JSGerson

I have/use 4 basic power tools: Dremel rotary tool Byrnes table saw - Invaluable!!! Small disc sander 50 yr old Dremel scroll saw I also have, but rarely use these power tools: Byrnes dimensional sander Small wood lathe I have learned not to anticipate a tool I may need in the future because I most likely won't need it. Buy it when you are positive you need it. This goes for both hand and power tools. Always research the tool before you buy. Hope this helps Jon

If you have been following my log, you would know that ladders have been my nemesis. I tried building ladders without trend grooves in the side rails like, you early in my build, and luckily they were installed from the gun deck to the berth deck so you couldn't see much of them. They weren't that good. The ones I made for the passage from the gun deck to the spar deck inspired by Mustafa's method, came out much better though still not as nice looking as yours. That was a lot of meticulous work you invested and you were rewarded with beautiful ladders. Well done! Jon

I found I enjoyed making that boat so much, it was like eating potato chips, you can't stop at one. Soon after I finished the Rattlesnake, I started working on the Model Shipways USS Constitution. So, the first thing I started working on when I started the model was to fabricate the ship's four whale boats. You might want to check on those. That was seven years ago and I figure I've got another bunch of years to go. Have fun, if nothing else Jon

All of the horizontal elements should be parallel to the sill. The "vertical" elements however are NOT parallel (and not even vertical for that matter) but point to a vanishing point above the window while taking into account the windows are slanted innards towards the top and curve around the gallery. Something like the vanishing point in a perspective drawing by Salvador Dali. Simple, piece of cake!! 🤪 Good Luck!!!

As you have discovered, the quarter galleries are tricky, very tricky. There are no plans for the true shape of the individual windows and each window is different. The laser cut windows supplied by the kit are useless as they are from the elevation view and do not take into account the perspective distortions of all of the curved surfaces. I have the US Navy plans of the galleries, and they were just as confusing. The practicum does one thing right however. Mr. Hunt's end result for the shape of the windows is the best that I've have found. I made numerous attempts in constructing the windows out of wood (not styrene) and finally had to accept what I did as barely acceptable. Take your time, make mock-ups, and don't lose patience. Jon

I believe the the vertical rollers help guide and move the anchor chain/cable or the messenger cable (not sure which at this point) when they are activated. They also provide (as you stated) a buffer from them rubbing on the vertical supports and columns. I originally purchased the RP Toolz punch to create the thousands of pseudo boltheads you see on the bulwarks. The method the practicum used, plastic rivets heads, was too labor intensive and I felt the scale was too large. With this punch set, I could punch out 0.6mm - 2.0 mm diameter hemispheric pieces out of the brass plate. In both cases I used the 0.6mm punch. First, to create the pseudo bolthead and then here, to create the bracket holes. The set is not cheap. about $115. I don't remember what I paid for it when I got it some 5 years ago.

Another spar support beam was added complete with diagonal knees at the bulwarks where the bitts are located. The bitts in actuality, passes vertically through the planking of the spar deck. This wasn’t done on the model as they won’t be seen as a continuous structure and would just add another layer of complexity to the build. Therefore, the vertical column stopped at the top surface of the spar deck support beam. If all goes well, the bitts on the spar deck will be glued directly over the gun deck bitts without any adjustment. If not, there will be some wiggle room and any slight misalignments won’t be noticed (if all goes well). The rollers were constructed as before for the foremast bitts. A hole was drilled to accept the cross beam. The brass rod slips inside the brass tube. The brackets were made from the brass sheet after a hole was punched into it for each bracket. Then the brass sheet was cut to size and bent to shape. Each wooden bitt was made of two pieces of stained (gunstock) boxwood cut to shape. The vertical pieces with the roller assembly were installed first. Once the glue dried, the diagonal braces were added to ensure a proper fit to the vertical and horizontal surfaces.

