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

[WalrusGuy]

Some more progress on the quarter badge. I finished tiling the roof and the pattern at the bottom. I used a very thin mahogany strip (leftovers from the Virginia kit) for the tiles and cherry wood for the bottom pattern. 

 

Here are some photos. The right one has the window and bottom layers with a coat tung oil to see how it'll look. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The tiling was not so bad, I just had to sand it to be somewhat flat with the basswood before sticking the next layer. I tried carving the tiles in another scrap wood but it didn't turn out so good. Here is a progress pic of the roof with 2nd layer of tiles being glued: 

 

 

Only thing left until I finish this very tricky part of the build (and equally time-consuming 😅) is the carvings. 

 

Bonus photo: dry-fitting it on the Syren: 

[Justin P.]

Those are a massive upgrade over the cast badges.   Are you happy with them?

[WalrusGuy]

35 minutes ago, Justin P. said:

Those are a massive upgrade over the cast badges.   Are you happy with them?

Thanks so much Justin! I am very glad I chose to try this out (like you and many others suggested) and not to use the kit ones. Although there are some areas I think I could have done better/more cleaner (like the curve of the bottom-most layer and its petal pattern), but that's just the self-critical me talking.

As for the carvings, I am finding that part very difficult. The cherry wood makes it easier than basswood. I'll try a few more practice runs, and if they don't look too good I might just use quarter badges without them (ie. the ones shown in my last post). I'll probably ask for opinions again before I make that decision 😄

[Overworked724]

Very nicely done!!!!

[Edwardkenway]

Very nice, such a vast improvement on the kit supplied items!

 

[WalrusGuy]

Many thanks Patrick and Edward, and thanks all for the likes 🙂 

 

I think I have finished detailing (for one quarter badge). For the last middle layer I used toothpicks for the design since they are already circular and it made things a bit easier than carving the circles out. The toothpicks will darken slightly after I put tung oil just, so it'll look like the treenails on the hull planks. Here is how it looks right now: 

 

 

 

This small detail changed the way the entire badge looks imo. I was contemplating on skipping it but I'm glad I tried it out. 

 

The side carvings required a lot of patience, and the cherry was really good to work with. They look somewhat decent so I'll include them with the quarter badge. 

 

I think I'll skip the top carvings since from dry fitting the quarterbadge on the hull, it fits snugly, and if I were to add one more carving to the top I'll need to sand down some layers which might mess it up.

 

So next I'll finish working on the other side, permanently glue all the layers for both badges, apply tung oil, then stick them on the hull. 

[NovaStorm]

Fantastic job, mission accomplished, you beat the castings all to  

[WalrusGuy]

1 hour ago, NovaStorm said:

Fantastic job, mission accomplished, you beat the castings all to  

 

Thanks Robin!! I just finished the other side. I'll post photos once I glue and apply tung oil to them. Scratch building the quarter badges was a task and a half 😅, and definitely a project on its own, but was well worth the effort.. 

[WalrusGuy]

The quarter badges are now finally finished!! Phew 

 

The toothpicks did not darken as much as I thought it would with tung oil, but I don't think it looks too bad. Here are some photos (the carvings are not glued to the badges, but will be glued to the hull instead):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Overworked724]

That it 1000% better than the metal pieces. Nice job!!  Isn’t it great taking pics of your own great work?! 

 

 

[WalrusGuy]

7 hours ago, Overworked724 said:

That it 1000% better than the metal pieces. Nice job!!  Isn’t it great taking pics of your own great work?! 

 

 

 

Thanks Pat! 🙂 

 

I took more than twice as many photos after completion and had to limit myslelf to how many I post 😅

 

[WalrusGuy]

Built a nicer cradle for the ship. I opted for a simple design.

 

I used 1/4" thick basswood sheet and used bulkheads 8 and H for the supports. I chose these locations since once the bowsprit is installed, the ship will (hopefully) be centered.

 

Manually sawing these sheets made me wish I had access to a band saw... 

 

 

 

 

I finished it off with some tung oil, and lined it up with a thin ribbon to help prevent scratches on the copper.

 

 

 

 

[Voyageur]

Absolutely first rate. 

[Gahm]

Your quarter badges turned out really nice! And so did your stand. A job well done!

 

Thomas

[WalrusGuy]

11 hours ago, Voyageur said:

Absolutely first rate. 

 

10 hours ago, Gahm said:

Your quarter badges turned out really nice! And so did your stand. A job well done!

 

Thomas

Thanks for the compliments Voyageur and Thomas! And thanks all for the likes 😄

 

Thomas, I have a question for you if you don't mind (or if anyone else knows ).. I want to try to carve out the stern carvings, and was just wondering how did you achieve the (leaf?) pattern that runs throughout the entire carving? Is it at all possible with just a #11 blade and some needle files? I'll be using cherry wood for this. Also any other bits of advice before I try this very daunting task? 😅 

 

This endeavour seems like it is way over my skill set so if all fails I'll just use the castings, but just wanted to try it out 😄

[Gahm]

I also used a rotary tool with a very fine cutting tip. In combination with some micro chisels you can achieve a pretty decent carving job. Several years back there was a discussion group on this topic (see link below). Hopefully this may helpful.

 

Thomas

 

 

[WalrusGuy]

31 minutes ago, Gahm said:

I also used a rotary tool with a very fine cutting tip. In combination with some micro chisels you can achieve a pretty decent carving job. Several years back there was a discussion group on this topic (see link below). Hopefully this may helpful.

 

Thomas

 

 

 

Thanks Thomas!! I'll take a look. 

