JerryTodd

A brace was installed under the quarterdeck level to hold the curve in the transom.

 
On Christmas day I found that St Nick hadn't sanded and resined the interior of the hull as I had hoped, so it fell to me to do it.  It  was sanded, cleaned, and given a couple of coats of poly resin.  Excess resin was poured into the bilges to fill any nooks and crannies so small parts, dirt, and water would have no where to hide.
 
 
A full size paper pattern of the gun ports, moldings, and other such hull details was made.  Care was taken to use the plan to make sure items that were on surfaces curved away on the profile were in their proper place, such as the bridle ports.  As I was cutting out the gunports on the pattern I realized I had formed a gunport lid; I couldn't resist doing them all that way. 

 
Macedonian is a little shorter than Constellation.  Constellation compares in length to the frigate United States so you get a little bit of an idea of the size relation between Macedonian and United States.

 
The build table was leveled, then the hull placed on it level port and starboard, and with the waterline marks  fore-n-aft at the same height from the table.  A pencil resting on a block of wood cut to the right length was used to mark the waterline.

 
Approximately every-other station used to make the hull was cut down to scale framing dimensions and reinstalled into the hull.  The reason for this is because the complex shape of the hull with it's tumble-home and counter tumble-home, was trying to flatten out.  These frames are glued into the hull with epoxy mixed with wood dust..  The rest of the interior from the gun deck up, will get framing and ceiling planking to make the hull the proper thickness.
 
 
Some idea of the size of the thing - 5 foot from tip-to-tip.

 
Next: Fiberglass!

Some blocking was added forward to reenforce and brace the stem

 
The counters were planked and as the side planking proceeded, the counters were trimmed.
 
 
Planking continued until it reached the counters and could be attached then the transom was planked.  Blocking was added to the bottom of the counter to catch the plank ends.
 
 
At the bow, blocking was added to give more surface for attaching the plank ends here.

 
Planking continued around the turn of the bilge.  Now the planks had to make a hard bend up to tuck onto the counter.  To prebend tthe planks I wet them and clamped them into a jig.
   
 
A brace was added to support the top of the transom and prevent it's loosing it's curve.

 
A set of wide garboard planks was also installed to rigidify everything a bit.
 
 
As the planking continued on up to the sternpost, and with the garboards in place, the keel and sternpost were fitted.

 
A template for the forefoot and stem were made and the forefoot fitted.
 
 
The hull was rigid enough to remove from the build board, see it right-side up, and look inside.
 
 
A stem and gammon knee were cut out and fitted

 
and before long it was time to put in the shutter plank.

 
The hull was completely planked.  It took from November 12th, to December 19th to plank the five foot hull, 37 days.

 
A couple of days later the stem head and stern post were permanently attached with 6p finish nails reenforcing all of it to the hull.  Some of the forms were removed as well; they require a light tap with a block of wood to be knocked loose.  Some of them would be cut down and reinstalled as permanent frames.  A stand was built to hold the model as she's being worked on.
 
 
The entire surface of the hull was filled with Water Putty and sanding commenced.

Fiberglass
 
With frames set in and the hull's shape stable, it was time to glass the outside.
 
I started with the transom

 
Then the portside
 
 
Once that had set-up, it was on to the starboard side

 
There, that wasn't so bad

 
Excess resin went into the bilges and on the lower frames.
 
 
After the glass set-up and was sanded, there were some blisters where the glass didn't lay and bond to the hull, these came off while sanding and were filled with auto-body putty.  More sanding and another coat of resin brushed on, then sanding again.  Some clean up and degreasing and it's...
 
Wale Ho!
 
On this model the wale isn't the structural member it is on a real ship, but I did want it done in an anchor-stock pattern as it would be visible on close inspection.
I started by cutting a block of white pine, as used for the rest of the planking, to the offset anchor-stock shape, then slicing off 1/8" thick planks.
 
 
I started on the starboard side by marking the positions of each plank on the hull from the bow aft, and actually started gluing them on amidships.  I used CA to attach them to the hull, and Titebond III to glue them to each other.
 
 
Clamping them to the hull took some thinking at places, as did clamping them to each other without lifting them off the hull.
 
 
At the bow the pieces needed to be precurved, so the SBJ (Sophisticated Bending Jig) was employed.  The pieces were wet, clamped in the jig, and left overnight.
 
 
It took a little over a week, but the starboard wale was done.  Now to the port side!

 
I took a slightly different approach this time.  Clamping the pieces to the hull was quite tedious, so I used the nails I used to hold the planking with during construction to hold the pieces onto the hull here.  This made things go much quicker and smoother.
Before starting though, I cut out a gunport just for fun.  I was afraid the hull would flex with the ports cut out, but I need them cut before I frame up the hull thickness behind them, because that framing sets into the gunport opening a bit.  Actually, the planking is set back creating a rabbet for the lid to close against.
 
 

 
My friend Mark was building a crabbing skiff at my place, and while he had the epoxy out, I stole a bit to give the wales a couple of coats
 
 
I then started carefully cutting out each gunport opening.  Once all the gun ports are cut out along the gun deck, the internal framing will go in around each one, making the hull the right thickness as seen through the gunports.  The focs'le and quarterdeck ports will be cut after they're framed and the external moldings have been installed.
 

Lines were rigged connected course yard to course yard the same distance from the center-line on each side of the model.  Lines that would serve as braces ran from the main course yard ends to the quarters of the hull and to the springs on the post, and then to the winch.  This way the winch would swing the main course yard and the connecting lines would move the fore and mizzen yards at the same time.  This is not how the model will eventually be rigged for running, but it would do for a test sail.
  Video of Brace Testing
 
The fids were pulled, the topmasts lowered, and batteries put on the chargers.

 
The next day, July 10th, 2011, the model and it's equipment and accessories, were stuffed into the Tahoe.

 
I took the model, and my lady who was to be the official videographer, supplied with camera and tripod, a quarter mile down the road to Sloop's Cove on Stoney Creek, where the neighborhood has a public pier and water access - such as it is.

 
At the site I raised the rig, bolted on the ballast, and tested the systems.

