David Lester

Hi Everyone,
I have only a minor update today. I haven't been working on my model much over the past week. My daughter and son-in-law listed their house for sale yesterday and I've spent the last week helping them to hide all its flaws... er, sorry, I mean helping them to get it ready to show! I'm off the hook for the time being, but their new house suffers from much deferred maintenance, so it looks like I will have a lifetime of home improvements ahead of me.
 
On the Constitution, I've finished all the gunport lids. I opted for thread instead of wire. At first I thought wire would be best, but no matter how hard I tried I couldn't get the two pieces of wire to join at the "Y" without a large ugly mass of twisting. The thread however worked quite well; I coated each piece in CA glue first and it was easy to handle and I got a decent join at the "Y". I used one size for the piece that attaches to the lid itself and a thinner piece leading back to the hull. I doubled that piece around the first piece which gives a smooth joint and glued it tight to itself.
 
I've started the chainplates and am finding that this is very difficult and finicky work. I have the ones for the main mast on the port side finished. They are less than perfect, but I'm hoping for better results as I go along. As of my last post, the starboard side was going against the wall. As of now, the port side is going against the wall. I'm thinking of running a betting pool for members to guess which side wins in the end.
David 

Hi Everyone,
I have only a minor update today. I haven't been working on my model much over the past week. My daughter and son-in-law listed their house for sale yesterday and I've spent the last week helping them to hide all its flaws... er, sorry, I mean helping them to get it ready to show! I'm off the hook for the time being, but their new house suffers from much deferred maintenance, so it looks like I will have a lifetime of home improvements ahead of me.
 
On the Constitution, I've finished all the gunport lids. I opted for thread instead of wire. At first I thought wire would be best, but no matter how hard I tried I couldn't get the two pieces of wire to join at the "Y" without a large ugly mass of twisting. The thread however worked quite well; I coated each piece in CA glue first and it was easy to handle and I got a decent join at the "Y". I used one size for the piece that attaches to the lid itself and a thinner piece leading back to the hull. I doubled that piece around the first piece which gives a smooth joint and glued it tight to itself.
 
I've started the chainplates and am finding that this is very difficult and finicky work. I have the ones for the main mast on the port side finished. They are less than perfect, but I'm hoping for better results as I go along. As of my last post, the starboard side was going against the wall. As of now, the port side is going against the wall. I'm thinking of running a betting pool for members to guess which side wins in the end.
David 

Hi Everyone,
I have only a minor update today. I haven't been working on my model much over the past week. My daughter and son-in-law listed their house for sale yesterday and I've spent the last week helping them to hide all its flaws... er, sorry, I mean helping them to get it ready to show! I'm off the hook for the time being, but their new house suffers from much deferred maintenance, so it looks like I will have a lifetime of home improvements ahead of me.
 
On the Constitution, I've finished all the gunport lids. I opted for thread instead of wire. At first I thought wire would be best, but no matter how hard I tried I couldn't get the two pieces of wire to join at the "Y" without a large ugly mass of twisting. The thread however worked quite well; I coated each piece in CA glue first and it was easy to handle and I got a decent join at the "Y". I used one size for the piece that attaches to the lid itself and a thinner piece leading back to the hull. I doubled that piece around the first piece which gives a smooth joint and glued it tight to itself.
 
I've started the chainplates and am finding that this is very difficult and finicky work. I have the ones for the main mast on the port side finished. They are less than perfect, but I'm hoping for better results as I go along. As of my last post, the starboard side was going against the wall. As of now, the port side is going against the wall. I'm thinking of running a betting pool for members to guess which side wins in the end.
David 

Hi Everyone,
I have only a minor update today. I haven't been working on my model much over the past week. My daughter and son-in-law listed their house for sale yesterday and I've spent the last week helping them to hide all its flaws... er, sorry, I mean helping them to get it ready to show! I'm off the hook for the time being, but their new house suffers from much deferred maintenance, so it looks like I will have a lifetime of home improvements ahead of me.
 
On the Constitution, I've finished all the gunport lids. I opted for thread instead of wire. At first I thought wire would be best, but no matter how hard I tried I couldn't get the two pieces of wire to join at the "Y" without a large ugly mass of twisting. The thread however worked quite well; I coated each piece in CA glue first and it was easy to handle and I got a decent join at the "Y". I used one size for the piece that attaches to the lid itself and a thinner piece leading back to the hull. I doubled that piece around the first piece which gives a smooth joint and glued it tight to itself.
 
