JSGerson

Well Done!!! Jon

This looks very familiar. Now you know why mine looks the way it does. This is NOT easy. You need teeny, tiny clamps, and ultra, ultra, sharp cutting tools, and spider like fingers to hold and cut the fine pieces of wood. Even styrene will break apart at these sizes. What is needed I think, are fine watchmaker skills which I don't have. Jon

I can't help but thinking that you are going to a lot of trouble to get accurate planking for the gun deck. The situation as I see it is that the gun deck planking will be unviewable through the open gun ports because the guns themself will be blocking them up, reducing the gun deck viewing angle to almost nothing. If the spar deck is to be fully planked, you will have no light to illuminate the gun deck to see any of its detailed planking. In order to get viewing light, that means something must be opened on the spar deck. If that happens, now you will have to at least partially furnish the gun deck that is to be viewed. My build doesn't have any spar deck planks installed yet, and already the gun deck is getting difficult to see the detail I've added. So, what are your plan? I love what you are attempting to do, but as you are already aware, what you do in the very early stages of the build, will have repercussions as you move forward. Jon

You've got to admit, it's an interesting optical illusion 🫣😁 Jon

Gorgeous work, but are my eyes deceiving me, it looks like the mold is only one side of the Pinnace. How does that work? Jon

You have set the standards! Jon

Placing those window bars on the skylight is tough (at least for me); nice job! Everything is coming together nicely. And that Pinnace looks like a real beauty. Other that the obvious reasons, why did you choose to scratch fabricate the boats instead of using the "bread and butter" build from the kit? How did you make the mold? I'm still dicking around on my canopy frames. Jon

I assume you wanted the vector images for a laser cutter. Hopefully, the laser won't burn off the fine sharp details. I used the US Navy plans scaled down and hand carved the scrollwork from that. When it came to the sharp points and narrow joints, I had difficulty. My tools were just too thick to get into those areas. As a result, they are a bit rounded or thick more that I would have liked. But, if you're more than 1 foot away, it's not very noticeable. If it's not too late, the US Navy trailboard plans provides three dimensional detail that a good laser cutter could use, especially at the fiddlehead. If you want and don't have the plans, I can send them to you. Jon

I have the US Navy gun & carriage plans for the Conny should you want them. I have already submitted them to other builders as well. Jon

I tried styrene with mixed results. I found that CA glue made the plastic brittle. If I were to do it over again, I would use birchwood strips. Its flexible enough to tie into knots! I don't know if you can find the exact dimensions pre-cut however, so you might have to do that yourself. There are an number of suppliers on the web. Jon

Glad to be of help. As always, if you need any additional pictures or plans, just ask. Jon

I feel better knowing the barrels can be separated. Very nice job. Are going to show any additional details on your blog? Jon

My vote is for the dark gray. Jon

I am by no means an expert on "blackening," but it appears to me that the brass may still have had some fine residual oil remaining on the metal from the turning or casting process (which ever was used) or even your fingers. I usually clean the metal with acetone first. You may have done that, in which case try rubbing off the blackening, This may absorb what ever substance is covering those bare spots. Clean once more with acetone and blacken again. Still no luck? Then you presented the choices yourself, keep or paint. The argument for paint is that the rest of the ship looks pristine, fresh out of shipyard and the paint will make the guns look new. But I do like the weathered look that you achieved. I don't know if I helped or hindered. Jon

I checked the US Navy plans and got the following gun lengths: Carronades: British Style: 5' 1 7/8" => scale: 0.81" (13/16") or 20.5 mm 1812 Style: 5' 5" => scale: 0.85" (27/32") or 21.6 mm 32 pdr: 10' 9 1/8" => scale: 1.7" (1 45/64") or 43.2 mm 24 pdr: 10' 1 1/4" => scale: 1.6" (39/64") or 40.6 mm Jon

Gregg, My error, the USS Constitution carronades are still listed on Model Monkey. Thanks for the correction. But they are still expensive. Jon

I hadn't discussed the carronades on my blog yet because I'm not there yet. I purchased all the 1812 carronades for the spar deck from Model Monkey a year or so back. They 3-D printed parts specifically for the 76.8 scale MS kit and they weren't cheap. In this case they printed the complete carronade barrel and carriage as one unit. I would have preferred just the barrel and fabricate the carriages myself. We'll see if I can split them apart when the time comes. However, the bad news is I didn't see those items on their web page when I checked today (1/5/25). Of course, I have the US Navy plans for both versions of the carronades should anyone want them.

