USS Constitution by Modeler12 - FINISHED - Model Shipways

[Modeler12]

Wow, very nice build - are you adding sails?  This ship probably looks amazing in full sails.

Mike, it would be a wonder (and wonderful sight) to see the USS Constitution in 'full sails', however, I am only adding six out of the thirty-some sails that she might have carried in the past. Even at that, I am having a difficult time but enjoying the challenge.

 

Kim, I appreciate your input about fixing the sails with hair-spray. I have read about using that and decided to try my wife's starch instead. It is less 'sticky'. It sprays on nicely and can be dried/ formed in a similar way you described with a hair dryer. I have taken a cautious route and only tried it briefly (not completely) on the three sails thus far. It works and I know that I can do more later after more of the rigging is in place. I might give hair spray another try on an old piece, but then, if disappointed, I might go back to 'starch' for the square sails.

This is a bit like learning to play the F cord on a guitar!!??

 

I am still trying to finish more of the shrouds and other rigging before adding the mizzen top-sail with its various lines. 

For now, while the weather is rather hot here, I will postpone much action.

[michael20]

Hi Jay,

 

   Your Connie is sure looking great, I'll be looking forward to your future updates. In the meantime, Enjoy  your vacation....

 

          Happy Modelling,

         

                      Marty G.

[KimatHm]

Hi Jay...Glad to hear that you discovered another / additional method for dressing the sails...I remember using starch years ago, but then my moms' supply had run out...due to me !!!...and thus, I ended up with the hairspray method.....Oh Yeah...Keep up the practicing...the 'F' chord will eventually become a 'breeze'...!!!...Kim

[texxn5]

Looking good Jay, keep up the good work. Hope the islands wern't too distracting.

[KimatHm]

Hey Mod 12...Nice work, and definitely done correctly, as far as I can see from your pics...!!! Rigging the sails surely requires the patience equal to the Saints...!!! Good work on your build log...Keep it up...!!!...  Kim

[Modeler12]

Thanks fellows for those nice comments. I must admit that I have not done much on my Conny for a few weeks. Summer, etc. . . . .

 

What I have been doing is update my web site with the pictures I have taken during the rigging process. I have a ways to go yet, but if you are interested in my personal log go to http://www.brentjes.com/coonyrigging2.html

 

It is an ongoing affair and is subject to changes and additions. There are two parts in the works.

 

[KimatHm]

Hi Jay... Hey There...Pretty Impressive Photos going on there with the rigging process on your web log site...!!! Looking forward to the 'to be continued' Rigging, Part Deux, when you get back to it...Should bepretty informative...and the photos are really Sharp...Nice Going...!!! ...  Kim

[Geoff Matson]

Great pictures Jay. Thanks for posting them. You are doing a great job as usual. I will be glad when winter comes so I don't have to do all the outside chores.

 

Take care.

Edited August 25, 2013 by Geoff Matson

[Modeler12]

Thanks for those comments fellows. I am afraid I have been busy with other things and my Connie is slow in the progressive stages.

Besides some vacation trips this summer, I have also been working on an old project I never finished a few years ago. It involves two Dutch windmills. The larger of the two never had its own 'wieken' or blades. I am still working on that and am also adding 'sails'.

 

A windmill is often shown with its lattice work only. But to make the blades (or wieken in Dutch) turn, the miller has to raise the sails. I show one of them (not yet finished) in the picture below. The sails can also be reefed.  In my model the blades are powered by a small electric motor I salvaged from an old microwave oven turn-table. I have also added a few LEDs to the inside. 

 

When this is finished I will get back to working on Connie.

[sport29652]

Your build and log is incredible ! A must follow for any Connie builder

[KimatHm]

The Windmill is Awesome...!!! They're really fun projects to build, as are Lighthouses...!!! ( I have several that I really need to get back to work on...!!!

[CaptainSteve]

Love the windmill, Jay.

Up to your usual standard, as always.

Even though I have seen numerous windmills (including one - a tourist attraction - standing by the freeway in my own town), I had never realised that they had sails which needed to be set in order to operate.

Who says model-making isn't educational !!

[Modeler12]

Thanks Steve.

I know this is not the place for other models, but since you expressed interest let me explain a couple things about windmills (at least those that were built in the Netherlands).

The model I showed earlier (and the 'finishes' version is shown again below) is commonly referred to as a 'tower mill'. They are mostly made of a brick tower but sometimes made out of wood like my model shows. These were rather large mills and raised above the surroundings in order to catch the wind. When the mill stood on a dike, for example, it was not necessary to build them high and those are typically you may see at Kinderdijk, the place where you can still see as many as 18 mills, some of which still operate. Note that all of these have the large beams and a capstan to rotate the top for alignment with the wind direction.

 

A smaller version is the 'post mill'. In this case the whole building can be rotated around a large post in the center of the mill. As a side line I might add that someone in our family had one of those mills in Zeeland where they ground wheat to make flour. It was very similar to the one shown below.

For more details on how I built them go to http://www.brentjes.com/windmill.html

 

   

[Geoff Matson]

The windmill looks great. I really like the details of the horse cart and  barrels. Nice job!

[KimatHm]

Hi Jay...Beautiful work on the mills...!!! Thanks for the brief, on the history, and the types they are, and their purposes...!!! Great Hobby...Modeling...Ehh???  Kim

[Modeler12]

Ok Geoff and Tim. Now it is back to my Connie.

