JSGerson

The post sheeves were carved after two holes were drilled into each of the vertical posts. The two brace parts were shaped and glued together before being glued to the posts. The horizontal beam was made in two parts. Instead of trying to insert square cross section beams through square holes cut into the posts which would have been quite difficult, the beams were made as plugs that fit into a drilled round hole which passed through the post. Once assembled, the bitts were stained with Minwax Gunstock 231 and the sheeves painted black.

Forward Gun Deck Bitts
As I started rigging the third gun and thought, I’m going to go nuts rigging the remaining 20 guns all at once. Not only that, where am I going to store them prior to installation as I will have a bunch of other items (as I’ve mentioned before) that will need to be fabricated and installed as well? So, I decided to put that aside and fabricate the forward gun deck bitts and work my way aft installing all the bits and pieces as I progress one gun port at a time. This way, there will be less loose pieces and it won’t get monotonous.
 
First, I fabricated the ceiling beam between bulkhead C and D. When creating the gun deck so long ago, the spar deck beams, that were previously cut off the hull forming bulkheads, were saved. (These will be used later as the spar deck is fabricated.) Using the bulkhead C beam, a new beam shape between B and C was extrapolated, fabricated, and positioned directly over the aft end of the most forward grating. This grating was previously fabricated with aft notches for the bitts going from the gun deck to the ceiling beam.

The side attached vertical roller bearings were made from 1/16” brass tube, 1/32” brass rod, and 0.010” brass sheet. After I eyeballed the roller’s length and width, the brass tube was cut to length. The brass rod, which fits inside the tube perfectly, was cut just a bit longer so it protruded. Brackets were fabricated with a hole drilled to accept the rod. In real life, there is a bracket at the bottom as well so the roller bearing can spin, not so for the model. Finally, the brass parts were blackened. and black dots painted as pseudo bolts on the braces.

The post sheeves were carved after two holes were drilled into each of the vertical posts. The two brace parts were shaped and glued together before being glued to the posts. The horizontal beam was made in two parts. Instead of trying to insert square cross section beams through square holes cut into the posts which would have been quite difficult, the beams were made as plugs that fit into a drilled round hole which passed through the post. Once assembled, the bitts were stained with Minwax Gunstock 231 and the sheeves painted black.

These bitts have a vertical sheave and a horizontal beam which passes through the vertical structural element. Based on the US Navy arrangement drawing, I determined the scale size of the vertical post as 3/16” width x 1/8” depth but did not find any other plans for these bitts. I had to use just my library of images to guesstimate the remainder of the dimensions. The height was easy, the space between the beam and deck. The braces were totally guesstimated.
 
Each bitt was made from three pieces for ease of construction; two for the brace and one for the vertical post.

Forward Gun Deck Bitts
As I started rigging the third gun and thought, I’m going to go nuts rigging the remaining 20 guns all at once. Not only that, where am I going to store them prior to installation as I will have a bunch of other items (as I’ve mentioned before) that will need to be fabricated and installed as well? So, I decided to put that aside and fabricate the forward gun deck bitts and work my way aft installing all the bits and pieces as I progress one gun port at a time. This way, there will be less loose pieces and it won’t get monotonous.
 
First, I fabricated the ceiling beam between bulkhead C and D. When creating the gun deck so long ago, the spar deck beams, that were previously cut off the hull forming bulkheads, were saved. (These will be used later as the spar deck is fabricated.) Using the bulkhead C beam, a new beam shape between B and C was extrapolated, fabricated, and positioned directly over the aft end of the most forward grating. This grating was previously fabricated with aft notches for the bitts going from the gun deck to the ceiling beam.

The side attached vertical roller bearings were made from 1/16” brass tube, 1/32” brass rod, and 0.010” brass sheet. After I eyeballed the roller’s length and width, the brass tube was cut to length. The brass rod, which fits inside the tube perfectly, was cut just a bit longer so it protruded. Brackets were fabricated with a hole drilled to accept the rod. In real life, there is a bracket at the bottom as well so the roller bearing can spin, not so for the model. Finally, the brass parts were blackened. and black dots painted as pseudo bolts on the braces.

The side attached vertical roller bearings were made from 1/16” brass tube, 1/32” brass rod, and 0.010” brass sheet. After I eyeballed the roller’s length and width, the brass tube was cut to length. The brass rod, which fits inside the tube perfectly, was cut just a bit longer so it protruded. Brackets were fabricated with a hole drilled to accept the rod. In real life, there is a bracket at the bottom as well so the roller bearing can spin, not so for the model. Finally, the brass parts were blackened. and black dots painted as pseudo bolts on the braces.

