Marcus.K.

What an interesting debate!! Thanks gentlemen, for all this information, opinion and arguments. The latest with Gardners remarks is new to me and very interesting. It seems to me that this question was another one each commander could decide to his own thinking, experience and fashion. Difficult to judge without any reliable source. For my point of view: seeing so many paintings of so many painters of that times (and the Hull Model - which DOES show one port lid at the first gun port at the bow!!! So the man doing the model did obviously NOT forget them! ) .. with each of them showing NO lids I think it must be allowed to show the ship without them. At least if you show the ship at battle station - because each of those paintings do show this status - even the 1803 Corné Side view - in which the first gun is shot for a salute. (Or was shoting a salute done without beating the quarters?). There is a well known interesting picture of USS President in heavy seas in Mediterian sea .. One day I will build a Revel Constituiton in exaclty this conficuration - with heavy seas and the masts and spars secured like here .. Great action! http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/Usspresidentatanchor.jpg I saw different versions. To me it seems that there are port lids with openings for the guns barrels. I think the painting shows the ship in about 1805?? But I am not sure about it. For me it will seem as if in heavy weather port lids have been in use .. but the is just guesstimeation. At the end you could argue and say: this is the ships configuration following Corné´s painting xyz ... It WILL be a beautiy anyhow! I am looking forward seeing progress on your beautiful build - and I am always curious with which sources you again add some interesting knowledge about the ships layout ! Thanks to all here!!

Popeye, impressive! Great looking decks. Congratulations for that. Since I personally very much "fear" to try to create a wooden appearance on a plastic part with paints this "hybrid-technology" wood/plastic may be a way out for me. Although its a lot of work the result seen here an in other builds seems to justify .. no, DO justify the additional efforts. Phantastic work. I am looking forward to see you next steps.

Hey Popeye, wow - I very much like your decks. And as mentioned before : I believe they look quite realistic to my eye. I would not care about a different between the two decks too much. Could´nt it be that the poop deck was renewed the last time in dock, while the spar deck still has the old planks? Concerning self-combustion of paint. My boss once fond a burned area at his wood terrace. The paint can which he placed below the planks of his terrace floor was catching fire during the morning sun, while he was doing some shopping. He placed it there several days before and nothing happend. But this was the first day with morning sun shining on his terrace and on the paint-can. It burned, blackened the wood - but it was not hot enough to set the house on fire - by a great deal of luck !! - and when the paint was burned away the can did just stop burning. When he got back and noticed the mess in the afternoon everything was cool and cold again. He said he placed the can outside because of his fear concerning the smell and the drugs in the paint. He did not expect the danger - but it was obvious !! He really was lucky not to come back and finding a blaze instead of his home. So ladies and gentlemen world wide : be careful with easily inflammable fluids and materials. The danger might come in unexpected moments !!! Back to you ship : its great and I follow you any time you post.

Hy Evans, very much like your progress - and especially this beautiful boat. But what impresses me this time even more : the photos ! Very nice effect with the sunlight and the wood - by which the small size of the boat is shown ! Impressive !! I love to study your work - so motivating, so inspiring !

Hy Evans, of course he did his interpretation. I said "inspired" by your building log. ;-) He does not rebuild your solution - but as many others, he very much likes your apporach and how you combine theoretical research with active modeling. Of couse some of your solutions do cause criticism - not everything you do is liked by anyone. But that is - as usual - very much depending on the eye of the observers ... As Tyrone Martin once was writing (more or less): my findings are public property, but I will not defend your interpretation - that is up to the modelist or artist creating a model or painting. And of course your very interesting interpretation does have influence "into Germany".. I know several discussions about your solutions and your building log is "under strictly observation" in more than one german forum and many others in the world I would guess. I do not really get what a "roller" is. What is the difference to a block? But I see your point with the problems of the joint. In Mrs. Takakjians beautiful AotS book "Essex" she shows on page 93 a "viol block" to change the direction of the messanger... and since I had the impression that her work was carefully done and she gained a lot of knowledge I did not question her layout of this detail. But you are right - the joint passing the sheave could cause problems. ... hm.. Very good progress on the hull. I am so curious to see it painted!

Beautiful detail, Evans ! Here a link to a German modelist who was inspired by your building report (if I remember well) .. We discussed there how the messanger would be led to pass the pumps. http://www.wettringer-modellbauforum.de/forum/index.php?page=Thread&threadID=46887&pageNo=8 He added two additional strong pillars to propect the pumps from the forces of the messanger under load. I remember that in the beautiful book "Anatomy of the Ship USS Essex" there is a sketch in which the messanger is lead through a block to pass something on deck. ... I believe this would be a so natural thing for a sailer - to make use of a block - that it would not even be written somewhere ..

