US Brig Syren by WalrusGuy - FINISHED - Model Shipways - Scale 1:64 - Second wooden ship build

[niwotwill]

The copper pattern looks really nice when the plates are in such neat rows. Greet work. I like your approach to the punch using steel wire as I've read where some people use syringe needles which scared me. Looking forward to your progress.

 

Will

[WalrusGuy]

5 hours ago, Voyageur said:

That's what I'm talkin' about! That's the stuff! I knew you would nail this. Looks great!

Thanks Voyageur!! 

 

2 hours ago, niwotwill said:

The copper pattern looks really nice when the plates are in such neat rows. Greet work. I like your approach to the punch using steel wire as I've read where some people use syringe needles which scared me. Looking forward to your progress.

 

Will

Thanks Will. I found that there is another method of using a ponce wheel which might be much easier than the method I used. I couldn't find any around the house so I just went ahead with the steel wire method. I could not imagine using syringe needles, looks very daunting to set up... Maybe for a future build 😅

[Overworked724]

Ah!!!  Thanks, Dubz for for the reminder...I forgot to make that one as well.  However, I note many of the build just continue to use the port/strbd templates for the top row which still looks good.  But the waterline template give a more finished and historic look.   

 

[WalrusGuy]

5 hours ago, Dubz said:

Copper looks great, I btw loved to do it 🙂 Have in mind you need a third pattern for the last belt.

 

cheers

 

Dirk

Thanks Dirk! I have been reading your build in steps prior to making any progress on my model and it has helped a lot! I also made the third stamp. After getting the process ingrained, I am also enjoying it, but at the same time am looking forward to when it is finished 😄

[WalrusGuy]

Slowly making some more progress:

I have been alternating putting the plates 3 rows at a time then switching sides:

 

 

[Overworked724]

Slow on this part makes all the difference.  I think it's one of the more eye catching parts of a copper bottomed ship.  You are doing a bang up job so far...very clean!!!    

 

Beautiful!!!

[WalrusGuy]

2 hours ago, Overworked724 said:

Slow on this part makes all the difference.  I think it's one of the more eye catching parts of a copper bottomed ship.  You are doing a bang up job so far...very clean!!!    

 

Beautiful!!!

 

Thanks Patrick! I am just having a minor issue of making sure each plate is completely centered in relation to the alternating rows (below and above). I guess once all the plates are on it will be difficult to see each individual plate centered between two. I hope this does not bother me in the future 😬

[WalrusGuy]

Copper plating is finally complete. This was by far the most satisfying part of the build. Especially with the last plate being installed.

 

Overall, it was not too bad, especially after I became very proficient in removing the backing from the tape. 

I feel like the first row was the most important since all copper plates will follow the shape, so definitely take your time with this! Also the shape naturally came out by making sure the plates overlap the same distance throughout all plates. Another note, make sure that the planks are completely smooth and any gaps between the planks are filled in. I did not 100% do this and I can slightly see some plank lines that are under some plates. 

To anyone who is copper plating, I highly recommend listening to a podcast. Some podcasts I discovered and also recommend are No Such Thing as a Fish and Reply All. One episode from Reply All which I whole heatedly recommend is called "Long Distance" (Episodes 102 and 103). Listening to podcasts made time fly by and also made copper plating very enjoyable. 

 

Here are photos showing different angles:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some other photos with a dark table which I think helps show the pattern more.

 

 

 

 

Photo with the deck:

 

Bonus photo of the messy work area 😄

 

Crazy how different it looks with different lightings and backgrounds...

[Ryland Craze]

Very clean and crisp looking model.  Excellent job on coppering the hull.  You are well on your way to creating a very nice Syren.

[Voyageur]

Beautifully done! And the leftover confetti from your “finally done with copper plates” celebration is appropriate.😀

[Cathead]

That's beautiful. As you say, I really like how the different lighting conditions bring out different aspects of the plating. You're also spot-on with the podcast idea; for me it's audiobooks but the concept is the same.

[Justin P.]

I’m dreading this step, you make it look so easy :).   Really looking beautiful, as always.   

[Retired guy]

Lovely job on the coppering Wally well done it looks fantastic 👍

 

Regards

Richard

[WalrusGuy]

5 hours ago, Ryland Craze said:

Very clean and crisp looking model.  Excellent job on coppering the hull.  You are well on your way to creating a very nice Syren.

