USS Constitution by xken - Model Shipways - Scale 1:76.8

[Techsan]

This thread is quite inspiring. Amazing work!

[xken]

Finished up all the bracing lines and then added the mizzen boom and spanker. Here are some details pictures of the various attachment points for the bracing. Once all are in place there is a real beauty in the symmetry of the geometry of the lines relating to each other. I have to admit I had to do some real detective work to sort all of this out due to the lack of detail in some cases on the plans. Speaking of the plans, a warning for those who follow the plans show two different locations for the "Sheet stop chocks" which impact the location of the spanker boom guys. Not sure which is correct; but I build the Spanker boom first months ago and when rigged to the mizzen realized the two different locations. I am leaving mine to the rear and not tear up the work already completed. This will also impact the rigging of the Vangs as well.

 

 

 

Here is an overview with bracing in place.

The following show some of the boom and spanker rigging which again required some detective work and common sense. 

Here I am using a spring clip that I filed the teeth off off so as not to mark up the wood to hold tension on the rigged blocks. These are also handy when seizing blocks to hold the line in place on the block until seized. Also the double blocks are set at 1 inch on center with tension.

Here is the use of common sense when rigging the triple block. I first rigged it with the lines feed in sequence across the block and then when tying off and adding tension the block angled severely to one side which I thought looked awkward. So I re-rigged it adding the third line to the center hole which put the tension in the center of the block and leveled it off.    

Here is a better picture showing the use of the temporary brace line to adjust the centering of the spanker between the topping lift lines.

I am now waiting for Chuck to get more 3mm hooks in place before I can finish the boom rigging and the studding sail booms on all the yards.

 

Here are some personal observations I made while rigging lines: 

I tie my own rope and use 100% cotton for the lines and rope seizing thread. Cotton absorbs the glue mix for a stronger joint.

If too much glue is applied to a knot, touch the excess glue with a damp Q-tip and it will wick away the excess glue.

When tying knots whether in blocks or belaying pins, wet the lines with clean water and a Q-tip within an 1-1/2" of the knot location. This takes out the spring in the rope for easier manipulation especially at belaying pins.

Use 50/50 mix of white glue and water applied to the tied knot and line. Let glue dry and glue will result in a clean cut with no fraying. Also the line will remain flexible with this glue mix. If in doubt apply the glue mix a second time; better safe than sorry and the glue dries clear.

If you screw up just soak the 50/50 glued knot with water using a Q-tip and pick the knot apart with a pointed pick. This cannot be done with CA glue. Don't ask how I know this.

Only use CA on the end of a line to form a hard needle end for easier indexing in blocks. Once CA has set on the end cut the end at an angle to form a point for indexing. This is the only use for CA when rigging line.

All blocks are drilled with a 1/32" drill before being rigged. Kit supplied blocks can be shaped with sanding and grooves filed with a triangular needle file centered on the holes.

Complete the same operation on all masts working from bow to stern, top to bottom and from the center out whenever possible. This reduces the risk of breaking things.

If using magnification glasses you will have no peripheral vision; be aware of where parts are in space before starting.

File the ends and gripping surfaces of tweezers to tie small knots. Test by picking a thread off of working surface. You need to be able to grab a piece of seizing thread.

Always double check what you are about to rig to see if you should have done something else first. For example adding a block to an eyebolt that will be needed to be rigged later on.

 

Now to rig the foot lines on the boom and move on until hooks are available which Chuck indicated should be this week.

 

 

 

 

 

[xken]

I added the boom foot ropes and then moved on to the davits (still waiting for hooks to get in stock) detailing the sheave axles with square nuts.

Here is the boom foot ropes.

 

 

I used a brass strip to make the nuts due to it's strength this small and drilled a .020" hole to receive the #8 pin shaft.

 

 

I decided to use rope for the spreader rather than the white wood brace shown in contemporary pictures.

 

 

Once the davit arms were rigged a single block was seized at the futtock brace with a double block at the of the single lift rope. The line was rigged through a single block with a hook engaged on a hook on the deck and seized at the rail with a belaying pin.

 

 

Here is an overview of where I am at until I get the 3mm hooks to complete the rigging. Now to sort out my next steps which may be finishing up the gunports and other hull details.

