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

[GLakie]

I like your rivet-stamping jig for the sheathing Sal. Especially the variation in patterns and the research involved. Nice!

[_SalD_]

Thanks George, now I just have to make a bazillion plates.

[GLakie]

I hear that Sal. When I do my MS Connie, there'll be around 2,500 of 'em.   Not really looking forward to it.   

[_SalD_]

After a little procrastination I started plating the hull. For me, plating is a little like taking a bath when you’re a kid, you hate to get in but once you are you hate to get out.  To start I cut 30” long strips of copper tape to put through the jig.  I then cut that strip into smaller more manageable segments.  I have to say that the chisel blade on the stamp worked out very well.  Before I started the coppering I attached a temporary piece of wood to the deck so I could hold the ship in my keel vise.  This made it much easier to work on the inverted hull.  The screws holding the wood are positioned where the hatches will go and the deck will be repaired after the wood piece is removed.

 

 

 

The actual plating went well with no major boo boos.  In fact I found this ship to be easier than when I did the Phantom’s plates.  Not as much cutting of the plates and the larger size plates are easier to handle.  To keep finger prints off the copper I wore latex gloves and to fix the plates in place I went over them with a wallpaper seam roller.  Please excuse the photos, it's hard taking good pictures of the plates

 

Started with the keel

 

Continuing on

 

Finished the port side

 

No dressing belt yet

 

When I got to the dressing belts I thought to myself, self, the only real difference between the hull plates and the dressing belt are four additional holes along the top of the plate.  So instead of making two new stamps for the dressing belt plates, even though I had all the material ready to make them, I just used a burnishing tool to place the four additional holes in the plates I already had.  One thing I found that helped a lot with placing the dressing belt that I really didn't plan but worked out well was that when I painted the waterline I had taped off it's exact location.  Afterwards I thought it would be a good idea if I painted a little below the waterline to give me some room for errors. What happened was I got a nice tape line marking the position of the waterline between the two applications of the black paint.

 

Dressing belt

 

 

Started the starboard side                                            Finished the starboard

 

 

Done, time to get out of the tub , on to the rudder

[augie]

Very nicely done.  Are you going to leave her with the brite finish and wait for it to naturally age or will you be treating the plates at all?

[GLakie]

Nice job Sal! Great ideas with the wood for the clamp and the gloves.

[_SalD_]

Very nicely done.  Are you going to leave her with the brite finish and wait for it to naturally age or will you be treating the plates at all?

Thanks Augie, funny you should ask about the finish.  Reading through Chuck's old build log he had mentioned that he discovered (by accident) that using spf 50 sun tan lotion on the plates gave them a nice finish and did not show fingerprints.  Well I PM him to make sure he would still recommend doing that and he replied that he would.  I am going to make up some test strips to see how the lotion works and if I like it that's what I'll be doing.   

[augie]

Dirks log also listed a vinegar/salt mixture that seemed to work quite well.  And I've seen some take off the shine with dullcoat.

 

Mine's been coppered for about 2 years now.  I didn't do anything special and the color is darkening/ageing naturally.  Let's all touch base in 25 years and see how they all turn out.  

[CaptMorgan]

Sweet -- very nicely done.  I'm still paying close attention....

[Gahm]

The coppered hull of your Syren looks great! I found this to be one of the most satisfying parts of the building process. And where the finishing process is concerned I belong to the more lazy guys and let mother nature do it. One piece less I can mess up 

 

Thomas

[_SalD_]

Augie, George, RR, Thomas, thanks for the kind words.  I also find this task to be rewarding and relaxing especially when it turns out nice.  For my Phantom I didn’t do anything special for the copper and it seems to be darkening nicely but I did get a lot of finger prints on it while completing the model.  If I do leave it ‘au naturel’ my only concern is keeping my grubby fingers off it while finishing it.

 

Augie it's a date 25 years from now I'll post a picture.

 

And thanks to all for the likes.

