GGibson

Your sailing pram is coming along nicely, Tom! Regarding the dagger board and its initial loose fit, remember that once you either paint it or stain it (whichever method you choose), that will add just enough thickness to make it a "firmer fit" again.

I now recall you telling us about your use of pearwood (and hornbeam) previously. Thank you for the reminder, Mustafa!

Excellent work, Mustafa! Totally jealous of your skills and your attention to details. One question that you may have answered previously. I am noticing a discernable difference in the shade or tone of the wood you are using for the smaller pieces you are milling like the jib boom saddle, the bees or the fairlead, as examples, vs. the bowsprit itself. Are these boxwood pieces or another type of wood? I assume these are harder woods that provide sharper and cleaner corners. Appreciate the info, sir!

Looking good, Peter! Gotta love the Proxxon! At least you are not doing the '2 steps forward, 3 steps back' routine I've been doing lately... 🤷‍♂️🫤

Looks like a very cool (and useful) tool! And I'm an easy target for simple yet effective tools like this, Chuck! As soon as I see it in your online store, I'll snag one. Will be very helpful in eventually needing to make a bunch of hanks on my Constitution. By the way, your 3D printed cannon and carriage looks awesome! Assembled and painted one as a test. Sweet!

First off, Happy New Year to all, especially those that have provided guidance and critique in the early stages of this Constitution build of mine. Like many others around this past holiday season, I took a bit of a break from the shipyard, not doing much actual work on the ship, but I did take the opportunity to review and plan some critical “next steps”, as they will affect how I am able to continue forward in this build. My thanks to Mustafa for pointing out his concerns regarding how I removed the spar deck beams and some potential hurdles I might face. With that said, I did decide to cut back the spar deck beams back to the recently installed waterways strips. I would have had considerable difficulty placing the gun deck bulwarks and the various horizontal and vertical knees. By placing the scale-size gun deck plans onto the false gun deck, I am able to see where the cannons will be placed for the gunport framing, which I will be working on next. I wanted at least one mock-up of the 24-pound gun deck cannons and carriages in order to also test the placement of the framing. While I really wanted to test my skills at making my own carriages using my mill, I chickened out and decided to at least try using Syren’s 3D printed black resin cannon and carriage assembly. The cannon length of 1-23/32” (42.84mm) converts in scale very close to the actual 10’-5 3/4” length. After assembling the carriage and doing some painting, the cannon looks pretty decent! In accordance with the US Navy Plan #35810 painting schedule, the gun carriages are painted a Venitian Red color. So, I got a tube of Utrecht Venetian Red acrylic paint. I like the color! And it looks fairly accurate. This mock-up does not yet have any of the bolts and eyebolts added to it for rigging purposes. So, what's next? I still have to paint the two deck’s waterways and then begin the gun deck framing work. As always, thanks for the likes, comments and criticisms.

These anchors look fantastic, Tom, even with the close-up camera work! What have you used to blacken them?

Excellent explanation, Mustafa! Not sure I ever noticed the specific bees construction on any of the completed models I had reviewed. That area of the bowsprit is so busy with different pieces and rigging. Going to be fun watching you build up that area in real time. And, yes, we love our Proxxon mill..! I'm nine years behind you, Jon, so thought it was a good addition at this early stage. I've loved it so far. And, as you guys have demonstrated, I'll have plenty more opportunities forthcoming. Thanks, Gentlemen!

Whew...! But, as you said with Joe at Modelers Sawmill, eventually you guys need to close your shops, or find folks like JJ and Chris who can carry on the fine work y'all started and built into businesses the rest of us depend on for our hobby needs. You are appreciated, sir! Take care of yourselves, though, first!

Awww, man!! So sorry to hear, Joe! You have been the GOAT for our modeling wood needs. Wish you the best with your physical issues, sir. Take care of yourself.

The way you have the anchor set looks good, Peter! I promise I won't ask. 👍 Yeah, I would snag it for sure in some future process, especially when rigging to nearby cleats and/or belaying pins! 🤷‍♂️🤣 I'd find a way to set them aside until I was comfortable in not snagging them! They do look good, though, Peter! Carry on, sir!

Hey Peter! Looking good! I do like the gangway boards but understand that you've got to have them look right in the particular situation. I'm sure you will come up with a great solution to covering the rail end if you don't use the gangway boards.

Continued great work on your rigging, Mustafa. I, too, was having a bit of difficulty seeing exactly how your shrouds here were run and secured. Your drawing defines it perfectly. Thank you, sir! Happy New Year!

I have this book, as well, Jon! The book shows its age, as the pages are stiff and a bit brittle, but it does have good info in it. I am looking forward to using it multiple times in my build. The terminology always causes me to pause a bit every time, too, Peter. I am slowly recognizing and understanding some of the lingo, but I am also frequently still doing an internet search on "what does this mean?!?" Wishing both you, Peter, and Jon (since I quoted him in this post, I'll include him here, as well) a Happy and Prosperous New Year. You have both been extremely helpful and supportive in my own Constitution build, and you are both extremely appreciated, gentlemen. Thank you! See y'all next year!

