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

[kurtvd19]

99.9% of dowels supplied in kits are great for use in the garden to hold up small plants.  The 0.1% are the straight ones.

 

Best to use square stock and make it round using small planes - also easier to do the flat areas when you start with flat stock.  Best way to avoid ever having the mast warp is to glue up 4 pieces into square stock and work from there.  First step in making it round is to knock off the 4 corners making it 8 sided - leave the 8 sided part alone at the proper area and round off the rest of the mast.

 

Just my opinion and Dennis Miller and I might both be wrong...

 

Kurt

[JSGerson]

Depending on the wood the dowels are made of, they can be easy or hard to work with. For my Rattlesnake I believe I used the kit's dowel for the lower portion of the masts, the rest I used square stock boxwood which worked well. For the yards, because my model was all natural wood, I used walnut I cut myself because I needed them dark. I avoided basswood which I find too soft and it doesn't sand as smooth and clean, or hold an edge as boxwood. Because the masts and yards are round, square, and octagonal in cross section at various points, I found it easier to shape square stock than round.

 

Jon

[xken]

Kurt, you are being kind but absolutely correct in your assessment. Jon, I did have one that was used for the lower masts that planed perfectly then the rest are best as Kurt suggested. The one I purchased was Popular and it works well compared to the others. 

 

Kurt, I may try your suggestion on the lamination technique. When I did the spokes for the Model T I used hard Maple which turned very well and held detail and was easy to carve with a sharp knife. I may have to root through some old boxes to see if I have any left over.

[6ohiocav]

Using laminated stock is a great hedge against warping. Using stable wood such as cherry and walnut is also a good idea. I also turned masts from American Holly that I milled myself from a stock board I picked up at Keim's. It turns wonderfully and the white grain-less finish eliminates the need to paint them. Probably too late for your Connie, but a good choice for white colored masts.

[xken]

Darrel, I really miss all the resources I had back in Ohio; where I live now is a wood desert. I use to make regular runs to Keim's for wood stock.

 

Yesterday was an interesting day; my publisher emailed me saying that my book's first edition is about to sell out and asked if I wanted to update it for a second edition. I suggested that we fix the publishing errors on page 38 and that I add a chapter on working with brass as related to ship building since I had just made a presentation at the NRG annual conference on that topic. I now have a July deadline for the 2nd edition production. All the contractual materials are in the mail to me.

 

Now if that was not enough, the local Maritime Museum contacted me about building a couple of models for them; a abalone fishing boat that was used in the area here and a topsail schooner that worked the local central coast similar to the Californian that is at San Diego. Just in the earlier stages of conversation at this point. 

[6ohiocav]

Not a lot of open seas in Ohio Amish Country, but we do have a lot of wood. I am trying to convince our friends at Keim to get some castello boxwood. That is the only specie they do not offer. I am really spoiled too. Going in person and inspecting the stock is a real luxury.

 

Good luck on the deadlines. Got to save me one of those "signed" 2nd editions.

[gjdale]

Congratulations on the book deal Ken. I'm sure the second edition will be a sell-out as well.

[CaptainSteve]

Reckon I need to get me one of those 2nd editions, too ... before I get to my own Connie brass-work.

[xken]

Not getting anything done on the Constitution but having a great time with Grandpa duties with my twin grandsons Alex and Tyler now 5 months old and potentially future ship builders. The Constitution when completed will be at their house. 

 

 

Back to Grandpa duties continue....ship building will resume Sunday.

[Jack12477]

Beautiful little boys, Ken; enjoy Grandpa duties. 

[JSGerson]

Two fine looking boys and one very proud Grandpa; congratulations! Just make sure you have a very strong display case for the model when you bring it to their house...just saying 8-)

 

Jon

[6ohiocav]

There going to love floating that fine ship in the bathtub

[mtaylor]

Ah.. the important things get in the way and that's great to see.   Congratulations Grandpa on the Grandpa Duties. 

[xken]

Back to ship building after grandpa duties and some fence building at my daughter's home.

 

I finished up all three of the masts and adding the sheaves in all locations. I added a couple of pictures of the cleats on the crosstrees that were added over sized and then cut and shaped to the final sizes. I also shaped and stained the spanker mast.

 

 

 

 

 

Next will be the spanker boom and gaff; then the fighting top deadeyes and other fittings to be located on the masts.

[xken]

Finished up the spanker mast, boom and gaff. I had to do a little detective work to fiquire out what a clapper was on the gaff. Once I realized what it was I made it the way I think it should be and rotate as well. 

