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Brian Falke

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Posts posted by Brian Falke

  1. On 12/29/2023 at 10:23 AM, g8rfan said:

    Hey Jon

    I know its been a while since this post. Have you considered HO scale figures. HO is 1:87 which is pretty close and these figures are readily available and pretty cheap. you can buy all sorts on Amazon and get anywhere from 25-100 for $10-12. You may have to do a little re-painting to make them look appropriate. Here's an example:

     

    Amazon.com: NWFashion 25 PCS 1:87 Scales Painted Worker Figures for Miniature Dollhouse Railway Train : Toys & Games

     

     

    @g8rfan Thanks for posting this link.  I too have been searching for figurines to add to my build and have not had much luck.  Even tried 3D printing, and that failed.  I did purchase one packet and positioned them around one cannon to see if they would work.  And they are perfect - yes, I will have to repaint them since orange coveralls and hardhats were not in vogue in 1812, but their positions and shape are perfect.20240106_195833.thumb.jpg.0b65ab31e3d0b564202f5cf53a5c04e4.jpg

    20240106_195847-1.thumb.jpg.a6eafdcd3fd6af26b782d7c51b99a986.jpg

  2. So....scratch all that I posted on on December 17th.  It is not working out as I had envisioned.  After checking the size of the gun port lids (.36" square) and looking at another Constitution build log, I changed course and lined the sill, header and sides with .02" planks.  This finished off the port and gave me acceptable corners.  Here is the finished port for the first one.

     

    GunPort.thumb.jpg.682aa6ad43e8c1ca2582aadb19f71afc.jpg

  3. My next challenge after "raising" the gun ports was to square off all gun ports.  Those on the gun and spar deck.  The openings on the spar deck had a tendency to flare outward at the top of the gun port, and those on the gun deck had rounded corners and, if I tried to square the corner, it would round the side since I would put too much pressure toward forming the corner.  I knew that I needed to fill in the sides of the gun ports with plastic wood and sand them down square.  But, without a metal template, I would just be repeating what I already have.  I did find a metal template that has a 3/8" x 3/8" square and a 5/16" x 5/16" square (through Amazon) which would work perfectly to help square off the ports.

     

    20231215_155044.thumb.jpg.97c9e89a25c7b1def0890e22b4671826.jpg20231215_155132.thumb.jpg.c36d4a63ee1598c5a353b9e84c95287e.jpg20231215_154824.thumb.jpg.012c4d896e0b97166705896d3d6883dd.jpg20231217_103616.thumb.jpg.9497e6d612cb23cdebf10ffc255c8b2a.jpg

    Using 80 grit adhesive backed sand paper strip attached to a mini-file, I would sand the side of the gun port until the sandpaper scraped the metal template.  I would then increase the grit to 220 and do the same, sanded until it scraped the metal template.  To form the corners, I used a triangle shaped file so I would not have to use extra pressure to get the file into the corner.  There are some minor touch-ups needed, but the shape is real close to being square.

     

  4. 2 hours ago, JSGerson said:

    Nice save. In your situation, I've would have handled it in the exact same manner. Out of curiosity, what kind of wood is your hull planking made of? It does present a unique visual pattern. Will it eventually be covered with a second layer of planking and/or paint and copper plate(?).

     

    Jon

    Thanks Jon.  Yes, it took me a couple of weeks to come to this solution.  Just had to purchase some very fine tooth "keyhole" saw blades to accomplish.  As for the wood, it is white oak.  I am cutting, planning, and sanding each piece from stock white oak 6"x1" boards.  Yes, a lot of waste in the process, but that is what I do best...turn perfectly good pieces of lumber into saw dust  😀.   I will be painting as per the specs in the kit and will also copper plate the underwater hull.

  5. I have for the most part completed the interior planking.  Upon inspection I noticed that on the port side, the gun deck gun ports were 1/8" lower than the starboard gun ports.  That would be a foot which is significant difference.  First picture is the starboard side, the other, port.  The port side has 5 planks from the bottom of the spar deck gun ports to the top of the gun deck gun ports.  The starboard has 4.

     

    StarboardInteriorPlanking.thumb.jpg.44a3380c2f04d5e13defe866c5bb9139.jpgPortInteriorPlanking.thumb.jpg.0e572eb8b38510c9617020e5d1a38286.jpg

    Thankfully this was only limited to the gun ports on the aft section of the port side, 7 of them.  My dilemma was how can I move them up and would it look good.  Taking a deep breath, I cut a 1/8" section out of the top and sanded.

