JSGerson

For a dry fit, I placed the hatch onto the gun deck to see how it would look. As you can see from the last image, the ladder is hanging out into space. I’ll need to add a small landing for physical support as well as stanchions and the hand rope. One down, four to go. Yes, I know, no one but me will know they are even there.

Finally, after waiting about two hours more, I very gingerly slid the ladder out of the jig. The ladder wasn’t perfect. during the gluing process, one of the legs shifted about a millimeter, so the ladder very slightly skewed. It was then given a coat of Wipe-On Poly. This won’t matter much because it will difficult to see. Had this been on the spar deck, I’d do it over. For a first attempt, not too bad.

The steps were inserted into the slots against the guide. Due to the shortness of the steps I was able to place the first ladder leg against the guide when it was glued to the steps. Care had to be taken not to get any PVC glue on the jig. After about an hour. I did the opposite side.

Well, I survived my Mom’s 100th birthday party and surprisingly that went off without a hitch. I did have surprise items for my “To Do”” List, but that is another story. There was one item that affected me: my back. It has been slowly deteriorating to the point now where I’m seeking medical help because it can be quite painful, and it is slowing me down (if that’s possible). So back to the ship yard The angle of the ladder is based on hatch length (the horizontal base) and the vertical height. Since I know the step spacings and the number of steps (10, the full height of the jig), I can lay out the angle on the jig. I drew a vertical reference line first (long pencil line). Then, I measured the base off the model and marked it on the jig (the short pencil mark). The top edge of the guide is placed where the long line meets the top of the guide. The other top edge is placed where the short line meets the bottom of the jig. This held down with double sided tape. The other side of the jig was mirrored the same.

Per the US Navy plans, the steps are 1 3/8” thick (3/128” scale) and the legs are 1 ½” thick (3/128” scale). I have seen jigs that use the Byrnes saw (or similar) to cut these slots as well, but at these scales 1/76.8, the slicing blade on the saw is too wide and never mind the minuscule depth cut of the slot that would be needed. In his practicum for the USS Constitution, Mr. Hunt avoided the problem all together by not building the gun deck and not showing any ladders leading to it. I needed something better. I found another ladder building method that other builders have used on this site, albeit at a larger scale, but I going to try it anyways. No leg slots are required. The jig consists of alternate layers of two different thicknesses and lengths of wood glued together in such a way as to create slots of equal spacing. The wood thicknesses represent the step thickness and spacing distance. With aid of a ladder guide stuck on with double sided tape, the steps are placed into the thin slots up against the guide which is set at 53° for example. Because different hatchways have different widths and ladder angles, the jig must accept the narrowest ladder tread such that it extends out on either side to accept the gluing of the ladder legs. I went ahead and built the jig but forgot to account for the ladder lean angle. As a result, my first jig was too narrow (left jig, the revised one is on the right). The second image show the jig after a bit of sanding, and the third image shows it with the angle guides. I’m going to use two to support the steps on both sides to insure all at the same angle. Then the ladder legs will be glued on. I’m going to leave the build at this point as I must get ready for my trip to Mom’s to celebrate her 100th birthday at the beginning of June as I have previously mentioned. We’ll see how well the jig works when I get back to the shipyard.

Gun Deck to Berth Deck Ladders One of my building nemeses are ladders. My first and only experience with them was on the Rattlesnake (1/64 scale). According to Mr. Hunt’s practicum, he made his ladders using slots cut into the ladder legs to accept and support the steps. Mr. Hunt did this on his Preac micro table saw without any jigs, and he did it very well. Of course, the scale was a little bit larger and he used larger dimensions. I was able to make mine, but with a lot less finesse and more cursing

Hatchway Preparation for Ladders The inside of the hatchways extends down to the bottom of the support 9” (1/8” scale) beams below the gun deck and are painted white. To simulate this, lengths of 3/32” (1/8” less 1/32” plywood = 3/32” scale) thick basswood were glued on the underside of the 1/32” plywood gun deck support. Then the inside of the hatchways and the hatchway framework were painted white. Not anyone will see it when completed, but I just could not leave it alone.

The construction of the framework proceeded upside-down using mitered joints. This kept the grating flush with top of the frame. I used mitered joints because of the profile, which was made using the Byrnes saw, an X-acto knife, and files. Lastly, a coat of Wipe-On Poly was brushed onto the bare wood. The last image shows where the frames will be installed after the ladders are fabricated.

Because I needed to add a profile to the frame, hardwood was preferred material over basswood which get fuzzy at the edges. From my cache of hardwood, I decided on a whim to use pearwood for the grating frames as opposed to boxwood – a little more contrast for interest. The dimensions were taken from the US Navy plans where possible. The Main Hatch and ladders (grating with ladder openings on either side of it) was guesstimated as the US Navy plans showed two different configurations neither of which matched the one existing today.

Access Openings to Berthing Deck In order to progress on the Gun Deck, the deck planking must be installed. But before that can be accomplished, the openings (gratings, hatchways, and ladders) must be constructed and installed first. Since none of the materials to construct these items came with the kit, they had to be fabricated from scratch, well mostly. As I mentioned earlier in this log, I had attempted to procure a second sheet of gratings intended for the Spar Deck to use on the Gun Deck. That didn’t work out so well as Model Expo’s computer couldn’t recognize sales of non-catalog items, but they would send me one for free as part of their replacement policy, which they did.

