Der Alte Rentner

Thank you Jon, Frankly, I couldn't quite figure out the three dimensional scheme either - hence my two dimensional approach. Having spent 6 hours at the shipyard today planking just the starboard side gallery bottom, I'm not sure I'm learning the right lessons. Seems to me that wood putty and paint could end up saving me a lot of time and effort. Had I not seen the Xken photos we recently discussed, I may not have planked at all. While not entirely happy with the results, I console myself with the notion that once Conny is right side up, the flaws will be less noticeable. For what it's worth, I have a smidge more to show for today's effort. I do have two planks installed on the port side.

Thanks, I've been watching your progress on Lady Isabelle and am thinking about my next one - in 2026? I added some photos to the above. After posting, I returned to the shipyard to do the port side. Once I had the technique down, I only needed a couple hours to repeat the process. I think I'll follow XKen's lead and plank the gallery bottom before I plank to the keel on the rest of the hull.

2024 Jan 14, I figured out an easier(?) method for fabrication the lower gallery. Using a bevel gauge, contour gauge, scroll saw, 1/16" basswood, chisel and sanding sticks, I made three thin layers to affix to the counter extension - adjusting the shape after the addition of each layer. I left room for planking later. Looks good as far as I can tell. Some shape tweaking may be required when I get to the planking.

I'll chime in with the other rave reviews with a single word, Magnificent! Curious, where do you store all your finished projects?

When I was saving the photo above, I noticed there WERE other XKen pictures in my files that did in fact show him constructing the lower galleries. It's maddening! Where did I get these pictures from? My naming convention identifies these as coming from XKen. Where are these hiding? No sense looking again, this appears to be the Hunt approach, over which the builder planks. I will revisit post 199 and see what I may glean from that. Any thoughts from you on a better way to approach the lower gallery? The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of using 1/16" thick stock to build the gallery bottom one layer at a time. Each layer should be easier to shape than carving a blob of basswood. Either way, I realize now that, If I don't paint, I'll have to plank anyway. Thanks Jon

I know this question comes M A N Y years after your post on January 30, 2016, but I have to ask.. How did you form the gallery bottom? I've been back and forth between pages 4 and 6 of your build log multiple times. Until the photo of the planked gallery bottom here on page 5, there's no mention of the method you used. I'm at the point in my build where I'm either going to plank down to the keel, and deal with the gallery bottom later, or do the gallery bottom first. The method in the Hunt Practicum is not my first choice, in that I've tried to model that piece at least three times and failed miserably. I'm thinking of tackling it in layers roughly the thickness of the planking you used to cover it. Another thought is to cover the area with masking tape, to protect the planking around it, and use wood putty to form the bottom. After the shape is satisfactory and cured, I'd remove the masking tape and glue the bottom in place. (I'm leaning towards the layered method because I might actually kill two birds with one stone. It should look planked when done (if done well)). Any advice you could provide here would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Peter (aka Der Alte Rentner)

Thank you Mustafa

Wow, there's something quite charming about Conny without the makeup. Thank you so much Jon. This gives me all the more incentive to really concentrate on the details early - to have the option later...

Seems to be the story of my life. I get a lead on a website that could make my life easier, then the site ends up "temporarily closed". Oh well. At my pace of construction, I'll have several months before I need to consider alternatives. Long time no see. Are you still working on Conny?

I can confirm that this is quite the challenging build - and I too welcome you to the group. Geoff's is a great build to reference, as are XKen's, Mustafa's and JSGerson's - among others. I've been at it since July, and am finding the process enjoyable, if slow going (just finished the wales, which took two weeks). I'm glad you have the Bob Hunt Practicum as a starting point. It sure helps if you're coming into this project stone cold, which I did - if you don't count the Revell plastic kit I built about 45 years ago, but that was child's play compared to this. I wish you every success and look forward to following your progress Best Peter (aka Der Alte Rentner)

