US Brig Syren by rvchima - FINISHED - Model Shipways

[john46]

Nice progress on the ratlines Rod. The deadeyes are looking good as well.

 

Regards,

John

[rvchima]

Ratlines and Some Backstays Completed

 

Last week my wife had business in Flint, MI, and I went along for the ride. While she was working I visited the Flint Institute of Art, which has an exhibit called Ship Shape, Models of Great Lakes Vessels. The exhibit has about 30 ship models, many freighters and side-wheelers. My favorite was a magnificent 5-masted ore carrier. As if 2 sets of rat-lines isn't hard enough. The exhibit runs through 6-16-13. If you're in the area it's worth a visit. Here's a link to their web site:

http://www.flintarts.org/exhibitions/current/shipshape.html

 

I also stopped in Rider's Hobbies in Flint. They had a nice selection of Model Shipways supplies, so I bought one of each size of rigging line. Good thing 'cause I just ran out of .018 black!

 

After Flint we drove to Dearborn and spent a day in Greenfield Village and a day at The Henry Ford Museum. There were practically no nautical exhibits, but if you're into planes, trains, automobiles, or steam engines, WOW, what a great museum!

 

That accounts for a week of no work on the Syren, but I have made some progress since my last post. My extra deadeyes arrived from MS, and I have finished the ratlines and some of the backstays. Here are some recent photos of the Syren.

 

20 weeks, 375 man-hours

 

Lower shrouds and ratlines                                Upper shrouds and ratlines

 

 

 

[russ]

The shrouds and ratlines look great. Very clean looking work.

 

Russ

[augie]

Very nice all around!

 

You can never have enough rigging line

[rvchima]

Don't do this

 

About 10 days ago I finished my standing rigging. I was excited that I could finally start cutting wood again for the boom and gaff, and reached across the bow to grab a dowel. My arm brushed the fore royal stay, and BANG, the fore topgallant mast snapped right off. I sure wish I had taken a photo because it looked SO pitiful hanging there tangled in rigging. But I took a deep breath, gently untangled the mast, put a drop of medium CA on the lower part, and pulled the topgallant back into place. The tension from all the lines was surprising, but it held the mast perfectly in place. I let the glue harden, then added two 1/16 by 1/32 braces fore and aft. I stained the braces to match, and all is well again.

[augie]

Glad it was repairable.  It gets tougher to stay clear as you progress.  Don't ask how I know that

[rvchima]

Belaying Tool

 

 

I made this belaying tool from a piece of electrical wire. I stripped off about 2 inches of insulation and flattened the end with a hammer. I used a triangular file to cut a notch in the end and thinned the sides of the tool with my disk sander. After a little experimentation I put a 45 degree bend in the end to help with reaching under the belaying pin racks. Belaying is still a pain, but this tool sure helps.

[rvchima]

Hi Augie,

I just finished all the staysail rigging, but I'm mystified about what it's all for. It seems that all ends of that rigging is belayed to something not useful. Would some of those lines be used for something when under sail?

[rvchima]

Trying for a more realistic look

 

I've been experimenting with techniques to make the blocks look more realistic. Here's what I came up with.

[rvchima]

Trying for a more realistic look

 

Ha ha, only joking. I went to an awesome antique show last weekend and had to buy this double block. Next to it is one from the kit for scale. When I finish the Syren I'll clean up the old block and hang it in a place of honor in my shop.

Edited June 12, 2013 by rvchima

[PopJack]

Dang, I was getting excited about your realistic blocks! I wanted to send you a handful to fix for me!

[augie]

As you know, the stays themselves hold up the masts.  Somewhere along the line someone figured out that those stays could be used to support sails.  Voila---- staysails.  I'm thinking you just rigged all the staysail halliards.  Those would be used to raise, trim and lower the staysails which, unlike the main square-rigged sails, could take better advantage of wind coming from the beam or forward.  I realize that's a simplistic description but if you look at a log or portrait of a ship under full sail, it makes sense.

[rvchima]

Does anyone have an image of a ship like the Syren under full sail? I am a total landlubber and don't quite know what the sails would look like on the Syren.

[augie]

Have a look at these 2 diagrams.  Then superimpose, in your minds' eye, the fore-aft sail diagram on top of the square sail diagram.

 

http://www.tallshipstales.de/sails.php

[rvchima]

Augie,

 

Thanks for the information about the staysail halliards. I can see now how the downhaul would be unhooked at the lower block, and the hallyards would be used to raise the staysails.