 
Getting her into the water, I placed the sandwich bags full of lead bird shot left over from the ballast torpedo and weighing about 12 pounds, into the hull and moved them about to trim her.  There still wasn't enough weight to get her down the the LWL and she stood about 1-1/2 inches high in the water.

 
Then off she sailed.

 
And some of the video...

 
It wasn't an unsuccessful day, but it was a bit disappointing.  The winds were too light and variable, and in the creek there, they swirled and eddied about.  The model never really got more than a few feet of any real sailing.  When it would puff strong for a bit, she handled it fine, then it would shift and catch her aback.  She also handled the occasional wakes from passing boats quite well.  Then, about an hour in, the battery died.  I later found it had failed completely and needed to be replaced.  The model was near the middle of the 100 yard wide creek and headed toward a boat dock about 50 feet away from me.  I went into the water and swam over to meet her.  She gently bumped her forestay against the dock and stayed there till I got to her.  I'm not much of a swimmer and quickly wished I had brought one of my floatation vests to make the job easier - but it was in the 90's and the water felt pretty good.  Next time I'll have some form of chase boat; a kayak, inflatable, or preferably a pram I'll build.
 
 
   
 
Note: That thing at the base of the mizzen is an on-board camera.  It took some incredibly boring video.  If I can get some editing software that will let me put it up split-screen fashion in sync with the other video, I'll post it somewhere.
 
Video of the Recovery or how the big bald ape rescued the model ship from certain doom without himself drowning.
 
Then it was out of the water, off with the ballast, down with the rig, and into the truck.
 

A brace was installed under the quarterdeck level to hold the curve in the transom.

 
On Christmas day I found that St Nick hadn't sanded and resined the interior of the hull as I had hoped, so it fell to me to do it.  It  was sanded, cleaned, and given a couple of coats of poly resin.  Excess resin was poured into the bilges to fill any nooks and crannies so small parts, dirt, and water would have no where to hide.
 
 
A full size paper pattern of the gun ports, moldings, and other such hull details was made.  Care was taken to use the plan to make sure items that were on surfaces curved away on the profile were in their proper place, such as the bridle ports.  As I was cutting out the gunports on the pattern I realized I had formed a gunport lid; I couldn't resist doing them all that way. 

 
Macedonian is a little shorter than Constellation.  Constellation compares in length to the frigate United States so you get a little bit of an idea of the size relation between Macedonian and United States.

 
The build table was leveled, then the hull placed on it level port and starboard, and with the waterline marks  fore-n-aft at the same height from the table.  A pencil resting on a block of wood cut to the right length was used to mark the waterline.

 
Approximately every-other station used to make the hull was cut down to scale framing dimensions and reinstalled into the hull.  The reason for this is because the complex shape of the hull with it's tumble-home and counter tumble-home, was trying to flatten out.  These frames are glued into the hull with epoxy mixed with wood dust..  The rest of the interior from the gun deck up, will get framing and ceiling planking to make the hull the proper thickness.
 
 
Some idea of the size of the thing - 5 foot from tip-to-tip.

 
Next: Fiberglass!

Fiberglass
 
With frames set in and the hull's shape stable, it was time to glass the outside.
 
I started with the transom

 
Then the portside
 
 
Once that had set-up, it was on to the starboard side

 
There, that wasn't so bad

 
Excess resin went into the bilges and on the lower frames.
 
 
After the glass set-up and was sanded, there were some blisters where the glass didn't lay and bond to the hull, these came off while sanding and were filled with auto-body putty.  More sanding and another coat of resin brushed on, then sanding again.  Some clean up and degreasing and it's...
 
Wale Ho!
 
On this model the wale isn't the structural member it is on a real ship, but I did want it done in an anchor-stock pattern as it would be visible on close inspection.
I started by cutting a block of white pine, as used for the rest of the planking, to the offset anchor-stock shape, then slicing off 1/8" thick planks.
 
 
I started on the starboard side by marking the positions of each plank on the hull from the bow aft, and actually started gluing them on amidships.  I used CA to attach them to the hull, and Titebond III to glue them to each other.
 
 
Clamping them to the hull took some thinking at places, as did clamping them to each other without lifting them off the hull.
 
 
At the bow the pieces needed to be precurved, so the SBJ (Sophisticated Bending Jig) was employed.  The pieces were wet, clamped in the jig, and left overnight.
 
 
It took a little over a week, but the starboard wale was done.  Now to the port side!

 
I took a slightly different approach this time.  Clamping the pieces to the hull was quite tedious, so I used the nails I used to hold the planking with during construction to hold the pieces onto the hull here.  This made things go much quicker and smoother.
Before starting though, I cut out a gunport just for fun.  I was afraid the hull would flex with the ports cut out, but I need them cut before I frame up the hull thickness behind them, because that framing sets into the gunport opening a bit.  Actually, the planking is set back creating a rabbet for the lid to close against.
 
 

 
My friend Mark was building a crabbing skiff at my place, and while he had the epoxy out, I stole a bit to give the wales a couple of coats
 
 
I then started carefully cutting out each gunport opening.  Once all the gun ports are cut out along the gun deck, the internal framing will go in around each one, making the hull the right thickness as seen through the gunports.  The focs'le and quarterdeck ports will be cut after they're framed and the external moldings have been installed.
 

A brace was installed under the quarterdeck level to hold the curve in the transom.

 
On Christmas day I found that St Nick hadn't sanded and resined the interior of the hull as I had hoped, so it fell to me to do it.  It  was sanded, cleaned, and given a couple of coats of poly resin.  Excess resin was poured into the bilges to fill any nooks and crannies so small parts, dirt, and water would have no where to hide.
 
 
A full size paper pattern of the gun ports, moldings, and other such hull details was made.  Care was taken to use the plan to make sure items that were on surfaces curved away on the profile were in their proper place, such as the bridle ports.  As I was cutting out the gunports on the pattern I realized I had formed a gunport lid; I couldn't resist doing them all that way. 

 
Macedonian is a little shorter than Constellation.  Constellation compares in length to the frigate United States so you get a little bit of an idea of the size relation between Macedonian and United States.

