JSGerson

Dining Area Partition and Commodore's Pantry
Early in the build, I did not partition the dining room area from the main gun deck area; I was going to leave that open. Since the present configuration of the actual ship has the partition in place, I’ve decided to recreate that on my model. Additionally, I did not construct the Commodore’s Pantry which encompasses the mizzen mast on the gun deck. I thought at the time that I might need that area open to facilitate the seating the mizzen mast. If I sequence assembling the parts correctly, I don’t think that will be a problem. The partition and the pantry will connect to each other.

Well, creating the remaining six stairwell hand ropes did go quicker, just not quick. Because I had to use PVC glue both to allow me time to position properly the 24 stanchions and as a filler material at the base of some of the stanchions, I had to wait at least an hour or so before I could move on to the next steps. During that wait I couldn’t touch the model for fear of upsetting the drying setup and process. If I had done this sooner (which I did) but more robust (which it wasn’t), this installation could have been much simpler to do.
 
There is still a bunch of stuff that needs to be installed on the gun deck but requires the installation of more spar deck beams and those beams must be in the proper position to line up with stuff on the gun deck. It’s almost like which comes first, the chicken or the egg. So, I be installing both gun deck and spar deck items alternately.

The stanchions were stung together with 0.12” (.30mm) black rope prior to installation so that I wouldn’t have to thread them on the model. Mustafa used tan rope which I must admit looks great, but the real ship uses black rope; but it doesn’t have the visual impact like the tan. So be it. It was slow, tedious, tricky, and time consuming That one stairwell down, six to go. Hopefully these will get installed quicker.

So, I chose 0.032” (0.81mm) music wire for the stanchion because it won’t bend with normal handling. For the rope tab, the idea was to wrap a 0.005” thick brass strip around the wire and then glue the ends together to form the tab. Lastly, drill a hole in the tab with a #78 drill bit to create a rope hole. Everything went according to plan…until it didn’t. For the life of me, I could not create the rope hole. My drill bit bent if I applied any pressure. (Cheap bits, I don’t know?) I tried creating a dimple into the brass with a needle for the bit to bite into, but all that did was deform the thin strip. I even tried using a very fine cone shape grinding bit but couldn’t keep it perfectly centered on the brass strip. It would drift and eat away one side or the other of the strip making the strip useless.

Getting back to the gun rigging, I decided to plunge in and complete the rigging once and for all. I just wanted to get it over and done with. Adding 22 fully rigged guns was no simple task. I made the following calculations and was staggered by what it revealed. From start to finish, adding eyebolts to the interior of the gun deck, to fabricating and assembling the gun trucks, and then rigging them, I got the following numbers:
 
There are 235 separate parts per gun port or 5,170 parts for 22 fully rigged guns not counting brass blackening, painting, and do-overs. Most of these had to be fabricated from scratch. That breaks downs as follows:
 
Gun & Truck = 26 pieces/gun = 572 pieces total
Item                                        Quantity
Gun                                               1
Sides                                             2
Axials                                            2
Wheels                                         4
Transom                                       1
Breast Piece                                 1
Quion                                           1
Quion Handle                               1
Quion Bed                                    1
Trunnion cap                                2
Eyebolts                                       8
Rings                                             2
 
 
Gun Ropes (including excess waste)
Ropes/gun: 10 cut pieces/gun = 220 pieces of rope total
 
     Recoil Rope.                    1-6” piece 0.030” (0.76mm) dia./gun x 22 guns = 66 pieces = 132” = 11’ = 3.6 yds total
     Tackle Ropes w/coils     7” piece 0.018” (0.45mm) dia. + 1.5” (for double block)/tackle + coil = 8.5”/tackle + 1 rope coil x 3 tackles + coils/gun” =                                             7 pieces of rope/gun = 3 Tackles +3 coils/gun @ 25.5”/ gun = 154 pieces of rope = 561” = 47’ ~ 16 yds total for 66 tackles + 66 coils = 3,388 pieces total
 
 
Rope Seizings/gun: = 21 rope seizings/gun = 462 seizings total = 3 yds thread total
     Recoil rope seizings       6 seizings/piece = 24” of thread = 2’ total/recoil rope
     Tackle seizings                5 seizings (@4”/seizings) /tackle = 20” thread/tackle rope
                                         3 tackles/gun = 15 seizings  = 5’ thread/gun  = 3 yards thread total
      Note: rope coils made from excess rope and supplemented with additional rope
 
