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

[Edwardkenway]

Looking seriously fantastic, so neat and tidy, the copper plating is very smart👍😁

[NovaStorm]

21 minutes ago, Edwardkenway said:

Looking seriously fantastic, so neat and tidy, the copper plating is very smart👍😁

Thank you Edward, very much appreciated

[NovaStorm]

I got the cap rail put on over the transom then the rudder required some shaping followed by plating. I drilled a hole through the transom which was filed out large enough to take the rudder post. The false keel plank was painted black then glued and pinned into the keel with brass nails. Next I began making the pintles and gudgeons a nail for the pintle pin and a 1/16 bit of brass tube for the gudgeons soldered onto 1/8th brass strip.

I used 5 min epoxy to glue the whole assembly on with cut down brass nails to secure it.

 

[BobG]

She just keeps getting better and better!

[GrandpaPhil]

Looking good!

[NovaStorm]

Time to start thinking about blackening brass parts, eye bolts, photo etched hinges etc. Got some brass on order to make the mounts for the carronades. Did up my first breach ring as a test. Used silver solder which might have been a mistake as I forgot to test if the casey brass black would blacken it and it does not! fortunately I got next to no run off so I can fix up the one. The 50/50 seems to blacken but I will do some more tests. Got a new toy the dremel vasaflame for soldering. I will have play with it a bit to get the hang of it. Darn thing gets hot fast and will melt small brass parts quickly lol.

Before blackening the brass the parts were first cleaned using Sparex no2 which was mixed with water into a warming pot bought from the second hand store. After 1.5 hrs they came out nice and shinny and were then placed into straight Birchwood Casey's Brass Black for all of 7 seconds. I used a bit of cheese cloth over the opening to drain off the casey's into a spare container so the cloth would catch any parts. This worked really well and the caseys was saved for the next time I would use it. The brass turns the Casey's a dark blue. After removing the parts it will clear again after sitting for a while. I have used the same little bit of Caseys several times now. You only need a small amount depending on the size of the pieces you are doing. This is my first time using Brass Black so your results may be better or worse but I found it worked quite well. I tried doing a bunch of little parts without acid washing them in the Sparex and they came out just fine to.
First pic the parts have come out of the Sparex cleaner and been rinsed off before going into the Caseys.

Second & third pic: after 7 seconds the Caseys was drained off into a second container and the blackened parts were rinsed off.

My new toy

First attempt at a carronade breach ring

 

I'm fairly happy with the results so far. It is my first time for a lot of this stuff. Happy to be at a point in the build where I can finally start adding some details.

 

This will be my last update for a little while. As I have finally managed to bring the log to the point where I now stand in the build. I expect to working a little slower now also because I am managing a very large group of mostly seniors and people at risk some in isolation though the present crisis going on in the world. As a result I haven't touched the ship in the last couple of weeks but will try and get my heart back in it and get going again. 

 

Last few pics, I started in on the outboard hull details, gunport lower covers, sweep port covers and the port fore and aft covers with hinges. Boarding ladder is installed and the bumpers and chesstree. Thanks to all of you who have come on board and left comments or likes, it really helped spur me on to getting this posted up here.

Stay safe all ~ Regards, Robin aka Nova

 

[Wahka_est]

Amazing job!

[Retired guy]

Very nice build going on Robin lots of likes 👍

 

Regards

Richard

[Overworked724]

Just started following. You are doing a marvelous job!  I’m just starting on mine...but you make it look so easy!  
 

Quick questions:

 

How did you peel off the copper foil from the paper backing without damaging or crimping the foil?  
 

And what brand of CA did you use on the back of the plate?

 

Watching with interest!!!

 

[NovaStorm]

2 hours ago, Overworked724 said:

Just started following. You are doing a marvelous job!  I’m just starting on mine...but you make it look so easy!  
 

Quick questions:

 

How did you peel off the copper foil from the paper backing without damaging or crimping the foil?  
 

And what brand of CA did you use on the back of the plate?

 

Watching with interest!!!

