usedtosail

I haven't had an update in a while, but I have been working on the masts. Here are the fore and main lower masts ready to paint. I am currently working on the mizzen mast and mizzen topmast. In this picture you can see the mizzen mast clamped to hold one cheek as it is drying. You can also see the mizzen topmast and the blanks marked for the fore and main topmasts. Also, the pin rail that goes on the mizzen mast is done. It only goes 3/4 of the way around the mast to leave room for the spanker mast behind it. I made the topmast by starting with a square piece of wood that was the correct size at the base. I then used Chuck's 7-10-7 fan to mark lines on all four faces for an octagon shape. I used a small plane with the wood in a holder that has a 45 degree groove in it, to cut the corners off, making an octagon shape all the way up the mast from the square section at the bottom. I then put the mast in the lathe and sanded the round section between the bottom and top octagon sections, tapering the mast as I rounded it. I turned the mast around in the lathe and cut the shoulder above the upper octagon section, and turned down the round section at the top to its diameter. I removed the mast from the lathe, then used a small file to taper the faces of the upper octagon into the lower round section. I also had to remove some wood from the faces so the mast would fit through the hole in mast cap. After that I filed the square tenon into the top for the topmast cap. With this method I didn't have to add any wood to build up the sections. I am still not sure about adding the cheeks to the topmasts, so I am leaving them off for now. I may add them when I install the upper crosstrees. Here are some more pictures from the real Constitution. Enjoy!

Yes, Happy Belated Birthday. Let me know when you will be in Boston and maybe we can get together for a beer.

Captain Steve, I am now thinking that 5/16" for the main topmast may be too big, as the hole in the mast cap is not near that size. I may go with something between 1/4 and 5/16 for mine, or maybe 1/4 for both the main and the fore, as I have that size in stock and that is what the plan shows. BUT, to all, here is my other question. The plans show an octagonal section just below the upper crosstrees, which flares out from the mast to form a shoulder. The size on the plans makes this too big to pass through the lower mast cap hole, but that is OK as I can just sand this down until it fits. But, the plans also show cheeks added to this octagon section, which in no way would pass through the mast cap hole. So either the topmast can't be brought down through the lower mast cap like all other ships of this period do, or the cheeks are removable somehow? Could this be a modern addition when fastener technology got better? If so, I am going to leave the cheeks off since I am building an 1812-ish version. or add them after the lower and topmast masts are put together. Thoughts?

Really nice work on those masts, Geoff. I'll bet your rigging is going to look equally as good.

Thanks guys, but I think I have an answer to my own question. I realized that the topmast shown on the plans is the full size version of the main mast topmast, so I could measure the dimensions directly off the plan and ignore the dimensions written on the plan. Then I could use the written dimensions on the plan to figure out the corresponding scaled down dimensions of the mizzen and fore topmasts. Here is what I came up with: Square section at bottom: Fore 1/4" Main 5/16" Mizzen 3/16" Transition from octagon to round Fore 1/4" Main 5/16" Mizzen 3/16" Round section under cheeks Fore 7/32" Main 1/4" Mizzen 5/32" Round section above cheeks (here the plan shows this to be narrower than below the cheeks but the dimensions are the same on the plans) Fore 5/32" Main 3/16" Mizzen 1/8" Tenon at top (these correspond to the size of the holes in the caps) Fore 3/32" Main 1/8" Mizzen 1/16" Hopefully future builders will find this post when they get to this part of the build and scratch their heads trying to use the dimensions written on the plans.

I am about to build the topmasts for the Constitution but the dimensions on the plans are not right. I made some notes to that effect on the plans but even my notes don't seem right. I searched for where I had gotten the information but can't find that either. So, any of you previous Constitution builders know what the dimensions are supposed to be. I am most concerned with the diameters of the topmasts at the various points along the length. Thanks.

Here are some more pictures from the real Constitution: The base of the bowsprit inboard, covered with canvas: Close ups of some mouses (mice?) on served stays: Martingale (at the time I took this I had no idea what this was): Tressel trees (not sure what mast this came from): More to come later, but these may be the most interesting.

