JerseyCity Frankie

Hello Hornet
 
Have you seen these pics of a museum model, they may be helpful;
 
http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/collection/database/?irn=238338
 
Cheers
Steve

Some background: I started this build a year and two months ago. I did some modeling when I was a kid, but discovered other joys of life when I reached puberty 🙂 In the meantime I settled down and decided to take it up again (I'm 30 years old).

I decided to go for a challenge and went for the Heller Victory. I wanted to try all the new and exciting tools & techniques I did not have the money for when I was a kid. I started out using acrylics by brush, but invested in a good compressor and airbrush a couple of months ago. Too bad I did not have this at the start of my build! The finish is so much nicer!

The goal is not to make a true to life representation of the actual ship, but a nice looking model in warm colours with lot's of detail that looks good under glass in the living room.

Enough background, here are the pictures:



You can clearly see half of the hull bee lines haven't received the sepia wash yet I use to give it more depth and a warmer tone.





I also need to rework the figurehead a little bit. The white crown is a bit to big and the white horse needs some TLC as well. Otherwise, I'm very happy with the look of the ship!



I used some styrene sheet to make the gun port thicker. I like that look even though it's out of scale.



After a lot of trial and error, I finally settled on a style of gun carriage lashing. I used 2mm single blocks and Morope rigging chords. The most difficult part was making the two holes in the top blocks. I ruined quite a lot of blocks just to get these guns finished 🙂 Will need to order lot's more!

I was not completely happy with my decks. The colour was a bit to pale, it missed some 'life', and some parts were damaged a bit. So, in a moment of temporary insanity, I went out and got a second Heller Victory kit. Maybe a bit drastic, but now I have spare parts for everything and this allows me to experiment a bit more.

I tore out the old deck. This meant I also had to take out the four guns I tackled already, unfortunately. I redid the decks using the same technique, but this time I added two coats of MIG brown filter. This added a nice weathered wood tone. I'm very happy with the result, but judge for yourselves (the foto does not do it justice, though):



The stanchions were made using 2mm eyelets and 0.1mm Morope rigging chord.

fantastic miniature i wish my fingers where small enough and dexterous enough for this kind of work ! 
 
thanks for sharing!
 
Phillip

Frankie:
 
Mark's synopsis is accurate. The slightly longer version is that the kit was issued with plans and parts that were not the final versions that Sam had turned out and used for his prototype. In addition, the plans and parts did not match each other. All in all, a messy situation. As you can see in my log, the framing process required substantial modifications, rework and a fair amount of imagination to fill in the gaps.
 
Bob

Hi Mates:
 
After almost two weeks of having all my family reunited for the Holidays and not having enough time to work on my ship I finally finished to place the sails on the bowsprit.  As with the other sails I have not fixed them permanently until I double check the correct tensions and locations of the rigging yarns.  Here some pictures:
 

 
Saludos and best wishes for this new year, Karl
 

Dear WASA builders
After nærly 11 month "hard" work my ship hull becomes more and more complete.
I still follow yours and all other Wasa experts progress of this fantasic ship.
Without your help I never couldn't make it because the manual and drawing of Billing Boat is uncomplete and include many mistakes.
Thank you very much for your detailed photoraphs and descriptions
Now my question : How did you fasten fasten the gun ports, only by glue or how ??
 
I'm living in Denmark and I did seen the Wasa only 6 months after it was elevated from the ground of the Stockholm fjord and before there were build a museum.
Next year it is my plan to visit the museum.
 
Regards
Werner
 

Ratlines have always been tricky to install on ship models. My hands are very clumsy and tying the rat lines to the shrouds was near impossible. So, I resorted to using a needle and thread approach. At least the outside shrouds were punched through and a tiny drop of AC glue held them in place.
 
Then I ran into a very tight spot when I had to add rat lines to the futtock shrouds. They slope backwards and the other parts up there got in the way. I decided to glue the rat lines and the best way to hold them in place was using some contact adhesive. Then after that was dried I added a drop of AC glue to permanently hold the ends in place. It worked although the result was not pretty.
 
I decided to try this a bit more on a larger scale. Below you can see the simple fixture I used to hold eight shrouds. Mind you, this was strictly an experiment. I was not particular about the size of line and the overall lengths but I did want to have some spaces in between, similar to a real set up.

  
Then I took sections of rat line, masked the ends with a couple index cards and sprayed the adhesive on the exposed lines.

 
The tacky adhesive was enough to hold the lines to the shrouds and the placement was relatively easy.
   
After the glue had dried, I went back and added a tiny drop of CA glue to every joint. 

I let it cure for several hours and then trimmed the excess lines. To make it look more uniform I also gave it a quick coat of spray paint, but that was not really necessary.

I am sure some of you may not go along with this idea, but for small scale projects It could be a nice way to go. It sure beats pricking my fingers every half hour with a needle.

