US Brig Syren by _SalD_ – FINISHED - 3/16" scale

[Canute]

Nicely done Sal. I'll file that change of wood for my builds.

[_SalD_]

Thanks George & Ken the kind words are appreciated

[Burroak]

Sal that's absolutely incredible work!

 

Greg H.

[Elijah]

That bowsprit looks great! I bet it will look even better once it's on the model!

[Gahm]

Very nice work on the bowsprit, Sal! Can't wait to see it mounted!

 

Thomas

[_SalD_]

Thanks Greg, Elijah and Thomas.  I'm a little nervous about mounting this on the ship all I can envision is  bumping into it and breaking it.

 

Thank for all the likes too.

[WackoWolf]

Sal,

 

   I am sure you will get around bumping it, and it will be excellent. Will see you in January, will be coming back to the states this friday, but won't get to see you untill the New Year.

[_SalD_]

Have safe flight back Joe.  I'll see you at the February meeting, going to be away for the January meeting. 

[_SalD_]

Now that my phone is charged here are some pictures of how I tapered the jibboom and flying jibboom which was similar to how I did the bowsprit.  First, from the drawing, I determined the required diameter of the boom at its ends and at the ¼ points.  Then I transferred these locations onto the appropriate size dowel.   I chucked the dowel into my drill press (no lathe) and set my calipers to one of the predetermined diameters.  Then, with the press running, I used the jaws of the calipers to cut grooves into the dowel at the mark locations to the corresponding measured diameters.  After all the grooves were cut in I used different grits of sandpaper to taper the dowel using the grooves for depth guides.

 

 

 

For the iron bands that hold the two booms together I decided again not to use the pinstripe tape but make the piece from a brass strip.  The travelers were made from 28 ga. wire as in the instructions.

 

 

The open and closed hearts are very delicate and need gentle handling.  I found that not removing the char from the side of the hearts helped me see cutting the groove along the sides.   Making the eyes at the ends I used the same jig I use to make zip-seizing.  The drawing shows a doubled line around the closed and open hearts but the photo shows only a single line around the closed hearts.  I went with the single line for the closed hearts because I thought using a double line for all the hearts would make it too crowded.

 

 

 

Completed bowsprit and booms.  I did have one 'OH SH*T' moment when after I tied the blocks on the end of the flying jib and as I was patting myself on the back for doing such a nice job I realized I forgot to put the traveler ring on.   Well after pondering how I can get this tiny ring on without removing the blocks I finally bit the bullet and removed the blocks and slipped on the ring, a very humbling moment.

 

 

Back tracking a bit I finally lashed the sweeps to the gallow bitts using the eye bolts that were installed in the chocks and then lashed the long boat down.

 

 

[Elijah]

Oh well, everybody makes mistakes.The boat look nice on your ship!

[_SalD_]

Thanks Elijah

[Gahm]

That looks really good! Did you also make the three iron bands at the (thick) end of the bowsprit from a brass strip or did you use the pinstripe tape for it?

 

Thomas

[UpstateNY]

Hi Sal,

 

Lovely clean work and I especially like the rigging work on open hearts.  

 

Your longboat is also a beautiful model in it's own right.

 

Cheers,

 

Nigel.

[_SalD_]

... Did you also make the three iron bands at the (thick) end of the bowsprit from a brass strip or did you use the pinstripe tape for it?

 

Thomas

 

Thanks Thomas, I used brass strips for the three iron bands.  I think it looks more realistic and the tape that came with the kit is white so i'd probably have made a mess of the mast trying to paint it black.

 

....Your longboat is also a beautiful model in it's own right.

 

Nigel.

 

Thanks Nigel, I really enjoyed making it.

[Canute]

Sal, excellent how-to on the jibboom shaping and rigging. beautiful work. :)

[usedtosail]

Sal, your attention to detail and your craftsmanship are top notch. This is beautiful work.

[_SalD_]

Thanks Ken and Tom and for all the likes.

[_SalD_]

Big step..stepped the bowsprit, no going back now.