 
The build table was leveled, then the hull placed on it level port and starboard, and with the waterline marks  fore-n-aft at the same height from the table.  A pencil resting on a block of wood cut to the right length was used to mark the waterline.

 
Approximately every-other station used to make the hull was cut down to scale framing dimensions and reinstalled into the hull.  The reason for this is because the complex shape of the hull with it's tumble-home and counter tumble-home, was trying to flatten out.  These frames are glued into the hull with epoxy mixed with wood dust..  The rest of the interior from the gun deck up, will get framing and ceiling planking to make the hull the proper thickness.
 
 
Some idea of the size of the thing - 5 foot from tip-to-tip.

 
Next: Fiberglass!

Some blocking was added forward to reenforce and brace the stem

 
The counters were planked and as the side planking proceeded, the counters were trimmed.
 
 
Planking continued until it reached the counters and could be attached then the transom was planked.  Blocking was added to the bottom of the counter to catch the plank ends.
 
 
At the bow, blocking was added to give more surface for attaching the plank ends here.

 
Planking continued around the turn of the bilge.  Now the planks had to make a hard bend up to tuck onto the counter.  To prebend tthe planks I wet them and clamped them into a jig.
   
 
A brace was added to support the top of the transom and prevent it's loosing it's curve.

 
A set of wide garboard planks was also installed to rigidify everything a bit.
 
 
As the planking continued on up to the sternpost, and with the garboards in place, the keel and sternpost were fitted.

 
A template for the forefoot and stem were made and the forefoot fitted.
 
 
The hull was rigid enough to remove from the build board, see it right-side up, and look inside.
 
 
A stem and gammon knee were cut out and fitted

 
and before long it was time to put in the shutter plank.

 
The hull was completely planked.  It took from November 12th, to December 19th to plank the five foot hull, 37 days.

 
A couple of days later the stem head and stern post were permanently attached with 6p finish nails reenforcing all of it to the hull.  Some of the forms were removed as well; they require a light tap with a block of wood to be knocked loose.  Some of them would be cut down and reinstalled as permanent frames.  A stand was built to hold the model as she's being worked on.
 
 
The entire surface of the hull was filled with Water Putty and sanding commenced.

Lines were rigged connected course yard to course yard the same distance from the center-line on each side of the model.  Lines that would serve as braces ran from the main course yard ends to the quarters of the hull and to the springs on the post, and then to the winch.  This way the winch would swing the main course yard and the connecting lines would move the fore and mizzen yards at the same time.  This is not how the model will eventually be rigged for running, but it would do for a test sail.
  Video of Brace Testing
 
The fids were pulled, the topmasts lowered, and batteries put on the chargers.

 
The next day, July 10th, 2011, the model and it's equipment and accessories, were stuffed into the Tahoe.

 
I took the model, and my lady who was to be the official videographer, supplied with camera and tripod, a quarter mile down the road to Sloop's Cove on Stoney Creek, where the neighborhood has a public pier and water access - such as it is.

 
At the site I raised the rig, bolted on the ballast, and tested the systems.

 
Getting her into the water, I placed the sandwich bags full of lead bird shot left over from the ballast torpedo and weighing about 12 pounds, into the hull and moved them about to trim her.  There still wasn't enough weight to get her down the the LWL and she stood about 1-1/2 inches high in the water.

 
Then off she sailed.

 
And some of the video...

 
It wasn't an unsuccessful day, but it was a bit disappointing.  The winds were too light and variable, and in the creek there, they swirled and eddied about.  The model never really got more than a few feet of any real sailing.  When it would puff strong for a bit, she handled it fine, then it would shift and catch her aback.  She also handled the occasional wakes from passing boats quite well.  Then, about an hour in, the battery died.  I later found it had failed completely and needed to be replaced.  The model was near the middle of the 100 yard wide creek and headed toward a boat dock about 50 feet away from me.  I went into the water and swam over to meet her.  She gently bumped her forestay against the dock and stayed there till I got to her.  I'm not much of a swimmer and quickly wished I had brought one of my floatation vests to make the job easier - but it was in the 90's and the water felt pretty good.  Next time I'll have some form of chase boat; a kayak, inflatable, or preferably a pram I'll build.
 
 
   
 
Note: That thing at the base of the mizzen is an on-board camera.  It took some incredibly boring video.  If I can get some editing software that will let me put it up split-screen fashion in sync with the other video, I'll post it somewhere.
 
Video of the Recovery or how the big bald ape rescued the model ship from certain doom without himself drowning.
 
Then it was out of the water, off with the ballast, down with the rig, and into the truck.
 

A brace was installed under the quarterdeck level to hold the curve in the transom.

 
On Christmas day I found that St Nick hadn't sanded and resined the interior of the hull as I had hoped, so it fell to me to do it.  It  was sanded, cleaned, and given a couple of coats of poly resin.  Excess resin was poured into the bilges to fill any nooks and crannies so small parts, dirt, and water would have no where to hide.
 
 
A full size paper pattern of the gun ports, moldings, and other such hull details was made.  Care was taken to use the plan to make sure items that were on surfaces curved away on the profile were in their proper place, such as the bridle ports.  As I was cutting out the gunports on the pattern I realized I had formed a gunport lid; I couldn't resist doing them all that way. 

 
Macedonian is a little shorter than Constellation.  Constellation compares in length to the frigate United States so you get a little bit of an idea of the size relation between Macedonian and United States.

 
The build table was leveled, then the hull placed on it level port and starboard, and with the waterline marks  fore-n-aft at the same height from the table.  A pencil resting on a block of wood cut to the right length was used to mark the waterline.

 
Approximately every-other station used to make the hull was cut down to scale framing dimensions and reinstalled into the hull.  The reason for this is because the complex shape of the hull with it's tumble-home and counter tumble-home, was trying to flatten out.  These frames are glued into the hull with epoxy mixed with wood dust..  The rest of the interior from the gun deck up, will get framing and ceiling planking to make the hull the proper thickness.
 
 
Some idea of the size of the thing - 5 foot from tip-to-tip.

 
Next: Fiberglass!