I have been experimenting with jigs for weaving the sock on the mouse for the stays and preventers and have almost got to a final solution.  The first of the photos below shows an early attempt using plastic discs with slots cut (alternate slots to a deeper depth) - proved too flimsy and difficult to control.  The second jig is working out OK but I made the mistake of setting up an even number of strands to weave around.  The temporary fix is to skip one of the strands at the top, but this tends to leave a slightly more open weave along this axis.  I have to re make this jig with a spacing that will permit an odd count.  I have drilled an inner and an outer set of holes to facilitate weaving under/over but I have found at my scale (1:60) that this is too many strands; but, the additional holes will be useful for 1:48 builds. 
 
I hope the photos are self-evident.  One of the photos shows a finished Mizzen stay, but I will probably redo this, as close examination shows the uneven weave along one axis (although partially hidden by the loop).  These jig ideas are not original and I have borrowed ideas from several members build logs - thanks to all.
 
Please note that the larger thread/strands shown are only to enhance the photo, and the alternate colour is to enhance the weave pattern in the photo - I am using a much smaller thread for the actual mouse at this scale of 1:60.

Hi Mike, Karl's book can be confusing until you work out what he is doing with the drawings   I still need to double check myself.
 
The drawings on page 101 are the standing rigging associated with the mizzen, main and fore masts as generic depictions for the stay details (Figure H3/4) - it is not meant to represent the mainmast or the foremast, but both and then further detail is broken our as required for the mizzen mast on the page (diagrams below H3/4) and other pages. 
 
You need to reference back to page 95 with items 36, 37, 38 and 39 of interest, as are 57, 58 and 59.  Lets deal with the main mast first with reference to 57, 58 and 59. The mizzen stay is terminated with a heart and lashing to a sling with a heart collar around the base portion of the main mast.  The first detail drawing (lower left) on page 101 shows the rigging termination for the page 95 item 58 (Mizzen Staysail Stay) at callouts 11 (corresponding to 58), 12 and 13 which terminated at an eyebolt on the deck at the foot of the mast.  The second detail drawing (under H3/4 on page 101) shows the terminations/rigging for the mizzen topmast stay (no preventers).
 
Now let's deal with the Mainmast stays and preventers for which we need to treat figure H3/4 as the foremast.  Then  the main stay and main preventer terminate with hearts and collars at the foremast and near the jib respectively.  The preventer rigging is another story which I can deal with when you get there.  The main topmast stay (3) and stay preventer (5) are rigged as shown in this figure (H3/4) with both terminating with tackles at the deck as described at (7).  the main topgallant stay is terminated as a hitch to the main topmast stay collar as shown at (4).
 
The foremast stays and preventers are shown on page 95, items 15 through 19.
 
Now back to the main mast stay preventer, which leads past the foremast and all indications are that it terminates as a lashing (via hearts with a lanyard) to an eyebolt in the peak of the ship to stbd of the boom.  If you project the line of this stay preventer on the drawing on page 95, this supports this.  However, to me that would put the rigging of this preventer in an awkward place for some anchor/cable working evolutions.  The folks on the Endeavour Replica must have thought the same and they use a unique lashing arrangement that employs a sling around the base of the jib boom and a 'scotchman' (anti-chafing device) on the stbd side of the foremast where the preventer will rub.  Jim Lad was kind enough to get some pictures of this for me which I post below.  Up to you which method you choose.
 
Page 114 is running rigging in my version of the book?  Could you please identify exactly where the confusion with the rigging block is as I can't find it - sorry
 
I hope this helps to clarify a bit?
 
cheers Pat

Hi Guys,
 
Well I have finally taken some pics of the case and will post them now.
 
Thank you one and all very much for your much appreciated support, comments, suggestion, remarks and help, not forgetting all those who hit the "like" button.
 
As you will see I had to pull the sideboard away from the wall by 5 inches, thinking that would be enough the said case was positioned by two burley friends of mine and guess what, it stuck out by a further 2 inches.
 
 
 
 
 
So there we are, these last few pics really do wrap this story up, hope you enjoyed the journey, hopefully I'll see you on the dark side, Popcorn is kindly supplied Sjors but you will need to bring your own torch.
 
Be Good
 
mobbsie

I have heard of at least one other instance where the U.K. and U.S.A. titles were altered, and it was one of the patrick O'Brian seafaring novels. The fifteenth novel in the series is The Truelove in the United States but in the United Kingdom it is titled Clarissa Oakes. I have never heard ANY explanation why the editors decided they needed a name change. All of the other titles in the series of novels are the same on each side of the Atlantic.

Moved on with the railings for the tops by adding netting.
This is thanks to Daniel for sending enuff netting for Hammock nets etc.


Ready to place later.


Also added flags to the lockers.


