the gun ports as Chuck stated.

With the margins and waterways completed I built the frame for the companionway ladder without any drama involved. That being done I looked at Dubz's planking plan and saw that I could use full length planks down the middle of the deck as all the deck fixtures would make it unnecessary to use individual 20' planks. So I then placed 8 planks down the middle and relieved the mast holes and the companionway opening.  Next will be the 20' planks in the 4 butt shift layout with  the nibbing on the margin plank.

 

Some photos of the work

Margin planks installed

 

 

Companionway frame

 

 

Tilting table on the Byrnes table saw

 

End view close-up of the finished waterway 

 

End of the day. Margin planks, waterways, companion framing and deck planking

 

 

 

Thanks everyone for looking and likes

Stay well

 

Will  

[niwotwill]

Thanks all for the looks and likes it keeps me going. Thanks to all of you

 

 

Well I finally got the deck planked using a modified 4 butt shift pattern based on 20' planks and it worked pretty well.

 

 

Making my own strips out of boxwood was the way to go for me as the color and grain pattern are so even that they don't appear to be out of scale at 1:64. Only problem with using boxwood is cutting the nibs into the margin plank. Boxwood dulls #11 blade very quickly. A friend turned me onto so extra life #11 blades and gave me some to try. I must say they do hold an edge longer than the standard blades.

 

 

Package of 100 for $33 on amazon with free shipping.

You can see the boxwood strips i'm using for testing stains and the treenails. This panel has been sanded and no finish applied. Another problem with making my own strips is they are so straight that the seams become hard to see after you sand them and the butt joints were impossible to see with out magnification. I had to use gift wrapping tape that you can write on to mark all the butt joints. I took a picture of the deck so you can see how I used the tape to marks the joint locations. 

 

 

Next I'll take an awl used as a center punch to mark all the hole locations. I decided to use one treenail on each side of a butt rather than two as would be correct. At the 1:64 scale the treenails should be around .015 or 1" real size and I'm using .028 diameter treenails so I think it would cause problems and look to crowed. Tomorrow I'll mark and drill the holes.

 

That's about all the progress for now

 

Stay Well

Will  

 

[Overworked724]

That’s a ton of work, Will. Those tree nails are always monotonous. I’ve just discovered audio books to make the time pass more smoothly. Got any background attention grabbers you use to take the edge off?

 

Looking great!!!!

[niwotwill]

Thanks Mike my scrap bin is getting quite full and will be getting more contributions as I go on.

 

Need some opinions on deck stain color. On the photo below I have two samples of boxwood planking the same as the deck planking. The sample on the top is boxwood with NO stain just a quick coat of wipe on poly, the sample on the bottom is boxwood stained with minwax golden oak and a quick coat of wipe on poly. Question which do you like? I'm leaning towards no stain as the stain really darkened the treenails. I like to hear from you on your opinion.

 

 

 

Thanks everyone

Stay Well and Safe

Will  

[Overworked724]

Some folks prefer a more subdued tree nail profile.  I tend to agree with you, Will.  The darker treenails pop out and it’s a pleasant effect, especially when considering how much work goes into setting them in the model!

[WalrusGuy]

I agree with Patrick. After all that work you want it to show! 

[niwotwill]

Well the deck is planked, drilled, tree nailed and sanded. I left the deck unstained with just wipe on poly. 

Deck planked and sanded ready for some filler to take care of large openings

 

Completed deck

 

I've been studying logs to see what others have done for copper planking. While doing this I came across logs using syringes, nails, copper wire, steel wire for the pattern jigs. Sometimes too much information leads to being frozen with indecision and that is where I presently reside. I'll start making jigs and punches tomorrow so maybe I can get unstuck from indecision. In reading the logs I've come up with an idea how to use nails so that the nail heads will be restrained between two layers of wood. I'm going to use my press-it as Gahm used his sensipress instead of the hammer method. I hope it all works. 😅 Check the next post to see.

 

Thats all for nmow

Stay Well and Safe

 

Will 

[niwotwill]

I've come up with a pattern for the copper plates and devised a method of how to hold the nails into the stamp while pressing the copper tape.  

 

This is the starboard pattern

 

 

The pattern in the upper left corner is the final one the others are earlier attempts. The port side will be the same but reversed and the waterline belt line will have the holes on the top as the others have on the lower edges.

 

This is the test pattern with the brass nails inserted. The nails are a .024 dia so then at scale (1.5" dia) they are a little to large but no so large to become obtrusive.

 

Now to my question how far has everyone left the nails protrude beyond the surface of the stamp? I'd like all the help I can get here.

 

I'm going to make the jig and the stamp this afternoon and will post more when they are complete. But I have another question, how do you accurately cut the tape into 11/16" lengths without damaging the tape edges?

 

Stay well and safe

Will  

 

[Overworked724]

You can look at my blog and see how I made mine. They protrude out about 3-4 mm on my stamps. 

[WalrusGuy]

10 hours ago, niwotwill said:

how far has everyone left the nails protrude beyond the surface of the stamp?

Mine was about 2mm, but I don't think the depth matters as much as all the nails being in the same level. Try to file the nails so its flat instead of pointed.

