US Brig Syren by SparrowHawk7 - Model Shipways - 1:64 - First build

[Overworked724]

Enjoying your build!  Very nice progress!  I think you have a very good eye for dimensions and perspective.  I’m sure whatever modifications you implement will be fine. Remember, it’s your model!  I think you’ve done brilliantly so far!

[SparrowHawk7]

Thanks Patrick ... I'm just muddling along as best I can. I try to do the best job possible for my level of skill and hope for acceptable results. I think one important thing is that I know when my work is below what I want it to be and I am able to see why or where I went astray so I can learn from it and hopefully do better next time. I can't say I'm bursting with pride over what I've done but I am pleased overall because I didn't expect to get this far at all so that is something of an accomplishment. And I don't see any reason why I can't finish the model from this point so that is also pleasing. I was really worried about the planking as that has been the death knell for so many model attempts before this. I do appreciate your encouragement and that of others here though.  Thank you.

 

I think so many outstanding artists posting build logs here is something of a two edged sword for beginners like me. On one hand it shows what can be done with a high degree of skill and that is good until the beginner realizes they can't replicate it and fall woefully short. And by that, it can be discouraging in a way because I do not really think I can build anywhere near some of the level of skill demonstrated on this site. But it gives me something to strive for ... and the people here are all encouraging and helpful which definitely keeps me going.

[SparrowHawk7]

Did all the wales today. Not very difficult although clamping was awkward but they are now done. I also cut some of the sweeps and shaped the gun ports somewhat better plus did some framing on the stern gun ports.  I think tomorrow I will experiment a bit with treenails. I have a Byrnes table saw and draw plate so I have all I need - the biggest question is what size drill bit to use so they look correct and not oversize. Probably hard to go too small at 1/64 ... Questions enough for tomorrows investigations. 

[Douglove]

Looks very nice so far,big task for a first build but your doing great.waiting for my first kit to come.not as big as yours.its the dory from model shipways.doug

[SparrowHawk7]

Hi Doug ... they are all a bit daunting to be honest, but I have found that if you take things just one small step at a time they are manageable.  The big problem is that we haven't got the skills when we start ... and we see the videos that make it look so easy or the other build logs from guys who are exceptionally talented and skilled so a part of us tells us we can do that too. But it isn't likely to happen the first time around so we have to have patience with ourselves and allow us the luxury to have time to make the mistakes and learn. I was afraid of planking because it looked so hard and the results some get are really awesome Of course I hoped for that myself, but I knew it wasn't likely so I just jumped in and did the best I could - trying to remember everything I had read/heard/seen. You can't, of course, but I found bending the wood was not particularly difficult which got me to taking each piece on it's own merits and trying to do each one to fit as well as I could. In the end, I succeeded in planking the hull. It doesn't hold up under close scrutiny but it is still complete and the overall lines seem about right. I will take that as a huge success and know I will approach planking my next one differently and probably (hopefully) will do a better job. Skills being built - however slowly. You will do the same.

 

It also helps to keep one of these build logs - I found that out when I was learning to draw. Just showing finished artwork got me a lot of "ooos and ahhhas!" but that only boosted my ego and did nothing to help me grow. Sure it's nice but the point of a log is pointing out what was done in the proper order and having something you can look back on to see how much you've grown. I critiqued all my work terribly and found that as time went along I saw all the mistakes before they became insurmountable and my artwork improved tremendously. Another advantage to these WIPS (work in progress in the art world) is to add a certain amount of pressure on you to keep going - after all others are watching so you can't just quit. Don't try to please viewers because that wont be possible, but show your mistakes, own up to them, and explain as best you can where you went wrong and how you can fix them - or ask for help. That is also priceless and can lead to decent skills being developed without too much pain - and most of the pain is self inflicted which isn't too bad. I'm not a big fan of the word "luck" but I have no doubt that you will do just fine and end up with something you can legitimately be proud of. It probably won't be award winning ... but it will be to you. You already know all this ... I'm just writing away. I'm very taciturn and painfully shy as you can see. 

 

Ken

[SparrowHawk7]

Did the treenails on the starboard side. Sadly the drunk workman who planked the stern drew dibs for the job. I am taking steps to fire the guy but labor laws are such that it is difficult. Perhaps I can get him to use an awl to mark the exact location for the holes before using the drill as that would definitely help. Hopefully he won't be too stubborn to at least try that when he shows up for work tomorrow. Good help is hard to find. Sigh.

