HIPEXEC

I'm building a Constructo USS Constitution for the very same reason....the natural wood and to make me improve my woodworking skills and not rely on wood filler.

You have great sawing skills! Your gunports are fabulous.

Thanks Bill.

I'm still holding off so I can get up the courage to drill. I'm not painting the hull, so I'll go very, very slow!

I'm not going to enjoy drilling into my hull!

I "bronzed" the air ports since they were bright brass and I didn't want them gleaming on the hull under the gunports. I found out from Jeff and also did research that they are vents to the berthing deck that can be blocked with a wood block in rough seas.

I PAINTED THE ANCHORS SINCE THEY WERE CAST ALUMINIM

Thanks everyone!

Pin rails are done!  They shouldn't break loose unless I hit them with a hammer. The jig made alignment easy. Now I'll clean them up and varnish them.

Sometimes you just have to double up. Nice job.

Pin rails are progressing slow but sure. The pins drove me crazy, so I'm using the tiniest pins imaginable, but I drilled micro holes where the rails go the give the CA glue a place to bite.

Thanks David. That would be for both holes....the rail and the gunwale. It split when I pushed the rail into the plank even though I had pre drilled the plank. I'll have to make the receiving hole bigger since the pin went into the rail with no damage. I'll practice some more until I get a good formula.

Pinning rails is easier said than done. I did a practice pin and the rail split longitudinally. The pin is .5mm and the wood 1.65mm with swiss cheese holes. Any ideas? 

I guess you mastered that difficult Sapely! Your planks are spectacular!

Full speed ahead with pins!

I've only installed one, so I'll pin the rest. Thank you Dave, Augie & Harvey.

I built my ports by cutting the planks as I installed them. I got very square cuts and all the right size. ...And I only had to plank once. It took carefull planning, but I'm not a good hole cutter.

Moving on. I installed the first pinrail. I cut it to size and drilled the holes, but when I went to glue it on.....I couldn't do it. It would be crooked or at the wrong elevation, etc. After pondering it for a while, I got the bright idea to make a removable support that would allow me to keep the rail parallel and straight and at the same height all the way around. It think it's going to work.

Beautiful build!

Maybe your right. Now that I have practice, I should change it. As usual, no instructions from Constructo, so I just guessed.

Here's the lashed long boat. Me running this line through tiny eyelets and tying it off are shades of rigging to come....I'm really all thumbs. It's difficult.

The preceding painting is what I used to copy the colors of the long boat, the size and the number of oars.

Now, I have to lash the boat itself to the deck.

Here's my finished long boat. I figure this being a US Navy ship, the boatswain's mate would be in charge of stowing the gear on it, so the oars are neatly arrayed head to toe and lashed. The boat's rope is neatly coiled in the stern and the rudder is stowed near the stern. All US Navy ship-shape. That's as good as I can do. I know it's not as good as the examples you all showed me, but.....I'm all thumbs.

I know that feeling of frustration when you know exactly what you want to build, but your hands just won't execute it.