Geoff Matson

While all of this was going on, I was also busy rigging four more sets of guns to match pace with the gun deck construction. These had to be in position before I could glue into place the dining partition, the Commodore’s pantry, and the spar deck floor beams. The partition doors were then installed in an open configuration leading into the dining area. The last item was installing the mizzen mast supports giving the future mast a 5° rake.

When I dry fitted the spar deck floor beam to the partition. I neglected to account for the effect it would have on the partition doors. I had drawn them too tall. Also, I noticed that the printed panels and doors were not to my liking, and the pasting work on the pantry front was not centered properly. So, all the printing and pasting had to be done over, as well as making new shorter doors.

Half Column on Commodore’s Pantry
The next component was the half column at the center of the forward end of the pantry. This was fabricated just like the column aft of the stove, however one side was flattened using a block sander until only a half column remained. The half column was then glued to the front of the pantry.

Construction of the Commodore’s pantry was made from three identical pieces of 1/32” plywood based on the US Navy plans and four vertical glueing surfaces. Using a four-way clamp, the three pantry walls were glued together. Next the two corners were filed to rounded them off. The partition was then dry fitted on the gun deck again for the image below.

Using card stock, I made a template for the partition. Then, using 1/32” plywood, I fabricated the partition based on the template. Due to the expected confined viewing space and dark lighting inside the finished model, the partition and pantry walls details will not be seen clearly. Like I did for the captain’s cabin’s interior walls previously, I printed the details of the partition walls on paper using PowerPoint and pasted them onto 1/32” plywood.

At this point, I’ve installed the main beams above the first two pairs of guns after the bow dummy guns. There are additional supplementary support beams between the main beams which I have not installed because this area will be mostly covered by the spar deck planking. However, as I progress aft, areas of the spar deck will be open to the gun deck for viewing.  I haven’t decided whether to install some or none of these supplementary beams because they will substantially obscure the view of the gun deck. This last main beam (as you view the image) is just forward of the main hatch where the whale boat is to be stored on the spare deck. My original intension was to work aft from the bow adding the gun rigging, furniture, support stanchions and beams as I progressed. I have since decided to pause here and start work from the stern forward and pausing to construct the supports for the hatchways as I encounter them.

The next  stage of construction was fitting out the mast partners, inner bulwarks, and deck.  On a real ship, the mast partners were made up from several pieces of wood.  For simplicity, I made the mast partners from single piece of cherry from my scrap box.  In the kit, it is made from two pieces of 1/32” basswood, with the two pieces oriented 90 degrees to each other for strength.  It measures 5’6” x 4’ x 3”.  The center of the mast is located 6” forward of the center point of the partners, to allow enough room for four eyebolts aft for securing the truss pendants and lifts.  It is not 100% historically accurate but compromises had to be made during kit design.
 
The mast is 17.5” in diameter at the partners and is raked aft so the opening will be oval, not round, with the long axis fore and aft.  I began by drilling a hole smaller than the final dimension.  It will be finessed later.  Remember, you can always remove more wood...you can't put it back.  Then the edges and corners were rounded over.


The waterway was made from two pieces of wood laminated together.  Because of the amount of hull curvature, I prefer to make a template and cut the outline of the bulwark onto a sheet of wood rather than edge-bend.  The template is very simple: a piece of paper which is gradually trimmed to the correct shape.  You only need one template since the two sides are mirror images of each other. The outboard edge of the waterway was traced onto the 1/32” basswood sheet and cut.

Using a compass, a line was the drawn 10” inboard and the waterway was cut out.  I prefer to make all my marks on the undersurface of the wood, where they will not be seen.  All four surfaces were sanded smooth, keeping the edges sharp.

Using the same template, I drew the outboard line on a second piece of basswood and cut it out.  A second line was drawn 4” inboard.  This was cut out and sanded but the upper-inner edge was rounded over.  The pictures show both pieces of the waterway.


The first layer of the waterway was installed and because a template was used, it fits perfectly and without tension.  After the first piece was dry, the second narrow piece was added next to the bulwark, rounded over edge inboard. 

Looks like all is coming together nicely. Lots. of work, but big rewards. Have fun

Zone 3 complete.  5 to go.  
 
First four, right side up.  Last 4, work side up.

 

 
Still struggling with the lighting.  Note to self:  Self, bring camera and tripod to shipyard.  
 

 
The camera picks up details the eyeballs don't.  The symmetry is slightly off again.  Oh well..

 
Not so obvious in this view.  

 

 

 

 

Finished roughing out the Stern Transom. I don’t have enough experience to know how much more to sand, so I’m done for now. Between the 1” block sander and the Proxxon sanding attachments- fine tuning of this area should be an effort of finessing to the planks. 