Lines were rigged connected course yard to course yard the same distance from the center-line on each side of the model.  Lines that would serve as braces ran from the main course yard ends to the quarters of the hull and to the springs on the post, and then to the winch.  This way the winch would swing the main course yard and the connecting lines would move the fore and mizzen yards at the same time.  This is not how the model will eventually be rigged for running, but it would do for a test sail.
  Video of Brace Testing
 
The fids were pulled, the topmasts lowered, and batteries put on the chargers.

 
The next day, July 10th, 2011, the model and it's equipment and accessories, were stuffed into the Tahoe.

 
I took the model, and my lady who was to be the official videographer, supplied with camera and tripod, a quarter mile down the road to Sloop's Cove on Stoney Creek, where the neighborhood has a public pier and water access - such as it is.

 
At the site I raised the rig, bolted on the ballast, and tested the systems.

 
Getting her into the water, I placed the sandwich bags full of lead bird shot left over from the ballast torpedo and weighing about 12 pounds, into the hull and moved them about to trim her.  There still wasn't enough weight to get her down the the LWL and she stood about 1-1/2 inches high in the water.

 
Then off she sailed.

 
And some of the video...

 
It wasn't an unsuccessful day, but it was a bit disappointing.  The winds were too light and variable, and in the creek there, they swirled and eddied about.  The model never really got more than a few feet of any real sailing.  When it would puff strong for a bit, she handled it fine, then it would shift and catch her aback.  She also handled the occasional wakes from passing boats quite well.  Then, about an hour in, the battery died.  I later found it had failed completely and needed to be replaced.  The model was near the middle of the 100 yard wide creek and headed toward a boat dock about 50 feet away from me.  I went into the water and swam over to meet her.  She gently bumped her forestay against the dock and stayed there till I got to her.  I'm not much of a swimmer and quickly wished I had brought one of my floatation vests to make the job easier - but it was in the 90's and the water felt pretty good.  Next time I'll have some form of chase boat; a kayak, inflatable, or preferably a pram I'll build.
 
 
   
 
Note: That thing at the base of the mizzen is an on-board camera.  It took some incredibly boring video.  If I can get some editing software that will let me put it up split-screen fashion in sync with the other video, I'll post it somewhere.
 
Video of the Recovery or how the big bald ape rescued the model ship from certain doom without himself drowning.
 
Then it was out of the water, off with the ballast, down with the rig, and into the truck.
 

A brace was installed under the quarterdeck level to hold the curve in the transom.

 
On Christmas day I found that St Nick hadn't sanded and resined the interior of the hull as I had hoped, so it fell to me to do it.  It  was sanded, cleaned, and given a couple of coats of poly resin.  Excess resin was poured into the bilges to fill any nooks and crannies so small parts, dirt, and water would have no where to hide.
 
 
A full size paper pattern of the gun ports, moldings, and other such hull details was made.  Care was taken to use the plan to make sure items that were on surfaces curved away on the profile were in their proper place, such as the bridle ports.  As I was cutting out the gunports on the pattern I realized I had formed a gunport lid; I couldn't resist doing them all that way. 

 
Macedonian is a little shorter than Constellation.  Constellation compares in length to the frigate United States so you get a little bit of an idea of the size relation between Macedonian and United States.

 
The build table was leveled, then the hull placed on it level port and starboard, and with the waterline marks  fore-n-aft at the same height from the table.  A pencil resting on a block of wood cut to the right length was used to mark the waterline.

 
Approximately every-other station used to make the hull was cut down to scale framing dimensions and reinstalled into the hull.  The reason for this is because the complex shape of the hull with it's tumble-home and counter tumble-home, was trying to flatten out.  These frames are glued into the hull with epoxy mixed with wood dust..  The rest of the interior from the gun deck up, will get framing and ceiling planking to make the hull the proper thickness.
 
 
Some idea of the size of the thing - 5 foot from tip-to-tip.

 
Next: Fiberglass!

Lines were rigged connected course yard to course yard the same distance from the center-line on each side of the model.  Lines that would serve as braces ran from the main course yard ends to the quarters of the hull and to the springs on the post, and then to the winch.  This way the winch would swing the main course yard and the connecting lines would move the fore and mizzen yards at the same time.  This is not how the model will eventually be rigged for running, but it would do for a test sail.
  Video of Brace Testing
 
The fids were pulled, the topmasts lowered, and batteries put on the chargers.

 
The next day, July 10th, 2011, the model and it's equipment and accessories, were stuffed into the Tahoe.

 
I took the model, and my lady who was to be the official videographer, supplied with camera and tripod, a quarter mile down the road to Sloop's Cove on Stoney Creek, where the neighborhood has a public pier and water access - such as it is.

 
At the site I raised the rig, bolted on the ballast, and tested the systems.

 
Getting her into the water, I placed the sandwich bags full of lead bird shot left over from the ballast torpedo and weighing about 12 pounds, into the hull and moved them about to trim her.  There still wasn't enough weight to get her down the the LWL and she stood about 1-1/2 inches high in the water.

 
Then off she sailed.

 
And some of the video...

 
It wasn't an unsuccessful day, but it was a bit disappointing.  The winds were too light and variable, and in the creek there, they swirled and eddied about.  The model never really got more than a few feet of any real sailing.  When it would puff strong for a bit, she handled it fine, then it would shift and catch her aback.  She also handled the occasional wakes from passing boats quite well.  Then, about an hour in, the battery died.  I later found it had failed completely and needed to be replaced.  The model was near the middle of the 100 yard wide creek and headed toward a boat dock about 50 feet away from me.  I went into the water and swam over to meet her.  She gently bumped her forestay against the dock and stayed there till I got to her.  I'm not much of a swimmer and quickly wished I had brought one of my floatation vests to make the job easier - but it was in the 90's and the water felt pretty good.  Next time I'll have some form of chase boat; a kayak, inflatable, or preferably a pram I'll build.
 
 
   
 
Note: That thing at the base of the mizzen is an on-board camera.  It took some incredibly boring video.  If I can get some editing software that will let me put it up split-screen fashion in sync with the other video, I'll post it somewhere.
 
