USS Constitution by Modeler12 - FINISHED - Model Shipways

[Modeler12]

Looking at my last entry above, it has been three months since I posted anything new here. Let me update, please.

 

There comes a point in time when other things seem more important than building this model. However, it was not forgotten during these holiday happenings. I did post many comments about 'techniques', and in the process learned a lot myself from others and what I was doing at the time. One of them had to do with 'furled sails', a post by Mike Landlubber (thanks again Mike). It got me going for several reasons:

 

I had made some mistakes in the rigging lines. Although the picture above may look nice, there were a few problems that I had to resolve and it meant tearing down a lot of what you see. One of them was that the spars didn't line up with the sails below. They should have been at an angle such that the ship on a 'starboard tack' has all of its sails and spars pointing in the right direction. There were others, but this was the turning point.

 

I tore down what you see above; unglued the spars from the masts, redid the halyards, etc. Then took the old spars and fitted them with furled sails, as Mike demonstrated.

I will go into the details in the next post.

[Modeler12]

The first step was to make the new 'furled sails' and add them to the old spars.
I took some of the old sail cloth, stitched seams and cut them to the shape shown below.

 

Then I glued the edge to the spar. When that was dried I used tweezers and some water on the muslin cloth to roll and tuck the sail.

 

When it looked right, I started to tie the 'furl-lines', meaning the short threads to hold the cloth to the spar.
I also added the sheets for these sails and later connected them to the spar below this one.

I know, this gets a bit confusing, but the result, to me, was a lot more like what I wanted. More to come (I hope).

Thus far:       

[CaptCraig]

There are many things in life we wish we could go back and change. The great thing about ship modeling is that you can do that! It may be painful to experience, but you can do it! I think this looks great with the furled sails Jay!

[CaptainSteve]

You're a perfectionist, Jay ... and it shows in your work.

I'm certain that Mike Landlubber's work will prove very useful to me when I get up to that stage.

Edited January 16, 2014 by CaptainSteve

[Modeler12]

Steve, I'll take that as a compliment, but the truth is far from that.

For example, when I had to remove halyards I had one that was a bit too complicated to replace in total. So, I spliced a new section to it but hid the knot underneath the platform. Until now only I knew.

There are a few more 'hick-ups' and I am glad I have a bottle of 'unglue'. But at least I think I am back on track.

[Geoff Matson]

Jay great to see you back at it. I too have been off for some Honey do stuff and the holidays. I hope to get back at it in Feb. Nice and cold in Northern Illinois and that makes modeling an easy choice.

 

Sorry you found some hick ups. But if you don't address them now you every time you look at the Conny, you will be reminded. The fixes are looking good. Keep tying knots and making sawdust.

[Modeler12]

Thank you Geoff.

Let me explain what happened. As I have explained before, I took the approach to do the rigging from the top down. That meant that I had installed the royal and topgallant spars along with their halyards and braces. They were glued in place and the lines belayed on deck etc.

 

When I started the topsail for the mizzen, I found that there were too many lines interfering around the mast. The four brace lines were strung behind the topsail and looked wrong. However, the plans show several going down along the mast. You might have a look at drawing 7 and note the little arrows pointing down.

I could see that the problem would be worse for the main and fore royal and topgallant braces. Then along comes Mike with his furled sails idea and I decided to give that a try. But as long as I was going to do that I had to do something about the braces.
Besides that, the plans also show that many of the braces are belayed along the rail. When I tried that the platforms were in the way.

 

Below I show two drawings that are in the book by Lennarth Petersson. The first one is for the foremast. You can see that none of the braces come down along the masts. I am now in the process of rigging the foremast braces this way. It involves a lot more line, blocks, etc but I think it will look better.

I have not yet decided to redo the mizzen braces, but probably will later.

All of this slows down the work on the topsails, but so be it.

 

 

 

There is one more drawing for the mizzen braces, but I will show that later.

[catopower]

Jay,

 

I too am really glad to see you back at your Constitution model. I was really bummed when you had email me that you were giving up (or at least taking a break from) ship modeling back in November or so. So, I'm glad to see the progress you have been making on the redo of all that work. Having more than a couple big redo's myself, I know that's a hard thing to look at. But, you've got so much invested already, so it's good to see you moving forward again.

 

Beautiful work!

 

Clare

[Modeler12]

Thank you Clare for your kind words. Actually I had not 'given up' but just needed a long break (with other commitments to go with that).

As I explained above, the reasons for getting a bit frustrated were several, but I think I now have a handle on what needs to be done.

 

Below is another drawing about the mizzen braces. It looks a bit strange to have lines going to the spanker gaff, but there is plenty of room in that area, so I may do that also.

BTW the braces for the mizzen royal go forward to the main mast. As long as lines are along the back side of the mast, they do not interfere with the sails.

I learn a little every time I do something good or wrong!

