Force9

The Camboose Aside from the guns, the last major component for the gun deck is the ship’s stove – historically referred to on the Constitution as the Camboose. From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caboose'>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caboose The camboose is probably not too difficult to create using styrene and wire, but it turns out that I had the opportunity to cheat a bit with an aftermarket version. An oft repeated lament is the fact that the explosion/proliferation of aftermarket Photo etched brass does not include sets for the common plastic sailing ships. This seems especially strange considering the proven popularity of kits like the 1/96 Revell Constitution. You’d think it’d be a no brainer for a PE company to put together a set that includes the hammock cranes, eyelets, and various other small pieces that would benefit from finer detail. (Maybe even throw in a laser cut wood veneer deck kit.) It is a real head-scratcher… But it turns out that one company DOES, in fact, offer a PE set for the 1/96 Constitution… And not just any company, but the leading model ship company in the USA - The good folks at Bluejacket Shipcrafters (http://www.bluejacketinc.com/kits/ussconstitution.htm'>http://www.bluejacketinc.com/kits/ussconstitution.htm). Their PE set is a subset of their terrific 1/8” scale Constitution kit and it is not listed in their catalog, but if you give them a call and pitifully beg them, they’ll sell you the PE set as a standalone item. Well… truth be told, you don’t really have to beg. They are very nice and are happy to part with a set as long as they have enough spares on hand. Call and ask for Suzi (or Lisa) and tell her I sent you – if she doesn’t slam the phone down right away, then you’ll probably be in luck. You can also email them a request at info@bluejacketinc.com. (Reference Part No.s BJ-31, BJ-57) Bluejacket doesn’t make their own PE (they farm it out to a subcontractor), but it is very high quality and is a bit thicker than other PE sets I’ve used. The set is sold in two sheets (you have to purchase both) and includes a camboose as well as the hammock cranes and other goodies. There are also some gratings and an entire plate for the stern that the wooden kit utilizes. The hammock cranes are of particular interest to me – really the reason I went after this PE. The kit provided ones are clunky looking and easily broken. I had thought to utilize brass micro tubing and the small Jotika eyelets to replace these, but stumbling upon these PE versions will save me many units of effort and ultimately provide a much nicer replacement. Utilizing these PE hammock cranes is many steps farther down the line in my build, but I did want to show folks this option sooner than later so that those who are doing similar builds can add these to Santa’s list (along with the 1/200 Bismarck?). Here is my camboose fashioned from the Bluejacket PE version and slightly enhanced with some brass railing with styrene doors and firebox tray: A little fine tuning and maybe the condenser and a spit and this'll be ready for painting. Thanks again to those who follow along...

Here is my effort to replace the pitiful kit provided brake pumps: I bulked them up a bit using a bit of octagonal styrene, some brass eyelets, and a small length of brass rod. The stems protruding from the bottoms will aid in positioning them on the deck thru holes drilled in the appropriate spots and hopefully keep them more secure. I should pause to say that the OOB pumps should NOT be placed in the bow as the Revell instructions instruct: This positioning is almost too bizarre to merit discussion... Suffice to say that the pumps are better positioned on the gun deck. The guidance I've used is from Chappelle's layout of the President taken from the drafts made of the captured ship by the British. It shows four brake pumps - two near the aft part of the main hatch and two a bit farther forward near amidships. The layout of the Revell deck does not lend itself to positioning two pumps near the main hatch. Instead, I've elected to place them in the more traditional location near the main mast in between the chain pumps. The other two were placed in the pre-existing holes on the deck that would normally have eyelets inserted. I think these are also referred to as "Elm Tree" pumps - something to do with that being the preferred wood for the rot-resistance qualities when exposed so long to moisture. I think these will do well enough as is and I'm on to the camboose...