Video of the Recovery or how the big bald ape rescued the model ship from certain doom without himself drowning.
 
Then it was out of the water, off with the ballast, down with the rig, and into the truck.
 

A brace was installed under the quarterdeck level to hold the curve in the transom.

 
On Christmas day I found that St Nick hadn't sanded and resined the interior of the hull as I had hoped, so it fell to me to do it.  It  was sanded, cleaned, and given a couple of coats of poly resin.  Excess resin was poured into the bilges to fill any nooks and crannies so small parts, dirt, and water would have no where to hide.
 
 
A full size paper pattern of the gun ports, moldings, and other such hull details was made.  Care was taken to use the plan to make sure items that were on surfaces curved away on the profile were in their proper place, such as the bridle ports.  As I was cutting out the gunports on the pattern I realized I had formed a gunport lid; I couldn't resist doing them all that way. 

 
Macedonian is a little shorter than Constellation.  Constellation compares in length to the frigate United States so you get a little bit of an idea of the size relation between Macedonian and United States.

 
The build table was leveled, then the hull placed on it level port and starboard, and with the waterline marks  fore-n-aft at the same height from the table.  A pencil resting on a block of wood cut to the right length was used to mark the waterline.

 
Approximately every-other station used to make the hull was cut down to scale framing dimensions and reinstalled into the hull.  The reason for this is because the complex shape of the hull with it's tumble-home and counter tumble-home, was trying to flatten out.  These frames are glued into the hull with epoxy mixed with wood dust..  The rest of the interior from the gun deck up, will get framing and ceiling planking to make the hull the proper thickness.
 
 
Some idea of the size of the thing - 5 foot from tip-to-tip.

 
Next: Fiberglass!

A brace was installed under the quarterdeck level to hold the curve in the transom.

 
On Christmas day I found that St Nick hadn't sanded and resined the interior of the hull as I had hoped, so it fell to me to do it.  It  was sanded, cleaned, and given a couple of coats of poly resin.  Excess resin was poured into the bilges to fill any nooks and crannies so small parts, dirt, and water would have no where to hide.
 
 
A full size paper pattern of the gun ports, moldings, and other such hull details was made.  Care was taken to use the plan to make sure items that were on surfaces curved away on the profile were in their proper place, such as the bridle ports.  As I was cutting out the gunports on the pattern I realized I had formed a gunport lid; I couldn't resist doing them all that way. 

 
Macedonian is a little shorter than Constellation.  Constellation compares in length to the frigate United States so you get a little bit of an idea of the size relation between Macedonian and United States.

 
The build table was leveled, then the hull placed on it level port and starboard, and with the waterline marks  fore-n-aft at the same height from the table.  A pencil resting on a block of wood cut to the right length was used to mark the waterline.

 
Approximately every-other station used to make the hull was cut down to scale framing dimensions and reinstalled into the hull.  The reason for this is because the complex shape of the hull with it's tumble-home and counter tumble-home, was trying to flatten out.  These frames are glued into the hull with epoxy mixed with wood dust..  The rest of the interior from the gun deck up, will get framing and ceiling planking to make the hull the proper thickness.
 
 
Some idea of the size of the thing - 5 foot from tip-to-tip.

 
Next: Fiberglass!

I first set foot on board the Constitution when I was 7 years old, and I was hooked on sailing ships ever since.  My elementary school library had C S Forester's The Captain From Connecticut which I loved and led me to Forester's other work, namely Hornblower.  In fact, the 16 foot daysailer I've had since 1979 is named Lydia.  I spent my teens and twenties working under sail and power, from barkentines to tugs.
 
I've built several of the 1:96 scale Constitution/United States Revell kits, two of them were RCed; but I always wanted a sailing model of the ubiquitous British frigate, and no one made that kit.
 
I finally decided to build one.  Already deep into building an 1850's American sloop-of-war, and with a Baltimore Clipper schooner already planked up, I began a third model of the HMS Macedonian.  I chose Macedonian because I could easily get Chapelle's drawing of her from The American Sailing Navy from the Smithsonian, and she was interesting.
 
  Macedonian by Gardner
 
Macedonian was a Lively class frigate rated at 38 guns, another of Sir William Rule's designs.  Launched in 1810, during the War of 1812 she had the misfortune to meet the American frigate United States, a Constitution class 44 and was captured.  She was taken into the American Navy and served until 1828 when she was broken up and replaced by a new ship.
 
Lively     Bacchante
 
The story of Macedonian is well told in  Chronicles of the Frigate Macedonian, 1809-1922 by James T deKay  and I've posted a fair history of the ship on my page

 
There's lots of data available on how the British built and out-fitted their frigates, and even Macedonian's figurehead still exists, but I never have found any reliable information on what her stern looked like.

 
What I've come up with is my own conjecture based on the sterns of other Lively class frigates.  The mounted figure is from a statue of Alexander that existed when Macedonian was built.  The round object is the "Vergina Sun" found at ancient Macedonian sites and dating from the time of Alexander's father.  Symbology available when Macedonian was built and while this is my own guess, it's at least a logical guess.  I considered using Alexander's profile from a coin in place of the mounted figure, but his face is already on the bow - given the choice, I'd think an English builder would choose the horse. 

 
When the drawings came in from the Smithsonian, the first thing I did was have them digitally scanned.  I then rescaled them from 1:48 up to 1:36 mostly so this model would be the same scale as my Constellation.  That done, I made up a sheet with each station drawn full-sized, and printed that on my plotter.

 
At this scale, the model should be;
Length: 59" taffrail to Alexander's nose
Beam molded: 13.3"
Draught: 6.87" without the removable ballast keel
Her length over the rig will be about 7'
and she will stand from keel to truck, about 4'.
(I'll update this with more accurate numbers and metric equivalents at a later date)

 
These paper patterns were used to rough cut the wooden stations from 3/8" plywood.  Each paper pattern was then glued onto it's station
 
 
close cut on the bandsaw, and then fined up on the beltsander where some bevel was put into the forward and after stations.
 
 

Some blocking was added forward to reenforce and brace the stem

 
The counters were planked and as the side planking proceeded, the counters were trimmed.
 
