JerryTodd

While looking for other possible pin-rails to make, noticed the aft pin-rails also had one of those big mallet pins, and also had more pins closer together than I had modeled. Follow the red arrow in this portion of an 1890s photo So, I fixed the 3D model and printed it, again The mounting holes were drilled and the rails primed, then painted. By the time they could be handled, it had gotten cold again, so they haven't been installed. The bulwark needs fresh paint were the pin-rails go anyway, so it's waiting for another unseasonally warm day (above 50°f outside) so paint and glues will set, and fingers will function

The best image of the bow pin-rails is one from 1926 when the ship was in Newport Rhode Island These were modeled the same for each side, but the angle on the back was reversed because the bulwark leans outboard here. And her they sit where they eventually get installed

The midships pin-rail printed perfecly, and awaited the gloms of primer, paint, and clear-coat that will protect from UV while sailing in the Chesapeake Bay. The forward pin-rails are on the printer as I type this... And here's the forward pin-rail

Half-an-hour-ish, and I've fFixed the pin-rail model to have the proper angle back-side, and set it to printing. Five hours and some change later it came out perfectly. See the angle? Well there it is siting somewhere near where it will live. While that was printing I started making the midships pin-rail; the one closest in this screen capture. In this picture from the 1890's, I originally though there was a caval at the aft end, but it actually appears to be a pair of meat tenderizers. This wasn't going to fit in the printer, even at an angle, so I made each side in two parts, and angled them (not to fit, but make them more likely to print properly) As I type here, this one is on the printer with about 4 hours to go Keeping with that workflow I should be making the forward pin-rails while the others print, but it's almost 3am, so, later...

There are no kits of the 1797 frigate Constellation available, never have been.

It's gotten too cold to pick up where I left off on Pride of Baltimore back in June, or even hang-out in the unheated shop for more than a few minutes; so I worked on 3D models for an item that's kind-of holding up starting on Constellation's rigging - pin-rails. Here' the first attempt at the aft-most rails, which printed pretty fairly, though the left end of the upper one, and one of it's pins didn't do so well. While that's repairable, when I modeled it, I forgot the bulwark it attaches to leans inboard a bit and forgot to model that angle on the back surface. Sanding that angle in would make the rail too narrow, so I'm fixing the 3D model and will reprint it. The rails will be pinned to the bulwark where the wood blocks are inside it. This pic shows how the bulwarks are constructed, as well as that inboard lean I mentioned.

This help? The lanyard is hitched in the space between the bight of the shroud and the upper deadeye. That's what basically ties it off. the remaining is given a few wraps around the shroud, and the tail seized to it just to do something with the loose end. There's good chance of a lanyard breaking or being cut on a warship, and having that excess can save time in repair, not to mention the method of taking up tension on them requires a bit of length to set up. I'm sure Victory was kept very prim and proper, being an admiral was aboard At least you didn't do this...

So happy to hear AL is no longer producing that pile of words the admins would probably ban me for. Constellation was the largest purpose-built sailing sloop-of-war the Navy built. I've seen it claimed her design was inspired by the performance of the Cumberland after that ship was razeed. Decatur was a much smaller ship; 556 tons to Constellation's 1400 tons so the scale using that kit to start from is way off. Since Decatur is so much small, you might be able to use the AL kit for materials, and cut the proper bulkheads from the kit's - basically build from scratch using the kit's materials.

I've built several Revel 1:96 scale Constitution/United States kits, most of them modified for RC sailing. The lower masts, topmasts, and lower yards are mostly hollow and made in two halves. I would always put a wood rod, usually from a bamboo skewer or chopstick, and fill it with epoxy putty (plumber's epoxy). Solid plastic spars I would replace outright with wood, and the real thin ones, like the mizzen t'gallant mast, with brass rod and plumber's epoxy to shape parts, like the heel and truck, etc. Sorry, I can't seem to find any pictures of the mentioned models except for these, which don't show what I'm referring too very well. This was the last such kit I completed for RC which used a bell-crank sort of set-up in the hollow lower mast to turn the course-yards, which is why all the spars had to be stronger than the kit's plastic spars could manage. When I volunteered at the Naval Academy Museum shop in Preble Hall, I got to see the store rooms where the stuff not on display in the museum was kept, which contained a lot of these kits built by alumni and donated to the museum. Pretty much all of their plastic spars had warped, curled, and deformed, just sitting on a shelf in a environmentally controlled storeroom. The cotton thread rigging had also rotted away on most of them as well. Here's one of many, tucked behind some other models on a shelf.