Edited April 2, 2015 by _SalD_

[_SalD_]

I sanded the rudder to the tapered shape called for in the instructions and then applied the copper plates.  The top was painted black prior to placing the plates.   The false keel was fastened to the keel and to the rudder.  I used the brass nails that were included with the kit to secure the false keel in place, they’re a little oversized but not too many people are going to see them once the ship is finished and mounted.

 

         

 

After reading Richard’s (rtropp) log trying to use the brass strip covered with the copper foil for the pintles and gudgeons I decided to forgo that headache and use copper strips.  I discovered however, as Richard did, that it’s impossible to buy copper strips small enough to make them.  After some internet searching I came up with a method for making my own strips.  I purchased a copper sheet from Hobby Lobby and using a carpenter’s triangle (quick square) to hold the sheet in position I scored the sheet using a utility knife.  After running the blade along the copper sheet 4 to 5 times I used a bent nose pliers to break off the strip by gently bending it back and forth along the score line.  The strip needs a little sanding along its edges but you can make several strips rather quickly.

 

 

For the gudgeons I soldered a 1/16” diameter copper tube to the strip.  For the pintles I soldered a piece of 22 gauge wire to the strip.  I still need to drill the holes, cut the straps to length and clean them up a bit but I’m waiting for my drill bits to arrive in the mail.

 

 

 

[Gahm]

Those gudgeons and pintles look great! I like your method of making those copper strips!

 

Thomas

[_SalD_]

Those gudgeons and pintles look great! I like your method of making those copper strips!

 

Thomas

 

Thanks Thomas, I made quite a pile of scrap trying different methods of cutting the copper before I tried scoring it.  I tried tin snips, jewelers saw, hacksaw, dremel cutting blade.  This method gave me the cleanest cut and smoothest edge.  I also finally found out what bent nose pliers are for.  I've had one for years and never knew what it was for.

 

[rtropp]

Sal,

Looking great.  I like the way you fabricated the pieces.  Very sharp.

 

I found that if I did not have the drill bits with high rpm they would break.  At first I was working very slowly but went through too many bits until I got some good advice.  High speed, slow feed.  Also, use an awl or similar to not only mark the hole but also create a slight indent to guide the drill bit.  keep the piece on a hard surface while marking it to make sure it does not bend.

 

I went through copper like crazy but finally figured it out. I put the copper ring on the gudgeon on the inside of the bend.  I had seen some like that but putting it on the outside looks like it makes more sense. Its a good idea to dry fit the pieces to see how much distance there is between the rudder and the sternpost. I think mine had a little too much space between them but did not look too bad.

 

Right now my ship club has a group build going on.  It is the 18th century longboat and to make it interesting I have it at double the size and working it as a scratch build.  I plan to switch between it and the Syren as soon as I get the longboat planks cut. 

 

I look forward to following along with your build.

Richard.

[_SalD_]

Richard thanks for the advice, you saved me from breaking some drill bits.  I did break one because I guess I wasn't going slow enough, though I thought I was.  What I finally did was when lowering the drill bit I would barely touch the surface with the bit until it bit into the copper then very slowly advanced the bit.  I found also that even though I scribed a mark at each hole location the bit would still wander somewhat.   I used plenty of 3 in 1 oil too.  Now I just need to find some tiny nails.

 

 

Drilled and all cleaned up                                                         Pre-bent the gudgeons to fit the hull.

         

 

 

I would like the thank everyone for all the 'likes' also.

[_SalD_]

Not a big update today. I installed the rudder pretty much as outlined in the instructions.  I did add some simulated nails which were sewing pins with very fine shafts cut to length. Next time I think I won't use so many.  And in case you’re wondering why the nail heads are dark and not copper in color it’s because this shipyard used bronze nails instead of copper.  The bronze being a little stronger than the copper brings me to a question.  Would the actual pintles and gudgeons really be made from copper or would they have used bronze?  Copper just seems to soft a material to use for parts that would take such a pounding from the constant movement of the ship.

 

 

[GLakie]

Your rudder looks great Sal! It's a good method you came up with for fabricating the iron work.

 

Cheers

[augie]

It all looks good.  Interesting question about the copper vs. bronze.  Let's see if someone pipes up.