Steve - I think my notes would be too raw for most folks to have to wade through. Many entries are like - today i glued on the port main mast chafing fish piece, then made the starboard piece. Bla, bla, bla. I enjoy writing it down because it helps me remember what I did when I get around to that step on the next model. To me, it would be like having the raw notes an author takes to write a book. Not that I am going to be writing any books. On the other hand, the workplan probably would have value to other modelers. The problem with that is the parts I haven't gotten to yet are just an outline. I fill in details as I start planning those steps, so it won't be complete until the model is done. Rob - it is like having an extra hand, almost. Back in 2008, I visited the real Constitution one cloudy Saturday afternoon. Everyone else in the family was busy doing their own thing, so I had lots of time to myself to walk around and take pictures. It happened that they were in the process of taking down the top masts, which they do in the winter if I remember right, and the rigging and yards were laying on the wharf. I guess I wasn't supposed to be walking around them, but I had about 20 minutes before a guard kicked me out, and I took a lot of pictures. I just went through them again the other night, and I realized there are some good shots that will be useful to me and to others. I will include some in future posts as I get to those sections, but I will include some now so you can see what I mean. Here is one that jumped out to me as I was looking through them, because when I was rigging the third bob stay I wasn't sure how the collar went around the bees. When I rigged my collar, the eye loops were on the bees, not hanging below like shown above, so I removed the lashings and redid it. It now looks more like the above picture. I am much happier with the new rigging. I notice that the real ship used black line for lashings, but I have always used tan line for some reason. Should I be using black line for the lashings? More pictures in the next post.

You are welcome Dave. The plans leave much to be desired. For instance, some drawings on the plans are not symmetrical port to starboard when they are supposed to be, so keep an eye out for this.

OK, now that I am home I looked at the plans and I think I see the problem. If I measure the width of the template for the stern filler piece from the plans it is 1 5/8" wide at the center. If you measure the length of the filler piece on the side view part of the plans it is only 1 1/2" wide. I think this may be showing the length of the filler piece at the sides which is shorter than the middle, but it is misleading (really it is wrong) I think that is where the 1/4" or so is coming from. If you make the filler piece using the template you should not have to remove the 1/4" from the transom frames. BTW - I used the free volume of the Launk Street Shipyard tutorial for this part of the build, which helped me a lot getting started. I am not sure if it is still available on line.

Hummm. If it works for you, go for it. I just didn't have that problem.

Those last images are pretty dark. I have to figure out how to take flash pictures with the Aperture Preferred mode. I was doing better but lately they are all too dark. Good thing I can lighten them up on the computer. I have now started the fourth year of this build. I had thought when I started this journey that it would take me three years to build it, but now I think it is going to be another two until it is done and in its case. That is not a problem for me though as I am really getting my money's worth from this kit. I probably average about 10 hours a week, so if I were to look at this as a full time job, I am working about a quarter time. That is time in the workshop and does not include all the time I am thinking about what I am working on or planning for future work on this model. That probably takes another 5 hours a week. I keep a pretty extensive build log as a MS Word document which is up to over 600 pages already. I also keep an Excel spreadsheet of all the steps and in what order I need to do as a work plan, which is also maintained weekly or so. That is 27 pages so far for the work plan, with other spreadsheets in the same document for things like the painting scheme, rigging lines and there sizes, and a rigging plan. All in all it is a lot of work, but fun and keeps me out of trouble and away from the TV! I got the bow sprit shrouds installed. I had one seizing let go when doing the lashing, so I had to remake one of them. The fore mast is ready to go and the main mast work continues. I have the square section milled and the mast tapered. I put on the manila bands on the round section, but tried something different this time. I chucked the mast in my lathe and hand turned it as I wrapped the manila strips around the mast, after gluing the end of the strip to the mast. I think they came out straighter than when I was just wrapping them with the mast on the work bench. I milled more strip wood for the chafing fish (as opposed to chafing dish). I bought a larger round end mill bit that matches the curvature of the masts pretty well. It was too big to put into the mill though, because the Proxxon mill only takes bits up to a 1/8 inch shaft size. It does fit in my drill press though, so I bolted the fence I made for the mill to the XY table on the drill press. The tricky part was setting the height, as I had to do that by moving the whole drill head up and down by hand. It was a lot of trial and error to get it to the right height, but once there I was able to mill multiple strips repeatably for all the main and mizzen masts. It made a big difference which direction I fed the strip wood in from, due to the direction of travel of the mill bit (climb milling vs. regular milling, I think it is called). Anyway from the right the strip stayed right up against the fence but from the left it wanted to wander off the fence pretty violently. I need to come up with a mechanism to make small adjustments in the drill head height, but haven't thought too much about it yet. If anyone has an idea or knows of something that would work, please let me know.

