Usgecko

Finally got the scribing of the spar deck completed.  As with the gun deck this one got of to a false start - hence the white lines - Tamiya filler....
 

 

 

 

 
Thought about adding joggling of the planks but decided against it.  Not sure how obvious it will be anyway.
 
Thanks for looking.
 
Stuart

Finally got the scribing of the spar deck completed.  As with the gun deck this one got of to a false start - hence the white lines - Tamiya filler....
 

 

 

 

 
Thought about adding joggling of the planks but decided against it.  Not sure how obvious it will be anyway.
 
Thanks for looking.
 
Stuart

Finally got the scribing of the spar deck completed.  As with the gun deck this one got of to a false start - hence the white lines - Tamiya filler....
 

 

 

 

 
Thought about adding joggling of the planks but decided against it.  Not sure how obvious it will be anyway.
 
Thanks for looking.
 
Stuart

Completed thickening the bulwarks on the starboard side
 

 
And the gun deck will sit snugly under that - will be closer fit once glued
 

Finished the scratch built 34 foot launch.  Not exactly as I had wanted - the hull is deeper than I had intended - it I'm happy enough with it.
 

 
 
Also finished off the Commodore's barge - this was the one I had lengthened from the Revel supplied launch.
 

 

 
[/url]
 
 
That's the two cutters, the Commodore's barge, and the 34 ft launch completed now.
 

 
 
After spending this time on these I guess I had better get started to the hull of the Constitution itself!
 
Thanks for looking - all comments welcome.
 
Stuart

Small update.
 
After procrastinating for a while on how to do the decking I decided to scribe it rather than add plastic or wood veneer planks.
 
Part of the reason was the fact that I thought Force9 build looked great with scribed deck and partly because I didn't see the value of buying the veneer or plastic strips for decking.  Will not be painting for a while but here is the nekkid scribed plastic.  Ignore the white lines - those are scribed lines with filler - some my mistakes, and some because of the method I used and the need to try and represent the interlocking planks that were on the gun deck.
 
The tools I used for the scribing are in the picture below.  The method I used was to very carefully mark one line from bow to stern uninterrupted by gratings etc.  I then scribed that line as a pilot line for the rest of the fore and aft lines.  I then used the small pin vise on the left of the picture into which I had placed the tips of two sewing needles.  The pilot line was used to one needle tip down, with the second creating a scribed line parallel to the first.  This process was continued until the deck was scribed all over.  After that I gently deepened each line using the scribing took and the back of a #11 blade where the tip had been broken off.  The bumps either side of each line were then carefully removed with the chisel blade.  I went for a repeating pattern every 5 lines of planks.  The interlocking planks I basically made up - no idea if that is what they actually would have looked like but they are interlocking!
 
Tools used:
 

 
Here's the end result:
 

 

 

 
This last picture shows the way I have attempted to represent the interlocked planks.
 

 
Thanks for looking!

I decided to use the 30 foor launch as a basis for the commodore's barge - also decided it was a little too short.
 
Cut a line using a scriber:
 

 
Then seperated the two parts and added some plastic to expand the length:
 

 

Here is the 30 ft cutter completed:
 

 
And the 30 ft cutter with the 28 ft one completed earlier:
 

 
Are the outside of these cutters painted green (assuming i'm building the Constitution at the time shown in the Corne painting) and the inside red?

An update on progress so far.
 
Looking at the gun carriages for the gun deck I think I need to make a further adjustment to the shape of them.  From looking at photographs there seems to be an arc shape cut out betwwen the wheels of the gun carriage. 
 
On to progress.  I decided that the smaller ships boats were not to great in terms of detail so I decided to attempt to improve them.  I started with the 28 ft cutter (as it is described in Revell's instructions).  I found a couple of sources on the internet with plans and scratch built wood versions which is what I have attempted to replicate.
 
Here are the work in progress pictures as I tackled the work:
 

 

 

 

 
And here are some shots of the finished article:
 

 

 

 
I'm happy with the end result but I have created a lot of extra work for myself to do the other boats in a similar way.
 
I'm also not sure what to do at this stage about the pinnace (long boat) and the lack of it in the Revell kit.  I may have a go at scratch building it out of plastic.
 
All comments welcome!
 
Stuart

Finished the scratch built 34 foot launch.  Not exactly as I had wanted - the hull is deeper than I had intended - it I'm happy enough with it.
 

 
 
Also finished off the Commodore's barge - this was the one I had lengthened from the Revel supplied launch.
 

 

 
[/url]
 
 
That's the two cutters, the Commodore's barge, and the 34 ft launch completed now.
 

