Constellation 1856 by JerryTodd - 1:36 scale - RADIO - First Class Sloop of War

[JerryTodd]

I'm using brass rod for the topmast fids, but I drilled and inserted some brass tube into the topmast heel to strengthen the fid hole.  Metal plate will be put on the bearing surface of the trestle-trees.

 

 

 

 

The caps I made were just rough outs, so I made a new set from laminated aircraft plywood and one of oak for the bowsprit.

 

 

 

 

The caps got some eyes installed, and the tops got blocks for the heads of the trys'l masts, then everything got painted.

 

 

The bowsprit started with a bit of research.  The paintings of the ship in 1856 and 1862, the earliest known photo from 1871, and the rigging documentation of the period all agreed closely enough.  I basically used "Plate 51" from Luce's Textbook of Seamanship 1891 edition along with the 1871 photo as my guide's.

   

 

The heel block for the jib-boom and the bees got things started.  The heel block is notched into the bowsprit, glued, and pinned - I think it'll stay there.  The jib-boom was notched to fit

 

The cap was banded with some of the copper tape used on the hull's bottom, and some eyes.  It also got some copper strap glued and pinned to take the notched heel of the flying jib-boom.

 

A "wythe" was made from copper and it was glued and bolted to the shouldered end of the jib-boom.  The flying jib-boom slides out through this and steps into the strap on the cap.

 

Banding for the bob-stay chains, fore-stay, and the heel strap for the jib-boom were all made with copper sheet.  The heel strap is also bolted through the heel-block.  The forestay bands are anchored with a copper nail under the bees and wrap under the bowsprit and through the bee on the other side.  The holes in the bees for the t'gallant fore-stay are sheaved with 6mm brass sheaves.

 

 

The bees were permanently attached with 4p finish nails as pins, brass nails through the t'gallant fore-stay sheaves, and glue, of course.  A set of spreaders and a dolphin-striker were made from maple, fitted with hooks, and everything was painted and stained.

 

 

 

Edited May 27, 2014 by JerryTodd

[texxn5]

Wow, impressive size and really looks good.  I love R/C things, and this is superb.

[JerryTodd]

Channels, Quarter Galleries, and Paint

 

The channels were made from pine and their shape, position, and size were taken from the 1888 spar deck plan, as will be many other deck details.  The Archives listed an 1854 spar deck plan, but it was, and still is, missing from their files.

 

 

It was time now to repaint.  Painting up to this point has only been  a quick job of spray painting, now I was going to finish the gun stripes properly, and get into some nooks and crannies.

 

 

 

 

I don't know what these things are called, the only name I've seen is "drops," so, I made them of sheet balsa laminated into blocks which also meant the quarter galleries were finally and permanently affixed to the hull with epoxy and the screw that had held them since their beginnings.  The insides of the quarter galleries had been thickly painted in resin some time ago, in case any moisture managed to get inside.

 

 

The gun stripe now went through the head as it should, and the masts and tops also got some fresh paint.

 

Course Yard Trusses

 

Constellation's course yards are attached to the lower mast via a set of iron trusses.  These are really quite impressive items that will be as important in the operation of the model as they undoubtedly were on the ship itself.  Unlike the trusses on the clipper ships and most modern square-riggers; Constellation's pivot out further from the mast where the more common type pivot at the mast and hold the yard off on a post.  This allows the yard to be braced further over and allow the ship to sail closer on the wind.  Constellation's truss design also allows the top masts to lower through them without having to disturb the yard in any fashion - something that will help me lower the rig on the model for transporting.

<= Stad Amsterdam  <= Constellation

 

It's very fortunate to have the actual ship available to reference, and that so many of her original fittings survived the attempt to make her into a frigate - these trusses for instance.  Using a photo of a truss on the ground and my own photos taken from on deck, and using the diameter of the masts for proportion, I designed a set for the model.

 

I ordered a sheet of 1/8" thick aluminum online and began cutting out my parts on a band-saw with the narrowest blade I could get.  I'm not really set-up for working with metals, but I trudged along.
 