January 10 update. Starboard side wale finally complete. Yep, 4 hours per strake. I hope the rest of the planking goes more swiftly. I lost a bunch of time with the segments that end up at the counter. Today I spent nearly 2 hours just with a plank that ran from bulkhead P to the counter. Yeech... At quick glance, things look fairly good. The stern looks fairly even, but closer observation reveals wale planks are a tad off in terms of symmetry at the stem. It's plainly obvious in the last photo, but as Jon and Mustafa pointed out, I can compensate with subsequent planking. I suspect once all the planking is in, these variances won't be as noticeable. Jon, If you are reading this.. In your massive photo database, do you have pictures of USS Constitution models that are not painted? If so, please share. Thanks

I was introduced to your build by JBGerson. This note caught my attention. With arthritic fingers, I may follow your advice when I get to that stage of my build, presumably in the next month or so. Happy 2024, if you're still following along online.. Best Der Alte Rentner

That is my plan. When I return to the shipyard tomorrow, I'm starting the starboard side wale. Now that I know what to keep an eye on, I'll adjust the widths as I add each strake. Since I'm still hopeful of staying with a natural (or lightly stained) wood finish, and since only one side of the model will be facing the room where it will be displayed, I'm thinking I can present the better looking side to the public. And no one but my MSW followers will know the difference. But I believe I will indeed get to know your best friend very well very soon.. (I've experimented with that nasty bit of carving that will be the lower gallery piece. That may end up simply being formed with filler/putty and possibly covered with thin planking strips) Thanks again Jon, Have a great 2024. P.S. Here's someone who is not starting 2024 off on great footing. Someone left a garage door open and Mr. M tried to raid the shipyard. How he managed to entangle himself on 3 of the 4 traps along the wall remains a mystery.

Thanks Geoff, It will be some time before I get to the rigging, but having your build log to draw inspiration and techniques from will be a blessing when I finally get to that stage of the build - hopefully in less than 10 years.. 😉

One word is all that's necessary. BRAVO!

I have been edge bending, which has really only been necessary for three of the strips on each side. That isn't the problem, as you can see in these two photos. I'll try capture the waviness issues in a photograph when I return to the shipyard. But a second issue has surfaced that I should have addressed a few strakes ago. It may be more problematic than the waviness. Look carefully at the photos below - at the wale at bulkhead D. It doesn't seem so blatant when viewed deck side up (first photo - taken after 7th and final wale strake installed), and may yet more-or-less disappear when the planking is done. But it's distressing when viewed keel side up (older photo with only 6 strakes on). Thank you for the tip of the bending technique with the iron. I saw an earlier post of yours where you showed your method for bending the planks at the counter. I've been doing that last twist by hand after bending the plank with a plank bending tool. But I like your bending jig option and will adapt that going forward.

Say it isn't so! I was counting on you, as the only other Newbie, to keep me company on my build of the Constitution. Not having seen a post from you in a while, I did a look-see, and learned you've abandoned ship. That is sad news to me, but I'll follow this build to see how you fare. Best of luck on the new build. and Happy New Year. Peter (aka Der Alte Rentner)

Hi Geoff, I'm responding to your post to JBGibson, where you showed that stunning closeup of the transom. I've looked at your build log in the past and was chagrinned to see that you began posting with the rigging. I would love to see how you progressed from the beginning to the point you started posting. Am I just not aware of where to look? Or is there no documentation of your earlier work on the Constitution? Best, Peter

Thank you Mustafa. In light of my response to JSGerson, I hope you're right. Happy New Year to you as well.