 

Hi thanks for the comment and that is a great question because at the start of plating I was like what the hey this is going to take forever and then some. But believe it or not I caught on to a way of removing the backing that worked pretty good for me. Hold the plate up with your left hand between thumb and forefinger so the top third of the plate is sticking up showing, with the foil side facing toward you. Put the free hand forefinger just above the plate and with a downward and inward motion toward you, flick down on the top of the plate with your finger tip. Try and flick it so you don't land hard on top edge but just flick it to skim the edge. You will know what I mean when you try it. If your folding the plate you are not skimming it the way you need to. Usually in one to three flicks the copper will release from the plate backing once you get use to it. Now you are still not out of the water, the copper has not  released all the way and there is a trick to now peeling off the backing that is still stuck. Don't peel the copper in a arc it will damage the plate severely. I found it way better to kind of peel or pry out the backing from the copper by kind of suctioning it out and away while keeping the copper static. You will figure it out or something similar that works for you not to worry.

You do not need CA for the back of the plate it already has a contact cement type glue on it. You will need to seal the hull tho to give the plates something to stick to. Most use a sanding sealer. I found it would be expensive as I didn't have any and so used primer paint that came with the kit. My thinking was the primer will seal the planks but remain porous to give the glue on the plate something to grab onto.

To lay the plates down on the hull I place the left side corner of the plate, working from the stern, loosely exactly where it needs to be and adjust the line of the plate with tweezers holding the right side. Once in line up press it down with your finger. Do an area and then burnish pressing the plates down smooth and tight. You can press them quite firmly without removing the impression and it will actually improve it imho. You barely need any overlap, just a little not a lot. Hope this helps for you, it is a tricky one but gets easier as you go. PS I had enough copper to do the hull twice so don't worry to much about wasted plates. Use your best! 

[Gahm]

Beautiful job on your Syren, Novastorm! It will be a pleasure following you along!

 

Thomas 

[Justin P.]

Love the ingenuity of the copper plating jig.   You are moving right along, I fear I must move at the speed of molasses compared to this!

[NovaStorm]

44 minutes ago, Gahm said:

Beautiful job on your Syren, Novastorm! It will be a pleasure following you along!

 

Thomas 

Thomas it will be real pleasure to have you on board! Your Syren is a work of art, one of the best that I have seen

Cheers, Robin ~ 

21 minutes ago, Justin P. said:

Love the ingenuity of the copper plating jig.   You are moving right along, I fear I must move at the speed of molasses compared to this!

Thanks Justin but the jig is all Chucks I took it straight from the instructions really. Good to hear from you.

[WalrusGuy]

On 3/17/2020 at 5:33 PM, NovaStorm said:

Now with the mast notches cut. I cut plywood to make the sandwich. Before gluing any of this together I faired up the bulkheads a bit better using a guide plank and glued them in using a square to keep everything in line.
A few pics below:

Hello! I'm also building the Syren and have reached this stage of the build. Any reason you used the plywood to sandwich the notches? Is it because the filler wood is softer than the plywood? 

[NovaStorm]

Hi Wally that is correct. I used balsa for the filler blocks and the plywood is scrap left over from the bulkhead sheets. So if you use a hardwood for the filler you will be fine.

Cheers welcome to the club

[Overworked724]

19 hours ago, NovaStorm said:

Hi Wally that is correct. I used balsa for the filler blocks and the plywood is scrap left over from the bulkhead sheets. So if you use a hardwood for the filler you will be fine.

Cheers welcome to the club

Great idea!  Will follow suit and do likewise!

[NovaStorm]

It should be a great way to set the masts if you don't fancy drilling. That was taken from the MS Bluenose which is done this way. It worked great for me on my Bluenose and I did not glue the masts in but they are true and solid as a rock

Edited April 1, 2020 by NovaStorm

[Retired guy]

Would be nice to see some more pic's of your lovely Bluenose Robin 👍

 

Regards

Richard

[NovaStorm]

On 4/1/2020 at 8:58 PM, Retired guy said:

Would be nice to see some more pic's of your lovely Bluenose Robin 👍

 

Regards

Richard

Richard thank you my friend. The Bluenose was my first taste of model ship building. Like you I spent a lot of time researching before attempting to build her. I haven't put the time into properly taking some pics since finishing, but will stick up a few taken at or near completion. 

