Brian Falke

At this point, I had not discovered any company that manufactured the small pieces and parts - like life rings, firehoses, fire plugs, ladders etc. All the small items (ladders, big eyes, signal/search lights, life rafts, dan bouys (orange things on the smoke stack), ammo boxes - all these were made by hand. And took a lot of time and patience to construct each one. Eventually, I did discover BlueJacket Ship Crafters and Model Expo for a few of these detail parts.

From the picture above, you can see the bridge and the Captain's At-Sea cabin on the 03 Level. When these ships (102 of them) were built, the bridge was open, exposed to the elements. There was the ability for the ship's company to erect a tarpaulin overhead, but no windshields. In the 70's, during the modernization, a more permanent cover was built. The overhead was still a tarpaulin, and that was for a very good reason. If the ship were to hit a mine, those in the bridge would be force through the tarpaulin instead of being smashed into a solid overhead. Because of the ability to look through the bridge windows, I decided to install the binnacle, centerline pelarus , Captain's chair, voice tube, and the SPA-25 repeater before putting in the windows and overhead. With the exception of communications equipment below the forward bulkhead, there wasn't anything else on the bridge. Very primitive compared to what is on today's naval ships. The below image is from the National Archives. It is a picture of a ROK minesweeper being blown up by a magnetic mine during clearance operations in Wonsan Harbor in 1950. That is why the overhead on the minesweeper is a tarpaulin and not solid wood overhead.

My next steps were to start on the detail for the pilot house and bridge wings. This consisted of the encapsulated lifeboats and holders, the port & starboard pelarus, running lights on the bridge wings. Inside the pilot house I painted the interior bulkheads the pastel green (this was the color so those sea sick green faces would blend in). I contemplated adding the helm and lee helm consoles in the pilot house but ultimately decided that the only way some one would see them would be through the small port holes with the use of a flashlight and would only be able to see the back of them. Wasn't worth the effort. All the detail pieces were made by hand. Later on in the building process I do replace the port & starboard pelarus with manufactured ones. After I installed those, and viewed the bow on picture, I decided that what was there was not up to the quality I desired. So, I removed part of the bridge wing and 02 deck to effect some repairs and adjustments. You can tell the difference from the two bow on pictures below.

Moving to the 02 Level installed the (fwd to aft) pilot house, bridge wings, CIC and stack deck. It was at this point that I realized the most important tool in my kit is my vision. I did not realize until I took the pictures and looked at them that there was a huge gap on the port side above the porthole. My near vision, before I started this project, was perfect. This is about a year into the project now, and it was evident I needed a pair of readers. 🤓 To correct this, instead of removing pilot house and bridge wings, I filled in the gap with wood filler and sanded down smooth. In future photos, this will be evident. Looking through the website, I have come across a number of ways to create the waterline. My technique was similar to most of them. I took a toothpick and taped it to a block of wood at the level the top of the boot-topping. I would dip the tip of the toothpick in black paint and, with the ship securely in the cradle, gently tapped the ships hull putting a small dot to mark the top of the boot-topping. I did this all along the hull spaced about 1/8" between the dots. I did the same technique for the lower part of the boot-topping. After the dots dried, using painters tape, I taped along the top and bottom and painted the boot-topping on. Having been on a number of Navy ships, you can tell who ran a good Deck Division by looking at the boot-topping at the bow. If the Port and Starboard sides met up perfectly at the bow, it was a good division. Of course, mine came out perfect!

Hi jfinan, very nice work and I really appreciate the tips along the way. These will greatly help me on my USS CONSTITUTION journey, which has just kicked off!