[SparrowHawk7]

I've actually been working on the model but the going has been a little slow due to my using PVA glue and not CA at this point. I do a small thing then wait for it to dry before moving on. Maybe not the best but it seems to work for me and gives me plenty of time to plan my next mistake.

Anyway, I finished the inside of the bulwarks and stern. I have reached the point where I have applied wood filler to a couple places that needed it but there is a bit more sanding to be done on those areas and also along the cap of the bulwarks. I didn't get the thickness correct but I will probably just use a wider stock (or mill my own) to cover that error and it probably won't show. Keen eyed watchers will note several more errors I've made but ones I am going to just live with. There are supposed to be 10 gun ports per side ... somehow I got lost after 8. ??? sigh. But everything is now covered so she is going to have 4 less canons. I also got messed up cutting the sweeps and missed a bunch. Again though, everything is covered so finding them would just ask for trouble and being my first build I have decided that rather than punch holes in the hull hunting for peas I will live with the mistake. I have learned a tremendous amount in doing the build this far and won't make the same mistakes again but some are kind of past the point of no return on this build without spending an inordinate amount of time. I didn't get the gun ports 100% square but they are pretty close and I think will look fine once the port covers are put on and the canons in place. A ship has so much to see that the small things we focus on when building her will go almost unnoticed in the completed ship.

So I am now ready to paint the interior red which ought to make a huge difference. I spent a lot of time putting 3 coats of black on the hull but obviously the frog tape didn't hold and there is some severe leakage. I have tried scraping but even though I have tung oil on the bare wood of the outside bulwarks, the black isn't going anywhere. So I have decided to use yellow ochre on that stripe as I have always liked the colors of the HMS Victory which is nearly the same year. Close enough for rock-n-roll anyway. So that's where I am at the moment and moving ahead. I think I will tackle the deck next and then the coppering. I am hesitant about that but will give it a try .. how much more can I screw things up? And I am thinking that regardless of how badly that might be, almost everyone who looks at a model ship of this caliber knows nothing whatsoever about the ship or the techniques so they'll never know. And we all look at our earlier work and see things we would like to improve so that will be entirely normal. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. And if it all goes to heck in a handbasket I can always just paint the hull with only a few the wiser.

 

Sorry the photos aren't very good quality ... I try but it's rather difficult in my work area to take photos and the lighting isn't terribly good ... and mostly I'm lazy. A tripod, flashes, reflector and the like - all of which I have and know how to use - are so much trouble to set up and even more difficult now that I'm confined to a wheelchair. So that's my excuse and I'm sticking with it.

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for watching.

Ken

Edited October 13, 2021 by SparrowHawk7

[Overworked724]

Yeah. That paint bleed can be frustrating.  The yellow is a great as well as historic workaround. 👍🏽 Adapt!  Overcome!!!

 

looking great. 
 

 

[SparrowHawk7]

I guess it's either that or give up on the hobby altogether, Patrick. I am never going to make the "perfect" model and I seem to have an unlimited capacity to make mistakes (it's a gift it seems) so I suspect I will get plenty of experience fixing and overcoming errors as long as I pursue being a model shipwright. The thing is I find I really enjoy that. In fact, although I have screwed up nearly everything I have tried on this model in one way or another, I am thoroughly enjoying every bit of the build and looking forward to my next one where I will ardently try to find NEW mistakes to pursue. That is my goal and one I feel more than competent enough to achieve!

 

Thank you for watching and offering your encouragement ... it means a lot.

 

Ken

[SparrowHawk7]

I've come up with a story for MY rendition of the Syren after examining things in the light of a couple coats of paint and allowing for the lack of skill moving forward. Since the ship is going to appear recently dry docked (freshly painted mostly) I have decided my version shows what she looked like after repairs with whatever they had on hand so she could get back to sea as quickly as possible. They didn't spend a lot of time trying to do exemplary work but just slapped things together and slopped tar and paint on as fast as possible - and then there's that drunken workman we've spoken of before. Well, it works for me and makes me feel a bit better about my lack of skills so we'll just keep this between us, OK? (as you'll discover over time I have almost no personality and am painfully shy. Sigh.)

