USS Constitution by Livingstoneman - Model Shipways

[Livingstoneman]

I just got my new Dremel for Christmas! Yeh!

Edited January 4, 2016 by Livingstoneman

[Nirvana]

LivingStoneMan,

I just found your build log, and all I can say HOLY Boxwood......

Secondly I would give you a Warm

Wow, are you living close to the border of Congo? And What are you doing there, besides being the reincarnation of Dr.Livingstone?

I think many of us are wondering......

 

Thirdly,

That build is coming along extremely nice, and as David B. said "it is not a race" unless you are racing against yourself..

[Livingstoneman]

Dear Dr. Per,

   

  Thanks for your note! Its so encouraging to get a note from the outside world as I am very isolated here. 

 

My location is   9°48'48.99"S   28°46'1.12"E 

 To sum up my complicated life I could say I am an MK. Traveled and lived in 14 countries to end up in Zambia.

I have a wife and 6 children. Five of which are in Texas most in University. I only remain with my last born son of 18 years who I will be taking to the States very soon.

 I have been in this country now the longest of 14 years! But 8 in our current position.

I have now started an orphanage for vulnerable babies that cant survive without our help. The oldest is 11 years old now and will continue be with us while doing his school. Our intake of orphans is only for those who are 2 years and below.

I have many projects going on as I am Jack of all trades and master of none. 

My last hobby was an old fiberglass boat I found at the bottom of a river. I restored it and is now at my farm located 1 hour south of our orphanage.

 So my new hobby is this USS Constitution. I will be building my own house and I think a boat like this would look great above the fireplace.

 I love the water and spend time in canoes and boat as much as I get time for.

 I am writing a book of my life and adventures I have come across. My wife helping me along the way of course.

 You can see my photos on facebook or my 2 web sites, www.missionaryfamily.com and www.kazembeorphanage.com

 Any more questions?

Tom 

  

Edited January 8, 2016 by Livingstoneman

[donrobinson]

I applaud you on your build and especially your life's work. Please keep up both and keep us all in touch.

Thanks

[Livingstoneman]

I need some advice,

 

1. Is the deck of the Constitution supposed to be level or bowed like a banana? If it is supposed to be slightly bowed, is to be from the front of the boat to the end of the boat?

 

I have found out that I have several bulwarks that are not even with the others. This was done by placing a plank across them. I know that I could just clamp them down when gluing, but even doing that, I still see a few gaps.

 

2. Should I grind down all bulwarks to make level but bowed? I looked at a few other examples, but it is very difficult to determine how much of a bow I should create!!!

 

Livingstoneman

 

Tom 

[Nirvana]

Tom, all boats/ship (or I would say most) has a slight curved deck this to let water not puddling up. That would be bad for the crew running around. As for the kit of Connie I have no idea. Now it's time for someone else to help out.

I bowe my head for the amazing job of the orphanage.

Just wondering were you will find time for "this new hobby of your"

I know how hard it is for me without the "life"job you have. Cudos to you!

[usedtosail]

Yes Tom, there is a curve to the deck. It is higher in the stern and bow than in the waist. You can see this on Plan Sheet 4. The top diagram is a side view of the deck and it shows the curve of the deck.

[Livingstoneman]

Thanks for the tips! I will get to work on this as soon as I get the chance. Need to go to the farm where my large greenhouse is. My 500 tomato plants are in trouble with early blight. Grrrrrr. Thats what I get to grow tomatoes in the rainy season. Lessons learned..

 

Livingstoneman 

[Livingstoneman]

Today, my off day, I worked on the leveling of my deck or should I say evenly bowing it, & dummy gun ports.

The gun ports were fun and went ok. I have been following eken and his work. But 2 things are bothering me.

 

 1. on a few drawings, it show a thicker wood at the bottom of the dummy gun ports, and yet on another drawing it says 1/8 X 1/8 (Which I did) I see that by leaving it 1/8 the dummy black cannon port will be tilted slightly and not vertical. I think it will be fine as its supposed to simulate darkness.