 

 

[JSGerson]

Quote

I decided to use rope for the spreader rather than the white wood brace shown in contemporary pictures.

Looking at a contemporary image, I see a black rope seized  to each davit just like you did but it also has white bags suspended from it. The white wooden spreader joins the davits at the elbow. It's function appears to be to keep the two davits at their proper spacing which means it has to take compressive forces as well as tensional forces. A rope "spreader" does not make sense to me. Are you sure your rope "spreader" is not the one suspending the bags?

 

Confused

 

Jon

[xken]

Johnathan, my reference is the Anatomy of the Constitution page 90, image G7/2, in the middle of the page. I am waiting for 3mm hooks to finish the rigging of the side braces(Davit Guys) which have not been added yet. They attach to the outboard eyebolts and are seized as seen in the G7/2 drawing.

 

I imagine that the wood brace was an improvement over the rope per your description and my understanding is that life jackets are in the white bags. Not sure if they had the life jackets back then. Hopefully, someone with more nautical knowledge can share more information on these details.

[reklein]

I thought that the bags contained ropes to slide down to get in the boat once launched.

[JSGerson]

OK, according to "Anatomy" there is a line on either side of the davits with block and tackle (which you haven't installed yet) that would provide the tension to spread the davits. The line in between (which you have installed) goes into tension limiting the spread. That makes sense.

 

Reklein - I thought the bags held ropes that would be used to drag behind the boat as a safety line or to throw to a man in the water. I don't know, we may be both wrong.

 

Jon

[reklein]

Theres probably only 3 people on the planet that know what was actually there back in 1805, but, I saw one photo in my copy of the aots book showing a wooden bar across the davits as a spreader. Also the paragraph on the quarter davits describes them as probably straight rather than curved because it was easier to find materials on board to replace them when damaged.

    I just wish I could model this as well as Ken is doing and unless somebody hadn't asked the question I would never have known the difference. Good work Ken.

[el cid]

The bags over the davit held "monkey lines" (at least that's what we called them in the modern USN).  They were for the safety of the boat crew as the boat was lowered or raised...gave them something to hold onto if the boat fell.

 

HTH,

 

Keith

[xken]

Keith, thanks for the answer! Makes a great deal of sense,gravity still exists as it did back then.

 

[xken]

I added all the upper gunports tedious work adding the PE hinge straps painted and holes drilled for the two retrieval lines. I then moved onto the oars for the boats. The real challenge for turning was the kit wood selection of Basswood strips that were dried the same time Noah was building the ark. Basswood tends to shred rather than cut so smaller cuts are needed with more passes with the tool bit but can result in quality oars. Avoid the white(clear) strips, too soft and tend to break when cutting the tiny handle. Here are pictures of the process I used making 8 oars for each boat, plus two steering oars for the whale boats. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can anyone share how the oars were lashed in the boats? or now I was thinking two bundles of 4 as seen in the pinnace on either side with the masts and booms in the center. I think they had to be lashed to keep in place under sail. Any advice would be appreciated. Next I will make the lifeline bags that hang between the davits.

 

[JSGerson]

In the picture below of one of the whaleboat from the Conny, you can see some of ropework treatment on the oars. As for lashing, I think you could do anything and I don't think anyone could prove you wrong.

[xken]

Johnathan, Thanks that is a great photo and if I am seeing it correctly it looks like leather in the oar locks with Turk's head rope limit stops at the ends of the leather. Now to decide how to do them.

Thanks again! 

[Jack12477]

Ken you could tie your own Turk's head, I put one on the boom of my Willie Bennett skipjack. Took a few tries to perfect it and lots of patience. Used Chuck's nice rope. See photo here https://modelshipworld.com/uploads/monthly_01_2017/post-13502-0-58340200-1485189923.jpg 

 

Of course doing it for each one of those many oars would be a real challenge

[xken]

Jack very nice knot tying! What diameter was it tied on? I will need 34 at 1/16" diameter. 

 

[Jack12477]

Thanks.  Boom at the end measures 1/4 inch. I think I used Chuck's 0.025 rope (maybe .035) for the knot. Didn't take notes.  Just did it for the fun of it.  34 at 1/16 may be too difficult. I tried using his .018 rope and found it too small to manage, so I went up a size. It's a tricky knot to master even at full scale size.