     

    20231203_151421.thumb.jpg.62e8582f806bb2c693bfa98daba923b3.jpg

    Then, I glued a 1/8" piece of oak to the bottom and sanded that smooth with the interior and exterior hull and the bottom of the gun port.

     

    20231203_153650.thumb.jpg.199471e314beb1ad242a4b02a9196cb8.jpg

    There, the gun port is now moved up the side by a foot, or 1/8".  Now to do the other 6...

  6. Avi, my only recommendation would be to do all you can to ensure the corners are pressed down.  I too have given it thought on how to achieve a "smooth" surface with the platting and feel that pressing using a mini-roller would be my best option.  Here is what I am referring to

     

    https://www.crutchfield.com/S-nanjTCMS645/p_15410005/Dynamat-10005-Roller.html?XVINQ=GZ0&XVVer=23B&awcr=628226750370&awdv=c&awnw=g&awug=9011556&awkw=pla-338049137464&awmt=&awat=pla&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAmsurBhBvEiwA6e-WPCWYGGJauK5mjhW1Q49RQkdvHo2oMrQxcw7LQwMYGI3-J_hrBvPk9RoCTQQQAvD_BwE

     

    With a slight bit of pressure, you should be able to get the corners pressed down.

     

    Brian

  7. It has been a slow go this past year.  When I last reported, I was preparing to commence the exterior planking.  I have finished the exterior, and started on finishing the interior.  Since I am electing to use Live Oak as the planking material it does take time.  I have 12" long pieces of 1"x 8" pieces of Live Oak stock that I have to rip with a table saw, then plane it down to 1/8" using a table planer, then using Micro-Mark drum sander/planer, down to .09".  There is a lot of waste, but I don't have any other means to get the planks out of the wood stock. 

    From there, using a band saw, I cut the planks (.04").  Through the sanding process, I sand off about .01" to get the correct thickness.  Here are the pics.  As you can see, I have already started on the interior, working from the top to where I left off from the keel up.

     

    Planking-PortSide.thumb.jpg.7e5c25dc63e2c4676346d7c7e1983fdb.jpgPlanking-STBDSide.thumb.jpg.a8dfaf6294372ebca78fea85acce893a.jpg

    I apologize in advance, I have no clue why the bow and stern picture are upside down.  I have tried multiple times to get it right, but just not cooperating....

    Planking-BowView.thumb.jpg.ad3cf3ee1dafeeb135b6133c54a09f86.jpgPlanking-SternView.thumb.jpg.bed744fe915a314c24122917814478e5.jpg

    Cheers, Brian

     

  8. Avi, I have no recommendation with regards to coppering as I have not gotten to that point yet.  But, I do appreciate you asking the question and @MrBlueJacket (Nic's) response.

     

    On to your initial question regarding the planking creeping up into the gunport or sagging down into.  I just started the interior planking, so again, thanks for the insight.  If I were to face this dilemma, I would trim (sand) the plank sagging down into the gunport and fill in at the bottom.  My thinking is that once complete, it will be very difficult to view the planks at the top since the spar deck will be hiding that from view for the most part.  And filling in at the bottom still leaves you with the option of sanding it down so that the gun is properly centered when run out.

     

    I do like the idea of building a mock gun.  With that it would give you and idea if you need to fill in or trim the planking at the top or bottom instead of guessing.

     

    Brian

  9. @Mort , those are my thoughts as well.  just have to avoid the bright blue and pink gravel 😀

     

    So took a huge step yesterday with the plan of being able to view all decks inside the ship.  I cut out the section from the port side.

    1807683846_PortSideCutOut.thumb.jpg.f617463e0b1af89db7ce4f3ab5cc41cc.jpg

    It went easier than the gun ports.  Used a Dremel saw to cut through the hull shell and interior planking.  Above is a straight on view, below are looking aft and forward to give you an idea of what will be visible.1841162958_PortSideAft.thumb.jpg.6bf7f8127d32e17e5531cad5d7f30e3d.jpg

     

    908209786_PortSideFwd.thumb.jpg.68651b4f08cc9d845b9a06e8418526cc.jpg

  10. The gun ports have been cut.  I will have to say, very nerve racking to go through that.  To cut the ports I used two methods.  The first was with a high speed drill using a 1/64 drill bit.  I would make multiple passes as if I were drawing a line with the tip of the drill bit.  The second method I used a hot knife with a 3/8in flat blade.  It cut through easily, but left behind melted plastic which I did have to cut either with a knife saw or an exacto knife.  Of the two methods, I would recommend using the hot knife.  It was not without its problems, but comparing the results from the two, the hot knife was better.