 
Planking continued until it reached the counters and could be attached then the transom was planked.  Blocking was added to the bottom of the counter to catch the plank ends.
 
 
At the bow, blocking was added to give more surface for attaching the plank ends here.

 
Planking continued around the turn of the bilge.  Now the planks had to make a hard bend up to tuck onto the counter.  To prebend tthe planks I wet them and clamped them into a jig.
   
 
A brace was added to support the top of the transom and prevent it's loosing it's curve.

 
A set of wide garboard planks was also installed to rigidify everything a bit.
 
 
As the planking continued on up to the sternpost, and with the garboards in place, the keel and sternpost were fitted.

 
A template for the forefoot and stem were made and the forefoot fitted.
 
 
The hull was rigid enough to remove from the build board, see it right-side up, and look inside.
 
 
A stem and gammon knee were cut out and fitted

 
and before long it was time to put in the shutter plank.

 
The hull was completely planked.  It took from November 12th, to December 19th to plank the five foot hull, 37 days.

 
A couple of days later the stem head and stern post were permanently attached with 6p finish nails reenforcing all of it to the hull.  Some of the forms were removed as well; they require a light tap with a block of wood to be knocked loose.  Some of them would be cut down and reinstalled as permanent frames.  A stand was built to hold the model as she's being worked on.
 
 
The entire surface of the hull was filled with Water Putty and sanding commenced.

The 1854 sailplan shows 17 sails.  There were stuns'ls, though they're not shown.
 
 
The sails will be made from DuPont Supplex.  Supplex is the sail cloth provided with the SC&H kits.  It's strong, light, UV resistant, wrinkle resistant, and water resistant.  It's typically used in wind-breakers and such garments.  Besides, the appearance and performance experienced by my friends Dan Lewandowski and  Victor Yancovitch on their models is a pretty good selling point
    Dan's 1:24 Syren (from an SC&H Grasshopper kit)
 
***  I get Supplex from Rockywoods.com.  I got white, but some might prefer the color they list as "Nomad."  I think that used to be listed as "Wheat"and is the color used by Victor on his Royal William.
 
    Vic's scratchbuilt 1:36 Royal William
 
Constellation will inevitably carry some 2,807.01 square inches (1.8 square meters) of sail, but for now I'm focusing on 5 sails; the jib, driver, and three tops'ls. (#'s 2, 6, 11, 15, & 14).
One change I made to the sail plan was raising the clews of the heads'l a little to make it easier to pull them across the stays.  Interestingly, this was done to the actual ship's heads'ls at some point as can be seen in the 1862 portrait of the ship.
 
Each sail was drawn on paper full size, and cut from the cloth with a hem allowance added.  All sail panels were drawn on with a .05 fine point permanent marker.  Tablings were cut from the cloth and the edges heat sealed with a hot knife.  These items were glued to the sail with Liquid Stitch fabric adhesive and ironed with a clothes iron.
 
Holes were made for lacings, reef points, etc with the point of a hot soldiering iron, which makes a hole and seals it against runs at the same time.
 
The hem was folded and glued, then folded and glued again and all ironed flat.
 
Then came the bolt rope.  This is nylon cord about 1/16" diameter.  It's glued with fabric glue and stitched onto the sail as was done on the prototype, except I did a stitch about every three strands instead of every strand.
     
Jib    Fore tops'l
 
main tops'l
 
  Driver    Mizzen tops'l (on just cut main tops'l)
 
All the sails were cut, all the heads'l were hemmed, but only the 5 needed were bolt-roped.
 

The 1854 sailplan shows 17 sails.  There were stuns'ls, though they're not shown.
 
 
The sails will be made from DuPont Supplex.  Supplex is the sail cloth provided with the SC&H kits.  It's strong, light, UV resistant, wrinkle resistant, and water resistant.  It's typically used in wind-breakers and such garments.  Besides, the appearance and performance experienced by my friends Dan Lewandowski and  Victor Yancovitch on their models is a pretty good selling point
    Dan's 1:24 Syren (from an SC&H Grasshopper kit)
 
***  I get Supplex from Rockywoods.com.  I got white, but some might prefer the color they list as "Nomad."  I think that used to be listed as "Wheat"and is the color used by Victor on his Royal William.
 
    Vic's scratchbuilt 1:36 Royal William
 
Constellation will inevitably carry some 2,807.01 square inches (1.8 square meters) of sail, but for now I'm focusing on 5 sails; the jib, driver, and three tops'ls. (#'s 2, 6, 11, 15, & 14).
One change I made to the sail plan was raising the clews of the heads'l a little to make it easier to pull them across the stays.  Interestingly, this was done to the actual ship's heads'ls at some point as can be seen in the 1862 portrait of the ship.
 
Each sail was drawn on paper full size, and cut from the cloth with a hem allowance added.  All sail panels were drawn on with a .05 fine point permanent marker.  Tablings were cut from the cloth and the edges heat sealed with a hot knife.  These items were glued to the sail with Liquid Stitch fabric adhesive and ironed with a clothes iron.
 
Holes were made for lacings, reef points, etc with the point of a hot soldiering iron, which makes a hole and seals it against runs at the same time.
 
The hem was folded and glued, then folded and glued again and all ironed flat.
 
Then came the bolt rope.  This is nylon cord about 1/16" diameter.  It's glued with fabric glue and stitched onto the sail as was done on the prototype, except I did a stitch about every three strands instead of every strand.
     
Jib    Fore tops'l
 
main tops'l
 
  Driver    Mizzen tops'l (on just cut main tops'l)
 
All the sails were cut, all the heads'l were hemmed, but only the 5 needed were bolt-roped.
 

Some blocking was added forward to reenforce and brace the stem

 
The counters were planked and as the side planking proceeded, the counters were trimmed.
 
 
Planking continued until it reached the counters and could be attached then the transom was planked.  Blocking was added to the bottom of the counter to catch the plank ends.
 
 
At the bow, blocking was added to give more surface for attaching the plank ends here.

