JSGerson

Greg, there is no whaleboat planking. The boat hull surfaces are painted which would erase any evidence of the planks. If you look at pictures of the real whaleboats, they are smooth as a baby's butt 😁. Hope this makes it easier for you.

Jon

That was an awesome step. My heart would have been in my mouth if I did it. You are going to have a fantastic model when you're done.

Jon

I'm sorry, I meant to give you the the earlier post where I made the scuppers as well. Take a look from Post #546.

The air ports (round holes) were precast Britania metal provided by the kit. I didn't like the precast scuppers. They were made from brass a tube which were sliced like a loaf of bread. Then they were flattened into "race track' shape with a vise. The scuper lids were cut from brass plate and CA glued.

Jon

Here's an image of the airports and scupper. Model Shipways' plans show the locations of the airports and scruppers. If you have no luck finding and image/plan that shows these locations, PM me and I will scan my plans for you. BTW, I made my own scuppers, not that you can see them from a foot away at 1:76.8 scale (see my blog starting at post #625).

Very nicely done

Jon

The results of my efforts are shown below.

Using 5/32” x 1/8” stock boxwood, twenty pieces were cut 21/32” in length. Boxwood was chosen over basswood because it holds a very fine edge. The chamfers were created using a sanding block. I didn’t trust myself to cut them using an X-acto knife as Mr. Hunt did in his practicum. Then, using a drum sander bit on the Dremel rotary tool at a slow rpm, the hull face side was sanded down every so gently to match the contour of the hull at each position. The fenders were identified on the inside face with an arrow indicating UP orientation, S or P for the proper side, and the position 1 -10. I just arbitrarily made the aft most position No. 1.  Using left over metal wire trimmed from eye bolts and other hardware for the pins, holes were drilled into the backside of the fenders and the pins were CA’d into the holes. Before installation, the fenders were painted red. Pressing the fender onto the hull, the pins left an impression indicating were I had to drill holes into the hull for the fender pins. The fender locations were premeasured and indicated on the hull with paint trim tape.

I followed the practicum for the most part in constructing 20 fenders, 10 for each side with the following modifications:

• The MS plans, the practicum, and the  pre 2015-17 restoration photos, show the fenders are chamfered on the vertical sides and top edges, not the bottom. According to the 2015-17 restoration photographs, all four sides are now chamfered.
• The practicum left the fenders as bare wood, but the photographs (even before the 2015-17 restoration) showed they were painted the same color as the red stripe.
• The practicum would have you just simply glue the fenders to the hull. I added two pins each fender for a more secure attachment.

To be fair, at the time the practicum was written sometime in 2014 I believe, there were very few images available showing details of what the fenders looked like on or off the ship. I’ve only located these images from the 2015-17 renovation shown below. Moreover, when the ship is afloat, most of the fenders are not visible as they are hidden below the waterline. And, for some reason, very few images with any detail are available even today (at least on Google) when she was in dry dock. I guess they’re not a very interesting subject to photograph.

Fenders

Per USS Constitution Museum:

Quote

“Since at least the 1973-1974 dry docking, when USS Constitution‘s copper sheathing was replaced, fixed fenders have been attached to the hull to protect the waterline area of the ship. For the 2015-2017 restoration, new fenders were once again made, but this time each fender was cut and fashioned to individually fit the contour of the hull.”

What’s interesting is that the 1927-31 restoration MS based plans show the oak fenders. How are there fenders on the plans? It also states that the fenders are “Not a historical feature. Installed by Navy to protect copper from camel damage in dock” Again, my argument that anything the Navy does to a commissioned ship, IS historic. Albeit, adding permanent fenders is not something you would do an active warship as it would obviously slow the speed of the ship.

The red stripe was painted by applying Model Shipways primer white and two coats of Cherry Red mixed with a few drops of hull black following the lead of the practicum. I neglected to take pictures of the resulting red stripe.at this stage.

My sister is an accomplished artist who uses acrylic paints (see PaintedFurnitureBySue). I told her about the peeling problem I had with the Rust Red paint. First thing she asked was who manufactured the paint. I told her Anita’s Craft Paint for the rust red and DecoArt Americana for cherry red. She informed me that the proper term for the peeling was crocking, and it was an indicator of poor-quality paint. She was not familiar with Anita’s Craft Paint, but that DecoArt Americana was a high-quality paint which she uses. Here are the paints I referred to in my earlier post.

Geoff, good to hear from you! I had been following your build long before I started my Conny and then you just stopped posting in Jan 2019. I hope everything is OK with you. Did you finish your model, any more pictures, etc.?