Thank you so much, Mustafa! I wish you and your loved ones a happy and prosperous New Year, as well. Have taken a bit of a break on my build, as we were out on the beach last week and have family in this week. But next week I should be busy again in the shipyard and will be looking for more inspiration from you and the others. You are all so appreciated. Happy New Year, my friend!

Your rigging is really coming together nicely, Mustafa. I love your mouse construction! Another process I need to remember!

At first glance, Jon, it looked to me (both on the real ship and on Mustafa's) as some sort of twisted loops, rather than a simple hook. Excellent work!

Looks great, Mustafa! It all looks perfectly aligned. Is this the rigging I have seen referred to as a "swifter"?

Nothing really to update on my Constitution build. Since my last post, I have been assessing where the gun deck cannons will be placed in order to prepare for the cannon framework and, as a follow-up to Mustafa's critique after my last update, determining where exactly the new spar deck beams will be placed so I can get the old beam stubs out of the way. What I have been working on, though, diligently over the past week or so is my annual Christmas tree hanging walnuts project. Back when I was a young child, my father would carefully crack open walnuts, dig the walnut and other pieces out of the shell, place money back in the shell, glue it, put a hanging bow on it and paint it so it hung on the tree on Christmas Eve. I carried on that tradition with my children and now with my grandchildren. Every year I come up with some new combination of ribbon and walnut colors in order to identify whose walnuts are whose. Most of the walnuts have some denomination of currency folded and stuffed inside them, but some just have a few pennies in them just to tease them. (Even the ones with currency in them also have a couple of dimes in them so they rattle when shaken.) Here's a picture of one of them. Each of the five grandkids have a dozen walnuts this year, so with five grandkids, that's... 60 walnuts! It's a bit of an organizational challenge as I complete them all (and keep them identified for whose are whose!), but I do enjoy it and the kids all look forward to "Papa's Walnuts"! Here's to a Happy Holiday season to all of my MSW friends!

Your ship looks pretty much exactly like what I saw in Boston in September, Mustafa! Rigging is looking sharp! Can't wait to see more as your ship gets even taller! 👍🏆

The Testors Clear Parts Cement looks like a great solution for making faux windows! Nice idea!

I appreciate the feedback, Mustafa! As I was preparing for this Constitution build and researching other completed and ongoing build logs, I was trying to determine the best approach to this kit bashing and the removal of the spar deck beams in order to expose the gun deck. Obviously, in your scratch build, you were able to avoid the spar beam issues and you added the new spar beams in an orderly sequence, after the horizontal, vertical and diagonal knees were created and placed on the ship. The two “bashed kits” that I reviewed that had removed their spar deck beams fairly early in the process and subsequently added at least some version of knees were from Tom (usedtosail) and Jon, and so I’ve been trying to follow their tails as best as I can through their spar beam removal processes. As I said at the time, adding the spar deck waterways when I did added some strength and support to the bulwark extensions. One difference I have noted, though, between what Jon did, as a for-instance, and what I did is that he cut off his spar deck beams right up against the waterways. I had left mine sticking out a bit for now, subject to determining where the new beams would be located. As a part of that new “plan my approach in advance” strategy I am employing, now is the time to make those spar deck beam location determinations, so that the knees locations can also be best planned. And, to your point, Mustafa, regarding gaps in my updates, including too many steps in each update, and not allowing you veterans an opportunity to provide timely advice, I will do better in keeping future updates more concise. Again, I appreciate your input and advice, fellas! Thanks!

Of course, you know that I'm nowhere near this point (ha!), but I did check my inventory and have all three chain links in my kit. I'm happy to share if you need the smallest size.

Hi Mustafa! Thank you so much for peeking in with your advice and recommendations. I cannot adequately express how much veteran advice from gentlemen like you mean to me in this build process. We are so lucky to have you guys around. With that said, yes, my plan is to expose the gun deck similarly to what you and Jon have so successfully done. You had given me the reminder about the spar deck beam replacement concern back in October on Post #73, and I have not forgotten that reminder! When I cut those old beams, I cut them back to a point where, whether new beams are attached back directly to them or if they are just left as stumps because of new beam positioning, the old stump portions would be "hidden" under the spar deck edge decking that will be in place for the carronade guns and carriages. I am wondering now if accurate placement of the gun deck knees (directly under the spar deck) will be affected by any of these stubs. Perhaps those stubs affected will need to be cut back farther against the bulwarks. Since yours was a complete scratch build, of course, you didn't have the old beam stubs to be concerned about. I will, though, look back and see again how Jon handled all of this in his kit-bashing. In your reminder post on Post #73, you provided a build log location on Jon's log where he raised his concerns. Time to go back and study this all in greater detail and, as you stated above, Mustafa, plan my approach in advance! Once again, I appreciate ALL of you gentlemen that preceded us in these early steps!

Hey Terry! The Bluenose looks really nice. Very interesting color on the lower hull. I love its uniqueness! And the launch ways looks sharp, as well! I had seriously thought about a launch way for my Bluenose but then bailed and did a standard pedestal base. Now that I see yours, it's tempting to go back and do one for it! 👍🏆