JSGerson

The Plunge Being the “I think I can do anything provided I have something to follow” guy, and since there are a lot of great build logs out there, I took the deep plunge into the unknown (for me at least) and decided I did not like the concept of dummy cannons. I wanted a full set of “real guns” on my model. That meant to accommodate a layer of 1/32” plywood base and 1/16” decking planks, I had to remove from the bullheads as well as the keel 3/32” of material. Making a mistake here affects just about the whole build. Now what is the point of adding a full set of cannons to the gun deck if you cannot see them? That means I will have to provide some mechanism so that one can see, at least in part, the gun deck and that also means I will have to populate that deck with all the details one would expect to see. I just made this project juuuuust a wee bit more challenging. The spar deck cross beam supports of the bulkheads had to be removed. First because the bulkheads are made of plywood and was charred in the initial laser cutting process. Second, access will be needed to the gun deck for the installation of all decking, guns, and details. Third, because I assume that some of the replacement cross beams will be exposed and will need to be more realistic. The 3/32” lines were drawn along the top of the gun deck cross beam support of the bulkheads as well as the top of the keel bulkhead with a compass set to 3/32”. This was done because both the beams and the longitudinal length of the deck are curved. Using a ruler would have messed up the sweeping curves. The cross and vertical supports were cut off first using a fine tooth saw. The stubs of the cross support were left in place so that the replacement cross beams could easily be re- attached. Using my rotary tool as a drum sander, most of the now excess wood above the 3/32” line was removed from the bulkheads. The areas in the corners where the drum could not reach were removed using the fine tooth saw and files. The wood on the keel was removed using just the hand saw.

Bulkhead Preparation The first thing I thought I should do was add the bevels to the edges of the bulkheads as shown in the Hunt practicum. I cut out the patterns of each bulkhead from copies I made of the plans. For those bullheads that had a bevel, the pattern showed the bevel on the right side only. By flipping the pattern over, I was able to trace the bevel lines onto both sides of the bulkhead. Now as many of us Conny builders have discovered, neither the laser cut bullheads, nor the drawings are exactly symmetrically cut or drawn, and nor do they necessarily exactly match each other. For this reason, I chose not to add the bevels before they are fastened to the keel. The bevel lines I drew will only be used as a guide and the bevels themselves will created once the bulkheads are in their final position and glued into place.

Cpt Jack Sparrow - I look forward to watching you build your Connie. Dave (DocBlake) - Good to hear from you again. It was nice to finally meet you at the St. Petersburg NRG convention; just sorry we didn't really get a chance to chat very much. I've learned my lesson with Mr. Hunt's practicums: they are a great guide, as I could not have done my Rattlesnake without it, but don't follow them word for word. The choices he makes may not be the ones you would make. I have some wonderful build logs to follow now and I hope to glean the best from all of them, including Mr. Hunt's. Jon

I've never heard of the nautical term coxcomb (alternate spelling - cockscomb) before. I did a search for the term and the only nautical definition I found was: A serrated cleat once fitted to the yards of a square-rigged ship and used when the sail was being reefed I could not find any other details or images. Jon

Once the oak was glued into the keel pieces, a 3/32” hole was drilled through. The keel pieces were ready to be glued to the keel bulkhead. First, I glued together the stern post to the aft keel section and the stem to the forward keel section. Then these two sections were glued to the keel bulkhead. This left a gap in the center for the last keel section. This was done this way to ensure that any errors in my cutting of the keel pieces and replacing them with the oak pieces would appear in the center of the model. Then the last piece, the center section keel was glued into place. And, as it turned out, my cutting precision left a little bit to be desired. There were gaps on either side of the center keel section which had to be filled in and sanded. I went back to the pedestal holes and drilled the holes, so they continued into the keel bulkhead. Now they were ready to have the brass 3/32” tubes inserted. I see a lot of model displays with the ship model supported by keel pedestals. I just don’t trust that the screw/bolt going up the thin keel is strong enough to support a heavy model if there are any lateral loads (bumped table, transporting, etc.). I also didn’t want a cradle support (like my Rattlesnake) because the model would be loose. I plan on using a pedestal with outriggers (like a mini cradle) so that any lateral load will be supported by the model’s hull. Bob Hunt’s practicum shows his model supported with pins protruding from the model’s keel into the pedestals. He wanted to be able to remove the model from the stand as he worked on it. I liked that idea, but reversed the pins. I can still remove the model to work on it without having to protect the pins sticking out of the model since they will be embedded in the pedestals. At the completion of the build I will have the option of gluing the model to the pins for a permanent display.