     

    I have still to cut out the passageway for the quarter galleys and the port side for interior viewing, and mark the decks on the inside of the hull.  Once those are complete, I foresee starting the exterior planking.

     

    1792518858_GunPortsCut.thumb.jpg.a8838751581e22c044169e79cced9d79.jpg

  11. So, back to the topic regarding pig iron vs. stone ballast.  Did a little more research and according to the USS CONSTITUTION Museum during 1812 the CONSTITUTION used pig iron as ballast but also gravel in the hold for the casks to rest on.   With this, I will forego the pig iron and just add gravel to the hold before putting in the casks.  Now to find 1/96 scale gravel...

  12. I felt that I was ready to commence the exterior planking, but, I was wrong.  I needed to transfer the gun ports from the 2D drawings onto the hull shell.  Additionally, I wanted to mark the deck levels along the hull.  This will aid me in the construction of the interior decks.  Using the Waterline Marker as previously discussed, I marked out each gun ports lower left corner and using a draftsman's template, I outlined each gun port on the gun deck and spar deck.  I found using the template as recommended in the Bluejacket instructions made this process very simple.  Here is the port side.2138194759_PortSide-GunPortsDecks.thumb.jpg.31be866c631a60cc7adc5778fd9c2afb.jpg

    The red vertical lines are where I intend on cutting the hull out to see inside the ship.  I have not yet decided where the cut out will be for the Orlop Deck.  I know that it will include the main hold and aft.  But how far aft, not sure yet.

     

    So, my next move was to define the main hold on the inside of the ship.  I marked the after line of the forward section of the Orlop deck and the forward line of the after section.  I drilled a very small hole horizontally through the hull at those location on both port and starboard side.  I ran a piece of small stuff through one hole to the other and super glued them in place.  Below is a picture of the string through the hull (looking aft).

     

    180906634_OrlopDeckMainHold-AFT.thumb.jpg.5af84f1d5f2ed7a7e5e520fc83f34aa7.jpg

    As you can see I also painted the hold areas in preparation of installing the Orlop deck beams.  I was already to proceed with that process when I had one of those duh moments.  I forgot to install the diagonal riders.  So, I need to sand down the paint to bare wood and then install the riders.

     

    Now a questions for the group.  Constitution's ballast in 1812 - granite stones/boulders or pig iron?  I am leaning towards pig iron.  Here is why.  In my research the initial ballast was pig iron and this was replace in 1813 with granite stones/boulders during a shipyard period.  The battles with HMS Guerriere and HMS Java occurred in 1812, before the change and, during the battle with Guerriere is where Constitution earned her motto "Old Ironsides".  So, 1812 is the year I am going for.  However, I have seen a number of Constitution hull cross section models and they all have granite stones/boulders as ballast.  So, I am leaning toward pig iron, but have my doubts.

  13. Thank you for the bow on view.  I am struggling with wrapping my mind around the tapering of the planks as they approach the bow.  It looks as if you did a very fine job with that.  The planks meet perfectly at the bow from port and starboard, and have a slight up sweep.  To me, it looks great and sure once you sand and paint, you will be pleased with the work.

  14. Thanks Jon.  With the dimensions from the drawings you provided and me stepping away from the problem for a day, I am sure that I have it figured out.  The measurement from the deck to the bottom of the gun port is actually from the top of the deck beams, not the top of the finished deck.  Subtracting the height of the gun barrel (.38) from the height of the center of the gun port (.4375) yields .0575.  Converting that to 1/8in scale is roughly 5-3/4in, which is roughly (close enough) the thickness of the deck planking.  I should be good to cut the gun ports now.  Thanks.

