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

[Overworked724]

Outstanding!!!

[michael mott]

Your work on the masts and rigging so far is looking really great nice and tidy, Im sure you will have no trouble with the ratlines.

 

Michael

[WalrusGuy]

Thanks for the motivating comments Patrick and Michael! I'll start rattling down in a couple of days. 

 

In the meantime I printed the lines spaced 0.21" from each other (using the table spacing feature on Word)

I plan to tie every 5 to 10 ratlines first to help prevent the hourglass shape when tying them. Also, at first I planned to do the proper technique at the end shrouds (eye spliced lines), but after seeing how many I need to make I quickly changed my mind. I am now thinking of just following what Chuck did for his Cheerful build by tying simple square knots on the end shrouds. 

Edited March 16, 2021 by WalrusGuy

[Justin P.]

Thats a lot of knots to tie!   Take breaks and rest your eyes often!   

[WalrusGuy]

1 hour ago, Justin P. said:

Thats a lot of knots to tie!   Take breaks and rest your eyes often!   

Yeaup many knots... 😦, it didn't seem like much until I put the printed papers behind the shrouds. I plan to space it out a bit by working on the ropewalk I got earlier from Chuck. 

[WalrusGuy]

Small ratline update:

 

I finished installing all the ratlines on the portside, and neatened the lower foremast ones. I am really enjoying this stuff 😄 Tightening the clove hitches is somehow really satisfying!! And after making the first couple of the lines, it's become second nature and I can do them really quickly. That's how I managed one whole side in just two evenings. When gluing the outer ones I took my time to straighten them out and carefully snipped the end once it's dried

 

Here are some pics:

.

[desalgu]

Beautiful ratlines!!  And you managed the clove hitches.  I'm impressed.  I was not able to tie those knots, or I should say, I lost patience trying to learn and opted for simpler knot.  I ended up just using overhand knots or loops.  It worked, but closeups of yours sure look good.  I believe they are a little straighter than what I ended up with.  I'll have to give it another try on next boat.

 

And once you get started, no matter what method, it goes faster than expected.

 

Turned little too cold for me to work in garage, so haven't made any progress on display case.  Need to wait until I can use table saw without getting too cold.  I did find some remote controlled, battery powered LED lights for the case.   I discovered you really need some lights on inside, and may have to modify the old case to add some.

[Justin P.]

5 minutes ago, desalgu said:

I was not able to tie those knots, or I should say, I lost patience trying to learn and opted for simpler knot.  I ended up just using overhand knots or loops.  It worked, but closeups of yours sure look good.

I agree.  It looks great.   Clean too!

[WalrusGuy]

Thanks so much for the nice comments @Justin P. and @desalgu!! Really looking forward to seeing your model in the display case, David. 

 

I finished the ratlines today, I found that the ones on the shrouds close to each other came a bit loose. It's only visible if I really look for it (or when taking close up shots), so I think I'll leave it as is. Tightening them caused some issues when finishing them off on the foremost shroud... Anyways, here are a bunch of photos to mark this milestone of the build:

 

I also finished working on @Chuck's ropewalk. The cherry wood is just beautiful, and really glows once tung oil is applied. I applied two coats of tung oil, and took my time in assembling them when I got fatigued from working on the ratlines:

[abelson]

Excellent, clean, crisp, detailed work. Enjoy your photos.

[niwotwill]

Fantastic shrouds and ratlines. Every time I check in on your work I amazed at such a high level of detail perfection of your work. You work much faster than me and each time it amazes the amount of work that been done. Great job start to now keep it up I can't wait to the see the finished Syren.

 

I have a question about the ratlines, what size is the rope?, Did you wax the rope or some other prep? (they hang perfectly), What glue did you use on the ends?

 

Stay Well and Stay Safe

Will  

[WalrusGuy]

5 hours ago, abelson said:

Excellent, clean, crisp, detailed work. Enjoy your photos.

 

57 minutes ago, niwotwill said:

Fantastic shrouds and ratlines. Every time I check in on your work I amazed at such a high level of detail perfection of your work. You work much faster than me and each time it amazes the amount of work that been done. Great job start to now keep it up I can't wait to the see the finished Syren.

 

I have a question about the ratlines, what size is the rope?, Did you wax the rope or some other prep? (they hang perfectly), What glue did you use on the ends?

 

Stay Well and Stay Safe

Will  

Many thanks for the nice words Steven and Will. Thanks all for the likes as well! 🙂 

 

I used 0.008in rope for the ratlines. I bought them from Chuck before he stopped selling his ropes, which were all prewaxed with beeswax. The clove hitches make the rope hang naturally. I used aliphatic resin wood glue diluted with water for the ends of the ratlines. Hope this answers your questions! 