 
Planking continued around the turn of the bilge.  Now the planks had to make a hard bend up to tuck onto the counter.  To prebend tthe planks I wet them and clamped them into a jig.
   
 
A brace was added to support the top of the transom and prevent it's loosing it's curve.

 
A set of wide garboard planks was also installed to rigidify everything a bit.
 
 
As the planking continued on up to the sternpost, and with the garboards in place, the keel and sternpost were fitted.

 
A template for the forefoot and stem were made and the forefoot fitted.
 
 
The hull was rigid enough to remove from the build board, see it right-side up, and look inside.
 
 
A stem and gammon knee were cut out and fitted

 
and before long it was time to put in the shutter plank.

 
The hull was completely planked.  It took from November 12th, to December 19th to plank the five foot hull, 37 days.

 
A couple of days later the stem head and stern post were permanently attached with 6p finish nails reenforcing all of it to the hull.  Some of the forms were removed as well; they require a light tap with a block of wood to be knocked loose.  Some of them would be cut down and reinstalled as permanent frames.  A stand was built to hold the model as she's being worked on.
 
 
The entire surface of the hull was filled with Water Putty and sanding commenced.

Moving up the masts, I started on the topmast cross-trees and trestle-trees, and the topmast caps.
Another item I came across here at MSW was the idea of laminating some items, among them, cross-trees.  These are made of bass (lime wood) and laminated in a form just the way I saw it done here.  The ends are seized with poly thread and set with CA glue to prevent the t'gallant shrouds from splitting them.
 
 
The caps were cut from 1/8" aircraft plywood and everything got painted white.
 
 
Eyes were set into the stem for the bobstays.  They're a little over-sized, but I felt there was going to be a lot of strain here and wanted the extra strength a larger diameter rod would give. These eyes are 1/16" brass rod made into eye-spikes and CAed into the stem at 90° to the bobstays. They're connected and reinforced with a brass plate that is glued and nailed to the stem and soldered to each eye.

 
Then it was outside for a photo.

 
Here it was the middle of April, 2010.  I wanted to get the hull in the water again, but I didn't just want a float test, I wanted a sail - so I made a goal to jury rig her enough to sail by July.  The first weekend available in July was that of the 10th, so that became my goal.
 
There were several items that would have to be done to be able to sail the model, even jury-rigged:
Shape the still rough cut yards; fore course, fore tops'l, crossjack, and mizzen tops'l yards. Complete the yard trusses with mast bands and banding to attach them to the yards A gammon "iron" for the bowsprit. Rudder control & steering. New winch drum for braces. Sails for planned sailing suit; 3 tops'ls, Spanker, and jib. A gammon "iron" was made of copper - the same sheet the rudder gudgeon plate and tiller were made from. The actual ship had an iron gammon fitting instead of the traditional rope wrapping. Two copper nuts are soldered to the bottom allowing two copper machine screws hold the two halves of the "iron" together, clamping the bowsprit between them.

 
Another "iron" fitting goes on each cap for the yard's lift tackles to attach to.  These, again, were copper and glued and nailed to the cap.

 
The required yards were shaped

 
The original drums for the winch servos were made of wood disks sandwiched between plastic compact-discs.  These warped so I made a new one substituting 1/8" thick sheet styrene for the wood disks.
 
 
 
 
The steering set-up for the rudder mentioned earlier was put back in place.
 
The trusses were attached to the course yards with brass banding held by nuts and bolts.  Threaded eyes were attached and copper banding made for the masts.
 
 

 
All that was left was to make
 
The Sails

Channels, Quarter Galleries, and Paint
 
The channels were made from pine and their shape, position, and size were taken from the 1888 spar deck plan, as will be many other deck details.  The Archives listed an 1854 spar deck plan, but it was, and still is, missing from their files.
 
 
It was time now to repaint.  Painting up to this point has only been  a quick job of spray painting, now I was going to finish the gun stripes properly, and get into some nooks and crannies.
 
 
 
 
I don't know what these things are called, the only name I've seen is "drops," so, I made them of sheet balsa laminated into blocks which also meant the quarter galleries were finally and permanently affixed to the hull with epoxy and the screw that had held them since their beginnings.  The insides of the quarter galleries had been thickly painted in resin some time ago, in case any moisture managed to get inside.
 
 
The gun stripe now went through the head as it should, and the masts and tops also got some fresh paint.

 
Course Yard Trusses
 
Constellation's course yards are attached to the lower mast via a set of iron trusses.  These are really quite impressive items that will be as important in the operation of the model as they undoubtedly were on the ship itself.  Unlike the trusses on the clipper ships and most modern square-riggers; Constellation's pivot out further from the mast where the more common type pivot at the mast and hold the yard off on a post.  This allows the yard to be braced further over and allow the ship to sail closer on the wind.  Constellation's truss design also allows the top masts to lower through them without having to disturb the yard in any fashion - something that will help me lower the rig on the model for transporting.
<= Stad Amsterdam  <= Constellation
 
It's very fortunate to have the actual ship available to reference, and that so many of her original fittings survived the attempt to make her into a frigate - these trusses for instance.  Using a photo of a truss on the ground and my own photos taken from on deck, and using the diameter of the masts for proportion, I designed a set for the model.

 
I ordered a sheet of 1/8" thick aluminum online and began cutting out my parts on a band-saw with the narrowest blade I could get.  I'm not really set-up for working with metals, but I trudged along.
 
 
Cutting out the parts was tough enough, making the bows made that seem easy.  The bow's center bulge was vertical and swelled to as much as a 1/4" while the ends were horizontal.  I opted to get this shape by heating and twisting the ends.  First I drilled them, then I heated them, then carefully twisted the ends 90°.  Most of them worked out very well, but a couple broke and had to be remade.  With some filing you can see they're twisted at all.
 
 
 
 
The remaining part to make were the clevis'.  This was made from some aluminum rod, drilled, slotted, tapped, and shaped with files to match the iron clevis' of the real thing.
 
 
Here's a shot taken a bit later showing the top mast lowered through the truss:

I first set foot on board the Constitution when I was 7 years old, and I was hooked on sailing ships ever since.  My elementary school library had C S Forester's The Captain From Connecticut which I loved and led me to Forester's other work, namely Hornblower.  In fact, the 16 foot daysailer I've had since 1979 is named Lydia.  I spent my teens and twenties working under sail and power, from barkentines to tugs.
 
