USS Syren 1803 by Dubz

[Dubz]

Today I checked how to make the lug of the carronades. I have a bigger spare one which is my test object for all this stuff.

First I had to mill a bit to get a flat base. BTW it's funny to see that Caldercraft was not able to correctly centered the hole



In this base I solder a piece of brass.



After it's soldered, drilled and filed.



And finally black Now 16 smaller one to do in the next days ...hmpf ...




Starting mass production of carronades

The pieces.



Soldered



Cleaned



Drilling hole of the lug





Filed and polished the first three ones ... that's not fun



One blackened .. a lot to go ...hmpf ...



cheers,

Dirk

[Dubz]

It was a bit of "Pimp my Carronade" as I wanted to show the vent hole. Very helpful was again the Verlinden Nuts & Washer photo etch set. The position is not really correct but that's ok for me as I think it's more important to "make the picture" ... gnarf ... english ... D grade ...





Next on the list is the elevating screw with the handle and the trunnion and bearing.



Time to sleep now, Good Night everybody.


I did the elevating screw ... boah that's so ********* damn small ....

The screw from Caldercraft felt a bit to big, so I took one with a smaller diameter. I also wanted to have the rounded bottom of the screw.



I soldered 1mm nuts on the screw and then put the thing in my Proxxon and filed the nut and the bottom rounded.



Next was to drill small damn little freaky holes in the rounded nuts.



And then soldered on the handle. Should be 2, like a cross, but no way, one has to be ok

 

Thats how it looks. The screw will be shorten of course.



As I finally good my pear wood I guess I will switch to deck planking soon. Tbh can't see the carronades anymore atm

cheers,

Dirk

[Dubz]

I'm starting to build the deck with pear, as I now got my wood



First I made the waterway.





Then some testing for the planking. It will be all pear with black paper as caulking. Nails are made with wood filler. After all Danish Oil has been applied.







Deck will be a bit tricky, as the width of the planks defines the width and position of the deck fittings, so there are minor adjustments to make surely.
Also I won't build the deck solid and glue the fittings just on it as I want to show the caulking between planks and fittings too. Right now I'm not sure for which fittings the caulking has to be shown and for which not, as from the width of them it looks like some are constructed in an overlapping way. AFAIK planks should not be shorten in their width partly. (Don't know the right term thou. "Ausklinkern" in german, maybe "notching"?).   

BTW, got the Long guns. They are absolute great!




The deck will be a slow progress I guess. I still need to figure out how to best make the joggling in the margin plank. I don't think I can do it with the margin plank already glued in position as pear with 1.5mm is hard to cut. Right now I'm thinking about building all planks that no joggling needed without the margin plank glued, and then step for step.

Anyway, produced a lot of planks already:



And marked the position of the deck fittings.



cheers,

Dirk

[Dubz]

It's not that I'm lazy But planking the deck is imo one of the most difficult parts and takes a lot of time. It would be easier if everything would be in an exactly symmetrical shape, and every strip is on a 100th mm exactly the same, but at least for me that is normally not the case

So I have a lot of axes to observe, have to check minor differences in the width of strips and at last trying to get a good center line ... haha ... I don't like that really It is a very big puzzle ...

Anyway, I did a lot of the planks and arranged them without gluing to get a feeling of the deck and to make minor adjustments of the center line.



And then, closed eys and start over ...

The actual state is now showable and I'm looking forward to your comments and questions. It will still take a good amount of time until I'm finished with the whole deck.

Right now it is not sanded nor oiled. The margin planks are not glued and removeable.










I'm getting closer



I made, know idea how, why, whatever, 2 minor mistakes but, haha, there will be both covered with the gunball thingys ... puhhhhh


Reaching the final stage of planking. As the bow this will be a more tricky part. Hint for others fill the space between the bulkheads with balsa, will make it easier



On the starboard side 1mm was left after planking, but not a problem the margin plank will be fill it, and the gap between margin plank and hull can be covered with the waterway (that's cruel english ... hmpf ... pls tell me how to write it better!).



At last my two babies again





cheers,

Dirk

[Dubz]

Finally it's done, some stupid mistakes including











The mistake, at least it is one afaik (correct me if I'm wrong), is here:



It should have been one plank:
a) Two joins side by side
b) if a plank will be only a "bit" longer" than a "regular"-length plank, make it that bit longer

Anyway to "fix" it would have been a nightmare with unknowing results, so ... I don't care

Next will be to drill a lot of holes - the margin plank is not glued yet, so I can drill outside the hull - and the excessive use of wood filler.

cheers,

Dirk

[Dubz]

In-between work I found the time to drill the holes. It's not a hard task and also the needed time is only about 3-4 hours. I prepare all holes freehand with a needle. First all joins. The join give me the feeling for the distance. After that I use masking tape to find a run over the imaginary bulkheads.



With this run I can pin the rest of the needed holes.



After that the deck gets a first sanding to remove the drill rest.



Next will be very boring. Before filling the holes every single on will get pinned with a needle again to get it optimal rounded....


Before filling the holes with wood filler i used Danish Oil on the Deck - it's always surprising how the colors work out - this makes it easier to remove the overlapping filler as the wood gets a smoother surface.



For filling I prepared a little tool from our favorite doctor .. a dentist ... hmpf ...



With this I can pick up a bit filler to fill the hole, and also remove the rest.



Prepared another tool to scrap the holes.



The margin plank is done. You can clearly see the difference.



After all holes are done I will apply Danish Oil again, to darken the woodfiller.

The deck is quite dark now, not like it would on a real ship, but I like that, kinda my style



cheers,

Dirk

[Dubz]

Nails done ...yeah!





cheers,

Dirk

[Dubz]

One of the most important rules while building is measuring, measuring, measuring. One of the rules I regularly forget is .. guess ... measuring. I could bite myself in the *** .....

See the height of the gunports on starboard and portside ... time to improvise again ... 



I notice while building the waterway ... arghhh ...



Anyway, one more think has been finished. As the copper got enough patina (with a good part of pink ) I sealed it with Zappon varnish. Also darkened the false keel.





Finished the waterway with the scuppers today








I started with the hatches. I like the deck getting filled and it is a bit les "stress" than other stuff

I wanted the gratings rounded and that's the result.





cheers,

Dirk

[Dubz]

Gratings, Gratings, Gratings.

Building the Gratings was quite a task, especially to get them centered. They feel a bit oversize for me, especially the small at the aft. I also changed the "style" from the second on, so might - haha - redo the first one.













Next was "Pimp my Capstan"

Build the capstan and added some details. I love adding details













cheers,

Dirk

[Dubz]

Still working on the deck fittings











Some small progress, Binnacle and companionway finished. Most annoying thing is soldering the rings for the doors... that's gonna get toooo small ... hmpf....






Right now I'm working at the long guns. It's about time that they Syren can defend herself a bit against the Sherbourne

It's one of the tasks I really like, pimping carriages in this scale (I will never do a 74 gun ship btw ) Very helpful is again the "Nuts and Washer" photo etched set by Verlinden and some micro rivets.









cheers,

Dirk