Force9

Very interesting... That overview suggests (if I interpret correctly) that the practice outlined by Olof Eriksen didn't kick in until 1830.  The Hull model, however, apparently shows the brace passing thru a block in front of the mouse and thence thru a block on the mainmast and down to the fife rail.  The crew built that model in 1812.  Go figure.
 
It may be that the US Navy adopted this approach long before the RN.
 
Evan

It struck me as a combination of the Petersen version and what Henry provided. I can certainly understand the need to keep things simple!
 
Evan

Olof Erikson compared the Hull model to Brady and has the fore topsail braces rigged thus:
 
"Hitch to the mainstay collar, and reeve the fall through the brace block on the yardarm, back thru a single leading block seized on the mainstay collar fore of the mouse, through the inner sheave of the double leading blocks on the mainmast bibs, thru the swivel in the main U fife rail and belay there"
 
Whew!
 
Evan

Closeup of Essex figurehead - Peabody Essex Museum:
 

 
Evan

I think that is "the anatomy of Nelson's ships" by Longridge. A nice reference for general ship modeling. It is a detailed description of the authors effort to build his model of HMS Victory back in the 1930s.

Ahoy...
 
Sorry folks for the very long gap between updates... Had to call a timeout for the holidays and some business travel.
 
I've been fiddling with guns a bit in the background, but I also managed to lay down some black on the hull.  I had several flavors of Vallejo Black in my collection: Grimy Black (too greenish), Engine Black (too much sheen), and regular "Black".  I went with the latter - it lays down very flat and has a nice neutral tone.
 
Still much to tune up and I have kept some of the masking in place until I paint the red linings of the spar deck ports, but here are some quick views:
 

 

 

 

 
 
The final appearance of the yellow stripe took some thought and compromise... The Corne paintings show the stripe in line with the edges of the gun ports and finishing with a scalloped end after the most forward gun port:
 

 
This is the path to choose if you're paying strict adherence to the Corne paintings.  I have to admit, however, that I do like the wider stripe shown in the Thomas Birch painting of the Guerriere fight:
 

 
This gives the ship a more robust look and sets off the gun ports nicely.  I do think, however, that it would be too big a leap from the Corne paintings.  The 1803 painting done by Corne for Commodore Preble provides a very nice compromise:
 

 
This shows the stripe in line with the upper edge of the gun ports and extending just a bit below the bottom edge.  This version also includes the scalloped front end.  (of course, this has led some people to think that Corne copied this older version when making the 1812 series for Isaac Hull... I don't think so.  Too many other differences and it seems likely that Corne had access to the ship during her late 1812 refit to make newer sketches and notes). Exercising a bit more artistic license, I've elected to use this for my model.
 
Here is how I approached the scalloped front of the stripe:
 
I rummaged around in my collection of spare washers and found one small enough for the purpose.  After laying down two strips of Tamiya tape, I traced the outline of the washer with a hobby knife.  I then transferred the tape to the model and masked off the rest of the stripe before laying down the black paint.
 

 

 
Thanks again to everyone who follows along (and shows great patience between my updates!)
 
Evan

I think that is "the anatomy of Nelson's ships" by Longridge. A nice reference for general ship modeling. It is a detailed description of the authors effort to build his model of HMS Victory back in the 1930s.

Ladies and Gents...  
 
(Actually - I have not detected any Ladies following this build so we're all free to belch and scratch without fear of retribution...)
 
Thank you all for the kindness of your remarks.
 
Here is where the job stands after some time spent on the half hulls:
 






 
You'll see that I've done a fair amount of work on the underside and have the foundation in place for the gun stripe and red port sills.
 

 
I started by giving the underside a light coat of Vallejo Air Copper as a base.  I then began to randomly mix different blends of Vallejo Air Copper, Vallejo Hammered Copper, Microlux Air Roof Brown, and MicroLux Grimy Black in small batches and applied using some disposable micro brushes (Model Expo).  I would slink out to the workshop whenever I had an odd 15 or 20 minutes to spend filling in individual plates... After a week or so I had most of the two half hulls done.  A final (obligatory) coat of Vallejo Sepia Wash was then applied and - as with the decking - quickly wiped down with a clean soft cloth.  This had multiple good effects: It knocked down the shine, helped to blend all of the contrasting colors, highlighted some of the plate seams, and - most importantly - removed just enough paint to "expose" the riveting and define the edges of the plates.  I had to press down firmly when wiping it down to get an even exposure of the riveting.
 