I was going to wait until I had the brake pumps completed, but here are some quick snaps of the current state of things: I've got the bitts completed (except for some rings for the stoppers that'll wait until after the initial painting): Also have completed the cisterns and covers for the chain pumps - still need to fashion some handles: Just for a bit of extra fun... I've left off the cover on one of the cisterns to "expose" the underlying chain wheel: It started with me strolling through the model train store for something to use for my capstan drumheads. I didn't find anything suitable, but this little packet did catch my eye: And I thought, hmmmm... So after forking over too much hard earned cash (I think each wheel ended up being over a buck!) I trimmed them up slightly and glued on some small lengths of styrene rod then snipped off the ends. I suppose some spare PE railings or scale ladder bent around the circumference would've worked as well: They are really cable sheaves and aren't quite perfect for the job, but at this scale, and barely visible thru the openings, it should suffice well enough. I'm just gonna paint it black then leave well enough alone - I don't fancy trying to replicate the chain. That'd be too fiddly and would likely diminish the effect. And just to make sure people know these things don't all work out on the first try... Here is my debris field: Thanks for following along

Now it is on to the deck details - starting with the capstans. The one provided in the kit sucks and begs for replacement. I also need to provide one for the gun deck. But how to do the drumheads - especially when using styrene? I pondered and pondered and finally came up with an approach that worked reasonably well. The key was to visit the local hardware store to acquire some metal washers of appropriate size - 1/8" (#6) did the trick. The washers will serve as the outline of the circles as we spin everything around on the drill press and use a file to shape the drumhead. Here are the raw materials: After outlining the circles on some sheet styrene (using the washers as a template), I punched the centers and rough cut the shapes. Those were then mounted on a bolt sized to the washer opening with two washers sandwiching each side of the styrene. Everything was then clamped tight with the nut: I mounted the set up in the drill press, gave it a whirl, and filed the blanks even with the edges of the washer templates: After removing the styrene from the bolt - viola! Next I snipped some small styrene stock (.040 x .080 Evergreen 144) and glued them around the perimeter leaving spaces in between to represent the bar openings: After sandwiching those between two of the styrene "washers" I nipped off any protruding material, mounted the rough drumhead back in my bolt assembly and gave it another spin with some light filing to clean the final shape. The whelps were easily managed - just stuck some short pieces of .080 x .080 (Evergreen 164) styrene to some tape and used a round file to carve out the centers: Everything was glued to a small length of styrene rod (6.4mm - Plastruct 90864) and a few small details were added to complete the effect. Coincidentally, the rod fit exactly into the center openings defined by the washers. Here is the gun deck capstan: I wanted the spar deck capstan to look more like the one on the Hull model in the PEM - more mushroom shaped and svelte in comparison to the stockier gun deck capstan: Thanks for enduring the process explanation!

More of the build: The shot racks were done using a drill press and a very simple set up: The strip styrene was aligned to the small ruled straight edge and advanced two ticks between punching each hole. I could mass produce multiple strips in a very short time. I'll utilize some small cannonballs purchased from Bluejacket at a very minimal cost - likely the same available in finer tackle or gun shops.

Hello Lads! Wayne - many thanks for the compliments for my log... When all is said and done, I hope folks get a better sense of the ship and her history in addition to some ideas for building the kit. Hallo Marcus! How is my German kindred spirit doing? I'm glad you did stumble upon my log and I hope it provides incentive for you to start your own build. Don't worry about copying anything you see here - it is all up for grabs and ultimately we all manage to make our projects unique in their own way... I would say, however, that an 1803 version would be very interesting to see. Please keep an eye on my progress and feel free to comment often! I will use the Arnot rigging plans for most of my guidance. I have seen Mr. Erikson's book before and I think your comments are very accurate. I think I will be influenced to by his work to alter a few things here and there... If I remember correctly, among other things he decided that there was no separate royal topmast - it was actually just an extension of the topgallant mast. The royal yards did not have lifts, etc. either - they were rigged whole and hoisted into position from the deck. This corresponds to Constitution's log of August 19 when it notes that the royal yards were lowered to the deck prior to the battle. Hello Blue Ensign! As always, I value your comments and very much appreciate the guidance you've provided on the "other" forum. I would say that your Pegasus build would equally qualify as providing a new standard for that kit. Lambsbk - I'm glad to see you've gotten a hold of the BlueJacket photo etch set. I did augment the camboose with some styrene. I substituted some styrene in place of the back wall of the firebox to give more structure (the kit piece is a bit thin) as I bent the panels into place. The P.E. is very forgiving and should bend nicely with the aid of a metal straight edge or P.E. bending tool. I'll post more of my log so you'll be able to see some of the elements I added. Thanks all for your interest! EG