Thanks Jon, For what it's worth, I didn't use the spreadsheet at the shipyard. I prepared it rather than run back there while updating my personal build log to retrieve and photograph my pieces of scrap paper. I am noticing as I work, that the hull itself has a wavy surface now. Evidently, fairing the bulkheads wasn't as precisely done as I would have liked. It's more noticeable with the hull upside down, but even right side up, I'm aware of it. I don't know how well I'll be able to flatten the surfaces later, if at all. I suppose this could lead to me painting the ship anyway - after applying corrective wood filler. Time will tell.. Happy New Year

Work continues on the port side wale. This may be way too much detail to post at the website, but I’m adding it to my personal build log, so I may as well show the steps I’m using to shape the wale segments. I started with the plans (page 3), which show the width of each zone of planking. Focusing on the wale for this step, I used a flexible measuring tape to measure the full width of the wale at each bulkhead. I then divided by 7 to get the widths for individual wale segments. Putting together a planking order, so as not to have butt joints one above the other, I then transferred the dimensions to a grid. The dimensions were marked at the points on a wale segment where the segment contacted the bulkheads. A line was drawn connecting these marks and the piece was clamped into the vice of my Proxxon micro milling machine with the line parallel to the vice jaw. I milled to the line, which got me close. Then fine tuned the material removal with a sanding stick. Finally, I beveled the bottom edge of each segment to facilitate tighter bonding surfaces. The segments are usually much wider than the vice jaw. In this case, after milling say from one end to the middle, I move the piece so that the previously cut part is outside of the jaw. This sounds dicey, but actually works pretty well. The key is to keep that pencil line at the same distance above the vise jaw. With good magnifying glasses and light, no problem.. The milling gets you very close, but to really nail it, you need to use a sanding stick. Proof positive that you can get very precise tapering. A dry test fit should confirm if the piece was properly tapered. But there’s more shaping to do. To get a better fit when gluing the piece in, I bevel from the outer face to the bulkhead face on (in this upside down configuration) the top edge of the plank. I spread Titebond glue on the upper face of the previously installed strake, and use gel super glue at the bulkheads. This technique minimizes the use of clamps, as the super glue sets quickly. The Titebond glue sets up more slowly, but does a nicer job of filling the gaps. Then it’s time to get busy with the chisel and get the faces nice and smooth. ( I started in the photo below). That’s followed up by passes with successively finer grits of sandpaper to really smooth things over. Five strakes down. Two more to go on the port board side, then seven on the starboard. At four hours per strake, I have about a week’s work ahead of me to finish the wales. I won’t chime in again until I’m ready to move on to the lower gallery pieces.

Also, the Navy plan you supplied shows the wale is tapered. Perhaps that's why it doesn't show in the 1914 photograph. I looked long and hard to see a bump in the MS plans, and didn't see any. I'll proceed with stock that's slightly thicker than the 3 rows of planking directly above the wale to allow me some flexibility when fairing the hull. Jon, your interest an knowledge of these little details is unparalleled. Kudos to you!

And Mustafa, I apologize for submitting my original question about the wale in your log. Sometimes I lose track of where I am at this website. (The old grey cells, they ain't what they used to be...) BTW, beautiful job on the painting there!

Your photo does suggest that there is some added thickness in the recent edition of the Constitution. I did not see that in the Aug 18, 1914 reference photo I supplied above. And compared to Bob Hunt's example, the wale in your latest photo is subtle indeed. Since we're confabbing on Mtbediz' dime, I'll add that Mustafa seems not to have added thickness there either. Because I've already shaved some of the existing planking between the gunports and where the wales are supposed to begin, the difference in thickness I'm looking at is even more severe than in the Hunt Practicum photo. I'm pretty good with a chisel, but if I add the wale, I think I'll be better off using stock that's a little thicker than the existing planking - not the 3/32 x 1/8" material Bob used in Chapter 6. That should make shaping the planks at the stern somewhat easier too. Thanks again Jon

Unrelated to the previous conversation: Just a word of thanks Rich. I was starting the planking of the wale yesterday and stopped to do some research. I posted a question in my own build log on the subject, but then did a search on "Constitution wale" and among the results was your build. I spent the morning poring over it, making notes, "borrowing" photos, and comparing to the Practicum. Your photos provided much more detail than those provided in the Hunt Practicum and have solidified in my mind the process going forward. I copied some portions of your planking discussion and printed it to have on hand at my shop. Thanks for posting such exhaustive detail. (and for chiming in with opinions and answers when I've inquired) Saint Nicholas Day has come and gone, So Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you! Best Peter