JSGerson

The bowsprit hatch was completed by carving the forward insert around the dowel that would eventually become bowsprit. It was then painted white and dry fitted into place. The unit was then glued to the deck. The dry fitting was necessary so the insert can be removed to allow the dowel to be fitted into the model as it is fabricated and adjusted to its final configuration. Once the bowsprit is secured into place, the insert will be glued in as well.

According to the kit’s plans, “shot storage rack: Note all fwd. racks not installed in 1997.” Why, I don’t know. I wanted all the gun crews on my model to have something to load into their guns and shoot. Why should only the aft gun crews have all the fun? So, I installed all the shot racks including the ones omitted from1997. Once again as I did on the gun deck, used a black ball chain. I just sniped off the number of balls I needed off the chain as a unit and glued them into place. The racks themselves are implied as they are way too small to fabricate or see at scale.

The next problem was how to attach the spark suppressor plate’s support rods onto the pipe? Obviously, I couldn’t use solder as it would end up as a hot puddle of metal. The gluing surface was very narrow, so what glue to use? I had three choices, white PVA, CA, or epoxy. Then I had a flash of inspiration from the actual pipe. I wouldn’t use glue directly but use eyebolts just like the actual stack to mechanically secure the rods. Two 1/32” eyebolts per side supporting the rods threaded through them. A touch of CA glue to secure the eye bolts into predrilled holes in the pipe and a touch of CA glue to secure the rods in the eyebolts. It worked like a charm.

When I fabricated the spark suppressor, I did not realize at the time that the precast pipe was cast with a pseudo suppressor but the gap between it and the pipe was filled in solid, so it looked like part of the pipe. You can see, the pseudo plate is a lip at the end of the cast pipe opening. Therefore, I ground off the lip, hollowed out more of the pipe, and reduced the diameter of the spark plate I had created. The plate and pipe were then painted black.

Completing Hatchway Fabrication I did not complete putting the finishing touches on some of the hatchways before, so I started with the stove pipe hatchway, it still required eyebolts, paint, and modification of the precast metal pipe and attachment of the spark suppressor:

I don't have any honing stones or experience using them so I looked on YouTube for a how-to and found: this video using a Dremel drill and grinding disk. I'll give it a try. I figured I would need a simple drilling jig, and yours is about as simple as it gets. I had to order some brass rod and tubes, but it appears the USPS may had lost my package. But thanks for your insight. Jon

FYI - Because white styrene has a tendency to yellow over time, painting it, is a must. Jon

My biggest problem is drilling into the brass. My typical manual twist drills used with a Dremel rotary just don't want to bite into the metal. So making holes into something like those block pieces is a mystery to me. Jon

I did not mean to put a cramp in your in your quarter gallery efforts. I just accepted what I did on my model as the best I could do at the time. Your quarter galleries are better than most that I have seen. Jon

I never was satisfied with my results after a least 4 attempts too. The result you posted looks great except (and I'm being very picky and wished mine looked as good). your lower panes are larger than the two rows of panes above. They should all be of the same spacing. You got the window frame itself right, something I failed to do. In your post to Mustafa, you mentioned that the glue clouded up the plexiglass. You might try canopy glue, the stuff used to create pseudo glass in small openings. I used mica for my glass. It is strong, clear, and can be made very thin by removing layers by splitting it, is flexible when it that thin, and you can cut it with a scissors. Jon

You did a beautiful job on those companion ways. How did you do it? How did you make the cube joints and the finial? I checked xKen's method but I don't have a metal lathe or the skills and experience to use it even if i had one. Jon

CCoyle. glad your safe as well. I am surrounded by trees, lots of tall trees, but none fell near me. The ground was littered deep with small branches, leaves, and pine needles; however, a dozen or so trees on my street did come down. Nobody, as far as I know, no one was hurt in my area. There are still isolated pockets of power outages, and the stores are still restocking. But, the worst is over. Take care, Jon

You also have something else that is particularly important, skills, patience, and tenacity. It is a pleasure watching you. Jon