Aldo and Lambsbk - Thanks for the continued interest in my project. I've a ways to go to get all the log entries back in place and I hope to have a few new ones to add in a week or so... James - Thanks for your interest as well and I will make an effort to update my entries with the materials used. I've been neglectful in that area. I had not anticipated that other folks might want to adopt some of the same approaches that I have taken... I didn't mean for this to be any type of practicum for others to follow, but I'll make the effort to make things more clear as I go along. Stay tuned

Additional gun deck detail I've decided to add another hatch adjacent to one already existing on the gun deck... No two sources seem to agree on the general layout of the gun deck, but I figure that the adjacent hatches on the spar deck should be reflected on the deck below. This would more logically allow more rapid egress between multiple decks. It also affords me the chance to add more depth to my model - I'll eventually fashion a bit of the berth deck and have a companion ladder leading down another deck. The hatch was done similarly to the other holes I whacked in the spar deck: There is a compromise to accuracy noticeably present - I had to create a platform for the gun deck capstan. The position of the spar deck capstan does not quite align with the theoretical position of the underlying gun deck capstan - the lower hatch interferes slightly. I built up this platform to align with the hatch edge as my new capstan will overlap that coaming. So kill me! The ship's stove will need a "tray" to rest upon. I scratched in a brick pattern on some sheet styrene and added it to the deck in the appropriate spot with a bit of edging around to complete the effect: I also thought the Captain's day cabin could use some upgraded cabinetry detail: You'll notice some shot racks added around the hatches as well... No provision for shot storage is made anywhere in the Revell kit. I think it would be general practice to include these around any large hatches on a frigate this size. Here is the basic deck completed and ready for the next wave of detail (bitts, capstan, stove, pumps, etc.): Thanks for following along!

The Gun Deck hatch coamings I decided that the basic hatch coamings along the gun deck were too wimpy and needed to be bulked up a bit. I didn't want to increase the height since that would involve moving/redoing the gratings so I settled for widening them: Once I had the width, I proceeded to plank the surface with thin styrene to hide the seams and better represent the coamings. I cut the pieces a tiny bit long and then came along at the end and filed everything even and smooth: Much improved I think...

Folks - I thought I should share another source of research material now available... The fine newly updated version of the USS Constitution CD produced by the Naval History & Heritage Command (NHHC). The CD includes many plans compiled by the Boston Detachment of the NHHC. It mostly includes copies of Lt John Lord's drawings used for the 1927 restoration. As such, they are not necessarily pertinent to the 1812 period, but do have some useful drawings of details like whale boats, Anchors, etc. In particular, there are some historical references also included that I have found very interesting. Finally, the drawings often include notes and links to sub-references that clarify the differences between the 1927 and 1812-14 versions. It should also be pointed out that the updated website for the NHHC/USS Constitution includes a very nice virtual tour of the ship: http://www.history.navy.mil/USSCTour/Movie.html The tour includes links as appropriate to many of the documents/plans included in the new CD. Click on the FILE REFERENCE tab: http://www.history.navy.mil/USSCTour/frDrawings.html This link contains good stuff! I highly recommend anyone interested in the great ship to peruse the link and explore the material available... Enjoy!

Finishing off the beams and carlings on the spar deck... Here is a peek at the underside: The beams are fashioned from .100 x .156" (Evergreen 177) styrene and the carlings are .080 x .080" (Evergreen 164) Turned out reasonably well...

