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

[xken]

I finished up all the booms and drilled the ends per the drawings. I moved on to the foot ropes on the yards and decided to use brass jackstays indexed into the yards for a better finished look when completed and they are easier to set the foot ropes with in the end. However, I did have to cut the end loops of the MS0428 to make them smaller. 

After making the ropes I soaked them with 50/50 white glue and water and hung them weighted down to dry and set straight and stiffer than normal rope. This helps with the forming of the curves see in the real ropes. Also when a knot needs to be tied I soaked one inch of the end to soften the rope for tying off. Water can also soften the formed rope for final shaping and will stiffen up again once dry.

Here are some pictures of the results and I know that with handling some abuse may happen, but can be fixed with wetting again.

 

 

 

 

Next I will be adding slings blocks to various yard locations. 

 

[JSGerson]

That is a LOT of fine detailed work in such a short period of time. I'm still dinking around on the second of the four ship's boats after numerous months of "work." 8-)

 

Jonathan

[md1400cs]

Ken,

 

As always such a learning treat following your log.

[xken]

Decided that I needed to build out one yard to learn was was needed after doing some detective work between the instructions, plans and other sources and did my best guess. But first the kit supplied blocks, all sizes needed help. All needed to be sanded from square to an oval shape. The singles were easy but the triples really needed a great deal of fixing.

 

 

 

Next thanks to Johnathan I sorted out the stud sail booms with the lash line inserted in the inner hole since it had to stay in place for both stored and rigged positions and the end hole getting an eyebolt for the hook to set or retract the boom as needed. The lashing was tied off with a square knot and ends tucked under the boom and cut off.

 

I then added the sling after turning thimble rings from brass and darkened. I also added the triple blocks as well. It took a couple of fittings to get the length of the rope correct fitting over the cap as well as the lashing rope tied to the end loop. 

 

 

Here is a test fit of the foremast yard in place. Now I can finish up rigging the jeers temporarily. I am using 1/32" removable pins to locate the yard in position on the mast. 

 

Hopefully by now I know what is needed on the rest of the yards.

[alde]

Very nice Ken.

[md1400cs]

Ken,

 

Those crows feet and euphroe block are perfect, well with the rest of the rigging - of course. 

 

[HIPEXEC]

I can only dream about doing this quality work! Amazing.

[xken]

Rich you can do it, just take your time and think through it and remember that "God is in the details!"

 

After a few days off hosting an out of town guest I am back at the fore mast rigging. I had to resolve conflicts between pictures of the real ship, the plans and AOTS book on various rigging details. I went with my best guess.

 

One thing I learned was to work from the top down adding the yards and pinning them with 1/32" rod which really helped in rigging. The upper yards were easy but the course yard was a real challenge especially rigging the truss once the yard was in place. I also was making the ropes needed and sanding the kit blocks as needed. The other challenge was routing the lines without interfering with others already in place and look real straight. I also used the plan map for the belaying pin locations versus other sources. 

 

Here are some pictures of the fore mast so far, once all masts are rigged to this point then I will add the brace lines.

 

Here is a close up showing the cleaned up kit blocks.

Here is a view of the biggest challenge rigging the truss with the yard in place.

Starting to get a mess of ropes.

Now on to the main mast now that I know what to watch out for. I am also glad that most of the deck furniture is removable which really helped in tying off the belaying pins.

[reklein]

Crazy clean modeling !! Beautiful work. Inspirational for me.

[JSGerson]

Quote

One thing I learned was to work from the top down

Interesting... I always thought is was best to work your way up in the same manner as the real ship is rigged.  I also try to work from the inside out. Since I value your work methods, I'm curious as to why you found your top down method more practical? I was going to say easier, but nothing is easy on a ship this complex. Are the yard pins temporary or permanent?

 

Thanks

Jon

[xken]

Jon, working from top down is just my personal way of keeping the larger yards out of the way while rigging the upper yards and easier to route the longer lines down with less interference. As you work down it is easier to route the shorter lines. With the lower longer yards in place they get in the way as you work up with greater risk of breaking them.

 

The pins were originally intended to be temporary but I decided since I will be transporting it across the country to Long Island where my son lives it might be safer to just glue them in place. Also with twin boys better to be safe than sorry.

[xken]

I have just finished up the main mast yards which were pretty much a repeat of the foremast. But After checking around I thought I would better explain the rigging of the trusses in more detail for the benefit of others that may be as confused as I was at first trying to understand the plans and my inexperience as a ship builder. The pictures are self explanatory and the most difficult part was the rigging of the truss block above the fighting top.

Here are the royal and top gallant yards in place.

Here I am setting the topsail yard.

I found that setting a long strip on the fighting top rail flush to the rail's back edge I had a great reference for setting the yard in space both up and down as well as fore and aft while the glue set on the locating pin inserted in the mast.

 

Here is the sequence showing the rigging of the course yard truss based upon what I think the plans were trying to explain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now on to the mizzen mast yards and then all the yard brace lines before adding the mizzen boom.

 

[donrobinson]

You sure have the upper hand on the rigging, great pictures and explanations. 

[JohnReid]

Hi Ken ! where do you find the time to do such a nice step-step build ? Love all the pics.I wonder if you ever miss doing aircraft? did you ever get your Stearman finished ?

Cheers! John.

[MEDDO]

 Thanks for detailing and explaining the steps you're taking. Your photographs and build log are an excellent example of how wonderful it is to have this forum to participate in. 

[xken]

John, Great to hear from you. I just like to share some of what I am learning for those that may be in the same boat as I am being a detective and sorting out what is meant by the plans and assembly instructions which lack enough details for the inexperienced ship builder like myself. Knowledge and experience not shared is a real waste. As for time being retired I make my own schedule unless interrupted by commissions.