Note: This text is for the images in the last post. I was getting an error message when the text was pasted in. Installation of the Keel The keel was glued on in sections. First the oak wood from the actual ship was inserted into the forward and aft keel pieces. The position was dictated by where I planned to use pedestals to display the model. You can see where I marked the keel bulkhead with arrows. The length of the oak was limited to the approximate 3" square pieces of oak I had.

Well, the Thanksgiving bash was all it was hyped up to be. By herself, my Sister had 18 people around her table, not once for the Thanksgiving meal, but three times over the course of two days, a total 31 people coming in and out through the course of the week. How she did it, with appearing to show little effort, I’ll never know. Trailboard Preliminaries Continued OK, not enough praise for my Sister, but it’s back to business. Using the pin marks I made on the stem, I drilled out the opening and fine tuned it with an X-acto knife. I’m going to assume the opening might be a bit bigger than I made it, but I’ll address that when the trailboard carvings are made and attached.

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, the odd ball cannonade with the elevation screw 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.

Any details as to how you made the binnacles? They look really good. In the photo, they look silver as opposed to brass but that could be just the lighting. Did you use foil or metal plate? How did you construct the ball on top of the housing? I'm trying to glean all the info I can so I know what to do when it's my turn. Thanks, Jon

From the pictures, it appears that the square stock passes through the chuck and through the rotary motor so you could work the wood at the end. Is that correct? I know that Ken would sometimes drill a center hole for a pin to attach two pieces. Since you didn't mentioned that, I assumed you didn't attach the tapered ends to the yard ends. I don't have a Sherline lathe, but want one. I have no real experience with a lathe/mill. Did you get a package deal on the lathe and mill combo? Was there any additional accessories that you bought that I should also consider and is there any accessory you did buy (or came with the lathe/mill) but have not found a need for? Ken told me not to buy a toll until you need it. I have learned that to be very true. I've purchased many a tool/gadget for this hobby only to find I've had to use it. On the other hand, I don't want to start something only to find I'm missing an important accessory to do the job right. If you feel these questions are off course for this log, could you PM me? Thanks Jon

Trailboard Preliminaries Looking at the stem piece, it seemed to me that now would be a good time to think about the trailboard decorations. Because I have the US Navy plans CD from the USS Constitution Museum, I have the plans for the decorations and the billet head so why not use that instead of the kit’s rendering? The billet head is a separate drawing. I merged the two images on the computer and printed a kit size template. The reason I did this, is because the billet head has a carved hole which does not appear in the kit plans, but is obvious when looking at the real ship. I laid the template on the stem and marked the shape and position of the opening with pin marks. One other thing I have not seen in other builds. The trailboard decorations are not completely on the trailboard. Just a bit wraps onto the hull. Strangely, the CD does not have that part of the decoration plan, so I used an image of the real ship to complete the design on my template. But before I can move forward anymore, I have to make preparations for my Thanksgiving trip to colonial Connecticut. It’s going to be a big shebang at my Sister’s house with relatives coming as far away as Tokyo, Japan, Seattle, WA and myself from South Carolina.

Wow, it’s been about a month since my last post. I’ve been a bit busy, but not so much directly with the model. I went to St. Petersburg, Florida for the 2017 NRG Conference which is always worth the trip. Then since I was already in Florida, I visited my Mom for a week. Once I got back home I had about two weeks of mail, bills, etc. to work my way through, and other sundry things. Oh, and while I was away, my toilet leaked, so I had to get that taken care of. Finally, I got my head back in builder mode. Right now, I’m thinking of replacing sections of the keel with the authentic oak from the ship and then inserting flush vertical tubes through the oak section of the keel. The oak would be nice and strong, and the tubes would hold thick pins sticking up from the pillars mounted on a board. This would allow me to remove the model from the display as needed and would, should I decide to, allow me to use a cradle interchangeable. So far, I have created the rabbet on keel bulkhead and tapered the stem and rudder post pieces as indicated in the plans. The three pieces of the keel bulkhead have been glued together and the two joints reinforced with 1” x 2” 1/32” plywood. I used wax paper so that my weights would not be glued to the wood. The glue did adhere slightly to the wax on the paper which gave the wood a water stained look.

Ouch! I know know your stomach twisted as you watched the model fall in what seemed like slow motion. But, you sucked it up, and performed a nice clean repair, which if you keep quiet about it, no one will ever know. Nice job.

