Cathead

I tend to like models with a used feel; I think it helps trick the eye into perceiving the model as more realistic. Sometimes an "accurately" crisp and clean model can look too shiny to the eye even if it's right, whereas a slightly over-weathered model can end up looking right even if it isn't right. And as Ken says, do it the way you'll want to look at it!

Thanks, Glenn, and all the Likers. Matt, I've been taking lots of time to study the rigging diagrams and agree that they're better than they seem at first, once you learn how to use them. I agree that I don't want to follow their order of steps, but I'm leaning toward adding the sails/booms/yards first as that means a lot of work right up against the masts, where the standing rigging would get in the way. Then, once all that weight is on the masts, I'll add the standing rigging and get it all straight. Then add the rest of the running rigging. That's the idea right now, anyway. I'm making the rest of the sails now, which gives me more time to think about and plan all this.

Thanks, Glenn, and all the Likers. Matt, I've been taking lots of time to study the rigging diagrams and agree that they're better than they seem at first, once you learn how to use them. I agree that I don't want to follow their order of steps, but I'm leaning toward adding the sails/booms/yards first as that means a lot of work right up against the masts, where the standing rigging would get in the way. Then, once all that weight is on the masts, I'll add the standing rigging and get it all straight. Then add the rest of the running rigging. That's the idea right now, anyway. I'm making the rest of the sails now, which gives me more time to think about and plan all this.

Hi Ken, thx for comments. It's good to know you have some history on vinegar solution, I will try it out on the deck and post progress pics as I go. Depending on how that works out I may apply to side walls also.
 
Right now, I'm just about to add the last coat of matt BLACK paint to the hull, should start the weathering process tomorrow.  I'll put some pics later today. The hull planking was not to difficult, with knowledge that it is to be fully covered with paint a little licence was allowed for filler, how much filler, I forget .
 
 No vinegar treatment on the hull, just washes and detailing.
 
Servicing, maintaining, lubricating, polishing, I'm sure you are right, the engineers applied plenty of all these activities in abundance on their gals but my Imgineering needs satisfying more than my desire for historic accuracy on this model. Right from the decision to build a steamboat I had a  desire to build it a little distressed, after looking at pics on line they looked tired and dirty, the sag in the cabins evoked a vision of being worked to hard like us.
 
This ship's paint job will be a little left of center, but I will back off some of the rust patches on mechanical parts to keep it somewhat real, thx for keeping me honest.
 
Len

Awesome job CH! From what I remember, the supplied rigging diagrams are fairly accurate. They are, however, not the order best to follow. It's way easier to do the standing rigging first. This way all of the serving is out of the way for the most part, and these heavier lines help stabilize the masts. Onward!

She's looking beautiful. Nice job with the topsail, very authentic look!

I've spent much of the last week experimenting with sail design, finishing a topsail last night that I'm pretty happy with:
 

 
I posted details about the design approach to this sail over on this thread on realistic sail-making, so won't duplicate that content here. Quick version, the out-of-scale boltropes are intentional, choosing function and an artistic look over strict accuracy. The sail is made of bond paper, with individual panels following real sail-making practice. What do you all think?
 

 
I've also slowly moved forward on rigging. I started with the bowsprit assembly, since it's an isolated area that I can complete while getting my head around certain skills and methods. Now I need to move forward on the regular rigging, and have been studying the plans and other references obsessively to try and assemble a sensible plan that will minimize the need to reach around rigging to do other rigging. Certainly one first step is to make the rest of the sails and bend them to their respective booms/yards.
 
I find rigging both fascinating and infuriating, so this should be an interesting time coming up. Of course, I have lots of time this weekend as we're under threat of an ice storm here in Missouri, so I won't be distracted by outdoor activities. On the other hand, if the power goes out, I may be working on this by candlelight just like the old-timers. What could go wrong?

I've been quietly working on various details, while neglecting this build log. This time of year I mostly model after dark, so photography conditions aren't very good, and as I'm also doing a lot of writing & editing work it's less attractive to spend my down time also working with words. But a month seems more than enough neglect, so here's what I've been up to.
 


 
I'm not at all happy with many of the metal castings in this kit, so decided to remake some. The cross-trees are trash; the arms aren't even square and several of the cast-in rings broke when I tried to drill them out (they were cast solid). So I made new ones from wood with brass eyerings. It took three tries to get a version I was happy with. I also didn't care for the cast anchor stocks, so again made my own. All these parts should be wood, anyway. I stained everything and wrapped the anchor stocks with blackened brass strip, touched up with paint.
 