Hy Patrick, I know it is mentioned in Tyrone Martin´s book "a most fortunate ship" - and it may be written in other sources. He probalby has his assumptions from log books and midshipmen-logs .. : The ship had in his earlier days lids which were completly removeable. Not hinged. I think the Hull Model does show only the first gun port with hingted lid (reasonalble to be quicker in opening and closing during maneures in a battle - to avoid taking over water from the bow´s waves. But as the Corné Paintings (and others) the model does not show lids. Careful - we do not talk about the lid for the bridle ports !!! - which are not yet represented in the hull model since this model is assumened to represent the early 1812 configuration in which the ship seems to have had no bridle ports (nor their lids ;-) ).. So in those days the lids were removed and stored below the deck during battle and during crusing in nice wether - and they were installed and locked from inside (if I remember well) while sailing in heavy seas. So not showing them is an option which is realistic - as of course any representation which is similar to the Corné-paintings has a certain "reliability". I too very much like Evan´s approach. Will become a very fine Constitution.

Thanks, Evans, for showing. I once tried to do ring- and eyebolts. But my results were far from being acceptable. Maybe because of wrong material and/or tools .. and maybe also because of lack of patience - which is a critical issue with this hobby ;-) I struggle to find the "right" thickness and strength of wire (?) to create the rings and bolts. What would you prefer? I love the precise optical impression of photo etched parts - but I fear their "thin" and "2d" appearance ... So I still like to see and learn how others achieve their results and I do not judge for right or wrong .. nor for "true modelism". The result in the eye of the builder is the most important "key performance indicator". I was just suprised by the fact that you managed to have rings in eyebolts. Very often you just find eyebolts standing on deck in this scale. How do you cover the connection / cut in the rings? Or is this just too small to realize?

Hello Evans, interesting to read and understand you choice of colour. Fascinating that you think about issues like "attracting attention" to something by the mean of coloring. On the other side .. well there is an experienced model builder speaking, I guess! Since I did build my last model more than 30 year ago and never achieved a level like the here shown I never thought about this questions. In those days I was happy, when the color was covering the surface completly and I managed that those parts stayed glued together a while I have a question: your eyebolts - and the rings within them. I never saw eyebolts so realistic in this scale! Most of the time they are shown as rings standing on deck (and therefore being a painful problem for the sailors!). Your rings are correctly laying on the deck - nevertheless the small eyebolt holding the ring is visible. How did you do them? Can you show us?

Evans ! It looks just great ! I hope I will come to this level one day ..

Just re-found this so beautiful building log. Its a beauty ! Hope you are still doing work on it? Looking forward finding more posts, more photos!

These belaying pins look so phantastic ! ... You said a set for the kit of the #119 pins costs about 40 $ .. Do you remember / can you check how much pins you need / are within one set for the kit? I think I want those - since creating pins is much to much trouble for me - but I do not trust the plastic pins at all .. And it would maybe be a fine idea to show some loose pins somewhere ... Or a seaman working / exchangeing a pin ... Is there a certain action in which the pins have to be dismounted?

Hello Evans, I was looking for something in the AOTS-book about USS Essex and found something very interesting in a longitudional cut view: at the bow - inside! - on gun deck! Just behind the stem post! Mrs. Takakjian showed a small pump - just like these ones! .. There is also a pipe going down just beneath the berth deck .. and then ending there. First I was wondering because if water would flow on that level !!!??? But reading the text made me understand: "Water intake pipe through hawse piece" This pump is for getting sea water just from before the bow! What do you think about this position. Could it be that they were getting the water for washing the decks (and more) here? You mentioned Chapelles layout - is this in the book "American Sailing Navy"?

Very impressive - just as your last works! Looking forward seeing more!

Of course I will be following this interesting report. You might remember: it was your building log which catched my attention years ago - so you are responsible in a way that I restarted to be engaged in my childrens hobby. The Alert is one of the ships I want to do by myself one day. There are so many beautiful books helping to create a nice model. Yours will - I am sure - be a masterpiece - and I will follow any step with highest interest!

Just ordered the Philips LED. I want to know wether its possible or not ;-) I think I once saw in a building report of an science fiction STAR TRECK Enterprize Star ship that someone used glas firbres to distribute LED-light to several different locations. ... I think about the berth deck (direct illumination), some candles in the gun deck and the captains cabin (via glas fibre), the compass and maybe lights on spar decks stern (?). On my test of CWM of course will have less possibilities, but for a test it will be sufficient ;-) The light of a glas fibre will not be very bright, I believe ,... but this will be accurate to the scale and to a then used candle or petroleum light, I hope. Did Constitution had Lights on the stern? I can not remember to have seen stern lights on ships after the 18th century? Where they not in use anymore?

Cool ! You see: thats one of the things I so much like on your work: You know your sources! Probably they stowed it concerning the expectation of the next use of the anchor... In case of high sea course the stowing would be as far down as possible. Well done! To chose a dismounted condition is too very intersting since one can not very often see an anchor like this on models. Concerning light: will it not be a pity not being able to see your wonderful details? Would it be so much more work to hide an LED somewhere deep in the berth deck? This might even help to at least illuminate a bit of the gun deck ... I know some lights which even do not need cables, since they are rechargable by induction. One has to test wether the distance with the plastic hull is still sufficiant for this technique .. http://www.amazon.de/Philips-Imageo-AquaLight-Kerzen-6911831PH/dp/B001EHF02Q Could that be an option?