Frank
 

Richard,The Sailing Man of War was published by Conway Maritime Press in the UK. The English Man of War was published by the Naval Institute Press in America. I rather think that was only a decision by the U.S. publisher to alter the title slightly,the contents are the same.
 
Dave 

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

Been looking into the history of this kit, the original 1965 release was Catalogue number H-386 and came without sails. In 1968 Revell added Cat No. H-398 which is the version with sails. Up until 1972 both versions were in the Revell Catalogue (the version with sails was more expensive).
The box art was changed to the one GLakie shows in his post in 1976
 
There was a third version produced - the 'Museum Classic' version from 1979 which had a prepainted copper hull, a wooden base with a brass plated nameplate and brass plated pedestals for the ship to stand on together with flock coated vac formed sails which were advertised as 'Realistic Cloth Like Sails"

OK here we go...
3 January, 2015. Thus begins my build log of Revell's 1:96 scale USS Constitution. I selected an older kit release because a lot of things I've read indicate that they have much higher molding quality over the newer kits. Mine has a box date of 1974 and it has a US Bicentennial logo, so I believe that it was produced between 1974 and 1976. I plan on "kinda" building her as she appeared under Isaac Hull's command. I say "kinda" because I'm not going into every particle of minutiae involved with how she really was configured. I'm just taking care of the obvious such as eliminating the forward gunport (bridle port) and the skylight above the Captain's cabin. Other than that this will pretty much be an out-of-box build. Feel free to follow along!

Hi all. Thanks to all for the Likes so far! Here are some more photos. These are mainly of the decks and bulkheads, etc. Future build logs will show the masts, bowsprit, figurehead, gold decorative work and the rigging (which I must admit, is the thing I enjoy the least and regularly stuff up the most!!). Anyhow, pls enjoy these photos first.

More internal accommodation details:

Hi everyone. Some more photos.

Hello everyone. Although my model of the 17th Century 70 gun Restoration Warship, Lennox, was completed in mid 2013, I've decided to do this build log for two reasons, one for instructive purposes (to show how NOT to do things) and secondly, as a means to offer the plans to anyone who's interested (first come, first serve). If you are interested in the plans, then pls let me know.
 
About the model: The model is built in Admiralty style, with large parts of the hull cutaway and deck exposed so that the interior work can be viewed. The hull is approximately 29 cms long, or 36 cm including the bowsprit. For the sake of clarity, I'll include photos starting from the bare framed hull, through to the finished model over a series of build logs.
 
Hope you enjoy. Comments and feedback welcomed as always.
 
The first photos start with the framed hull and further progress on the internal structures will appear in the following build logs.

Well its a busy time and found some brass/stainless rings for hanging the anchors.


With black rope raped around ring and later will add cotton thread for seizing, also plastic strips that come with Dafis resin anchors glued around wood plinths.

Next it was the crest to finish, not to happy with this as the lions are not very good,(old Mold I expect).
Made up the ships bell with Dafis etch and extra brass rod to allow the bell to swing later.
I assume that the handle on the top has a pull rope attached, anyone Know if this is correct???.


Last pictures are the catheads added crown to front that comes with the kit.




More later

Frank

I needed some in 1:48 too, so I designed and 3D-printed them. An anchor windlass too. And the stud link anchor chain.
 
Not having any reliable drawings or images to go by, they had to be figments and overly simplified at that. But good enough for this job, a waterline model on a railroad layout.
 
I do wish I had access to good drawings of such gear, would love to work up some better designs.
 
 

 

 

 

In my recent trip to the UK I stumbled across this. This is what I love about London - so much history, and the possibility you might happen upon somewhere where famous feet have trodden on!


 
Looks like you will need to put a flatscreen TV and a reading lamp on your Bounty Launch, Cap'n!

My two or three cents about pins and pinrails: Use the smallest possible pin you can find or make, this will prevent a cascading series of scale issues from developing later. Obviously the smaller the pins, the more can be fit on a rail. Every pinrail I have seen has the pins spaced evenly about 10" apart. Any closer together and the belayed lines passed around the pins would interfere with each other and the sailors couldn't get their hands in there.
Most of the pins I see on models are too big and have en exaggerated shape and if scaled up would look like three foot high wooden lightbulbs. Most actual pins are two inches wide at most and are seldom longer than 18". They do flare out on their upper halves, but only a bit and a human hand can still grasp them- the commercially available ones all too often flare out into nearly spherical globes. Also consider that once there is a line on the pin, the pin itself is no longer visible except maybe its very top. For this  reason I mostly just use wire or rod.
An issue that always arises is the apparent low number of pins, modelers often find their accurate plans do not provide enough places for all the lines to belay to. This is a very common problem.
As mentioned above, another very common problem is not fixing your pinrail strongly enough. There isn't very much tension on them but the pinrails on models do very often pull out or distort from the accumulated strain placed on them by the rigging, which apparently over time can contract.