JSGerson

Well, Plan B failed. I did what I intended, built the sash in reverse and it was easier as I had hoped, but like Plan A, not practical nor accurate. This time the problem was removing the partially constructed sash from the tape without breaking it. I thought I would be able to paint it before the mica was attached and secured with a backing bringing the total thickness to about 1/32”, but when I checked to see if it even fit properly in the window opening, well you can see what I saw in the image below. I hadn’t even cleaned it up, no point.

I believe the basic problem is that the component is so small and delicate, any error compounds and magnifies any distortion. I still have at least Plans C (another method), D (jacknastyface2 method*) and E (Practicum’s method). So, its off to Plan C where I will forgo using a template and get my sash shape directly from the window opening. Stay tuned to the next installment of “Crash & Burn or Possibly Survive.”

* jacknastyface2 is a fellow model builder on another site

Finally, I was able to get everything glued together. Peeling the completed sash from the tape was a delicate maneuver which didn’t go as smoothly as I would have liked it. The mica surface lifter off the inner frame which had to be glued back down…again.; some sash pieces had to be reglued into place.

Finally, I was able to trim the excess and smooth the edges. I had a complete window sash with just one minor problem…It didn’t come close to fitting the window opening. Somehow through all the machinations of gluing, parts coming apart, re-gluing, etc. the vertical angle of the side of the sash changed. But I proved the concept through trial and lots of errors.

To make things slightly easier (not simpler), my next attempt will attempt to build the window sash from the outside, inward as opposed to the way this one was made, inside outward. All 15 pieces of the outside sash component will be placed on the tape first and glued all at once, then the mica, and finally the four larger pieces of the inside sash. Hopefully this will work better, go faster, and everything will be cleaner, neater, and remain glued together.

It was at this point; I saw the major flaw in my modified cunning plan. I didn’t have a sticky surface anymore to hold the remaining 16 pieces to complete the sash. Everything now had to be glued to the slippery mica. Mica is very smooth and CA glue needed something to grip to. Even worse than that, because the sash pieces were very short, thin, and narrow, they tended to jump from the surface of the mica to my CA needle applicator due to surface tension of the liquid CA. Needless to say, there were numerous “do overs.” I should also point out that all the pieces had to be pre-painted while still a stock of wood, then cut to size.

Next came the mica. Using just scissors, a slightly oversized piece was cut from the main sheet. I planned to trim everything at the finish. CA glue was applied along the top surface of the frame and the mica laid on top.

Following my plan, by laying down the inside frame pieces on the template which was fastened down with double sided tape once again. These were glued together at the joints with CA glue. I tried to only paint white the inside surfaces of the muntins. I wanted the gluing surfaces bare wood. I tried sanding off the excess. It looks worse in the photos.

It’s been about 10 days and I am still working on the first sash, and it’s been a b*tch of an effort. I contemplated what material to use for the “glass” panes. Some years ago, I spoke with the master builder, David Antscherl at one of the NRG yearly conventions. He’s also authored numerous ship modeling books. I was admiring one of his models he had on display and asked what material he used for his windows. He replied that he used mica. A friend of his had giving him a large quantity of mica scraps which David said would last him a lifetime. Well, here was my opportunity to try that out, Not having a friend with excess mica to dispose of, I found what I needed on www.etsy.com for a reasonable price. When I received the package, the mica was all that I hoped it would be, free of defects, crystal clear, and very thin.

Ah, you're a Frank Sinatra fan😄

Well, I was surprised that you decided to use the kit's windows. I tried to warn you of the problems.

Because Mr. Hunt used styrene, he didn’t have to think about paint. I knew that I had to paint the sash before the last step installing a transparent material (not determined yet) for the windowpanes. Additionally, I noted that Mr. Hunt’s windows had a gap between the muntins and acetate he used for the panes. When he finished constructing his sash, he’d flip it over and applied the acetate to the inside surface of the window border. Therefore, his muntins were 1/64” above the acetate. This required that I modify his method slightly.

As shown below, the modification would require that the transparent material be sandwiched between bottom and top elements of the window border pieces. This would also increase the gluing surface for the muntin installation thus increasing the structural integrity of the window sash… Or so goes the theory. Next immediate steps: remove the vertical muntin, remove any excess glue, smooth the surface, and paint the outside border of the partial sash white.