Folks... I've just returned from a business/holiday trip to the East coast. I somehow managed to be on hand when Old Ironsides put up her sails and proceeded along on her own power for the first time since 1997 - albeit for only 1,000 yards or so. It was done to commemorate her great victory over HM Frigate Guerriere exactly 200 years hence. After her brief sail, the tug brought her in close to the fort on Castle Island where she fired off her obligatory 21-gun salute to the roaring approval of the gathered throng. Enjoy

Lads... The results will certainly be enhanced once I get some paint smeared across the surfaces. That'll be a bit of fun - I'll pre-shade some planks and otherwise pick out each plank individually and then come along with an artist pencil to highlight the seams. But I need to have the spar deck prepared as well so that I can efficiently tackle both at the same... Here is the state of the spar deck: Here again the deck is in three pieces and needs to be "seamlessly" melded together. The seams were prepped with some supporting styrene beams and flat sections to help align everything when the glue was applied: After everything was set I once again resorted to some 80 grit sandpaper to smooth everything down in preparation for scribing the planks on the deck. I've scribed all of the planking and made another go at some joggling - both fore and aft. The planking was done using the same "stack, clamp, and scribe" method as used on the gun deck. The four-step butt pattern was applied as well. This deck has the exposed beams. I've done the easy ones - main cross beams with carlings. All of the hatches have the underlying support structure in place. The opening over the waist gangway will be a bit more complex. In addition to beams and carlings, I'll need to add some lodging knees and the canted "diagonal" knees attached to the beams. The skid beams caused me a momentary pause... The Bluejacket manual insists that ALL of the support beams are carried across the waist as skid beams. And this is based on research conducted by Mr. Arnot and Cdr Martin. Easy enough to make that happen, so I started trimming the appropriate Evergreen... But... The Revell kit is based ultimately on the Hull model and that artifact clearly shows that not all the beams span the waist. Only about every other one. Turns out the Chappelle plans of USS President based on the British drawings of the captured ship shows the same skid beams as the Hull model (and our Revell kit). I decided to leave well enough alone. Work continues... I'll build up the hatch coamings a bit on both decks and start work on the gun deck features.

Here are some better photos with lighting that highlights the scribed lines... The step pattern was initially laid out using the diagram in the Longridge book (Pg 121). Then it was a matter of coming along and scribing every fifth plank - either vertically or horizontally until the deck was complete. Thanks for looking

Back to the build... Spent my last few sessions scratching away at the gun deck to put some semblance of planking in place. I set up the workbench with a bit of old cardboard for the pins underneath the deck to grab onto (and not break off) while I abused the topside. I clamped the deck down by the bow to hold her steady and proceeded to scribe the decking. The process was relatively simple and I hope I illustrate it well enough. I used some spare lengths of styrene strips to represent each row of planking to establish the alignment of my straight edge. I used the existing hatch coamings as the baseline, laid a styrene strip against it, then aligned the straight edge to the strip. After clamping the edge down, I would remove the temporary styrene and scribe the line. I would add another temporary strip to the mix to align my edge to the next row of planking... and so on... working from the middle out to the edges. For the middle decking I clamped down the straight edge and used the styrene strips for guidance (custom fit for the space) Next I scribed in a four step butt pattern following the guidance of Longridge (pages 120-21). Came back along with a 180 grit sanding block and smoothed down the edges. Took about six hours altogether.

Let's proceed with the gun deck. I've got to eliminate those darn seams. I need to carefully align each deck piece to each adjacent neighbor. Unfortunately, the middle section of the decking is moulded a bit thicker than the others, so I need to build up the thickness on the end pieces to match before I can glue and clamp. The stern section needed a little more help than the bow section: After also adding a larger set of styrene strips to the underside to help align the surfaces (keeping away from the edges to not interfere with the mounting tabs moulded into the hull halves) I can go ahead and liberally smear everything with glue and clamp it all down: Once everything had dried for 24 hours I came back and absolutely assaulted the surface with 80 grit sandpaper: I think those seams are gone. I'll next begin to prep the deck with some 150 grit sanding and start in on scribing the planks. Thanks for following along

