Der Alte Rentner

I know this comment come waaaaaay late, but I think yours is the best example of canopy frames I've seen anywhere at MSW. I love that you managed all of this without solder. Magnificent! I may yet reconsider introducing these to my spar deck, (maybe the icing on the cake after spars and rigging are done.) the small font is my way of weaseling out if I don't.. 😁

Maybe I'll yet find it sitting behind Conny on the workbench ala Jon. I will renew my search on Monday, when I return to the shipyard after being sidelined - yet again, this time by the flu. (shoulda got that shot in November..) This is something I thought I could easily find on Amazon, if I decide I want to pursue it, but nooo! I'll have to order the exact replacement from Model Expo. and that's only in copper. Boy, would I love to get this in gold! I do like shiny things..

Misery loves company. Thanks for sharing and putting a smile on my face this morning, Jon.

Slow going on finishing up the rudder. When I started working on the starboard side, I realized that the rudder was narrower than the stern post on that side. So, I had to chisel away enough material to render the rudder flush with the stern post. That meant applying a new coat of stain, which took a day to cure. Then more poly needed to be applied. I also lost one of the gungeons. I spent a half hour sweeping everything within 10 ft of my chair in the workshop, and cleaned everything off the work table, but couldn't find it. I'm sure it will turn up - someday.. 😁 Then I fashioned the chain iron out of another strip of brass. I'm debating on whether or not to invest in a Dremel to make the part the chain fits through narrower. But perhaps not. As Gregg said, no one is going to be peeking through the glass on the display case with a magnifying glass.. On page 63 in chapter 12 of the practicum, Hunt says that the kit comes with three different sizes of chain. "You will use the smallest size", he says. The parts list that came with the Constitution does indeed indicate that the kit comes with three different size chains, but I can only find two. Interestingly, the chain pictured on page 64 of the practicum looks to be the middle sized one, which is the smaller of the two I have. Since I have eye bolts of different sizes, I could use this and be done with the rudder. To those of you who have done this, did you in fact have the 42 link per inch chain, part number WP0516 in the kit? And, did you paint it black, as Hunt instructs, but doesn't demonstrate? Once again, in the photos I see that some cleanup will be required.

I absolutely love the Fokker DR I, gorgeous. I'm sure it won't take you long to figure out where you left off with Conny, but from what I see, it seems you're ready to tackle the spars and rigging. Welcome back

Will do!

Coming from you, that is high praise indeed! Thank you kindly. As far as "clean" is concerned, zooming in on the photos above, I see some glue residue that needs to be scraped off before I cover all with poly.. Thanks again.

Not so much a case misreading, as a misunderstanding - "I made mine moveable strictly as a challenge of my skills. Once my model is in its display case, my rudder won't move either. " I was just curious how much you had challenged your skills. Happy St Nicholas Day all..

Right you are Jon. I never had any intention of having the rudder move. And you're right, once it's in the display case it's not moving, even if it could. So, when you say you're planning on having yours move, do you mean that you're going to rig things so that you can turn the wheel and the rudder will move? Port side done..

I used to follow you, but haven't seen anything posted in ages. I took a quick look just now, I couldn't find a build log for Winchelsia, but I'm using the phone. I'll look again when I'm in front of mother ship desktop. Welcome back..

Okay, no glue. Well, except for a tiny droplet at the pointy end of the nails I use to secure the gudgeons and pintels to the hull and rudder. I tried bending some brass at 90°, so I could make a U-shaped piece, but this brass was so brittle that it broke. In the end I decided it didn't matter. Because any pins wouldn't be seen anyway. So I'm taking a bit of a shortcut. Anyway here's the process.

I think I'm going to skip the chain, and the third anchor. I just don't care for the look of the dangling anchor. Initially, I had hoped the Constructo kit had brass (vs Model Shipway's copper) chain, but their plans show rope - not chain, but now, I think I've convinced myself to pass on the chain all together. Thanks for your input Jon.

I checked this out at Amazon (see print screen below). This does not appear to be available in a clear. Black, White, Brown and Tan are the only options. I may resort to giving this a try, if my experiment with drilling holes in the gudgeons and pintles and attaching these with nails fails. There is also the option to skip the installation of these entirely. 😁 Thanks for the suggestion, Gregg

we’re coming very close to the 6 month mark since your last post, but no rush 😁..