The gun stripe was masked off a bit wider than the final dimension to allow some overlap and a cleaner line once the black is laid down.  After a base coat of Vallejo Air Interior Yellow (A near equivalent to Floquil Depot Buff), a thin layer of Vallejo Sepia wash (the old standby) was applied and lightly wiped down to leave a good patina behind.  This deepened the color enough to generally match what is seen in the Corne paintings.  Next I masked off everything except the gun port sills and airbrushed a few coats of Vallejo Air Ferrari Red.  I wanted the red to be deep and eye-catching.  None of this wimpy wannabe red... It looks blood red in the paintings and that's what will be on the model!  Still a few more detail touch ups remain, but it is almost there.
 
Here is the discarded tape used for masking just one of the half hulls!

 
I have not done much in the last week or so.  I thoroughly gunked up my very cheap airbrush and decided to invest in something more substantial.  I'm tired of constantly stripping it all down to clean after every small paint session.  Once done I can attack the black part of the hull.
 
Thanks to all for your continued interest!
Evan

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
 

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.

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.

Great to see the Pickle show up in the forum!
 
A sweet little ship with a firm place in history...
 
Evan

Ahoy...
 
Sorry folks for the very long gap between updates... Had to call a timeout for the holidays and some business travel.
 
I've been fiddling with guns a bit in the background, but I also managed to lay down some black on the hull.  I had several flavors of Vallejo Black in my collection: Grimy Black (too greenish), Engine Black (too much sheen), and regular "Black".  I went with the latter - it lays down very flat and has a nice neutral tone.
 
Still much to tune up and I have kept some of the masking in place until I paint the red linings of the spar deck ports, but here are some quick views:
 

 

 

 

 
 
The final appearance of the yellow stripe took some thought and compromise... The Corne paintings show the stripe in line with the edges of the gun ports and finishing with a scalloped end after the most forward gun port:
 

 
This is the path to choose if you're paying strict adherence to the Corne paintings.  I have to admit, however, that I do like the wider stripe shown in the Thomas Birch painting of the Guerriere fight:
 

 
This gives the ship a more robust look and sets off the gun ports nicely.  I do think, however, that it would be too big a leap from the Corne paintings.  The 1803 painting done by Corne for Commodore Preble provides a very nice compromise:
 

 
This shows the stripe in line with the upper edge of the gun ports and extending just a bit below the bottom edge.  This version also includes the scalloped front end.  (of course, this has led some people to think that Corne copied this older version when making the 1812 series for Isaac Hull... I don't think so.  Too many other differences and it seems likely that Corne had access to the ship during her late 1812 refit to make newer sketches and notes). Exercising a bit more artistic license, I've elected to use this for my model.
 
Here is how I approached the scalloped front of the stripe:
 
I rummaged around in my collection of spare washers and found one small enough for the purpose.  After laying down two strips of Tamiya tape, I traced the outline of the washer with a hobby knife.  I then transferred the tape to the model and masked off the rest of the stripe before laying down the black paint.
 

 

 
Thanks again to everyone who follows along (and shows great patience between my updates!)
 
Evan

Thank you all for the LIKES!
 
Now let's discuss the kit gun barrels...
 
We know that the 1807 pattern 24 pdrs on Constitution measured 9' 6" and the OOB versions match nicely:
 

 
The kit provided barrels are perfectly fine, but they lack a certain menace... They seem a bit thin to me. With that in mind, I had included some of the white metal versions in one of my Bluejacket orders for comparison:
 

 
These are a nicer fit, I think... They have more of the requisite girth I'm looking for and they generally show similar proportions to the 1794 pattern preserved in South Carolina:
 

 
But where have I seen a barrel like that before...? Aha - the Heller Victory:
 

 
The Heller kit includes a bunch of these barrels to represent both the 32 pdr and the 24 pdrs on the lower decks. I have two Heller Victory kits, so it'd be no big deal to repurpose a set for my Connie build. Heck, I could utilize the Connie 24 pdrs on the Victory down the line...
 
