US Brig Syren by Gahm - Model Shipways

[rafine]

Simply beautiful work Thomas.

 

Bob

[Gahm]

Thank you for all the "likes".

And thank you, Bob, for your nice comment! At least finally the deck starts to fill up. It makes quite a difference in perception if there is something mounted on the deck 

 

Thomas

[Gahm]

A little update: during the last few weeks ship modeling time was very scarce. Between traveling (image 1  -   ) and multiple home projects I was able to finish all my belaying pins (image 2), and as a “reward” for having this highly repetitive work finally behind me I built the capstan.

 

My first attempt using mainly the parts provided in my Syren kit ended up about 1mm smaller in diameter than what was shown in Chuck’s plans (image 3). So I considered this a “prototype” and built a second one out of pear wood. Image 4, 5, and 6 show the building process. The drum head was constructed in the same way as described in the Syren instruction book. Of course, not having photo etched parts makes some things a bit more challenging (metal ring, image 4). The capstan foot I built in a slightly different way (image 6), using 2 slotted disks instead of individual tiny chocks. This also helped considerably with the chock alignment  . The finished result is shown in images 7 and 8.

 

Thomas

 

 

Image 1

 

 

 

Image 2 - All belaying pins are finished

 

 

 

Image 3 - First capstan attempt

 

 

 

Image 4 - 2nd capstan attempt: making of the drum head

 

 

 

Image 5 - Making of the capstan foot

 

 

 

Image 6 - Capstan foot continued

 

 

 

Image 7 - Finished capstan

 

 

 

Image 8 - Capstan mounted on Syren deck

 

 

[augie]

Excellent craftsmanship and a great choice of material.

[rafine]

Beautiful work on the capstan Thomas. Earlier today I replied to your post on my log by asking when you would be working on Syren again. I guess that I've gotten the answer.  

 

Bob

[Stuntflyer]

Fantastic job on the capstan Thomas. I am always looking forward to seeing what you are going to do next.

 

Mike

[rtropp]

Thomas,

boy, following you is tricky business :-)

 

In image 3 B, what did you use to hold the capstan on the lathe?  It kind of looks like a Dremel bit holder.

 

Thanks Richard

Edited January 30, 2015 by rtropp

[Gahm]

Augie, Bob, Mike, and Richard, thank you so much for your kind comments! And thank you for all the "likes"!

 

- Augie, I guess the capstan may look familiar to you. I kind of borrowed the looks of the Confederacy capstan 

- Bob, I am glad that you now and again remind me to publish something. Time flies so fast that I am always completely surprised when I notice that my last published contribution lies already several weeks back! 

- Mike, I can return the compliment: I absolutely enjoy watching your progress with your Mayflower model!

- Richard, yes, you are right. What I show in image 3b is a Dremel bit holder. It works fine on the lathe for small parts. I also tried it with a turn table and my mill. Here the cutter unscrewed the bit holder and I ended up with yet another "prototype" .

 

Thomas

Edited February 4, 2015 by Gahm

[Gahm]

I finished the companionway (although the stairs are still missing ).

 

Image 1 describes the different building steps, image 2 the finished result, and images 3 – 5 show the companionway mounted on my Syren model.

 

Thomas

 

Image 1: Building steps

 

 

Image 2: Finished companionway

 

 

Image 3: Companionway on Syren

 

 

Image 4: Companionway on Syren

 

 

Image 5: Syren with companionway

 

 

 

[augie]

Excellent.  Hope your smile is as wide as mine!

[GuntherMT]

Gorgeous detail work, thank you for sharing!

[Blue Ensign]

Beautiful detailing Thomas, very fine work indeed.

 

B.E.

[giantdog]

That really is lovely.

[JesseLee]

I agree with the others - the detailing is awesome!

[rafine]

Looks great Thomas.

 

Bob

[rtropp]

Thomas

Beautiful crastsmenship. It's great to have your examples as I work through my build.