 

 

A heads up about the splash guard.  The manual says that the laser cut pieces were suppose to be cut with the grain running top to bottom, which makes sense to make them easier to bend around the jig.  The pieces on my sheet, however, were cut with the grain running lengthwise or perpendicular to the way described in the manual.  With the grain running in that direction the pieces seemed too stiff to ‘dry’ bend around the jig without breaking so I soaked them in hot water for about an hour.  Not only did I soak them but I used a hand steamer to really soften them up.  I formed them around the jig provided, bending one piece at a time.  I let them dry overnight and then glued them together, clamping the pieces back onto the jig.

 

 

The gammoning for the bowsprit was next which was straight forward enough but awkward working in such a tight area.

 

 

First casualty while rigging, I knocked the dolphin striker off. This was probably a blessing in disguise because I hadn’t thought that it was very secure from the beginning.  This gave me the opportunity to add a pin to its back in order to secure it better to the bowsprit cap, hard to see the pin.

 

Before starting the bowsprit rigging and after studying the plans I came up with a procedure that, for me, seems to work.  I decided that in order to keep the lengths of the lanyards between the hearts consistent that I would tie those first.  To do this I made a little jig that would hold the hearts at a set distance apart so I could lash them together.  The jig is made of two smooth jawed alligator clips, soldered together with a piece of copper wire.

 

 

I don’t have pictures doing the bobstays because I was seeing if this method was going to work but I do have them doing the bowsprit shrouds.

 

 

Hearts held in position

 

 

Adding the lanyard.  I didn’t tie the lanyard in place I just glued the ends to the line adjacent to it.

 

 

The shroud was then looped around the heart, tightened and seized.  The hooked end of the shroud was already hooked to the hull.

 

 

Early Christmas present to myself, Dr. Slick 3 1/2" scissors.  works well.

 

[rafine]

Looking great Sal. Don't ever forget just how long that bowsprit assembly is. It's like a magnet for hands and elbows. You don't have to ask how I know.  

 

Bob

[_SalD_]

...It's like a magnet for hands and elbows. You don't have to ask how I know.  

 

Bob

 

Thanks Bob,  I think I need to put some caution tape up all around it.

[GLakie]

Looking good Sal! Thanks for sharing your techniques. 

[_SalD_]

...Thanks for sharing your techniques. 

 

Thanks George, I hope they make sense.

[Elijah]

That looks very nice! Your ship as a whole looks fantastic! I really love the look of the deck in the background, and your bowsprit is showing your excellent skills as well!

[rtropp]

Sal,

looks great, 

thanks for the alligator tip, I will try it when I get to that point.

Richard

[_SalD_]

Thanks Elijah I really appreciate the comments and I'm glad you like the way she coming along.

 

Richard, thank you too.  The clips worked out quite well for me.

 

And  thanks to all for hitting the likes button.

[Gahm]

Beautifully done, Sal! It really is a pleasure to watch your Syren build!

 

Thomas

[ca.shipwright]

Sal,

 

I've been lurking on your build. Awesome work, I have the Syren on the shelf.

 

I love the alligator clips. I guess you need them in the different sizes depending on the distance between deadeyes etc. 

 

Maybe one of you engineering types can figure out to make a set where the distance between clips is adjustable.

 

Regards

Edited December 19, 2015 by ca.shipwright

[Mirabell61]

very nice build Sal,

 

I like the way you put the sweeps on the gallows, this is seen far to seldom on a model, beautiful work.  This gives me Inspiration....

 

Nils

Edited December 19, 2015 by Mirabell61

[_SalD_]

Beautifully done, Sal! It really is a pleasure to watch your Syren build!

 

Thomas

 

Thanks Thomas, I was hoping you would pick up the pace a bit, I liked watching you do it before I had to.   

 

Sal,

 

I love the alligator clips. I guess you need them in the different sizes depending on the distance between deadeyes etc. 

 

Maybe one of you engineering types can figure out to make a set where the distance between clips is adjustable.

 

Thanks ca. I had thought about how to make them adjustable but that would have required more thinking .  You can vary the distance a bit though depending on where you clamp the piece.

 

 

I like the way you put the sweeps on the gallows, this is seen far to seldom on a model, beautiful work.  This gives me Inspiration....

 

Nils

 

Thanks Nils, I figured I put the split rings there so I might as well use them.

[J T Lombard]

Nils

Forgive my ignorance but could you show the pic you refer to when you talk about "sweeps" && "gallows"

 

regards

 

J