JSGerson

OK, so I rushed my initial response to you Mustafa because I was pressed for time. You are correct, there are no clear diagrams/instructions on how to fabricated the channels on the MS plans. That is a major shortcoming of the kit. So, I resorted to providing you an excerpt from Robert Hunt's practicum, pictures from the Mamoli plans, and actual US Navy plans.

Per the practicum:

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10.2.2 The Channels

Before you actually make your chainplates, you need to have your channels made and attached to the model. The channels are made from 3/32" x 1/2" basswood provided in your kit. The reason for this is because you must adjust the length of the brass straps to fit your model. I will give you starting dimensions based on my model which may or may not work on your model.

You can take the lengths for each channel directly off of sheet 4 of your plans. The profile view shows each channel. First cut 2 each mizzen, main and fore channels from the basswood stock.

Each channel has slots cut in one edge for the chainplates to fit into. You can also take these right off of the plans as shown in photo P10.2.2-1

 

Once the channels have been attached to the side of the hull, the chainplates fit into these slots and an additional strip of 1/16" x 1/16" basswood stock fits across the channel edge that locks the chainplates in place. Alternatively, you could use a slightly wider strip of wood for the channel and drill holes for the chainplates to fit through but we will construct our channels this way as it more closely follows actual construction.

 

Use your plans to mark where the chainplates go on one channel. Then take its mate and transfer the marks to the other channel for the other side of the ship.

 

Next, you will need to cut notches in the channels where you have marked the chainplate locations. I used a Preac table saw with a .032" blade and made my cuts about 1/32" deep. You can also use an Exacto knife but try to cut both channels at the same time to ensure the notches are in the same place. Photo P10.2.2-2 shows my channels cut to length with the notches cut in them.

Each channel is slightly angled on the ends by about 1/16". This means that the outside edge, the one with the notches in it, is not as long as the inside edge. Make a mark 1/16" from the end on the outside edge of each channel and sand or trim accordingly. Photo P10.2.2-3 shows this feature to some extent.

 

channel is also thinner on the outside edge than on the inside edge. Again, the outside edge is the edge with the notches in it. Start by drawing a line across the face of the edge with a pencil or compass. You want to leave approximately 1/16" in the center of the edge and bevel the piece from the inside to the outside edge. Photo P10.2.2-4 shows this feature.

Here you can see that the channel in front (the lower one) is thinner on the outside edge than the other channel is. Use your #10 or #22 to trim the thickness down and use your sanding block to smooth it all out.

 

Once you've completed this step, you are ready to apply a finish to the channels. Start by giving them 2 or 3 coats of the Minwax Polycrylic finish to seal the wood. Sand with 400 grit sandpaper between coats of finish. Once this is complete, paint both sides with your Badger black paint giving the channels several coats.

 

Photo P10.2.2-5 shows a set of my channels. You will notice that there are brass pins along one edge. That's the next step of construction.

You can make these pins out of cut off pieces from your eyebolts which are extremely long. You will need at least 3 pins on each channel except the mizzen. You will also need to drill small holes in the edge of the channel to insert these pins. Use super glue to glue them in. You only need about 1/16" showing. Also, the fore channel will need to be carved some on it's inside edge to match the curvature of the hull. Fit the channel first before adding the pins.

 

The channels are glued to the side of the hull on the plank below the planksheer. Remember that the planksheer is the plank that makes up the bottom of the gunport sills. You can look at sheet 4 of your plans to see how the notches are oriented and how they are positioned in relationship to the gunports. By pushing the channel gently against the hull the nails or pins will put impressions in the planking that you can then drill out with your pin vise. Use super glue to glue the channels to the hull and the pins into the holes drilled. Once all of your channels are in place, you are ready to start making your chainplates and attaching them to the hull.

Practicum photos below

Mamoli  (scale 1:93) scans below

Mamoli 01.pdf Mamoli 02.pdf Mamoli 03.pdf

Per the note on sheet 4 above the gun per 3rd from front, it states "for channels & chain plate see details SE: sheets 7 & 8. At the bottom of those referenced sheets you will see the details.

Jon

Yes, I'm pretty much in awe of my sister too.

Jon

It seems the quest for detail is a curse or talent that is in my family. My mother's family had artists and woodworkers and she passed the painting talent on to my sister. I didn't get any artistic skills other than studying and getting a degree in Civil Engineering though I never practiced that skill. But it seems I like visual detail. Below are a few of the items my sister created. These are NOT photographs, but paintings.

To assemble the parts, I had two choices, glue them or silver solder them. The best way to assemble them with strength was to solder. If I was inept enough in this endeavor, hopefully I could fall back and use either CA glue or epoxy.