 
 
After spending this time on these I guess I had better get started to the hull of the Constitution itself!
 
Thanks for looking - all comments welcome.
 
Stuart

Completed thickening the bulwarks on the starboard side
 

 
And the gun deck will sit snugly under that - will be closer fit once glued
 

Finished the scratch built 34 foot launch.  Not exactly as I had wanted - the hull is deeper than I had intended - it I'm happy enough with it.
 

 
 
Also finished off the Commodore's barge - this was the one I had lengthened from the Revel supplied launch.
 

 

 
[/url]
 
 
That's the two cutters, the Commodore's barge, and the 34 ft launch completed now.
 

 
 
After spending this time on these I guess I had better get started to the hull of the Constitution itself!
 
Thanks for looking - all comments welcome.
 
Stuart

Here is the 30 ft cutter completed:
 

 
And the 30 ft cutter with the 28 ft one completed earlier:
 

 
Are the outside of these cutters painted green (assuming i'm building the Constitution at the time shown in the Corne painting) and the inside red?

An update on progress so far.
 
Looking at the gun carriages for the gun deck I think I need to make a further adjustment to the shape of them.  From looking at photographs there seems to be an arc shape cut out betwwen the wheels of the gun carriage. 
 
On to progress.  I decided that the smaller ships boats were not to great in terms of detail so I decided to attempt to improve them.  I started with the 28 ft cutter (as it is described in Revell's instructions).  I found a couple of sources on the internet with plans and scratch built wood versions which is what I have attempted to replicate.
 
Here are the work in progress pictures as I tackled the work:
 

 

 

 

 
And here are some shots of the finished article:
 

 

 

 
I'm happy with the end result but I have created a lot of extra work for myself to do the other boats in a similar way.
 
I'm also not sure what to do at this stage about the pinnace (long boat) and the lack of it in the Revell kit.  I may have a go at scratch building it out of plastic.
 
All comments welcome!
 
Stuart

Completed thickening the bulwarks on the starboard side
 

 
And the gun deck will sit snugly under that - will be closer fit once glued
 

Finished the scratch built 34 foot launch.  Not exactly as I had wanted - the hull is deeper than I had intended - it I'm happy enough with it.
 

 
 
Also finished off the Commodore's barge - this was the one I had lengthened from the Revel supplied launch.
 

 

 
[/url]
 
 
That's the two cutters, the Commodore's barge, and the 34 ft launch completed now.
 

 
 
After spending this time on these I guess I had better get started to the hull of the Constitution itself!
 
Thanks for looking - all comments welcome.
 
Stuart

USS Constitution - Model Shipways to 1812 Era Differences
 
Armament (Part of Original Post 11-04-14; Updated 11-12-14)
Gun Deck - 30 Cecil Iron Works 24 lb. long cannons (9' 6" in length as opposed to the original 8' long 24 lb. made by Furnace Hope). Spar Deck - 24 Foxall 32 lb. carronades (approximately 4' long). Other - A single 18 lb. chase gun (still gathering more information on this) Reference: "The Guns of Constitution" by Tyrone G. Martin
 
NOTE: The Model Shipways kit comes with 20 carronades, 30 dummies for the 24 lb. long cannons, and 2 - 24 lb. long cannons for chase guns. However, the carronades provided with the Model Shipways MS 2040 are not the same type of carronades the Constitution carried during the War of 1812. They are carriage mounted carronades (i.e. they have trunnions). The carronades carried by Constitution during the War of 1812 were slide mounted carronades (i.e. a lug on the bottom of the barrel to mount in a pivot) with a hole bored in the cascabel for a jacking screw to adjust elevation. The carriage mounted carronades did not have jacking screw elevation adjustment. I'm currently in the process of identifying a source for replacement carronades of appropriate type and scale. And again, 24 carronades are needed. Also working on identifying a source for the single 18 lb. chase gun. However, the two 24 lb. guns provided in the kit are close enough in size that they could be used in place of the 18 lb. gun. Additionally, it appears that the 18 lb. on Constitution may have been bored to accept 24 lb. shot to negate the need for carrying another different type of ammo.
 
Ship's Wheel (Added 11-05-14)
Not really a huge difference here between MS Kit and 1812 Era specs. However, I thought it deserved discussion. Different Constitution models have wheels with different numbers of spokes (generally 8 or 10). It would appear that the 10 spoke wheel is appropriate for the 1812 Era (although it is apparent that she ended up with an 8 spoke wheel salvaged from the Java after her own wheel was shot away in the battle). Most wooden kits appear to be equipped with cast metal wheels which most folks aren't happy with. I may attempt to fabricate a wooden wheel. However, even at 1:76.8 scale, I think a wooden wheel will be too delicate to hold up. Hence the reason for most kits providing the cast metal wheel. By the way, the MS kit metal wheels measure slightly larger than scale (not enough to fuss over). Reference: Extensive research and development done by Bill Edgin and a CAD drawing done by Bill based on US Navy drawings of pre-1927 USS Constitution equipment.
 