I returned to the shipyard yesterday, not much progress given multiple coats of primer, paint and poly. Although I did fabricate the rudder out of boxwood instead of using the basswood piece supplied with the kit. I have found that the brass strip material that I'm using does not adhere well to wood. I've tried both 5 minute epoxy, and C/A glue. (I can't begin to tell you how many times I've had to reapply adhesive to those brass bands around the anchor stock.) As such, I'm afraid of attempting to glue the gudgeons to the hull. Today I am using the kit's rudder in experimenting with gluing on brass strip. If that turns out to be dicey, I may opt to drill holes and attempt nailing gudgeons and pintles to hull and rudder. Here's another instance where, having chosen the standard black/white paint scheme instead, I could have hidden any glue runs. In retrospect, I'm regretting not having stained the anchor stock. That may yet come to pass.. (on second thought, no, it won't. That would require my sanding off the coats of poly to apply stain. I can't loose more ground to Mustafa, so am standing pat.) Also wrapped some .8 mm (1/32") wire around a 6.31 mm (1/4") rod, expanded the coil to 7.67 mm (5/16") per plans for the anchor rings. A question for those at this stage or beyond.. The kit’s plans suggest that the bow anchors are stowed without chains. I’ve looked at several builds for guidance. It seems that XKen has his anchors hanging, Kmart hasn’t gotten that far, neither has Mustafa. I don’t like the copper chain that came with the Model Shipways kit (geez, is there anything in that kit I like?). The kit comes with three anchors as well. Yet several builds exclude this one. Jon, I’ve seen all your photos on this, so please don’t resend them here. I’m just looking for a consensus view. How are you planning to display your anchors?

I did peek in, but found no cause for anything but praise. I truly appreciate you die hard sticklers for detail. One comment, however. If you decide to go with a natural finish instead of painting (the old gray cells not being what they used to be, I can't remember if this was something you were considering), I might choose better material for the masts. Excellent work..

Boy, Am I glad to hear that! I just fired off the order - 34 calendars at Shutterfly, with the 50% Black Friday discount (it's a US thing Mustafa) I saved myself nearly $800. Now that that monkey is off my back, I plan to resume work on Conny starting Monday, after the Thanksgiving weekend celebrations are concluded. Once again, I'm jealous at how well you do these things, Mustafa - and by your steady workflow. You continue to be an inspiration to us all.

I couldn't have said it better myself.. Looking forward to more of that "Mustafa quality" in future posts. Keep the details coming, please! Once I'm finally done with my annual calendar project - a Sisyphean effort not unlike Conny herself 😁, I'll be back in the race to (try to) catch back up to you. P.S. It's not entirely clear to me how that serving machine you made works for seizing the pendants. Is there a motor attached to your gizmo? How are you doing the winding?

Thank God for Jon and his expansive collection of photos! 😁

Yikes! Talk about being a glutton for punishment. 😁 I had to stare at the pictures in the last two posts for about 5 minutes before I figured out where the drop pins were in the last photo. I've gotta hand it to you, you certainly enjoy getting down to the nitty gritty in the details. Looking forward to seeing the tackles after in position and coiled.

I believe you know what my vote is. Indeed! Show off the woodwork!!! Gorgeous. This makes me even more upset I didn't know to use better materials when I started. Keep up the good work.

Great photos, thanks for sharing. Enjoy the rest of your vacation..

I deeply admire and respect the attention to authenticity and detail you're striving for, and I look forward to seeing your progress on the "1812-ish Commander Hull version of the Constitution".

Not quite. The Imagine feature provided with Grok 4 (X aka Twitter's A/I assistant), It will animate a still photo. Below is an example of a still photo of Conny that Grok animated. I asked it to dial back the animation to simple zoom in on one of the carronades. But you can get some really interesting results if you tell it to have "fun". I'll gladly remove theses, if you feel they are cluttering up your build log. Conny Video.mp4

Geez, comparing your head supports to mine, I bow my head in shame. What exceptional workmanship. Nice touch with the video. I've been experimenting with a feature called Imagine, which is included with Grok 4, and may post the results of one of those attempts.