Ideally in soldering, you want the joints to be mechanically strong on their own, and the solder just holds the pieces rigid. In this case that wasn’t possible. The solder had to do all the work. Just inserting the rod into the cut hole in the tube wouldn’t work. If the rod was inserted completely, it would prevent the joint from being threaded onto the railing. During the solder process a length of 1/32” rod was inserted into the tube to act as a “stop” for the 1/32” stanchion rod. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be soldered in place as it needed to be removed after the soldering process. As it turned out, of the first five attempts, two got soldered in place and had to be discarded. I found that if I used 1/32” brass rod as the “stop,” it was a 50-50 chance it would get stuck. However, when I switched to music wire for the “stop,” I had no problems.

In the photos below:

1 – 1/32” brass rod inserted into tube to act as a “stop” (later music wire)

2 & 3 – Brass stanchion rod held in place for soldering

4 – Silver Solder paste applied to joint

5 – Soldered joint formed after heat with mini torch

6 – 1/32” brass rod “stop” removed. Competed soldered joint before cleaning the component up

The last photo shows the joints strung onto the circular railing. The deck fasteners, rail closure, and final positioning of the stanchions will have to wait until the deck planking is installed.

I wanted to create stanchion/connecting joints from brass rods and tubes. This meant confronting my old nemesis, drilling holes in brass. And this was especially difficult as I wanted to do this on a curved surface of a tube. The hard part was biting into the brass with the drill bit, so I skipped that part! Instead, I cut halfway through into the tube with my miter handsaw, just exposing the interior of the tube. Then with a fine drill, that cut was opened into a small round hole, and with a 1/32” drill bit, it was widened to accept the 1/32” rod. The ends were trimmed a bit to shorten and center the drilled hole into the tube (not shown in the picture below). Finally, 1/16” length pieces of the tube were cut off creating the deck fasteners.

To be consistent with the companion ways, the rail and stanchions were made of 0.032” brass rod with the connecting joints and deck fasteners made from 1/16” brass tube. The brass rod was wrapped around my work bench peg insert which just happened to be ¾” diameter bending it to the initial shape of the circular railing.

Captain Skylight Railing

I could not find any US Navy plans for the hand railing surrounding the Captain’s Skylight, so I referred back to the MS kit plans. There, I measured the dimensions as follows: the railing is ¾” in diameter and 3/8” high off the deck (scale). The skylight sits on what the plans identifies as a square metal plate, imbedded flush with the deck. The composition of the plate material is hidden and therefore will not be fabricated but the area will be just painted black to get the flush effect. From the photos, it appears that the plate is coated with some sort of tar material, so I assume this was a form of a waterproofing seal for the skylight. BTW, the US Navy plans for the skylight do not show the plate.

Strand, are you planning to build a cross section model of the Constitution? I have a plethora of images (over 4,000) and US Navy plans of the ship. That's about 5Gb worth of stuff, so you are going to have to be  just a little bit more specific of your needs. I will gladly provide you anything I have, but it's best if you request them when you need them.

Jon

Officially, the gun deck is now complete...I think. I am now planning to install the Captain's skylight I previously made onto the spar deck. This will involve planking part of the spar aft section, creating the black square area on the planks in the area where the skylight will sit on, and fabricating and installing the circular brass railing. No idea how long or short time this will take.

Jon

I ran into a problem with the ladders for the capstan hatchway. I made them snug to the hatchway walls such that I could not slide the ladder down the hatchway because the stanchions made the ladders too wide. Therefore, I modified the stanchion attachment method. I filed a grove in the ladders’ sides for the stanchions to recess into. In theory this should have been simple, but the execution was not. Just the slightest nudge, on the stanchion and it would pop off the ladder. It took numerous attempts, gnashing teeth, time, and vocabulary that would have gotten me divorced if I had ever been married. But eventually, it got done. The upper ends of the hand ropes were tied off on the brass framework.

To secure the stanchion to the ladders’ sides, brass brackets were made out of .005” brass sheet cut into a strip and cut to length. These provided sufficient gluing surfaces to secure the stanchions.

Companionway Ladder Hand Ropes

As I mentioned in my last post, I am adding the hand ropes to the companionway ladders going from the spar deck to the gun deck, which were made last year. At the base of the ladders, the stanchions anchor the hand ropes. Trying to maintain close to scale as possible (within reason) with the US Navy plans, I used 0.013” (0.33 mm) music wire cut to 3/8” lengths for the scale stanchions. Additionally, I deduced from the plans that the rope was about 1” diameter or 0.016” scale. Therefore, I used Syren Ship Model Company 0.012” (.30mm) black rope which I had on hand, for the hand rope.