 

2 hours ago, Retired guy said:

Lovely job on the coppering Wally well done it looks fantastic 👍

 

Regards

Richard

 Thanks all for the likes and nice comments! 😀

 

3 hours ago, Justin P. said:

I’m dreading this step, you make it look so easy :).   Really looking beautiful, as always.   

I was on the same boat Justin, but after you get the swing of things it definitely gets easier and a bit faster. Oh also another tip which helped me not to drain me too much was to work on both sides at once as opposed to finishing one side then the other. If I had done the latter it would feel like I would need to do the whole thing again and the thought would mentally exhaust me. But again, this might be different for every person. I also stamped about 3 feet worth of strip every time before switching sides so that the stamping and cutting would not feel as tedious.

 

4 hours ago, Voyageur said:

Beautifully done! And the leftover confetti from your “finally done with copper plates” celebration is appropriate.😀

Seeing the pile of confetti increase as the plates were added were equally if not more satisfying than the plating itself 😄

 

4 hours ago, Cathead said:

That's beautiful. As you say, I really like how the different lighting conditions bring out different aspects of the plating. You're also spot-on with the podcast idea; for me it's audiobooks but the concept is the same.

Thanks for the idea! I didn't think of listening to audiobooks. Will keep this in mind once I reach another long and tedious task.

[Overworked724]

Awesome!  She turned out brilliant!  Very clean job. That’s toast worthy.

[WalrusGuy]

Thanks Patrick!

 

Took a day break before moving on with the build, and made some small bits of progress.

 

First the false keel was installed. I applied tung oil on one side before gluing it in. I am not 100% happy with how it turned out at the forward part since I can see a very small gap. This was due to me not sanding the surface completely flat before copper plating. I don't think I will touch it though since it will hardly be seen when the model is on the cradle for display.

 

 

I also started working on the rudder. For now I just sanded it into shape by bevelling the forward side and tapering towards the top and the aft-most edge:

 

 

 

 

 

Before I proceed with the plating and painting, I think I will drill a hole (only partway) for the tiller. I looked ahead at the instructions and it seems like the tiller is only supported by a pin, so the hole will be relatively small.

 

And lastly, I drilled the hole on the hull for the rudder. I started with a pilot hole a very small drill bit (forgot to take a photo of the first small hole) from the outboard side then followed by one inboard. After this initial hole, the drillbits lined up with both holes when I started to gradually increase their size. I also used a pin vise for this so it is easier to control than an electric drill. 

 

Here are some photos for the 2nd smallest drillbit used (might help in seeing the location I started it from):

 

 

I gradually increased the size up to 5/32" and sanded it smooth with a needle file:

 

 

 

I will paint the hole black and red for the outboard and inboard sections, respectively.

[Voyageur]

Your copper looks great! Very impressive work.

[ccoyle]

Very striking results to this point!

[WalrusGuy]

Thanks guys 🙂 

 

Some more progress on the rudder: 

Painted the middle black, the tung oil was applied to the top, and sanding sealer was applied at the bottom. Also glued and sanded the false keel. And finally it was copper plated. 

 

 

 

Just a few days and the copper from the hull already looks much darker than the fresh plates on the rudder. 

 

Next is the eyebolts for the pendants and then the gungeons and pintles. 

[Chuck]

Really clean and crisp model of the syren. The rudder hole needs to be opened flat against the stern post and widened on the top but kept rounded. It needs to be wide enough to let the rudder swing.

 

chuck

[WalrusGuy]

15 hours ago, Chuck said:

Really clean and crisp model of the syren. The rudder hole needs to be opened flat against the stern post and widened on the top but kept rounded. It needs to be wide enough to let the rudder swing.

 

chuck

 

Thanks Chuck!! Is this better? The rudder can now swing much more easily than before..

 

 

 

 

P.S. Just learnt that I hate taking closeups... Shows a lot of imperfections that I can not see with the naked eye. Guess its all part of the process 😅. Hope it gets better with more and more experience.

 

[WalrusGuy]

I also finished installing the piece of copper plate to simulate the iron strap and the two eyebolts onto the rudder. Here are some closeups 😬

 

 

Put some primer on it:

 

 

Painted it black:

 

 

Only item left to finish this chapter is the gudgeons and pintles. Another item I am a bit nervous about since I did not have that good of an experience with installing them on the Virginia, my previous (and first) model.