 

Cutting out the parts was tough enough, making the bows made that seem easy.  The bow's center bulge was vertical and swelled to as much as a 1/4" while the ends were horizontal.  I opted to get this shape by heating and twisting the ends.  First I drilled them, then I heated them, then carefully twisted the ends 90°.  Most of them worked out very well, but a couple broke and had to be remade.  With some filing you can see they're twisted at all.

 

 

 

 

The remaining part to make were the clevis'.  This was made from some aluminum rod, drilled, slotted, tapped, and shaped with files to match the iron clevis' of the real thing.

 

 

Here's a shot taken a bit later showing the top mast lowered through the truss:

[dcicero]

Jerry:

 

Your Constellation is looking great.  I'm following your progress with great interest!

 

And your wargame collection -- visible in the background of several of your pictures -- looks great too.  Lots of overlap with my collection.

 

 

 

Dan

[captainbob]

Good looking trusses.  At this rate you'll be in the water soon.

 

Bob

[JerryTodd]

Moving up the masts, I started on the topmast cross-trees and trestle-trees, and the topmast caps.

Another item I came across here at MSW was the idea of laminating some items, among them, cross-trees.  These are made of bass (lime wood) and laminated in a form just the way I saw it done here.  The ends are seized with poly thread and set with CA glue to prevent the t'gallant shrouds from splitting them.

 

 

The caps were cut from 1/8" aircraft plywood and everything got painted white.

 

 

Eyes were set into the stem for the bobstays.  They're a little over-sized, but I felt there was going to be a lot of strain here and wanted the extra strength a larger diameter rod would give. These eyes are 1/16" brass rod made into eye-spikes and CAed into the stem at 90° to the bobstays. They're connected and reinforced with a brass plate that is glued and nailed to the stem and soldered to each eye.

 

Then it was outside for a photo.

 

Here it was the middle of April, 2010.  I wanted to get the hull in the water again, but I didn't just want a float test, I wanted a sail - so I made a goal to jury rig her enough to sail by July.  The first weekend available in July was that of the 10th, so that became my goal.

 

There were several items that would have to be done to be able to sail the model, even jury-rigged:

• Shape the still rough cut yards; fore course, fore tops'l, crossjack, and mizzen tops'l yards.
• Complete the yard trusses with mast bands and banding to attach them to the yards
• A gammon "iron" for the bowsprit.
• Rudder control & steering.
• New winch drum for braces.
• Sails for planned sailing suit; 3 tops'ls, Spanker, and jib.

A gammon "iron" was made of copper - the same sheet the rudder gudgeon plate and tiller were made from. The actual ship had an iron gammon fitting instead of the traditional rope wrapping. Two copper nuts are soldered to the bottom allowing two copper machine screws hold the two halves of the "iron" together, clamping the bowsprit between them.

 

Another "iron" fitting goes on each cap for the yard's lift tackles to attach to.  These, again, were copper and glued and nailed to the cap.

 

The required yards were shaped

 

The original drums for the winch servos were made of wood disks sandwiched between plastic compact-discs.  These warped so I made a new one substituting 1/8" thick sheet styrene for the wood disks.

 

 

 

 

The steering set-up for the rudder mentioned earlier was put back in place.

 

The trusses were attached to the course yards with brass banding held by nuts and bolts.  Threaded eyes were attached and copper banding made for the masts.

 

 

 

All that was left was to make

 

The Sails

Edited December 4, 2014 by JerryTodd

[EdT]

You are really rolling here, Jerry.  I like the trusses and enjoyed the rudder video. although I am a little seasick.

 

Cheers,

 

Ed

[texxn5]

An incredible build especially in this scale.  Outstanding.

[JerryTodd]

The 1854 sailplan shows 17 sails.  There were stuns'ls, though they're not shown.

 

 

The sails will be made from DuPont Supplex.  Supplex is the sail cloth provided with the SC&H kits.  It's strong, light, UV resistant, wrinkle resistant, and water resistant.  It's typically used in wind-breakers and such garments.  Besides, the appearance and performance experienced by my friends Dan Lewandowski and  Victor Yancovitch on their models is a pretty good selling point

    Dan's 1:24 Syren (from an SC&H Grasshopper kit)

 

***  I get Supplex from Rockywoods.com.  I got white, but some might prefer the color they list as "Nomad."  I think that used to be listed as "Wheat"and is the color used by Victor on his Royal William.