 

Ken

Edited October 16, 2021 by SparrowHawk7

[SparrowHawk7]

I am nearly finished with the painting of the hull (assuming I try to tackle the copper) and, of course, final touchups when the entire model is finished. I'm not terribly enthused by the results though. I have a lovely Iwata airbrush SOMEWHERE but it is hiding rather successfully. I got tired of looking and made the decision to hand paint things which resulted in something I don't particularly like. The paint is rather thick and appears "fat". Fat in art means oily ("fat over lean" [oils over acrylics] is a hard and fast rule for instance) and I used only acrylics so artfully that makes no sense, but I'm referring to the appearance. Airbrushing puts on more of a mist that builds up so in essence you have tons of layers. Brushing requires at least 2 layers and often 3 but the paint is thicker and applies differently. Next time I am going to spend the time looking for my airbrush or buy another failing that. Good ones that have art uses tend to be expensive as you want really fine lines which aren't so important as a shipwright, but such is life.

 

Here's what she looks like at the moment. I still have work to do on the bow to get her ready for the bowsprit and the cap rail but I believe next will be the deck. I'm not really looking forward to the margin boards - at least at the bow - but one step at a time. I used no primer for the red and put 2 layers of primer under the yellow but I don't see nor did I notice any difference in application or coverage. Perhaps it would be different using an airbrush. (?)

 

Surprisingly enough, after all the hassle I had trying to get the gun ports and sweeps framed initially - putting them in and tearing them out again - it appears the ports are going to be somewhere near the right height from the deck. In any case, the mouth of the canons may actually protrude from the gun ports as opposed to opening behind the cap rail or into the bulwarks. I shall consider that (if it actually works out that way) to be a small victory. The sweeps (where they actually exist) are another matter entirely which we will ignore.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The planking doesn't meet too well - the stern from the inside is a good example. I should have sanded more but its hard to see on bare wood. When woodworking I could splash alcohol or spirits on the wood to get an idea of what the finish was going to look like but that doesn't work with this. And, if you aren't particularly careful you can find things sand away to almost nothing before you know it. It's all building skills but the learning curve is larger than I would like - especially since I have traditional woodworking experience - but the scale is entirely different. Still, lessons to be remembered and applied to my next build. It will be interesting to see the difference when the time comes. And I am not very pleased with the gun ports in the stern either - I tried to use the template and measure things carefully but that seems to have gone awry. I will try to fix things when I get to mounting guns back there. I keep telling myself this is only my first try at this but it is embarrassing when comparing what I have managed to mangle to what so many others have done in their logs. Sigh.

 

Thanks for watching - at least there is a certain amount of comedy in what you see from me. And there is a chance I will improve with time and experience.

Ken

 

 

[SparrowHawk7]

I've moved on to the decking - no photos yet (count your blessings). I started out well enough with a 4 butt shift pattern but that didn't last long. I got the first set of planks (also a strake?) down the middle so at least the deck is straight. But the bulkheads are not evenly spaced which got my initial butt ends in incorrect places and then the drunk guy (remember him?) who is still employed by me got involved and the nice pattern of butts got twisted around. Sigh. Most of the errors are visible near the bow but I figure that will probably be OK as there is so much going on between the bowsprit and the foremast that it won't show much. Except to a rivet counter and if one of them should see the model my excuse is that it is my first wooden model ship. It won't make it into any museum except mine and I am rather pleased overall in spite of all the errors. Besides, it clearly shows where I can improve.

 

I am around half way done with the deck but I am not planning to do any photos until I have it complete. I was going to nib the margin plank but decided what I was doing was challenging enough without me adding to it.

 

The kit lumber is not the greatest. The thickness of the planking is far from the same on every piece - rather big differences in my kit. I will have to do a LOT of sanding to even it all out which will be tricky in places. Next time I think I will mill my own lumber for planking and decks as I don't think my kit is particularly abnormal. I will need a thickness sander before then which is a tad pricey but I have both a Preac and a Burns table saw and a mini band saw so once I can get the raw lumber sized, cutting planks of the same thickness should be rather simple. Plus I can use whatever species I want. And a big advantage will be the cost. Buying planking from the suppliers is rather expensive. I suspect a 1/64 model can be planked with say 4 BF or  at most 5BF of 4/4 and that should cost under $40 for most usable species. Aspen is only $3.70/BF. I used to use it instead of holly because it has little grain and is pretty white, a fraction of the cost and readily available - never tried bending it but it seems like it might be a decent choice. Worth a try in any case. I can see why people scratch build though. I have two sets of plans that I bought 20 years ago from Harold Hahn directly - the Confederacy and Hannah. The drawback to the Confederacy was no rigging which I am particularly fond of although I am sure a rigging diagram could be had from someplace. Somewhere I even have a lumber pack for each of them from Dave at The Lumberyard. But I need to make oodles more mistakes on my own recognizance before I attempt to scratch build much of anything.