[JohnReid]

Hi Ken ! Lovely work my old friend.I am almost 77 now and I need a little help with a little math.I want to reduce my model from 1/64 scale to 1/72 and I'll be damned if I can figure it out.The model that I am modifying is a 1/64 Confederacy by Model Shipways.I am doing this because fittings and figures are not readily available in 1/64 scale and I don't have the time to make my own.You know it is funny that as you get older and increasingly forgetful , I find that my modeling skills are not affected at all and luckily my hands and eyes are still good. The Confederacy's  basic hull length is  31 1/2 inches or 800 cm ,its beam is 7 inches or 178 cm.Could you please convert that to 1/72 scale both in inches and centimeters.Thank you so much,your modeling bud John.

[JSGerson]

I found this somewhere, sometime in the past:

 

Scale Conversion Formula

 By: Rob Johnson (robj@speechsys.com)

Scales are ratios of measures in like units: 1/72 is 1 inch on the model = 72 inches on the full-sized original (or 1 centimeter, furlong, or parsec on model to 72 of same at full size).

1. The desired scale is then the existing scale times some unknown percentage or fraction, i.e. the conversion factor (either enlargement or reduction):

DesiredScale = ExistingScale * ConversionFactor

2. Therefore, to find the conversion factor, we regroup and divide to get the universal scale conversion formula:

ConversionFactor = DesiredScale / ExistingScale

Example: to convert 1/72 to 1/48

ConversionFactor = 1/48 / 1/72 = 72 / 48 = 1.5 = 150%

A 6-ft (72-inch) pilot figure is thus 1-in tall in 1/72 scale and 1.5-in tall in 1/48 scale.

Advantages of the formula: You can always figure out the intermediate ratios correctly when using photocpier enlargement. In the above example, most copiers would not do the full 150% in one pass. Most copiers max out at 121% or 141%. I have seen almost every other possible figure too. So having a chart of common scale conversions is not likely to be all that useful in many cases. Using the formula, you just figure out what the scale will be after the 121% enlagement:

 

IntermediateScale = ( ExistingScale * .121) + ExistingScale.

 

Then you use IntermediateScale as the ExistingScale in the formula.

[xken]

John, I am right behind you in age. There are several ways to get at it; try Googling a scale conversion calculator there are several out there. 

 

Here is an old school way: 

 

31.5" x 64 = 2016" / 72 = 28"   and 7" x 64 = 448" / 72 = 6.22"  if you are proficient with Excel you can create your own calculator.

 

To get a percentage 64 / 72 = .88%      example: 31.5"(or any dimension) x .88% = 27.72" (percentage to only two decimal points)

 

I hope this helps and have a great day! Ken

[ca.shipwright]

An easy way is:

 

scale you have/scale you want

 

64/72 = 0.88 

 

Set the copier to 88% and away you go.

 

As a mental check, when going smaller, the copy number is less than one. When going larger the copy number is greater than one.

 

Hope this helps

[SawdustDave]

Ken.... I cannot begin to tell you how grateful I am that you have shared this incredible build log for those of us who rely on such references to steer us through rough seas.  

As a scratch builder, with moderate woodworking skills, I am hopelessly lost without the guidance from the likes of our mutual MSW friends such as yourself, Tom, Jon, Steve, Mark, and so many others.... too many to list them all.
It is very comforting to me personally, to know that I will eventually complete my own model of this very special ship BECAUSE of your comprehensive guidance posted herein.
I humbly bow to your excellence as an artist and extreme craftsmanship sir.
Big fan!

Dave

[MEDDO]

6 minutes ago, SawdustDave said:

Ken.... I cannot begin to tell you how grateful I am that you have shared this incredible build log for those of us who rely on such references to steer us through rough seas.  

As a scratch builder, with moderate woodworking skills, I am hopelessly lost without the guidance from the likes of our mutual MSW friends such as yourself, Tom, Jon, Steve, Mark, and so many others.... too many to list them all.
It is very comforting to me personally, to know that I will eventually complete my own model of this very special ship BECAUSE of your comprehensive guidance posted herein.
I humbly bow to your excellence as an artist and extreme craftsmanship sir.
Big fan!