 
I've also been working on the masts, booms, yards, and so on. Typically at this point, the diameter dowels supplied with the kit didn't fit the metal hardware, such as the various boom rings and crutches, that are supposed to fit on the masts. I had to do quite a bit of custom-sanding and filing of the metal parts to get everything right. The rings aren't even the same size, so on the mizzenmast, where two different rings are supposed to sit near one another, those two rings have very different diameters such that by the time you sand the mast down enough to make the smaller one fit, the larger one is too large. Sigh. It'll all work well enough. Overall I think these parts came out well.
 


 
Here are some detailed views of the current status. The bowsprit/jib-boom assembly is installed and gammoned, the anchors are done, the pin-racks are made, and the carronade is finished and rigged. Sharp eyes may notice that I've replaced all the blocks, everywhere, with better ones from Syren. It took a few days to work up the courage for cutting out all the blocks I'd already carefully fitted onto the various deck eyerings, but I did it and it was worth it. I'm also happy with how the rope coils turned out for the carronade and anchor lines. The light in these last few photos is still a little odd; I took it outdoors late in the afternoon, and the white background produced an odd color balance. Oh well.
 
I should mention a few mistakes made along the way. I rigged the whole carronade assembly off the model, then installed it, tying the outer-four blocks to their respective eyerings (pre-glued into the deck). Only after completion did I notice that I'd rigged the port side backwards; the forward tackle is supposed to go over the aftward tackle on both sides, but I'd done the it the wrong way on the port side. Much cursing ensued, as the gun was already glued down and I didn't think I could re-rig it in place because of tight clearances. Finally I used a pair of small pliers to work the whole eyebolt out of the deck, slid the entire tackle assembly out from under the rear tackle, and re-inserted the eyering once the rest of the tackle was on top. I don't know if anyone could follow that, but in the photo above it's now rigged properly.
 
I also managed to glue the crosstrees onto the masts backwards the first time, but managed to get them off without breaking anything. Then I filed away the glue and re-installed them properly. Only then did I realize that I should have tied on all the blocks to the rings beforehand; now I have to do it up on top the masts. Oh well, that I can handle. I'll put equal blame on me for not thinking far enough ahead, and the instructions for being nearly completely useless.
 

 
And here she is now, with an insert showing one of the hand-made crosstrees (as luck would have it, the less-good one which I didn't notice through the lens). The masts are glued in, with the proper rake established using a cardboard pattern traced from the plans and various temporary rigging lines. It's amazing what a few dowels can do to transform a hull into a ship. Of course, I now have to be extra-careful because I've gotten used to reaching around and over the hull to grab something, and now there are delicate bits sticking up into my arm-space.
 
So that's how this revenue cutter enters the New Year. I'm about to have to start deciphering rigging diagrams, something that is equally fascinating and terrifying to me. Because I want to rig this model with sails, I may start with those first. Thanks for reading and for all your support in this very educational project. Happy New Year!

Len, the staining is pretty safe; vinegar is a weak acid. I use a similar mix on wood structures; although I've not used baking soda in the mix. Vinegar and very fine steel wool take a few days to make the mixture. Wait longer for darker coloring. The stain is a little more red, since it's iron oxidizing.
 
I'd age the wood somewhat (light stain) and then weather the paint, like Rossi45 says. That's the surface that's worn away. Wouldn't get too crazy with weathering, except on the outsides of the boat. That would have been the hardest part to maintain. Most equipment was fairly well maintained; the engineers and firemen(coal/wood heavers) took great pride in maintaining their engines and related equipment. Think about railroad equipment. Railroad steam locomotives were pretty shiny and well cared for, until the 1950s when they were phased out. The engine crews oiled and polished anything they could reach.

I disagree that a kit is "just a bundle of wood". A good kit, at least, has had quite a bit of thought put into it by the designer and can save the builder quite a bit of mental energy. Having done both scratch and kit models, I enjoy the mental stimulation of designing and preparing everything myself in a scratchbuild, but also enjoy the relaxation of knowing that someone else has thought through the process for me in a kit. I think that dismissing kits as "just wood" does a disservice to the significant skill, art, and research that goes into kit design.
 
Now, a bad kit like my current build is more trouble than it's really worth. I should have scratchbuilt this one, given the amount of mental and physical work I'm doing to make up for its shortcomings. But not all kits are the same.
 
As for the original question, as I have a very limited disposable income (a few hundred US dollars a year for modelling), I keep things simple. No power tools, basic hand tools, try to re-use anything I can in future work, try to find workarounds for purchases (like making sails out of bond paper left over from Mrs. Cathead's graduate thesis over a decade ago rather than buy fine sailcloth). I would rather my models be enjoyable and cost-effective to build than perfect, and so allow myself a certain amount of leeway in the accuracy/perfection department to achieve the other goals.