 

I still need to determine how the boom and gaff are attached to the mast. For example is there a "parrel" involved or just rope on the gaff? Rope just on the boom? Hopefully someone with more nautical knowledge than I can share the answer.

 

I also broke down the three masts at the caps which were not glued in place as I thought I had. Good thing I write notes to myself at times. They say memory is the second thing to go!  This was done to start on the shrouds only to discover that I was shorted 3/16" deadeyes and the complete pack of 60 1/8" deadeyes was not included. John at MS says they will be in the mail ASAP. 

 

Now I will move on to the hammock framework while I wait for the deadeyes to arrive.

 

Here are pictures of the spanker mast, boom and gaff.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[6ohiocav]

Ken,

 

I assume that if you were not going to add sails, that the rings on the spanker mast simply sit there on the ship as you pictured them. I at the very same point on my build and wondered what to do with the rings, as I am not adding sails.

 

I won't ask you what the first thing that goes, as I think I know.

[xken]

Darrel, I still have not made the final decision yet on the sails, so I am covering my tracks just in case I decide to. At this point, I may now have a couple of scratch builds for the local Maritime Museum. No final decision on their part yet so I am just going with the work flow and see what happens. I am assuming that their time right now is occupied with getting the building built first. 

[xken]

Happy Thanksgiving to all! 

I moved on to the hammock netting on the rails. First I painted the fine nylon netting with Satin Black paint while suspended on a paint stirring stick so that both sides could be sprayed lightly with care not to fill any of the openings. The reason for this was because no glue will stick nylon effectively and by encapsulating the webbing the glue will hold. I also drilled the holes in the stanchions with a #76 drill bit and then blackened the stanchions while still attached to the carrier sprue.

 

 

I then located and drilled all the hole locations in the top of the rails using small dividers to assure even spacing and worked from the waist to the bow and stern. The rail boards were stained and clear coated and glued in their respective locations with holes drilled to receive the wire spaced apart like the stanchions. The stanchions were glued in place perpendicular to the rail edge.

 

 

I then stretched a length of .012" brass wire between pliers to harden the wire to maintain stiffness; cut two lengths and fed them through the board and stanchion holes. All stanchions were then adjusted for squareness and then the wires were blackened and once dry all glued in place. I decided on using wire rather than thread for a stronger assembly, especially with little fingers.

 

 

Next a strip of netting 1" wide and the needed length between the boards was cut. Carefully the netting was formed into a "U" and indexed  between the stanchions. Lengths of wood blocks were cut to press fit and to hold the netting in place at each of the stanchions. Then starting at the bow and using a steel block the center of the netting was press fit against the rail top and glued with a drop of CA and using the steel block edge to press the glued netting in place to form the bottom inside edges of the netting.

 

I slowly worked each section between the stanchions first gluing (CA) the netting bottom in place and then the top edges assuring the top glue joints between the netting and wire were secure before moving to the next section. 

 

 

Once finished and the CA allowed to set completely I used a sharp blade to cut the excess netting away using the top edge of the wire as a guide and slicing to the outside against the wire. I then very carefully added CA to the top edge again to assure a firm glue joint. Once the CA was dry the top edge was painted with Flat Black paint.

 

 

Here is an overview of the starboard bow portion completed.

 

 

Now to the rest. I am also pondering the need for the hammocks to be added. I did buy some White Sculpey, but now that I see the netting in place I am wondering if they would not be a distraction. I also have not seen a photo either vintage or current showing them in place. Any thoughts from others on these would be appreciated.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[JSGerson]

I just got back from visiting my Sister in Connecticut for Thanksgiving Week so I am now just getting caught up. You stated that you harden 0.012 brass wire by stretching it. How did you do that? Is there some jig involved?  How much stretching is required and how do you know when you've done it?

 

Would music wire worked? It's already very stiff (no stretching required) as well as colored dark (black?) or is it too stiff?

 

Thanks

 

Jon

Edited November 28, 2016 by JSGerson

[JSGerson]

On your question on hammocks, have you seen Usetosail's build? He used Sculpey and I think they look great. As for photos or info, I have nothing to add to the photos I already sent you.

 

Jon

[Jack12477]

Ken, check HIPEXEC's build starting around here

 

He did some really nice cloth hammocks.

[mojofilter]

Jon,  Not an expert on brass but I have done this many times with sterling silver.  I chuck one end (say an 8" piece) in a vice and grab the other end firmly with pliers.  I then pull the wire ~ 1/4".  There's a bit of a touch to it - you can feel it give, then stop!  The metal is work-hardened due to dislocation and directional re-alignment of the crystalline lattice structure of the metal.  The wire is slightly reduced in diameter but not much.  This really works quite well.