The side attached vertical roller bearings were made from 1/16” brass tube, 1/32” brass rod, and 0.010” brass sheet. After I eyeballed the roller’s length and width, the brass tube was cut to length. The brass rod, which fits inside the tube perfectly, was cut just a bit longer so it protruded. Brackets were fabricated with a hole drilled to accept the rod. In real life, there is a bracket at the bottom as well so the roller bearing can spin, not so for the model. Finally, the brass parts were blackened. and black dots painted as pseudo bolts on the braces.

The side attached vertical roller bearings were made from 1/16” brass tube, 1/32” brass rod, and 0.010” brass sheet. After I eyeballed the roller’s length and width, the brass tube was cut to length. The brass rod, which fits inside the tube perfectly, was cut just a bit longer so it protruded. Brackets were fabricated with a hole drilled to accept the rod. In real life, there is a bracket at the bottom as well so the roller bearing can spin, not so for the model. Finally, the brass parts were blackened. and black dots painted as pseudo bolts on the braces.

The post sheeves were carved after two holes were drilled into each of the vertical posts. The two brace parts were shaped and glued together before being glued to the posts. The horizontal beam was made in two parts. Instead of trying to insert square cross section beams through square holes cut into the posts which would have been quite difficult, the beams were made as plugs that fit into a drilled round hole which passed through the post. Once assembled, the bitts were stained with Minwax Gunstock 231 and the sheeves painted black.

These bitts have a vertical sheave and a horizontal beam which passes through the vertical structural element. Based on the US Navy arrangement drawing, I determined the scale size of the vertical post as 3/16” width x 1/8” depth but did not find any other plans for these bitts. I had to use just my library of images to guesstimate the remainder of the dimensions. The height was easy, the space between the beam and deck. The braces were totally guesstimated.
 
Each bitt was made from three pieces for ease of construction; two for the brace and one for the vertical post.

Forward Gun Deck Bitts
As I started rigging the third gun and thought, I’m going to go nuts rigging the remaining 20 guns all at once. Not only that, where am I going to store them prior to installation as I will have a bunch of other items (as I’ve mentioned before) that will need to be fabricated and installed as well? So, I decided to put that aside and fabricate the forward gun deck bitts and work my way aft installing all the bits and pieces as I progress one gun port at a time. This way, there will be less loose pieces and it won’t get monotonous.
 
First, I fabricated the ceiling beam between bulkhead C and D. When creating the gun deck so long ago, the spar deck beams, that were previously cut off the hull forming bulkheads, were saved. (These will be used later as the spar deck is fabricated.) Using the bulkhead C beam, a new beam shape between B and C was extrapolated, fabricated, and positioned directly over the aft end of the most forward grating. This grating was previously fabricated with aft notches for the bitts going from the gun deck to the ceiling beam.

2,500 or so Copper Plates so far
My copper tape roll ran out 24 plates shy of completing the hull. However, I was prepared as Hunt’s practicum warned me that may happen, and I also read the same accounts in a couple build logs. This did not include coppering the stem, keel, stern, and rudder. Also, it was not unexpected that the oxidation color of the second roll of tape was of a slightly darker hue. Over time they will even out going from shiny new copper to old penny brown, and finally green copper oxide (if the model lasts that long).

I have several choices for my copper plates:
Full accuracy - Make an embossing stamp for ½” x 3/16” plates. Problems, the copper tape is ¼” wide, I need to make the stamp and jig to create 50 interior dimples plus a method to make the close quarter edge dimples Impressionable – give the impression of nail indentations only  No nail impressions at all and may or may not overlap the plates I made the pattern for the fully accurate pate by counting the nail heads and their locations on the real plates from photographs. When I reduced the pattern down to scale size, the nail pattern would be indiscernible let alone easy to make. When I considered the number of plates needed, I didn’t think it was worth the effort.
What I call the impressionable method is relatively easy to do, but still tedious. The idea is to emboss the copper using sandpaper. The rough surface of the sandpaper would make random impressions in the copper just enough for the viewer to realize the copper has some texture detail, not enough to discern a pattern while cutting down the mirror finish of the copper tape. I do have a method for the edge nails using a method which I’ll discuss below
The last method is just to add plain copper plates straight off the copper tape roll without any embellishments, just cut to size. The relies on the idea that the scale is so small, you can’t see the details.
I felt that the impressionable method might be the best way to, but I had to make a test run first. I cut a few ½” length strips for my trial and create the plate with these steps:
Cover the plate with a piece of coarse sandpaper and using another block of wood (not shown), lightly tapped the block so it forces the sandpaper into the copper. Per Nautical Research Guild’s Ship Modeler’s Shop Notes II, Pgs.138-9 I used a fine-tooth modeler’s saw blade and with a single tap embossed the edge of the plate top and one side. Just rubbing the plate with my fingers to burnish the plate smooth. From just a few inches away, any discernable pattern would have been lost in the full accuracy method, so this method is my choice.