 

 2. On the end of the boat where the first dummy gun port goes, if I follow the prints, it looks like I will have to shave off almost half of the dummy port to fit to the left next to the bulk head. Is that right?

 

Waiting for help..

 

Livingstoneman 

Edited January 16, 2016 by Livingstoneman

[CaptainSteve]

I do believe you are onto something there, LSMan ... and not for the first time, either. In fact, your revelation above with your stern timbers led directly to Re-Do #3 on my build.

Looking at the pics, I would imagine you may have to set your cannons a bit further back in the dummy gun boxes ... or build-up the surrounding sides. 

[Burroak]

The piece you are showing with the hole fits behind the frame you will form first. Look at Usedtosail build log for the USS Constitution.

Hope this helps

[HIPEXEC]

Nice work and good luck!

[usedtosail]

You want those back pieces to be vertical, or else your barrels will be pointed to the sky. Use a thicker piece for the bottom then the top like it shows in the picture from the instructions that you posted. And I did have to shave those pieces down for the first ports in the bow.

[Livingstoneman]

Ohhh, ok, 

 I finally figured it all out. The picture I was going on from eken was ok for him as the gun port framing box can be just 1/8 inch X 1/8 inch as he has modified his Gun deck to be real and therefore no need to give it a deep dark dimension. He can just roll up his new ordered Guns up to the 1/8 inch support. So was all that bottom line a loss, not quite. I can use it as part of the top framing box on the port side. The bottom of the framing box of the first gun port on the stern became 3/8 Inch X 1/8 inch with a bit of tapering, including the center vertical support. I checked and every Gun port box will be a bit larger, so customizing is a must. In the photo below, you can see the difference in depth from left to right. The right bottom frame box will be replaced. So another lesson learned. It would have been nice if the plans explained this better. Thanks to all who showed me this!

 

Livingstoneman 

Edited January 19, 2016 by Livingstoneman

[Livingstoneman]

Ok, getting into the groove. I worked on the dummy gun port framing box's and got about 1/4 of them done. There is a bit more shaping or correcting of the box's but it should be no problem. I tried in the beginning to cut the framing box's exactly and it was very difficult and time consuming, so I found out if I just cut it larger, glue it, then the next day just shape and trim it with my new Dremel, it becomes much easier. I gave the ports a bit of black just to give myself a hint of encouragement. It looks good to me!  

Edited January 25, 2016 by Livingstoneman

[Livingstoneman]

Today I finished the gun ports on the starboard. Took 3 days but I am satisfied. Now to do the port side.

Edited January 31, 2016 by Livingstoneman

[Livingstoneman]

Well, today I freaked out! I went to go about doing my model, but I then felt something was off. I then looked from above and boy was I in for a surprise, the entire frame of the boat was curved like a banana! How did that happen, then I figured it out. When I was making the dummy cannon ports, I was wedging them in between the bulkheads. This caused a curling effect. So to fix the problem I got my measuring tool and measured the other side of the boat and bent the bulkheads to the same width as the opposite dummy port. Only a few bulkheads are very noticeably warped. But once the top deck is on, you will not see it.

 During my building of the port box's, my wife unplugged our 220v to 110v transformer and took it into the kitchen to blend something. Well when I got to my station, I was wondering why the plug to my new dremel was unplugged, so I plugged it in. And when I stepped on the pedal for a brief second, that thing spun a fierce hurricane. I stopped and questioned the force of it only to see what had happened. After a brief argument with my wife, I tested the dremel and all is still working..... I should get my own transformer soon!

  So, for the past 2 days I have been working on those ports, and it all turned out ok. No more banana nightmare. Lesson learned...No more wedging!

Edited February 14, 2016 by Livingstoneman

[dgbot]

Congrats on fixing a potentially bad problem.

David B

[alde]

You sure took on quite a project for a first build. It looks like you have things well in hand. There are some great people here to lend a hand when you need it. Best of luck on your build and have fun with it.