Captain's Skylight (Added 11-05-14)
The Captain's skylight located at the rear of the spar deck is shown on the MS Kit plans. However, the skylight was NOT part of the 1812 Era configuration and should not be included if you wish to build to 1812 specs. References: Multiple. Too many to quote. But included in USS Constitution You Tube video tour of the Captain's Quarters and the fact that is was not part of the early Constitution configuration.
 
Ship's Boats (Added 11-05-14 ; Updated 11-24-14)
There always has been and always will be much debate the ship's boats of all eras including the 1812 Era. It seems that about the only thing that many modelers and historians seem to be in agreement about is that there were seven (7) or eight (8). The type, size, number of oars, equipment, and colors remain up for debate. However, based on research of user's posts, internet articles, and AOS, I'll share what I have learned. Based on information in AOS and an article titled "USS Constitution's Small Boats" published by the , the Constitution would have been allowed to carry up to eight boats. It is the belief of the author that the Constitution probably carried seven boats. However, there are two separate references to her carrying 8 boats during the battle with HMS Java. Assuming eight boats were being carried they would have most likely been of the following types:   Launch (Up to 34 ft) - Carried in the waist. Cutters (Of varying lengths) - Carried in the waist and stern areas Whaleboat(s) - Carried in the quarter davits  Captain's Gig - Most likely carried in the stern davit  
Some references list a 36 ft. launch. However, according to references cited in AOS, even with an enlarged spar-deck waist opening, none of the Frigates could have carried a launch of greater than 34 ft. in length. There are also references to a "Commodore's Barge" of 32 ft. in length. This would have been carried in place of one of the Cutter's in the waist. However, since Constitution was NOT serving as a flagship at the beginning of the War of 1812, she would not have been carrying a Commodore's Barge. There are also mentions of a 14 foot Punt in some references. However, there are no references to a Punt in the Captain's logs from July of 1812 to the end of 1813.
 
Again, I have no doubt that there will always be dispute regarding the number and type of small boats Constitution carried. However, what is true based on ships records is that the type of small boats aboard changed frequently between July of 1812 and October of 1813. But, here are some things that can be taken as fact:
In July of 1812, there were five cutters and one gig aboard On October 17, 1812, a single whaleboat for Constitution was paid for On October 21, 1812 work was paid for which included "whaleboats"  There were eight boats aboard in December of 1812, seven of which were damaged in the battle with HMS Java. From Isaac Hull's log entries and journal entries of other members of the crew, there are many references to the use of the ship's boats, boats damaged, boats repaired, and new boats constructed, there is never any reference to whaleboats during Hull's command. There are only references to cutters and a gig. There is also no reference to a launch during Hull's command (or during Bainbridge's command for that matter). There are records of whaleboats being constructed for Constitution during Bainbridge's command and payments for repairs to whaleboats. So, we can conclude that there were at least two whaleboats during Bainbridge's command. So, where does that leave us? Well, quite honestly, it leaves us with more questions than answers in my opinion. So, here are the questions we must ask ourselves.
 
     1) Did Constitution carry a full compliment of eight boats during the Hull command? (We know of at least 6)
     2) If Constitution carried more than 6 boats during Hull's command, were any of them whaleboats?
     3) Did Constitution carry a launch during either Hull's command or Bainbridge's command? Or was one of the cutters really what we typically refer to as the launch?
     4) What was the eighth boat carried during Bainbridge's command (We know there were eight of which there were 4 cutters, 2 whaleboats, and a gig)
 
To come up with a number for each command, we have to make some assumptions. The records during Bainbridge's command are more detailed (less muddy) so, let's start there. If we assume that the eighth boat carried during Bainbridge's command was a launch, we can say that there was a launch, 4 cutters, 2 whaleboats, and 1 gig during at least part of his command.
 
During Hull's command, we know that there were five cutters and one gig. If we assume that there was a launch on board, that would give us a launch, 5 cutters, and a gig (for a total of 7). If Constitution carried a full compliment of 8 boats at that time, that leaves one boat unaccounted. That would leave room for a whaleboat. However, it also means that there could have only been one whaleboat aboard during Hull's command.
 
