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

[WalrusGuy]

The gun port lids are finally finished! I used a 0.55mm drill bit to drill part way for the hinges to enter in. Also, I had stuck the hinges onto the lids first, then realized it was easier to just stick the hinges onto the hull, then stick the lids on that. I ultimately ended up doing that anyways since the lids unstuck from the wood very easily while putting it in..

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's a photo of the stern gun port hinge being attached in case it helps anyone see the location of the drilled holes:

 

 

 

 

 

[WalrusGuy]

Almost done with the hull details. I have finished with the ladder, scuppers (chose not to drill these all the way in case of a terrible mishap...), fenders and chesstree.

 

First the scuppers were drilled partway through and shaded in with a pencil:

 

 

Then the ladders, fenders and chesstree were completed. These parts were stained and painted prior to installation.

 

 

Drilled a 0.55mm hole on the chesstree:

 

 

 

 

 

 

All is left is the channels, which I am a bit nervous to do since the entire standing rigging will be dependent on its locations. 

 

[NovaStorm]

That is looking really good, nice going. I've put off installing the channels because they look so darn breakable. My luck and all  

[WalrusGuy]

Thanks Robin! Yeaup they do look a bit fragile... I hope they strengthen up with them being supported by the pins.. In any case I'll try being extra careful after they are installed. 

[niwotwill]

The paint you used on the casting for the transom looks fantastic. Your comments on channels being fragile makes me want to look in the box at mine, tomorrow I'll check them out. Your work is amazing at how fast you can get things done. Takes me forever but it always gets done.

 

Will 

[Retired guy]

Just caught up great progress Wally 👍

 

Regards

Richard

[WalrusGuy]

2 hours ago, niwotwill said:

The paint you used on the casting for the transom looks fantastic. Your comments on channels being fragile makes me want to look in the box at mine, tomorrow I'll check them out. Your work is amazing at how fast you can get things done. Takes me forever but it always gets done.

 

Will 

 

2 hours ago, Retired guy said:

Just caught up great progress Wally 👍

 

Regards

Richard

Thanks so much Will and Richard. 

 

Will, I'd say the joint in how the channels are attached are more fragile than the piece itself. Securing them with pins (like what the instructions say) do make a more secure fit. Also, in the coming weeks, progress will really start to slow down 😥 I've been enjoying my summer break after I recently finished school, but have chosen to make myself busy again with grad school 😅. It will be hard to concentrate though since I will be studying from home (because of the pandemic) with the Syren right in front of me calling me to finish building her up 😄

[WalrusGuy]

I have finally finished the hull details (apart from a small mishap shown later on).

 

The channels were installed and I used three pins to peg each one as shown:

 

 

 

I think the channels have been placed pretty symmetrically as shown in this overhead shot (I based the symmetry on the deck butt lines and distance from gun and sweep ports).. But if anyone can see any slight deviation please do let me know 🙂

 

 

Now for the small mishap... The main channel on the starboard side seems to be tilted higher than the portside one. No idea how it happened.. Maybe it is the angle I drilled the holes at. You can see it a bit in the below photo. I am inclined to leave it as is since it is not very noticeable, but if I find the courage I might try to remove it and bend the pins or something. Just scared if it has been bonded too well with the hull.

 

 

 

Anyways, here are some more photos

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next I will go ahead and try out the head rails 😬 😬 😬, unless of course I try and fix the channel issue...

 

[Ronald-V]

Flawless! 

[Overworked724]

Really clean work!  Nice job!!!

[WalrusGuy]

Many thanks Pat and Mugje!! 😄

 

I decided to deconstruct the starboard main channel and glue it at a lower angle. I did this by drilling new holes for the pins.. Glad I did this. Looks much more symmetrical and cleaner. 

 

 

Now on to the headrails 

[NovaStorm]

That is looking seriously great. Glad you fixed the channel otherwise it would have driven you nuts  Nice job on the fix!

[WalrusGuy]

Thanks for the compliment Robin. It was bugging me all night after I installed it so I had to try to fix it 😅

[WalrusGuy]

I started working on the head rails. The start only was already so tricky, no idea how I'll do the rest 😶

 

To start this chapter, I went through all the build logs to see how everyone approached it.. 

 

I began by carving the outside edges. With basswood being basswood, this was not fun... Then seeing Thomas Gahm's log, I saw he glued the two parts of the cheeks prior to installing them to make it look like one piece. This helped a lot to make it look neater.