[Gahm]

You are flying through this build! Rigging looks great!

 

Thomas

[WalrusGuy]

Thanks Thomas! It's nice to have finished most of the repetitive parts of the build! 😀

[PRS]

This looks excellent!

I have read through it all and it turned out gorgeous.

 

I also have learned a lot by you explaining things as you go.

Thanks

[WalrusGuy]

Thanks for the nice words!! It's really good to hear my log can be useful to others. 🙂 

 

I made some rope using the ropewalk, didn't know where to post it so thought I'd put it here. I really like the crisp look of it. Here's a pic of #265 (left) and #2899 (right) color (0.045" thick rope)... 

And a close up pic of the #2899

Had a lot of fun doing these trial runs. They were not waxed at all, just baked at 350 deg F for 4 mins. 

Thank you @Chuck for providing your recipe! 😁

[Matt D]

Your rope looks excellent!  Was it hard to make on your first attempt?

[WalrusGuy]

Just now, Matt D said:

Your rope looks excellent!  Was it hard to make on your first attempt?

Thank you Matt! Getting the tension on each strand was a bit difficult to get right, but I think with more trials it'll become easier.. Other than that it was very easy! I just followed Chuck's videos on YouTube for the whole process. 

[Overworked724]

Excellent rope!  One less thing you need to worry about!!!  😊

[Chuck Seiler]

On 3/22/2021 at 6:30 PM, WalrusGuy said:

I made some rope using the ropewalk, didn't know where to post it so thought I'd put it here.

What thread are you using?  Gutermann Mara?

[WalrusGuy]

2 hours ago, Chuck Seiler said:

What thread are you using?  Gutermann Mara?

Hi Chuck,

Yes, I used Gutermann Mara. Purchased them from Wawak.ca

Edited March 24, 2021 by WalrusGuy

[Chuck Seiler]

It looks great.  I almost have my rocket up and running.  I have several colors and sizes of GM from Wawak so I will see how it goes.

[niwotwill]

Rope looks fantastic. Yes it is fun to make rope. The hardest thing for me is keep the receipt and record for future use. I haven't used poly rope yet but yours looks really nice so maybe I'll give it a try.

 

Stay Well and Stay Safe

Will 

[WalrusGuy]

On 3/24/2021 at 9:16 AM, niwotwill said:

Rope looks fantastic. Yes it is fun to make rope. The hardest thing for me is keep the receipt and record for future use. I haven't used poly rope yet but yours looks really nice so maybe I'll give it a try.

 

Stay Well and Stay Safe

Will 

Thanks Will. Chuck has provided the thread sizes needed to make the rope, so no need to record test results 🙂. Here is the PDF

Chuck Passaro Rope Recipe .pdf

[WalrusGuy]

I finished installing the backstays and stays for the topmast. Here are some pics:

[Keithbrad80]

Wow excellent job so far, also very nice pictures. Overall top quality job!

 

Bradley

[abelson]

Well, we've come to see excellent work from you. So, it's repetitive to say excellent work. But, anyway, excellent work. I enjoy your posts. I'm not too far behind you, and I refer to your log often as I advance my build.

[michael mott]

Looking very nice indeed!

 

Michael

[desalgu]

You're really making progress.  You're going a lot faster than I did, and yours looks cleaner or crisper than mine.  I can only echo everyone else saying excellent work!

 

Thanks for including photos of rope you made.  This is first time for me to see homemade rope, so it was most interesting!  I'm not sure I'm ready to take that step, but you definitely tweaked my interest. 

 

I've been sawing and sanding pieces for display case.  I'll try to remember to post some pictures soon.  I'm not sure the pieces will make a lot of sense, but it might be interesting to some people.

[WalrusGuy]

Thanks so much for the motivating comments, Bradley, Steven, Michael, and David. They are very much appreciated! Thanks all for the likes as well and for looking in 🙂 

 

Pictures of the display case will definitely be interesting to me, David. As I slowly approach the finish line, I'm wondering how and where I'll display her. 

 

Anyways, I'm very close to finishing up the standing rigging. Thought I'd share a few pics of the messy 'workshop' before completion of this chapter. 

And took down the plan in preparation of running rigging 😀 

I just need to belay the royal backstays, secure the jib stay and flying jib stay with the tackles and their respective inhauls for the travelers, and install the horses. I'll also finish up with the rope coils before moving on. 

 

Also, I didnt realize there were two extra blocks needed for the gaff on the main top.... I read this on Peter's log a while back, but completely forgot about it. These are the blocks I'm talking about: 

So once all these tasks are done, I'll post a series photos to mark this milestone of the build 😁. Again, this part of the build has been a blast! Seeing everything come together is very addicting 😄 

Edited March 28, 2021 by WalrusGuy