GGibson

Looks like a fascinating trip, Mustafa. Amazing history in that region! And a great looking family! Curious what do your grandchildren call you? In the USA, we have several variations of what our grandchildren call us, anything from Grandpa to Papa to Gramps, and others. In our family, I am Papa to my 5 grandkids, and I love hearing that word every time it is uttered!

Carronades with the screw elevation look good!

A little report on what I’ve been working on… and what I’ve been thinking about. Before I firmly secure the false gun deck, I need to provide some additional support or reinforcement for the masts, as others have done at this stage. For the mizzen mast and main mast reinforcements, it was simply a matter of placing some small 1/8” thick stock on either side of the bulkhead former. Since the foremast location is right at where a bulkhead crosses, that reinforcement piece had to be notched in order to fit. Took a few sanding efforts for it to slide in securely on either side. Next task was to make the false gun deck using the gun deck template. As I mentioned in my earlier post, I made these panels in four pieces in order to fit down on the gun deck level and get past what’s left of the spar deck support beams that were trimmed. As you can see from the pictures above, I made the cuts in the false gun deck at the mast locations, as well as where the faux stairs going down to the berth deck will be located. As I am writing up this build log after-the-fact, I do not recall which plans I was using to mark the necessary openings, but you will notice that the center stairs hatch opening is the same width (port to starboard) as the fore and aft hatches. More on that in a bit. To replicate the stairs going from the gun deck to the berth deck, I used a simple technique that Mustafa used for these stairs. Since they will not be able to be seen in intricate detail but just need to give a simple impression of stairs going to a lower level, I thought this was a great solution. According to the USN plans, these stairs are 23” wide, which converts to 0.33” scale. After creating the stairs, I began work on the gun deck hatches that these stairs will be attached to. These hatches were 1/8” tall, which converts to a “real” height of 9.6”. However, after I made one complete hatch, I reviewed plans and pictures again, and I am going to redo the hatches using 1/4” high edges, which I think will look better. They will have a step-up on the outside of the hatch stairs, as well, which is how the current hatches appear. So, back to the center stairs issue. As I have stated already several times in this build log, my intent is to replicate, as close as I can, the 1812-ish Commander Hull version of the Constitution. As Jon Gerson so aptly described back in his Post #197 in March 2018, the gun deck’s center hatch configuration has changed multiple times, including the 1927 and 1931 restorations and its current appearance. What I noted as differences between the above plans and how the Constitution currently looks is the direction of the ladders going from the gun deck to the berth deck. While the current configuration has the ladders positioned “east-west” or port to starboard, the older plans show these ladders positioned “north-south” or bow to stern. Interesting! And I also learned that the Bluejacket plans, which are focused on the War of 1812 era configuration, have these ladders in the “north-south” position, as well. So, that’s what I am going to do. To do this, that center area needs to be widened to accommodate the stair repositioning. So, the cuts I had initially made in Bulkhead J need to be made bigger. One of my Zona saws made quick work of that and the Dremel cleaned up the bottom. I then re-cut the two forward false gun deck panels with the larger center hatch area. Everything seemed to fit well and looked good. So, I think my next steps are going to be securing this false gun deck to the bulkheads, installing the gun deck waterways and work more on the various hatches. Using another one of Mustafa’s techniques, I am going to attempt making the gratings, rather than using the kit-supplied gratings. Once again, Mustafa showed his technique that he saw on another person’s build log. I will try that. One thing I quickly learned, though… in making these hatches that will have gratings in them, make the gratings first. We’ll see how things go. On to the next set of challenges! Appreciate the likes, comments and criticisms.

Nice work, Peter. Your ship looks great! Quick question, though, to show my ignorance. How are the belay pins getting in the way of the chain plates and channels? I'm not visualizing the concern. Wouldn't the work for each be on either sides of the rail? I can see, though, having the belay pins in before working on the shrouds so they are easier to secure in their place without the rope lines in the way. Just a curious question...

Well, there is a distinct difference between having the luxury of soldering and the luxury of doing soldering well ! You have the latter ability, Mustafa! I'll have plenty of practice, though, as I get deeper into my own build. Not to get ahead of your discussion in what you are probably about to work on, but what are you going to use for the netting in these stanchions? I've seen others use tulle, which I was unfamiliar with until I saw others using it for purposes like this. I saw that Jon used it on one of his last builds, as well. Exciting to see you moving forward with all of this!

Truth be told, Ben is my rope guy at Ropes of Scale. But you, Chuck, are my blocks & deadeyes guy. Always have been, always will be. As much as you guys who do make your own make it look easy, it's much less frustrating for me to simply get my credit card out. Fair enough! I'm a long ways out from needing them, though, so I'll bide my time. Get some rest, Chuck!!