I've started the chainplates and am finding that this is very difficult and finicky work. I have the ones for the main mast on the port side finished. They are less than perfect, but I'm hoping for better results as I go along. As of my last post, the starboard side was going against the wall. As of now, the port side is going against the wall. I'm thinking of running a betting pool for members to guess which side wins in the end.
David 

Hi Everyone,
I have only a minor update today. I haven't been working on my model much over the past week. My daughter and son-in-law listed their house for sale yesterday and I've spent the last week helping them to hide all its flaws... er, sorry, I mean helping them to get it ready to show! I'm off the hook for the time being, but their new house suffers from much deferred maintenance, so it looks like I will have a lifetime of home improvements ahead of me.
 
On the Constitution, I've finished all the gunport lids. I opted for thread instead of wire. At first I thought wire would be best, but no matter how hard I tried I couldn't get the two pieces of wire to join at the "Y" without a large ugly mass of twisting. The thread however worked quite well; I coated each piece in CA glue first and it was easy to handle and I got a decent join at the "Y". I used one size for the piece that attaches to the lid itself and a thinner piece leading back to the hull. I doubled that piece around the first piece which gives a smooth joint and glued it tight to itself.
 
I've started the chainplates and am finding that this is very difficult and finicky work. I have the ones for the main mast on the port side finished. They are less than perfect, but I'm hoping for better results as I go along. As of my last post, the starboard side was going against the wall. As of now, the port side is going against the wall. I'm thinking of running a betting pool for members to guess which side wins in the end.
David 

Thank you Nenad, Popeye, and Geoff, and for the likes. Geoff, good luck with your new ladders. I am sure you will do a great job on them.
 
I have been working on more spar deck and inside bulwark details. I made steps for the transom and bow areas, and the few large cleats that are needed. I also made two horse blocks (those grating pieces) that were used as platforms to stand on.
 

 
I attempted to make the small wooden cleats, but I was not happy with them so I have an order into Syren for some cleats of the appropriate size. While I was on the web site I also ordered a serving machine to replace my homemade one, since I have a lot of serving coming up. It looks so much better and I know it will work better too.
 
Here are the pieces installed, except for the small cleats and the two iron cleats in the bow. I have metal cleats from a previous model I am using for them, but they are still being painted.
 

 
I installed the horse blocks in the folded down position, since without the higher bulwarks of the current ship configuration, I could not use the current mechanism of rope to hold them up. I am not sure how they were held up on the original ship.
 

 
And here is the bow details.
 

 

 
I am working on something that I may or may not include, depending on how it turns out. Then it is off to fabricate the capstan.

Hi Matt,
The notches on the bow blocks are a pain to do, but there is another approach that I discovered and it works well. Make the blocks about 1/8" too short, then make a new piece 1/8" thick with the same profile as the top of the block and cut the notches into this separate piece. After the notches are cut, just glue it on top. That way you'll get very crisp edges on the notches. The picture below shows what I mean.
David

Hi Matt,
I wouldn't worry too much about the bulkheads not matching the drawings perfectly. The main thing is their relationship to each other and that after fairing you have a good smooth contour. I paid no attention to the bevel lines on the plans and just glued the bulkheads in place on the keel and only then began to fair them, frequently holding a test strip of planking across them until I was satisfied with the contour. Something that is important is that they line up properly with the top of the keel and that they meet the bearding line. I think it's best to make them line up flush at the top first and do any fixing that's needed at the bottom. If one or more of them falls a bit short of the bearding line, which might happen, just glue a strip of wood along the edge of the bulkhead from about the middle point down and sand it into shape. I had to do that on a couple of mine. If one seems a bit too long, just sand it back. Similarly, as you're fairing and you hold a test planking strip along the side, if a bulkhead seems to cause a low spot, you can glue a strip to its edge and then sand it into shape. I think you'll find that approach will give you a satisfactory result and save some frustration trying to reconcile the parts and the plans.
David

Hi Matt,
I'm not really at the mast stage yet. I have been skipping around a little bit. I still have much to do on the deck and hull. While the sequence for the build is important in many areas, there are still many aspects that can be treated like separate projects, worked on for a while and set aside without interrupting the flow of the work. For example I started working on the four boats ages ago, but still don't have any of them finished yet. Also, I build the set of gun carriages long before they were needed. I think I'll complete one mast and then set it aside and return to the deck details. It's just nice to have something else to turn to when the mood strikes. Of course, by the time you're at the rigging stage, most alternative options are gone and it's just rigging until the end. I wouldn't worry too much about the rigging though. I generally don't find it very hard to do but there sure is a lot of it on this model and it can be finicky and requires lots of patience. The main knots you need are the clove hitch for the ratlines and a seizing knot (I think this is the same as the hangman's) for pretty much everything else.
 
