USS Constitution by Modeler12 - Cross Section, Forward Area of the

[Modeler12]

Right from the beginning I had in mind to make the various decks on the bench and then use a template to cut and fit them between the frames. The pictures below gives you the idea and it seems to work.

There are some minor flaws that I have to correct. The standing knees are in place but the top edges don't match the curvature of the beams. So I have to do some work there. 

In fact the knee in the starboard front needs to be replaced all together.

Then I will cut the deck part way to show the lower decks along the starboard side.

  

[Modeler12]

Let me expand on this a bit.

The outside of the hull (frames) is extremely rough right now and I will start working that soon.

However, what I wanted to show is where the frames (and other parts of the deck beams, carlings and joists) will be removed.

There will be two cannon openings on the gun deck. One towards the left which happens to be only partly there (which is good so I can show the details of the construction).

The top of the cut out will be just underneath the channel so I can still include that and the deadeyes, but only a few of the chain plates.

[DanO]

Jay,

You are doing such a great job and only wish that I had more time to follow.

 

Be well

Dan

[Modeler12]

Jay,

You are doing such a great job and only wish that I had more time to follow.

 

Be well

Dan

Thanks Dan, old buddy.

I only hope that your 'busy' schedule does not mean 'bad' news.

Send me a 'personal', please.

[dgbot]

Your Connie is  looking good. How are you going to finish it?

David B

Edited November 8, 2015 by dgbot

[Modeler12]

Your Connie is  looking good. How are you going to finish it?

David B

There still will be little or no paint and the port side will have the outside planking and copper plates. 

Both sides will have the channels and deadeyes while the starboard side will have a few outside planks but no copper.

So the top rails will be in place, but the spar deck will still have part of the structure shown.

A foreshortened mast will be there but no rigging to speak of.

I hope that all makes sense, David.

[Modeler12]

Looking down on the gun deck.

The berth deck is glued in place but all (or most) pieces associated with the gun deck are still loose.

I just finished making the stairs that go down to the berth deck, and as you can see, the posts are not yet cut to length.

I still need to make the 'hanging knees' which are going to be tricky because of the compound angles.

Again the right hand side of the gun deck will have parts of the beams, carlings and joist cut away.

I am getting closer to do that, but I decided to make all the parts you see so they line up before I 'destroy' them.

  

[mtaylor]

Precision work your doing, Jay... you got it down.

[Modeler12]

Making the knees

Let me (for this record) show how I go about making the knees. The example is for one of the hanging knees on the berth deck level, but the method also applies to all of the knees on the other decks (except for dimensions and shape)

I start with a piece of 3/16 inch thick boxwood, lay-out the sizes and cut the round part of the shape using a Forester drill at 1/2 inch.

 

 

Then I cut each piece from that to rough shape using my small band-saw.

 

 

A disk sander is used to shape the part, fitting it to the spot I want.

 

 

After it fits pretty well, I glue it in place.

 

Some touch up work will be necessary, because these pieces are difficult to get right the first time.

 

 

[Modeler12]

Confusing!

The hanging knees are a bit too thick and wide. But on the berth deck they will be mostly out of sight.

It was a good practice for the gun deck where neatness really counts.

[Canute]

Jay, that is some great looking work. I am in awe.

[dgbot]

Outstanding workmanship.

David B

[Modeler12]

Thank you guys, but there are a few 'happenings' or plain screw-ups.

I am sure some of you may have noticed, and I really know where and why.

But, again, this is below decks and barely visible in the final show (I hope).

 

Just now I started to sand the outside of the frames and that is going pretty smoothly.

I need to do this before the gun port openings can be located and cut.

More later.

[mtaylor]

"A bit too thick and wide".  ?????  I'm with the others Jay.  Looks good from here.  Would some touch up sanding in situ fix it?

[Modeler12]

"A bit too thick and wide".  ?????  I'm with the others Jay.  Looks good from here.  Would some touch up sanding in situ fix it?

It is the story of my life, Mark.

But it will take a lot more than a 'touch up sanding' for me to be where I was a few years ago.

 

I finally decided to smooth the outside of the frames a bit and cut those ugly tops off the port side.

I needed to do that in order to locate and fix the gun ports, but it also looks a bit better.

The top cut is well above the final rail, so there is room to maneuver.

Likewise there is a lot more sanding/filing to get the hull smooth enough for planking.

I'll concentrate on this side before doing the starboard side.

[Modeler12]

I need to take a step back in time.

Before I can glue the gun deck in place, I need to finish the 'decor' on the berth deck. That means installing hammocks.

Earlier I had put in eye bolts underneath the gun deck beams and made a few hammocks. Now I needed more.

