JSGerson

I have completed the gun deck on my model and followed the photos of the real ship for fastening the ropes and tackles to the bulwarks. I am doing the same thing for the spar deck now. It was a little tricky to attach the recoil ropes between two eyebolts and adding a pin to lock them in place, but I made it work. If you are going to seize your block and tackle directly to the bulwark eyebolts, DO NOT attach the eyebolts to the bulwark first. It will be a b*tch seizing the lines to the eyebolts on the model. Seize the lines to the eyebolts off-ship, then insert the eyebolt with the attached tackle into bulwark. Personally, IMHO, I believe the use of hooks would have been more practical on the ship for quick and easy replacement when it was required.
 
Jon

Well done! And I love your sense of humor. I bet you have the only model of the USS Constitution demonstrating the use of the "seats of ease."🤣
 
Jon

The main thing I don't like about tulle is that it is not a true cross net. If you look closely, the intersections of the lines forms a star pattern. Of course, you would have to be up real close and be wither very near sighted or have a magnifying glass so the model builder can get away with it.
 
I have found ship blogs where the builders weave their own nets. If anyone is interested, I can point you to them.
 
Then there is the alternative: Steel mesh.
Model Expo offer one but does not indicate the dimensions of the mesh squares Modeler Central (Australia) I have not used either one
 
Jon

The main thing I don't like about tulle is that it is not a true cross net. If you look closely, the intersections of the lines forms a star pattern. Of course, you would have to be up real close and be wither very near sighted or have a magnifying glass so the model builder can get away with it.
 
I have found ship blogs where the builders weave their own nets. If anyone is interested, I can point you to them.
 
Then there is the alternative: Steel mesh.
Model Expo offer one but does not indicate the dimensions of the mesh squares Modeler Central (Australia) I have not used either one
 
Jon

Beautifully done!
 
Jon 

Would you believe there are 100 hooks in this container? Once I got into the rhythm of bending the 1/32” eyebolts, I could do about 2, to 3 per minute, but it was tedious and working using the pliers, wire cutter, with a magnifier headset was tiresome. Now comes the really tiresome part, making 5 identical sets of tackle per each of the 20 carronades and 2 long guns. Oh joy.

I did make a prototype recoil tackle to determine how much line I would need for that, approx. 3”. Looking at the miniature rope provided by the kit, the smallest diameter line provided were parts Nos. WP2589 (black) & WP2587 (tan) 3/0, 0.005” (0.13 mm) dia. two strand nylon. They did not look rope. They did look good for seizing line, so that is what I tried. My first attempt was a tad crude, but it won’t be noticed unless you have fantastic eyesight. I should improve as I make more.

Rigging the Spar Deck Carronades
There are three components to gun tackle: the rope, the hooks, and the blocks. I will initially be using .008” (.20 mm) Syren Ship Model Co, miniature tan rope and 3/32” (2.4 mm) blocks (single & double). The hooks I must make myself from 1/32” (0.8 mm) eyebolts. As far as I know, nobody makes 1/32” hooks with a quarter twist so that the eye is turned 90° from the hook. There are 20 carronades each requiring a minimum of 4 hooks. Then there are 5 hooks each for the two 24 pounders. That’s 90 hooks minimum assuming I don’t lose any during the fabrication process. I’ll make about 100 of these for the time being. So that alone is going to take a while to fabricate.

Spar Deck Long Guns
Finally, the last armament to be fabricated for the spar deck were the two 24 pounder long guns. These were made almost identical to the guns for the gun deck. I say “almost” because this time I used the laser cut carriage sides provided by the kit, If you may remember, I had to scratch make my own sides for the gun deck guns because for some reason, the gun ports were a bit too high relative to the gun deck planking and I had to compensate with a slightly taller gun carriage. Which by the way, was closer to the US Navy plans version.
 
I made all the other pieces as before and assembled them using the jig I used before. However, the jig had to be adjusted a bit because my scratch made sides were a bit different thickness than the laser cut ones. Also, this time, the blackening didn’t seem to stick as well as last time, so I will have to use some touch black paint where the shiny brass shows through. Still to be done. I will glue down the quoin when the guns are aligned properly and glued into their final positions. Till then, rigging the guns is next.