Dave, I did not have this problem. Check the length of your stern filler block to the templates on the plans. In the picture above the filler block looks too short. The back edge of the transom frame should be flush with the back end of the filler block, which is not what your diagram shows above either.

That's a great method Geoff.

I find these pliers helpful when pushing in nails: http://www.micromark.com/pin-insertion-plier,10735.html

I find I am working on a number of small projects at the same time - finishing up the lower fore mast, starting the lower main mast, making and rigging the bow sprit shrouds, and a few other things. I had made the traveler rings for the jibbooms a while ago but since those spars are not installed yet, neither are the rings. I recently saw a picture of the rings that Syren is now selling and thought I'd give it a try to make mine look like those. I used wire for the rings instead of tubing that Chuck uses, but it worked out pretty well. I used a smaller size wire for the shackle and hook. The rings are glued with a small bit of medium CA instead of soldered. I still need to blacken them. Here they are in comparison to the previous rings I made, which were just rings with a bump for the stays to fit under. Here is one of the bow sprit shrouds. I made the eye bolts that will go into the hull, since the eye bolts I had were either too big or too small. I made the eye splice in the line around a small piece of brass tubing, and instead of a shackle between the eye splice and eye bolt, I used a ring. I think it is hard to see the difference, since these are all black against a black hull. The fore mast and main mast have boarding pike racks which I made using some sheet wood. I first used a circle template to draw two concentric circles, then divided them up into four parts. In one set I drilled holes for the pikes and the other set is left solid for the ends to rest on. I am going to use straight pins with the heads cut off for the pikes, after I blacken or brown them. i cut out the sections using a razor knife and sanded them round. For the inside curves, I used a piece of dowel with sandpaper wrapped around it. Here I have glued one set to the fore mast. You can also see the completed chafing fish. Finally, I have been making and serving line for the bow sprit rigging. The line on the bow sprit shroud above is some that I made. I was having a problem with the Serv-O-Matic in that my finger was getting really tired cranking with it. I found this crank that I had made for something else and thought to try it on the serving machine. I didn't want to drill into the machine in case it didn't work, so I just zip tied it on. It seems to work really well and now my finger is much happier. I may improve on this in the future. The main mast is marked out and I have started milling the square section. No pictures of it yet.

Thanks for the likes. I am working on the chafing fish for the fore mast, adding one piece at a time, so I have time to work on other things while the glue is drying. I lashed the bob stay, bow shroud, and fore stay collars to the bow sprit, after gluing the cap and martingale in place. I then made the first and second bobstays and lashed them in place. These are doubled, served line, that I first put through the eye bolts that go in the stem, then did all the seizings along the length, with a seized bullseye in the end. I seized each end at the splice, then wrapped some of the seizing line over the joint. I then glued the eyebolt into the stem and added the lashing to the bullseye in the collars. The third bobstay is next, as well as starting to shape the main mast.

One suggestion, Dave. When you cut the beams off (the uppermost cut in your picture above), I cut them at an angle so that the new beam had a place to sit when I put it back in. You will be happy adding a gun deck. And I like that you are going to make new cannons too.

Yes, the instructions mention adding one if you want and give a few tips on how to do it. I added a part of the gun deck on mine, since I have the open waist.. ME sells cannons to use on the gun deck to replace the dummy gun barrels provided in the kit. If you don't add a gun deck, I can't think of any reason why you need to cut out those holes in the bulkhead.

Hey Dave, are you going to add a gun deck? If so, you might want to lower the bottoms of the cut outs by 1/8" to allow for the gun deck planking while you are cutting them out.

Model Expo has this paint kit: Uss Constitution Paint Set 11 BottlesItem # MV31MS

I hope everyone who celebrates this time of year had a nice holiday. I know I did. In between gatherings with family and friends I have been working on the lower fore mast. I was able to use the dowel that was provided in the kit. I first marked off and milled the square section and tenon at the top. I am starting to get an appreciation for these types of clamps instead of a vise for these longer pieces. I also spent some time making sure everything was centered and square before milling, which for these longer pieces is very important, as small errors get magnified. I tapered the square section and fit the two pieces that make up the mast cap to the tenon. I then tapered the round section on the lathe and sanded in the transition from round to square. I cut strips of manila folder to make the 16 bands around the round section, after marking their positions on the mast. I put the joint in the front center of the mast, as this area will be covered by the chafing fish. I cut sections of basswood strips for the chafing fish, and rounded the backs of them with the Dremel ball grinding bit in the mill, and finishing them with some sandpaper on a piece of dowel. I also filed in the angles along the edges on the upper part of the fish, where it will join other pieces of the fish. I marked the locations of the bands, then milled slots in the back for them. I then glued the fish to the mast, using lots of clamps. Next I will add the other pieces of the fish and round the outside faces of them to be parallel to the mast.