I keep promising myself that I'll buy a mini Lathe (probably a Sherline) but other expenses keep getting in the way, not to mention I have to learn the skills too. I still have time as I won't be needing one for a good while at the rate that I build. I suppose I could have made those sheaves with a Dremel and a file. I got pretty good making cleats that way. Jon

The brass sheaves, how did you make them? It looks like there might be a rope groove on them. Also, I'm curious if you used any pins where the rails meet at right angles with each other, for structural joint strength. I can see the pins for anchoring them to the deck. Jon

I just got back from Florida having attended the NRG Convention in St. Petersburg and then a week long visit with Mom on the other side of the state in Southern Florida, so I'm just catching up. That was a nice job with the gun ports. My only fear is that they have a tendency to get knocked off while manipulating the model during the build process. At least I had that problem with my Rattlesnake build. I like the cut out as well. I did the same type of thing with the "Ratlter." So take care and handle her gingerly from now on. She looks great.

The Main Build So much for the appetizers, now the main course! With a deep breath, I took the sheets with the keel parts from the box. I carefully removed them from the sheets and marked them with their respective reference lines. Nothing has been trimmed or glued, just laid out on the table. Some major decisions need to be made now. First – Am I going to use the simulated guns or opt for showing some of the lower deck which would require buying additional guns and carriages? Second – How is the model to be displayed, with pedestals or a cradle? If with pedestals, I want to ensure that the pedestal screws won’t break the keel should the model get moved or handled a bit rough. I want to re-enforce those areas. If a cradle is used, how is the model held down during transport, should it need to be moved. This is a problem I presently have with my Rattlesnake. Third – I have a couple of pieces of authentic USS Constitution oak wood which I would like to incorporate into the model. The pieces are approximately 2 ¼” x 2 3/8” x 7/8 – 5/8” and 2 3/8” x 2 3/8” x ¾”. They were purchased just before the ship went into dry dock 3 years ago. I have not been able to procure any additional wood since, let alone different sizes or shapes. I would welcome any and all suggestions especially on how to use the oak wood pieces.

Final Touches I chose not to attach the rudder assembly to the boats due to their very delicate structure. In actuary, the rudders are not stored inside boat when not used. All the oars, masts, and any other accoutrements will be made at the time the boats are to be installed.

Whaleboat Steering oar oar-lock Unlike the gig, the whaleboats have an oar lock on the port side for a steering oar. Following xKen’s lead, the oar lock was made by twisting 22-gauge wire tightly around a nail to form a loop at one end. I then silver soldered the twisted wire and filed it to simulate a solid shaft. The loop was cut and form into a U-shape. According to the plans, the lock was to be fastened to the inside face of the rail with a bracket. But due to the scale, I elected to just drill a hole into the rail and inserted the lock with a spot of CA.

Whaleboat Rails, Knees and Thole Plates The rails were made from 1/64” boxwood. The bow and stern knees, as well as the thole pin plates used 1/64th plywood (for its strength).

Whaleboat Rails, Knees and Thole Plates The rails were made from 1/64” boxwood. The bow and stern knees, as well as the thole pin plates used 1/64th plywood (for its strength).

I LIKE IT!

Whaleboat Rudders Using the US Navy Plans, the rudder plans were made into templates and rubber cemented to 1/64” plywood. Because most the parts were to be painted, the plywood was used for its strength. Like the gig, the rudder was made of four components: the main rudder blade, the re-enforcement plates for the tiller, the tiller, and the yoke. The tillers and yokes were stained. The rudder assembly will be installed later. You will note in the last picture my hand vise (holding up the ruler) which I used to file and shape the tillers and yokes.

Whaleboat Paint Job Using the paint from the paint package I purchased from Model Expo for this kit, I painted the hulls dark green. The first thing I noticed was that the paint dries very quickly both on the models and on the brush. This is some sort of water solvent paint at least for thinning and clean up. I found that I had to add water to the paint to make it flow better on the hull surface but that reduced the its coving effect of the white primer (also from Model Expo’s paint package). Because it dried so quickly, the thickness of the paint on the surface would vary. Because of that, I let the paint dry 24-hrs and gave the surfaces a very light sanding and applied a second coat. It improved, but I still did not like the effect I was getting. Not only that, these hulls are supposed to be somewhat glossy, whereas the painted dried flat. So, I bit the bullet and purchased Model Master Green Gloss, an acrylic paint. After another light sanding of the hulls, I painted them with the acrylic…much better. I don’t know much about the different types of paints, their pros and cons, the do’s and don’ts, etc. Hopefully I haven’t violated any taboos on mixing paint types.