[Gahm]

Your rudder turned out very nicely! And I have no idea concerning the copper versus bronze question 

 

Thomas

[augie]

I've sent an inquiry, via PM, to Jim Ladd.  If anyone will know about these rudder straps it is he.

[wq3296]

Greetings Sal,

 

Nice work. Regarding pintles and gudgeons, I expect they were probably castings or wrought iron. If castings, they were probably iron or maybe bronze. I have never heard of cast copper parts because copper is too soft to resist wear. Given the stress pintles and gudgeons were under, I would bet on the iron over bronze. Not sure if builders were aware of galvanic action back then, other than its effects, but bronze and copper would go away very quickly in salt water further weakening stressed parts. Let's see what the "experts" say.

 

wq3296

[_SalD_]

George, Augie, Thomas and wq3296 thanks for looking in and the kind words.

 

Augie thanks for checking on the rudder material from Jim.

 

wq3296 thanks for the info. I believe the ship builders knew of the adverse reaction between iron and copper in salt water.  I would think that if they did use iron fittings on the coppered hull they would probably need to provide some sort of separation between the fitting and copper.  I'm not sure about bronze in a salt solution need to do a little more reading.

[Jim Lad]

Sorry I missed your question, Sal.  The pintles and gudgeons would most likely have been of bronze.

 

Below are some photos of wreck artefacts that might be of interest.  They are from HMS 'Sirius', wrecked on Norfolk Island in 1790 and the merchant ship 'Sydney Cove', wrecked on Preservation Island in Bass Strait in 1797.

 

Bronze pintles, gudgeons and spectacle plate from the 'Sirius' on display in the Norfolk Island Museum

 

Remains of the rudder of the 'Sydney Cove' together with it's pintles and gudgeons at the QVMAG, Launceston

[augie]

Thanks John.  Now we know!

[_SalD_]

... The pintles and gudgeons would most likely have been of bronze.

 

 

 

Jim, thanks ever so much for the input.  The pictures are great.

 

Augie, thanks again for asking Jim.

[augie]

No problem, Sal.  Getting good information is part of what MSW is all about.  Somebody always 'knows'.

[_SalD_]

Starting chapter 9 – Hull Details

I decided not to try my hand at carving the stern decorative pieces or the quarter badges but to use the castings provided.  I cleaned them up a bit by removing the flash and mold lines then primed them.  I’m in the process of trying out different paint colors before painting the actual pieces.

 

 

While experimenting with paint colors I continued by making up and installing the split rings aft of the quarter badges.  I used the eye bolts and split rings that came with the kit and not knowing how much force would be applied to these rings I decided to solder them together.  After soldering the pieces were cleaned and blackened.

 

 

 

Still trying different colors for the badges so I went on to make the sweep port lids.  After reading the instructions for making these lids I discovered that I made the openings in the planking a little too big.  The instructions say to use a 1/8” wide strip for the lids but my ports are closer to 3/16” square.  In my defense however when making these ports back in chapter 5, the ports were to be 1/8” square plus no more than 1/32” all around for the lip, which would give you 3/16”.  No big deal though, so I used a 3/16” wide strip for the lids that fit the port fine.  I also chamfered the edges on the back of the lids, similar to how Dirk did his, which made them fit better.

 

 

 

The ‘U’ shaped hinges I used as provided and did not thin them down like some others had done with theirs.  I thought the thicker hinge would look better on the bigger lids.  I also decided not to remove the little tab on the front of the hinge that’s used to hold it in place on the photo etched sheet.  (There’s probably a proper name for those little pieces but I don’t know it). I bent the little tab down to use it like a nail to help secure the hinge to the lid.  The hinges were blackened and then installed.  I will try cutting tiny pieces of wire for the ends of the hinges but I’m not sure how I’m going to cut pieces that small yet.

 

 

[GLakie]

She looks great Sal! Nice fitting sweep ports to. Very nice!

[augie]

Hope you're having fun with the 'fiddly bits'.  Get used to it!!!!  Sweep ports look good.