Ah yes, the carronades. Here is a "blurb" from the USS Constitution Museum: Below are images of the inaccurate British siege gun and the more accurate 812-era replica carronades. the one with the screw barrel elevator. I elected to place the more accurate 1812 version on my model. Others have decided to use the siege gun version because that is what is on the ship today save for the two 1812 replicas. The two version require different carriage designs. The choice is yours. Jon

Again, you did an amazing job on those handrails, which BTW I am working on mine now. You got that ring absolutely round, and the ends meet with perfect closure. I cannot tell from the photo were the ends meet. How did you line up the ring with the perfectly vertical supports, hold them in precise alignment to apply, what I assume is CA glue? What's also amazing is there is such little surface between the mating surfaces for the pieces for the glue to adhere to. A job very well done!! Jon

You are not the first to run into this cannon height problem. Myself and another builder (forgive me, I've forgotten which one, it's been a while) had the same problem building the Model Shipway's model. The gun deck was not part of the kit so it was my first kit bash without instructions. We purchased additional guns and carriages from Model Expo. As it turn out the Model Expo gun carriages did not match the dimensions of the US Navy USS Constitution plans. They were too short. The other builder elected to split the sides of the carriages and add addition wood to raise the height. I elected to fabricate the carriages from scratch using the US Plans. In my case, that was 22 gun carriages that were visible and therefore affected (the remaining 8 guns were dummies). Raising the deck was not an option for me by the time I addressed the problem. Yes, I'm a glutton for punishment!😁 Looking forward to seeing how your solution works out, hopefully for the better. Jon

Mazel tov! The canons look great. Hope you have a great Chanukah and a happy New Year. Jon

Peter, The US Navy plans I have. The 3-D printer I don't have, nor do I know of anyone who does have one. Cutting the brass 1/16" stock or the styrene 0.060" stock into cubes wasn't a real problem if you have a small miter box and a fine tooth saw. Cutting the brass rod and tubes also not a big deal. I used a fine tooth saw because if I used a cutting disk on a Dremel tool, the tiny piece pieces would fly off into Never-Never Land. I bought the brass balls. The hard part (for me at least), was trying to drill holes into the brass as I have documented. Take it one step at a time, and it will come together. Albeit, there are a lot of steps. As for going to a larger scale, the 1:76 scale of the MS kit creates a four foot model. That in turn requires an even larger display box, which requires a display table large enough to properly show off the display box. Now increase the scale of the model and everything gets bigger. Oh, one other thing, usually a larger scale almost demands more detail. Be careful what you wish for.🤥 If you enjoy it, it not work Jon

I am taking my canopy frame fabrication cues from several builders but am using 1/32” brass tube instead of 1/32” brass rod as many other builders have used for the vertical components. This allows me to use a continuous vertical component, passing through the junction blocks and decorative balls to just beyond the top railing. Then the overhead canopy support made of 0.02” brass rod can be inserted into the 1/32” tube creating a strong mechanical connection. The 0.06” blocks will only support the horizontal rails with no stress. The brass balls are strictly ornamental and provide no support. The tricky part is where the canopy arches all meet at the top. A hub piece will be used to connect all the arches plus the finial. The finial is to be comprised of a rod and tube configuration (TBD), and filed into its final shape and inserted into the hub. The vertical framework base will be inserted into rings made from 1/16” tubes, embedded into the grating wood frames. Here is a summary of the materials: Base of vertical component: 1/16” brass tube – K&S Engineering No. 5125 Vertical component: 1/32” brass tube– K&S Engineering No. 815035 Horizontal component: 1/32” brass rod - K&S Engineering No. Junction blocks: 0.06” Styrene square rod – Evergreen No. 223 Ornament: 1/32” brass balls – Tribal Desert from Etsy Junction hub: 3/32” styrene tube – Evergreen No. 153 So here is my plan based on the US Navy plans and the trial prototypes of the vertical components and the canopy hub element to see if this would work. The prototype is purely concept, so it is not adjusted for proper dimensions or glued and yet it stands on its own. The final image shows the styrene painted brass. It appears it just might work.

I'll add that to my list of a metal lathe, 3-D printer, router, and dedicated drill press.😁