Winter, as handling epoxy in an unheated garage matters, seemed to last almost till the end of April. But finally the temperatures and my time have coincided enough that I may finally get this ostrich egg finished. It seems the plastic egg deformed a little from the weight, so the two halves don't lay flat to each other. If I do this again, and for you folks thinking of using this method, I will put ribs inside the bulb to stiffen it, and fashion some sort of cradle to sit on that supports it so the bulb doesn't try to flatten out as the epoxy and lead set-up. There were also pockets in the bulb that resin hadn't gotten to and I could hear the shot rattling around inside. If there's a next time, I'll place shot and pour resin in layers to ensure the resin gets everywhere it needs to be. What sounded like the biggest of these pockets was behind the flange? I modeled in for the plate to slide into. I opened the holes here to pour more resin in and hopefully fill this void. I re-drilled to holes for the pin that will keep the bulb from sliding off the plate, and cut about a 3 inch length of 3/16" brass rod for the pin. I mixed very fine sawdust from my band-saw with the epoxy to make a paste of it, and buttered both sides of the bulb, placed the pin, and plate, and put the other half on. I used a sliver of wood as a wedge to hold the seam on top, where the plate enters, as close as I could, making something of a gap at the bottom. The epoxy butter filled this in fairly well, but the seam's open almost all the way around, which I'll fill with more epoxy butter. The bulb also needs some clean-up from epoxy runs and cardboard that stuck to it; and I intend to wrap it in glass cloth as that'll be stronger than the resin alone if the boat should hit a rock or something.

Someone over in Deven, England needed a pair of 2-banded Brooke rifls for a 1:48 scale model of the Confederate ironclad Neuse. I hadn't printed either of the Brookes as yet, so I soon discovered some bits were missing, ie, I forgot to mirror a part to the other side of the gun, actually, just the slide. I fixed the STL on Thingiverse, but to fix the already printed models, I printed that part and a couple of eye-bolts separately, attached them to the models with resin zapped with UV light. They're carefully packed and off to England, making me an International Arms Dealer It's very expensive shipping a 95 gram box to the UK from the US, over $30 USD in fact, but he was adamant there was no one local to 3D print them for him.

Do you just want it done so you can move on? Is there a deadline? Cutting corners may get you somewhere faster, but it tends to magnify errors, not just in looks, but in frequency. I glued all 500ish piece of scale-length decking (cut from 4 foot lengths) on my 5 foot long hull when I easily could have scribed some plywood. There were a couple of places I had to pull a piece off and put in another, reusing the removed piece somewhere else. That would have been a bigger pain using full 4 foot lengths. When it was done, none of the left-over scrap was longer than an inch, so doing it this way was a more efficient use of materials. I recommend all planking/plating be done in scale pieces on anything 1:64 scale and up, because you get more from it that way. The decision,of course, is only yours to make.

USS only applies to COMMISSIONED Naval Vessels of the United States and wasn't officially used until Executive Order 549 in 1907

I was going to make a Marsilly type carriage for the 110# Armstrong rifle, but found this drawing on the NMM site, which is basically the Warrior's pivots, so went with that. So far this is what I have In the mean-time, the XI inch Dahlgren on the iron pivot carriage is looking like this... As mentioned, Constellation, as a training ship in the 1870's, was armed with the XI Dahlgren, and a 100# Parrott rifle on a wooden carriage on her gun-deck, with the corresponding gunports widened to 10 feet. here's something to compare the two...

I think we all go through a "name plate phase" as we grow in our modeling I have to say, you're making the best use of what I consider to be a criminally awful kit, that I've seen yet. I wonder if it would have been cheaper for you to buy materials and build from scratch.