JSGerson

I am curious about the tools you are using for the carving especially the spoon chisel (I think) in the X-acto type handle. Is that part of a set and where did you buy them? Jon

-

Gig Like the pinnace, the gig kit plans are very accurate as compared to the US Navy’s plans. Hunt’s practicum shows you how to make an acceptable looking model though not necessarily complete or accurate. Some points: The practicum uses one strip of styrene over the ribs to form the gig apron, keelson, and knee. Like the pinnace, I plan to use separate pieces for each and notch the keelson to fit over the ribs as shown on the plans The average observer may not see this detail, but I will know. A lot of the hardware and detail (e.g., lifting rings) were left off due to scale size, visibility, or complexity. The gig backboard and all the gratings were eliminated The gig thwart support stanchions were eliminated The oarlocks were eliminated The “wing” on top of the rudder, and the pintle and gudgeon were eliminated The slats for the stern benches are too fine for this scale and were rightfully replaced by a single sheet of wood. I have ideas about those and the gratings. My intent is to add as much of the detail shown on the plans to the model to the limits of my ability and patience. Here is the gig at the same point as the pinnace with the ribs and flooring supports waiting paint. The only difference is that I added the interior gunwale. So, onto the two whaleboats:

At this point I had intended to paint the pinnace before moving on. However due to some unknown circumstance, my order for the USS Constitution paint package which was ordered last month never arrived. Both Model Expo and the US Post Office have recorded the package as being delivered within a week of my order, but that was a month ago, and I never got them. Model Expo has promised to resend another shipment. Thus, I have moved on to the gig.

General Thoughts Having the actual plans from the US Navy for the ships boats is wonderful and luxurious. Usually when making a model I must rely totally on the kit to provide me with the all the details because I normally don’t have the real thing to look at. My Rattlesnake is an example. With the actual plans, I can see how the kit’s plans adjusted for scale and ease of building. With the build logs, I can also see what other builders added, modified, or eliminated.

In my last post, I had forgotten that I had taken some shots of the notched keelson (they were still in the camera) so here they are. BTY, you can see where the styrene broke. Luckily, all of this will be under a couple of coats of paint and nearly hidden once the boats are completed. So unless you know they are there and have very good eyesight with proper lighting, it will be hidden.

Not only do I not know when that plan was drawn, I don't know where I originally found. I thought I got from the CD the Constitution museum was selling, but it's not on there or on the 2001 version of the CD. At one time, the US Navy had a lot of their plans on their website, but no more. I must have gotten it there before they took down their archive pages. The only clue I have is the name G F Campbell written on the very bottom right hand corner of the document. The only G.F. Campbell I could find was the author of "China Tea Clipper" and "The Neophyte Shipmodeller`s Jackstay." Sorry I couldn't be more helpful Jon

From the US Constitution CD of navy plans, see if this file helps on those bukwarks 10068001 - Gun Deck & Inside of Bulwarkse.pdf

As always, nice and clean. Jon

Yes, I've found that's true for me too. The glue, I'm talking about the glue!

Thanks for the heat gun/hair dryer tip, Geoff. Looks like I might have to invest in one since I don't have either. My hair drys very quickly on it own so I don't use a dryer. Also, I'm a lifelong bachelor so I don't have any woman's paraphernalia lying around for my use (or abuse). I've heard that hair curlers can be used to bend wood for example. 8-) Jon

Thanks for looking in Don. No, I hadn't noticed. I haven't read the whole practicum, and as you have noticed, I jumped right to the last chapter to make the boats. I did notice that he made a lot of the parts out of styrene for example, the boat's apron,. I used boxwood. I'm going to try to stick to wood if I can. In the case of the boats ribs, it didn't make sense to struggle trying to bend the wood when it was going to be painted, so I used the styrene. I'll take it one step at a time to make those types of determinations. Thanks for the tip anyways. Jon

The practicum showed that Mr. Hunt had glued all the ribs in place and then glued the apron and knee on top of them. Both the MS plans and the US Navy plans show the apron and the knee glued directly to the shell with the ribs butting up them. This is what I did. Both plans show the keelson notched for the ribs and footings (which have yet to be installed) so it can be glued on top of the ribs and footings.

OK, back on course, if pardon the nautical reference. My styrene arrived and I proceeded to start the ribs. Having looked at several build logs, this didn’t appear to be too much trouble to do…riiiggghhht. I started by drawing a center line down the middle of the inside of the boat shell to ensure that when I glued the apron, keelson, and the stern knee, it would be properly positioned. Then I marked the position of the center rib. Using CA glue, I cemented the rib in place a bit at a time. I was using clothes pin clamps and I didn’t want those to get glue on them. When I was done, I saw that the rib had shifted a bit so it was not perpendicular to the center line. This was important because all the other ribs would be position off this rib using a spacer block; so it had to be right. When I tried to lift the rib from the shell with very little pressure with an X-acto blade, it snapped. The CA glue had made the flexible styrene brittle. So when gluing these ribs, they have got to right the first time. Another thing I noticed while reviewing other build logs where they have documented their ship’s boats construction, is that no two pinnaces were built the same even though MS provides a detailed plan based on the US Navy plans. I can understand when the actual ship and or plans no longer exists so the builder has a lot of room for interpertation. Well, I guess I will find out why as I progress through the construction of this beautiful little craft. Following the construction process of the practicum, I used a “spacer” to maintain the separation of the ribs as each one was glued into place.