 

    Vic's scratchbuilt 1:36 Royal William

 

Constellation will inevitably carry some 2,807.01 square inches (1.8 square meters) of sail, but for now I'm focusing on 5 sails; the jib, driver, and three tops'ls. (#'s 2, 6, 11, 15, & 14).

One change I made to the sail plan was raising the clews of the heads'l a little to make it easier to pull them across the stays.  Interestingly, this was done to the actual ship's heads'ls at some point as can be seen in the 1862 portrait of the ship.

 

Each sail was drawn on paper full size, and cut from the cloth with a hem allowance added.  All sail panels were drawn on with a .05 fine point permanent marker.  Tablings were cut from the cloth and the edges heat sealed with a hot knife.  These items were glued to the sail with Liquid Stitch fabric adhesive and ironed with a clothes iron.

 

Holes were made for lacings, reef points, etc with the point of a hot soldiering iron, which makes a hole and seals it against runs at the same time.

 

The hem was folded and glued, then folded and glued again and all ironed flat.

 

Then came the bolt rope.  This is nylon cord about 1/16" diameter.  It's glued with fabric glue and stitched onto the sail as was done on the prototype, except I did a stitch about every three strands instead of every strand.

     

Jib    Fore tops'l

 

main tops'l

 

  Driver    Mizzen tops'l (on just cut main tops'l)

 

All the sails were cut, all the heads'l were hemmed, but only the 5 needed were bolt-roped.

 

Edited May 27, 2014 by JerryTodd

[JerryTodd]

Lines were rigged connected course yard to course yard the same distance from the center-line on each side of the model.  Lines that would serve as braces ran from the main course yard ends to the quarters of the hull and to the springs on the post, and then to the winch.  This way the winch would swing the main course yard and the connecting lines would move the fore and mizzen yards at the same time.  This is not how the model will eventually be rigged for running, but it would do for a test sail.

  Video of Brace Testing

 

The fids were pulled, the topmasts lowered, and batteries put on the chargers.

 

The next day, July 10th, 2011, the model and it's equipment and accessories, were stuffed into the Tahoe.

 

I took the model, and my lady who was to be the official videographer, supplied with camera and tripod, a quarter mile down the road to Sloop's Cove on Stoney Creek, where the neighborhood has a public pier and water access - such as it is.

 

At the site I raised the rig, bolted on the ballast, and tested the systems.

 

Getting her into the water, I placed the sandwich bags full of lead bird shot left over from the ballast torpedo and weighing about 12 pounds, into the hull and moved them about to trim her.  There still wasn't enough weight to get her down the the LWL and she stood about 1-1/2 inches high in the water.

 

Then off she sailed.

 

And some of the video...

 

It wasn't an unsuccessful day, but it was a bit disappointing.  The winds were too light and variable, and in the creek there, they swirled and eddied about.  The model never really got more than a few feet of any real sailing.  When it would puff strong for a bit, she handled it fine, then it would shift and catch her aback.  She also handled the occasional wakes from passing boats quite well.  Then, about an hour in, the battery died.  I later found it had failed completely and needed to be replaced.  The model was near the middle of the 100 yard wide creek and headed toward a boat dock about 50 feet away from me.  I went into the water and swam over to meet her.  She gently bumped her forestay against the dock and stayed there till I got to her.  I'm not much of a swimmer and quickly wished I had brought one of my floatation vests to make the job easier - but it was in the 90's and the water felt pretty good.  Next time I'll have some form of chase boat; a kayak, inflatable, or preferably a pram I'll build.

 

 

   

 

Note: That thing at the base of the mizzen is an on-board camera.  It took some incredibly boring video.  If I can get some editing software that will let me put it up split-screen fashion in sync with the other video, I'll post it somewhere.

 

Video of the Recovery or how the big bald ape rescued the model ship from certain doom without himself drowning.

 

Then it was out of the water, off with the ballast, down with the rig, and into the truck.