 

Whow, it seems like ages since I touched her. But she keeps grinning at me in the garage, like, she needs some company and a friendly touch in the right places so once in a while.

 

Meanwhile, I have been invited to a meeting of model ship builders here in the Bay Area. We are meeting on October 12 in Vallejo. It will be at the museum there and instead of bringing my Connie, as she stands right now, I thought to bring a couple of the square sails with all their rigging before they are installed.
Of course, by then I may have them installed anyway and I will be forced to bring the whole lass.

[KimatHm]

Looking forward to seeing more pics on your Connie, as you get back into it...Keep up with your patience, Mate...!!!  Kim

[texxn5]

Windmills look really nice....

[Modeler12]

Windmills look really nice....

Thanks texxn5. To see more about what I have been up to this summer have a look at this youtube clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihU4QqPn1Rc

 

I have closed my web site and will make the adjustment to my list below some time soon.

My build log will continue shortly.

[Modeler12]

As I mentioned above, I have discontinued our web site and the build log I had posted there. Instead I am trying to put together some videos and also include pictures as I go along.

At this point I am ready to install the three topsails. The mizzen was the first one. Before I do that, however, I wanted to set the cloth in the 'wind-blown' profile. Again I used spray starch and a hair dryer. The first try is shown in the short video clip

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrJ4pdUOxLo

 

Edited October 17, 2013 by Modeler12

[Modeler12]

The starch and hairdryer worked fine for setting the three topsails. They have a good shape but need to be retouched before final installation.

I attached them to the mast with some tape to get an idea of their positions relative to the wind direction. I took some more video clips of this. For an updated version of the video go to

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLZRQf0eRco

[ScottRC]

Woo Hoo, like the build.  I'm about the same place you are on the Connie and you are giving me ideas.

 

Scott

[aliluke]

Good to see you back at it Jay. I'll have a look at the videos shortly.

 

Cheers

Alistair

[Geoff Matson]

Boy you are really branching out. First an outstanding modeler and now you going on to film   Look forward to seeing more.

[Modeler12]

Alistair my good, old friend from New Zealand. I am sorry you guys lost the prodigious American Cup Race here in the SF Bay. It was a total shock to most of us even here. It is amazing what they can do, speed wise, with those sailboats. What, to me especially, was interesting is the use of hydrofoils. Back around 1960, when I worked for Boeing, I became a bit of an expert on how hydrofoils worked on surface ships.

But that is an old story for later. And like they say 'The older I get, the better I was'.

BTW is that a New Zealand ferry in the picture I see about you and your new build???? Is that how you get to Awaroa Bay??? Maybe I'll pass on that one (unless we are invited).

 

Geoff, the reason I started on this 'movie' bit, is that I have a beautiful wife who was a 'star' in her own right. She never earned an Oscar, but will always be remembered for her memorable role as Scarlett O (what's her name) in the movie 'Gone with the Wind'. For some reason, that still baffles me, she was replaced by Vivian Leigh.

Any way I think you might see more of my comedy-show as we continue to build old Connie. (My wife is finally aware of who she is).

Edited October 19, 2013 by Modeler12

[lambsbk]

Nice video effects Jay. Oh, and the build look s fantastic too. :) :)

[HIPEXEC]

Your Connie looks great!

[aliluke]

Hi Jay - Yes that is a Cook Strait ferry - the Aramoana - long since retired but we have to cross the Strait to get to Awaroa in the current ferries. These days they cancel the sailings if the seas are that high - probably 7 metres or so in the photo. They were running as high as 8 metres just a few weeks back. I crossed, years ago, on the Aramoana in similar seas, a trip that was accompanied by choruses of screams!

 

Yes we lament the loss of the AC challenge - just needed three minutes more of race time in Race 13 to secure it...so close. Hard to say if NZ will get back up for it again. Apparently our team members are already being poached by rival syndicates. It takes a lot of dosh to hold these things together. Never mind, the All Blacks are on a big winning streak and now hold every trophy that they are eligible for.

 

I look forward to your Connie updates!

 

Cheers

Alistair

[catopower]

Hi Jay,

 

Glad to see you haven't given up on ship modeling after all. Sorry you didn't come to our little gathering in Vallejo. It was a nice get-together and I got to meet a couple more ship modelers in the general vicinity. Hope I wasn't bugging you too much to attend, but I really wanted to meet the man behind the beautiful model!

 

I'll be looking forward to following your updates. Nice job on those windmills too!

 

Clare

[Modeler12]

Hi Jay,

 

Glad to see you haven't given up on ship modeling after all. Sorry you didn't come to our little gathering in Vallejo. It was a nice get-together and I got to meet a couple more ship modelers in the general vicinity. Hope I wasn't bugging you too much to attend, but I really wanted to meet the man behind the beautiful model!

 

I'll be looking forward to following your updates. Nice job on those windmills too!

 

Clare

Thank you Clare. I hope my email to you clarified where I am coming from.

 

And Rich, thank you for your comments. I am very slowly getting back into working on my Connie. Rigging those sails with the numerous tiny blocks is hard on my nerves. I can only handle a few at a time. So progress will be slow.

Meanwhile I am also working on a video to document where I do my work, what tools and equipment I have and then the start of my next modeling project.