Happy New Year to everyone! Looks again beautiful .. and is again so inspiring and motivating! The anchor stowed there looks great - but would a heavy thing like this not be stowed deeper down to increase stability? I am right now working in my "home office" to "clear for action" - which means to clear the taple and working area to be able to start one day with my "exercise kit", the whaler C.W. Morgan by Revell. So maybe ... I will manage to restart the build I began months (or are there years now?) ago... and then one day my Consti-Kit will be opened ...

Ah Daniel, thanks .. .. But THIS is not done for clearing the deck for action, correct? So am I wrong? Have the stanchions NOT been removed (since they give the ship more stability and where needed?) .. But I think I remember this removal for the action because in some cases the stanchions are in the way of the guns .. if the gun has to be fired and reloaded. So .. it may be that this was a special thing for a special ship? ..or period? .. or country (maybe a french habit?)... ?

Wow Evan, great show! It looks just great. Your art is extraordinary and I was waiting for such an update so long. Concering what Revell misses (or others).. I believe it depends on how much you want to show details. Even Evan´s improvments do not show a fitted out ship. So many material which counts to the equipment of a ship. Do water barrels - a really needed thing - count to equipment or are these elementary things for the ship. Of course the pumps should be something which is really connected to a ship .. but on the other side: these ships have been made of wood and could and were changed a lot during their lifetime. So .. if Revell intended to give you a basis on a ship which every modeller can fit out as he pleases - it´s one of the best basis you ever could get, is´nt it? Evan, a remark : I am not sure and I could have got it wrong - but I think I learned somewhere that the stanchions were removeable and were removed for clearing the deck for action. I am not sure how this was done - or how it was possible. I do not know how they would have been fixed. Since a wooden ship is "moving" (twisting and warping) while riding the waves I can not imagine that those stanchions were mounted and fixed only by a compression of /clamping in between the beams above and below ... the movement of the wood would cause the loss of the fitting of some .. But if they were removeable. .. ? .. Anyway: if you want to represent the "clear for action" status ... it might be necessary to remove them.. Does anyone have more information about stanchions and "clear for action"? If its true it would be a sad thing since they really look good ... ... but I was thinking while reading your describtion and remembering this thesis: Why not doing a compromise and showing the action necessary for the comand "clear for action"?? That way you could show sailors demounting the furniture and the captains cabins wall and some of the stanchions in place while others are removed already?? Concering the museums plea: I forwarded your text to one of my superiours - she is sited in the US - much closer to our headquarter than I - and also her position allows her another approach than if I forwarded this idea to our managment ... I hope to recieve an answer this evening whether she thinks she can do / could do something. I was thinking on our intranet homepage. I am working for a real big american global automotive supplier .. which is interested in social projects a lot. So maybe .... I will keep you informered.

Very interesting. I never looked into the detail in which direction the curve was done .. strange that Revell chose the wrong one? I very much like your version!

Wow .. a simple detail as a rudder - and again you did your homework and we all have to learn something! Great! Thanks for showing and explaining!

Great work ! Very interesting building log - I am looking forward to see more of it !

Very thrilling .. its interesting to learn that the modified hull is in danger of stress and distortion. How do you assure that the shape is still correct when the slot is done? Do you compare your hull with something ?? Do you have a template of the sheer plan ? How big was the distortion ? Did you actually see it or was it just visible by assembling the halfs with the decks ? ... Sorry : so many questions .. but thinking about comparable modifications makes a bit nervous I would expect that the stress will decrease during the lifetime of the model - caused by setting of the material. But in any case the once existing stress will cause strain at the beginning - and even if the decks would help to eliminate some of the distortion - there would be still a bit in the hull .. And of course : the strain / distortion might show up AFTER the assembly with induced stress .. due to the "working" and setting of some of the components ... and the weaker one will show most of the distortion - and you never know which one it will be - and how much will be visible .. The technique with laminated frames is of course a very smart solution ! Thanks for showing and indicating this trap ! I very much like the improved appareance of the windows. But isn´t it a problem that now the "vertical" strokes of the frames are back behind the horizontal ones? Or is this just visible with those macro-pictures ? I always love to see your results - and I am looking forward seeing more ! Especially your colour scheme in real life !

Hello Evans, first of all I want express my gratitude for this honour ;-) .. but I think I do not deserve this. I did not much more than you did: describing what Eriksen published. But you did much more than I, I believe. You did study his book and you consider his findings. Thats far more I ever did until now. And more important: Erkisen did his research and did publish them in the beautiful book. Its only a pity that the publisher did not understand the need of bigger pictures or even fold out plans .. and that he wants to earn that much money .. You can not imagine how much your report inspires and how much its increasing the itching to start with the own model ... I very much like your Charlie Noble and the bell - beautiful.. The rails .. as from a "textbook" - beautiful and obviously much more reliable. I am looking forward to your next update - thanks for sharing your ideas and your results!