[popeye2sea]

Jay,  I'm pretty sure there is no way that the mizzen topsail brace would lead to the spanker gaff.  All of the braces for the mizzen yards lead forward to the main mast

[Modeler12]

Jay,  I'm pretty sure there is no way that the mizzen topsail brace would lead to the spanker gaff.  All of the braces for the mizzen yards lead forward to the main mast

I tend to agree with you, but was confused by the drawing published is great detail by Petersson.

When braces (or other lines) go to a mast and down along the front side, they tend to interfere with the sails. If, however, they can go down along the back side of the mast the problem is not as bad. In the case of the mizzen braces, they can go down along the back side of the main, so that should not be a real problem. The plans that came with the kit shows them going to the main. 

 

However, I will keep the braces for the fore and main jacks away from the masts as suggested by Petersson. They are arranged to go back from the spars, but should not go down along the front of masts as described above.

 

Below is a photograph of the Connie in Boston and it clearly shows that there are no braces going to the gaff and the braces for the topsail spar are going forward.

Edited January 17, 2014 by Modeler12

[Modeler12]

A brief update.

I am continuing with the furled sails, braces, halliyards, etc. The mizzen and fore mast parts are done, but I still need install the royal and topgallant furled sails for the main. It is slow going with all the 'corrections' I need to make.
I am also leaving the various lines 'untied' so in case I have to make more adjustments I don't have to unglue the belaying knots. For now the lines are held to the deck with some tape. Hence, the braces you see are rather loose.

 

Once the braces are taken care of, I can come back where I left off a few months ago. Namely untangle this mess of lines and work on the topsails.

[Modeler12]

Just one more picture after I epoxied the main royal and topgallant spars in place.

Still a lot of alignment to do.

[Modeler12]

Here are a couple pictures of what the lines look like lying on deck. The white tags identify some of them.

 

I have finished re-rigging the braces and checked that all is ok. So I am ready to belay the lines you see below. Many of them had to be loosened and redone, but now I can also see that my approach of not rigging the shrouds paid off before. As you can see the shrouds for the main are still hanging loose. That gives me room to get to the fife rails a bit easier. Whereas the shrouds for the mizzen will be in the way for this re-work. The pins behind the mast are now hard to get to.

 

I know I am a bit of a maverick with this crazy method, but I am still convinced that working from the top down has some merit. The thing I did learn, however, from what I did for the mizzen, is to do as much as possible to the course jack and even install it before the topsail goes in place. There are too many 'black' lines such as the sling, trusses and jeers (shown below) that are hard to install with the sail hovering above them.

[Modeler12]

Here is another 'hick-up', for those who are thinking of adding sails.

 

Earlier I stressed that I wanted to add as many lines to the sails before they are rigged in place. I still believe in that except for the bowlines.

The picture below may look cute, but the lines are going the wrong direction. I did not find out about that until I installed the mizzen topsail. The bowlines (one on each side) go forward and up to the main mast cap where they go through blocks and down to the deck.

That means that the lower part of the three sections you see below should be a lot longer while the top section is shorter.

 

What I am going to do is to remove the bowlines I have now and replace them with new lines that will be installed and adjusted later on. They are on the outside edge (leech) and should be easy to get to. I will keep the line and bullseye that already goes to the cap.

 

To give you an idea what this line looks like installed, here is one more picture.

When I pull on the line in the upper right hand corner, the whole thing becomes a mess.

The clew you see is the mizzen topsail. The course jack is the black one below that. The topsail sheet has not yet been set.

Edited January 20, 2014 by Modeler12

[CaptainSteve]

Whilst I feel absolutely certain that we all feel your pain, Jay, I must thank you for detailing just some of the pitfalls that those, such as I, (following yourself and other Connie builders here on MSW), may encounter.

Edited January 20, 2014 by CaptainSteve

[Modeler12]

You know the old saying, Steve, 'No pain, no gain'.

Right now I feel a gain.

I am back on track, I think.

[Modeler12]

Here is another heads-up for those who are starting to make the masts and do the rigging.

The mast caps require a lot more eye bolts than I had counted on. Especially if you are adding sails.

Last count there are eight bolts on the main mast cap plus a bullseye (to guide the mizzen topgallant stay).

I kept adding, and adding eyebolts, but a hard look at the plans and all the detailed sketches helps.

Here is the list, they are on both the port and starboard sides:

Trusses, lifts, mizzen topsail braces, and bowlines. The bowline eyebolts are not obvious until you look at sheet 8.

 

A quick count of most (or all) the eyebolts required comes to more than 150. And that does not include another 150 or so for the jackstays on top of the spars.
My point is, if you are going to make your own eyebolts, make a lot.

[Modeler12]

Things are looking up.

The 'poop deck', or what ever it is called now, is a lot cleaner without all those lines on deck.

Most of the lines coming from above are belayed, except for the sheets of the mizzen topsail.
I still need to replace the bowlines and I think that will help to adjust the lay of the topsail.