[Livingstoneman]

Thanks! As my first build, i will see where I am at as far as skill is considered. I am thinking that I will do a viking long boat next.

[Livingstoneman]

Started to work on the spar deck gun ports. Did some measuring with the prints and looked at many other builders and found several variations. So I just picked one that I liked and was close to the print way. One thing I am a bit concerned about is that once the spar deck is on, will the guns be at the proper height to fit squarely in the port. So one idea is to make one gun and put a temp deck on with the right thickness. That would ensure me that I got the right height. If I don't and make it too low or too high, then I will have to shave or build up the bulk head deck support. This could be bad as the deck might ripple up and down. Hmmmm. I think I will go with the making of the gun...   

Edited February 20, 2016 by Livingstoneman

[Livingstoneman]

I will be leaving Zambia in a few days to go to the States on a tour to show our new orphanage video. Now I will be there for about 2 months. During my time there, I was thinking that I could buy extra parts for my USS Constitution that I might need for the next year. 

 So my question to all those who have built the Constitution is, what should I buy? Please be specific, like the size of wood etc. I will not get to the any of the ropes this year, so that's out. I heard I might need more copper for the outer hull, but I also am doubting I'll get that far. You can see from my current photos what stage I am and could estimate how much I could do in a years time. 

 

Thanks! 

               Livingstoneman

[CaptainSteve]

Good idea to plan ahead, LS. Whilst I am still a long way from doing them, I have read some builders suggesting that they needed additional material for both the deck and outer hull planking wood strips.

Also, as you mentioned, probably picking up an extra roll or two of the copper tape would prove useful.

[JSGerson]

Here is something to consider: the Wood Supplement Packages originally from HobbyMill. If you are following the Robert Hunt Constitution practicum like I will when I start my model of the Conny, he talks about making certain wood changes on the deck: Hatch Combings, Main Rail, Fife Rails, Fenders, Binnacles, and Life Boats. At the time I bought my kit, HobbyMills was still operating (that role has since been taken over by Crown Timberyard) and I could and did purchase all of the supplements for a total of $85. Whether or not Crown Timberyard also offers these packages, I don't know. It might be worth looking into. If you are interested, I could send you the original HobbyMills description which indicates where in the practicum the substitutions are to be made, what they are, and the pricing.

 

Jonathan

[usedtosail]

The only thing I remember buying at the stage you are at is more planking strips for the spar deck, mostly because I used the kit supplied strips for the gun deck. I don't remember the size though, but you can easily measure off the plans.

[J T Lombard]

Jonathan

I would very much appreciate a copy of the "original Hobbymills description".

 

thank you very much

 

J

[JSGerson]

JT - PM sent

[JSGerson]

I was just checking my PMs and noticed that the last PM I replied to your request last month was rejected and returned to me again as:

 

Technical details of permanent failure:
Google tried to deliver your message, but it was rejected by the server for the recipient domain modelshipworld.com bymail.modelshipworld.com. [205.234.253.68].

The error that the other server returned was:
550 No Such User Here

 

I had made three attempted replys to your PM, but did not see the last rejection until now. If you could provide me with an alternate email address, I will re-attempt to send you the info you requested.

 

Jon

[J T Lombard]

Jon:

Try my email NRGjlombard@jtlombard.com (drop the NRG)

 

regards

 

J Lombard

[Livingstoneman]

Hello to everyone! I am back from the States after 3 months of fundraising for the orphanage here in Zambia. The giving was down so we'll have to cut a few projects until next year.

  While there, I did pick up some balsa wood for planking. I will be getting a wood slicer to cut the wood into the proper widths.

 It has been so long that I just looked at the boat and plans and had to make sense of where I was at and what I was doing. I finally found out that I was building the top deck gun ports. So I worked on it last night and finished the port side. while the Storage wars on.   

Edited July 24, 2016 by Livingstoneman