 

As for the Stearman it was started as a commission for Fine Art Models, http://www.fineartmodels.com/Welcome.html 

visit their site if you are not familiar with them. Great cars, ships and planes; they just sold my prototype Sopwith Camel. Anyway it came to a screeching halt and put on hold due to a sticky divorce. Once finished with ship building I plan to finish it it for myself. Here are a couple of pictures of where I ended up. The engine needs parts duplicated and fuselage rigged up once assembled. Keep in mind this was built to come apart for production duplication. Now I just need to decide how I want to finish it up. Maybe like the Sopwith being half covered. 

 

Check back now and then and keep up the great work you are doing!

 

 

[ca.shipwright]

Love the idea of using a stick to set the yards.

 

Regards

[md1400cs]

Ken,

 

As always brilliant details - a work of art. It now makes complete sense that you would be connected to FA Models.

 

PS: Fine Art Models are SO amazing. I have known about them for years. Their cars (Bugattis especially), locomotives, airplanes and - of course- their Titanic are too perfect indeed.

Their Titanic actually used as many rivets on the hull as the original - Hmmmm indeed. 

Some of their artists also come from Eastern Europe if I understand correctly. (Russians being SO amazing with ships)

 

Cheers,

[xken]

Michael, Yes it was fun working with them while it lasted. With the divorce everything had to be liquidated for the settlement which devastated the business. As for the ship builders, I had a chance to meet with the director at the Nuremberg Toy Fair. They are a group of Naval Architects unemployed once the Cold War ended and are located in Riga, Latvia and are trying to reclaim their heritage from the Russian occupation. They started a business underwritten by Gary to build models. The Titanic you reference is the 18 foot long one that took longer to build than the real ship built from original plans with a custom built trailer to transport. Visit the site and check out the details of the model and the update on what they are doing now. Unfortunately, none of the model prototypes I built for them got duplicated. 

[xken]

How about this! Today while at the dentist getting my teeth cleaned and my mouth wide open I happened to ask the technician about what they did with there old burrs and picks. She said that they sterilized them and then would just throw them away. She then said they had some they were just getting ready to throw out and would I be interested in them. So when we were finished here is what she gave me. Assorted picks and burrs, she commented that the impregnated burrs could only be used once on a patient by law due to potential material build up. They are sterilized in an autoclave before being disposed of. They are now going to save for me the other styles of burrs and bits and handled picks. All free just for the asking, of course it requires a teeth cleaning first! They fit perfectly in the 1/16" (3mm) Dremel collet and they are sharp as you know what on wood. The picks can also be used to place drops of glue in tricky places.

 

Others may wish to ask their dentists for these as well. 

 

 

[JSGerson]

I've done that a couple of times. First with a dentist who gave me the various picks and my most recent dentist who gave me a whole bunch of various burrs. I've yet to wrangle those wonderful little telescope glasses they wear or the pneumatic drill. I understand the old fashion belt driven drills make for a nice carving device if you can find one in working order and cheap.

 

Jon

[kurtvd19]

My belt driven dental engine is one of my most used tools in the shop.  I have a micro-chuck with a smaller diameter shaft that can be gripped in the handle that can hold the smallest drill bits as well as the many dental bits I have accumulated.  Also have a lot of the explorers in many different end configurations.  Some are quite heavy - for scraping teeth - and they can be ground to sharp edges or shapes.  An advantage of having a club member who is a dentist.  He brings old tools quite often.

The dental machine came from another club member who bought them on ebay and reworked them with new bearings, etc.  I think mine cost about $80 several years ago.  Every dentist had one of these while in school so they are regularly offered on ebay.

Kurt

[JSGerson]

It must be nice to have a club...let alone one with members who can get nice goodies. Unfortunately for me, I am a club of one - me. But I do have the NRG which has members who share their vast knowledge.

 

Jon

[JohnReid]

Yeah my collection of dental tools work just great on my Geswein handpiece up to 50,000 RPM.

 

[xken]

Joshua, no I use a 50/50 mix of white glue and water and I also only use 100% cotton thread for seizing and rigging rope. Cotton absorbs the glue mix and dries clear and stays flexible. Also if you screw up just soak the glued knot with water and untie. CA makes the cotton line too stiff and cannot be unglued without ruining the rope. However, I do use CA to set a needle point on the end of the thread to feed through blocks. Also cut the CA'ed end at an angle for a better point. 

 

Here is a link to save that is also very useful for rigging reference.

 

https://io.ua/26628446p

[xken]

Joshua, here you can see the use of the 50/50 glue mix on these lift lines tied off at the belaying pins.

 

 

One of the advantages of making your own rope is that you can have coils all over the deck while glue dries.

 

A milestone attained! Masts are in place with all the yards having their lift and halyard lines tied off. 

 

Now back to the bowsprit and starting there to add the braces for all the yards and more rope making. Once back to the mizzen I will then add the spanker and boom since I still have to rotate the ship end for end while working on each side.

[usedtosail]

Congratulations on reaching that milestone. Someday I'll get there...

[JohnReid]

Love it Ken.

[Tigersteve]

Ken,

Setting the bar high for this model. Nice!

Steve

[mtaylor]

For burrs, if your dentist is uncooperative, have look on EBay.  I bought a large pile of burrs (a lifetimes worth?) for under $50 (US).  Same for the other instruments.  I'm sometimes amazed at what is available.  Also check Amazon as lot of folks won't use EBay and Amazon is the next best thing.