 

 

I certainly learned a lot with making these changes (including adding the furled sails) 
Hopefully I will be smarter with the main and foremasts and their rigging.

 

[Modeler12]

I mentioned the little problem I had with the bowlines for the topsail. I tried to fix that and now it looks better; albeit not perfect. At least the idea is there and, you can see that those lines help to set the shape of the sail.
More needs to be done with the sheets and braces for the mizzen jack, but all in due time.

  

[Modeler12]

With the braces and other lines belayed and 'snugged-up', the rigging is starting to look a bit better.

I still like the addition of the furled sails on the top spars; so a bit of time was lost for the good.

 

Next step will take a while. I have to finally start fixing the main shrouds in place, plus all those nice rat-lines that go with them.

Edited January 22, 2014 by Modeler12

[aliluke]

It all looks fantastic Jay. You are nearing the finish line I feel. It must be a strange place to be in some ways on such an epic and challenging build. I love the sails but I'm not ready to go there yet on my current ship even if it makes more sense of it as a sailing ship. Great work and I hope you have the champagne ready for that last tweak when it comes.

 

Cheers

Alistair

[CaptainSteve]

Getting better and better with every post, Jay !!

 

Just my personal opinion, but, on my pre-MSW builds, I absolutely loved doing the rigging part !!

As each group of lines were added, I would stand back and admire the whole ship to date - especially focusing on the latest additions.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhrrrrr !!!

Edited January 22, 2014 by CaptainSteve

[Modeler12]

Thank you guys. Indeed to stand back so once in while and look at what I have done the last couple years is ok. I feel like going on right now (which was not the case a couple months ago).

But Alistaire, I know that I have a long way to go yet. After the shrouds are in place on the main and foremasts, I still have to rig those two topsails. Then there is the issue of the netting on top of the rail, the davits for to boats and the four boats themselves.

Unlike Steve, who has been busy with those boats, all I have done is to cut a few pieces out of the laser cut sheets.

Champagne should not be kept in the refrigerator too long, so I may have to buy another bottle towards the end of this year.

[Modeler12]

Here is a simple one that I almost fouled up. It involves the flag halliards.

 

In order to raise and lower a flag from the mast or where ever it might fly, the halliard should be a continues loop. It should be fastened to a cleat, not a belaying pin, and the two lines (although one loop) should be parallel and not twisted. It was the latter that was a bit tricky because the lines kept twisting together when I took them to the cleat.

It is hard to see with a photograph, so I made the crude sketch below.

In order to keep them separated and look better, I kept the two apart when they went around the cleat rather than gathering them together.

I know this is not important, but I thought it worth mentioning.

[popeye2sea]

Don't be too hard on yourself.  That happens all the time in the real world too.  You would be surprised how often the lowering of the ensign at evening colors is botched because someone did not disentangle the halyard prior to trying to lower the flag.  The flag very often whips around the two parts of the halyard and becomes fouled on itself.

[Modeler12]

So, what happens Henry? Does someone have to climb up there to untangle the ensign?

 

I recall you were the one who suggested that the halliard should be aft of the backstay. You also had an interesting story about raising the admiral's flag when he came aboard. Mind sharing that again?

 

Sorry the camera focused on other lines rather than the flag halliard. But you get the idea in this picture.

[popeye2sea]

One can usually, by getting plenty of separation on the two parts of the halyard at deck level, get enough slack and untwist it enough to lower the ensign.  If you are good at it you can get it accomplished without too much delay.  Delay is never good in the military.  Sometimes it takes going aloft if the flag is jammed on something else.  It is just rather embarrassing when the flag is not lowered smartly for some ceremony, like a change of command, and you have dignitaries and other brass aboard. The captain usually starts the **it chain which rapidly rolls down hill to the signalman of the watch who embarrassed him.

 

I once had a situation when we were conducting a signal drill while the weather was blowing almost a gale.  The uphaul got away from the operator and blew aloft into the radar and radio antennas.  I had to go aloft and untangle it all.  That was quite the thrill; underway, rolling, pitching, out on the yardarms.  Once again the CO was pissed because we had to secure both from radiating the radars and transmitting radio while someone was aloft.

 

Not sure which story I told you about the admirals flag.  

Edited January 23, 2014 by popeye2sea

[Modeler12]

Thanks Henry, that was more than I expected, and a great story.

I was looking at the a previous post

http://modelshipworld.com/index.php?/topic/1447-where-do-flag-halliards-go-deck-or-top/?hl=flags.

It had a lot of good information, but don't see the 'admiral coming aboard' thing.

It had to do with quickly raising the admirals flag as soon as he steps aboard.

But your personal experience is always appreciated.

I am still thinking of having 'the admiral' flag flying by the time I get this lady finished.

[jud]

When using flags to control fleet evolutions, isn't it standard practice to display the flag signal and execution of the signal is began at the time the flags are pulled down?

jud