Now notice how the trunnions are represented on the Heller versions... They sit off center down lower. We see this in the 1794 pattern barrel as well. This positioning allowed for a better depression angle when sitting in the gun carriage, but was inherently weaker than center cast trunnions. The 1807 pattern 24 pdrs apparently utilized the trunnions on the centerline.
 
Here is how the barrels would need to sit if the barrel is mounted properly:

This looks fine, but the upward angle is a little awkward sticking out of the gun port. Mounting the same barrel upside down gives a better angle out of the gun port and sits down nicely in the carriage:

But the gnawing fact remains that it is upside down. The solution is to remove the molded trunnions and add the properly centered trunnions:

 
Much better. Looks like I have more holes to drill... Be back in a week or so!
 
Thx
Evan

Thanks Dave, Tim , Daniel, and Chris!

Tim - the "Creating a Legend" book has some sketches of the concept of the interlocking planks, but they just reflect what I tried on my gun deck. Martin says they spanned about 40 feet between each interlocking join, but the restored ship has them much shorter...

Your insight regarding the transfer of crew and guns to the great lakes is very interesting. The timing of the crew transfer may have been the spring of 1813 rather than September 1812.  I don't think the General Pike even started construction until April 1813.  I think most of the Constitution crew from the Guerriere battle stayed intact and participated in the Java win. Bainbridge apparently sent several contingents of crew to the Lakes after he returned from his cruise and the Constitution began her more extensive 1813 refit.
 
http://usscm.blogspot.com/2013/04/you-know-how-to-beat-those-fellows.html
 
I've only seen a reference to the General Pike being armed with the "1794 pattern" 24 pounders - the shorter versions similar to what was removed from Constitution in 1808. Tyrone Martin says that the old Constitution guns were generally repurposed for the gunboat fleet favored by Jefferson.

It may be that some of these shorter Constitution versions still exist... Here are some 1794 versions displayed at the entrance to the old armory in Savannah, Georgia:



These are numbered 83 and 81 and researchers believe they are part of the original batch of 90 that were delivered to the navy for use in the new frigates. It may be that these were used to bombard Tripoli in Preble's day.

They measure 105 inches in length and are marked as weighing 46-0-0 hundred weight - about 5040 lbs. The Eagle emblem is very cool... We all need to sweet talk Daniel/Dafi into creating scale PE versions for our next builds!

http://markerhunter.wordpress.com/2010/03/06/early-american-navy-24-pdr-guns/

http://www.captainsclerk.info/speaks/book07.html

http://www.napoleon-series.org/military/Warof1812/2006/Issue3/c_ussconstitutionguns.html

Good stuff!
Evan

Ahoy...
 
Sorry folks for the very long gap between updates... Had to call a timeout for the holidays and some business travel.
 
I've been fiddling with guns a bit in the background, but I also managed to lay down some black on the hull.  I had several flavors of Vallejo Black in my collection: Grimy Black (too greenish), Engine Black (too much sheen), and regular "Black".  I went with the latter - it lays down very flat and has a nice neutral tone.
 
Still much to tune up and I have kept some of the masking in place until I paint the red linings of the spar deck ports, but here are some quick views:
 

 

 

 

 
 
The final appearance of the yellow stripe took some thought and compromise... The Corne paintings show the stripe in line with the edges of the gun ports and finishing with a scalloped end after the most forward gun port:
 

 
This is the path to choose if you're paying strict adherence to the Corne paintings.  I have to admit, however, that I do like the wider stripe shown in the Thomas Birch painting of the Guerriere fight:
 

 
This gives the ship a more robust look and sets off the gun ports nicely.  I do think, however, that it would be too big a leap from the Corne paintings.  The 1803 painting done by Corne for Commodore Preble provides a very nice compromise:
 

 
This shows the stripe in line with the upper edge of the gun ports and extending just a bit below the bottom edge.  This version also includes the scalloped front end.  (of course, this has led some people to think that Corne copied this older version when making the 1812 series for Isaac Hull... I don't think so.  Too many other differences and it seems likely that Corne had access to the ship during her late 1812 refit to make newer sketches and notes). Exercising a bit more artistic license, I've elected to use this for my model.
 
