US Brig Syren by Gahm - Model Shipways

[Gahm]

Before the deck gets too crowded I drilled the mast holes. To make holes with the right size, depth and rake I built a jig by drilling a hole of the correct size vertically through a block of pear wood and giving the lower end of this block an angle (main mast 86°, foremast 89-90°)consistent with the intended rake using my disk sander (see images 1a and 1b). To “transfer” the holes I marked their positions on the Syren’s deck (image 2a), placed the jig on those marks (image 2b) and used a battery driven screw driver/drill guided by the jig to drill the holes (image 2c). As a result I ended up with 2 clean holes which position the masts with exactly the intended rake and also have the masts nicely line up with each other (images 5, 6, 7). To give the whole assembly a more final look I was also tempted to make the mast foot for each of the masts. As a first version a built a foot which shows the wedges. Image 3 describes the process of making the mast foot. In image 4 you can see the result. I still will try some other mast foot versions (for example a version simulating a cover with tarred linen) until I know for sure which way I finally will go  .

 

Thomas

 

Image 1

 

 

Image 2

 

 

Image 3

 

 

Image 4

 

 

Image 5

 

 

Image 6

 

 

Image 7

 

 

[augie]

Nice job on that mast coat!

[Wintergreen]

uhm...wow...this was a small treat to find! Love your work Thomas. Very clean and exact. Hat off for the figurehead also

[Gahm]

Thank you so much for your nice comments and all the "likes".

 

- Dirk, that is the advantage of running (like me) behind the pack . . . you can pick and choose from all the wonderful ideas other Syren builders already had . In that regard I also highly appreciate your newest discussion on the steering mechanism!

 

- Augie, I am not quite sure on my current mast coat realization. I like the looks of it, but it is probably more suited for an admiralty style model where you show the inner workings and construction of a ship. For my Syren I probably will end up using a solution which shows the tared linen cover.

 

- Håkan, thank you for stopping by. I highly appreciate your compliments about my build log!

 

Thomas

[rtropp]

Thomas,

great method for setting the masts.  I was wondering how I was going to do than, now I know. Can't wait to see what you finally decide on the mast foot.  The sample you have looks really nice, especially for those who like to use wood as much as possible.

 

Richard.

[Gahm]

Thank you, Richard! With the mast foot I have the same problem . . . I like the looks of it,although I know it probably is not the best representation for this kind of model.

 

Thomas

[Gahm]

That is a very nice idea, Dirk! I have to keep this in mind when I do the final mounting of the masts.

 

Thomas

[Gahm]

I have started to build the pin rails. In the Syren instructions Chuck mentions that the pin rails should be around 1/32’’ thick, but for stability reasons they are built out of a 1/16’’ thick bass wood strip. As shown in image 1 I used a compromise: I made the pin rails out of pear wood for stability and thinned them down at the (visible) side and front edges to 1/32’’ thickness, however I left the (invisible) rear edges with thickness 1/16’’ so that it was easier to drill holes to pin and glue the rails to the inboard side. As the image also shows I always built the pin rails in pairs by temporarily gluing 2 pieces of pear wood together, drilling the holes for the belaying pins and giving the part its final shape before separating the 2 pieces again. 2 mounted pin rails are shown in image 2.

 

 

Image 1

 

 

Image 2

 

 

 

I initially used the brass belaying pins included in the kit and blackened them (image 2). However, to my taste their heads are a bit short, so I looked for alternatives – ideally made out of wood. As I did not find any wooden, reasonably shaped, commercially available belaying pins I started to make them myself using my little Proxxon lathe (image 3) and tooth picks. The result is shown in images 4, 5 and 6. On the right side in image 4 you can also see how these wooden belaying pins compare to the brass versions from the kit.  Well, I have done 12 so far, so there is still a little way to go to replace them all  .

 

Thomas

 

 

Image 3

 

 

Image 4

 

 

Image 5

 

 

Image 6

 

[fnkershner]

OMG! Thomas you turned these on a Lathe?!! How do you feel about turning a few more sets for those of us who do not have a lathe?

 

One caution I would add. I had a similar problem with my Bluenose. In my case I substituted for some spare wood pins I already had from another model. They really did look a lot better. But and this is a big But. when I got to the point of rigging months later. I found that the new pins were just enough bigger that it was very hard to rig. I am looking at your picture of the fife rail with both sets of pins. And I am wondering if you can clear the tops of the wooden pins with rigging? Mine were too close to the rail.

Edited November 16, 2014 by Floyd Kershner

[rtropp]

Thomas,

your belaying pins look great.  I recently acquired a Proxxon wood lathe and was wondering if it was possible to work that fine without a higher end, metal lathe (Sherline, etc.)

After seeing your work, the answer is an obvious yes but it is not so obvious how long it will take for me to learn how to do it :-)

 

Did you use chisels, sandpaper, or some other type of cutter?

 

Thanks for all the detailed photos.

 

Richard

Edited November 17, 2014 by rtropp

[augie]

Looking very neat.  And those belaying pins are fantastic.

[rafine]

Nice work on the rails Thomas and I love the pins.

 

Bob

[Gahm]

Thank you for your comments and all the "likes". They are highly welcome and appreciated!