Next, the pintle hinges were positioned and CA glued to the rudder while ensuring there was enough space for the gudgeons to slide under the pintles. The picture below is of the pintles dry fit up.

Using fine toothed hand saw, the hinges were cut apart. I thought about using my Dremel with a rotary saw or cutting disc, but I realized I couldn’t hold my hand steady enough for a clean cut. A few finishing touches with a file to clean off and smooth the edges, and the hull side hinges and gudgeons were formed.

The hull side hinges consisted of two parts, the strap structural element that attached to the hull and the gudgeon. The trick was to form the five gudgeons in perfect alignment so the rudder would be able to pivot smoothly. This was something that Ken Forman made note of. I modified his method so I could not only maintain alignment but made the silver soldering easy.
 
First, I formed the hinges by wrapping the copper strips over a 3/8” thick piece of stock basswood. Then I drilled a 1/32” hole into a piece of wood so a length of 0.032” stiff music wire could be inserted. A length of 1/16” brass tube was slipped over the music wire. The five hinge straps were draped over the same piece of wood that was used to form them and clamped on either side. The block of wood holding the music wire with the brass tube was then held in place over the hinges with a rubber band. When silver soldering paste was dabbed onto each hinge and the brass tube positioned onto the hinges, everything was in place. With a couple of passes with a small torch, the tube was soldered to all five hinges assuring the gudgeons would be perfectly aligned.

I can appreciate the effort that went into creating the pintles and gudgeons. My method was slightly different then yours, but getting all those pieces aligned properly was tough.  You did a nice clean job. Well done,
 
Jon

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

I got my Byrnes saw about ten years ago, and it still works as well now as the day I got it. However, getting a new Byrnes saw may be more difficult. It was just recently announced that Jim Byrnes, that wonderful man who made the saws, died a few weeks ago. Whether the shop will make more is not known. The shop has reopened, but at present, they they are only selling what's in stock. He will be missed.
 
Jon

The recoil rope is wrapped around the spherical nob or button at the back of the gun, but there does not seem to be a consistent method used on the Constitution (see first image below). Once more I removed all the tackle because I should have done this before I threaded the rope through to gun’s rings. I chose the simplest method to attach the recoil rope on the gun button as seen below. This assures I could make each side of the rope equal length., Once more, the rope was threaded through the vertical ring and pinned to the bulwark. With the recoil rope now installed properly, the remainder of the tackle re-hooked once again. The gun jig proved its worth. I would have hated to have learned the sequence while trying to do this on the model. Now I’ve got two guns rigged and sitting on the model. The rope positions are not finalized nor is anything glued into their final position. I want these loose until I build the beams supporting the spar deck with its stations, not to mention the furniture I’ve already fabricated. There are a lot of moving parts that must fit, and I want the flexibility to adjust them if needed. Only 20 more to rig.

All the tackle was removed because I found it much easier to thread the recoil rope first when I could hold on to the flopping vertical ring for threading the recoil rope. After a little trial and error, I passed a piece of thread through the ring then through the rope end loop and back through the ring again. After a little coaxing, I was able to pull the loop through the ring with the thread. Rope just does not want to be pushed. Then the tackle lines were rebooked on.

The triple seized looped ends of the recoil rope were attached to bulwark with pins that drop through two eyebolts attached to the bulwarks with the rope loop in between. The pins were created by shortening nails (typically used for nailing planking to bulkheads, seen in the above image). Nails were used because of their nail heads. A piece of rod would just fall through the eyebolts. Those nails had to be filed just a bit narrower for them to fit through the bulwark’s eyebolts. All of this work was done on the protype in the jig.

The remainder of the gun carriage pieces were much simpler to fabricate. Pretty much just slicing pieces of wood to length or cutting out the pieces using templates made from the US Navy plan. To create the Quion, a disk sander was used. Note: The US Navy plan uses the term “Coin” for Quion.