Syren 1803 1:64 Model Shipways

Jack Sparrow said:
Ok so I got pintled off with my build of this ship and i purchased already made gudgeons and pintles. I am a wimp. This was before the great crash of 2019(ie. my wife dropped the ship).
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I’m glad to know I’m not alone in the rudder struggle Jack and buying them has been on my mind too. But my wife dropping mine is not something I’m going to think about ;).
 
RogerD said:
Another small update but a protracted battle making the rudder pintles and gudgeons. I need to get the rudder on before turning the hull upright for the deck fixtures and fittings, which I have been working away at.

I started off with the kit supplied 12” length of brass, drilled erratic bolt holes, struggled with soldering tiny pins for the pintles, ran out of the sized brass strip then decided the use of copper strips might be easier and more realistic. I had also tried various methods making the soldered gudgeons similar to Dirk’s @Dubz Modelling World. However, I couldn’t get a small enough spacing between the rudder and hull so changed tack again.

I purchased a small sheet of 0.5mm (1/64”) copper and cut scaled strips on the Byrnes table saw with lots of repeat small scale measuring. Many efforts later I decided to stop trying to line up and drill the multiple bolt holes and simply simulated them with a Dremel engraving cutter. For drilling I held the copper in place using a “Jimsky jig” @Jimsky.Then it was back to tiny soldering for the pintle pins and some careful bending. I think I now have a possible solution.

I have been at this on and off for some time and was getting “pintled off” at my lack of progress :rolleyes:. So here’s my latest iteration - helpful criticism is always welcome. My thanks to you for following along.

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Good afternoon Roger. I think those look fantastic.
dockattner said:
Pintled off - have to remember that one!
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Ditto- we should add this to the dictionary.
RogerD said:
“I did it my way” - good grief I am starting to sound like Grant! ROTF
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ROTF ROTF ROTF ROTF . Don’t follow my bad example Roger your work is to good to go there. :D.
Cheers Grant
 
Tobias said:
Roger, I think your gudgeons are great and the choice of copper is perfect.
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Thanks Tobias, the next step is to glue them to the copper plated hull and rudder with CA. I did a test with a gudgeon that I messed up. I glued it to a copper plated piece of wood and it held really well. I realize the best option is to pin them but I will wait and see how things go.
 
Will @ Trilogy said:
Beautiful work on the binnacle excellent choice not to use basswood. Love the cherry with some wipe on poly it really gets warm and soft looking. Gun ports lids: how are you cutting the inside reliefs they are looking great.
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Hello Will, thank you for your comments. Making the binnacle was an enjoyable few hours of cutting and construction. The bell, which is a “to do” is supposed to go on top but I might use an alternate idea for it’s placement.

For the gun port lids I glued two roughly 6” pieces of pear together lengthwise. Glued together they gave me half the gun port height (half lids). I made up quite a few extras. Then measured the required rabbets and milled along and across the now joined 6” pieces. My first time milling so there were many repeats and wasted wood. For the half-circular openings I measured a diameter that is suitable for the carronades. I marked the bottom of each semi-circle on each lid so they were equal in depth. I made another mark at exactly the mid-point of each semi-circle on the top edge of the 6” pieces for each lid. That top edge mark gave me a cutting guide for a small Dremel sanding accessory. I inverted an old Dremel rotary unit I have, held in place in an old little Dremel router table. I then cut a notch in line with the top mark to guide me and then eye-balled the sanding till I had my semi-circle. Each one was done separately and it took a while to get reasonably competent. I tried a sized drill bit originally but it tended to shred the rabbet edges. I tried drilling before doing the rabbets too but I found similar broken edges when it came to milling the rabbets. I am not competent in milling by any means! There was a pile of messed up lids that were returned to the builders yard under warranty :D.

I hope I my explanation makes sense. Sometimes it’s easier to see it in your own head than trying to describe it.
 
GrantTyler said:
Good afternoon Roger. I think those look fantastic.

Ditto- we should add this to the dictionary.

ROTF ROTF ROTF ROTF . Don’t follow my bad example Roger your work is to good to go there. :D.
Cheers Grant
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You are very complimentary Grant but I know there are a lot of SOS members who would agree with me when I say you are a great example of an excellent modeller - true story (where did I hear that before?) :D.
 
Very clear explanation of the lids and rabbits. As to trying to mill a gun port slot you'd spend a lot of time and effort jigging up the pieces in the vise. Your idea seems to be a better approach.
Scrape wood oh! yes my box keeps needing to be fed when I cutting wood especially with the scroll saw.
 
Quarter badges

As I progress to more of the external fixtures I have come up against the matter of the quality of the metal fittings in the kit.

IMG_4309.jpeg

I cleaned up the quarter badges as best I could and it’s obvious from the first photo how difficult it is to paint fine lines. So I experimented a little and air-brushed the whole badge, then dry-brushed the shingle looking things on the top. I then painted the imitation windows black and allowed for a tiny glassy sheen. The second photo shows the results of that first effort. Reasonable from a distance (10 metres :D) but maybe too crappy close up.

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As far as I can tell quarter badges were less common on these smaller ships and tended to serve no purpose. In many cases quarter badges were omitted completely, so now I have choices:
  1. Mount the painted quarter badges as shown on the left (after a little more tweaking).
  2. Use one subdued colour covering the badges completely, then mount them so they are not overly prominent but the build effect on the quarter is there.
  3. Omit them completely.
  4. ?
As usual critiques, suggestions, raised eyebrows and “good grief” comments are very welcome ROTF.
 
A much appreciated vote of confidence, thanks Paul. I’m wary of saying I have the ability to make them but heck this hobby is about continued learning and practicing different techniques, so worth an effort at least. I think it will be an intermittent mini project as I continue other parts of the build.

Time to get out the tiny gouges and razor sharp blades (Jim @Jimsky is now horrified I have sharp gouges in my hands again ROTF ).
 
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I didn't add them at all when I did my Syren. Quite frankly I didn't know what purpose they would serve.
If I had to do it again, I would have tried 3D printing these things.
Oh wait, I don't have a 3D printer! Well I think I just found my new CHristmas present. lol
 
Roger this is some very useful information of how to make you own counter badges.
Go to Model Ship World and search for the below entry
US Brig Syren by WalrusGuy - FINISHED - Model Shipways - Scale 1:64
Page #7 and it starts with entry #208 and continues for several pages.
This morning I looked at my Syren badges which are nowhere as nice as yours. Looking back i've decided to make my own now.
 
Will @ Trilogy said:
Roger this is some very useful information of how to make you own counter badges.
Go to Model Ship World and search for the below entry
US Brig Syren by WalrusGuy - FINISHED - Model Shipways - Scale 1:64
Page #7 and it starts with entry #208 and continues for several pages.
This morning I looked at my Syren badges which are nowhere as nice as yours. Looking back i've decided to make my own now.
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That is very helpful, thanks Will. It looks like his modular type of approach works well. Doing piece by piece means less chance of messing up overall.
 
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