  15. I am basically now at Section 7 of the instruction book.  I have marked, from fore to aft the gun deck on the outer hull.  Additionally, I have marked each gun port on the gun deck.  I did not attach the stem, false keel or rudder (the sternpost is part of the 3D printed hull).  I have elected to hold off attaching those until after cutting the gun ports on the gun and spar deck, and the passageway into the P/S quarter galleys.

     

    Marking the gun ports and deck line from the 2D drawing in the instructions is made very simple using Micro-Marks Toolmakers Surface Gauge - Ship Waterline Marker.  First step was to transfer the frame from the working baseboard onto the hull.  Using two builder squares, this was a simple process.  One square was standing upright, and the other lying flat on the baseboard.  The flat square was place at the frame line, the second square then butted up against the hull and the flat square, then with a pencil mark the frame on the hull.  I did this for all the frames, port and starboard.

     

    To transfer the deck line from the drawing to the hull, at each frame on the drawing, I measured from the keel to the deck line.  Adjusting the Waterline Marker to the proper height, I then, at the same frame already marked on the hull, marked the gun deck line.  Doing this on both port and starboard.  After completing the marks, I free handed the deck from frame to frame.

     

    Next was the gun ports.  I started from the most forward gun port and moved aft.  I located the forward lower corner of the gun port and using the Waterline Marker, marked that corner on the hull.  Once I had the corner, using a draftsman's template as recommended in the instructions, I drew the 3/8in square.  This was done for all gun deck ports on both sides of the ship.  As you can see in the pictures there was some adjustments necessary.  The first go-around I did not get them in the correct location.

     

    652505956_MarkingGunPorts.thumb.jpg.d0fcbc83ef54c0cac5d3cb9b150e933d.jpg682746084_MarkingGunPorts_2.thumb.jpg.0843885f4050d9afcb2a85786cc9d2ad.jpg

     

    1654328844_Starbord_GunDeckPorts.thumb.jpg.58ca6707bf9d8b625843e4a7d593d7a1.jpg

    2062161862_Bow_GunDeckPorts.thumb.jpg.627dc49a3e7bf0c569f17f8c83fe4af8.jpg

     

    Now I have a question.  I measured the height of the gun above the deck (.38in) and the gun ports height above the gun deck.  The bottom of the gun port is .25in above the gun deck.  The center of the gun port is .4375in above the gun deck.  This puts the gun in the lower half of the gun port.  My plan is to have all guns run out, ready for battle.  I envisioned the gun would be centered through the gun port.  Are my calculations wrong?  Or, is that correct, the gun is in the lower half of the gun port?  I am hoping someone can shed some light on this as I am holding off cutting the gun ports until this is resolved.

     

    Thanks, Brian

  16. 17 hours ago, thibaultron said:

    For some reason I can't seem to get to it on my computer. Strange, I tried Firefox and Edge.

    Ron, I have had success with Firefox and Chrome.  So, not sure what is exactly going on there.  I copy the link (wish it would hyper-link) and in the search bar at the top of the browser, right click and click Paste and go.  I just tried on all three browsers (Firefox, Chrome, Edge) and only Chrome got me there this time.  The other two timed out.  Could be the site itself.

  17. To navigate through the museum, there are faint circles on the floor, click on them and you will move to that spot.  To quickly move to the second floor, in the lower left corner, hover your cursor over the icon that looks like a stack of papers, a selection box will pop up and you will be able to click on 2nd Floor and it will transport you there.

     

  18. It has been a few months since I started planking the interior from the keel to the top of the gundeck.  It is, for the most part, complete.  Being the first time doing something like this, I really did not have an idea on how to proceed.  So, the port side (which is the side I will be cutting away sections to view inside the ship) I decided to proceed from the top to the keel.  It did not go as envisioned, but it went ok.  One thing my father taught me when it comes to woodworking is that the skilled craftsman is one that is good at hiding mistakes.  I will get to how I did that later.

     

    On the starboard side I went from the keel up.  It did go better, but still some errors were made and had to do one adjustment plank if you will.  Here are the pictures

     

    758917313_Aft_PFinished_SNot.thumb.jpg.e1e768184420366e5ccaa7b6bdb2ea85.jpg1526007614_Fwd_PFinished_SNot.thumb.jpg.31d23c6e95abf230b653c38084962bd8.jpg

    The first one is looking aft, the other, forward.

