Tuffarts

More on the shelf, I have made 'legs' for the self, here is the first set getting treenailed. Here is both sets of 'legs' being tree nailed to the shelf, and put into temp position for photo, the upper cleat has been glued into position, the lower cleats will be also glued in but I will hold of on installing till lots else is finished. The ends of the legs need to be trimmed to bring shelf to horizontal (it has slight upwards incline at the moment).

Got the shelf started for the sailcloth and lumber store. I scratch built it from some plans I scribbled. I am still going to add five legs to the frame, and some 'temporary' clets to the inside of the hull to stay the legs. It has a section missing so there is still clearance for the hatch, and will sit in this position of the hull I also have to notch the back of the frame to accept the knees, I will build it outside the ship and fit it before the deck beams above it.

Garrett and Wade used to sell 'Violin Planes' I do not know how good they are or if suited, they are very small but I think they have a convex sole, to suit the concave back of a violin. Maybe try some instrument tool makers .

Time for an update I have made a jig to laminate the floor beams in the correct curve, I thought this would give more consistent results. It uses more stock than the suggested way. Things went well for the first 10 (I need 15), Then I picked out some more stock from the supplied wood, I proceed with the next 5, thinking the jig was a bit tighter then when I started, but the wedges where getting a bit worn. When I checked the last 5 they were wider because the stock I had picked was same width but slightly thicker, it is supposed to be used for the planking of the hull. I have been stocking my 'wood pile lately so I should be able to substitute something (most of them are painted so matching size is only concern) I finished putting pear wood on the exposed ribs, I will tree nail this in brass wire. Then I went on the inside planking (I think it is called the ceiling wood, but it is on the floor , crazy sailors) . this I am going to tree nail in wood, but only the exposed joints, most of this will have ballast or cargo covering, I am thinking of putting a lumber rack in the lower hold, on one side that would essentially be a shelf that had some large timbers, sail cloth, etc. (suggestions please) I have been playing around with some of the smaller things as well The table had enormous feet so I trimmed them down too look like legs, I made 2 small (4mm high) benches to go with the table (what to put on the table). Sorry for bad quality photos, is hard to get small parts with just a phone And some tool boxes that still need hinges and handles and sea chests, sailors need chests (in case of booty). I am up building the decks next, as well as get the cannons out to see what height they will be, as the plans are a bit vague on some measurements, and I do not trust they will be accurate enough if I want cannons in middle of gun port, so they will have to be built so I can measure accurately the height. So till next update. Happy building.

Just another small update I decided to dress up the exposed ribs with venere that is cut to imitate the original timbers. I drew up a plan And started covering the ribs And cut the covering from .5 x 5 mm rose wood, I will exaggerate the scarf joints with some pencil lines and I made the odd house shaped timber a darker wood for contrast. I will treenail with lots of small brass wire pieces, but the rest of the model will be treenailed with bamboo. I still have the keel strip to cover to bring it up to the height of the new wood, these I will do in darker wood if I cannot figure a way to continue end grain. Thanks for the help with the pumps I think I am going to go with the 'modern' version that came with the kit but I am still going to carry there drain system through to all deck levels.

Well time for an update Things been progressing along, I have finished plans for the orlop deck beams that I will attempt with nothing more than a sharp knife, a razor saw and some files. Other decks will be similar, but the knees are angled down the walls on those decks and not in the floor itself as they are in this deck. I started construction of the hull It went quiet smoothly Most of this will be hidden by planking of some sort so I did not concern myself with finish too much, just checked for square often, but easy method to keep square as the frames are all the same. I did try to put the gun ports in as I built the whole frame (they can be see installed on the next photo), but I latter removed these as they were not even or square enough. Next I used the trusty razor saw to remove the sides of the hull to make space for the gangway, and a change of level for the rail. And I cut gunports for the upper deck, these I want to line with framing timbers after the hull planking is installed. Next I made a redementry jigs that were held in place with small wedges, I lined them up by measuring the height with a rule and lined them up by eye I used these to glue in the timber using the sides of the small jigs to keep them square to each other. They came out fairly strait and at the right height, I can still adjust them after I have planked both sides of the hull. That is where I am up to at the moment I have cleaned up some of the white metal parts with files, And played around with most of the other parts to see what I want to replace or add to, (Lots of extra buckets/tool boxes/chairs/stools/etc.) I am still confused about the pumps, I find some models with chain type pumps and a cistern assembly on the gun deck next to main mast, but the real ship has the same pumps as was supplied with the kit. Is it possible that it had chain pumps in it's early life and the type that are fitted now/supplied with the kit were added later, if so do the pumps that are fitted now have drains/pipes that carry through to the lower decks, The pumps in plans supplied with the kit are on gun deck but do not carry through to lower decks to collect water, I believe they were connected to the scuppers when in use but I am not sure how they were connected at all. Here is the pumps fitted now Thanks for photo Bob Anyway I will keep log informed as to my progress Back to building.

Well I have been digging around on the internet and found various things out. the pumps are incorrect type, as well as not going through the decks so I may change that, or keep to my original idea to add 'pipes'going through to bottom of ship. The floor beams do not have enough details which I will add The knees are as I thought in very different positions to the kit, there are angled knees that meet above each cannon. The capstan is just on the edge of the hatch that is the edge of the model, so I have toyed with the idea of extending some beams, to hang the capstan out in mid air, with other beams and decks etc. extending out from the standard cutaway. This idea is hampered by the lack of a gun deck on the model, as the capstan would have to be shorter by one deck also. I am just going to improve on this kit as much as I can without going too overboard about authenticity, as there are already major flaws with the kit in that regard. I will try to add as much as I can (not a whole gun deck). I will start Photoshopping some plans to see how ideas are coming together. Still considering buying the Anatomy of ships book too

Great job Andy I am just starting a build of this exact kit (some differences noted). I am still at the stage of researching and reading the confusing instructions, but your build log has cleared a lot of the fog. I will be looking in for reference and inspiration often. Thanks for documenting your journey with this kit so well, I hope to do the same.

I will be getting that book, I have the book Anatomy of a ship Bellona by Brian Lavery, but my supplier did not have the Constitution book

This will be my first build log, so I will start at the beginning with some photos of the kit, and discuss some 'kit bashing' I want to do. The kit seems well thought out but has some shortcomings I will amend, and some that are beyond my skills to fix. The Main thing that I cannot fix is that all of the ribs are the same size making the structure a lot easier to build as there are a lot more straight lines then if it had the correct curve of the hull, making for an easier build was mamolis goal here, I think. And the top deck has one of the smaller cannons pointed very close to a shroud, it has been placed there with artistic licence, so as to display a cannon on the top deck. Both these things would need major changes made to the plans, so I will just have to live with these mistakes, and not point them out to people when I show the finished model off. Things that I plan to fix are; The pumps do not carry through the decks below, so I plan to research what the drains would look like and install them. I plan on leaving some deck planking out to see into decks below, and let in light. This will mean that I will have to improve the timbers that hold the decks, there seem to be missing knees that run under the decks, the vertical ones are represented but no horizontal knees, and I believe the constitution had 2 sets of wooden knees as well as iron knees that I want to research and replicate. I also want to improve the gun hatches. And plate the bottom of the model in copper tiles to replace the hideous GREEN pieces of planking suggested by Mamoli I am sure I will find other ways to improve on the kit, and it will be good practice till I can do a WHOLE ship. Looking forward to a good build. I will update when I get this started. Reading Italian instructions???, and researching the changes I want to make till then.

Was it hard to get the Byrnes saw to Australia ? Also what is a good brand for Fret saw in Australia, the Bunnings ones seem a bit dinky.