USS Constitution by David Lester - FINISHED - Model Shipways

[David Lester]

Good Morning Everyone,

This is my first posting for my build log of the USS Constitution. I'm using the Bob Hunt practicum and started the model in September of last year and until recently was posting regularly on the LSS forum.  At the time I left that forum, I was just about ready to begin the stern and bow details. So, this first posting will serve as a sort of recap of my progress to that point. My next posting will show what I've been working on over the past couple of weeks.

 

I'm really enjoying how much material there is to be found on this forum (especially Constitution builds) and look forward to following them all.

 

David

 

Here are the "recap" photos:

 

  

 

 

[David Lester]

Hello Again,

Over the past couple of weeks, I have been working on the stern and bow details. As many of you know the practicum suggests using Evergreen styrene for much of the details. While it's quite effective, it really isn't very much fun to work with. It's difficult to do without getting CA glue all over the place and it doesn't set up as quickly as I would like. Also, the "memory" in the strips causes them to not want to stay in place around curves. I found it helped to wrap the trip around a cylinder for a day or se before using it. One minor change I made from the practicum was the size of the stripe on the rails. For some reason it's suggested to use .040 half round on the cheek rails and then switch to .010 x .020 for the headrails. Once I added the smaller stuff to the headrails, I noticed how much better it looked than the hearvier on the cheek rails, so I redid it, using the smaller scale. I'm not sure if it's more authentic to use the two different sizes or not, but I'm sure happier with the smaller size throughout.

 

The headrails are interesting to make. Most of them were not actually too difficult, but that middle rail is of the devil's own design. It's a series of compound curves and the practicum suggests making it ahead of attaching any of the rails to the model. The problem with this is that you're flying blind. The timbers connect the top curved rail with the top cheek rail. The middle rail goes between and I believe it is supposed to make contact with the timbers. My middle rail, which looked quite good off the model, didn't even come close to reaching the three middle timbers. It didn't seem to curve far enough toward the centre throughout it's horizontal run. I didn't have the heart to start over, as these rails were the result of several failed attempts, so my solution was to modify them. I laminated planking material to the inside surface of the rails where they were to meet the three timbers, then I sanded them to the necessary contour. Once I was satisfied, I then sanded the outside surface down to create the right width throughout its length. This effectively reshaped the piece. For anyone else using the practicum, I would suggest installing the other rails and timbers first, and only then making the middle rail to fit.

 

On the gallery, I know my work here isn't especially beautiful, but it's the result of several failed attempts and if there's one thing I've learned it's to know my limitations and when to cut my loses, so this is what it's going to be. The nameplate looked like it was going to be a bit of a challenge. The laser cut plate provided required painting and I knew I'd never get a satisfactory job. The trailboard isn't so difficult as all the curving detail allows a fair bit of margin for error, but the lettering is another story altogether. The practicum suggests using dry transfer lettering. I ordered some, but it is very difficult to hold it in place correctly and to get a straight string of letters. Also, often despite rubbing the letter, only a portion of it actually comes off which leaves quite a mess. In the end I turned to Microsoft Word. I created the lettering in a Word document, approximating it as closely as I could. I cut it out, glued it to a piece of wood and then sealed it with polyurethane. It seems to work ok.

 

So that pretty much brings my build log up to date.

David

[Geoff Matson]

Looking great. I look forward to following your progress

[Elijah]

I agree, looking great!

[usedtosail]

David, you are doing a fantastic job. I will enjoying following along.

[DocBlake]

I'm glad to see you continue your log here, David. I 've enjoyed watching your progress.  You're doing a fabulous job. And by the way, there is nothing wrong with the gallery that I can see.  Your solution for the name plate looks great!

[GuntherMT]

Hello David,

 

Good to see the Connie log up and running here,and will continue to follow along as I was prior to the move.

[donrobinson]

Welcome to MSW David, You will love it here so much more to see and do. Your build is looking great and I'll look foreword to further posts.

[jwvolz]

Really nice work so far, looking forward to your progress. 

[David Lester]

Happy Wednesday Everyone,

I have a brief update for today. I have finished all of the bow work. As I had mentioned earlier I needed to adjust the middle rail on each side. I not sure if their profiles are exactly correct, but at least they now fit the model. With the stern and bow both finished, I'm now about to start the copper plating.

David

[usedtosail]

Nice job on the rails David, That is one of the hardest areas I have had to deal with so far, and you pulled it off nicely.

[mrshanks]

Very glad to see your shipyard back up and running David.  I am looking forward to the rest of your build.  She looks to be coming along very nice!!

[David Lester]

Thanks Tom,

I also found the rails and timbers very hard to do, and I am getting tired of touching up with filler and paint. It seems every time I add something I ruin something else. For example, I wish I had drilled the holes for the hawse ports much earlier. When I drilled them on the starboard side, I managed to take a pretty big chunk out of the cheek knee directly above it. Despite all that I think I can live with the results - as they say, "a blind man would be glad to see it."