 

10 hours ago, niwotwill said:

how do you accurately cut the tape into 11/16" lengths without damaging the tape edges?

I just used a pair of sharp scissors, although that was not a very accurate way of doing this

[Overworked724]

On 8/14/2020 at 10:08 PM, WalrusGuy said:

Mine was about 2mm, but I don't think the depth matters as much as all the nails being in the same level. Try to file the nails so its flat instead of pointed.

Yep!  I agree. The challenge really is getting them even and flat...then using the stamp to create reproducible plates. 

[niwotwill]

Well I've finally got the 3 stamps made and started testing. Did I say tricky. I tried to use a hammer method but a small hammer didn't have sufficient force and regular carpenters hammer was very unwieldy so I started using my little press with much better results.

 

 

Now that I'm using the press I can shorten the punch to make it less unwieldy. The other thing I need to do is mount the press on the table top and attach the rod to the punch to lift the punch while advancing the tape. I plan to drill a hole in the top of the punch placing a metal rod in the hole and attached to the ram on the press so I can press down to imprint and lift to advance tape. I let you know in the next post after I make some plates and attach them to test panels.

 

Thats all folks

 

Stay Well and Safe

Will  

[niwotwill]

Had a productive day working on my die for the press and making plates for the starboard side. Took time to make some test pieces on installation of the plates trying to develop my skills. I might say the first were very rough but the placement pattern improved as I progressed. While examining my test piece I realized that my punch pattern was wrong, I had placed nails on the forward edge so when I placed the plates overlapping as the should it made too many nails on the forward edge It was an easy fix as I just snipped off the offending nails and the pattern now allows overlapping without the extra nails.

 

I modified the press as I described in the previous post with the results I'd hoped for. I took a scrap 5/16" mast dowel cut it to 1" long and put it in the lathe. The end for the ram was turned to 3/16" to fit into the hole on the end of the ram. Reversed the dowel and turned the opposite end to 1/8" by 1/4" long. Drilled a 1/8" hole in the die and covered the 1/8" stub of the dowel with CA glue and pressed it into the die. Really happy with the results and the way it works. Spending tomorrow making port, starboard, and finish plates and then onto putting them on Syren.

 A couple of photos 

 

 

 

Stay Well and Safe

Will 

[niwotwill]

Started copper plating today. First thing was to make plates so I spent some time making 400 starboard and port plates. Punch and tape worked nice together and it went very smoothly. Next I made a foam pad to protect the Syren on in the inverted position while I added the plates. I went to a local sewing/hobby store and bought a piece of 2" think foam to make the pad then I used a view of the deck from the plans and cut the foam to shape and simply installed the pad between the bulwarks. 

 

 

2" foam

 

Next I traced the deck pattern onto the foam

 

Then simply cut the foam with a hobby knife and put it on the deck between the bulwarks

 

 

 

I read Dubz log and am impressed with how he made the finishing plate pattern using 6mm tape and decided to use the same method to end the port and starboard plates and then add the finishing plates right against the waterline mark.

 

 

and now it begins

 

 

Tomorrow is plate day. I figure I will make plates as I need them since I don't know the total number required.

 

Stay well and Safe

Will 

[niwotwill]

Well tomorrow stretched into a week and a half. We took some time to go visit some friends in the northern mountains and spend some time in Prescott. Had to get out of the heat its been above 110 degrees and up to to 118 one day. Summer has got to end.

Came home and made all the plates all three patterns and plated the ship. Completed the plating today and added the false keel. I made the keel out of 4 pieces which simulated 3 pieces being 24' and the last 8' added the false keel and is now drying.

Just some pictures of the completed plating.

 

Tomorrow onto pintles and gungeons

 

Stay Well and Safe

 

Will  

[niwotwill]

Pintles and gudgeons made and rudder attached is the current update to the Syren. I used Ed Tostis method to make the pintles and gudgeons as he describes in his book "Young America" pages 192 through 196 and the results were excellent. Tho make the parts I took a piece of .03 brass sheet cut to the maximum length required to make the parts and wide enough to make the 8 pieces .06 wide when finished. as show in the picture below.

 

 

 

 

I then used the mitre saw (.03 kefir) to scratch a line across the piece and the used a round swiss file to make a channel that the .06 dia tube would lay into.

 

 

Next I layed a length of the .06 turbo into the channel to hold it in place while being soldered. Using silver solder paste of the medium hard variety so when the pins are soldered using easy solder paste (lower temperature) the harder (higher temperature) paste wont melt. 

 

 

 

As ugly as the piece is it cleans up nicely when I pickled it in 91% alcohol as you can see in the next picture. Using my table saw with a .023 kerf slitting I just sliced off the pieces to make the pintles and gudgeons.

 

When all the pieces had cooled and had been cleaned smooth I glued them to a piece of scrap wood to hold in place while drilling.

 

The finished rudder

 

 

and the finished rudder on the Syrene

 

This method worked really well for me and I'll use it again on the next model.

I hope this will help anyone considering how to make pintles and gudgeons

 

Stay Well and Safe

Will