 

Edited December 4, 2014 by JerryTodd

[JerryTodd]

Ship's Boats

 

In September (2010) I got a copy of the lines for Constellation's boats from the National Archives in Silver Spring, Maryland.  I cannot convey the feeling you get holding an original document dated 1854 in your hand.  To look at the erasure marks, and handwriting, and all the details put on this paper 156 years before.  The archives actually scanned them for me and I also got a paper copy.  They're drawn in 1:12 scale (1"=1') and only show the lines, no construction details, hardware, seat arrangements, etc; but they are, specifically, Constellation's boats.

  <= Constellation's boats in 1856 by deSimone.

 

Again, I sifted through MSW to see how other built their boats, and found a variation on a common theme in Gene Bodnar's thread on building a 1:32 scale Constitution in six sections.  His boat's were about the same size, maybe a little bigger, as mine would be.

<= Three of Gene's boats for Constitution.

 

This method of building ships boats is basically the same way I build any model hull...

 

There's 6 boats in all: a 31' launch, a 1st cutter of 28'7", a 2nd cutter of 25'10", two 26'6" quarter boats, and a 28'2" whaleboat, which I assume hung on the stern as there's no "stern boat" listed.  All but the launch I believe to be clinker built.

 

I decided to start with the 1st Cutter.  It was the largest clinker built boat of the group.  I produced patterns for all the boats and printed them on 8.5" x 11" label paper.  Then I cut them out, peel them off, and stick them on the wood.  The parts for the stern-post, keel, and stem was basswood (lime), but the forms were balsa.  I used balsa because of the small size, ease of shaping, and I had several sheets of 1/8" sheet laying about.  Also, when it came time to separate the model from the forms, balsa would offer the least resistance, and would give before a rib did if something stuck that shouldn't have.

 

 

The forms were cut, trimmed, sanded, beveled, and glued to a building board.

 

Each form got a rib bent over it made of 1/16" bass.  These were held by rubber bands to the form.  The transom, stern-post, keel, and stem were shaped, rabbeted, and bearded as required, glued together, then glued in place on the ribs.

 

 

Planking of 1/32" bass sheet, commenced at the garboards, and proceeded up to the rails.  Being clinker built, there's no other way to to do this but to spiel each plank and put them on in order.

   

 

When the planking was complete, the stem and transom were cut loose of the build board and the boat was lifted off it's forms.

 

The forms are actually at every other rib, so additional ribs were bent into the hull.  Rub rails were glued on.  Floor boards, oar notches cut, and seat clamps installed.

 

 

Seats fitted.  The model was painted, and more details added; meanwhile the largest of Constellation's boat took shape.

 

 

The launch was carvel planked using the same set up used for the cutter; but the building board was made narrower so the form would over hang the sides.  This allowed me to use rubber bands and clothespins as clamps where the build board was in the way before and prevented that on the cutter.

 

 

The launch is a 30' boat with a coppered bottom and mounting a boat howitzer, with a whole structure for handling the gun inside.  I "coppered" the bottom with peel and stick aluminum duct tape, which is sheet aluminum.  I painted that copper with the paint I had painted Constellation's bottom with.

   

 

The launch is ready for it's gun, but still needs some details, like the iron fittings the gun carriage attaches to, and the gun and both it's carriages.  Both boats need things like seat knees, oars, rigs, etc - before they can be called complete.

 

Next: Pivot Guns

Edited July 26, 2016 by JerryTodd

[captainbob]

That's beautiful.  Both the line drawings and the poats.

 

Bob

[JerryTodd]

I like the poats too   They're a fun side project and I'm looking forward to completing these and getting the rest built.  I've got as many to build for Macedonian; a Zodiac and a boat for Pride of Baltimore; and Gazela Primeiro will have a few dory's stacked on deck - it's almost a hobby unto itself.

[JerryTodd]

Constellation was originally fitted with two 10" shell guns mounted on the spar deck and designed to pivot.  They can be seen in deSimone's 1856 portrait of her at Naples.