I'm not brave enough to start making modifications to the kit, so I have left that sort of thing for others; I'm happy enough to get through the build as it is.
 
Using styrene for certain components would never have occurred to me, but I've been working with the Bob Hunt practicum and he suggests it in several places, so that's why I've been using it. I find that I really hate using it too, but have to admit that it does seem ideal for some of the ship's features - detailing on the stern and head rails primarily. I have also made a couple of other very small components from it, when they're going to be painted anyway and the basswood would be hard to cut cleanly in such small sizes. I was really doubtful that I'd have satisfactory results with it for the chafing fish, but I was actually pleasantly surprised. I think it's a matter of what's going to work best for you.
 
I am really not in a position to share "advice" with anyone as I'm fairly new to the hobby myself and there are many more qualified people out there. So please understand that I'm just sharing my experience which I'm happy to do if it's of some use.
 
David

Hi Matt,
Welcome to the forum and especially to the Constitution group! I've been working on mine for about 10 months. Parts of the model are challenging, but so far I've found it to be all doable and very enjoyable.  
 
It looks like you're off to a good start; I'm looking forward to following along.
David

Hi Matt,
Those two outer transom frames are quite tricky to locate, however I don't recall having to scribe theminto place when I did them. They do sit at a compound angle. They lean inboard at the very top of the extensions and they lean inboard at the rear. I believe the distance from outside edge to outside edge of the two outer frames is just shy of 4" at the very top and the distance is about 4 1/4" across at the bottom. I made my lower forward corners meet the last bulkhead (R I think?)flush. As the two frames move inboard at the rear, some of the length of the frame was taken up. Moving them inboard in the two directions left an irregular shaped void on their outsides. I glued a filler block on the outside of each frame and sanded it to create a smooth flush surface. Before I installed them, I tacked a piece of wood across the two extensions at the right distance apart and another one at the bottom. I then set this unit in place and skewed it back and forth until it was sitting correctly and then glued it (and of course removed the two temporary braces. I'm sorry I don't have any pictures that show all this but hopefully you can get my meaning nevertheless.
David

Hi Matt,
Those two outer transom frames are quite tricky to locate, however I don't recall having to scribe theminto place when I did them. They do sit at a compound angle. They lean inboard at the very top of the extensions and they lean inboard at the rear. I believe the distance from outside edge to outside edge of the two outer frames is just shy of 4" at the very top and the distance is about 4 1/4" across at the bottom. I made my lower forward corners meet the last bulkhead (R I think?)flush. As the two frames move inboard at the rear, some of the length of the frame was taken up. Moving them inboard in the two directions left an irregular shaped void on their outsides. I glued a filler block on the outside of each frame and sanded it to create a smooth flush surface. Before I installed them, I tacked a piece of wood across the two extensions at the right distance apart and another one at the bottom. I then set this unit in place and skewed it back and forth until it was sitting correctly and then glued it (and of course removed the two temporary braces. I'm sorry I don't have any pictures that show all this but hopefully you can get my meaning nevertheless.
David

Hi Matt,
Those two outer transom frames are quite tricky to locate, however I don't recall having to scribe theminto place when I did them. They do sit at a compound angle. They lean inboard at the very top of the extensions and they lean inboard at the rear. I believe the distance from outside edge to outside edge of the two outer frames is just shy of 4" at the very top and the distance is about 4 1/4" across at the bottom. I made my lower forward corners meet the last bulkhead (R I think?)flush. As the two frames move inboard at the rear, some of the length of the frame was taken up. Moving them inboard in the two directions left an irregular shaped void on their outsides. I glued a filler block on the outside of each frame and sanded it to create a smooth flush surface. Before I installed them, I tacked a piece of wood across the two extensions at the right distance apart and another one at the bottom. I then set this unit in place and skewed it back and forth until it was sitting correctly and then glued it (and of course removed the two temporary braces. I'm sorry I don't have any pictures that show all this but hopefully you can get my meaning nevertheless.
David

Hi Matt,
Those two outer transom frames are quite tricky to locate, however I don't recall having to scribe theminto place when I did them. They do sit at a compound angle. They lean inboard at the very top of the extensions and they lean inboard at the rear. I believe the distance from outside edge to outside edge of the two outer frames is just shy of 4" at the very top and the distance is about 4 1/4" across at the bottom. I made my lower forward corners meet the last bulkhead (R I think?)flush. As the two frames move inboard at the rear, some of the length of the frame was taken up. Moving them inboard in the two directions left an irregular shaped void on their outsides. I glued a filler block on the outside of each frame and sanded it to create a smooth flush surface. Before I installed them, I tacked a piece of wood across the two extensions at the right distance apart and another one at the bottom. I then set this unit in place and skewed it back and forth until it was sitting correctly and then glued it (and of course removed the two temporary braces. I'm sorry I don't have any pictures that show all this but hopefully you can get my meaning nevertheless.
David