During Bainbridge's command, there are records of a whaleboat being ordered and paid for. And, after that point, there's never any mention of the 5th cutter again. So, it is possible that the newly ordered whaleboat replaced the 5th cutter. This is supported by the fact that after that point there were repairs paid for to whaleboats (pl.). That would mean that there had to be at least one whaleboat aboard when the other whaleboat was ordered.
 
Finally, let's look at the fact that there's never any mention of the launch. Since the larger small boats were stored in a nested fashion on top of the main hatch with the largest boats on bottom, a launch of considerable size would be the least likely to be used (since it's the hardest to get to). Additionally, it would be one of the least likely to be damaged. This is because it would be offered some protection by the small boat above it and it would also be closer to the deck and offered a small amount (very small) of protection by the hammock netting in the waist area.
 
Based on all these assumptions, we might conclude that during Hull's command there was a launch, 5 cutters, 1 gig, and 1 whaleboat.
 
References:
"Anatomy of the Ship - The 44-Gun Frigate USS Constitution"  by Karl Heinz Marquardt
"USS Constitution's Small Boats" - Naval History & Heritage Command Detachment Boston (Up-dated April 2012)
USS Constitution's Captain's Logbook
 
NOTE: Most folks who model the ship's boats of this era do NOT typically include all of the boats for the purpose of reducing clutter on the spar deck. Not to mention that it would be a huge amount of fabrication to produce all those boats. A typical number seems to be four including the Captain's Gig, Port and Starboard Quarter Davit boats, and a Single Launch (31 or 34 ft.) located over the Main Hatch. BTW, one of the reasons I have included this discussion is that the MS Kit instructions and manuals don't, in my opinion address the topic adequately.
 
Ship's Stem (Added 11-10-14)
 
Some of you who are new to ship building or are unfamiliar with nautical terms may not be familiar with the term gammon or gammoning. What this refers to is attaching the bowsprit to the stem (or bow) of a ship. In the later years of sailing ships it became common to attach the bowsprit of the ship to the stem using chains. However, when then Constitution was first built, the gammoning on the ship was rope instead of chain. The Model Shipways MS 2040 kit provides for chain gammoning as opposed to rope. Therefore, the two holes at the top of the stem piece are small drilled holes. If you wish to build the Constitution to 1812 era specs, you'll need to widen those holes into slots to provide for rope gammoning. Slightly larger than twice the width of each of the holes provided will be sufficient.
 
Reference: Don't know who first identified this difference. However, it is discussed in several build logs on the MSW forum.
 
Gun Deck Ports (Added 11-24-14)
 
As she sits today, Constitution has 16 ports on each side of the gun deck. However, the forward-most (16th) port was added during William Bainbridge's command sometime after September of 1812. So, for 1812 era modeling of the Constitution, if you wish to model how she appeared during Issac Hull's command, you would have 15 gun ports and during William Bainbridge's command 16 ports on the gun deck (the forward-most being primarily used as a bridle port but could be used for bow chasers).
 
At this point most of the updates and additions to this post will probably come after I've actually begun construction and identify things that need to be changed to bring the MS kit to 1812 Era specs. However, you may want to check back periodically for updates.
 
Fletch

Thank you Lukas
 
Started work on the hull.
 
Closed off the gun port at the bow (will be modelling the Connie at the time of it's victory over HMS Guerriere, as depicted in the Corne paintings)
 

 
Work on thickening the bulwarks, starting first with framing in the gun ports.  Next step will be add a layer of plastic on the inside over this framing.
 

 

 

 

 
The horizontal lengths of plastic are to provide additional support for placing the gun deck.
 
Thanks for looking,
 
Stuart

Dave,
 
There may be easier ways! I went to the local hobby store and wanted to get some photo-etch grill to use. No luck. I ended up getting the thinnest strip plastic I could find (0.25mm * 0.5mm) and made the grating from that. Sounds more laborious than it was, I laid out strips side by side on some tape, then I removed every second one and then placed more strips perpendicular to the rows on the tape and carefully glued them.
 
Stuart

Finished the scratch built 34 foot launch.  Not exactly as I had wanted - the hull is deeper than I had intended - it I'm happy enough with it.
 

 
 
Also finished off the Commodore's barge - this was the one I had lengthened from the Revel supplied launch.
 

 

 
[/url]
 
 
That's the two cutters, the Commodore's barge, and the 34 ft launch completed now.
 

 
 
After spending this time on these I guess I had better get started to the hull of the Constitution itself!
 
Thanks for looking - all comments welcome.
 
Stuart

Finished the scratch built 34 foot launch.  Not exactly as I had wanted - the hull is deeper than I had intended - it I'm happy enough with it.
 