Here is how I approached the scalloped front of the stripe:
 
I rummaged around in my collection of spare washers and found one small enough for the purpose.  After laying down two strips of Tamiya tape, I traced the outline of the washer with a hobby knife.  I then transferred the tape to the model and masked off the rest of the stripe before laying down the black paint.
 

 

 
Thanks again to everyone who follows along (and shows great patience between my updates!)
 
Evan

Ahoy...
 
Sorry folks for the very long gap between updates... Had to call a timeout for the holidays and some business travel.
 
I've been fiddling with guns a bit in the background, but I also managed to lay down some black on the hull.  I had several flavors of Vallejo Black in my collection: Grimy Black (too greenish), Engine Black (too much sheen), and regular "Black".  I went with the latter - it lays down very flat and has a nice neutral tone.
 
Still much to tune up and I have kept some of the masking in place until I paint the red linings of the spar deck ports, but here are some quick views:
 

 

 

 

 
 
The final appearance of the yellow stripe took some thought and compromise... The Corne paintings show the stripe in line with the edges of the gun ports and finishing with a scalloped end after the most forward gun port:
 

 
This is the path to choose if you're paying strict adherence to the Corne paintings.  I have to admit, however, that I do like the wider stripe shown in the Thomas Birch painting of the Guerriere fight:
 

 
This gives the ship a more robust look and sets off the gun ports nicely.  I do think, however, that it would be too big a leap from the Corne paintings.  The 1803 painting done by Corne for Commodore Preble provides a very nice compromise:
 

 
This shows the stripe in line with the upper edge of the gun ports and extending just a bit below the bottom edge.  This version also includes the scalloped front end.  (of course, this has led some people to think that Corne copied this older version when making the 1812 series for Isaac Hull... I don't think so.  Too many other differences and it seems likely that Corne had access to the ship during her late 1812 refit to make newer sketches and notes). Exercising a bit more artistic license, I've elected to use this for my model.
 
Here is how I approached the scalloped front of the stripe:
 
I rummaged around in my collection of spare washers and found one small enough for the purpose.  After laying down two strips of Tamiya tape, I traced the outline of the washer with a hobby knife.  I then transferred the tape to the model and masked off the rest of the stripe before laying down the black paint.
 

 

 
Thanks again to everyone who follows along (and shows great patience between my updates!)
 
Evan

Ahoy...
 
Sorry folks for the very long gap between updates... Had to call a timeout for the holidays and some business travel.
 
I've been fiddling with guns a bit in the background, but I also managed to lay down some black on the hull.  I had several flavors of Vallejo Black in my collection: Grimy Black (too greenish), Engine Black (too much sheen), and regular "Black".  I went with the latter - it lays down very flat and has a nice neutral tone.
 
Still much to tune up and I have kept some of the masking in place until I paint the red linings of the spar deck ports, but here are some quick views:
 

 

 

 

 
 
The final appearance of the yellow stripe took some thought and compromise... The Corne paintings show the stripe in line with the edges of the gun ports and finishing with a scalloped end after the most forward gun port:
 

 
This is the path to choose if you're paying strict adherence to the Corne paintings.  I have to admit, however, that I do like the wider stripe shown in the Thomas Birch painting of the Guerriere fight:
 

 
This gives the ship a more robust look and sets off the gun ports nicely.  I do think, however, that it would be too big a leap from the Corne paintings.  The 1803 painting done by Corne for Commodore Preble provides a very nice compromise:
 

 
This shows the stripe in line with the upper edge of the gun ports and extending just a bit below the bottom edge.  This version also includes the scalloped front end.  (of course, this has led some people to think that Corne copied this older version when making the 1812 series for Isaac Hull... I don't think so.  Too many other differences and it seems likely that Corne had access to the ship during her late 1812 refit to make newer sketches and notes). Exercising a bit more artistic license, I've elected to use this for my model.
 
