Der Alte Rentner

Chapter 3 ends with Mr. Hunt building a base with materials he had on hand. This is my own design, based on some photos of model ship bases I saw on the internet. The brass pedestals required counter sinking to allow the brass flat head screw to lie flush. I got the shape for the cradle from the plans for Buckhead J, which seemed to be the right place in the hull for the support. Some tweaking with drum sander required for good fit.

While I'm experimenting with paints, stains, dies, and finishes, I finished the last task in Chapter 3 of the practicum.

Yes, yes I have. However, as long as it took to get the first round of planking done, I'm not really thrilled about the prospect of repeating the process. My thoughts this morning are to try the stain first. If I like the way it looks, great. If not, covering the hull with the planking material provided in the Constructo kit may be preferable to painting.. P.S. your signature phrase, “Indecision may or may not be my problem.” ― Jimmy Buffett Made me LOL!

Gotta love that Proxxon mill.

Frankly, I have no idea, hence the experimentation. My guess is poly negates the need for primer. BTW, I did some prior experimentation with primer and think this is a complete waste of time. You'll still need multiple coats of paint to adequately cover the primer. Last night I tried making a paint by mixing a few drops of dye with a tsp of clear polyacrylic. The resultant paint netted about the same awful result as the paint supplied by Model Shipways when I purchased my kit. It will take multiple coats (at least 4) of either to get a uniform coat - and the brush marks are decidedly unsightly. Were I committing to a black hull, I would definitely opt for the black dye. It goes pitch black in one application. Covering with poly may require many coats though, as the polyacrylic seems to dissolve the dye on the first two coats I've applied so far in this test. As lousy as the results with paint have been in my experimentation, be it the Model Shipway product or my home made dye/poly paint, I would need to consider spray paint/air brush options, if paint ends up being the direction I choose. The cleanest results are with gel stain followed by poly. I could stain the entire hull and decide later to cover with paint, if I don't like the way it looks. Boy, do I wish I'd chosen better materials in planking than this cruddy basswood. If I'd known at the start of this project that wood matters, I may have used the Constructo kit materials on the Conny build instead. Live and learn. P.S. Sorry, I forgot to answer your question about using dye on the cannons. I don't think this would work. If you want to experiment, let me know how that works for you. Cannons are a ways off for me right now. Wouldn't spray primer followed by spray black (or the combo primer/paint product) be the simplest approach? I've used Rustoleum spray on metal before with great results.

Experimenting with stains and finishes begins. This will take some time because I'm trying oil based gel stain, which I've grown to love using on larger refinishing projects. According to information gleaned from the internet, the curing time needs to be between 24 hours and 3 days before covering with polyacrylic varnish. Why polyacrylic? Because that's what the Hunt practicum advises. He applies no less than four coats of this to the hull after planking but before painting. (why? oh why? Mr. Hunt does your practicum not address painting the hull below the gunports? and why would you need four coats of polyacrylic before you apply three coats of black paint? - but I digress..) Since I'm still hoping to stick with a natural finish, I want a better/darker color than the kit's basswood hull planking provides. My first experiment is the plank section on the left. Tried a combination stain/finish in walnut, with the plank in the middle unstained surrounded by one and two coats of the walnut. Next up are three samples using Old Master's gel stain and one Old Master's wipe on stain. The gel is easier to work with, but since I did have one open can of the American walnut, I threw it into the mix. The other three colors are maple, cherry and pecan. The last piece in the mix has only one coat of polyacrylic - so far. After the stains cure, I plan to apply four coats of polyacrylic to those samples as well. Lastly, I'm going to experiment with gluing various parts to these samples to see how well Super Glue holds. While I wait, time to finish the last step in chapter 3 of the practicum - build a base for Conny. I had a nice slab of oak left over from another project and reacquainted myself with my router table. Oh Gee! is that an ogee? Pedestal fabrication is next. I may unbox my Proxon lathe and try turning the pedestals myself. Another option: Black dye. I used this with fantastic results on another project years ago where I wanted to simulate ebony. Now, to use this, I'd either have to apply it to the wood before doing anything else (besides sanding), or I'd have to mix it with clear polyacrylic. Here, I applied the dye directly to unfinished basswood sample. I wasn't happy to see the warping, but think this won't be a problem on the hull, given everything seems to be solidly affixed. If I decide to paint, then this option would give me a solid black color in one pass. When I return to the ship yard, I'm going to try mixing the dye with polyacrylic. Most likely I will still try one of the stains above first. If I'm unhappy with the result, back to plan B, which is to cover with polyacrylic, then to paint. I have experimented with the paint before and learned that multiple coats would be required to cover properly. Hopefully with a dye/poly I can get by with one?

Frankly, those boats have always looked like they're painful to construct. Now that I've gotten some experience working with gouges (including the sharpening thereof), I might revisit the topic - sooner rather than later. .. having reviewed the Hunt videos on this just now, I'm leaning towards later rather than sooner. In the (very) short term, I'll enjoy a respite from the shipyard, poring over build logs, gathering information, ideas and inspiration.

If I knew I could achieve the results you did with the Essex, I'd be loathe NOT to paint and copper! Thanks.

Thanks for the vote of confidence, Mustafa. One thought I have it to stain the bulk of the hull to be darker than the section along the gun ports. But in general, is there anything I should know about applying stains, poly, polyacrylic, and subsequent gluing? There will be many parts to affix to the hull in the coming months, and I'm concerned about how will these will adhere. I would not want to sand away then, any finish I painstakingly apply now.