 
3 Tackles/gun =  6 blocks/gun = 132 blocks total
     3/32” Single blocks        1/tackle @ 3 tackles/gun =3 blocks/gun = 66 blocks total
     3/32” Double blocks      1/tackle @ 3 tackles/gun = 3 blocks/gun = 66 blocks total
     Block hooks                    6/gun = 132 hooks total
 
 
Gun Ports = 12 parts/port = 222 total
     Eyebolts: 10/port = 220 total:
          Recoil Rope eyebolts/port          4 = 88 total
          Tackle double eyebolts/port      2 = 44 total
          Idle eyebolts/port                       3 = 66 total
          Deck tackle eyebolt                     1 = 22 total
     Recoil rope bulkhead pins         2/port = 44 total
 
All gun deck guns are now rigged!!! Whew!!! As I promised, an OSHA nightmare.

Well, creating the remaining six stairwell hand ropes did go quicker, just not quick. Because I had to use PVC glue both to allow me time to position properly the 24 stanchions and as a filler material at the base of some of the stanchions, I had to wait at least an hour or so before I could move on to the next steps. During that wait I couldn’t touch the model for fear of upsetting the drying setup and process. If I had done this sooner (which I did) but more robust (which it wasn’t), this installation could have been much simpler to do.
 
There is still a bunch of stuff that needs to be installed on the gun deck but requires the installation of more spar deck beams and those beams must be in the proper position to line up with stuff on the gun deck. It’s almost like which comes first, the chicken or the egg. So, I be installing both gun deck and spar deck items alternately.

Well, creating the remaining six stairwell hand ropes did go quicker, just not quick. Because I had to use PVC glue both to allow me time to position properly the 24 stanchions and as a filler material at the base of some of the stanchions, I had to wait at least an hour or so before I could move on to the next steps. During that wait I couldn’t touch the model for fear of upsetting the drying setup and process. If I had done this sooner (which I did) but more robust (which it wasn’t), this installation could have been much simpler to do.
 
There is still a bunch of stuff that needs to be installed on the gun deck but requires the installation of more spar deck beams and those beams must be in the proper position to line up with stuff on the gun deck. It’s almost like which comes first, the chicken or the egg. So, I be installing both gun deck and spar deck items alternately.

A ship has a keel is its structural backbone. A false keel is that piece of wood that actually sits under the keel to protect it and the heads of the bolts holding the main keel together. If a ship hits rocks or a reef or the damage from sea worms, the false keel takes the brunt of the abuse. It can be replaced so no harm comes to the main keel.
 
For the USS Constitution, I have not seen model maker attach a false keel to their model, probably because it is only 6” thick full scale. At 1/96 scale that would be 0.0625” or 1/16” thick on your model and would be covered with copper plate.
 
Jon

Well, creating the remaining six stairwell hand ropes did go quicker, just not quick. Because I had to use PVC glue both to allow me time to position properly the 24 stanchions and as a filler material at the base of some of the stanchions, I had to wait at least an hour or so before I could move on to the next steps. During that wait I couldn’t touch the model for fear of upsetting the drying setup and process. If I had done this sooner (which I did) but more robust (which it wasn’t), this installation could have been much simpler to do.
 
There is still a bunch of stuff that needs to be installed on the gun deck but requires the installation of more spar deck beams and those beams must be in the proper position to line up with stuff on the gun deck. It’s almost like which comes first, the chicken or the egg. So, I be installing both gun deck and spar deck items alternately.

Well, creating the remaining six stairwell hand ropes did go quicker, just not quick. Because I had to use PVC glue both to allow me time to position properly the 24 stanchions and as a filler material at the base of some of the stanchions, I had to wait at least an hour or so before I could move on to the next steps. During that wait I couldn’t touch the model for fear of upsetting the drying setup and process. If I had done this sooner (which I did) but more robust (which it wasn’t), this installation could have been much simpler to do.
 
There is still a bunch of stuff that needs to be installed on the gun deck but requires the installation of more spar deck beams and those beams must be in the proper position to line up with stuff on the gun deck. It’s almost like which comes first, the chicken or the egg. So, I be installing both gun deck and spar deck items alternately.

I cheated on mine by printing the panels, but then again, I don't expect them to be readily seen. Yours however, are wonderful and will probably be more visible. Well done!
 