Here is how I approached the scalloped front of the stripe:
 
I rummaged around in my collection of spare washers and found one small enough for the purpose.  After laying down two strips of Tamiya tape, I traced the outline of the washer with a hobby knife.  I then transferred the tape to the model and masked off the rest of the stripe before laying down the black paint.
 

 

 
Thanks again to everyone who follows along (and shows great patience between my updates!)
 
Evan

Thank you all for the LIKES!
 
Now let's discuss the kit gun barrels...
 
We know that the 1807 pattern 24 pdrs on Constitution measured 9' 6" and the OOB versions match nicely:
 

 
The kit provided barrels are perfectly fine, but they lack a certain menace... They seem a bit thin to me. With that in mind, I had included some of the white metal versions in one of my Bluejacket orders for comparison:
 

 
These are a nicer fit, I think... They have more of the requisite girth I'm looking for and they generally show similar proportions to the 1794 pattern preserved in South Carolina:
 

 
But where have I seen a barrel like that before...? Aha - the Heller Victory:
 

 
The Heller kit includes a bunch of these barrels to represent both the 32 pdr and the 24 pdrs on the lower decks. I have two Heller Victory kits, so it'd be no big deal to repurpose a set for my Connie build. Heck, I could utilize the Connie 24 pdrs on the Victory down the line...
 
Now notice how the trunnions are represented on the Heller versions... They sit off center down lower. We see this in the 1794 pattern barrel as well. This positioning allowed for a better depression angle when sitting in the gun carriage, but was inherently weaker than center cast trunnions. The 1807 pattern 24 pdrs apparently utilized the trunnions on the centerline.
 
Here is how the barrels would need to sit if the barrel is mounted properly:

This looks fine, but the upward angle is a little awkward sticking out of the gun port. Mounting the same barrel upside down gives a better angle out of the gun port and sits down nicely in the carriage:

But the gnawing fact remains that it is upside down. The solution is to remove the molded trunnions and add the properly centered trunnions:

 
Much better. Looks like I have more holes to drill... Be back in a week or so!
 
Thx
Evan

Ahoy...
 
Sorry folks for the very long gap between updates... Had to call a timeout for the holidays and some business travel.
 
I've been fiddling with guns a bit in the background, but I also managed to lay down some black on the hull.  I had several flavors of Vallejo Black in my collection: Grimy Black (too greenish), Engine Black (too much sheen), and regular "Black".  I went with the latter - it lays down very flat and has a nice neutral tone.
 
Still much to tune up and I have kept some of the masking in place until I paint the red linings of the spar deck ports, but here are some quick views:
 

 

 

 

 
 
The final appearance of the yellow stripe took some thought and compromise... The Corne paintings show the stripe in line with the edges of the gun ports and finishing with a scalloped end after the most forward gun port:
 

 
This is the path to choose if you're paying strict adherence to the Corne paintings.  I have to admit, however, that I do like the wider stripe shown in the Thomas Birch painting of the Guerriere fight:
 

 
This gives the ship a more robust look and sets off the gun ports nicely.  I do think, however, that it would be too big a leap from the Corne paintings.  The 1803 painting done by Corne for Commodore Preble provides a very nice compromise:
 

 
This shows the stripe in line with the upper edge of the gun ports and extending just a bit below the bottom edge.  This version also includes the scalloped front end.  (of course, this has led some people to think that Corne copied this older version when making the 1812 series for Isaac Hull... I don't think so.  Too many other differences and it seems likely that Corne had access to the ship during her late 1812 refit to make newer sketches and notes). Exercising a bit more artistic license, I've elected to use this for my model.
 