Just a quick update, as many of you know (or not), a major Cat 4 hurricane, Helene passed through Florida, Georgia, and Tennessee, just touching on western South Carolina this passed Thursday and Friday. I live in western South Carolina, a half hour drive to Augusta GA (home of the Masters Golf Tournament), So we got a good taste of the fury that storm packed. I was lucky, and lost power only for two days and had a little erosion damage. Some of my neighbors had more extensive damage to their property. So, I'm OK and am back in the shipyard. Jon

A very neat look compared to mine. Well done! Jon

This post shows more of the same. I added more spar deck beams, gun deck columns, both the white square cross section ones and the natural wood round ones, knee braces, and the main hatch framing support beams. You will notice that the starboard side is missing some beam sections. I realized that even though I did not add all the spar deck structure, viewing the gun deck was getting a bit obscure. To alleviate this a little, I made it look like the beams were cut out. However, I made this discission after I had installed three whole beams supporting the main hatch. The beams were cut, the leftover stubs were left in place. Where I intentionally installed partial beams, I added little stubs to make it appear they were cut after most of the picture were taken. Additionally, you may have noticed that the beams under the main hatch do not run straight across. This is my solution to the problem I discussed in an earlier post about the structure of the main hatch. The laser cut grids making up the main hatch do not conform to any plan I’ve seen including the kit plans. In keeping with the idea of the cut-away look, the top surfaces of the structural beams and supports were not painted so it would look like the spar deck planking was removed revealing raw timber below. A side effect of this is where there will be planking and other things items attached to them, the glue works better on bare wood. Some of the pictures below show the main hatch dry fitted in position

Very creative with the furniture! Well done! Jon

Hey, I'm a life long 77 year old bachelor with no one to answer to except myself and the cat, so I've got time to gather stuff and organize it for easy retrieval. I try to share the wealth. Jon

Now I know what my model should look like! Nice job!! Jon

I have approximately 25,500 images of the ship from the very earliest in 1857 to the present showing all kinds of detail from multiple angles and multiple sources (public & private) that I have collected since about 2014. Should you or anyone else need a image showing particular detail, there is a good chance I may have it. Just ask. Jon

For those who did not take` the time to read this vintage text, I copied the section in modern font for your convenance: Composition for Blacking Guns lbs. lbs. Black lead 20 Red lead 10 Lampblack 14 Linseed oil 18 gals. DIRECTIONS: First the above mentioned articles must be ground very fine with boiled oil. PROCESS Boil the oil sufficiently until every appearance of froth subsides – the best way is to have two iron pots, dividing the oil in each pot, put the black lead in the boiled oil, and boil it half an hour. The 10lbs. of red lead must be put in the other pot, after the oil is put on the fire and boiled half an hour; after which, put the lampblack to the red lead and boil them together half an hour. – The two pots must be put by until nearly cold, when by the means of an iron ladle the ingredients must be shifted from one pot to the other, until they are naturally well mixed. CAUTION. Great care must be taken during the time the liquor is preparing to prevent its boiling over, and in particular to keep stirring the ingredients during the time of boiling. Marshall’s Practical Marine Gunnery CONTAINING A VIEW OF THE Magnitude, Weight, Description & Use, OF EVERY ARTICLE USED IN THE SEJ GUNNER'S DEPARTMENT, IN THE NAVY OF THE UNITED STATES., 1822, p94-95

Gregg, well I don't have ALL the resources, but I do have a bunch😛 As for printing them out full size, I haven't done that as it is costly and inconvenient. I did have the kit's plans copied full size so I could mark them up, fold them in torturous ways, and if they get damaged, no worries. I print out what I need on a regular inkjet printer on standard paper using PowerPoint. When I need to print to model scale, it's by trial and error because PowerPoint can't print to a given scale on command. Additionally, I may need to tape together multiple sheets to get the desired printed image, which I admit is a crude method. Most of the time I just zoom in and out on the computer screen. The US Navy plans have the actual full scale dimensions so it's just a matter of scaling down the numbers for a lot of things. Jon

Dputxler, you can get the US Navy plans here: https://ussconstitutionmuseum.org/discover-learn/modeler-resources/ Jon

Very sharp eyes! Yes, I spotted that too. luckily the pumps were only dry fitted when the photo was taken. That misplacement was corrected almost as soon as I made my posting. I didn't think any one would notice. I appreciate your attention to the details. Thanks! Jon

mtbediz - I appreciate the kudos, especially from you! Jon