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

[_SalD_]

J,

 

I believe Nils was referring to this picture showing the sweeps (oars) secured to the gallow bitts.

 

[Mirabell61]

Jep....,

 

that`s it

 

Nils

[J T Lombard]

Sal, Nils:

 

Thanks for the lesson. It's hard to participate unless you know the language.

 

regards

 

J

[_SalD_]

Continuing on with the bowsprit rigging I did the Inner Martingale Stays next.  As with the bowsprit shrouds I installed the stays opposite to what's described in the instructions by running the lanyards through the eye bolts at the bow and the bullseyes at the end of the line, then threading the line through the fairlead and dolphin striker and ending by seizing it to the end of the jibboom.  For me, I found it easier to do this way because then I didn’t need to worry about determining the correct length of line if I ran it the other way.  Instead I used the seizing at the end of the jibboom for final adjustments.  Hope that makes sense.  The bullseyes at the end of the stays were made as described in the manual which were a lot easier to make before the line was tied to the ship.

 

 

 

After installing the stays I glued on the splash guard.

 

 

 

Moving on to the Outer Martingale backropes I again tied the lanyards first but decided not to tie the other end of the line to the bottom of the dolphin striker just yet.   Thought it would be easier to install the Outer Martingale stay lanyards first so I wouldn’t need to work around the backropes. The stays were installed at the bow and then threaded through the fairlead, dolphin striker and finally through the blocks at the end of the flying jib.  Then the backropes and stays were then seized to the bottom of the dolphin striker.

 

 

The foot ropes were installed as described in the manual except that I tied the knots in the line before putting them on the ship.  After they were installed the lines were coated with a 50/50 solution of water and white glue.  The glue was left to dry and three or four coats of glue were applied.  Clips were added to shape the line and the final coat of glue was left to dry for that mystical time, ‘overnight’.

 

 

Here is my sophisticated lanyard measuring device to keep them all the same length.

 

 

[GLakie]

Very nice Sal! I hope you and yours have a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year. 

[_SalD_]

Thank you George and a Merry Christmas and Happy New Years to you too.

[Elijah]

Looks great! Have a merry Christmas and a happy new year of ship modeling!

[WackoWolf]

Sal, may you and the family have an excellent Christmas and a safe New Year. See you in February at the meeting.

[Gahm]

Looking really good, Sal! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

 

Thomas

[_SalD_]

Elijah, Joe & Thomas thanks so much and a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all.

[_SalD_]

Lawrence, thank you for the kind words and may you and the Admiral have a wonderful Christmas and a safe and happy New Year.

[_SalD_]

I started work on the masts and discovered that I wouldn’t be able to use the same method to turn them down as I used for the bowsprit.  This was because the chuck on my drill press cannot fit the 5/16” diameter dowel. I had thought about trying to make a ‘poor mans’ lathe but always hesitated because I never thought I could properly align the drill with the 'tail-stock' piece.  Then, while walking past my pile of scrap wood, I had one of those ‘Eureka!’ moments.  What I discovered was a 24” piece of left over deck cap rail.  Turning the rail upside down I found that my 30 year old Craftsman electric drill fit very nicely in the groove used to support the railing spindles.  The drill was secured by plastic zip-ties.  For the 'tail-stock' I cut down a piece of 2x6 to fit in the same groove. This worked out well because I am able to slide the wood block along the groove to fit different length dowels and it's always aligned with the drill chuck.  A 5/16” diameter bit was used to drill a hole in the 2x6 for the mast but different size holes can be drilled in other blocks for different diameter dowels.  

 

 

The mast dowel was then chucked into the drill; the 2x6 tail-stock slid in place and clamped and then the dowel was turned down using the same method as the bowsprit.  Vacuum cleaner suction hose seen in the last picture was used for dust control.

 

 

 

I'd also like to take this time to thank everyone for their continued support and much appreciated encouragement over the past year.  Taking on this challenge has been much more enjoyable knowing that there are so many people out there who will unselfishly share their knowledge.

 

Merry Christmas to all and have a safe and happy New Year.