Hope your Lobster Smack build goes well, Trevor! And I think posting your build progress would be valuable to others. As I recall, there were just enough nuances that individuals encountered in their builds, whether it was due to manufacturer quirks in their laser cutting or how each of us did something slightly different that made our boats unique, that having several resources to look back on were ever so helpful. And with your fine work on the Norwegian Sailing Pram as evidence, your Lobster Smack build will also shine. Looking forward to whatever updates you provide on this build. It was a frustrating build for me as an inexperienced builder, but it was enjoyable! Have fun with it!

I love your jig creation, Mustafa! Perfect stanchions. Great work, sir! 👍🏆

Fantastic work, Mustafa! It's obvious that you put your milling machine to a lot of work making everything fit together perfectly. And I love the pictures that are (once again) showing the open spar deck and exposed gun deck. This is what I hope to shoot for with my Constitution. That last picture reminded me to ask you, though, are you eventually intending to place boats on the main hatch or leaving them off to help keep exposed as much of the gun deck details as possible? Curious...

Port side looks awesome, Peter! Great work, sir!

Awesome rigging work to complete your Bluenose, Rick! Congratulations!

Thanks, Frank! Watching your build log, as well. Appreciate your follow. Appreciate you looking in and giving the advice, Mustafa! Yeah, I recall on both your build log and Jon's (as well as a few others that have detailed their gun decks) that additional spar deck support beams were required, and not all where the original ones were cut. I feel confident, though, that I cut these far enough back that the edge planking where the carronades will be placed will cover the old ones. Thanks for looking out for me, sir!

Nice work, Mustafa! XKen is a good person to steal ideas from! And I'm stealing ideas from all of you!

I recently purchased (and finally received) one of these Dspiae mini-sanders from Hobby Haven, after I saw one of those pop-up ads on one of my social media accounts (they track everything!). I have not used it yet, though, so cannot comment on its value. It was one of those "oh, this looks cool! Let me get it!" purchases... 🤷‍♂️🤣 To be honest, though, I was not pleased in the shipping process, as it was slow and the ship status updates were infrequent and sometimes inaccurate. I'll be using the sander shortly, though, and will report back then.

Very nice start, Terry! A fun ship to work on, indeed! 👍

Not much of an update, but I had to share what others may deem as a simple task, but I am quite happy with the result. Awhile back, in preparation of my USS Constitution build, I downloaded several of the USN plans from the USS Constitution Museum website. These included the spar deck and gun deck general deck arrangements from the 1927-1931 restoration work. I will use these gun deck plans to create a template to use for the 1/32” false deck I will make from basswood sheets. However, I needed to enlarge the USN plans slightly in order to be the correct size for the template. Using the idea that Jon @JSGerson described in his build, I measured the distance on the Model Shipways plans between the main mast center point to the foremast center point to be 12-3/16”. The distance between those two points on my PDF copy of the gun deck plans is 9-3/8”. So, the PDF copy needed to be enlarged by approximately 30%. I took my PDF copy to a local copy service company and the increase by 30% looked good and measured accurately. Brought it home, cut out the shape and… DANG! It fits pretty well! Putting this gun deck arrangement printout on my ship gives it some life! Pretty cool to see it this way. Using this gun deck template, I think I will create four (4) basswood sheet panels that will sit on the bulkhead frames. As I am peeking under the template to where I had already cut out the keel and some of the frames in order to replicate the space where the ladders go down to the berth deck, it appears they are lining up well. I will make those cuts in the false deck, as well. I will also do some reinforcing at the mast locations before securing the false deck onto the frames. Since I am bashing my Constitution and adding the detailed gun deck, both it and the spar deck will have a waterway and planksheer. After completing the spar deck waterway and planksheer, I realized that I did not have any more wood strips of the correct size for the 2nd deck, so… I’ve placed an order with Model Expo for some additional wood and was notified today that it was shipped. Yay! Anyways, I was excited about the template success and thought it was appropriate for a build log update. Thanks, as always, for peeking in!

Ha! Not yet, Peter! If necessary, though, I was always good at the back stroke... and dog paddling. Horrible at the breaststroke, though! Right now, I'm more concerned about snagging and snapping one of these bulwark extensions. Having the spar deck waterways attached has helped secure them, though. Working on fitting the gun deck's false decking now. Keep that life preserver close by, though! Thanks for looking out, Peter! 👍🏊‍♂️

Well... I guess that "closer and closer" timeframe was closer than I realized! I cut out the spar deck beams today. Now the real work begins! Yikes!