 

- Floyd, your point is well taken! I checked again, but as I have followed Chuck's plans very carefully (inclusive the major dimensions of the belaying pins which look a bit different in the plans than what is provided in the kit) I think I am fine. The pins are as thin or even a little thinner than the kit-provided brass pins.

 

- Richard, I find the Proxxon lathe an affordable and very useful little tool! To get the presented results I tried all kinds of different approaches. I finally settled on using tooth picks (--> unlimited supply at nearly no cost, good stability, they already come as pretty thin dowels which makes the final processing easier, the birch? wood stains easily with Golden Oak). As the wood is a bit grainy regular cutters don't work very well - they split up the wood. However, needle files for the "rough" work and sanding sticks for the final smoothing of the surface work very nicely and lead to the shown results.

 

- Augie and Bob, thank you so much for your kind comments! As you know I am in awe of the combination of productivity and quality which is displayed in your builds! In my case I always tend to find the most time consuming approach to everything  . But then, as Russ is always stating in his comments: "It ain't a hobby if you are in a hurry" 

 

- Dirk, I guess I have to send you my order list as well, starting with all the fantastic rope work you are doing, and the wonderful details you are adding to your model  . . . 

 

Thomas

[Wintergreen]

Nice looking pins Thomas!

 

For the record, a lathe, (wood or steal) is not really needed. I did the same trick with my Dremel clamped to my bench and then, as you describe, using needle files and sand paper.

 

Anything that can hold a pin of less then 2mm in diameter and spin it quick enough (at least some 1000rpm) will do.

 

I also tried tooth picks but found them to be too soft so I switched to pear or if it was apple instead in my Regina build.

[augie]

Why don't you and Dirk merge and have a joint venture supplying ship's parts.  I'll just order my whole next vessel from you and save a lot of angst.

[Gahm]

Thank you, Håkan! You are right, a Dremel probably will do the trick. Btw, I also started out with pear wood, but unfortunately its color turned out to be too dark for my model as it consists mostly of bass wood stained with Golden Oak. I made the same experience when I built the five rail - my pear wood version, although very nice looking, had too much contrast in comparison to the rest of the model. So I probably go back to bass wood. Boxwood on the other hand turned out to be too light . . . whereas the tooth pick wood (whatever it is  ) stained just about right, was stable enough and was easily available. 

 

Great idea, Augie! With my productivity the venture would never get off the ground  ! 

 

Thomas

[rtropp]

Thomas,

I will try files when I get to it.  I will use the lathe since I already have it and it will help me increase my skill for other tasks.

 

Thanks,

Richard

[Gahm]

After having finished about one third of my belaying pins I needed a little break and built the fife rail. The building process and the result is shown in images 1 – 5.

 

Thomas

 

 

Image 1

 

 

Image 2

 

 

Image 3

 

 

Image 4

 

 

Image 5

 

 

[augie]

That is beautiful work.  Did you pin it to the deck?

[GuntherMT]

Great lathe work.  How do you go about 'repeating' the pieces?  They look very consistent, so do you use some sort of a transfer system to repeat the first one, or are you just really good at free hand work?

[fnkershner]

Wow! I am going to need a new home when the admiral finds out I am ordering a lathe.

[Gahm]

Thank you so much for your comments and all the "likes"!

 

Dirk, thank you for your compliment. As always it is highly appreciated!

 

Augie, yes the rail will be pinned to the deck. I have already drilled the holes for the pins in the fife rail columns. But I will wait with this until I have the pump finished and can give the fife rail its final position without running into any surprises  

 

Brian, there is less to the lathe work than it appears. My "transfer system" consists of a piece of paper with the precise column profile on it so that I can compare the length dimensions of the part in the lathe with the target dimensions at any time, and I frequently measure the thickness of the part in several key locations. The rest is eye balling.

 

 Floyd, tough choices!! 

 

Thomas

[augie]

GREAT!  Sounds like we both try to avoid those down-the-road surprises.

[Blue Ensign]

What a sweet little construction Thomas - love it!

 

B.E.

[rafine]

I'm with B.E., Thomas.

 

Bob

[Gahm]

B.E. and Bob, thank you for your kind comments! Turning all those belaying pins gives me some good practice on the lathe

 

Thomas

[JesseLee]

Just discovered this log. I love Brigs. Very clean, crisp beautiful work!

[Gahm]

Thank you, JesseLee, for stopping by and for your enthusiastic support. These were a lot of "likes"! 

 

Thomas

[GuntherMT]

Brian, there is less to the lathe work than it appears. My "transfer system" consists of a piece of paper with the precise column profile on it so that I can compare the length dimensions of the part in the lathe with the target dimensions at any time, and I frequently measure the thickness of the part in several key locations. The rest is eye balling.

 

 

Thomas

 

Guess that some times the simple way is the best way.  In this case your simple system appears to have fantastic results!  Thanks for the response - I hope to add a lathe to my workshop (after I actually get the workshop up and running) sometime in the future, and stuff like this makes me want it *now*, but I suppose I should have a place to actually put it first!

[Gahm]

All pin rails inclusive riding bitts and fore bitts are finished . . . and only 24 additional belaying pins left to turn 

 

Thomas