     

    Now, how did I hid my errors.  The problem I encountered is the gap between the planks and butt joints was too great for my liking.  Yes, maybe once painted they would not be as noticeable.  In my youth I did a little surfing and I had to repair my own board.  A couple of times the board hit a coral head or rocks and left a significant ding in the board.  To repair this I scarfed out the foam under the fiberglass.  I would then grate that foam down to dust and mix with a water resistant glue.  I would then pour that back in the ding, let it dry, and refiberglass the board.  After finishing touches, it was almost good as new.  I used the same principle here.  I saved all the dust from sanding, mixed it with a 50/50 mixture of wood glue and water until it was a pasty consistency and then pressed that into the gaps.  Here are a couple of before, in process and after pictures

     

    696661900_BeforeGlue_Sanded.thumb.jpg.f45b38d23855b90c34c02fab3a2ae1c5.jpg

    1953039953_Glued_NotSanded.thumb.jpg.86df62036aaedb68e9de59acdd62544b.jpg

    Glued_Sanded.thumb.jpg.a02e7e2307cb14ed1b3d64f7bd083a5d.jpg

    1036795953_Glue_SandCompleted.thumb.jpg.bd1cfb87899ffabb1274880d6cd52e29.jpg

    Now that I have the interior planked to the top of the gundeck, next step is to plank the exterior.  Before I do start on the planking, I will have to mark out the gunports and deck levels on the exterior.

     

    Cheers!

     

  19. I am in the process of planking the interior.  However, I am doing the entire ship from the keel up.  At this point I have planked from the keel to the bottom of the gun deck on both sides.  After I finished sanding and painting the interior sides, I will then install the decks (orlop and berthing).  Before moving on to the next deck, I have to finish the deck below.  Once you start on the deck above, it will be a challenge to correct something in the lower deck, so make sure it is to your satisfaction before moving on.  With that in mind, my recommendation would be to plank the interior one deck at a time.  Start at the top of the gun deck up to the top of the spar deck.  Then finish the guns, hatches, galley, painting, etc, before moving on to installing the spar deck.  In Marquardt's, the cross-sections illustrate that the planks are between the knees and timbers indicating the planks were installed before the planks.  As for the waterways...let me know how you plan on doing that.  I have been bouncing ideas through my head and come up blank.

     

    Overall, the project is off to a great start and this being your first build...very impressive.

  20. Just a thought here Avi.  For the first plank, use one piece that will go from stem to stern.  This will, in my vision, provide you with a smooth flow of the curve from stem to stern for the 3.75in planks to butt up against.  Reason I mention this is that I am planking the interior and used the short planks.  It came out choppy instead of a smooth flow.

  21. The transom/knuckle came out better than I though it would.  Using a Dremel with wood carving bits and sanding drums, I was able to remove the interior to provide proper thickness of the frames/timbers.  The resulting section is stronger than anticipated.  My initial thinking was to plank the transom and knuckle area before carving out the interior, but through testing on a block of basswood convinced me that would not be necessary.  Here is the result.  Now, I know it does not look smooth and ready for a coat of paint.  The interior will be planked as well as the exterior, so I was not to concerned with a finished appearance.

     

    20220101_145345.thumb.jpg.e49f3e0a53f25dae6e2a3755463097c3.jpg

     

    And from the stern with the etched transom from the kit clamped on (just for testing, not attached yet).

     

    20220101_145317.thumb.jpg.47e597ab7a27d074093f8a1989330756.jpg

     

    I did have to alter the interior plan a little.  For the bilge, Orlop, and Berthing decks, I will only show from Frame 35 to Frame T.  I found that while sanding the interior hull shell I could not sand the bow and stern sections smooth for two reasons.  First being that if it did, the hull shell at those sections would become too weak and collapse, and second, I just could not get a sanding tool into those areas to effectively sand.  So, I built two bulkheads at those frames as shown in the picture below.

     

    1134917937_20220101_150045(2).thumb.jpg.023bf95fe66a4bdea98b02271a1c11fe.jpg

     

    Next steps are to plank the interior from the bottom of the Gun Deck to the keel.  To start I needed to mark the Gun Deck on the inside of the hull shell.  I first marked the deck line on both sides of the exterior shell, and using the smallest drill bit that would fit in the Xacto handle, drilled through the shell to locate and mark the interior.  That is where I will start with the planking and work toward the keel.

     

    Cheers.

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