You make it sound like that's not much progress. Trust me, the pace you're setting is exhausting to some 😁 who are following your build. Impressive work as usual Mustafa. Kudos!

At last! Planking is done. The last row was a royal PITA! but all's well that ends well. Next steps? Decide whether or not to paint. If not, figure out a staining scheme, but experiment mightily first! To buy time, and not derail construction, I may divert to other aspects of the build - maybe start constructing masts and spars? Or, as seems very popular amongst others here at MSW, start on the cannons. But, First things first. Tonight I celebrate this milestone with a double Manhattan and a fine meal out! Tomorrow can wait.

I plan to retroactively update one of my posts from where I began the planking process with notes from my 'future self'. One thought I'll share now is this: If you plan to paint and add copper plating, you can probably spare yourself a lot of grief up front. As you pointed out, wood filler, sand paper and then paint, should correct any mistakes made in planking - up to a point. Looking back at the 'guide', Mr. Hunt said, "I have sanded the hull with 100, 150 and 220 grit sandpaper and given it 4 coats of Polycyclic. I sanded with 400 grit sandpaper between coats and gave the hull a good rub down with #0000 steel wool after the last coat was applied. The hull is smooth as glass and will take the paint and copper plating well." I'm surprised that, after all that prep work, one can still discern the gaps between the planks. Had he gone over the dips in the hull he mentioned with wood filler, those sections would probably look odd without the gaps on the neighboring planking.

I have the same issue with the material that came with the kit. I tried three approaches to deal with the problem. 1. I asked Model Shipways to provide replacement strips. (No response since their acknowledgement email on December 1, 2023.) 2. I ordered replacement strips from Modeler's Sawmill. Unfortunately the strips were significantly darker than the basswood that came with the kit. Because I was/am still hoping to keep a natural finish, these were not usable. (They were also significantly shorter - I'd say 2/3 the length of the stock in the kit, so ask about that when you order). 3. I went to Ace Hardware and purchased material that was a tad thicker than the kit's stock, and used my thickness drum sander to get make my own replacement strips. The color was an exact match, and the strips were spot on in their dimensions.

I couldn't resist posting this pic. Five more strakes on the port side and the hull will be fully planked. (I did fit the garboard strake there yesterday, so I'm close to being done.) One lesson I learned was that the fairing process at the onset - as well as that of carving of the rabbets at the bearding line, needed more attention to detail. I'm paying the price now. It took two days to lay in the garboard and remaining 4 strakes in zone 8, mostly because I had to fiddle with the rabbets and bulkheads at the bearding line. Really sharp gouges of varying sizes made this doable. And had I waited to do the garboard strake last, I would have been in deep doodoo💩! The good news was that I could use just one plank there. For all the attention to planking in the "guide" (Andre's term) there's no mention of handling the garboard strake. Several resources I've consulted handle that particular strake differently than the rest and install it earlier in the process.

don't forget, you'll need to grind off that lip to use these as I did. (I wish I'd found these sooner in the planking process, but better late than never)

Likewise here.

Very Interesting. When I googled the name, I got a hit for someone associated with Anxiety Canada - a much younger fellow than this Mark who would be in his mid 70s today. Thank you for providing the link Gregg. The blurb on Mark there did say he built a 1/4" (1:48) scale version of the Constitution in 1990. The piece goes on to say where it was displayed for a time in its history, ending with - it "was subsequently put on loan to the Maine Maritime Academy in Castine, Maine where it was displayed for a several years." I will pursue that lead to see if I can find where it is today. I would love to see it up close. Thanks again. best Peter

Simply stunning Jon, I don't suppose you know the scale? I'm guessing this is a fairly large model, judging by the details I'm seeing. Thank you kindly good sir.

Aha! That is the just nugget I was prospecting for. I'm fairly technologically apt, using photoshop and word to produce my own pdf version of the build log. You'll see what that looked like in my earliest posts. Because I wasn't seeing the resolution I desired posting pdf log pages, I switched to using the site's photo upload features. I generally prefer high resolution photographs - so I can zoom in for more detail. Hence I haven't really needed to post pairs of photos side by side, but thought about doing so today. Thanks for sharing Gregg! and, the Blue Nose may be my next build, if I ever finish Conny! 😉

It is indeed! Thank you. And keep up the impressive work.

Okay, I just took a snapshot of the plans. The access to the head seems is between timbers 2 and 3, while the bridle port resided between timbers 3 and 5, which is where the "guide" says to put the filler. However, it's now obvious to me that the planksheer is well above the bridle port. Therefore, I too have no idea what Hunt was talking about in this case. In general, I've learned that wherever you have planking (or in this case, planksheer) going over a curved span, it's not a bad idea to have filler material underneath to aid in maintaining the curve. Is it necessary here? Not sure, but as you can see, I did the exact same thing that you did. Also, you too got to my first response before I changed my original reply to your question.

Jon, Where did you get the photo with the 1797 version below? I'd love to see more photos of the hull. I like the contrast between the painted uppers, and the natural finish on the bottom. Thanks Peter I apologize in advance to Mustafa for bogarting in on his build log. These photos came from an earlier post in his build. Feel free to delete.

Hey Mustafa, What are you using to take those closeups - especially the likes of the mast bitts? A camera with a macro lens? or your phone's camera? Thanks Peter

(P.S. to Scottish Guy, I just edited my reply because, in the first go-aroung, I answered the wrong question. I though Andre was asking about the support for timber 4).. No, Bob's right. The bridle port is between timbers 3 and 5, if I read the plans correctly just now.

Greg, How are you formatting your photos in these posts? Or asked another way, how are you getting photos to appear side by side? Thanks Peter