Mine should look as good. Well done!

Jon

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I've annotated the plans for you here and indicated which rails are which. Jon, please correct me if I'm wrong

I checked my "library" and found this diagram. I hope this helps.

Jon

Gregg, your US Navy plan shows the plan view of some of the rails. What I was looking for was elevation and detail views. According to the BlueJacket's instruction booklet (yes, I've got a copy of that, no less a signed copy by the author Laurence Arnot himself!) Page 46 which states, "When CONSTITUTION's bowheads were restored as described, there were no plans and each component had to be templated in place on the ship." I would assume those templates would have been recorded somewhere, but they have not been made public to the best of my knowledge.

Jon

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Jon do you (or anyone else out there) know what the true dimensions of the head rails are?

I struggled with the headrails like everyone else. And it's disappointing and shocking, just shocking that I do not have any US Navy plans showing their dimensions and believe me, I looked for them. I resorted to using the method shown in Hunt's practicum to fabricate them. Sorry to disappoint all of you.

Jon

Doesn't matter the score. You are the Captain of your ship. What you say, goes! Aye Aye Sir!

Jon

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Does anyone know what triggers a new page here at the MSW site?

Short answer: I haven't a clue.

To be honest, I don't care how long the blog or a book is, if the the reading/information is enjoyable, it's not too long.

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If you can make the hook and the hole 90 degrees perpendicular to each other, it will look nicer and you will do it accurate.

I agree with Mustafa. From the Marquardt book picture you posted, that looks to me like a 90 degree twist. I believe I twisted mine although there may be some I didn't. I try with in reason to be as faithful to the actual item as I can make it. I don't remember breaking any hooks getting it to twist. Brass is quite malleable. Of course if you work it too much, it will break from metal fatigue. I did however, break a few from poor drilling or lost a few in my hungry rug.

Jon

Per your PM that you have officially started your Constitution saga, I am honored to join you and the rest of our group as a follower and look forward to your next postings.

Jon

Right now I'm adding the ladders and their rope railings that go through the hatchways that are covered by the brass frameworks. It turned out to be a little tricker than I thought it would be due to the tight tolerances between the openings and the ladders. Once those are completed, I've got the ship's wheels and binnacles to fabricate and install as well as the brass railing around the skylight. I'm going to try to leave off as much planking as I can so that the gun deck can be visible (more or less). My personal philosophy is to have viewers see more the longer they look. For instance, there is a lot of stuff I fabricated for the gun deck that is not clearly visible at first glance. If the viewers move around and spend a little time studying the model, hopefully they will discover new items they weren't initial aware of. I don't want them to become bored.

Although I am building my model in the style of the 2017 restoration, the carronades will all be 1812 style. Presently, the actual ship has only two (I believe) 1812 style guns. It has been discussed before that the carronades with the wedge (used for adjusting elevation) are incorrect for the 1812 period. These replica non-working guns were installed during the 1927 restoration. I decided to correct that error and to replace all of them with the 1812 versions (screw type adjusting elevation). I will discuss that process in more detail when I get to them.

Jon

Here are some pictures of the Isaac Hull model with the same trailboard as you are working on. Does this help you any?

Jon

Just found your build today. Wow, I did not know how challenging working with a solid hull was. I am building the Model Shipways version styled to the 2017 restoration with a scratch built gun deck. I'm one of the slower builders as I have been at it for 8 years and am still working on the hull. I'm just beginning the spar deck. You have a wonderful group of active Conny builders at your disposal should you require assistance. Like you, I live in South Carolina about 75 miles south of you. I'll be looking forward to your future posts.

Jon

That looks like your standard ready for battle setup: the gun is pull through the gun port, the tackle is loose, and not coiled.

Jon

First off, I'm not nautical expert, have no military experience (except army ROTC), let alone any naval experience. What I know is from model builders I've followed on various sites and books. So my two cents: As near as I understand it, if the guns are rigged for sea voyage but not battle, the tackle and guns are rigged fast so as to not move or be in the way of the sailor's activities, the gun is pulled up to the bulwark and the gun port is closed and the loose ends of tackle are made snug against the guns. When the guns ae on display for the public or inspection, the guns are pulled through the open gun ports and the loose rope may be coiled "pretty" or remain snug to the gun. If the guns are posed "ready for battle," everything is loose so the gun can recoil freely and the tackle can be manned for loading and pulling back through the gun port. In other words, it all depends on how you want your model to look.

Jon