The sill, header and styles were laid down on the tape which held them fast. Next came the vertical muntin which was laid down very carefully into position. Most of the pieces were made a bit long so they could be handled easier. The excess would be filed off later. A few fine drops of CA glue at the joints and everything was what it should be…or not. Here is where my cunning plan started to fall apart.

The first thing the practicum tells you to do is make a template for each window opening, which I did. It then has you double side tape the template to a piece of card stock, which I did…wrong. I laid down the tape on the card stock and then stuck the template on the tape, so it was card stock tape, then template. That left the template without a sticky top surface, which was the whole point of the double-sided tape. Got it right on the second attempt.

For the sashes I am using 1/64” birch plywood for its strength. My second choice would have been boxwood, Since the final product will be painted white, no one will know what kind of material was used. The sill will use 1/16” x 1/64” plywood. The stiles and header will be 1/32” x 1/64” plywood. And the muntin (sash bars) will be 1/64” x 1/64” plywood. All of these strips of plywood will be cut from a 1/64” birch plywood sheet using the Byrne’s saw. The plan is to follow the practicum’s method of construction…for the most part.

The Quarter Gallery Window Sashes

For the skill level of builders Mr. Hunt was aiming his practicum at, he chose throughout his practicum, to make certain tasks easier, but being the masochistic model builder that I am, I’ve chosen to take the path less traveled…again. Instead of using styrene strips indicated in the practicum to fabricate the sashes, I decided to stick with wood. Because he chose styrene strips, he had to use the strip sizes available to him, which in my humble opinion, were too large for the scale of the model as one can see in the comparison below. The header and window stiles (side frames) are much wider than what is shown in the actual photograph. Additionally, the sills on the actual ship appear twice as wide as the stiles and header. Don’t get me wrong, without a side-by-side comparison I would be very satisfied if my model looked anything like Mr. Hunt’s. But I do have a side-by-side comparison sooooo… I’m going to try to get my window sashes as close to looking like the real ship as I can.

Based on the template, the vertical window posts were added to the outside edges of the galleries. Then using the template marks I made on the sill and header as a guide, the two inner posts were added. Where there were some minor gaps, filler was used. Once everything was sanded, per the practicum three coats of polyurethane were applied and sanded. Finally, a couple of coats of black hull paint

Using the window template I made earlier to help me get a handle on what the windows should look like on my model, I sketched out the window frames by eye. Not surprisingly, when laid out flat, you can see the complexities of the window frames.

I did a little more digging through my photo library and came to realize that the line trim on the real ship are not two separate strips but one wide piece with a groove down the middle. The area down the middle is actual proud of the hull, but not as high as the white trim. The white paint is indeed painted just on the surface (just as you plan to do) unlike the detail on the trailboard which is painted white down to the flat surface. I don't think any model builder I've seen, has actually constructed the trim on the model like the real ship. It's a detail that is lost in the scale of the model. I look forward to seeing your progress.

I didn't realize the trailboard wasn't glued in place. But still, painting the trim strips white with a black background might have been easier had the stem been painted black first.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I thought you were using a too large tooth saw blade on your Byrne's saw for the cuts you were making and suggested you switch to a finer blade. The fine tooth blade will slice those 1/32" x 1/32" strips with ease, but first you need to make a zero tolerance plate for the saw.  Jim sells blank plates just for that purpose. I've made 1/128" cuts without any problem, just maybe not 1/128" x 1/128".

I've been working at the opposite end of the model, the quarter galleries which has challenges of it own. Before you start tackling that, take a look at my planning, it might save you some headaches. I concluded that you should NOT use the kit provided windows.

Very nicely done. Even though the practicum used styrene plastic for the trim, I too plan on using wood. I hope mine looks as perfect as yours. One thought though, would it not have been easier to have painted the trailboard first, then glued on the white trim? It looks like a real pain to paint it now.

While I was fiddling with the headers and sills, I kept looking at images of the quarter galleries trying picture in my mind their true shapes. Using images that were taken at an angle to show their proper shapes better, I noticed something about their dimensions. All three of windows have the same width for their header (as measured from the glass panes). The vertical elements of course are at different angles. The sills of the outer windows are very close to being the same width, but not quite. The center window sill is approximately a half to two thirds of a pane of glass wider. I checked this on two separate images with the same results

In the picture below, the red dimensions are all the same as each other as are the blue ones per photograph. The green dimension indicates dimensional differences. The kit supplied windows do not even come close to these proportions. Now I have an idea as what my model windows should emulate.