Ahh yes, the Model Airways 1917 Albatross d.Va. I finished building that in 2007. Around 2020 or so a strange phenomena took place. The Britannia metal wheel struts collapsed in veeerrrrrryyyy slow motion. I didn't notice it because it happened over years and then I did. I just wasn't looking at very often. The model was kept in case, in an air condition room, out of direct sunlight. I must assume it was the weight of the model that was too heavy for the soft Britannia struts. 
 
So, I got the kit box back out, looked up the part number and requested a replacement from Model Expo, which to their credit they did. But as I thought more about it, I decided why go through all the trouble and effort to replace the Britannia struts which collapsed, with another set of Britannia struts making the same mistake. Therefore, I used the replacement Britannia struts as a template for new stronger Boxwood ones. Now the problem is how to dismantle the model and rigging enough to remove the deformed struts, while not damaging anything else. I will need to create and fabricate a rig to support the model upside down so as to not putting negative stress on the wings. When the struts were originally installed, the wings were not attached. A relatively easy process.
 
By the way, those coins did not come out of pocket, but out of my old coin jar. Heck, I don't even recognize paper money any more other than a one dollar bill, the only bill that hasn't changed over the years. I live and die by the credit card and electronic banking and bill paying. The only place I spend cash is at my barber shop which is all they accept. Yes, an old fashioned barber shop, not a hair salon.
 
Jon

As it turned out, the 3-D misprinted/broken recoil rope eye bolts for are a moot point as I had to remove all of them anyways. They were very fragile, delicate, and broke when I tried to attach the required ring to them. The plastic is very stiff, inflexible, and will snap if any stress is applied to them.
 
Each of the 20 carronades required seven 1/32” eyebolts, one each for the two tackles per side, one for the recoil rope per side, and one on the rear of the gun slide. The recoil eyebolts have a ring passing through their eye through which the recoil ropes are threaded. These were replaced with trimmed eyebolts bent 90° with the attached ring.
 
All 20 carronades were dry positioned on the spar deck ready to be rigged. First, I need to fabricate the two long guns to complete the spar deck’s armament.

That is some jig you made. It worked perfectly! 
 
Jon

Very handsome model!
 
Jon

I can't speak for Mustafa's model but technically, the deadeyes on the actual ship are not attached to the tops at all; but pass through openings in the tops and attached to the Bentnik Shrouds below.
 
Jon

US Navy Plans attached
 
Jon

I sent these images to Mustafa as well. It shows what the actual connections look like to help guide you. In my opinion, your idea should work better if you use the stronger boxwood for the channels instead of basswood.
 
Jon
 

Those are some exquisitely clean cut notches on those trestle tree components. As always, a pleasure to see your workmanship.
 
Jon

Those are some exquisitely clean cut notches on those trestle tree components. As always, a pleasure to see your workmanship.
 
Jon

Very handsome model!
 
Jon

I can't speak for Mustafa's model but technically, the deadeyes on the actual ship are not attached to the tops at all; but pass through openings in the tops and attached to the Bentnik Shrouds below.
 
Jon

For me, the enjoyment is in the journey and this model has a multitudes of side trips, some seen by others, others not so much. Once the project is finished and on display, the fun, for the most part ends. My journey so far. is 8 years and still running😁!
 
Jon

For me, the enjoyment is in the journey and this model has a multitudes of side trips, some seen by others, others not so much. Once the project is finished and on display, the fun, for the most part ends. My journey so far. is 8 years and still running😁!
 
Jon

I too built the gun deck with a bunch of details. I made them somewhat visible by removing some of the main hatchways, spar deck planking, and beam supports. However, even with openings, a lot of the gun deck details are still obscured. Only me and the man upstairs know they are there. The image below shows the present state of my model.
 
Jon

I too built the gun deck with a bunch of details. I made them somewhat visible by removing some of the main hatchways, spar deck planking, and beam supports. However, even with openings, a lot of the gun deck details are still obscured. Only me and the man upstairs know they are there. The image below shows the present state of my model.
 
Jon

I too built the gun deck with a bunch of details. I made them somewhat visible by removing some of the main hatchways, spar deck planking, and beam supports. However, even with openings, a lot of the gun deck details are still obscured. Only me and the man upstairs know they are there. The image below shows the present state of my model.
 
Jon