I had a thought, really a question. It seems curious that there would be cannon balls at the entry to the companion way. Wouldn't that have been a hazard?

 

Richard

[gerty]

Beautiful work Thomas !

[Gahm]

Thank you all so much for your feedback and nice comments! They are always very much appreciated! And thank you for all the "likes"!

 

Richard, the same thought crossed my mind when I mounted the companionway. But then Chuck shows cannon balls in front of the companionway entrance, and he did all the research  . Also I guess the guys, who operated these ships, normally were pretty young and agile, and they probably preferred to have a few more cannon balls handy in a battle over the potential risk of these cannon balls presenting a hazard. At least that will be my explanation for keeping the cannon balls because I like the looks of them  .

 

Thomas

[Chuck]

Excellent work ...its looking great    With regard to the cannon balls,  that detail was taken from two contemporary models (english)  of the same time period.  They were both cruiser class brigs.   On one of them,  the shot racks were wrapped completely around all four sides of the coaming.  I thought that was a bit too much so I used the example where they were just on the sides.  Its hard to see in the photo but this is the version where they are shown on all four sides.

 

[rtropp]

I guess that not having a cannon ball when you need it is more dangerous than tripping over one on the way to your hammock:-)

 

Richard

Edited February 20, 2015 by rtropp

[Robert-J-M]

All this talk about balls.... guess I won't go there, this pleasant website could go south in a hurry! 

 

Looking good, I'm following along and using your ideas!

 

Robert

[Jason]

Looks great Thomas! 

[gerty]

Beautiful work !

[GLakie]

Just came across your Syren Thomas, and you're doing a marvelous job on every aspect of her. I especially like your work on the stern galleries, and I'll always take pause to admire attention to detail like you've shown. Thanks for posting this.

 

Cheers

[Gahm]

Robert, Jason, Gerty, George, thank you for stopping by and for your kind comments! It is always highly motivating to get feedback like this! 

 

Thomas

[Gahm]

I finally started with the “mass fabrication” of my carronade carriages. The prototype was already published a few months ago. The trick now is to find a process to build 16 identical carriages based on this prototype. Image 1 shows the wooden parts provided in the Syren kit cleaned up, painted and with ring bolts mounted. For ring bolts I use the Dafi photo etched versions. Image 2 shows the different metal fittings for the 2 carriage parts. They consist of the photo etched hardware provided with the Syren kit, holes drilled with a pin vise and #80 drill, polished and blackened, as well as 0.4 diameter nails from Scale Hardware, some custom parts such as the carriage bolt (made from a small brass nail) and the breech rope rings. The 3 mm hooks are from the same Dafi photo etch plate as the ring bolts.

 

Images 3 and 4 show the fabrication process of the wheels. 32 brass strips were roughly cut to the correct length (image 3a) and mounted on a piece of (pear) wood with 2 precisely parallel horizontal planes (image 3b). The whole assembly was then fixed in a Sherline vise on a tilting angle table (image 3c). This arrangement allowed milling all wheel carriage sides at the same time in an identical fashion (images 4d, e, f). After some clean up, fine shape adjustments, and blackening (image 5a) the wheels were assembled (image 5b). For bolts I used the 0.4 and 0.7 nails from Scale Hardware, and the roles were cut to the correct length from a brass tube with the right dimensions.

 

The first carronade “production” type is shown in images 5c and d. It obviously will take some time to have all carriages finished (36 parts per carriage – not counting the hooks), but this is now just a matter of patience and getting the job done  .

 

Thomas

 

Image 1

 

 

Image 2

 

 

Image 3

 

 

Image 4

 

 

Image 5

 

 

 

 

[GLakie]

Those are some fine looking sleds Thomas!

 

Cheers

[CaptainSteve]

Just stunning attention to detail, Thomas !!

[augie]

These are going to be spectacular, Thomas.  I'm envious !

[_SalD_]

Very nice carriages Thomas. Where do I put my order in?