I purchased this model kit about a year ago while I was finishing up my second model, first scratch (USS ENGAGE). Now that I am done with that model (with the exception of building the display base) I am moving on to something more challenging. However, I am not a fan of the kits solid hull and only having the gun deck and main deck visible. There is a lot more to the CONSTITUTION than those two decks. My plan, therefore is to mix this as a kit and a scratch. The hull is going to be plank on frame. One side of the ship (probably the starboard) will be completely planked and painted; the other side (port side) will be open, so that someone can see all decks of this fine ship. Additionally, I am going to be as true to the construction of this model as to the original. I am going to use white oak and yellow pine through out the hull. I recognize this will be a significant challenge and will consume years (USS ENGAGE took me 12 years to complete, granted it sat idle for significant portions of that period). Everything else will be as per the model kit instructions. My first step in this process is the framing. Using the hull lines plan from the model instruction book I traced out one side of the frame and scanned the tracing into a PDF. I have attached the tracing for Frame "7". After scanning into my computer, I adjusted the scale to 100% (they were coming out at 139%) and took a screen shot of just the tracing from the centerline out just past the frame. I then pasted that screen shot onto a Power Point slide, increased the size to 108% (I came to that percentage after trial and error of getting the print out accurate size). I copied the half and flipped it to make the entire frame - port and starboard side (see the attached photo). Once I have all the frames and keel complete, I will glue them onto white oak plank and commence cutting. I have a concern about the strength of the frame, especially where it narrows at the top, above the main deck. My gut tells me to glue two or three planks with their grains perpendicular to then one next to it and then plane that down to the thickness of the frame. I am open to suggestions here, and welcome them as I am still tracing out the frames. CCF07272019_00002.pdf

Continuing on, I wanted to get the portion of the fantail aft bulkheads and bulwark painted because once I put in the minesweep/towing winch and ladder from the main deck to the 01 level, there would be no way of getting in there. After finishing up the aft bulkhead, complete with QAWTD for the port and starboard passageways, QAWTD to go down to the electrician's shop and shaft alley, I began constructing the minesweep/towing winch. Other than what was on the ship drawings, a few pictures, and my memory, I did not have anything in detail to construct the winch. As you can see in the picture below, it is quite a substantial piece of deck equipment and did close off my access to the aft bulkhead. The aft ladder going from the fantail to the main deck was constructed and installed at this time too. The minesweep/towing winch has 4 reels of wire - port & starboard minesweep wire, center depressor wire, and the towing wire. In the picture, the green wheels were, at that time, made of wood. They were eventually replace with a etched brass wheel purchased from Bluejacket Models (where I got most of the small parts from). In addition to the winch and ladder, I also constructed and installed the port king-post and boom. With those in place, I began on the superstructure. From aft forward, the Magnetic Cable Reel room, the P&S A/C plants and uptake space, the Halon room, the the big portion includes on the 01 level radio central, admin and storage lockers, then forward is the Captain's cabin and passage ways.

My next steps were to plank the main and 01 level weather decks. After completing the weather decks, I then tackled the hull. For all this I used 1/32 thick basswood where I cut the planks to 1/16 wide. That made them, by scale, 6" wide which is a little wider than reality. In reality, the decking is only about 2" wide with about a 1/4" space between them for oakum and rubber sealant. The hull planks were about 6" in reality, so 1/16 wide was to scale. Another lesson learned here. These can be purchased, the planks. Cutting from a 1/32 sheet of basswood did cause me difficulties later on. The thickness (1/32) was not always consistent throughout the sheet. Some planks were thicker, others thinner. So, to over come this, once they were all installed, I spent numerous hours carefully sanding the hull and weather decks to smooth out the differences. My intention at the time was to smooth the hull as much as possible then apply wood filler along the hull and then sand that down given me a nice clean, smooth hull. As I looked at the hull with the planking I realized that is not how those ships were, they were not smooth hulled like a frigate, destroyer, or practically any other ship in the Navy fleet. They were old, beaten and showed many scars from Junior Officers novice shiphandling skills (I put a few on ENGAGE myself). I left the hull with the planks and a few imperfections. At this juncture in the construction, I also installed the shafts, shaft struts, and thru-hull. At the time (2008), I was not planning on a log, so I am using those pictures that I took at the time to document the process and progress.