Thanks everyone for the kudos. Gun Deck Main Mast Bitts The bitts next to the main mast are similar in function to the foremast bitts, but a little different design. The bitts’ vertical posts cross sections were measured from the US Navy plan as 1/16”x1/16” (scale). The remainder of the dimensions were “eyeballed.” All wooden parts were boxwood. Parts: Vertical post 1/16”x1/16” Diagonal braces 3/32”x 3/32” Horizontal beam 3/64”x3/64” Brass roller bracket 0.010” thick plate Brass roller pin 0.032” diameter rod Brass roller tube 1/16”

Very neat...nice job!! Jon

As you know, there are a lot of pictures of the USS Constitution on the web (just not well organized), but it is nice to have your own personal pictures. Sorry you missed out touring the ship. I grew up and lived in the Boston area till the late 70s, so I visited it a number of times. My last visit was in November 2014 just before it started its last restoration. By that time, I had already purchased the MS kit and was a couple of years into collecting and organizing images of various detail of the ship to help with the construction of the kit. Presently, I have over 4,000 photos of the ship from 1857 to the present. Should you or anyone else need image(s) of particular detail(s), there is a good chance I have it. Just let me know. Jon

Gregg, it's taken me 7 years to get this far, so hopeful I'll be working on the spar deck in months instead of years from now!😁

Then I had to do it all over again for the main hatchway ladders were fabricated. This time because the two ladders were identical, the grooves in the four sides were cut at the same time. These will be installed when the hatches are. Mustafa made it look easy.

I initially used white glue to install the steps one at a time with a right-angle block. This allowed me to adjust the steps. Once all the steps were glued to one side, it was a little like herding cats. All the steps had to line up exactly to their counter part on the second side piece before it would all come together nicely. The results were not perfect, but better than my previous attempts. Here is a dry fit. Although the access is closed with the grating, you might be able to see part of the ladder from other openings in the spar deck. I will probably remove the grating when it’s permanently installed.

The Dremel drill press stand is not a precise instrument. I needed the router bit to stop precisely 1/32” above the X-Y table when I lowered the Dremel to its stop position to cut the 1/32”x1/32” groove in the 1/16” thick side pieces. Unfortunately, the drill-stop only adjusted to 1/16” increments. I had to use a piece of scrap 1/32” wood inserted in the drill stop. Because the X-Y table is just clamped to the drill stand, aligning the block with the ladder images as well as the X-Y table to the stand was very tricky and tedious. The X-Y axis of the table must match the X-Y axis of the ladder images. This in turn must align with the drill bit so that the cuts match the images when the table cranks are turned. Finally, I got it all working after a couple of false starts.

There are several things that still must be accomplished on the gun deck before I can start work on the spar deck. They are: Ladders going up to the spar deck. Main mast bitts Capstan and its related anchor ropes and chain “Temporary” support posts under the main hatchway Ladders The first item I attempted was the ladder leading up to the double hatchway by the ship’s wheel. I figured this would be a good one to do first because if I don’t do a decent job here, it would be hidden under the grating I presently have in the hatch. I have yet to make a ladder to my satisfaction starting from my first POB model, Rattlesnake. Because of my dissatisfaction, I haven’t made ladders the same way twice each time trying a different method. This time, I am taking my cues from Mustafa (aka mtbediz, post #340) Mustafa has a real drill press, something I don’t have. So, using my Dremel rotary tool, an old version Dremel drill press accessory, and a Proxxon X-Y table, I rigged an ad hoc drill press. I mounted a normal and reverse image of the US Navy plan for the ladder on a wooden block with double sided tape. The sides of the ladder were to be 1/8”x1/16” and the steps 1/8”x1/32” boxwood, also mounted on top of the plan images with double sided tape. Then the wooden block itself was mounted on the X-Y table with double sided tape. A 1/32” router bit was installed in the Dremel to cut grooves in the ladder sides 1/32” deep to accept the steps.

The fabricated main hatchway DOES NOT match or align with any plan! The biggest surprise was that the main hatchway DID align closely (although not perfectly) with the pre-installed knee supports on the gun deck bulwarks which were “eyeballed” into position. If I had just looked far enough ahead to understand all the interconnections or had a consistent and complete set of construction plans. I might have had a little better alignment at this point. If one fabricated the kit as designed like Mr. Hunt did, there would be no problem; all the beams would be hidden. The 1927 and 2010 US Navy plans for the hatchway support beams match closely with the kit (which was based for the most part on the 1927 restoration). The kit plans even indicated the removal of the aft ladders during the 1996 restoration. The kit’s laser cut gratings, however, do not match anything I can find in the US Navy plans and the gratings design are not even shown on the kit plans. So, my model will be a Frankenstein combination of components and adjustments that may look good to the layman but won’t be accurate. So be it and move forward. Below are some dry fit ups.