First though let me say that if anyone has not seen Richards aka Retired Guys Bluenose build that is going on now, it is a must see and you can find it HERE ! 

In comparison to my meager first attempt 

 

 

 

 

 

[Retired guy]

Wow that is beautiful Robin you did an excellent job on her, thanks so much for taking the time to show us more pictures 👍

 

Best regards

Richard   

[GrandpaPhil]

Well done!

[NovaStorm]

Phil and Richard thanks for taking the time. Your comments and the many likes I received are very much appreciated It was a labor of love. My first build and a real learning experience from researching on down to construction. I hope to do a complete scratch of her some day... 

 

After over a month of not working on the Syren I managed to get back into the shipyard last weekend. Mostly working on completing little missing details here and there. the rudder pintels and gudgeons needed the the nail heads added. The scuppers needed to be added inboard and outboard. The sheaves added and eyebolts outboard above the wales. There are two Davits that get cut into the transom I have them ruffed out using swiss pear to replace the kit ones. Made up a bunch of split rings and such. It all needs a good cleaning up but here are a few picks.

 

[NovaStorm]

Last night I was looking at chapter 12, today I got out my proxon fet (little present to myself at xmas) I sliced up a black walnut board I had and ripped some 3/8 x 1/16 walnut planks and some 1/32 pear and decided to try my hand at some deck fittings. I haven't done hatches with gratings before so wanted to give that a go. First I cut out all the coamings to size using the walnut. Then I set about building one frame and putting in the grates. They are a little tricky to work with but everything was so nice and square that it made it a lot easier. I had no luck trying to cut the square grate with a #11 blade so used a fine tooth kerf saw and that worked well. I cut them slightly oversize and then sanded them to fit. Here are a couple of pics. I am not sure how best to treat the grating as I don't want it sitting around getting dirty. I will probably go with tung oil or I might use an ultra matt varnish I have. I put a fine inside boarder using the 1/32 pear also. Cheers ~

~ I'll add some treenails to it tomorrow ~

[NovaStorm]

Finished up putting my hatches, grates and the companionway opening together. None of it is glued in and I may or may not use what I've done. Can't decide if I like the walnut coamings and I don't like how yellow the gratings turned with the tung oil. The treenails and notched corners on the coamings also disappears against the dark walnut once it is oiled, making that kind of a waste of time. It has been fun cutting and using my own lumber for it all tho. I am winding up bashing more than I thought I would. Cheers hope you are all Staying safe.

 

[Gahm]

Beautiful work, Novastorm!

 

Thomas

[Justin P.]

I see what you mean about the color contrasts.   Im not sure I would think it worth remaking those parts though.   Can you maybe try something to deaden the yellow combings?

[NovaStorm]

Thomas thank you for taking the time and the wonderful comment Cheers, Robin

 

2 hours ago, Justin P. said:

I see what you mean about the color contrasts.   Im not sure I would think it worth remaking those parts though.   Can you maybe try something to deaden the yellow combings?

I've got some of the grating left over I doubt enough to redo but enough to test. I may try sticking some gun stock stain on a scrap as a test and see what we get. I don't mind redoing if I decide to either. I kinda like the walnut because it makes it more mine. Cheers ~ Thanks for the input. 

 

 

 

[Retired guy]

Do like the walnut as well Robin it contrast the pear wood brilliantly.

Can you get a darker tung oil🤔 but then again your second picture showing the stain grating looks really nice 👍 

Lovely build you have going and what ever you decide will turn out fantastic.

 

Regards

Richard

 

[Overworked724]

Looks brilliant!  Sharp work!👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽

[NovaStorm]

Richard & Patrick thank you both for taking the time and to all of you for the many likes! Much appreciated.