 

Speaking of neat, the start of mine looks so messy, glue everywhere... Things kept sliding and was very frustrating loll. Half way though installing the bottom cheek I realized I needed to steer away from one of the holes on the stem knee, and make sure the figure head fit, both of which didn't so had to deconstruct and do it again. Again, this was very messy.... 

 

Here are some pics of testing the pieces: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are pics of them glued in: 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure head is not glued in yet, so it keeps sliding down, but fits nicely I think.. 

 

 

Next I'll be making the hawse holes. I don't know if it's just me, but everytime I have to drill into the hull I get extremely nervous... 

Edited January 5, 2021 by WalrusGuy

[Gahm]

Your head rails are coming along very nicely! This clearly is one of the most challenging pieces of the Syren build. And I guess most builders go through a few rounds of construction and destruction before the task is finished 🙂

 

Thomas

[WalrusGuy]

Thanks so much Thomas. I'm really looking forward to see how they turn out. Hopefully not terrible 😅

 

Made a bit more progress today for the layers of wood for the hawse holes. I bent them first since they have a slight curve. I used this container for it by wrapping them with rubber bands after being soaked in boiling water for 5 minutes. 

 

 

 

The top pair of wood wasn't used but I thought I might need it to level things out between the different thicknesses of wood. 

 

Here they are installed. Now it's time for the holes 

 

 

[WalrusGuy]

I forgot to add to my previous post, I also carved out one of the upper head rails. There are a few mistakes but I think it's passable. 

 

 

 

[Voyageur]

Those upper head rails look great. It is very difficult to carve in live with the grain like that. You did an excellent job!

[Overworked724]

Outstanding job on the head rails!  Tricky work which came out flawless!

[WalrusGuy]

Thank you Voyageur and Patrick! I found that using a fresh blade helped with the shape 

 

I also carved out the 2nd rail. Not completely symmetric but it'll do.. 

 

 

 

 

[WalrusGuy]

Some more progress, finished with the holes (I found this part tricky but managed to do it) and also made notches for the upper head rail. I used pencil to simulate the lead in the hawse holes. 

 

To drill the holes I used a small drillbit for a pilot hole from both inside and outside the hull until both holes joined. I then increased the drill bit size until I reached 0.01in diameter. I wasn't sure on what the end diameter should be but this size looked similar to other build logs. 

 

Here the upper rail is dry fitted: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo of the notch: 

 

 

I'm thinking of going ahead and gluing the upper rail, unless anyone has other suggestions 😁

[Voyageur]

I’m starting to think you are some kind of perfectionist! Really precise work.

[WalrusGuy]

Thank you for the amazing compliment Voyageur. To be honest I feel like the opposite... many small mistakes that seem to stack up 😅

 

I ended up gluing the upper rail since I think it'll help in positioning the middle rail. Here are some photos of it glued: 

 

 

 

 

Next I'll be working on the cathead. It seems like a very complicated part to make but let's see how it goes.. 

[Retired guy]

Way to go Wally great stuff going on 👍

 

Regards

Richard

[Gahm]

Well done! You are getting one difficult part after the other out of the way 😉

 

Thomas

[niwotwill]

Looking really good. I throughly enjoyed you description of the rails and hawes holes and the head rails construction is giving me hope that I can achieve similar results. It is looking fantastic great building and the results show.

 

Will  

[WalrusGuy]

Thank you Richard, Thomas and Will for the great comments! And thanks all for the likes! 😄

[WalrusGuy]

Finished making and installing the cathead. This was installed after making the notches for the middle rail. And I just used wood glue to secure the cleat onto the cathead. Here are a bunch of pictures 😄

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now for the middle rail (most nervous about this step...) 

[WalrusGuy]

The middle rail has been dry-fitted. To do this I first dryfitted piece 2 (the curved bit below the cathead) then cut piece 1 (the long skinny piece) to length and angled the butt joint so that it meets the stem at the right spot. I tried to the rails to be closer to the stem but I couldn't because of the geometry of piece 2. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next is sanding the burnt marks completely off, carving the rails then installing them. 

[WalrusGuy]

I somehow managed to finish the middle rails today. If anyone spots any mistakes or sees room for improvement, do let me know.. better to fix it now then later on (especially if it's an easy fix 😄😅)

 

Some photos: