USS Constitution by usedtosail - FINISHED - Model Shipways - scale 1/76

[usedtosail]

Patrick - yes they do look to be good quality. I am going to put one together this weekend to check the fit in the gun ports, so I'll see how good the wood is and how well the carriages fit together.

 

Steve - ha ha. I was lucky to get third. Those other entries were all awesome. I am just glad it was a photo contest. 

[usedtosail]

Here are a couple of updates. I'll show the interior wall planking of the gun deck in this one and the experiments with the gun deck cannons in the next one.

 

I planked the insides of the gun deck walls using the same 1/8" by 1/16" planks that I used for the deck planking. I started with two full length planks at the bottom of each side. I mixed up some off white paint and painted the bottom planks before installing them, although the color looks very similar to the basswood itself.

 

 

 

Those clothes pins held the planks very nicely in place while the glue dried.

 

I then cut three short planks for between each of the gun ports and glued them in. I made them slightly longer than the span between the gun ports and will clean up the gun port openings later. These plank ends will be flush with the gun port openings, where as the outside hull planks will leave a slight gap for the gun port lids to fit in.

 

 

The next plank up was a full length plank, then I had to make shorter planks with either notches for the deck beam ends or cut to fit between the deck beam ends.

 

 

I ended up gluing the upper planks directly to the edges of the planks below. I really did not need the little supports I added for these planks before, as they really didn't support them. I did add a thin strip from the outside onto these upper planks to tie the top three together to give them a little more strength. These strips will be hidden when the outer hull planking is added. I cleaned up the gun port openings from the outside using some small diamond files, after cutting some of the excess plank ends with an X-Acto knife. I still have a little more cleaning to do from the inside to get the corners more crisp. I only had to do a little sanding of the interior planks, which I did with a riffler file first, then taped some sandpaper to the end of it and used that for the final sanding. Here is how the starboard side interior looks so far.

 

 

 

[HIPEXEC]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who uses clothes pins.

[usedtosail]

I wanted to test fit the cannons I bought from Model Expo to make sure they fit in the gun ports, so I assembled one of them and did a quick test. These did not come with instructions, so I basically just fit a support piece between the two side pieces for this test cannon, but the real ones will have a small tapered piece and a front support piece instead. I also just used some 1/16" square wood for the axles, but will use wider pieces of wood in the final version. I made a jig to hold the side pieces up while I glued them to the axles. Here is the test cannon from the jig:

 

 

 

I rounded the axles to fit the wheels and just slid the wheels onto them for now:

 

 

When I put this cannon onto the gun deck I could see that it was about 1/8" too low. This made sense to me given that the bulkheads as supplied by ME are at the height of the gun deck after planking, but I had reduced the height of the bulkheads by 1/8" to account for the 1/16" of the gun deck support piece and the 1/16" deck planks. If I had just planked the deck without lowering the bulkheads, these cannons would fit fine or be close.

 

 

My first idea was to add more height to the axles, but that would only get me another 1/16" or so without looking awful. I then looked at the supplied gun carriage sides and realised that I could cut them in half without hitting any of the notches, then I could add a 1/18" by 1/16" piece to make up the height difference. I did this for two sides and after sanding them they looked fine.

 

 

I glued them up with the axles and support piece, added the wheels and this is how it came out:

 

 

And here it is in one of the gun ports. It fits nicely and more importantly, the barrel comes out straight so I can (hopefully) line them up with the dummy cannons that will be in the other gun ports.

 

 

Here is a comparison of the stock cannon (right) and the modified version (left):

 

 

I was lucky to have some extra cannons to experiment with. At some point I will make up the 16 cannons that will be rigged on the gun deck, but I have a lot more work to do to get to that point.

[usedtosail]

Thanks Rich. They work great for many things, don't they? And since they are wood they don't make marks like metal clamps can do.

[alde]

Your modified gun carrage looks great. Figuring all this stuff out is half the fun.

[CaptainSteve]

WoW !! In the end, all of your additional work is going to pay-off with one fine looking gun-deck !!

[usedtosail]

Thanks alde, I agree. Getting everything to fit together correctly over the course of many months, if not years, is a real trick and it scares the crap out of me sometimes, trying to anticipate it all.

 

Thanks Steve. I just hope some of this will be visible when it is all put together. Even if not, the practice is invaluable and will help on future builds.

[CaptainSteve]

Just a thought, but when you fit your spar deck gratings, why not leave them un-glued. That way, you can remove them to show off your gun deck.

[usedtosail]

That's a good idea. I plan to leave the main hatch will be open without any gratings, but a boat will be placed on top of the beams. I could make the boat removable though. I'll have to think on that one.

[patrickmil]

Tom, very well thought out solution on the cannons. The carriages look great like that. The bulwark planking is very nice and clean as well. Great work!

[usedtosail]

Thanks Patrick. I am happy with that solution, since they will be painted anyway. If I ever try to build a model in all natural wood someday, i will be in real trouble. 

 

I am going to add the vertical and diagonal knees to the gun deck walls. I am not sure if these were in the 1812 version, but here is what they look like on the current ship. There is a vertical knee under each beam and the diagonal knees meet between the beams, probably at a carling (if that is the right term). Since I won't have any carlings, I will just have them end under the spar deck planking.

 

 

I made one from some 1/8" basswood sheet to use as a template for the rest:

 

 

I made this template a little thinner than the knee I wanted, because I have found in the past that once I trace it, it gets fatter in the end, so by starting smaller, it should come out close to the right size. I used the template to trace the shape onto some basswood sheet that I cut close to the correct height.

 

 

I traced these so the curved edge was always on the short side of the blank, so I could use the blank as a handle when sanding it. I cut off the excess with a razor knife, which left a nice triangular piece that I put aside to use to make the quoins for the gun deck cannons.

 

 

I then used a Dremel sanding disk in the drill press to sand in the curves:

 

 

I cleaned up the knee with small files and some sand paper.

 

 

Then cut it away from the blank with the razor knife:

 

 

I got into a good rhythm and was able to crank each one out about every couple of minutes, so it took less time than I thought it would. And here is how it will look as a vertical knee:

 

 

The trick is getting them all to look similar, so here are the first 10 or so and I think they do look similar:

 

 

And here are 33 of them, which is getting closer to the number I need, but not there yet. And the triangular waste pieces too.

 

 

Tonight I will figure out exactly how many I need and finish making them, then start attaching them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[patrickmil]

Tom, very well thought out process on mass production of knees. I was leaning toward using 1/8" stock as well for the knees as it almost works out perfectly for scale.

[Guest Tim I.]

Hello Tom. I do believe that both the vertical and diagonal knees were present in 1812. 

I ran into an issue on my cross-section build with the knees. The vertical knees fit, but the diagonal knees had to be re-shaped to meet a longer exposure to the curvature of the hull. Have you also run into that issue? 

 

- Tim

[dragzz]

i have to say u are doing great work thats a ton of work to make in to 1812   keep up the great work that u are doing i cant wait to seen it all done

[usedtosail]

Thanks Patrick, Tim and dragzz.

 

Tim - Thanks for the information. I made most of the diagonal knees the same size as the vertical knees. I did make three on each side a little longer for a longer span between gun ports. I was not able to get them to meet above the gun ports as they would have been really long, so I fit them so they looked OK to me. I have some pictures of them installed soon.

[augie]

Just had the opportunity to read your log.  I must say, you're doing a real bang up job.  Haven't had a chance to follow an ME Constitution from the keel up --- looks like fun!

[Geoff Matson]

What a great build! Looks like you will be taking the MS Constitution to a new level

[Guest Tim I.]

Glad you did not encounter the same issue. I cannot wait to see your gun deck take shape!

 

- Tim

[usedtosail]

Augie - Thanks for looking in. Your Confederacy is a really beautiful build.

 

Geoff - I don't know about that. I am just trying to add a little more detail than some. Your Constitution build is a real inspiration for me and was one of the reason I decided to build it. It is fantastic.

 

Tim - thanks and I hope it comes out the way I envision it. A problem I always seem to have is keeping something I had already done from getting messed up by further steps. I am hoping that doesn't happen when I add the rest of the details to the gun deck.

 

A small update. I installed all of the knees on the gun deck walls, with vertical knees under the beam ends and diagonal knees in between. They look a little funny without the carlings in place, but once the spar deck is planked the tops of these knees won't be visible. I put some masking tape on the deck to protect it while gluing up the inside planks and the knees, and I managed not to get any glue on the deck (so far).

 

 

When I removed the masking tape, some stain was lifted from some of the planks, but I was able to restain them and blend it into the rest of them. I painted the inside walls, knees, and inside the gun ports with an off white that I mixed up. I also managed not to get paint on the waterways or deck, at least not any that I was not able to wipe off before it dried. It really helped to paint that bottom plank before installing it. I also gave the deck, hatch coamings and gratings and waterway a coat of Tung oil. I know this may interfere with gluing details to the deck later, like guns, but I plan to pin all those down so they don't come loose later. I will also scrape the glue areas before gluing. Here  is how the gun deck looks so far:

 

 

I have been making up gun carriages as I wait for other things to dry.  I have no idea what color these carriages should be. The carriages on the current ship are a pinkish-red, but I don't think that would have been the case in 1812. They could have been red like the British ships of the time, black, brown, yellow even, but I really don't know. I am open for suggestions from all you Connie experts out there.

 

Thanks so much.

[patrickmil]

Tim, your lady has some great looking knees!         

[CaptainSteve]

Really impressive work you are doing there, Tom.

Just a further thought with regards showing it all off ... have you had a look at Dan Vadas' fully-framed HMS Vulture build recently ???

My thinking is to have your spar deck planked above one side of your gun-deck section, with exposed framework over the other side.

 

This would mean some in-depth research on Connie's frame-work, but would make for a really unique build.

It's just that I'd hate to see all your great work being hidden away where no-one will ever see it.

 

Hey, it's just an idea ... feel free to reject it.

Edited April 17, 2014 by CaptainSteve

[usedtosail]

Thanks Patrick. I am hoping she has a good waist too.

 

Speaking of waist, here is the picture of the Hull model that shows both the open main hatch and the open bulwarks at the waist.

 

 

CaptainSteve - I like your idea but I think that is a bit too ambitious for me this build. Someday I would like to build a true plank of frame like Dan and EdT are doing, but not this one, even a small portion. The guns on the gun deck will be visible somewhat through the gun ports, and the deck itself and bits near the centerline through the open hatch, like the picture above shows. That is, if I leave the ships boat off the hatch, which I may just do. I had thought about making the boat removable, but this beast is going to be inside a very large case which I will not be opening and closing. Someday, I would also like to make a model with an exploded deck view. I have seen some pictures of models with their spar decks suspended in the air on supports so you can see inside the gun deck. I think it is a cool way to display those details, so I may try my hand at that in a future build. Always have to leave something different to try in the future, right?

[alde]

Tom, I have never read anything that specifies colors for the gun carriages but would it not be safe to assume they would have followed British convention?

 

Your gun deck details look great. Even though most of the detail will be hidden they will be recorded in pictures at least.

 

Al D.

[patrickmil]

Tom, I know where you're coming from concerning your decision to close it all up. I was on a similar train of thought and the admiral shut me down. She said if we're going to take the time and money to do the things you can't really see then you'd better open it so we can see it. The waist section is something I'm still not too sure on. The original draught lines show this as not being an open waist and then of course, we see the normal sectional at 1812. Seriously though, the knees look great and is one hell of a stepping stone to scratch building. Bottoms up!!!

[usedtosail]

Thanks Al and Patrick. Yes, I have so many pictures already, more than any previous whole build. These will make a nice record of what's been done and what may be hidden. Still thinking about the gun carriage color, but I have lots of time to decide. In between framing I have put together 5 of the 16 gun carriages that I need for the gun deck, although these are still pretty rough. There are a lot of steps for creating each carriage and more later when they are rigged.

 

I have been working on the dummy gun ports. These will have the dummy barrels in them with the gun port lids closed. The main concern here is to have the barrels exactly in the center of the ports and at the same angle as the real cannon barrels. I first made up the tops, bottom and sides of the ports, using different widths of 1/8" strips. I glued these in so that the rear edges of the tops and bottoms held the backs at the correct angles. Each gun port was just a bit different. I then sanded the front edges flush to the bulkheads, making sure that there was a slight curve between bulkheads to match the fairness of the hull. This is especially important near the bow, where there is a sharp curve between bulkheads.

 

Here are the sanded frames with the backs being glued in place:

 

 

And here is a simple tool I made up to center the backs. It is just a thin piece of wood that is the same shape as the gun ports glued to a piece of dowel that is the same diameter as the dummy gun barrels. The dowel fits snugly in the hole in the backs, so I inserted the tool into the gun port and slid the back piece on from inside the hull and pushed it tight to the frames, after applying some glue around the edges of the back pieces. I held it in place while I removed the tool and placed the two clothes pin clamps in place.

 

 

Here are the three ports at the bow. The one in the middle was the tricky one that needed thick tops and bottom frames to get the curve of the bow into them. The first ones I put on were too thin so it made the frame too flat. I also had to trim the back piece at an angle to fit close to the bulkhead. The front gun port needed some work too. This was actually added weeks ago when I framed the bow area. Unfortunately, the plans either were not right or I misinterpreted them. First off, in the current configuration this is not a gun port but an anchor port, but in 1812 this was a gun port from what I have read. On the plans it says that this opening is the same shape as the other gun ports, which is how I should have built it, but from the shape shown in the detailed plans, this opening comes out square. Also, the top and bottom of this port were too low in the detailed plans, so it did not line up with the other ports. So, I removed the top and bottom pieces and glued them in at the right heights, then used a file to widen the sides to the correct width. I am thinking that I will have the gun port lids on this front port but no cannon barrel sticking out, mainly because there is no room behind it to get a back piece in and to hedge my bets on what type of port this is. I did add a thin piece of wood as a backing just to block any light from coming in from behind.

 

 

Speaking of light, I got to looking closer at the ends of the gun deck and realized that some of the other bulkheads may be seen through the openings. I first thought to just paint them all black, but then came up with a simpler solution, which was to just close up the ends with some black construction paper. I think this will look better in the long run.

 

 

These are all pictures of the port side gun port frames. I am still working on the starboard side frames.

 

[patrickmil]

Tom, nice work on the dummy gun ports. Good idea with the construction paper too.

[usedtosail]

Thanks Patrick.

 

No progress to show here. Just got back from New Orleans to visit my daughter for our birthdays. Got to the NO Jazz Fest this weekend. What a great show. I would recommend to anyone to check it out if you are in the area around this time of year. 

 

I did have a lot of time to read while flying, so I got through most of A Most Fortunate Ship book and found out a bunch of things that will affect my build. First off, all that fussing with the anchor port/gun port on the gun deck will be for naught, as these were not cut in until September of 1812. I am going to just plank over those openings. The three gun ports in the transom were cut in in June 1813, so I don't think I will have any gun ports on the transom now. Finally the white strip did not go all the way around to the bow in 1812.

 

I am still working on the starboard gun ports for the dummy cannons. Should have them done soon then on to the spar deck gun ports.

[usedtosail]

Now some updates to show. I finished the dummy gun ports on both sides and have sanded them flush to the bulkheads.

 

 

Now I could turn my attention to the spar deck gun port framing, which will get me very close to start planking. Since I am showing the open waist, I needed to add new bulkhead extensions at the ends of the forward and rear bulwarks, which do not line up with existing bulkheads. I marked these out on the tops of the gun port framing, as these will be the bases for these extensions, which will also be glued to the back of the spar deck waterway.

 

 

I then needed to make the extensions, but they are not shown on the plans directly, but they are indirectly in the shapes of the bulkheads.

 

 

I found the sheet that contained the bulkheads closest to these new locations and used them to trace the shape of these extension pieces onto some basswood strips, then cut/sanded them to shape. I used the cut out to test the shape.

 

 

I glued these in place, using a batten to hold at the right position to the rest of the extensions.

 

 

I then did some fairing of these and the neighboring extensions.

 

 

I made all four of these but so far have only added them to the starboard side. These will be used for ends of the bulwark planking and will also support the trail boards.

 

I then added the plank sheer pieces between the bulkhead extensions which will be the bottoms of the spar deck gun ports. These have not been sanded flush with the bulkheads yet. I did not have to add these between bulkheads that will not have gun ports.

 

 

 

 

I am glad there were not any gun ports at the bow because there the plank sheer needs to curve. It would have been very difficult to match the curves in these between pieces and the inner plank sheer pieces. Once these bottom frames are ready, I will add the sides of the gun ports. The tops will be the main rail when that is put on. I will have to add horizontal support pieces next to the gun ports to support the vertical gun port sides, but these will be planked over when I plank the bulwarks.

 

 

[pete48]

Hi Tom, Beautiful build you got going here , fantastic detail on your build log. great job

 

Best Regards,

Pete