Here is how I approached the scalloped front of the stripe:
 
I rummaged around in my collection of spare washers and found one small enough for the purpose.  After laying down two strips of Tamiya tape, I traced the outline of the washer with a hobby knife.  I then transferred the tape to the model and masked off the rest of the stripe before laying down the black paint.
 

 

 
Thanks again to everyone who follows along (and shows great patience between my updates!)
 
Evan

Ahoy...
 
Sorry folks for the very long gap between updates... Had to call a timeout for the holidays and some business travel.
 
I've been fiddling with guns a bit in the background, but I also managed to lay down some black on the hull.  I had several flavors of Vallejo Black in my collection: Grimy Black (too greenish), Engine Black (too much sheen), and regular "Black".  I went with the latter - it lays down very flat and has a nice neutral tone.
 
Still much to tune up and I have kept some of the masking in place until I paint the red linings of the spar deck ports, but here are some quick views:
 

 

 

 

 
 
The final appearance of the yellow stripe took some thought and compromise... The Corne paintings show the stripe in line with the edges of the gun ports and finishing with a scalloped end after the most forward gun port:
 

 
This is the path to choose if you're paying strict adherence to the Corne paintings.  I have to admit, however, that I do like the wider stripe shown in the Thomas Birch painting of the Guerriere fight:
 

 
This gives the ship a more robust look and sets off the gun ports nicely.  I do think, however, that it would be too big a leap from the Corne paintings.  The 1803 painting done by Corne for Commodore Preble provides a very nice compromise:
 

 
This shows the stripe in line with the upper edge of the gun ports and extending just a bit below the bottom edge.  This version also includes the scalloped front end.  (of course, this has led some people to think that Corne copied this older version when making the 1812 series for Isaac Hull... I don't think so.  Too many other differences and it seems likely that Corne had access to the ship during her late 1812 refit to make newer sketches and notes). Exercising a bit more artistic license, I've elected to use this for my model.
 
Here is how I approached the scalloped front of the stripe:
 
I rummaged around in my collection of spare washers and found one small enough for the purpose.  After laying down two strips of Tamiya tape, I traced the outline of the washer with a hobby knife.  I then transferred the tape to the model and masked off the rest of the stripe before laying down the black paint.
 

 

 
Thanks again to everyone who follows along (and shows great patience between my updates!)
 
Evan

Work on the head and the bowsprit rigging is now complete. Probably the most significant aspect of this work is the figurehead. As those who have followed this log will remember, I had reached a point of desperation at doing it. In a gesture that demonstrates both the wonderful nature of this site and his own incredible generosity, Janos offered to carve the figurehead for me from boxwood. The result is fantastic, and something that I could never hope to duplicate on my own. My gratitude is boundless. I must add that Sam Cassano, despite his illness, sent me a resin cast figurehead that he had done previously. Although it won't appear on the ship, I am thinking of ways to finish and mount it in the finished display case as a tribute to Sam's efforts on this model.
 
After mounting the figurehead, I completed the head by adding the boomkins and the iron railings and stanchions which had previously been made and fitted, but not installed. The railings and stanchions were made from wire. The boomkins were rigged with their shrouds after they were installed. I also added the eyebolts necessary to do rigging in this area.
 
Finally,I did the bobstays and the bowsprit shrouds.
 
Next up will be catharpins, futtock shrouds and (ugh!   ) ratlines.
 
Bob

Ladies and Gents...  
 
(Actually - I have not detected any Ladies following this build so we're all free to belch and scratch without fear of retribution...)
 
Thank you all for the kindness of your remarks.
 
Here is where the job stands after some time spent on the half hulls:
 






 
You'll see that I've done a fair amount of work on the underside and have the foundation in place for the gun stripe and red port sills.
 

 
I started by giving the underside a light coat of Vallejo Air Copper as a base.  I then began to randomly mix different blends of Vallejo Air Copper, Vallejo Hammered Copper, Microlux Air Roof Brown, and MicroLux Grimy Black in small batches and applied using some disposable micro brushes (Model Expo).  I would slink out to the workshop whenever I had an odd 15 or 20 minutes to spend filling in individual plates... After a week or so I had most of the two half hulls done.  A final (obligatory) coat of Vallejo Sepia Wash was then applied and - as with the decking - quickly wiped down with a clean soft cloth.  This had multiple good effects: It knocked down the shine, helped to blend all of the contrasting colors, highlighted some of the plate seams, and - most importantly - removed just enough paint to "expose" the riveting and define the edges of the plates.  I had to press down firmly when wiping it down to get an even exposure of the riveting.
 