Mast Reinforcements
 
These were fun - a simple walkthrough of the practicum steps. I utilized my micro mitre box, micro chisels, and a sharp #11 Exacto. I used 1/8”x1/4” stock and measured to Detail 2-E of plan sheet 2. The mizzen and main masts are just a measure, cut and glue exercise. The fore mast requires a little effort to measure because the bulkhead rises into the mast slot. Note that your port and starboard support beams are unique so label them. Be sure to clean out any glue that squirts into the mast slot before it dries! I added a pic with glue and then cleaned out. That glue may be a bit of a PIA to get out when set. 
 
Upon reflection- I believe the model ship gods may be chuckling at me for calling this simple. They know what’s in store when it’s time to shape the masts to these slots. 

I have finally made my goal. I can fully rig the futtock and bentinck shrouds off the model. All I have to do is fish the hooks through the ringing and attach them to the bottom of the deadeyes. Then glue the pin in the bottom of the bentinck rigging in the deck. And lastly use the seizing at the top thimble to make the final adjustment, glue it place with diluted white glue and snip off the end. Now all I have to do is make four of these subassemblies and I am good to go. 

Stern Transom
 
For some reason, I’ve really been looking forward to this section. Perhaps because the stern of the Constitution is pretty darn cool and I’ve admired it and the ship for my entire life. For those using the practicum - ignore the section that says something about adding an 1/8” to the back of the transom frames (section 2.2, Pg 17). It will send you on a snipe hunt (it was something likely relating to a mis-step Bob encountered and later fixed). 
 
I first transferred the frame template from plan sheet #2. You will quickly see that the outermost frame lines will not work and will need to be addressed later. I cleaned up my frames with fine grit sanding, and marked on the counter, the necessary 1 1/16” between the frames closest to the centerline and 23/32” between the next outer frame, as advised in the practicum. 23/32” isn’t a measurement I’m used to so I converted it to 11/16ths (I think). When sanding the char from the frames, be sure not to destroy the “knuckles” on the backside, bottom of the frames - or reduce the frame size. 
 
My counter and bulkhead R were a little less square than I realized, resulting in a slight gap when fitting the frames. I was concerned that sanding the frames to compensate would reduce their size. I solved the problem by utilizing some ultra thin strips of decking planks leftover from my Swift build. One was not enough, so I added a second segment on the lower 1/4 of the frame and sanded to fit. I added pictures to show the initial gap and the subsequent fix.
 
I used WeldBond, applying a bit early so it would be sticky and moveable during  placement. I then positioned the frames and measured.  I was off a fraction, so moved outside the line to stick with the true measurement, rather than the lines transferred from the plans - as directed by Mr. Hunt. 
 
To hold down the glued frames, I borrowed a technique I saw in someone’s build log (I can’t recall who). 

My first jog
 

 
 
4 zones done.  12 to go.
 

 

 
crud, I just noted the lack of symmetry!  Gotta fix that with the next strake..

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Rough Bow work completed. Will need sanding. I will eyeball it and detail the fairing later. I added slightly larger timbers (3/32”) for the port side top strengtheners, and added more between #3&5. 
 
Other build logs as well as pictures in the practicum show shaping for the bowsprit. A Proxxon tool and Kutzall Burr kit did the job.
 
I’m looking forward to the stern transom framework.

After reviewing 4-5 build logs and the ship plans, I can’t see a plausible reason for the 9/16” precision measurement on the 3-5 timbers. At this point - close is good enough. I’ll deal with consequences later. That #4 timber sure is a skinny fellow. The spar deck framing fits flush with the timbers and provides a flush surface with a plank (metal ruler) over bulwarks A-D, and the timbers are reasonably well positioned for planking. Time to glue. I will sand smooth when dry. 

Sometimes when you don't post for several weeks, it doesn't mean you were not working on your model. In my case, it was several weeks of mistakes and figuring out how to do things. I decided to scrap several plans of rigging the futtock and bentinck shrouds on my Conny. After doing lots of research and viewing the pictures from the above posts by GSGerson I decided to go a different way. My main plan was to rig as much as I could off the model. When you view the photos on the real Constitution, the area of rigging under the fighting tops looks like a big spiderweb. Then if you figure in all the seizings it just looked clunky. 
 
I made all the metal parts using 28 gauge black annealed wire. My main tool was my needle nose pliers The end of my pliers was the diameter of my ring. There was a little learning curve, but it all went well. I even tried to simulate the serving on these parts with line. But, it was beyond my pay grade. I feel this gave me a less cluttered look and it looks more realistic. The real trick was to get these parts made and make them look close to scale. Please realize I have some paint touch up on the rings and metal parts. 
 
This is part one of the subassembly 

I have finally made my goal. I can fully rig the futtock and bentinck shrouds off the model. All I have to do is fish the hooks through the ringing and attach them to the bottom of the deadeyes. Then glue the pin in the bottom of the bentinck rigging in the deck. And lastly use the seizing at the top thimble to make the final adjustment, glue it place with diluted white glue and snip off the end. Now all I have to do is make four of these subassemblies and I am good to go. 