 

  

[Jack12477]

Nice improvisation Sal.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

[GLakie]

Nice work-around Sal. Have a great Holiday Season yourself! 

[Canute]

Good recovery, Sal. Merry Christmas to you and the family.

Edited December 24, 2015 by Canute

[_SalD_]

After shaping the masts I flattened the two sides to install the cheeks.

 

 

After the glued dried overnight I sanded them down and cut in the ‘fingernail’ shape at the bottom.

 

 

For the iron bands I decided to use the copper foil tape instead of the pinstripe tape.  I had considered making them from brass but then I would have had to put some of them on prior to installing the cheeks but thought I would have a hard time sanding the cheeks down without damaging the bands.  The foil was cut into 1/16” wide stripes and then blackened.
The bands were then installed per the drawings.  I’m not really crazy about now the bands that are supposed to be under the cheeks look but not sure how to make them look any better.

 

 

In order not to damage the bands when sanding down the front fish I decided to round it off before gluing it to the mast (should have thought of this for the cheeks  ). To do this I used some double sided tape on a scrape piece of dowel to hold the fish in place while sanding.  The pieces were stained and the back notched to fit over the bands.   They haven’t been installed yet.

 

 

Christmas present (I was a good boy) already put to work.  Proxxon sander, works very well.  Need to get use to it though, removes a lot of material very quickly.

 

[rtropp]

Hi Sal,

A primary consideration when I got the Proxxon sander was the speed control.  For fine work I will put it on slow so I don't over do it.

Also, I found you can clamp a piece of wood to the platform and get it closer to the sander for some narrower pieces. Here to the slower speeds help.

 

Richard 

[_SalD_]

Thanks for the info Richard.  The gap is a bit wide, I'll have to try using a piece of wood clamped to the tray.

 

Happy New Year

[Elijah]

That's a nice Christmas present! Maybe if you used a rust solution it would make the bands look less shiny? That's just an idea though.

[_SalD_]

Thanks for the input Elijah but it's not so much the shine on the bands as it's the way the bands that are suppose to be beneath the cheeks look.  The bands were installed all around the mast on top of the cheeks and then the portion that was suppose to be under the cheeks was removed.  It was suppose to look like the band went under the cheek but it doesn't really.  From about ten feet away they look fine though so I guess I'll leave them.

[_SalD_]

Small update.  Finished putting the iron bands on the masts and installed the front fish and bibbs.

 

 

 

This will be the last post for a while as the shipyard will be shutting down for a couple of weeks. I will be spending time with the family in sunny Florida on vacation.

 

Happy New Year everyone and thank you for all the likes.

[GLakie]

Looking good Sal!  Have a great vacation! 

[rafine]

Really nice work on the masts Sal. Enjoy your time in Florida. It's a great time of year here.

 

Bob

[rtropp]

Very nice Sal,

Mine is going slowly. lots of rework and it helps to review yours and the others as I go.

Happy New year,

Richard 

[Elijah]

Have a great vacation!

[Gahm]

Your masts are looking very good! 

 

Thomas

[_SalD_]

George, Bob, Richard, Elijah, Thomas & Lawrence, thank you all for the kind words.

 

I am back from vacation and was going to complain how unfortunate I was because I caught a cold or the flu as soon as I got there and had to spend most of the time inside in bed, but then I read the sad news of Augie's (Bruno) http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/12546-augie-bruno/?p=379342 passing and now my problems seem to be very trivial.  So here's to you Augie, may you rest in peace.

Edited January 13, 2016 by _SalD_

[_SalD_]

Finished the masts by painting the top portions, added the boom rest and lower cleats which I opted to paint black. I added pins to the back of all the cleats before gluing them to the masts for extra support.

 

 

The main and fore tops were pretty straight forward and assembled them as per the instructions.  The fore and aft planking was run long over the edge of the template plates and then trimmed (no picture of that).

 

 

To help locate the battens I made a copy of the drawing showing them, cut it out and used it as a pattern to mark their locations.  I also cut the center square out to mark the location of the other end of the battens.

 

[Elijah]

Your masts look very nice !

[Burroak]

Sal great job as always. Beautiful work

 

Greg H.