 

- Tim

[kurtvd19]

This works with brass and copper wire too.  Kit's provide wire in a looped roll - impossible to use in that form.  I don't know if I have ever felt the stretch but by exerting a steady pull the wire stays straight when it's pulled tight enough.  If it's not straight - pull again with a bit more force.  

 

Kurt

[xken]

I have been out of the loop a few days helping my wife at her crafts show and then a day trip to L.A. to visit the V.A. clinic there. I received the deadeyes Saturday from M.S. thank you John and Marc for a quick replacement of these missing parts.

 

The hardening of the wire has been explained and this technique of stretching wire or strips works for all non ferrous metals. I just clamp an end in a vise and grip the other end with pliers and give a slow gentle even pull and can actually feel the give. This aligns the molecules in a laminar flow rather than a random pattern making for a stronger harder wire/strip. Just a note soft steel wire(binding wire) can also be treated this way if necessary. Jon yes thin music wire could work, just harder to cut and file the ends against the wood boards.

 

I am continuing with the hammock netting and thank you for the links and yes I have seen them before. I also found these drawings from the Museum and not sure if current or period, but I assume the museum would show correct images. Looking in the background can be seen the hammocks stored in the netting and they appear to be in storage bags wrapped with rope and laying at a slight angle versus a folded hammock as others show. Is there a pictorial reference showing the folded option? My lack of nautical knowledge is rearing it's ugly head again.

 

 

Back to netting framework.

Edited November 30, 2016 by xken

[xken]

Finally finished the hammock netting. Let me just say that doing these is slow and tedious requiring patience and magnification to assure a good strong bond between the brass rod and netting material. 

Here are a couple of pictures showing the aft portions. 

 

 

 

Next I will move on to the shrouds. Question: In some paintings with the ship under full sail I see a second studding sail boom at the main mast location. These are not referenced in the manual or plans, but the sails booms are referenced to add on the yards. Should the second boom be added??

 

 

[HIPEXEC]

Very nice job on your hammock nets. They are tricky. Are you going to put hammocks in them?

[CaptainSteve]

Great work on the netting, Ken !! I'd need to check thru my copy of Marquardt's AOTS to try to answer your question. Will look into that this evening (as I'm at work right now), and let you know what I can find.

 

Meanwhile, I found this pic showing the Great Chase from a slightly different angle:

Edited December 2, 2016 by CaptainSteve

[capnharv2]

Ken,

 

Jay (Modeler12) and I had this discussion when he was building his MS Connie. I think we agreed that, since studding sails were mainly downwind sails, that putting them on the mainsail would blanket the fore course and its studding sails too much. The discussion is buried in Modeler12's build log for the Constitution. Note that he's scratchbuilding a fwd section of the Connie now, and his build log is there.

 

Hope that helps.

 

Thanks,

 

Harvey

[CaptainSteve]

Ken,

 

I've pulled out my copy of AOTS and had a scan thru the Masting and Rigging Sections. There really is a ton of useful information in that book (some of which I'm still discovering). At first, I must admit that CapnHarv's explanation made sense - that any mainmast stud-sails would deprive the foremast stud-sails of any wind. 

 

However, AOTS provides irrefutable evidence that Connie not only had Main- and Fore-mast studding sails ...

 

... but also had the option for Mizzen-mast studding sails ...

 

It would seem that, with one exception, all of the studding booms are kept fitted to the corresponding spar ...

 

The one exception would be the one boom that is stored alongside the main-mast channels. This is the one which you have already modelled (and which I shamelessly plan to copy from your build). This boom is more correctly known as the Swinging Studding-sail Boom.

(In this pic, you are interested in Item #30. Rather difficult to spot, but it appears below the open bulwarks between the mainmast and the foremast.)

 

Here is a pic of a studding-boom attached to its' corresponding spar (I can try to get a better photo if you need it) ...

(You are interested in the fourth spar down from the top of the page.)

 

Finally, a pic showing the fixtures for the Swinging Boom where it lies against the channel ...

 

Hope these are of use to you. Let me know if you require any others.

Edited December 2, 2016 by CaptainSteve

[xken]

Rich, not sure yet about adding the hammocks. I will do some experimenting first.

 

Captain Steve, looks like I will be adding two more booms. Thanks for your efforts! I am looking at purchasing that book since the illustrations look great and show much more detail that I may need down the road.

 

Here is one of the pictures that I was referencing that clearly shows both fore and main booms deployed under full sail. No mizzen though. 

 

 

Back to making the two additional booms.