Love it. I wouldnt back off on the aging at all, it works very well with your plan

I like it as is.  I think it will look great when installed - the  limited visibility of the boiler when installed will make the weathering look very realistic.
 
Kurt

I'm well into the boiler asm. now, that has been a fun little project it took me most of today. Sticking with the plan to weather/age the old gal, I might have over done it a little!!!! What do you think?
 
it will be easy to back off a little and reduce the rust onset.
 
The smoke manifold is still to be weathered.
 
Back to  the hull tomorrow, time to decide on colour options.
 
 

Got another few hours in. Images as requested.

Why is it that you want a display ship so badly, and why the Constitution? I'm not being sarcastic, it's a serious question to help you understand what you want.
 
Do you live in an area with a significant nautical tradition and want to fit in? If so, cheap and low-quality models like that are just as likely to get you laughed at as respected. Anyone who knows anything about the Constitution will be horrified if you show them either of those models, and anyone who doesn't won't really care what ship is on your mantle.
 
In all honesty, consider buying a nice painting instead. There are quite a few options for well-done nautical artwork that would look quite attractive on a mantle, be just as much of a conversation piece, and would support a real artist instead of whomever is producing those crappy knockoffs. Wouldn't need as much dusting, either.
 
If you really, really want a model, buy the plastic kit for the Revell Constitution at 1:196. It's pretty manageable for just about anybody to turn out a decent looking model without taking too long at it, it'll inherently be more accurate than anything you linked to, and having built it yourself will make it a much more interesting conversation piece.

Why is it that you want a display ship so badly, and why the Constitution? I'm not being sarcastic, it's a serious question to help you understand what you want.
 
Do you live in an area with a significant nautical tradition and want to fit in? If so, cheap and low-quality models like that are just as likely to get you laughed at as respected. Anyone who knows anything about the Constitution will be horrified if you show them either of those models, and anyone who doesn't won't really care what ship is on your mantle.
 
In all honesty, consider buying a nice painting instead. There are quite a few options for well-done nautical artwork that would look quite attractive on a mantle, be just as much of a conversation piece, and would support a real artist instead of whomever is producing those crappy knockoffs. Wouldn't need as much dusting, either.
 
If you really, really want a model, buy the plastic kit for the Revell Constitution at 1:196. It's pretty manageable for just about anybody to turn out a decent looking model without taking too long at it, it'll inherently be more accurate than anything you linked to, and having built it yourself will make it a much more interesting conversation piece.

Why is it that you want a display ship so badly, and why the Constitution? I'm not being sarcastic, it's a serious question to help you understand what you want.
 
Do you live in an area with a significant nautical tradition and want to fit in? If so, cheap and low-quality models like that are just as likely to get you laughed at as respected. Anyone who knows anything about the Constitution will be horrified if you show them either of those models, and anyone who doesn't won't really care what ship is on your mantle.
 
In all honesty, consider buying a nice painting instead. There are quite a few options for well-done nautical artwork that would look quite attractive on a mantle, be just as much of a conversation piece, and would support a real artist instead of whomever is producing those crappy knockoffs. Wouldn't need as much dusting, either.
 
If you really, really want a model, buy the plastic kit for the Revell Constitution at 1:196. It's pretty manageable for just about anybody to turn out a decent looking model without taking too long at it, it'll inherently be more accurate than anything you linked to, and having built it yourself will make it a much more interesting conversation piece.

I've started to construct the boiler asm and found a use for the meet tenderizer. I beat up the surface of what will be the ash pan to simulate a layer of ash, I've also added  a coat of black paint to see if the effect is any good. Should work ok. Note I extended the front edge of the pan to show a little bit more. I will trim off the extra length when I've finished painting it. It gives me something to hold on too.

Yay! Wonderful collection of illustrations, thank you for that. Do you know anything more about the jackstaff design for the Yellowstone and Napoleon? I've never seen one like that, with the two-part structure first angled forward then aft? Seems much fussier than the standard vertical jackstaff, why would they do it that way? Which style are you using for Heroine?
 
 
Also, how did you get the silk to sit so perfectly against and around all the various skylight corners, etc? Everything looks great, and I appreciate you continuing to put the work into keeping us updated.

Len:
The box is the insulating part that covers the individual boilers.  I would leave it as is and add details to the assembly if you want to upgrade.
Kurt

Here is my finished topsail, made from bond paper with individual panels. I think it came out quite nicely.
 