Dave

 My thoughts exactly Dave. This is definitely one of the go to logs here.

[JohnReid]

Thank you so much Ken and Michael Cheers! John.

 

[xken]

Dave, Michael thank you for your kind words and glad to hear of your support! Yesterday I ordered the 3mm hooks now that they are back in stock from Chuck these are needed to finish rigging the boats to the davits as well as the studding booms. While waiting I finished up the oars, masts, booms and yards for the small boats and painted the oars to depict the leather and Turk's heads on them. I then bundled them and they will just set in place for now. I do however think that I will add the lifeline bags first while the boats are not in the way in their davits.

 

Here are my humble efforts with the small boats, each is almost a model in themselves.

 

 

 

 

Next to finish up the lifeline bags and hopefully the hooks will get here soon.

[Tigersteve]

Beautiful work on the boats!

Steve

[md1400cs]

Ken,

 

Brilliant as always - learning alot from your log THANKS indeed.

 

Cheers,

[ca.shipwright]

Your ship's boats are some of the best I've seen in 20 years of modeling.

[xken]

I set the boats aside for now until the 3mm hooks show up so I can finish rigging them to the davits. In the meantime, I am cleaning up details on the hull that were skipped over. I turned the lifeline bags starting with 3/16" dowel that was drill down the center on the lathe with a 1/32" drill bit then the length was scored with the threading bit which allowed an indexing starting point for a half round file to shape the bag one at a time for a total of 21. I then painted them white and after dried tied them off after inserting the hanging rope into the hole in the bag and gluing at the bottom. The challenge here was to get them to hang equally from the spreader rope. Here are a couple of views and trust me do these before the boats are in the davits.

 

 

 

Here is a picture of the gunports in place.

 

 

I then decided to hang the anchors with the challenge of getting then to hang relatively close to each other when looking at the bow directly. I blackened the chain and added a strip of brass to the end of the chain to hold it inside the hull once inserted. For visual interest I decided to let them hang rather than seized on the platforms.

 

 

 

Next I moved onto the flag which was printed the same time I did my Niagara as part of my experimenting with T-shirt transfers to make the flags. Here I have rigged the flag halliyard temporarily to establish the hanging angle for the flag folds. First the flag had to be fixed to the rope by wrapping the edge of the flag very carefully around the rope. First scoring the edge using a ruler then laying the rope on the folded edge and wetting the rope with 50/50 glue and then tacking it off and working the fold around the rope. Once half the rope was covered the edge was trimmed and then tucked and glued to finish it off. This does require some patience to get it correct along with a few descriptive adjectives.  Here the water wetted flag is clipped in place on the halliyard line and formed in place so that the folds fall perpendicular to the ground for proper hanging. For my eye the proper hanging flag is like the cherry on top. Once dry it will be removed until the hooks arrive since it will be in the way of rigging the boom guys to the deck.

 

 

Next I will try making the dimensional stars using the solder technique I used for the bow decorations.

 

[xken]

Great customer service Chuck! Ordered my 3mm hooks on Friday and they came in the mail today; coast to coast service by USPS.

[xken]

I think I finally broke the code on making the dimensional stars having no success finding the right sizes. First I made a CAD drawing of the three sizes needed; 5/32", 3/16" and 1/4". I spray glued the paper pattern to a .005" brass sheet and then glued both to a 1/32" piece of plywood for support while sawing them out. I started with a pin in the large size but a pin would be too large for the smaller sizes so I then used .020" brass rod for the holding/locating pin in the center of each star. Each star was flood soldered with Staybrite solder after the perimeter was filed clean after sawing. Once painted the paint will be allowed to set before final filing and finishing up. I photograph the stars to see what needs tweaking since the human eye cannot see that fine. Her is a sequence showing the process and the final drilling pattern that will make the second set much easier to saw out. 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are the first set of stars and once all are to this stage and the paint has really set they will be fine tuned under magnification with a small file.

New drill hole pattern for the second set that will make it easier sawing.

 

Now onto the second set and finishing up some rigging now that I have hooks.