Jon 

The stanchions were stung together with 0.12” (.30mm) black rope prior to installation so that I wouldn’t have to thread them on the model. Mustafa used tan rope which I must admit looks great, but the real ship uses black rope; but it doesn’t have the visual impact like the tan. So be it. It was slow, tedious, tricky, and time consuming That one stairwell down, six to go. Hopefully these will get installed quicker.

I cheated on mine by printing the panels, but then again, I don't expect them to be readily seen. Yours however, are wonderful and will probably be more visible. Well done!
 
Jon 

I cheated on mine by printing the panels, but then again, I don't expect them to be readily seen. Yours however, are wonderful and will probably be more visible. Well done!
 
Jon 

Here is the US Navy1931 Spar Deck Arrangement Drawing (in two parts) for your reference.
 
Jon

Very nice! You are going to have a great looking model when you are done. One thing caught my eye, If you plan on installing the spar deck capstan stove pipe before you install the spar deck, make sure you leave space under them for the spar deck planks to fit.
 
Oh, one other thing, It appears your anchor rope is tied (instead of wrapped) around the riding bitts. There is no way the anchor rope can be pulled in either direction to raise or lower the anchor. The riding bitts apply friction to the rope to maintain control of the ropes movement. The way you have it shown, the rope can't even be untied if it were on the actual ship.
 
Jon

Continuing to respond to your query on Mustafa's (mtbediz) blog, here are the seven additional images I have of the 1797 version model by Mark Antczak.

Very nice! You are going to have a great looking model when you are done. One thing caught my eye, If you plan on installing the spar deck capstan stove pipe before you install the spar deck, make sure you leave space under them for the spar deck planks to fit.
 
Oh, one other thing, It appears your anchor rope is tied (instead of wrapped) around the riding bitts. There is no way the anchor rope can be pulled in either direction to raise or lower the anchor. The riding bitts apply friction to the rope to maintain control of the ropes movement. The way you have it shown, the rope can't even be untied if it were on the actual ship.
 
Jon

Here is the US Navy1931 Spar Deck Arrangement Drawing (in two parts) for your reference.
 
Jon

Here is the US Navy1931 Spar Deck Arrangement Drawing (in two parts) for your reference.
 
Jon

Here is the US Navy1931 Spar Deck Arrangement Drawing (in two parts) for your reference.
 
Jon

Read your post about following Cookster, and his comment about is log being broken, I just want to let you know that I have all of his images that he posted. When I follow a build log dealing with the Constitution, I don't just read it, I copy the log and store it on my computer. BTW, I did the same thing when I was building my Rattlesnake. I don't trust the internet to keep websites forever or maintain original addresses. I've seen websites crash and lose everything (e.g., ModelShipWorld and ModelShipBuilder). So even though Cookster himself seems to have vanished in a puff of smoke and his log is starting to slowly disintegrate (images have disappeared), I have a copy of his log and all of the associated images. Should you need images from his log, just let me know.
 
Jon

Rudder plan from the US Navy

If you look at Khauptfuehrer's Bluejacket build log, he states:
 
"There is a pitfall concerning the rudder installation.  The rudder is made from 5/32" stock.  If your kit is like mine, you will have gudgeons and pintles whose interior dimension is 1/8".  The folks at Bluejacket swear up and down that the dimension is 5/32" but, trust me, it is 1/8".  Bending these to suit is difficult and yields less than satisfactory results.  Bluejacket also sells gudgeons and pintles with a 1/4" inner measurement.  These are easy to adapt and work well.  Drops of glue are used to simulate bolt heads I recommend that you buy 1/4" gudgeons and pintles.  They will bend easily to suit, and you will be fine."
 
This might be a solution to your problem.
 
Jon

Read your post about following Cookster, and his comment about is log being broken, I just want to let you know that I have all of his images that he posted. When I follow a build log dealing with the Constitution, I don't just read it, I copy the log and store it on my computer. BTW, I did the same thing when I was building my Rattlesnake. I don't trust the internet to keep websites forever or maintain original addresses. I've seen websites crash and lose everything (e.g., ModelShipWorld and ModelShipBuilder). So even though Cookster himself seems to have vanished in a puff of smoke and his log is starting to slowly disintegrate (images have disappeared), I have a copy of his log and all of the associated images. Should you need images from his log, just let me know.
 
Jon