I've built several of the 1:96 scale Constitution/United States Revell kits, two of them were RCed; but I always wanted a sailing model of the ubiquitous British frigate, and no one made that kit.
 
I finally decided to build one.  Already deep into building an 1850's American sloop-of-war, and with a Baltimore Clipper schooner already planked up, I began a third model of the HMS Macedonian.  I chose Macedonian because I could easily get Chapelle's drawing of her from The American Sailing Navy from the Smithsonian, and she was interesting.
 
  Macedonian by Gardner
 
Macedonian was a Lively class frigate rated at 38 guns, another of Sir William Rule's designs.  Launched in 1810, during the War of 1812 she had the misfortune to meet the American frigate United States, a Constitution class 44 and was captured.  She was taken into the American Navy and served until 1828 when she was broken up and replaced by a new ship.
 
Lively     Bacchante
 
The story of Macedonian is well told in  Chronicles of the Frigate Macedonian, 1809-1922 by James T deKay  and I've posted a fair history of the ship on my page

 
There's lots of data available on how the British built and out-fitted their frigates, and even Macedonian's figurehead still exists, but I never have found any reliable information on what her stern looked like.

 
What I've come up with is my own conjecture based on the sterns of other Lively class frigates.  The mounted figure is from a statue of Alexander that existed when Macedonian was built.  The round object is the "Vergina Sun" found at ancient Macedonian sites and dating from the time of Alexander's father.  Symbology available when Macedonian was built and while this is my own guess, it's at least a logical guess.  I considered using Alexander's profile from a coin in place of the mounted figure, but his face is already on the bow - given the choice, I'd think an English builder would choose the horse. 

 
When the drawings came in from the Smithsonian, the first thing I did was have them digitally scanned.  I then rescaled them from 1:48 up to 1:36 mostly so this model would be the same scale as my Constellation.  That done, I made up a sheet with each station drawn full-sized, and printed that on my plotter.

 
At this scale, the model should be;
Length: 59" taffrail to Alexander's nose
Beam molded: 13.3"
Draught: 6.87" without the removable ballast keel
Her length over the rig will be about 7'
and she will stand from keel to truck, about 4'.
(I'll update this with more accurate numbers and metric equivalents at a later date)

 
These paper patterns were used to rough cut the wooden stations from 3/8" plywood.  Each paper pattern was then glued onto it's station
 
 
close cut on the bandsaw, and then fined up on the beltsander where some bevel was put into the forward and after stations.
 
 

Funny you should mention that lambsbk, as it was about this time the model got wet for the first time 
 
On October 4th 2009, I had taken my daysailer Lydia out and tossed Constellation in the truck.  When we got back I put the hull in the water for it's first float.  I forgot the rods that held the ballast on, so the closest thing that might be deemed a test was when I pushed the hull down to it's waterline.  No leaks.
 
 
On the 7th, wanting a better "test" I tossed her in the truck and took her to the end of my street to Sloop Cove - where else do you float a sloop of war, eh?
In total there was 50 pounds of lead on board; 42 in the torpedo, the rest in baggies placed in the hull.  There was also about 4 pounds more consisting  of battery, radio gear, and a couple of hand tools; plus her lower masts, which together don't weight half a pound.
She floated 2 inches above her load waterline.  I figure it'll take 12-15 pounds of internal ballast to get her down to waterline, that includes her running gear and battery.
   
 
Next up: Radio Control

Channels, Quarter Galleries, and Paint
 
The channels were made from pine and their shape, position, and size were taken from the 1888 spar deck plan, as will be many other deck details.  The Archives listed an 1854 spar deck plan, but it was, and still is, missing from their files.
 
 
It was time now to repaint.  Painting up to this point has only been  a quick job of spray painting, now I was going to finish the gun stripes properly, and get into some nooks and crannies.
 
 
 
 
I don't know what these things are called, the only name I've seen is "drops," so, I made them of sheet balsa laminated into blocks which also meant the quarter galleries were finally and permanently affixed to the hull with epoxy and the screw that had held them since their beginnings.  The insides of the quarter galleries had been thickly painted in resin some time ago, in case any moisture managed to get inside.
 
 
The gun stripe now went through the head as it should, and the masts and tops also got some fresh paint.

 
Course Yard Trusses
 
Constellation's course yards are attached to the lower mast via a set of iron trusses.  These are really quite impressive items that will be as important in the operation of the model as they undoubtedly were on the ship itself.  Unlike the trusses on the clipper ships and most modern square-riggers; Constellation's pivot out further from the mast where the more common type pivot at the mast and hold the yard off on a post.  This allows the yard to be braced further over and allow the ship to sail closer on the wind.  Constellation's truss design also allows the top masts to lower through them without having to disturb the yard in any fashion - something that will help me lower the rig on the model for transporting.
<= Stad Amsterdam  <= Constellation
 
It's very fortunate to have the actual ship available to reference, and that so many of her original fittings survived the attempt to make her into a frigate - these trusses for instance.  Using a photo of a truss on the ground and my own photos taken from on deck, and using the diameter of the masts for proportion, I designed a set for the model.

 
I ordered a sheet of 1/8" thick aluminum online and began cutting out my parts on a band-saw with the narrowest blade I could get.  I'm not really set-up for working with metals, but I trudged along.
 
 
Cutting out the parts was tough enough, making the bows made that seem easy.  The bow's center bulge was vertical and swelled to as much as a 1/4" while the ends were horizontal.  I opted to get this shape by heating and twisting the ends.  First I drilled them, then I heated them, then carefully twisted the ends 90°.  Most of them worked out very well, but a couple broke and had to be remade.  With some filing you can see they're twisted at all.
 
 
 
 
The remaining part to make were the clevis'.  This was made from some aluminum rod, drilled, slotted, tapped, and shaped with files to match the iron clevis' of the real thing.
 
 
Here's a shot taken a bit later showing the top mast lowered through the truss: