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

[_SalD_]

Mast tops finished and unpainted.  Railings are not glued in position yet.

 

 

 

I decided to use the more accurate method of hanging the blocks below the tops as Chuck noted in the instructions.  To thread the rigging line through the holes I used a wire I removed from a needle threader.  This allowed me to remove the wire while keeping the loop above the top.  To keep the loops from pulling back through the holes I used the scrap shanks from eye bolts that I had cut off previously.  After getting frustrated trying to insert the proper size pin in the loop I found it was a lot easier to put in a longer pin than required and then trim it to size after it was in place.

 

 

 

To keep the 3/32” clearance between the block and the underside of the mast top I made up some zip-seizing and cut them 3/32” long.  These were then slipped over the rigging line to act as spacers.

 

 

  
I used a third hand to help hold the blocks in place while I tied the line around them.  I wish the tops were painted some other color than black because believe me, black thread on a black background was tough.  A pin was used to help keep the deadeyes in place while I tied them.  I must be getting better at this because I didn’t launch any of them into never-never land.  Also notice the pins below the loops.

 

 

Finished tops

 

 

Finished lower masts and I have to say that these two pieces were one of the more complex assemblies I’ve done on this ship.  There are a lot of parts that need to be coordinated that I wasn’t fully aware of until assembling everything.  My one big faux pas was the placement of the bibbs.  When I installed them on the mast cheeks I thought I had aligned them square in the fore and aft direction.  However, when I installed the mast tops on top of them I discovered the tops were angled to one side. To fix this I squared the tops to the masts which made the bibbs slightly angled off the trestles. It’s a good thing everything is painted black because it’s hard to notice.

 

[rafine]

Great work on some pretty intricate parts Sal. 

 

Bob

[GLakie]

Those mast-tops look great Sal! Nice work! 

[JesseLee]

Wow! Looks really good!

 

Jesse

[Elijah]

The mast tops look amazing! Great job!

[_SalD_]

Thanks Bob, George and Jesse and Elijah, I really appreciate the comments and the likes.

Edited January 26, 2016 by _SalD_

[_SalD_]

Thanks Dirk glad you like it.  You look cold in your new photo

[_SalD_]

Thanks Lawrence and if you enjoy rigging how would you like do do mine?    The more I look at all those lines the more apprehensive I get about starting.  I know I just need to take it one line at a time, but that's a lot of lines!

 

We got about 12" of snow but the temperature is back up in the 40's (F) so it's melting pretty quickly.

[Gahm]

Great looking masts, Sal! Very nice work!

 

Thomas

[_SalD_]

Trestle and cross trees construction. To ensure these pieces were assembled properly I put a piece of two-sided tape down over the drawing and used it for a template to alien the parts.  I took Chuck’s advice and predrilled the holes in the cross trees before I removed them from the laser cut sheet.  Be very careful while drilling these holes the parts are very fragile.  I ended up splitting two of the ends that I had to glue back together.   Let the drill do the work and resist the urge to push the bit into the wood like someone I know did.

 

 

I shaped the top and topgallant masts using the same procedure I used for the lower masts.  The only deviation I made from the instructions was to the very top of the topgallant mast.  What I did and it wasn’t from lack of trying but after I broke the mast two times while trying to make this little pole at the top I decided that I would just make it a separate piece.  I made the topgallant to just above the upper most sheave then drilled a hole in the top so I could insert the pole which was made from a toothpick sanded down to the right diameter.

 

 

The mast parts were all assembled and painted.  I believe (and hope) I installed all the blocks that were shown on the plans.  I can see where this would be a pain to do after the masts are in place, if you see something I missed please let me know.

 

 

Masts temporarily installed

 

 

The final pieces I made up were the mast coats which I covered in cloth from a handkerchief to make them look like they were covered in canvas.

 

[CDW]

Sal

 

Such a great-looking model. You are doing an outstanding job on it.

 

Regards

Craig

[_SalD_]

Thanks Dirk and Craig. Makes a big difference with the bowsprit and masts in place.

 

Dirk, you look a lot warmer now.

[Elijah]

Wow ! Those masts are very tall! Great job! They look great assembled .

[Gahm]

I agree with Dirk, that really looks very nice!

 

Thomas

[_SalD_]

Thanks Elijah and Thomas and I appreciate the likes

[_SalD_]

Stepped the masts!!

 

To help align the masts I find that a 45 degree drafting triangle comes in handy.  I use the triangle to help me center the mast side to side.  First I scribe a line in the plastic triangle bisecting the 90 degree angle and perpendicular to the hypotenuse, pay attention Elijah there’s going to be a quiz on this.  Then I measure the overall distance outboard to outboard of the cap rail where the triangle will be placed.  Dividing that distance in half I mark that distance on either side of the scribed line along the hypotenuse of the triangle.  Then standing the triangle up against the mast and with the two marks at either edge of the cap rail the apex of the bisected 90 degree angle will be centered on the ship and 90 degrees to the deck. For the fore and aft position I used a gin pole arrangement braced back against the cannons.

 

 

 

 

Both fore and main masts were done the same way.  Fortunately I was able the use the opening between the hammock netting at the boarding panels to place the triangle for the main mast.

 

 

 

The advantage I find with this method is that the ship doesn’t need to be leveled. As long as the ship is built with a reasonable amount of symmetry and the triangle is properly placed across the rails then the apex of the triangle will always be at the center of the ship and 90 degrees to the cap rails (deck).

 

Final step was to push the mast coats down into position.

 

 

 

Please excuse the mess

 

[Jack12477]

Sal, thanks for the tip. I had not thought of using a gin pole to brace them. Will use that on my model. Model is looking great.  BTW What mess ?   Looks very well organized to me

[_SalD_]

Thanks Jack and thanks for all the likes.

[GaryKap]

Sal -

 

What a great idea!  And I actually have an old 45 - 45- 90 drafting triangle similar to yours.  Glad I never throw anything out.  I have such a bad "eye" that I could never do it freehand.  In the past, I tried to line the mast up eyeballing with a door frame in the background to get it straight.  Your approach is so much more straightforward.  Thanks for sharing.

 

<<Gary>>

[Elijah]

Where is the best place to get one of those 45* drafting triangles? Yes, I screenshot every helpful post I see ! Maybe I should get a binder and print out all the helpful tips, then I could organize them by category! This idea might be worth saving . Your workshop is great, better than my father's (which people throw stuff into all the time). Great job on those masts! Now I just need to find a binder and a whole lot of printer ink…

[GLakie]

Amazon's one decent place to look for drafting equipment. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Dtools&field-keywords=Alvin+Drafting+Triangles

[_SalD_]

Thanks for the comments Gary, Elijah, George & Lawrence.  Elijah like George mentioned Amazon is probably a good place to buy a drafting triangle or if you have a Hobby Lobby nearby they should have them or any art supply store will have them.  It's been a long time, a real long time, since I've purchase one myself.

[rtropp]

Sal,

Really nice work and great explanations.  These are a big help to me.

 

FYI, hobby lobby has a 40% off one item coupon on their website.  You can use a new one each day. That's good for me because I have one just down the road.

 

Richard

[_SalD_]

Thanks Richard and I'm glad I can be of some help.

[Richard Griffith]

Beautiful work, Sal~!         Duff

[Jimz66]

Looking good Sal. VERY GOOD> I haven't checked in in a  while. 

[_SalD_]

Hey Duff, Jimmy, thanks for looking in and the nice words, see you Saturday.

 

and thanks for all the likes

[_SalD_]

Started the chain plates and made them pretty much as described in the instructions.   The only difference was I added two additional pins to the jig for the deadeye strops.  The two extra pins as seen in the photo below helped me keep the bent wire together and made it easier to bend back the loose ends.

 

 

Chain plates assembled.

 

 

Deadeyes in position with edge strip added to the channels

 

 

Chain plates fastened to hull.  I decided to use the photo etched preventer links because they looked a lot nicer than what I made.  The only problem I found with these links was that the brass nails provided with the kit to fasten these links to the hull did not fit though the holes in them.   So instead of the brass nails I used some sewing pins I had that fit nicely and actually had a smaller head than the nails.

 

 

Prior to starting the rigging I decided to mount the ship on its display board and pedestals.  The board is ½” oak from Home Depot stained with the same 40-60 mixture of golden oak and natural stain as used on the model and the pedestals are from Model Expo.

 

[Elijah]

Very nice solutions!

[UpstateNY]

Fabulous work Sal...she looks great on her display board..love the stain color.

 

Cheers,

 

Nigel.