However, most of the hammocks on the USS Constitution (as she is now in Boston) are hanging folded in half.

The first picture below shows six full size and the new folded version.

Let me outline how I made the latter.

I started with some light weight cloth (same as what I used for the sails on the full scale Connie) and cut one inch wide strips.

Those were then overedge stitched on my wife's sewing machine.

They were folded in half and the edges glued together with some PVA.

 

I made some loops with white thread (the ends of the thread were glued to the back side with some CA glue).

 

And then the piece was cut off.

All I need are about twenty more

 

[Modeler12]

By way of explanation about the hammocks, here is what the berth deck looks like on the Connie.

The ensign cabin is to the left.

 

PS This will be the point of view when I cut part of the deck and frames away on my model. The fore mast is barely visible at the top right side.

Edited November 14, 2015 by Modeler12

[GLakie]

I see what you mean about lots of hammocks to do Jay. 

[Modeler12]

Sorry, one more point about the view above and Mark's comment when I mentioned that the hanging knees I made were too thick and too wide.

The picture below is the view taking from the same spot as above but looking toward the starboard side (the one that will be not there on my model)

 

Notice that the hanging and standard knees are indeed a lot thinner and narrower than I made them for my model.

[Modeler12]

I see what you mean about lots of hammocks to do Jay. 

That does not mean that I will have enough to cover the deck, George.

But it is interesting that someone on the real Connie team decided that lots of hammocks were a good 'investment'.

[popeye2sea]

Interesting side note:  there were two hammocks for each pair of hooks.  Every crewman had his own hammock but there were two men assigned to each "space".  So when one man got up he unhooked one side of his hammock to hang "folded" from a single hook while the man coming off watch "unfolded" his into the same spot.

 

Hope that makes sense.  Hard to describe, easier to show.

 

Regards,

[Modeler12]

Interesting side note:  there were two hammocks for each pair of hooks.  Every crewman had his own hammock but there were two men assigned to each "space".  So when one man got up he unhooked one side of his hammock to hang "folded" from a single hook while the man coming off watch "unfolded" his into the same spot.

 

Hope that makes sense.  Hard to describe, easier to show.

 

Regards,

Perfect Henry. That explains why there are more than one hammock on the same hook. 

When you look at the pictures they are arranged just like you said.

[Modeler12]

Hammocks are tough.

I made six full size and 13 folded and they all look terrible.

But here they are installed on the bottom of the gun deck beams, hanging up-side down.

They will look better when horizontal, so I will let this pass for now.

BTW I did use a flash for this picture (something I never do otherwise).

And there are some threads that need trimming (if not all of them).

Edited November 18, 2015 by Modeler12

[Modeler12]

Update

It has been a while since I worked on this model. But slowly I am getting a few things done on the gun deck.

The deck is finally glued in place and I am starting the structure above it for the spar deck.

I did include the stairs going down to the berth deck and added one of the stantions and railings.

I also decided to cut the aft riding bit in two so you can see the stove and the fire inside better. All of this is still loose (as you can see with the two pieces of the aft riding bit).

However, there are a few things yet to be done before it all comes together. The bulwarks need to be finished and knees installed, after I cut the gunport holes. Then I have to make and install the guns. So, give me time.

 

 

[dgbot]

It really looks great.  It would be nice to get one of those fiber optic cameras in their and take photos.

David B

[GLakie]

She's coming together beautifully Jay. By the way, Happy Thanksgiving! 

[Modeler12]

Thanks guys and happy Thanksgivings to you also.

Actually we are having two hens instead of turkey this year, and there will only be three of us.

 

I would be afraid to see the inside too closely, David.

Those hammocks are not too pretty. When I finally open up the side I will have a lot of 'adjusting' to do.

[albert]

HI Jay beautiful work.

[Modeler12]

Thanks Albert.

Knees

The gun deck has several knees to support the spar or top deck. 

They straddle the gun ports and for the most part are all slightly different in size and shape.

Hence I will have to sand and fit each one individually.

There are standard or standing knees and diagonal knees. The hanging knees will be attached to the bottom of the spar deck beams.

But they all meet as shown in the picture below.

To make them, I used pieces of 1/8 inch thick wood, laid out the basic shape, cut the hole and band-sawed the pieces.

Some sanding will clean them up and then they will be sanded to fit around the gun port holes and meet the standing knees.

Edited November 27, 2015 by Modeler12

[shiloh]

Looks like your knees are well thought out and you have a good plan to produce them. One thing you might consider is to move the radius points, inboard and down, of the circular curves you drilled. Would allow for transition curves between the tangents and those curves. From the photos, it looks like that is what the builders did, it really improves the appearance and often adds strength in these types of transitions. You are doing some amazing work on this cross section.

jud