Another small update on my progress. Working now on the waterways and planksheer. The waterways and planksheer that I will be placing now will be on the spar deck, but it looks like I will also be doing some version of this on the gun deck once I get to that level. The spar deck waterways will provide some “solidarity” to the bulwark extensions, though, when I get to the point coming up where I take out the existing spar deck framework in order to work on a detailed gun deck. In beginning to work on the spar deck waterways, I followed the instructions as shown on Sheet 2 of the kit plans, but I also relied on suggestions made by Bob Hunt in his Practicum, as well as looking back at how a couple of my fellow shipbuilders handled this step, especially Tom @usedtosail and Jon @JSGerson. For the waterways, I used the kit-supplied 5/16” x 5/32” strips. Lengths were measured and cut from the stern to Bulkhead E. The plans show various degrees of beveling that is required on the outer side of the waterways so that it fits snuggly against each of the bulkhead extensions, depending on which bulkhead the waterway is hitting. The inner side of the waterway has a 45o cut measured 3/32” on each side. I used a compass to measure and mark that distance, then used the Proxxon disc sander to get the 45o bevel correctly. I simply used a palm sander to make the necessary bevels for the outer measurements. Then secured and glued the long waterway strips on both port and starboard sides from the stern to Bulkhead E. I used some temporary small square-dowel pieces on the outside of the bulkhead extensions in order to squeeze the waterway strips firmly against the bulkhead extensions without the risk of breaking those extensions. To make the waterways that have the serious bend around the inside of the bow (from Bulkhead E to the bowsprit in front of Bulkhead A), I decided to cut them from basswood sheet stock, like several others had done. I have a decent supply of 8” x 8” x 3/16” basswood sheets, so I’ll use that. I measured the distance from the center keel out to the inside of the bulwark extensions at each of the Bulwarks A-E. Then, using a French Curve, I tried to draw that curve onto a cardboard sheet. It came out pretty well, although I still needed to make some adjustments at the bowsprit for it to fit a bit more “snuggly” against the bow knighthead. I then transferred the cardboard shape to the basswood sheet and, using my Dewalt scroll saw, made the outer side cut for the waterway. Since this basswood sheet was 3/16” thick but the waterway needed to only be 5/32” thick, I had to sand the sheet down another 1/32”. This was going to be easier to do with a larger sheet piece then after cutting it to its desired width. Using the compass, I then measured and marked the 5/16” width thickness and made the cut again using the scroll saw. I then, of course, repeated this whole “measure-and-cut” process for the starboard side. And, once again, I used some temporary small square-dowel pieces on the outside of the bulkhead extensions in order to secure and glue the waterway strips from Bulkhead E forward firmly against the bulkhead extensions without the risk of breaking the extensions, timberheads and knightheads. Once the waterways were in place, the planksheers set on top of the waterways against the bulkhead extensions. These came from the kit-supplied 3/32” squared strips. One strip was placed from the stern to Bulkhead G, and another strip was joined at Bulkhead G moving forward. To make the curve around the inside of the bow, I simply held the two sides’ strips under really hot running water for several minutes, which got them soft and pliable enough to make the bend. I clipped them against the bulkheads to allow them to dry and hold their curves before securing and gluing them in place. Here is a final picture with all of the waterways and planksheers in place. Hope I’ve done everything correctly! This will all be done again on the gun deck! I am now getting closer and closer to the serious kit bashing, when all of the spar deck level support beams will be cut out so that the detailed gun deck can be built. We will then get into working on all the gun port placements, as well. Scary times, indeed! Definitely nervous about the whole process, but there is plenty of history from successful builders to look back on, as well as current knowledgeable followers who can help guide and counsel me, if necessary. As always, your likes, comments, concerns and criticisms are all appreciated. Y’all rock! Thanks!

Very interesting pictures, fellas! I'm no engineer, but looking at how the deadeyes and channels are positioned, what kind of pressure do you think is being placed on the fighting top unit at those blue marks I have made on the picture below? Is that cross beam that I have marked in red actually a steel beam in these newer pictures to help support the pressure that those lines and shrouds are placing on the fighting tops? Maybe that's why the word "fighting" is in its name! 😀 It all looks great, Mustafa! 👍🏆

Oooh, that's a great heads-up, Peter! Thanks! I'm putting that "flag" on my notes when I get to working on the quarter galleries. 👍

Ahhh, ok! I can see the cutout now! Sounds like a viable plan, Peter! I'd have done something similar. 👍

K & S Metals has been my go-to for brass strips and bars here in the States. Not sure what their current inventory stock is.

As much as we all love what you are doing with your Capstan project, Chuck, please don't fully close up Syren Ship Model Co until I order your replacement blocks and deadeyes for my Constitution! 🤷‍♂️🫣😦👍🤣

Nice work, Peter! I was trying to analyze that first picture and what you had done, and finally realized that was probably an edited picture from earlier in your build that you used to draw lines and circles on for placement purposes, and not an actual picture of your ship. 🤷‍♂️🫢DOH! Channels and chain plates look great, sir!