Looking good. It seems like when you think you have it right you can always find a little more to do. Your final test will come when you have your bulkheads all faired and then using a text plank to check how things fit. 

Hey, I'm getting the hang of this planking thing!  It's time consuming getting everything set up before gluing a plank segment, but done right, the seams are really tight and there's very little trimming required afterwards.  Nuff said..  (well, except for figuring out how the new phone camera works.  I swear these photos looked a log lighter on the phone.  Oh well.)
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

I can't believe how long it's taking per strake on the remaining planking.  Yesterday I was at the shop for 6 hours of uninterrupted work, and I only got two strakes on the port side done.  With the one I did a few days earlier, I have 77 more to go.  At 3 hours per strake, I've got 231 hours to go before the hull is finished.  I had hoped to get into a groove, but found that there was more prep work involved before adding a strake, and more finishing work required after a strake was in.  The prep work was mostly tweaking the bulkheads, which I thought I had faired so well (evidently NOT), and making adjustments to my math to keep the strake line clean - no more dips or fat spots.   
 
In retrospect, Bob Hunt's slight shortcut of using 1/8" planks for the central sections of the hull would have saved me some time.  But, in for a penny, in for a pound.  I'm losing a bit of time shaving a fraction of a mm off of each plank there.  But the milling machine makes that fairly easy.  
 
Also, I found it easier to work with a revised spreadsheet.  Since each zone has slightly different widths at the bow and stern, I didn't find the one I started with (above) that useful.  See below for the work in progress.  I've got a page for every zone - port and starboard.
 
Strake 1 on port side:

 

 

 
Strakes 2 and 3:

 

 

 
I don't think I'll be back until I've completed all of the planking - assuming I alternate zones port to starboard, or after I complete the port side, assuming I don't alternate.
 
See you in late March or early April?

I'm back at work in the shipyard.  Though I enjoyed my time on Lido Key visiting my brothers, I was stunned to see that I had put on eight pounds.  Silly me, I though I was keeping up with the diet and exercise and would come home perhaps a pound or two lighter.  Ugh!  Back to my routine.  But first:
I had to get rid of that dip in the wale at bulkhead D.  So, I opted for demolition and re construction:
Before:

 
The remodeling:  Note the plank temporarily in place to mark the new lower edge of the wale.  (upper edge in this bottom up photo) 

 
After: Not perfect, but much less annoying.

 
The rest of the day was spent revisiting my measurements and marking the bulkheads with tick marks to indicate the 8 zones I intend to plank.  I opted out of using proportional dividers and the start-in-the-middle-with-1/8"-strips as advocated by Bob Hunt.  Instead I'm going for a more mathematical approach, which I've seen others at the site use as well.  
 
I double checked the numbers bulkhead by bulkhead and made sure my spreadsheet was correct.  Here's the paper strip I used to measure distance from bottom of wale to rabbet on port side bulkhead J.  

 
The numbers on the spreadsheet check out.  In later steps, I'll be using the individual plank dimensions to shape the planks. 
 
Using a tool I've kept since my high school drafting class, the small divider, I set the width for the zone to 14.84 mm (1/8 of 118.68mm) using my vernier caliper.  This was a little fiddly but close enough.  I walked the divider up the bulkhead making little holes that I marked with pencil.  Rinse and repeat for all bulkheads on both sides.

 

 

 

 

 
I tapered the lines at the stern, keeping an eye out for symmetry between port and starboard.

 
That's enough for one day.  Time to update the build logs (this one and the king-sized Word document on my home PC).  
Next up will be to do the tapering at the bow and finally start making small pieces of planking out of larger ones..    
 

If I remember correctly, Mr. Hunt planks one whole side, then does the other. I alternated back and forth every "band" in order to ensure my strakes mirrored each other.
 
Jon

I cut the notches into the bow fillers. It was a good decision to cut the notches prior to the fillers being permanently attached. Oddly, it was both easier and harder than I thought it would be. The cutting was manageable but I needed about 10 different angles to get to complete the job - angles I couldn't have achieved if the fillers were attached. To cut the notches, I drew the outline, then used a small saw to cut the side lines, from front to back, also cutting material away between the two edge cuts. I then used a new #11 Exacto cutting blade, some fine (sharp!) wood cutting tools, and a set of micro chisels from Micromark. The block won't come out as a solid unit, so you need to pick away at it. My intent was to create a flat surface with 90 degree angled corners. The wood is far too fibrous for this, and it seems I was going against the grain. As happens with this hobby, after spending a long time picking away at the notches, I found that a pursuit of perfection was becoming the enemy of good (or good enough). 
 
With the notches completed, I could see no reason to keep from attaching the bow fillers. It's funny how it seems such a big decision, but after spending so much time shaping them, that's not surprising. I glued the fillers with Weld Bond.