Thanks Rokket, I need all the encouragement I can get! Eventually, those knees will be accompanied by more structural members as I populate the gun deck with the guns after I work on the stem.

Jon

In case anyone is following where I am in the practicum, it’s Chapter 9.1.5. I skipped over Chapter 7 for the time being. In any case, this the part where the practicum adds the “iron red” (plans state “red lead”) waterline stripe. According to the Model Shipway plans, the stripe is “not an historic feature.” By this statement, I assume it was added in the twentieth century. But since this is a US Navy commissioned ship (oldest commissioned ship still floating in the world by the way), anything the US Navy does to the ship is, by definition, historic. Here is a blurb from the USS Constitution Museum newsletter from 2017:

Quote

 

In her early years, the ship’s hull sported a yellow ochre-colored gun streak/stripe. Her familiar black and white hull color was established by at least 1811. Interestingly, Captain Charles Stewart had the gun stripe re-painted yellow in 1814, likely in an attempt to disguise Constitution and trick the Royal Navy into thinking she was another British warship in the War of 1812.

 

In 1842, the Board of Naval Commissioners decreed that U.S. Navy vessels were to have black hulls and white gun streaks/stripes. For the rest of her active career, until her last sail in 1881, Constitution‘s hull color changed only once, when, according to ship’s carpenter Henry George Thomas in 1844,

 

“December 20…Since leaving Rio, the ship has been painted white or lead color with a red streak, in place of black with a white streak…the ship is cooler…both inside and out…” [Around the World in Old Ironsides, The Voyage of the USS Constitution, 1844-1846 by Henry George Thomas]

 

As most of us Conny builders know, this ship has been constantly modified. The red waterline is no different than painting the ship white with a red gun stripe like a hospital ship. So yes, I’m adding the “historic” red waterline.

To make things a tad more interesting (read more complicated), the Model Shipway plans show the red stripe between draft marks just about mark 21’ to the top of mark 18’, which at scale is ½” wide. There are photos to show this is correct …aaaannnnd photos to show this to be wrong. The composite image below shows multiple locations for the top and bottoms of the red waterline stripe - top of draft mark: 23’, below the mark 23’, and top of mark 21; the bottom locations at just above mark 18’ and below mark 20’. ‘When the ship is floating, the actual water line on the boat is at mark 19 and just above 21’. Since there doesn’t seem to be a definitive position for the red waterline, when in doubt, follow the plan, in this case the MS plan which appear to follow the US Navy 1844 Draught & Lines plan #11249 which shows the high and low draught range.

Copper Completed

Finally…the major milestone has been reached – The coppering has been completed, including the stem, keel, stern, and rudder. I’m estimating it took cutting, embossing, and placing 2,600 -2,700 plates to do the job. I’m glad that’s over and done.

2,500 or so Copper Plates so far

My copper tape roll ran out 24 plates shy of completing the hull. However, I was prepared as Hunt’s practicum warned me that may happen, and I also read the same accounts in a couple build logs. This did not include coppering the stem, keel, stern, and rudder. Also, it was not unexpected that the oxidation color of the second roll of tape was of a slightly darker hue. Over time they will even out going from shiny new copper to old penny brown, and finally green copper oxide (if the model lasts that long).

As I mentioned, I have no experience with square rigged sails. That being a given, going from 1:75 to 1:100 is a big difference (to me at least). Take a micrometer, and measure the thickness of the sail cloth and figure out what the scale thickness is. If it sounds reasonable, then use it. But, if scales to something like 2" thick sails, for example) I'd think about using something else. A thought just came to me. If you look at real sails, they are semi-transparent; you can see the shadows of the masts through them. What if you use grocery store plastic bag material. I mean the kind groceries are put it as you go through checkout. They are semi-transparent,  very thin & flexible for the scale, strong, and some come in a light beigse canvas color, and you can glue parts together. Just a thought.

I have never installed sails as I have only completed one square rigged ship. My logic, with no experience to back this up, tells me to add the sails after all of the standing rigging is done. It's called standing rigging, because that is what is left when the sails are down. If there are any required blocks and other do-hickys (that's a technical term) needed for the sails that could be installed prior to the sails, those should be pre-installed.

Here's something to think about, you could install furled sails instead of the full blown sails (that's a play on words🙂). It would allow the viewer to see more of the ship's details but still have all of the running rigging. Think hard about what material you are going to use for the sails. Any cloth will be out of scale. The cloth will be too thick and maybe too stiff, the cloth weave too big, and any actual stitching on the sails, too large. I've seen model makers use fine cloth, silk, tissue paper (kind used on flying balsawood framed planes), and even thin formed plastic. It's all a matter of effect and the skill to pull if off.