Hi Matt,
Those two outer transom frames are quite tricky to locate, however I don't recall having to scribe theminto place when I did them. They do sit at a compound angle. They lean inboard at the very top of the extensions and they lean inboard at the rear. I believe the distance from outside edge to outside edge of the two outer frames is just shy of 4" at the very top and the distance is about 4 1/4" across at the bottom. I made my lower forward corners meet the last bulkhead (R I think?)flush. As the two frames move inboard at the rear, some of the length of the frame was taken up. Moving them inboard in the two directions left an irregular shaped void on their outsides. I glued a filler block on the outside of each frame and sanded it to create a smooth flush surface. Before I installed them, I tacked a piece of wood across the two extensions at the right distance apart and another one at the bottom. I then set this unit in place and skewed it back and forth until it was sitting correctly and then glued it (and of course removed the two temporary braces. I'm sorry I don't have any pictures that show all this but hopefully you can get my meaning nevertheless.
David

Hi Matt,
Those two outer transom frames are quite tricky to locate, however I don't recall having to scribe theminto place when I did them. They do sit at a compound angle. They lean inboard at the very top of the extensions and they lean inboard at the rear. I believe the distance from outside edge to outside edge of the two outer frames is just shy of 4" at the very top and the distance is about 4 1/4" across at the bottom. I made my lower forward corners meet the last bulkhead (R I think?)flush. As the two frames move inboard at the rear, some of the length of the frame was taken up. Moving them inboard in the two directions left an irregular shaped void on their outsides. I glued a filler block on the outside of each frame and sanded it to create a smooth flush surface. Before I installed them, I tacked a piece of wood across the two extensions at the right distance apart and another one at the bottom. I then set this unit in place and skewed it back and forth until it was sitting correctly and then glued it (and of course removed the two temporary braces. I'm sorry I don't have any pictures that show all this but hopefully you can get my meaning nevertheless.
David

I found that the most challenging part of the planking process was getting the width of the planks right, especially at the stern where they need to be wider. I was trying very hard to do the planking without adding any stealers, but ended up with some ugly looking planks at the stern, especially the ones where the lay of the planking goes from running flat to the stern to where they need to bend to run up to the counter. These two planks were difficult to shape and difficult to install, so I'm not sure I took the right approach.
 
Since this was just a base layer of planking, I didn't worry too much about getting the planks aligned perfectly at the bow, nor did I worry too much about filling the gaps between planks with sawdust filler. (I just used gap-filling CA.) You can also see that I was not very good at mating the planks cleanly where they meet the stern.

I'm happy with the results as a first effort, but I have a long way to go. Hoping what I learned with this layer will give me a much better result with the walnut layer, where my standards will be much higher.
 

 

 

 

 

That's interesting Matt. Getting paint to stick to those castings has been a real pain for me too and even priming doesn't seem to help all that much. I'll tuck this gesso idea away for the future. On my cannons for this build I bought a can of flat black spray paint that the manufacturer calls "camo coat." It's not acrylic; it needs solvent for clean up. They told me at the hardware store that hunters use it for a non-reflective surface. It's dead flat. It actually adheres extremely well and is quite satisfactory where flat black is called for.
 
David

I echo Mike's words.
David

Hi Ken,
I was just kidding about my hometown - I couldn't resist the urge to use the pun, and to reference my extended family would have been too mean, so I said hometown.
Wow, Marathon - that's really up there. It's about 1200 km (750 miles) northwest from where I am. I've been there, driving through on a road trip to western Canada but I haven't made it to California yet. It's on my list.
David

That's interesting Matt. Getting paint to stick to those castings has been a real pain for me too and even priming doesn't seem to help all that much. I'll tuck this gesso idea away for the future. On my cannons for this build I bought a can of flat black spray paint that the manufacturer calls "camo coat." It's not acrylic; it needs solvent for clean up. They told me at the hardware store that hunters use it for a non-reflective surface. It's dead flat. It actually adheres extremely well and is quite satisfactory where flat black is called for.
 
David

I echo Mike's words.
David

Hi Ken,
I was just kidding about my hometown - I couldn't resist the urge to use the pun, and to reference my extended family would have been too mean, so I said hometown.
Wow, Marathon - that's really up there. It's about 1200 km (750 miles) northwest from where I am. I've been there, driving through on a road trip to western Canada but I haven't made it to California yet. It's on my list.
David

I echo Mike's words.
David

I echo Mike's words.
David