 

Thanks also for the links to the Eye of the Wind website. The diagrams and photos of the sails really clarified things for me. I printed a photo of the Eye to hang in the workshop next to the Syren.

 

I have just completed construction of the two lowest yards and am trying to decide whether to paint them or not. I was thinking that pink would look good with the red gun ports.

Edited June 13, 2013 by rvchima

[augie]

Think harder     

[rvchima]

Standing Rigging Complete

 

 

24 weeks, 415 man-hours

 

 

Amazing how complicated the foreward end of the ship is compared to the aft end.

 

[russ]

The standing rigging looks very good. Everything look taut and nothing has been pulled out of alignment. Very neatly done as well. Excellent work.

 

Russ

[rvchima]

Yards In Progress

 

25 weeks, 437 man-hours

 

The lower yards are complete, but I've only shaped the rest. After considering Augie's advice I decided not to paint the yards pink. Instead I decided to follow Chuck's scheme and paint them black. I kind of like the contrast between the black yards and the natural stuns'l booms.

 

One piece of advice - if your wife calls from a business trip while you're tying blocks to a yard, put down the yard and listen to your wife. I tied a whole mess of blocks on the wrong side of the yard. Oops. (They're fixed now.)

 

You won't hear from me for a while. Saturday we leave for a two-week land tour and cruise in Alaska. I'll post a photo of the cruise ship when I return.

Edited June 20, 2013 by rvchima

[augie]

Terrific work all around!

 

Have a great trip and return to us safely.

[ZyXuz]

wow, that's some fast and awesome progress!

well done

[bhermann]

That is some nice clean work Rod - you are doing a fine job on this phase, as you have with the previous phases.  While the pink yards might have generated some interest, I'm glad you decided to go with the more traditional black   Looking forward to more updates when you get back... enjoy the time away.

 

Bob

[rvchima]

Dirk,

 

You say that you know to put down the model and listen to your wife, but you are building two models at once. That is worse than having two wives! But they sure are beautiful.

 

Rod

[rvchima]

By "worse" I mean "harder than." Sorry honey.

[rvchima]

1/2 hour until I leave for the airport for Anchorage and I'm in the basement tying foot ropes.

[rvchima]

USS Syren vs. the Diamond Princess

 

Approximtely to scale.  They just don't make ships like they used to.

 

Posted from Ketchikan, Alaska. My cabin is on deck 10 of 15.

[rvchima]

Yards Complete

 

28 weeks, 448 man-hours

 

Saturday I returned from a two-week vacation in Alaska. Now the grass is cut, the laundry is done, and the weather is terrible - a perfect excuse to stay inside and complete the yards for the Syren. The yards took 33 hours to build and are shown in the photo above. You can compare them to Augie's yards at this link:

http://modelshipworld.com/index.php?/topic/46-us-brig-syren-by-augie-ms-kit-164-18-gun-brig/page-40#entry42019

Augie's entry was dated April 21 and he's almost done, so I figure I'll be done by the end of September.

 

I decided to paint my yards black like Chuck's prototype. It seemed like a good idea until I realized that I had installed my boom and gaff unpainted. Luckily there wasn't too much rigging in the way and I was able to paint them in place. Maybe I'll be done by Halloween

Edited July 10, 2013 by rvchima

[russ]

The yards looks great. Nice work on the lashings and the blocks.

 

Russ

[rvchima]

Tip of the Day - Needle Threader or Instant Needle?

 

When I have to thread rigging line through a block I'm always tempted to grab for my needle threader. But sometimes it's hard to see or reach the back side side of the block. In that case I dip the end of the line in a drop of CA glue, wipe it with a paper towel, and wait 10 seconds for it to stiffen. Then the line becomes an instant needle that I can push through the block from the front.

[rvchima]

I'm Out of Everything

 

My lower yards are lofted and mostly rigged, but I have run out of all kinds of supplies:

28 gauge black black wire

0.008" black line

0.008" tan line (almost out)

0.012" black line

3/32"   single blocks (I might have exactly enough but it sure is hard to count ahead)

1/8"     single blocks

 

I ordered blocks and wire from Model Expo, but their parts descriptions on-line are completely different from those in the kit. They don't seem to have the right size blocks at all, so I ordered those from Ages of Sail. I hope they match when they arrive.

 

The weird thing is that I have enough boxwood strips left over to build another boat! Has anyone else run into shortages or surpluses with the Syren kit?