Der Alte Rentner

What a wonderful Christmas tradition! Thanks for sharing, and of course, Merry Christmas to you and yours as well. Best DAR

Hi Jon, Shifting my attention to the anchors, and having overlooked your methodology on the installation of rudder chains, I perused your build log first in my research on rigging ideas for the anchors. I seem to remember in another conversation, that you plan to employ three methods of displaying them. Will one of them be XKen’s approach for the bow anchors - lashing them to two brackets just forward of the channels? There seem to be as many options as builders on this. I’m not keen to strop hooks onto Syren triple blocks, so there is some appeal in omitting these altogether. just curious..

Now that I’m looking at the photo, I think I’ll remove a few links from the chain on the port side to even things out. Thanks, Jon

Found the chain, and used copper wire to fashion links with which to affix the chain segments to the eyebolts.

Agreed!

It's academic now, Jon. I just finished rigging the anchor chains. I did revisit your posts 757 through 760, and saw that you tried to stick with the plan. I didn't see me trying to squeeze 5 eyebolts into the inch and a half or so on either side of the rudder. Also, I did like the look of the copper chain after all. I chose to cut the chain into shorter segments with open links at either end and used copper wire to reconnect the segment after passing the wire through the eyebolt. Not too dissimilar to your attaching the chain with thread. It beat the Hunt method which relied on glue to hold the chain into place on the eyebolts. It's amazing how many different ways there are to skin this cat. Tom, I would still appreciate seeing how you skinned yours. Thanks all.

After you’ve completed your state of the Constitution assessment, might I prevail upon you to provide some photos of your rudder and rudder chain assembly? I can’t find a single photo of the aft end of Conny - at least not since you constructed the galleries. (By the way, once again, kudos on your truly excellent workmanship on those). I think I have my general approach thanks to Usedtosail’s build log, but I’m curious how you tackled this. Especially details around the outboard ends of the chains. Did you bury them in holes in the hull? Or just end them at the outboard eyebolts? Thanks

I had to search high and low for a method to deal with the rudder chains, so, once again fired up the way-back machine and found this post from over a decade ago. I had the same issue as you, but hadn’t thought of cutting that skinny chain until I read the above. Fiddly doesn’t begin to describe this process, (I know from attempting to thread copper into the end loops), but I have my direction now. Thanks for posting this little detail. and kudos for providing the index at the beginning of your build log. Merry Christmas.

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.