[niwotwill]

I just read through your log of Syren and am truly impressed. Outstanding work. I really like your throw description of making the quarter gallery's. Many of the things you point out during your build left me wishing I had used similar techniques. I can't wait to see you stern carvings.

 

I know I'll be reaching out for help with my quarter gallery's as I'm going to start tomorrow.

 

Stay Well

Will

[WalrusGuy]

On 7/8/2020 at 10:25 PM, niwotwill said:

I just read through your log of Syren and am truly impressed. Outstanding work. I really like your throw description of making the quarter gallery's. Many of the things you point out during your build left me wishing I had used similar techniques. I can't wait to see you stern carvings.

 

I know I'll be reaching out for help with my quarter gallery's as I'm going to start tomorrow.

 

Stay Well

Will

Many thanks for the compliments Will. Do let me know if you need any clarification on the quarter galleries. 

 

As for the stern carvings, I don't think it's possible with the tools I have (just a #11 knife). I tried making the leaf pattern with it on a scrap cherry wood and failed miserably...

 

I don't really have the space for a proper dremel tool and all the other miniature carving tools, so I'll just go with the metal castings. The tools are also a bit pricey, so I'll invest in it later on when I have the space. From other build logs I have seen, the metal castings don't look bad at all, but of course, a proper carved piece would be miles better.. 

 

Also apologies for the delay in responding, been away for a much needed vacation at the mountains 

[WalrusGuy]

The metal stern carvings have been painted and stuck on the hull. So have the Syren letters. I found the letters tricky to glue to place since they are so small. For these parts I used wood glue to stick them since I could play around with the locations before it set. I also had the ship secured upright to make it easier to stick the items. 

 

Here is the paint I used: 

 

 

Here are some pics of the stern with the carvings and letters: 

 

 

 

I painted the figurehead the same color as the carvings. 

 

 

Another note, I need to taper the stem knee a bit more since the figurehead does not go in smoothly. The paint on the knee probably made it thicker. 

[Overworked724]

Very pretty!  Nice work.  Good reminder on paint adding thickness...

[WalrusGuy]

Thanks Patrick! 

 

All the brass parts were treated with Brass Black Metal Finish. This includes all the parts in the photo etched sheet except for the letters, the belaying pins and the eye bolts. I used Robin's method to do this where I reused the same solution multiple times. 

 

 

 

 

 

I can now finally work on the rest of the hull details 😀

 

[WalrusGuy]

Making some progress on the hull details. I finished with the eyebolts, sheaves, and quarter gallery installation. I found the sheaves to be a bit of a pain, especially the aft ones. I decided to drill the holes all the way through, this overcomplicated things but I guess I did an OK job. To those who also want to drill them through, make sure to drill both sides and not only on one. The basswood will otherwise chip... I had to drill the ones at the stern all the way through from outboard because my pinvise could not fit for the inner ones. This caused a bit of a mess and had to put filler to hide the mistakes.

 

As for the eyebolts, I used the tip of a compass to make sure they are circular.

 

Enough rambling, here are some pics:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also I have noticed some fingerprints show up on some plates... 😣 I have been so careful not to touch the copper, but there are times where my hand might have slipped to hold it 😬

 

I might try using a water, salt, vinegar mix to remove the fingerprints (I think I saw this pointed out by Dubz but don't remember exactly where), but I am a bit scared that it will age the copper too quick.. I am liking the new copper look.. The fingertips show much more when the ship is on a white platform, so if I decide to not touch the copper, I will end up placing it on a darker one to hide it 😅

 

If anyone has any other tips to remove the fingerprints, please let me know.

 

Oh and almost forgot, I tapered the stem knee a bit more so that I can fit the mermaid. Here are a couple of photos with the figurehead dryfitted:

 

 

 

Lastly, I found this slate lying around in scraps of a construction happening nearby. Not sure if too thick or not but I kinda like the look. 

 

[egkb]

Looks Brilliant on that Slate .. Nice find.

 

Eamonn

[WalrusGuy]

Many thanks Eamonn! I might try to find a way to make it thinner (maybe by using a chisel) but let's see... I'm more inclined to leave it as is since it seems a bit fragile 

 

I finished making the sweep ports. This was not too bad until I realized I forgot to paint the inside of it before it was too late.. Ah well, I am liking the contrast the wood makes with the red, and the back of the ports is kind of hard to see since its so deep, so all is good! 

 

I needed to use a bit of wider wood than the instructions called out for. Fortunately, I had saved all my scraps and used some wider pieces. After cutting each piece, I applied tung oil, then stuck them to the hull using diluted glue. Then the horseshoe shaped hinges and wire pins were also installed using diluted wood glue. 

 

Here are some pics: 

 

 

 

 

[niwotwill]

It's looking brilliant. I love the straight clean paint lines with the black. I had to read the monograph about the sweep ports to realize what you meant with your scrap wood comment it is really nice. 

Will 

 

[Edwardkenway]

Beautiful looking ship! your quarter badges are even better fitted, you've done some great work!!😃

[Justin P.]

Its looking wonderful.   I hope to make some progress myself soon...  thankful you are leaving me with some great leads to follow.

[WalrusGuy]

Thanks guys!! 🙂

[WalrusGuy]

I finished shaping and painting the gun port lids. All is left is detailing them with eye bolts then installing them. Sanding the edges were not easy and required some practice to get decent results. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The aft most and bridle gun port lids have been installed. I'll glue the hinges next. For the eyebolts, I bent them on a scrap wood instead of on the port lid itself since the glued straight section is so small. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If I can find the right size pin heads, I might attempt the rivets on the aft most and bridle port lids' hinges, similar to how Dubz did on his model.