I chose instead to construct the headers and sills slightly different. Instead of installing the posts first, I decided to install the headers and sills as one piece each, guaranteeing the horizontal lines are true. Since the verticals don’t have to line up with each other, any slight error with those will be unnoticeable, at least that’s the plan.

To make the sills and headers, I initially tried to bend the wood with disastrous results, so I cut them out as blanks. Then they were carved to their final shape by trial fitting, filing, and sanding. As it turns out, I was a little short in my lengths, so I had to fill the gaps with additional wood (color change).

The practicum would have you install the vertical posts first then install the window headers and sills. That is six horizontal pieces that must align perfectly. Mr. Hunt came very close to achieving that. Kudos to him, but I don’t know if I could do the same.

Quarter Gallery Windows

The key to Quarter Galleries as I see it, are the windows whose sides aren’t necessarily parallel, nor perpendicular to the sill, and are different shapes from each other. Get those dimensions right, and everything else will fall into place, get them wrong, well…. To make matter a bit more challenging, the kit plans do not show true dimensions of the windows and nor could I find a US Navy plan that showed them either. The kit does supply laser cut windows, but their dimensions don’t consider the side view distortions resulting from curved surfaces of the galleries printed on a flat piece of paper. Additionally, the practicum states: “they are much too thick. If you do use them, you will need to sand them down to about 1/16" to 1/32" thickness” If anyone plans to use the kit’s laser windows, I just can’t see how they would fit properly.

Every build log I have looked at has the galleries built slightly different from each other and the plans, some better, some worse. I’m pretty sure my gallery dimensions are different from everyone’s else’s as well including the practicum and the US Navy’s so. as an initial crack at figuring out the dimensions, I’ll use the practicum and the US Navy plans only as guides not gospel. The 1926 US Navy side view plan of the galleries has cross sections from which I hope will help me figure out the approximate dimensions. I will let my model dictate the final dimensions.

My first attempt, hopefully not my first of many attempts, was to make a card stock template of the surface of the gallery window area. What makes this this a bit tricky is the template is three dimensional as it curves around. Base on the US Navy plans, the windows have a slight vertical bow although the plans did not show a view to indicate whether there was a horizontal bow. The vertical bow was so slight, I don’t think it would be discernable at model scale. My template does not capture that bow. It will be used mainly to get the overall window positions and dimensions.

When scratch building my pump handles, I had to decide whether to show them in the stored state or action state. I chose the full configuration action state because I thought that the layman would not understand what they were if they were all folded up and stored. You obviously didn't have a choice because even if you wanted to, the kit parts weren't designed to be assembled.  I think however, the stacked pump arms are backwards (not that a layman would know). According to the photos from the actual ship, the wooden handle are stored above the axis of the pivot bar. And you are right, the kit's pumps are out of scale. If you look at my scratch pumps (which are no way perfect), mine look way more delicate because I tried to get the scale right. How successful I was is questionable. Still, your model is looking great.

Jon

I have been collecting the photos since 2013, about when I decided that I was going to build the Constitution. Almost all the images came from Google searches, and other build logs. The one thing I learned about Google searches is, if I look for “A,” I’ll find some “A” as well as “B,” “C,” and “D.” If they are good images, I’ll keep them even though I wasn’t looking for them at that time. If I tried later to find those same images, I wouldn’t find them again, so I grab what ever looks like it might help me at some later date. I now have about 3,500 images all neatly set in identified folders so I can find most anything I want to look at. So if you need anything, let me know, I might have what you are looking for. I’m a visual person, I need to see what I’m making.

I’m from the Boston area. I left in 1977. I made a few visits since then but never got to really explore the city. I did get to visit the ship Thanksgiving 2014 just before it went into restoration, but the yardarms were already dismantled, and a lot of other detail was either covered or removed. I really miss the place but not it’s winter weather and muggy summers. If you ever get to visit, DON’T drive in the city, walk or talk public transportation (MBTA) it’s well worth it.

Jon

I’ve been following your build quietly since you started. The model is coming along quiet nicely. Your trials and tribulations with the pumps brought back some recent memories of my attempt with them. I was/am building the full ship with the addition of scratch build detail on the gun deck. Unlike you where you had to construct the full length of the pumps, I only had to show the parts seen on the gun deck. You had the kit parts, I had to scratch build mine (Post 456). I did have the advantage of an open deck to work with. I don’t know if your cross-section kit was available back in October 2020 as I might have tried to purchase the applicable parts for my model and saved myself a lot of trouble. Either way, the pumps are a challenge.

Jon