You used the term “ballistic netting” That netting is used to hold the crews’ hammocks for airing when not in battle and as a shrapnel barrier during battle. So, I suppose the term “ballistic netting is somewhat correct.

Take a look at Post 224  Robnbill’s  Mamolli Build 1:93 scale (close to Billings Boat 1:100) to see how it looks when filled.

As for order of rigging, that is a matter of personal preference and skill. I’ve only done one other square-rigged ship, the Rattlesnake (which you can use the link in my signature) and I followed the theory of rigging the ship as it would have been done for real. In that case, I partially rigged the bowsprit at its base first, then moved next to the mast steps from the fore mast, back to the mizzen, rigging those portions of the masts. Then to the next mast step up, interconnecting the mast as required etc. I was trying to work from closest to the mast outward towards the bulwarks to have the least amount of rigging interference.

Other builders build their mast completely off ship to have the maximum access to all the nooks and crannies. They assemble all three steps and place as much stuff onto the mast they possible can before installing the mast as a unit onto the model. This creates a lot of loose rigging hanging from the masts which must be meticulously tracked and not get them tangled.

 In both cases the yard arms were built off ship. I left mine loose held in place as would they be on an actual ship. Others pin the yards to the mast. Some people work stern to stem, some stem to stern. There is no “right” or “wrong” way. How am I going to rig my Conny? Probably some combination of all methods.

Now I am approaching the top edge boundary of the plating. Up until now I had been using Robert Hunt’s practicum as a guide to perform this task. His plating method used a double capping row to end his coppering. This method is shown in numerous guides as one method which copper was done, but not the only method. The actual ship, it turns out, uses a different method, at least it does currently. It may have used different patterns in the past, but since my model reflects the current version for the most part, Mr. Hunts method is incorrect for the current method as you can see from the pictures below. I had started to create the double copper capping row but ripped it out when I realized the discrepancy. I still have about 3-4 hull rows to the water line, plus the stem, keel, and stem edges as well as the rudder, to plate.

Still in the routine of cutting up about 20-25 plates at a time, embossing the face of the plate with the sandpaper and the fine teeth of my miter saw on two edges then placing, and finally burnishing the plates into position. After about 40 to sixty plates, I’d quit. I couldn’t take any more. Before I could add any additional plates the next session, I’d have to CA glue all the plates that curled up not sticking permanently. That is a pain.

Welcome to the world of model ship building. It's invariable that kit parts are not accurate, not provided, poorly made, etc. As a result, you end up making your own details and gaining skills along the way. Things like blocks, miniature rope, eyebolts, rings, and other rigging items I sometimes purchase from third party suppliers, or if that fails, attempt to make them myself. Knowing what something is suppose to look like is a tremendous help so I have a vast library of images I've accumulated of the years, of nautical details, as well as books, and "how-to" articles I've gleamed from other build logs from which I can follow. There is a lot of stuff on YouTube too.

If I were to make the chain plates, I might use thin copper or brass plate, cut into strips. At those thicknesses, a pair of sturdy scissors or a stout knife and rule could do the job. Then punch the necessary holes with an awl, nail, or heavy needle; smooth out the hole edges, and bend to shape. Finally, use some blackening agent on the metal. Paint is too thick and doesn't look right.

As for the color of the carriages, they are red not orange. I don't know the official color name but I would call it "redwood furniture" red. The bright sun affects the color in the images.

BTW, I'm still learning too.

Out of curiosity, what method of adhesive did you use for the stanchions, epoxy or silver solder? How did you hold the pieces in place as you joined them?

You stated: "I don’t like the fact that the cannons are not on wheels in my kit..." Technically most (not all) of the guns on the spar deck are cannonades and have a different type of carriage to hold the short barrel gun than the traditional long barrel gun carriage. The back wheels are small and are tucked under the carriage allowing the back end of the carriage to move side to side. There are no front wheels as the carriage rests on a pivot pin so the gun can be swung left and right. Presently, there are two types of replica cannonades on the actual ship today. The one with the vertical angle adjustment screw is more accurate than the more abundant gun with wedge adjustment. The images I've provided show the rigging. A lot of modelers elect not to include a lot of the gun rigging due to scale.

I have no idea if your measurements are correct but hopefully these plans from the US Navy (which are available at the USS Constitution Museum website) will help.

Jon

Glad to help