Yes Roger, remember standing many hours on the deck and the unique engine orders. And trust me, you were not the only OOD that had difficulties on watch. I was the MCM Evaluator when we lost the minehunting sonar in the middle of a live minefield during the Persian Gulf war. These were difficult ships. Thanks all for the notes and likes! My next step was to install the exterior main and 01 level sub-decks. Using the booklet plans I was able to directly trace out the decks, no adjustments for scale differences. I used basswood as the decking. In addition to the fantail deck, I installed the aft bulkheads and the exterior bulkheads for the mag-cable reel room. Installing the mag-cable reel room bulkheads was a mistake. If you recall in my previous post I intentionally left space in the framing for the mag cable reel. Later on in the project I realize that with the bulkheads in place I would not be able to install the cable reel, it is bigger than the opening. Live and learn....

In a couple of the views, you will notice a notch out section on the main deck forward of the fantail. That space is for the magnetic cable reel. My intention at the time was to leave the aft door to the mag cable reel open so that the reel could be seen. This was how we steamed around and in port. That door was always open. My intention was to build the model as I remember the ship, its uniqueness. The notch amidships is for the mast

With plans and material (decided on basswood), I next had to determine whether to build the hull from a solid piece or plank-on-frame. As a youngster my whittling skills were poor to be kind, and I am sure they did not improve over the years. I do have a background in construction, and the plank-on-frame seemed to suit me best. The Booklet of General Plans is 1/8 = 1'0" scale (1:96) so I could compare the keel and frames directly to the drawings. I used 1/8" bass wood for the keel and frames. Here is how it turned out:

Ok, where to start? First my motivation and why such an obscure ship. This was my first sea assignment right after commissioning from the Naval Academy. I spent two combined years on ENGAGE and IMPERVIOUS. The entire crew transferred from ENGAGE to IMPERVIOUS for Desert Storm. Being the first (you never forget your first 😉 ), ENGAGE holds a special place in my heart. It was a tough ship to be on, the crew truly lived up to the mantra "Wooden Ships, Iron Men". The ships hull was leaky and oil soaked, so as the Damage Control Assistant, I constantly worried about flooding or fire - either one and the ship was going to go fast. On IMPERVIOUS we actually conducted mine clearance operations in live minefields - very nerve wracking. That is why I chose a MSO, and why I chose ENGAGE. The attached photo of ENGAGE is from December 1991, right after her decommissioning. As you can see the pilot house port holes and bridge windows are all boarded up and the anchor chain is rigged for tow. She was to depart the next day for Philadelphia, PA. Because this was such an obscure ship, there is not a lot of ship build information out there on MSOs. Fortunately, in 2007 I was assigned to a command which had a lot, and I mean a lot of mine warfare historical documents. One of those documents was the BUSHIPS Booklet of General Plans for MSO 441 (pictures attached). This got me started. The General Plans were great for profiles and deck layout, but one thing missing from the plans were the hull lines. Searching through the internet, I was able to find a set of hull lines for a MSO, but they were not to scale. After much manipulation and trial and error, I was finally able to get those plans to scale (or at least extremely close). With a good starting point, I set out on my adventure. It was January 2008.

Hi! I am excited that I stumbled upon this website now. I am currently close to finishing up my first scratch model (which I will document in the log later) which is my second ship model. The first was a small sailboat kit (photo attached). The scratch model is the USS ENGAGE (MSO 433). ENGAGE was my first ship out of the Naval Academy, so it has a special place in my heart. I started the model in January 2008 and I am down to the final details today. I have attached a picture of its current state of build. The reason it has taken over 11 years to complete is many, but now I have the time to finish this one and start on the next and I am hoping to find a lot of great advice and support here as the next one is the USS CONSTITUTION from a kit.