 

Just rambling .... ignore me (everyone else does).

 

Ken

[SparrowHawk7]

OK ... now to embarrass myself even further. Sigh. Here's the deck after some sanding. I still need to work on the companionway and fill the gaps in the deck but it isn't going to get to looking any better than this I think.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Where I ran into the most trouble was not having a false deck to work on. Empty spaces between bulkheads had a tremendously negative effect on my planking. If I could have worked on my desk and had a consistently flat surface to glue planks to things would have been a lot better. We won't even mention the butt shift which I will refer to as a random butt shift pattern. And, as I mentioned in an earlier post, the thickness of the planks I got with the kit left a bit to be desired as they were often varying. At least the deck is reasonably straight so that is something! I had hoped sanding would take care of the uneven thickness but I think the lack of a stable surface to glue upon played up badly for me in that as well. I considered buying some 1/16 stock and making my own false deck but when you add another 1/16 to what is there and with new planking on top of the false deck it would mess up the canon alignment pretty severely. I think I will have to satisfy myself with what I have done and make the best of it even though it is really bad.

 

It is doubly frustrating to me because I am used to doing small stuff in woodworking and generally get decent results. With the model everything is much smaller, tolerances much tighter and mistakes much more visible. This box, for instance, was comparatively easy.

 

 

Oh well ... that box wasn't my first woodworking project so I can chalk it up to more experience there than I have as a model shipwright. And at least with this build I have not tossed the model in the trash and can see no reason why I cannot finish it. How it looks is another thing altogether ... but I will complete it and I will enjoy it because I know what I went through to complete it. And, as I continue to say and believe, my next one will show great improvement due to the experience gained. And I'm doing the best I can with what little skill I possess just now. It's still worth looking at all the phenomenal build logs though ... even though it isn't beneficial to my ego.

 

Thanks for enduring the pain of watching this ...

Ken

[WalrusGuy]

Hi Ken

 

I know what you mean regarding the lack of a false deck. It is tricky to get things aligned when there is not much support underneath the planks. In my build, filler blocks between the bulkheads acted as the false deck for majority of the decking. The parts with gaps were framed for stability for the deck. 

 

@Overworked724 deviated from the instructions and glued in a thin sheet of wood which acts as a false deck. See:

A suggestion I have is to redo the deck area with a false deck underneath for easier decking. I know this will increase labor time but it will be well worth it, especially when hundreds of hours go into building a model. Then lay down the decking to see its layout before gluing any planks in. That's what I did here:

Once you are satisfied with the layout then glue the planks in. The decking really makes a model ship stand out, so I would advise taking it slow and planning each step

 

I hope this helps you out! Maybe others here also have other suggestions you may take into consideration.

 

Also, those boxes are a work of art! I am really liking the colors and finishing. Thank you for sharing the photos with us 😀

Edited November 8, 2021 by WalrusGuy

[VTHokiEE]

I love the boxes! We have a chess set that I would like to find (ideally build, but who knows) a box for the pieces. I may have to send you a PM to see if you can get me pointed in the right direction.

 

Back to the model, I can see why you'd be frustrated with what you have. If you added a false deck you'd want to also buy some thinner planking stock to account for it as well. If you're willing to redo you might want to contact Joe at http://www.modelerssawmill.com/ he put together a custom wood package for me and might be able to help you out as well. It's very tricky to get in the right mindset for a redo on something so substantial but I would consider it.

 

I've never done this (and I don't think it cane fully flatten that deck), but have you tried scraping the deck as an other option?

 

Keep your head up though!

[SparrowHawk7]

Thank you both for the encouragement and ideas. I believe doing the deck again with a false deck would be the best thing to do. The deck is certainly going to show so getting that closer at this stage is necessary. I wrote to modeller's sawmill as suggested and am waiting for a response. It would be best if I could tear up what I have done and flatten things again before laying a false deck. To make it fit I probably could put in the margin planking after the false deck is placed to handle the bulwarks leaning inward. I feel quite a bit better after deciding this to be honest ...