The main reason the hatches were fabricated at this point was to workout the alignment with gun deck bulkhead spar beams. If you look at the image below, you will see the comparison of the: Assembled main hatchway based on the kit’s gratings, 1927 US Navy Main hatchway beam plan which matches the kit’s plans, 2010 US Navy Main hatchway beam plan which also matches with the kit, Kit bulkheads beam plan.

The remainder of the main grating was sliced lengthwise. One half remained intact, while the other was cut again into individual gratings. It is to be noted that there are six different size gratings that comprise the 18 total on the single laser cut piece. So as not to mix them up, I only cut off what I needed, before I moved on to the next one using them to set the next beam frame in turn. The internal framing was made from various pieces of 5/16” x 1/16” boxwood which I had to mill myself on the Byrne’s Saw. The supplemental wood package was based on the practicum which did not address removing grating to reveal underling structure. Using 1/8”x1/32” boxwood, the internal lip was created to support the intact remaining long grating as well as the individual open frameworks. Finally, the assembly was stained and painted. The last components to be added to the main grating frame were the six eyebolt and rings assemblies.

The Main Grating If I was following the kit instructions (what there is of them), the main grating would be very simple; just build a border around the laser cut main grating provided by the kit and it would be done. If I were following the practicum, it’s a bit more complicated. Mr. Hunt would have you slice the grating lengthwise and add a support beam down the length of the full grating using complex lap joints. But, if you plan on leaving half of the gratings open, and adding ladders to the gun deck so that the gun deck can be viewed, it’s almost a complete scratch build. The exterior border frame, which is taller than the other grating frames, was fabricated just like all the other frames using the boxwood pieces (provided by the wood supplement package). The 5/16” x 3/32” boxwood was cut as follows: 2 pieces: 6 9/16” lengthwise 2 pieces: 2 5/32” beam wise These pieces were glued together with butt joints creating a large open frame. Next, I held my breath as I cut off the four most forward gratings with the Byrnes Saw. These were used to set the first internal beam frame. The two outer corner gratings will remain off the framework to allow the installation of ladders to the gun deck.

Woodartist: I feel flattered. Remember, the Conny is only my second square rigged ship and third wooden model. So take everything I say/do with a grain of salt. I am an experience amateur, not an expert. It is why I explain what I do so that the reader may avoid any mistakes I may have made. Jon

I do something similar. I've copied every Constitution log I've ever followed, some good, some not so good: 38 on going; 25 now completed; 26 dormant, logs never completed. This is how I've been able to locate information quickly from these builders. I can do word searches on their complete logs without having to go page by page on the websites. (BTW, I don't trust websites; they crash, disappear, and change location of their pages.) Should there be something interesting like an impressive jig or construction method I may want to use, I will copy and paste that portion of the log as a separate document and file it in the appropriate subject folder for easy reference. I also collect images of the real ship. A lot of the images you can't find directly with a search engine I gotten by looking for "A" and finding "B". They are all sorted into individual subject folders. I've got about 1,400 images; and the US Navy plans from various sources. Yeah, so I guess I am the reference guy. Jon

Wow, I didn't know I was the "go to guy" on research! The only pointed planks I see are where the deck planks meet the waterway at the bow. These shown exactly the way look on the real ship. However, the hull planks, do NOT come to a point. Various methods are used to avoid that scenario, like using stealers and/or tapering. This is the way the ship is today. How it looked in the 1800s, I would not know. The earliest US Navy spar deck plan I have is from 1928, and there practically no difference from the kit's plans.

Beautiful planking job Pete!

Just about every surface of my model is covered with something, be it copper, paint, or stain. I have not used polyurethane (Wipe-On Poly)...yet. When I use paint, it's on bare wood so it soaks into the surface. I've used basswood, boxwood, and pear wood so far. The only wood I could have used the poly was the pear wood which was already the correct color I wanted. I didn't use it on the couple of wooden columns and bitts I made with it so far which are barely visible, but I may go back and touch them up with it. And yes I too get cases of "analysis paralysis." Jon

I am starting the main grating and only now have I looked closely at the laser cut piece. The individual 18 hatches ae not separated, yet your model makes them look (or actual are) individually set into the frame. Did you separate them, and if so, what method did you use? Any saw blade would reduce the material between the gratings after the cut. Yours appear nice and tight. Jon