I got out the rotary tool and put the sanding drum on it and sanded down the stern to match the plans, added more filler to smooth out the minor imperfections, and then applied the three coats of Minwax Polycrylic to the newly exposed wood again.

Those ratlines look gorgeous! A few questions if I may: Are you using the line that came with the kit or an outside supplier (e.g., Syren). Also, are the sizes of stay and ratline lines as dictated by the kit's instructions or are you going by some other source? Details, alway love the details 8-) Jon

That's one handsome looking model!

I'm always curious as to how everyone makes their ladders since they have been a bane for me. Yours caught my eye because I've never seen one done quite that way - notched in back. Now I don't want to be a critic, but the steps appear to be 90 degrees to the side rails. Since the ladder is being used at an angle, shouldn't the steps be at angle also so that they are level? Love your work by the way. Jon

Moving on, I thought I would make the stem and keel parts while still waiting for the styrene strips. It was at this point that my good feeling sank a bit. Looking at the practicum, my pinnace shell looked very similar to what was shown. However, when I looked at the plans to make the templates for the keel and stem I found another problem. The aft end of the boat angled up. See the pictures below. I checked other build logs and those with images of the pinnace that showed the bottom of the boat, all agreed with the plans, not the practicum. So, I have a bit more carving to do. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m still a novice when it comes to reading ship lines on plans.

I checked the contour again and it was very close to what the plans required, so I cut out the knee and apron with my 40-year-old Dremel scroll saw. One of these days I’m going to get a new one that doesn’t vibrate so much and is a lot quieter. With a few minor adjustments with a file, they fit!!! I felt a whole lot better now that it was done right

Looking at the pieces to be cut, I began to wonder if they (especially the knee) would even fit on my boat shell. Using a contour gage, I took the profile of the transom. Not only did my transom not match the plans, it wasn’t even close. My boat transom contour better matched the outer surface of the knee than anything. I needed to remove more material in the bottom corner where the knee was supposed to fit. If you look at the boat’s plan above, it shows the transom to be 1/32” thick. That is paper thin if you carving it, which I was. The only way I could achieve that thickness would be to slice off the transom and rebuild it with 1/32” planks. My Byrnes saw can only cut at best 1” thick pieces. I wouldn’t attempt this with a hand saw even if I had one. Due to the confined space in the bottom corner of the transom, as best I could, I removed as much material as I dared using my rotary drill. I used a ball cutter for the wholesale removal and various shaped diamond tipped metal grinding heads for finer removal. The grinding heads removed material slowly for better control. Putting the shell up to the light, I could almost look right through the wall. Bob Hunt in his practicum actually wore right through his boat and had to make repairs.

Once the shells were sanded, 3 coats of Minwax Polycrylic were applied with fine sanding in between. The next step was to add the frame ribs. Starting with the Pinnace, the kit calls for 1/64” 1/32” (0.016” x 0.031”) stock material. Bob Hunt in his practicum chose not to use wood, but substitute Evergreen 020" x .040" styrene strips styrene strips (Evergreen No. 122) because “they bend easily to conform to the interior shape of the boat.” Since these parts are going to painted, struggling to bend the wood made no sense, I agreed with him. I did not have any styrene strips in stock however; I had to order some. Looking at the Pinnace plans, I noticed that the boat’s stern knee and apron (like an interior stem) are mount directly to the boat’s shell whereas the Keelson rests on top of the frame ribs. Therefore, I could move ahead and install those or at least make the parts while waiting for the styrene…or so went the theory. I made a copy of the profile plan of the pinnace to use as a template to cut out the shape from 1/16” x 5/64” boxwood (my choice of material) since I like it a lot better than the kit’s basswood. It’s a hardwood and holds an edge much better than basswood. I cut out the knee and apron templates and rubber cemented them onto the stock boxwood (left over from my Rattlesnake).

Could the some of the longer bristles that were cut off be used for the MS 1:76 scale model? Yours is 1:60.

No, I bought the table separately from Proxxon. The tricky part is getting orientated perfectly on the press. I use clamps but should have some bolts.

I also made my Rattlesnake's euphroe with a Dremel clone rotary drill. I had the advantage of a Dremel drill press stand for their drill plus an X-Y table which allowed me to measure the exact fine spacing between the holes by the number of turns on the crank. The drill press rig ensured that the holes were all perpendicular. From what I can see, you did a very nice job. Jon