 
Before some of you recoil in horror, I'm quite aware that the boltrope stitching is wildly out of scale. I did a lot of research on attaching boltropes, finding a number of approaches. Essentially there's no way to simulate boltrope stitching at scale, so if you don't want oversize stitching, you have to glue the ropes on. That might work for cloth sails, but I was sure that gluing ropes onto paper sails wouldn't end well and my tests proved this. And I wanted my clews to be really strong, meaning I couldn't just try to attach an isolated loop to the corners. So after some experimentation with different stitching methods, I decided to go with this one. It's hand-stitched with white thread, colored with pastels like the rest of the sail. Given that the model this sail is going on is essentially a representative "artistic" model rather than a strictly prototypical one, I like the idea of showing that boltropes were a part of the real sail even if they shouldn't be seen at this scale. And I just like the pattern and visual interest they provide to the sail. Also, one reference I found said that the boltrope should be slightly to the aft side of a square sail, so mine follow that practice as it's pretty hard to get them precisely on the edge of a paper sail anyway.
 
I also researched different methods for bending the sail to the yard, and for attaching reef points. I chose to bend the sail with a single wrapping line, as various references show, because it was so much easier than tying lots of individual loops with oversize knots. I tried knotting the reefing points on both sides of the sail, but couldn't get the knots tight enough against the sail to look right. So I cut them to length and glued them loosely down in slightly curved configurations so they look like they're hanging down naturally. I also chose the one-point-at-the-seam pattern, as opposed to two points per sail cloth, based on the Tilley drawing of USRC Louisiana that I've used as a reference several times. The kit also calls for one vs. two reef points, though it puts the points in the middle of the sail. I like the points in the seam, an extra-strong place to anchor them.
 
In any case, the final sail is strong and stiff, easily shaped into a nice curve to simulate some wind. I really like how the individual paneling creates a 3D effect in real life (it's hard to see in a photo), and the overlapping seams show up well when light is shining through the sail. I decided not to try and draw stitching on, because in all my tests I couldn't get a stitch small and regular enough to look right. I know that's in opposition to my logic for the bolt ropes, but I just didn't like the look of large stitching.
 
I'm interested in what others think, good and bad.

I would have to think that if you want a quality model, some member here would be willing to part with a few, however i doubt if they would for $300. You have to appreciate that a lot of models take a few hundred hours to finish.  The places you are looking are massed produced.  There is no way any builder would be able to build the Constitution for $300.  I  don't think you could even buy the kit for that.
 
I'm glad that you have an interest but, trust me, you will get what you pay for.  You're better off buying a kit and having a go at building it.  You will get a lot more pride that way.

Well, to be blunt, IMO they both look ghastly, but the second one is slightly less so, but only because the hull looks better. The all-black rigging is kind of an eyesore. But, in all honesty, without paying someone the moolah that a true scale model would command, the items you linked to are probably typical of what's out there. Still, if it were me, I'd shop around some more -- there are vendors for such models beyond what you'll find at Amazon or eBay.
 
Good luck!

Steve:
 
Here are a few photos of where I currently am with the model.  Nothing, at this point, is permanently tied down.  I decided to leave the backstay pendents until last since they would interfere with belaying other lines.  Quite a mess, huh?
 

 
It looks like the deadeye claw method is working out well.  The deadeyes appear to be pretty even.
 

 
Per your request, here is a closeup of the upper part of the mast.  I hope you find it useful.
 
BobF
 

With the holidays in the rear view mirror, I've been able to return to the workbench.  I've been working on prepping as much of the rigging as possible off the model.  Lashing the upper deadeyes to the shrouds was the last requirement before I permanently step the mast.
 
I decided to use the "deadeye claw" method for this model.  This was my first experience with this technique, and, so far, it has worked pretty well.  Here is a closeup of one of the assemblies.
 

 
I was able to use a simple fixture for making the claws, which produced pretty consistent results, so I made four of them.
 
If you look at the next photo, you'll see that the right shroud is "tacked" on to the deadeye at about the 4 o'clock position.  I use white glue for this.  That way, I can correct it if there is a problem.  You may be wondering what the black thread is that's attached to the upper deadeyes.  Well, with the lower deadeye hooked to the chain plate, the whole assembly was very difficult to work with.  It kept flopping around.  The thread is temporarily tied to the upper part of the mast, and provides stability.  Once the initial glue application is dry, I add a little more glue around the bottom, up to about the 8 or 9 o'clock position.  (See the left deadeye.)  The deadeye can now be handled without the shroud separating from the deadeye.
 

 
 Here are the finished results.  The deadeyes look pretty even, but I won't know for sure until they are fastened with the lanyards.
 

 
I'm sure that for the vast majority of you, this post isn't anything earth shaking.  But, maybe, someone will find it useful.
 
BobF