Thanks Popeye, Steve, and Al, and for the likes. Popeye - I started this new job in Feb. and they shut down next week, so everyone gets it off. I wish more companies did that. Steve - Thanks. Have a great holiday too. Al - It is all new to me but it has been fun playing around with it. My father was a machinist, and my brother-in-law and my nephew are both machinists too. I got nothing on them and they laugh at the size of my machines. But, I have help if I need it. I gave the steps a coat of white paint and just glued them in place. Once they dry I will clean them up a bit more and give them a second coat of paint.

Dave,I am pumped to follow along with your build. I can't wait to see the details you can add at that scale. And I am very happy to be of help as you proceed. Of course, I am two years into my build so some of the procedures I used in the beginning are slipping into the fog...

Thanks guys for the likes. I made up a new set of steps for the bow sprit last night and I took some pictures during the process. I made these while the old steps were still on the model, in case I couldn't do any better. But, luckily that was not the case. I did spend some time thinking this through before I started milling wood, which I think really helped. So, here we go. Bow Sprit Steps Take 2 After making the steps the first time, I realized that the right way to do this would be with a tilting table. So, since Proxxon doesn't make one for their mill, I bought the Sherline table and have adopted it to fit. Actually, I didn't really do anything to the table yet, as I can use just two hold down screws into one slot on the XY table. In the future, I should put a couple more holes in the base so I can use more then one slot, but for this job it was OK as is. I will be making some hold down clamps for the Proxxon vise to fit on the tilting table, but for this job the vise was not needed. The steps are 3/16" wide and at first I thought I would use a 3/32" wide strip (which I didn't have). I pulled out a 1/2" wide strip and realized I could use the edge for the hold down clamps and would have access to the whole area I needed to cut. The mill came with the hold down clamps, so I only needed a few extra cap screws to fit into the tilting table to use them, which I had. I first mounted the piece upside down, and with the table flat I milled in a slight curve to fit the bow sprit roundness with a dremel ball head grinding bit. I used a large round file and some sandpaper on a piece of dowel to finish this curve. I then marked the locations of the gammoning ropes and the bands on the bow sprit, and milled slots for these. Since I had extra room between the inner edge of the steps and the clamps, i could mill further than the line to get the sides of the slots straight all the way across the back of the steps. I then test fit the wood strip and was happy with the fit, so I mounted it right side up, checked everything for straightness, set the table to 26 degrees, and started milling the steps. I started at the top so I had much less chance of hitting the table with the bit, as I was going down hill during the cutting. You will notice the pieces of masking tape at each hand wheel to remind myself how many turns to make with each cut. i was surprised making them the first time how easy it was to get messed up. This time it went rather smoothly and before I knew it I was at at the bottom step. I removed the cut piece from the table and was unsure how fragile it might be. At this stage having the excess on the side was great as it added a lot of stability to the piece. Before I sliced the steps off from the blank, I tack glued it to a backing piece of wood, that I had squared up in the table saw. I didn't want the steps to come apart in the saw while slicing them off. After a few minutes, it was a simple process to slice off the steps to width. I then soaked the steps in alcohol until I could slide the two pieces apart with almost no pressure. Here was the moment of truth. I half expected the steps to fall apart in my hands, but they were very stable and sturdy, to my surprise. And this was all with basswood. My thought was to try it and if it was too fragile, use boxwood for the next set. After the alcohol had dried off, I painted the sides around the gammoning slots. Once I glue this down, I can then paint the rest of it without getting white paint on the gammoning lines. At this point I removed the old steps, which came off rather easily with a little twisting pressure from the side. Here are the new steps just resting in place, waiting to be installed and painted, which I will do tonight. I was very happy not to have to redo the gammoning lines for a third time. My Christmas vacation starts tomorrow, and I have all next week off, so I am looking forward to making some good progress on the rest of the masts.