 

Thank you for the compliments about my boxes. There is something really special about a hand made wooden box. I especially like the ability to use various species of material. Unfortunately I am unable to work in my woodworking shop any further due to the amputation of my left leg and being confined to a wheelchair now. Using full size power tools is now dangerous and has a great deal to do with my taking up model ship building in wood. The advantage I do have is that I know how to dimension wood and have nearly all the tools necessary on a model level with the exception of a thickness sander.

 

Anyway, thank you for replying with suggestions and encouragement. It is much appreciated.

 

Ken

Edited November 8, 2021 by SparrowHawk7

[Overworked724]

1 hour ago, SparrowHawk7 said:

Thank you both for the encouragement and ideas. I believe doing the deck again with a false deck would be the best thing to do. The deck is certainly going to show so getting that closer at this stage is necessary. I wrote to modeller's sawmill as suggested and am waiting for a response. It would be best if I could tear up what I have done and flatten things again before laying a false deck. To make it fit I probably could put in the margin planking after the false deck is placed to handle the bulwarks leaning inward. I feel quite a bit better after deciding this to be honest ...

 

Thank you for the compliments about my boxes. There is something really special about a hand made wooden box. I especially like the ability to use various species of material. Unfortunately I am unable to work in my woodworking shop any further due to the amputation of my left leg and being confined to a wheelchair now. Using full size power tools is now dangerous and has a great deal to do with my taking up model ship building in wood. The advantage I do have is that I know how to dimension wood and have nearly all the tools necessary on a model level with the exception of a thickness sander.

 

Anyway, thank you for replying with suggestions and encouragement. It is much appreciated.

 

Ken

Howdy! Back to my build and just catching up.  Yes, what I did was install some simple sections of plywood sheeting between each set of frames.  Not one single piece…much easier to install that way and deck curvature is maintained in both directions.  Having a surface beneath your planks will make a universe of difference and you will also be able to even out the surface (sand/scrape) for much better results if it is needed.  Damned good efforts thus far though!  And I also love the boxes….some crazy grain! 👍🏽

[Overworked724]

Just a quick note…if you look on my build starting from post #365, you can see exactly what I did and why.  The false deck was made from birch plywood sheets (0.4mm) which is cut to fit cleanly between each set of frames. Doesn’t have to be perfect…and it gave a very solid base.  However, I milled my own planks slightly thinner to compensate for the added width of the false deck.  
 

Hope that helps!

Edited November 9, 2021 by Overworked724

[SparrowHawk7]

Hey guys ... I've been emailing Joe from Modeller's Sawmill and placed an order for Alaskan Cedar. Four smaller sheets and a bunch of strips. The idea is to make my own false deck in quarters so I can more easily fit them into the deck area and cut them to fit more accurately.  Then, with a solid foundation, I can use the strips to do the decking and have it turn out more as I would hope. The false deck is 1/16" stock and the strips are 1/32" to save a little height. Ideally I should remove the existing disaster and return to the bulkheads ... that may be easier said than done however. I glued fairly large blocks of balsa between the bulkheads as the instructions indicated so the existing deck is firmly glued to them ... but they do not extend out to the hull. I ordered a Proxxon 90* sander so I can fair the deck area more accurately. The idea of doing that by hand is just too daunting to me at my age. I have enough trouble holding things as it is without trying to hold a block while sanding so much - not to mention edges. Anyway, I am pleased that I made the decision as it will make the entire construct look significantly better. Decks are hard to hide when you screw things up. This is a strong lesson learned however. Should I run across another model in the future with bulkheads only to support the deck, I will plan to install my own false deck for a firm support. Kind of on leave now for a week or so ... thanks for your help!

 

Ken

[WalrusGuy]

I believe you can use acetone to dissolve the glue for the decking. I have not done this before so I am not 100% sure how it will turn out. It may require some careful work to not spread it everywhere. Looking forward to seeing your deck with the Alaskan cedar 🙂

[VTHokiEE]

Did you use wood glue? If so isopropyl alcohol will allow you to remove the planks. Be care to apply it where you want though so you don’t break down the glue holding other areas. It can be a slow process but it gets the job done.