The gun stripe was masked off a bit wider than the final dimension to allow some overlap and a cleaner line once the black is laid down.  After a base coat of Vallejo Air Interior Yellow (A near equivalent to Floquil Depot Buff), a thin layer of Vallejo Sepia wash (the old standby) was applied and lightly wiped down to leave a good patina behind.  This deepened the color enough to generally match what is seen in the Corne paintings.  Next I masked off everything except the gun port sills and airbrushed a few coats of Vallejo Air Ferrari Red.  I wanted the red to be deep and eye-catching.  None of this wimpy wannabe red... It looks blood red in the paintings and that's what will be on the model!  Still a few more detail touch ups remain, but it is almost there.
 
Here is the discarded tape used for masking just one of the half hulls!

 
I have not done much in the last week or so.  I thoroughly gunked up my very cheap airbrush and decided to invest in something more substantial.  I'm tired of constantly stripping it all down to clean after every small paint session.  Once done I can attack the black part of the hull.
 
Thanks to all for your continued interest!
Evan

Hello all...
 
 
I have the basic painting and most of the details done on the spar deck - just a bit of touch ups and fine tuning remain.   Here are some sample views:       The spar deck was given a base coat of aged white (no tinting like the gun deck) and individual planks were picked out with Vallejo Wood mixed with Vallejo aged white, Vallejo Aged White mixed with Microlux Reefer White, and straight up Vallejo gray wash.  After 24 hours everything then got a quick smear with Vallejo Sepia wash that was immediately wiped down with a soft clean cloth leaving a nice wood tone and coloring the seams between the planks.   Nothing is glued down and the brass is yet to be blackened, but I can now move on to painting the half hulls.   Hope folks are still following along - I'm sure the World Cup is more interesting!   Evan

Cheers Popeye!
 
  A bit of mindless fun:   A few months back I was having another look at the historical deck plan of the US Frigate United States and I noticed an interesting detail on the gun deck:     The items labeled "B" are listed in the legend as "Round Houses".  Hmmm... I generally think of those as something external on larger ships a la Victory... I did a quick google search which found an article by Cmdr Tyrone Martin on the USS Constitution museum website that mentioned these in more detail. http://www.ussconstitutionmuseum.org/constitution-resources/the-captain-speaks/the-guns-of-constitution/    Apparently the crew referred to these as "Spice Boxes" (presumably because they resembled a common household item) and they were commonly included on the larger frigates for the convenience and privacy of the ships officers. It is tough to determine how permanent these were... You'd think they were flimsy screens that were easily removed when clearing for action.  It seems that they might've been more solid fixtures... Captain Stewart ordered them removed prior to the battle with Cyane and Levant to give better clearance for the forward gun crews.  They were not reassembled after the battle - probably because they were removed with an axe. On the cruise home the British officers began to grumble and get very vocal about the lack of private facilities for the gentleman.  They felt that it was very undignified to have to relieve themselves using the leeward channels like common sailors.  One of the American Lieutenants finally got fed up and remarked loudly to one of them something to the effect that the prisoners were well positioned to attest that American officers cared more about their gunnery than about their round houses... Presumably that ended the trouble.   I decided that including them would be a waste of my limited Units of Effort since they would not be visible once the spar deck was positioned.  But just a few weeks later the Log Lines blog on the Constitution Museum website had a great article on these same round houses. http://usscm.blogspot.com/2014/01/head-lines.html  I took this as a sign from the Goddess of Ship Models that I should include these in my build for thoroughness.  There would be one on both port and starboard, but since I do not know if these were removed before the battle with Guerriere, I decided to only include one and split the difference.     More details soon.   Thanks again for following along. Evan