Folks... My wife originally hails from Boston so we make a few trips back periodically to visit with family and friends. This year they were really making a big deal out of the July 4 celebration with Old Ironsides as the centerpiece of the commemoration of the Bicentennial of the War of 1812 - so we decided to make our trip coincide with the festivities. On Tuesday mornings during peak season the USS Constitution offers a special behind the scenes "Constitution Experience" tour of the great ship for a limited sized group (you need to pre-register thru the website). You get to see the morning flag raising and morning gun before heading aboard. The tour includes the captains quarters, the orlop deck, and a chance to crawl down into the after powder room - all spaces normally off limits to us civilians. During Cdr Tyrone Martin's tenure he had the forward gun modified to fire salutes. Here is the exposed loading tray of the surplus WWII anti-aircraft gun utilized for the purpose (each firing pin now costs $60 because of scarcity): The Tiller: Here is the scuttle down to the after powder room: Here is some original timber (transom wings?) in the aftermost space of the magazine: Here is my foot standing on original wood. The guide says it is the keel - but it is more likely the keelson or deadwood on top: Orlop deck with the diagonal riders: USS Constitution is, of course, still a commissioned warship in the US Navy so the guides are all active duty sailors and marines. The facts as presented in the tour are a bit sketchy in terms of accuracy, but the intent is well-meaning. Here are a few of the most egregious: - "The frames are spaced two - four inches apart unlike the British ships, which were three or four FEET apart." - "The crew fired a round every 90 seconds. The British crew fired every two to three minutes." (The opposite was probably true) - "The ship could only fire every other gun in a broadside - otherwise a full broadside fired from every gun would tip the ship over." Overall it was a terrific morning clambering around inside the great ship.

The opening in front of the helm position will allow views down to the gun deck capstan and the chain pumps: The fore deck opening will expose the riding bitts and the camboose (ship's stove): There is another long opening along the starboard gangway to reveal the 24 pdrs rigged up below. The final opening aft on the quarterdeck will have views into the captain's cabin - the stern galleries and side panelling will be seen. The appropriate beams and carlings will be added after I've glued the three pieces together (actually I'll use some of the beams to help align the edges when gluing), Thanks for following along...

Work begins on the spar deck... Firstly, I need to open up some views to the gun deck by blasting some holes in strategic spots. I've used a hot solder iron with a knife attachment to do this in the past, but that sure smells awful... I thought I'd utilize the drill press this time around: After drilling thru to outline the opening, I come back along and smooth out the shape by running the piece along the spinning bit (use a bit that is not your favorite!) to clean out the edges. I didn't get too close to the final line - that was done using a wide file. Here is the process done for the fore deck: Long, smooth strokes with the wider file does the trick in just a few minutes. The smaller file helps clean up some of the corners.

Here's the latest: I've completed the iron bolt heads ("rivets") on the spar deck bulwarks, filled out the gun deck bulwarks, and started in on the gun deck knees. The knees are a bit of a guess. Here is how they currently look on the restored ship: I suspect these are more reflective of the 1927 effort to stiffen her structure than how they would've appeared in 1812. Howard Chappelle in his History of the American Sailing Navy includes a plan view of USS President (taken from the Admiralty draught done after her capture) which shows interconnected diagonal knees (plan 16 between pgs 265-266). I've elected to follow this approach in my build. I chopped up a few small chunks of styrene and glued them in the appropriate locations to represent the beams for affixing the knees. None of this will be visible once the spar deck is in place - even with the holes I intend to cut into the deck to expose the underlying beams and open small views to the gun deck. I first marked the beam locations as defined by the spar deck pieces: (Incidentally, the spar deck butt pattern aligns well with the general positioning of the beams - unlike the Heller Victory kit) I'll only represent the "legs" of the knees and not the "arms" at this point. I'll likely need to include both at the waist where they may be visible. The result seems to align well with Chappelle's representation and I'm very satisfied: I've left the knees along the starboard waist undone for now. Those will need to be closely aligned with the beams under the spar deck when I have those in place. Still a few things to be done, but I'll set aside the half hulls for now and move on to the decking - if only to introduce some variety. Wish me luck in eliminating the seams.

Essentially the Bluejacket Manual/plan set was purchased to help me rig the beast when I eventually get to that phase... I want to respect the intellectual property of the BJ folks, but I'm sure they won't mind a small snippet to encourage other modelers to invest in their own set: Hopefully this gives a sense of the terrific detail that the plans provide. A funny thing happened when I went online to the BJ site to order the manual set... It finally registered in my feeble mind that the Bluejacket kit was 1/8 scale (The same as 1/96)... I had never realized that before. When I received my packet in the mail and ripped it open I found something nearly as valuable as all the rest - the detailed parts listing. I sent along a note to the good folks at Bluejacket asking them whether the individual parts for their USS Constitution kit were available for separate sale. Lisa wrote back and said that would be no problem. Bluejacket, of course, is a major supplier of model ship parts, but you will not find most of their Connie components in their catalog. After close examination I noted some specific part numbers, placed my order, and within a very reasonable period a small box showed up: I won't reveal all the contents... Those will show up at various points in my build log along the way, but here is an important sample: The longest boat provided in the Revell kit would scale to about 28 feet. That might do to represent something like the commodore's barge, but not the Pinnace (long boat). According to Tyrone Martin, the long boat would be 36 feet in length - which at 1/8 scale would measure out to around 4.5 inches. Fortunately the BJ kit has a cast resin version (part no. 8633) that fits the bill very nicely. A bit of enhancement with some styrene components and this will be a real winner. More good stuff from the Bluejacket box to be revealed as we move along...

Folks - I should make mention of the sources I have been utilizing for my build... Unfortunately there are no books out there that really satisfy me in every respect - some are certainly better than others, but all seem to have blatant flaws. The AOTS book by Karl Heinz Marquardt is a well criticized case in point. He seems to have invented a representation of the ship that is a hybrid between the 1927 restored version and various "historic" representations across the years cobbled together from old photographs, plans of other ships (USS President) and various paintings - not all of which trace to the War of 1812 glory years. His omission of the Hull model is downright inexplicable. In Mr. Marquardt's defense, it should be said that he had a much tougher job than McKay did with the AOTS for the HMS Victory. There are many contemporary sources for the construction and refits of the Victory to reference - and ultimately McKay probably did very little archeological research beyond consulting the well researched restored version of the ship. Same can be said for Longridge and his Anatomy of Nelson's Ships - it is essentially relying on the restored ship. Old Ironsides is a more complicated situation - the restored ship is at most a faint glimmer of her War of 1812 configuration... Lt. John Lord seems to have restored her to an "historic" configuration without any deep effort to match her glory years... It seems like somebody tapped him on the shoulder, or otherwise whispered in his ear, and told him that he should focus on restoring the structural integrity of the ship and ensure that nobody had to come back and restore her again within their lifetimes... The historical "accuracy" was almost an afterthought with folks winking and nodding that she was brought back to her War of 1812 appearance. Underlying all of this is the reality that we have very little extant historical documentation of her War of 1812 appearance. When the newly appointed William Jones took over as Secretary of the Navy amid the War of 1812, he found an underfunded department in shambles with no cohesive record keeping in place to help manage the precious few ships available for battle. He hired a bunch of extra clerks, reorganized the entire record keeping process, and ordered that all ship construction, maintenance, and provisioning records be forwarded to Washington DC for proper cataloguing. He utilized these records to carefully dole out the pitiful funds at his disposal where they were most needed. Unfortunately, this meant that all of these valuable resources (at least for us future ship modelers) went up in flames when the British ungallantly sacked our capitol city and burned the public buildings and the navy yard. That leaves folks to make assumptions on her war years appearance by extrapolating from when the written records peter out... The 1811 refit undertaken by Isaac Hull is reasonably well documented in journals and logs and is probably reflected in three dimensions by the Hull model in the Peabody Essex museum. Most experts assume that she carried this configuration deep into the War of 1812 since the only written record to contradict it shows up when Charles Stewart noted in the log that he painted a Yellow stripe on the ship. The reality is almost certainly something different... The advent of war changed the circumstances completely and likely caused the various captains of USS Constitution to restyle her as a wolf in sheep's clothing... Every captain's dream was to sail into the midst of a large convoy of merchant ships and cut out as many valuable prizes as possible before getting chased off by a ship of the line. Every instant of doubt that a yellow stripe could introduce would be very helpful. We see her represented in every credible painting of the period with a yellow stripe. The record we have from Charles Stewart is interesting... He waited until he was offshore to rig up the painting platforms and repaint the stripe out of sight of prying eyes and informants on shore who might otherwise tip off the British fleet to the deception. If Hull and/or Bainbridge overpainted the stripe, they likely did it offshore for the same reasons. For this reason and others, I've elected to refer to the contemporary paintings to guide my project. The only book I anticipate using as a key reference is Howard Chapelle's History of the American Sailing Navy. In particular I will refer to the plan view of USS President (plate 16 between pgs 265-266) for the positioning of the diagonal knees on the gun deck and the proper placement of the bitts and the various pumps. For the rigging I've gone ahead and purchased the very fine Bluejacket Manual/plan set for their 1/96 wooden kit model: The manual includes many historical research notes from Cmdr Tyrone Martin as well as detailed rigging directions. The real value is added by the terrific scale deck and rigging plans that are included (there are four full size sheets) all produced in 1/96 scale. Highly recommended.