[SparrowHawk7]

I've used Isopropyl alcohol elsewhere on the model to remove things I had initially glued with pva. It would just be my luck that I put some alcohol on the deck, let it soak in and come back to find the entire model in a pile as well as the deck completely unglued! Hehehe. It would be par for the course for me but I think I will be OK if I am careful. My experience has shown it doesn't need to soak that long so I am not likely to use too much. I have a heat gun (I was an electronic technician once upon a time before retirement) so perhaps careful use of that might help as well. I have used liquid hide glue in my woodworking and know that heat and water easily dissolve that even after a couple hundred years. Actually, if it wasn't so much trouble to use I might consider hot hide glue for model building as I could pretty much do without clamps. I'd go along a bit more slowly but there would be advantages. Until, of course, that two week period comes along when the hide glue begins to smell of decomposing material so you have to make more from scratch ... yum!  Or there is always fish glue but I have no experience with that.

 

I appreciate the help folks. Lots of interesting learning experiences in this. I wonder how many of them I will repeat next time due to forgetting? Sigh ... my best advice to anyone else is don't grow older! Stop now while you're still ahead!

 

Ken

[SparrowHawk7]

I found some 1.5mm baltic birch plywood on Amazon and got enough to use for the false deck. Alaskan Cedar is lovely to work with but being a single ply it will be weak along the grain especially at 1/16" thick. Plywood is much stronger and what I found is about the same thickness. I used to use baltic birch 1/8 ply in my boxes so I am aware of the material. I have no doubt that I can find uses for the Alaskan cedar sheets at some point, but I think I will feel better using plywood as a foundation.

 

Ken

[Overworked724]

Amazon does show the 1/32” birch plywood sheets as available. I went as thin as possible in thickness (false deck plus decking) to be thin enough to allow placement of the swivel brackets along the interior bulkhead at the gun port sills. The thicker plywood may also be more resistant to laying down across the curvature (camber) from port to starboard. This may be a good reason to lay down individual sections between each set of frames. Just a thought. 
 

If you’ve taken that into account, that’s great. I’m sure your redo will be worth the time. 👍🏽 Watching with interest!

Edited November 11, 2021 by Overworked724

[Overworked724]

One last thought. When I’d completed my deck I had some ‘low’ areas, specifically between the frames which were further apart. You can’t see them, but I know they are there. 
 

If I was to repeat this part of the build, I would try laying the false deck in longer strips lengthwise (like planking).  The 0.4mm birch I used bends easily so  the deck camber wouldn’t be a problem.  
 

I keep going back to that part of the build trying to think what I’d do differently…but there really is no substitute for preparing filler blocks which create the false deck. It’s a bit of a pain…but this the hobby we love! 🤣

[Gregory]

On 11/8/2021 at 3:00 PM, SparrowHawk7 said:

Where I ran into the most trouble was not having a false deck to work on.

Something you might consider in the future, and it might not be too late now,  I do my deck planking on thin paper off the ship..

 

  

 

If the margin planks don't fit perfectly along the bulwarks, small gaps ca be covered with the waterway.. 

[SparrowHawk7]

Finally something was a pleasant surprise! I sat down to remove the old deck and poured out some rubbing alcohol to soak on the planks. Then I pulled out a sharp 1/8" chisel and 30 minutes later ... no more deck! All  I did was find a bulkhead and using bevel side up, pushed under/through whatever planking was there till I reached the bulkhead. That got under things and the bulwarks allowed me to pry them up which was quite simple. The PVA was mostly brittle and didn't need alcohol. My floor is a mess, of course, and the model needs a lot more shaping/smoothing now but the thing came off relatively easily. Almost as easily as I can make mistakes although sometimes I work hard on that too. Sometimes it takes a lot of effort to find a perfectly simple task that I can screw up monumentally.

 

I had put the filler blocks along the middle former between each bulkhead and out perhaps 2" which takes care of the centerline of the ship but leaves the outer area just bulkheads for perhaps 1" or so. I will see what things look like after sanding and fairing with my proxxon sander which should be here today. I have plenty of material now that I can make some test areas to check thickness and bendability (there is probably a more technical term for that) of the plywood.