 

[WalrusGuy]

Finished Chapter 8. As expected, I found installing the rudder to be tricky just like in my previous model. There were a few places where the pintles slipped when I was gluing it on the rudder, which caused CA to smudge in some spots. I quickly grabbed nail polish remover and tried to remove the smudges with a cottonbud, but don't know if I removed all the glue. I hope this does not become very apparent when the plates begin to develop a patina. If it does show in the coming weeks I will need to purchase some ethanol to get rid of the glue (unless someone has better alternatives). That's enough rambling from me, here are some progress pics:

 

Gudgeons and pintles were shaped, and small bits of a steel wire were glued on the pintles using epoxy and CA glue... I don't have a soldering iron so could not make a stronger joint. This looks very messy, but was all hidden after installing everything:

 

After attaching the pintles and gudgeons on the rudder, the entire assembly was installed on the hull:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next is the hull details. I am going to try to scratch build my own quarter badges but I may have to use the metal castings if they don't turn out good 😬.

[Gahm]

Beautiful work, WalrusGuy!

 

Thomas

[Overworked724]

That’s got to be a relief!  Getting those on and aligned can be a bear. Very nice result.  She looks beautiful!

[Chuck]

Yes that looks very good indeed.

[WalrusGuy]

7 hours ago, Dubz said:

Looking very good so I am very sorry to say the hinges were NOT copper (way to weak) but bronze.

 

cheers

 

Dirk

 

5 hours ago, Gahm said:

Beautiful work, WalrusGuy!

 

Thomas

 

3 hours ago, Overworked724 said:

That’s got to be a relief!  Getting those on and aligned can be a bear. Very nice result.  She looks beautiful!

 

3 hours ago, Chuck said:

Yes that looks very good indeed.

Thanks all for the kind comments and the likes, means a lot 🙂. 

 

Dirk, do you mean bronze was used in the real ship? This is something I'll keep in mind for future builds 

 

Patrick, yes the alignment was also a bit tricky. I think the rudder itself needs to be treated as a separate individual project. 

[WalrusGuy]

I started carving the quarter galleries. I am using photos and the description from Thomas Gahm's log as reference when doing it (post #5 and #58). I don't think I can come close to his though 😄

 

I also found some tips written by Chuck on Dirk's log (post #620).

 

As I progressed through the starting stages of the portside quarter badge, I realized this is way above my skill set. So far I have just made the base structure (still dry-fitted) and will try some detailing next (windows, roof tiles, and carvings, in that order). All I have is basswood so that's what I used. Please let me know your thoughts, it would be greatly appreciated 🙂. As I mentioned before, I may just scrap all this and use the castings, but really want to try getting this right. I won't feel bad if you guys think it does not look good, so please let me know if I should continue or just use the metal castings.

 

Keep in mind, I used a rough piece of sandpaper to shape it, so it will (hopefully) look smoother once I sand with a finer one.

 

I took many photos so the shape can be seen from different angles:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here it is unassembled in case it assists someone to see what shapes and pieces I used:

 

 

 

I would love to hear some of your thoughts on this. And again I won't feel bad if you think I should just carry on with the castings, so please do let me know! 🙂

[Justin P.]

21 minutes ago, WalrusGuy said:

would love to hear some of your thoughts on this. And again I won't feel bad if you think I should just carry on with the castings, so please do let me know!

I think the time and effort in remaking these will be well worth it.  As is obvious in Gahms build, the upgrade is truly remarkable when the time is put in to do it right.   If done half as well, it’ll still be 10x better than the castings.
 

I would encourage you to keep working on it, or wait and get the material you need rather than settling. No reason you can’t make this the last step, if you need to move on out of sheer frustration.   Make 20 of them if you have to!   This detail I think is one of those critical ones.     I intend to do the same on my own build...   good luck!    

[Overworked724]

I think it's a completely different skill set.  If you take time to learn it, you can't un learn it...and you'll only get better.  What a fun challenge!!  Besides, do you really want to slap those metal monstrosities on the side of your ship?  LOL. Looks great!  (Already better than the metal pieces.)