That's one solid looking box. I can see that the boat cradle is solidly fastened to the box, but how is the model firmly attached to the cradle? It almost looks like the cradle vise-grips the keel. Jon

Once all the side pieces were installed. The gunport framework had to be trimmed to conform to the hull. This was accomplished with grease…elbow grease and sanding sticks. I suppose I could have trimmed the excess wood with a knife, but I was afraid that I might cut too much accidentally or worse, cut me. Although sanding slow, it’s more controllable. You can see the trim difference in the before and after images

The spacer which I used to install the gunport headers was designed so that its cross section was exactly the dimensions of the opening of the gunports. The side pieces were pressed against the spacer sides and glued into place completing the gunport framework. Some of the gunports were formed with one bulkhead as the gunport side, others with two pieces I cut as dictated by the plans.

Following the kit plans, the gunport sides were added. They were cut using my miter saw to create parallelogram shaped pieces to conform to the tumblehome of the hull.

Since my last post, I’ve been to Florida to visit Mom for a week and will do so again in June for her 100th birthday. A little celebration, you know the usual stuff: skydiving, a bit of scuba in the Atlantic, a spin in a race car at Daytona, and a wild party in the evening…….Riiiigggght!!! Wishful thinking. Friends and family will drop by to bestow their good wishes, maybe some cake and ice cream. Back at the shipyard, I’ve added the gunport header using the same spacer method.

Jim Lad posted April 8, 2013 on Modeller12's Constitution build log, the following: BANYAN added in the same post: I hope this helps Jon

I did not mean to burst your bubble. We all make compromises as we construct our builds. We are making models, not necessarily miniature duplicates of the real thing. As you have acknowledged, a model can be as simple or as complicated as we choose to make it. I provided the information to you for your knowledge, not for the observer of the model. You do with it as you see fit. I have yet to see two models of the same ship that are duplicates of each other. That prototype cannonade is a little masterpiece, as you should be proud of it. Keep up the good work. Jon

That's a pretty good prototype you built, but if you want to get picky technical, both the image you show of the actual cannonade and thus your prototype, are wrong. I posted this on SawdustDave's build log: Per the USS Constitution Museum’s Restoration Log, “Constitution’s Modern Armament,”: Her first 20th century restoration in 1906-1907 saw fifty-five replica guns made for the ship. All of the present guns were cast for the 1927-1931 restoration with the exception of two 1812-era replica carronades on the after quarter deck. Cast in 1981, these carronades are closer to Constitution‘s 1812 spar deck armament. The gun deck guns were cast in the Charlestown Navy Yard in 1929. The pattern of these guns was based on a British siege gun that was abandoned in Boston during the American Revolution and is currently displayed near Harvard University. The decision to cast “British” guns was made by Lieutenant John A. Lord, Supervisor of the 1927-1931 restoration. He based his decision upon inaccurate research that led the Navy to mistakenly believe that Constitution was outfitted with British guns in 1812. So, thel cannonade with the elevation screw (shown below) is the more accurate version. The choice is yours as the model maker…and mine too when the time comes for me to make the choice.

Congratulations! A job well done. Of now you have make a display box, yes?

Never fear, you can never have too many tools. Period. Jon

kmart - I thought it was just me, but I think you confirmed it - The guns are too low. After all that measuring, I screwed up again (remember the stern cabin). Thanks for reminding me to look at Usedtosail's build log again. I think he has a good solution - split the gun carriage lengthwise and add a filler piece to raise the height. That's 24 carriages or 48 side pieces plus all the filler strips. There is of course the other possibility of making completely new carriage sides from scratch the way I did for my Rattlesnake. It's a lot of work, but it has to done. Since I can't make the final height measurements until the top header is in place, I think I'll finish the gunport framing. So, based on my "lightening" speed of construction and my planned time off for some other activities next week, it will be a while before I get to those gun carriages. Thanks again Kmart

Using the 5/32” thick spacer, which passes through both sides of the model, per kmart, the remaining sills were inserted. As seen looking along the side of the model, the sills correctly follow the curve of the deck. As also seen in the closeup image, excess wood must be trimmed off to bring the sills flush with the hull. I’ve now determined that the first two gunports from the stern and from the stem will use the dummy cannons that came with the kit. That is because I don’t expect these guns to be seen by the observer, plus it will allow me to close those gun port lids so that the observer can see what they look like closed. That’s eight carriage rigs I won’t have to make plus $40 I can keep in my pocket because Model Expo charges $5/cannon & carriage should anyone want to add that gundeck detail. There is one other point I should mention – the sills for those dummy cannons will probably need their width adjusted to accommodate the dummy gun box the kit plans show. Because I plan to close the gunport lids, the muzzle of the cannons will be pulled back, so it only protrudes through the round opening in the closed lids. The kit plans show only the guns in their extended firing position. I don’t know what those measurements will be yet.

Based on my calculations above, I proceeded to install the first sill using 1/8” x ¼” stock basswood. To verify that those calculations were correct, I put together one long muzzle cannon to act as a gage as briefly mentioned by Darrell earlier. Instead of assembling the axis and wheels for the carriage, I simply used some blocks of equivalent height per kmart’s idea. It’s quick and dirty but does the trick. The mock-up cannon then was placed on a piece of 1/16” thick wood to represent the future planking and then onto the plywood support deck. I think I got it right.

She's going to be a beauty when done. I hope you have a place to properly display this "puppy" in your new home because I'm just beginning to realize how big this model is. I have no clue yet where I will display mine. But, I have lots of time to figure that one out at the rate I'm building mine. 8-) Jon

Thanks for looking in Darrell. I do plan on making a mock gun assembly as well as a gun port block to frame around. You just be me to the punch in describing them. I was going to talk about those when I got to them. If you go to my Rattlesnake build, you can see my mock gun was made from card stock with an image of the gun pasted on it. Jon