 

Also a pleasant surprise was the arrival of the 1.5mm plywood this morning. I went back and saw the 1/32 ... for some reason it hadn't shown up in my search yesterday. I figured I ought to get 2 ... better to have leftover than come up short. But now I can see the exact difference between the two through mockups. Plus, remember my gunports are a bit on the wonky side too. Initially I framed them too high so I tore out all that framing and redid it measuring from the top of the stanchions down instead. When the deck was done it looked like the gun ports would be fairly close in most places.  And there are only 8 of them on a side as well ... look, I got confused and befuddled when I got to counting as high as 8. I couldn't remember what came next so I just quit trying. Nothing wrong with that is there?  🤭

 

I like the idea about the paper ... I was thinking something along that line last night. Trying to lay out the butt shifts with the false deck on the model seems like it could be prone to errors that could be avoided with a bit of drafting. If I cut all the planks to the same length then all I really need to do is find and mark some initial butt locations and it all should fall into place. Well, technically ... but then again, as in war, the plan only holds together until the first bullet is fired so we'll see. And we still have to include one gigantic question and undoubted wrench in the works ... ME. Still, paper is a great idea.

 

Thanks for all your help and ideas.

Ken

 

Edited November 11, 2021 by SparrowHawk7

[Gregory]

Paper is just a very thin layer of wood..😁

[SparrowHawk7]

2 hours ago, Gregory said:

Paper is just a very thin layer of wood..😁

Good point.

[SparrowHawk7]

OK ... false deck is cut and fitted. Not perfect but pretty darn close ... closer than most of my work so far actually. It is cut from 1/16" plywood.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Took some time. I cut an earlier false deck of the same material and noticed where some things were undercut leaving wider gaps between the bulwark and the deck. I marked where and cut new pieces making allowances for that. Then some judicial sanding made it fit pretty well in the end. There are some gaps but they aren't bad and the waterway should cover them easily enough. The stern section is the original I cut the other day but adjusted in length with sanding to fit the new fore section. The companionway cutout is off a bit (large) but I can frame that in with stock scraps of whatever wood they used in the kit and then plank over that. The planking won't be here till sometime next week so I am l now at a standstill. the planking as I mentioned, will be 1/32 to keep the thickness down. These false decks are also not attached so they stand up a bit - there is actually a bit of room under each gun port  if the deck is pressed to the bulkheads - enough that I think I can manage to get the gun swivels in without too much trouble. Worst case is to use 1/32" stock to cut the swivels. That will still leave a shadow and nobody is going to notice they are not quite thick enough. But to get even more latitude, I have some 1/32" plywood coming also next week. I can always cut the false deck from that - easy now that I already have the correct shape, and that will save 1/32" in thickness.

 

Anyway, things are looking up. Thanks for watching. Audiences can be helpful. I used to find that true when I was creating artworks in drawing and posting updates on a forum on the net. (You will be relieved to hear that I am much more skilled at drawing than I am as a  model ship wright). There is sometimes a tendency to procrastinate and, if left to yourself, it is easy to do something other than work on your project whatever it may be, occasionally. Having people watching can help ameliorate that inclination. And the only way to build skills is to practice and try things so I am doing my best with that end in mind here. I will be interested to see what differences will show on my next build. I also think the Syren was perhaps not such a good choice for a beginner. There are things which make her more of an intermediate or advanced model regarding skills. But if I can get through this acceptably it will build a lot more skill and give me more confidence in my next effort. Most importantly, however, I am having a good time with this. Not all things seem to be as satisfying to me. I taught myself glass blowing some years ago and got everything I needed to do that then began to practice every day for months. But by the time I gave it up I had not found the satisfaction or pleasure I got from it was worth the effort I had put into it. I had the same experience with wood carving although creating caricatures was fun. I wrote nearly an entire novel same years ago and lost interest in completing it due to a lack of satisfaction from the effort. Drawing went down a similar road ... I got to the point where I could draw really well and was winning contests - I even have a drawing of mine on the cover of a book - but I lost the satisfaction of doing it. I like doing things with my hands ... I majored in voice and guitar at the conservatory level many years ago and played professionally for quite some time. I got a lot of satisfaction from that but being addicted to eating regularly proved detrimental to the lifestyle at the time so I enlisted in the US Navy which ended that. But the enjoyment of using my hands has always been a part of me so I have looked for a hobby to meet that need for a long time. Shipbuilding seems an answer to that as I can take pleasure when I make a part or fashion a part to fit nicely as part of the whole. It doesn't show so much on this build of mine, but when something fits properly I get satisfaction that most other forms of artistic expression do not seem to give. I haven't done any painting (fine art style) for about 30 years so perhaps that will bring something with it, but that has its own set of problems.

 

Ah well ... just rambling away as I have a tendency to do. Sorry ... This false deck ought to solve my main problems with the decking so I have something I won't be embarrassed to show.

 

Thanks for watching,

Ken