 
 
Also finished off the Commodore's barge - this was the one I had lengthened from the Revel supplied launch.
 

 

 
[/url]
 
 
That's the two cutters, the Commodore's barge, and the 34 ft launch completed now.
 

 
 
After spending this time on these I guess I had better get started to the hull of the Constitution itself!
 
Thanks for looking - all comments welcome.
 
Stuart

Real good improvement there - how did you fabricate the wheels - cut from rod, if so may I ask what diameter.
 
Thanks - Stuart

Small update.
 
After procrastinating for a while on how to do the decking I decided to scribe it rather than add plastic or wood veneer planks.
 
Part of the reason was the fact that I thought Force9 build looked great with scribed deck and partly because I didn't see the value of buying the veneer or plastic strips for decking.  Will not be painting for a while but here is the nekkid scribed plastic.  Ignore the white lines - those are scribed lines with filler - some my mistakes, and some because of the method I used and the need to try and represent the interlocking planks that were on the gun deck.
 
The tools I used for the scribing are in the picture below.  The method I used was to very carefully mark one line from bow to stern uninterrupted by gratings etc.  I then scribed that line as a pilot line for the rest of the fore and aft lines.  I then used the small pin vise on the left of the picture into which I had placed the tips of two sewing needles.  The pilot line was used to one needle tip down, with the second creating a scribed line parallel to the first.  This process was continued until the deck was scribed all over.  After that I gently deepened each line using the scribing took and the back of a #11 blade where the tip had been broken off.  The bumps either side of each line were then carefully removed with the chisel blade.  I went for a repeating pattern every 5 lines of planks.  The interlocking planks I basically made up - no idea if that is what they actually would have looked like but they are interlocking!
 
Tools used:
 

 
Here's the end result:
 

 

 

 
This last picture shows the way I have attempted to represent the interlocked planks.
 

 
Thanks for looking!

Small update.
 
After procrastinating for a while on how to do the decking I decided to scribe it rather than add plastic or wood veneer planks.
 
Part of the reason was the fact that I thought Force9 build looked great with scribed deck and partly because I didn't see the value of buying the veneer or plastic strips for decking.  Will not be painting for a while but here is the nekkid scribed plastic.  Ignore the white lines - those are scribed lines with filler - some my mistakes, and some because of the method I used and the need to try and represent the interlocking planks that were on the gun deck.
 
The tools I used for the scribing are in the picture below.  The method I used was to very carefully mark one line from bow to stern uninterrupted by gratings etc.  I then scribed that line as a pilot line for the rest of the fore and aft lines.  I then used the small pin vise on the left of the picture into which I had placed the tips of two sewing needles.  The pilot line was used to one needle tip down, with the second creating a scribed line parallel to the first.  This process was continued until the deck was scribed all over.  After that I gently deepened each line using the scribing took and the back of a #11 blade where the tip had been broken off.  The bumps either side of each line were then carefully removed with the chisel blade.  I went for a repeating pattern every 5 lines of planks.  The interlocking planks I basically made up - no idea if that is what they actually would have looked like but they are interlocking!
 
Tools used:
 

 
Here's the end result:
 

 

 

 
This last picture shows the way I have attempted to represent the interlocked planks.
 

 
Thanks for looking!

Small update.
 
After procrastinating for a while on how to do the decking I decided to scribe it rather than add plastic or wood veneer planks.
 
Part of the reason was the fact that I thought Force9 build looked great with scribed deck and partly because I didn't see the value of buying the veneer or plastic strips for decking.  Will not be painting for a while but here is the nekkid scribed plastic.  Ignore the white lines - those are scribed lines with filler - some my mistakes, and some because of the method I used and the need to try and represent the interlocking planks that were on the gun deck.
 
The tools I used for the scribing are in the picture below.  The method I used was to very carefully mark one line from bow to stern uninterrupted by gratings etc.  I then scribed that line as a pilot line for the rest of the fore and aft lines.  I then used the small pin vise on the left of the picture into which I had placed the tips of two sewing needles.  The pilot line was used to one needle tip down, with the second creating a scribed line parallel to the first.  This process was continued until the deck was scribed all over.  After that I gently deepened each line using the scribing took and the back of a #11 blade where the tip had been broken off.  The bumps either side of each line were then carefully removed with the chisel blade.  I went for a repeating pattern every 5 lines of planks.  The interlocking planks I basically made up - no idea if that is what they actually would have looked like but they are interlocking!
 
Tools used:
 

 
Here's the end result:
 

 

 

 
This last picture shows the way I have attempted to represent the interlocked planks.
 

 
Thanks for looking!