 

Her bulwarks where the guns were mounted, were made into panels that could hinge down, out of the way as seen in the sketch of her stern in 1859, and a photo of the bow portion which she retained right up into the mid 1950's, when she was brought to Baltimore.  The stern portion were reduced so only the panels at the quarters remained, and then at some point they were removed entirely and a "solid" bulwark installed.

 

 

Some of the bronze hinges for these panels still exist, though the ones for the stern are long gone and many for the bow are missing.

 

The guns themselves were mounted on carriages that slid on a chassis that could be pivoted on either end, or in the center.  Iron tracks were screwed on the deck to keep the chassis from tearing it up.  What pattern these tracks were laid in I've yet to discover.  The restoration folks say that somewhere they're referred to as "circles," but I've read accounts from the Kearsarge that refer to them as "circles" or "traverse circles " where photos of her deck show something more complex than a simple circle, but more akin to what's seen on this model of the sloop of war Savannah, razeed from a frigate.

 

 

In fact, manuals printed prior to the Civil War are, I believe, much closer to what Constellation probably had:

 

 

I actually started making these guns before work resumed on the model in 2009.  I didn't have a lathe yet, and tried turning a barrel on my drill press, which didn't turn out well.

 

 

 

 

My friend Dan, following my build on RCGroups, offered to turn a barrel for me and sent me a lovely piece of work.  I fined it up and added some details to it, then made a rubber mold and a resin casting.

 

 

The mold got bubbles in it and the casting came out looking like the gun was recovered from the bottom of the ocean.  I'll have to come back to that experiment at some point.

 

The chassis for my carriage was a modified version of the plan I acquired from the Archives for the steamer Mississippi's guns.  At the time I was under the assumption that rollers were required at either end to function on a single circular track.  The manuals, showing the exact same chassis, show that is not the case - so these will be rebuilt, or replaced, with correct ones at some point.

 

 

 

 

These guns were replaced with a pair of Parrot Rifles at the start of the Civil War; a 30 pounder forward, and a 20 pounder aft, both on mounts very similar to those of the 10" shell guns.  Plans for these mounts are also available at the National Archives, and are what the restoration people are hoping to install someday.  They already have a 20 pounder Parrot tube on board mounted on an ordinary truck carriage.

  Note the size of the 20 Parrot compared to the model shell gun as compared to the men.

Edited May 12, 2014 by JerryTodd

[JerryTodd]

Now we come to the chainplates.  I was initially going to bolt them  through the hull, and that requiring access inside the hull, would delay getting the deck on, which, in turn, delays getting on the deck details and hammock rails, etc, ie: finishing the darn thing.  Instead of bolting them, I will use brass wood screws into an oak backer inside to attach them to the hull.  I feel this will have the required strength and allow them to be removed, if need be, for repair or replacement.  Riveting them, as the originals are, would be too much trouble to deal with at this scale.

 

 

Constellation's chain-plates consist of five basic parts

1. A strop that wraps around the lower dead-eye and bolts to...
2. a link strap that lays against the channel and is connected to...
3. an oblong iron link that is connected to...
4. another link that's shaped like a bent exclamation mark (I call it the "pinched-link,") and pinned to the hull by a...
5. dog-bone shaped, half-round, iron backing-link that is riveted to the hull and spreads the load.

The ship appears to have retained her chain-plates through the years. What's on the ship today appears to be the same as the earliest photos where they can be discerned.  I'm reasonably certain what's visible in the 1914 photo is correct for 1856 - and unable to find evidence to the contrary - that's what I'm going with.

 

I'm making the chainplates from brass sheet and rod in the same layout as the originals.  This way they should function well enough for the model while looking correct, and to scale.

It's times like this I wish I could manage some photo-etching so I could make a whole pile of the link-strap (#2) at once - they really are quite a pain to make.  The pinchlink isn't too bad; I wrap it between two pins in a block and literally pinch it.  Soldering I do with soldering paste and a micro torch.

 

They will be painted, but I blacken them to give them a sort of primer coat first.

 

 

 

 

I haven't had much luck making the strop.  The real ones are doubled iron rod, but brass rod small enough to double doesn't like being soldiered.  I plan to try it with a soldering iron and see if that works better than the torch.

 

 

The backing link is a half round piece of iron with the flat against the hull.  I haven't figured out my approach to this part yet, though it would be nice to PE a whole set of them and be done with it.

 

So far I have 46 each of parts 2, 3, and 4 shaped and waiting to be soldiered.

Edited May 26, 2014 by JerryTodd

[WackoWolf]

She has turn from a piece of wood into a Beautiful looking ship. Excellent work. Thank you for sharing this with all of us.

[texxn5]

this is really remarkable. I love seeing these ships sailing, and your mates really have some nice ones too. How fun.

[JerryTodd]

Thank you for the kind words.  When I started this project the Internet was pretty new, to me at least, and it wasn't easy finding information, or other people doing such things.  Since then I've come across a bevy of wonderful models.  Some aren't much up close, but beautiful under sail, while some just boggle the mind at any distance.

 

Victor, who built the Royal William mentioned earlier, built a Victory some years before, same 1;36 scale I think.

 

 

"Bill Huizing (pronounced Hy-zing) of Summit, New Jersey in 2009 completed an utterly magnificent RC model of the Charles W Morgan whaler seen by visitors to Mystic Seaport." quoted from Mark Steel's column in DuckWorks   Bill doesn't do the Internet" built the 1:24 scale Charles W Morgan I think you'll appreciate.  There was  a YouTube video of it sailing, but it's become "private" sorry folks, it was something to watch it sailing about in Mystic Harbor, a harbor I've sailed about in myself a few times.

 

 

This little fella from Down-unda built himself the bark Sindia - now that's impressive - he can nearly get in it and sail it himself!

 

 

The sailing and static pictures are all very nice, but I tend to go looking for the shots that show the guts, how they handled control, and how they transport these beauties!  Guess I'm just an RC square-rigger geek.

Edited September 9, 2013 by JerryTodd

[JerryTodd]

A working model without a crew, to me, looks odd.  I'm not modeling the Marie Celeste, but, in fact, a warship, which tend to have pretty large crews.  Constellation had a complement of some 20 officers, 220 sailors, and 45 marines.  I don't intend to include all of them, but there will be some 30-40 figures visible, especially around the pivot guns.

 

First, I have to determine what Officers, sailors and Marines looked like in 1856.  The simplest are the Marines as I have reenacting buddies that do Marines of that period.

 

Officers I haven't nailed down yet, and sailors are a bit like these fellows, except I've seen these boys IDed as both US and British Man-o-War men.  It's hard to find images of US sailors in the mid-1850's, except some Japanese art from Perry's visit.

 

I though the plethora of 1:35 scale military figures would make finding something I could convert easy - far from it.  The closest I've managed are some WWII Russian sailors, but it was $5 for the set and I should be able to get a couple of basic figures to take a mold off of and clone a crew from them.

 

 

From this I assembled one fellow you've seen in several images above to help represent scale, I call him "Ivan."  He was painted with acrylics per the method found on the web site.

[WackoWolf]

Jerry,

 

     Very nice figure. Please keep the pictures coming. I enjoying watching what you doing, excellent work.

[JerryTodd]

Stern Windows

 

Further back, I posted a drawing of the ship in drydock in Boston Navy Yard (Charlestown) in 1859.  Now I took another step toward that image.

 

I had cut out the stern ports back when I cut all the ports to install the resin gunport lids, but I didn't cut all the way through.  I thought I would just install the window frames into this recess, but the fiberglass matt surface just wouldn't get smooth.  So I cut out a port and made a window frame to install from inside the hull.

 

 

 

That looked like it would work, so I cut the rest of the ports, made more windows, epoxied everything in place, painted everything and Constellation no longer had a blank face, er, rear end.

 

 

 

The "glass" portions of the windows will get several coats of clear gloss.  I didn't use glass because there's noting to see through them and I didn't see the point.

 

Medalions

 

Since she was built, to this day, Constellation has had three fiery star medallions on her stern; her constellation of stars; one in the center and one each on the backs of the quarter galleries.  So far as I've been able to determine, these medallions are the original set she had when she was launched.

 

 

I tried carving one in Sculpty, but it was too bulky and thick.  I had a little boxwood left over from a carronade I made for the Hornet project and remembering how nice it was to work with, I tried a different approach.

 

I sliced off a slab of the boxwood and cut and carved the star.

 

 

 

 

This was mounted on a sheet styrene backboard.  Already it's looking better than the first attempt.

 

Bit by bit, I added details carved in styrene sheet.

 

When it was done, I primed it and then mashed it into some clay three times, poured a little resin in, and a few minutes later I had three pads of butter that looked like Constellation's medallions.

 

 

These were trimmed, sanded a little, washed, degreased, and primed.  The raised details were painted gold...

 

The background was painted midnight blue.  I examined the oldest photos where I could see these on Constellation and felt that there was a color difference there.  Looking at common depictions of stars, comets, and shooting stars in period art and carvings, it seemed fairly typical to make celestial objects gold on dark blue backgrounds - so that's what I did.

 

 

The medallions were then given a couple of clear coats and then epoxied onto the stern.

 

As I mentioned on the chainplates, I decided to use wood screws to attach them to the hull, rather than through bolt them.  To that end, I epoxied strips of oak inside the hull to give the screws something to screw into.  I also put some fiberglass over the inside of the stern windows to make sure things were sealed up tight.

 

 

  looking aft from inside the hull.

 

As of this date, this is where the model stands on top of a cabinet in a living room, waiting for the shop to get put together so work can resume.

Edited September 23, 2013 by JerryTodd

[texxn5]

Really very nicely done. Thanks for posting pictues of the Morgan. I was on board her last week nd I'm building a model of her.

[JerryTodd]

She has turn from a piece of wood into a Beautiful looking ship. Excellent work. Thank you for sharing this with all of us.

Actually, this one was closer to turning a roll of tape into a ship

 

Thank you

[JerryTodd]

I've been invited to take Constellation to National Maritime Day on May 18th.  They're setting up a 56 x 24 foot "pond" for RC models at pier 13 where the NS Savannah is docked.

 

So, as I get Constellation ready for her second sail, I'll post updates here along with pictures and a report after the event.

[dgbot]

Sound like you are going to have fun.

David B

[JerryTodd]

Well, she's down off the cabinet without breaking anything on her, me, or the house.

 

Everything is jury rigged, I need to rig the braces and sheets yet.  The electronics have been tested and the batteries charged.  I also need to run the steering cables and she'll be ready to sail Sunday.  I wish I had her t'gallant masts made, but, them's the brakes.

 

 

[lambsbk]

Have fun and happy sailing Jerry.

[mtaylor]

Here's wishing you that the shiny side stays down and the cloth and point side stays up.      Have good one and I'm looking forward to the vids.

[captainbob]

Wishing you much fun.

 

Bob

[JerryTodd]

This was my first time publicly displaying a model.  It was a learning experience to be sure.  The 10 mph wind was more like 15 plus some interesting backwind off the bow flare of the NS Savannah.  The 20 x 30 foot pool was no where near enough room for Constellation to actually sail, not to mention it was set-up on a slope and most of it was too shallow.  The wind flogged her jury rigged controls so loose so that after a short while, I just tied her up at the windward end.

 

My friend Mark brought his little schooner Son of Erin and she was the belle of the ball, nimbly scooting about the pool, sailed by children and the director of Historic Ships at Baltimore, keepers of the real Constellation.

 

Ultimately, the model got some exposure, especially to some local maritime folks who wanted to see more of it at local port promoting functions.  The model, at least, may get a job, if not her builder

 

Don't forget you can click on these images to see larger versions:

 

Packed into a Ford Windstar

 

  At the Baltimore Port Expo

 

  In the pool

 

  Sails filled and nowhere to go

 

  "Anchored"

 

  Chesapeake Bay Ram Conrad Fuller and tug Delaware, both 1:24 scale.

 

  Delaware

 

  Forrest Sherman class destroyer in 1:96 scale.

 

Schooner Son of Erin frolicked in the pool

 

  Pride of Baltimore II gave free rides

 

  NS Savannah

Edited May 19, 2014 by JerryTodd