Let's build some more of the model... I now come to a decision point faced by better modelers than me... Do I include the iron bolt "rivet" details on the spar deck bulwarks? You can see those on the post-refit spar deck Looks like it was a PITA to remove them during the restoration effort: Are they authentic to 1812? I have no clue... It is interesting that they were put back in the recent reconstruction of the spar deck. It may be that there is something definitive that justifies including them... In truth I don't really care. I've decided that it would be a nice way to pay homage to the restored ship while at the same time including some interesting detail to enhance my model. Unfortunately there may be no way around the tedium that adding all these rivets will entail... Model railroaders have some decals of resin rivet strips that might work in a pinch, but it looks like a very expense solution. Modelers on larger scale ships will add thousands of dots worth of thick paint or actually insert the gazillions of pins necessary to represent the bolt heads properly... Here was the approach I took: I used the thinnest strips of styrene in my inventory and punched in the bolt pattern using an inexpensive scribe tool purchased at the local hardware store. None of the three pin wheel tools I have had the right pattern I was after - so I did it one at a time. Amazing how sore your fingers can get after a few hundred of these... Once done, I simply flipped the strips over and affixed them to the bulwarks. When completely dry, I came back along and trimmed the edges with a file. All very neat. This has the added benefit of covering over the overdone wood grain detail moulded on the bulwarks of the kit as well as some obvious injection marks.

Folks I've got the port side bulwarks mostly complete - I'll add a ledge/shelf strip across the top and a few touch ups with a file are needed, but otherwise I'm pleased with the progress: The candle in the background is not to set the mood... The dog managed to find a dead fish on the shoreline tonight and reeked to high heaven... x20x After a thorough bath in the garage washtub (the DOG, not me!), I needed to light the scented candle (orange flavored, I think) to overlay on the stench before proceeding to my project. Thanks for looking

Continuing along the theme of Old Ironsides As usual, I've gone crazy with the hobby knife and peeled back a bit of the lower hull - this time to reveal the stout framing of an American Heavy Frigate. I've gone ahead and used the 1875 photo as guidance and spaced my frames accordingly: Russ here at MSW confirms that the 1875 photo should be accurate. Research confirms that the keel on Old Ironsides is original as well as most of the futtocks and flooring. This would dictate the spacing of the frames for the life of the ship - even if the contours of the upper framing changed over the years. The placement of my gash is not arbitrary - it is actually symbolic. Captain Dacres testified in his court martial after the battle that "on the larboard side of the Guerrière there were about thirty shot which had taken effect about five sheets of copper down.." This was most likely the result of Constitution's initial broadside which Captain Hull had held back until his ship was directly alongside his opponent at half-pistol shot range. The blast fairly rocked Guerriere and sent "washtubs" of blood pouring down her hatches according to an eyewitness. The damage below the waterline ultimately sealed her fate. The prize crew couldn't stem the flow and Hull ordered her blown up the next morning. My representation here should give folks an idea of just how much damage the Guerriere absorbed from the outset of the fight.