JerryTodd

The port-side pin-rails got epoxied in place, and one of the outboard trim boards went on, the clamps were in the way of doing the aft one.

The spider-band got primed and painted; the other bow pin-rail was glued on; the trim-boards were installed on the inboard port-side; and the boat cradles were CAed to the hatch cover and eye-bolts installed for tying the boats down. Oh, and I made and printed a test-model of the spray screen for the head, it needed some adjustment and a little detailing so it'll look more like a tarpaulin than a bulkhead. Addendum: I put some twist into the model of the spray-screen (It's vertical aft and should flare out at the bowsprit). I added a curved bit at the forward end to curl under the bowsprit, as it appears in many images. Moved one of the stanchions to not interfere with the frames of the enclosed head in one spot, and tried to make it look more like fabric than flat planking. It seems my head construction isn't symmetrical (or warped slightly over the years) and has a little bow in the head rail on the port side. If I can't flex things enough to close the gap, I'll alter the model and print another one to fit that side.

The bulb got sanded and coated in epoxy today. When that had set, it got sanded and coated with epoxy again, then sanded and primed - twice, and finally sanded and painted Moss Green - twice.

I'm not sure what color the carriages should be. They were olive up till the Civil War, then usually black (with some exceptions). Deck furniture, including gun carriages, got painted white after the war, and I assume Constellation would have followed that trend. As a training ship in the 1870's, she also had some IX Dahlgrens, but I'm trying to find out if they were on wooden or iron carriages. I'll probably print and iron carriage version anyway. I haven't found any images of her gun deck during the 1870's, the only image during this time I know of is a view of her at anchor near Annapolis in 1879. By the 1900's she borrowed guns from Constitution so she could play frigate in Baltimore for the anniversary of the Bombardment of Fort McHenry. (I'll be making these guns too, eventually)

It's those sometimes year(s) long lapses in work that really slow things down.

With the starboard pin-rails permanently glued and pinned in place, I ground the outboard port-side hammock trays flush with the bulwark. It didn't take much because I was more careful to set them that way when I glued them on; I basically beveled their edges to line up with the bulwarks' surface. I cleaned up the dust and painted the outboard side of the starboard hammocks then turned the hull around on the bench. The inboard side of the port hammocks were ground flush with the bulwark, cleaned up, and I painted the hammock trays and outboard side of the bulwarks black, and the inboard side of the bulwarks and waterways white. The basswood trim pieces will come next. (I get the camera angles can get confusing, but I try to leave a landmark, like the ship's wheel, visible to help orient things.) I glued the boat cradles temporarily to the main hatch with some PVA, but I bumped one and it flew off into oblivion. I'd been working on a model for mizzen spider-band, so when I printed that, I tossed another set of boat cradles in with it.

If not for the clamps, you wouldn't know the pin-rails got epoxied in today, or Pride got some work done too.

Well, it's not a pretty picture, but it does show progress, which is pretty in it's own way... Pride's ballast bulb got a coat of epoxy today. The epoxy was mixed with sawdust to thicken it, (I was also gluing in Constellation's pin-rails), but it still ran out of the gap I was trying to fill, and I had to spend a lot of time chasing it back up. The bulb's also wrapped in a portion of pantyhose, acting as glass cloth would, the idea being to strengthen it against possible impact. There's obviously gonna be some sanding to do, then it'll get some epoxy (sans sawdust) painted on to make it all nice and smooth with no gaps. Then it gets painted Moss Green like the bottom of the hull.

Lynx is not a Baltimore Clipper, or even a "replica" of anything, she's just a schooner cosplaying as a privateer by an owner enamored with the first Pride of Baltimore, which is why she wear Pride's paint scheme.

Before I can begin rigging the bulwarks have to be "finished." I'm working on one side at a time, and will do all this to the port side when the starboard side is done. The hammocks were 3D printed on "trays" which were modeled slightly wider than the bulwarks to accommodate any irregularities. This bit of overhang was ground off flush with the sheathing of the bulwarks using a sanding drum on a rotary tool. I then painted the inboard side of the bulwark, then the hammock trays black. I mixed some black into white paint to get a gray to paint the hammocks themselves, but I'll have to revisit that. Any gaps between hammocks and bulwarks was filled filled with a paste of epoxy and sawdust, and a covering board of stained basswood was glued on to cover the seam. This had already been done on the outboard side of the bulwarks. The pin-rails were already drilled for mounting pins, and those holes had to be transferred to the bulwarks, which I did with a pin-vise. So here's the pin-rails sitting in place. That covering-board's a little over scaled, and so are my belaying pins, so there's almost no room between the heads and the bulwark, so I'm going to pad out the pin-rails a little to get that room, before epoxying them in place. The last item to "finish" the bulwarks will be the metal supports under the pin-rails. These will be sheet brass and glued in place. Then it'll be onto the port side. Most of the time spent on this was waiting for paint/glue to dry. In the meantime I painted the ship's boats and 3D printed cradles for them. I also modeled new "crown-bitts" to replace the red oak one made years ago. I reworked my 3D model of the blocks to take 8mm brass sheaves, but I couldn't find anyone that had them in stock. I printed the shells for those anyway along with non-working blocks with fixed sheaves for things like the halyards, that don't move regularly, as opposed the the braces. I also printed smaller block for things like jib halyards, bunt blocks, etc. Some of these will get 6mm brass sheaves for working lines like bowlines and the "dummy braces" on the t'gallants and royals.

A little paint on the Dahlgren and printed the other Constellation gun, the 100# Parrot Rifle on a wooden pivot carriage.

I finally got around to printing my own copy of the XI Dahlgren on the iron pivot carriage. Part of the elevation screw didn't turn out, but can be fixed. The size actually surprised me a bit, I didn't think there was that much difference between the IX and the XI.

Since I'm modeling the Pride of Baltimore, I made 3D models of her 6 pounders. That angle isn't as severe as your kit calls for, and matched the taper of the gun tube more closely. Not trying to lead you into darkness, but the STL file's available for free on Thingiverse, and can be scaled

Just saw this log. I see you got the stern figured out, I had some picture for you on that, but I guess you've moved on BTW: Your gun carriage is reversed, when the sides are angled, the front is the narrower end, because the gun's bigger at it's breech than at it's trunnions. Here's some pic of the first Pride of Baltimore under construction. She was very near in size and rig as your model represents. (click for larger pics)

I can't see all those downward pulling braces (#s 15, 16, 26, 27), they would be impractical in practice. Because the yard moves up and down on the mast, you'd have to cast off the braces to be able to set the sail. The model and Harland show it where, at most, you have to ease the braces.