Der Alte Rentner

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.

Now, THAT'S!! a true friend. Sadly, in my experience, a loan usually ends up becoming a "gift".

Picture yourself holding the channels in place while gluing them in, or fitting and gluing on the caps. The problem is that your fingers tend to curl around the rails while you're working in the vicinity. As careful as you think you're going to be, when one or more of the pins snap, you realize that, Doh! I forgot again.

I finally finished the starboard side channels and chain plates. Well, almost.. I had to do a little trimming on the channels, which required a little touch up with stain, which in turn requires 24 hours to cure. So, putting a couple of coats of matte poly on them will have to wait a day or so. While I contemplate next steps, (the remaining three items in chapter 12 of the practicum - steps, anchors and rudder), I'll update the build log with a few new photos. By the way, the belaying pin replacement count was an even dozen. I repeat my earlier advice, don't glue in the belaying pins until you're ready to use them. There's almost no way to work on chain plates and channels without taking them out.

Very nicely done. Amazing result, especially given that you had to manufacture your own planks on a table saw. Even more impressive is the that you didn't ruin your plane blades on that aluminum plank plaining jig. I never in a million years would have considered using the plan to level and shape the planks once they were on the hull. (Fishtail chisel would have been my choice). Kudos to you Haiko!

I do not plan to add stanchions to my model, but I took great interest in your use of jigs to manufacture yours. Were I to add stanchions to my model, I wouldn't have the luxury of soldering on the extension, leaving me with the mental exercise of figuring out how to modify your jig to also factor in the extension. You're leaving me in the dust Mustafa! The good news is, I'll have plenty of fresh new references to help me in the coming years to help me finish my Constitution. Great work as always.

Port side channels, chain plates, deadeyes, and portlights done. After a brief pause to enjoy a photo op, I will turn my attention to the starboard side.

Slow going here, but save for stain on the fore channel cap, port side channels and chain plates done. Pro tip for other builders, do not glue in any belaying pins. You're going to break a number of them when you're gluing in the caps and messing around with the dead eyes and chain plates. Also, be aware that mizzen channel sports the two smaller deadeyes (5/32" and 1/8" vs 3/16" and 5/32" on main and fore mast channels). I was wondering why I was running low on the 3/16" deadeyes, and noticed only too late, that I screwed up on the mizzen channel. My mistake was that I referenced the kit's plans instead of the Hunt practicum specifics in chapter 10.2 - pages 28 and 29. I guess too many days had elapsed between construction of the dead eyes and that of the chain plates and channels. Oh well. (How many times have I said that over the course of this build? 🤔) I'm going to live with the difference rather than try to pry off the mizzen cap. It would appear that I will be making more dead eyes in the immediate future.

Glad to see you didn't make the mistake I made on the waterways. Your carronades may yet poke through the gunports on the spar deck. Happy swimming..

I love a perfectionist. Simply magnificent.