 

David

[texxn5]

Hi David, glad to find your log. I'll be following along, this is a ship model dear to my heart....thanks for reposting and keeping us up to date.

John

[David Lester]

Thanks John.

Thanks for checking in Mike - I've been spending quite a bit of time on it lately and I'm glad to reconnect with everyone from LSS over here.

 

David

[donrobinson]

Hey David, those rails look awesome. Copper plating next......lots of time to do but some good music in the background will help

[David Lester]

No music for me Don, I'm addicted to CBC!

David

[usedtosail]

Don't despair David, I have the same problems. Just last night I managed to pop off both trail boards at the boarding steps while rigging the carronades. Luckily for me it was a clean break. I also have been touching up the paint along the sides as I go along. I managed to drill one hole for an eye bolt clear through the bulwarks in a moment of not paying attention. But with the black paint it cleaned up nicely. I have also always had trouble drilling through planks as they want to splinter. I haven't decided if a slow drill by hand or a fast drill using the Dremel is the better method - I seem to have trouble with both. Keep up the great work you are doing.

[David Lester]

Happy Wednesday Everyone,

I have a bit of progress to report. I've started the copper plating and so far so good, although there's a long way to go. The gunport lids are the next thing after the plating and since they're a multi-step process - sanding, several coats of paint both sides, adding hinges, drilling etc. I decided to get them going simultaneously so they'll be all ready to add when I have the copper finished. In the picture they're edged sanded with one coat of poly applied to the first side.

 

Also thanks for all the likes.

 

David 

[HIPEXEC]

Great job!

[DocBlake]

Very nice job on the copper plates, David!  Doesn't working on the fiddly jobs like the gun port lids drive you nuts?  It does me, and it's one of the reasons I try two have two projects going at once:  So I can switch gears in the middle of the tedium.  My Independence will need treenails for the deck planks soon, but I'll still have the AVS to work on when the hole drilling and treenail placement gets to me.

[xken]

David, you are off to a great start! Did your copper rolls match?

[David Lester]

Thanks guys!

Ken - The two rolls of copper match do match. They both remained sealed in their plastic packages until I opened them at the same time. A short length on each roll (the first "wrap around") was quite a bit darker than the rest of the rolls, so I didn't use it and I'm cutting plates from both rolls as I go, so I don't anticipate any trouble with colour. Keeping the rows straight and even is another matter though!

 

Dave - I haven't started my Rattlesnake yet, but I do need to have a couple of things on the go at the same time, both to relieve the tedium of the repetitive jobs and also because sometimes it takes only five or 10 minutes to paint or glue something then you can't carry on with it until it has set up. On this model, I have been working ahead on the small boats - the four of them are about half done and I've also been working on the gun carriages.

 

David

[mrshanks]

Coming along nicely David.  Like you and Dave, i also work on multiple projects at once.  I always have 3 - 4 models going in various stages of construction.  I find that not only does it help to fill in the time gaps, but it also keeps me from rushing too quickly on any one thing.

[David Lester]

Happy Tuesday Everyone,

A bit of progress to report. I've finished plating the starboard side of the model.  I followed the LSS practicum and found it to be quite helpful. The concept of dividing the hull into gores was easy to grasp and it worked out well. The results are acceptable, if not stellar. It looks fine from a "normal" viewing distance of 50' or so , but up close it's full of flaws. It isn't too hard a process in theory, and in most aspects it isn't too hard in practice either, but it is challenging to get the plates in consistent even rows. If you look closely at mine, you'll see a few sine waves!.

 

The foil is very fragile and I'm a bit worried about protecting this side as I work on the other one. I think I'll thumb tack some padding along the bottom of the keel, run it up the side of the hull and tape it to the hull above the copper line. I have a soft pad to set the model on while I'm working, but even it will abrade the foil as the model moves. I think I need to have the padding stationary, tight against the foil and moving with the model.

 

Also, does anyone have any thoughts on masking in order to paint the red section along the top of the copper. In his practicum Bob suggests that masking tape will tend to pull the plates off when removed and instead he uses frisket film. I have never used such a product and judging by the pictures in the practicum, it doesn't look all that user-friendly to me. I'm just curious how others have handled this.

 

David

[usedtosail]

You copper plating looks really great David. I got over the masking problem by not adding the red stripe.

[JSGerson]

With regard to the red stripe, the following came from Greg Meyer's build log on Knightdreamers.com:

 

 

Before painting the iron-red stripe, some preparatory work was needed. I tried to clean the copper-foil tape with isopropyl alcohol (to get rid of finger prints and any oxidation that had occurred) - this turned out to be disastrous; the corners of the foil tape started to curl and the plates looked the same. So ... I stopped immediately and decided to leave it alone and paint over the top two rows of copper plates as is.

 

Also I decided to spray on Minwax Water-Based Polycrylic Protective Finish (clear satin) before painting. This spray left a slightly cloudy cover but did tone down the copper color. [spraying outdoors with the temperature around 115 degrees didn't help either.] There is still a discernible difference between the new foil tape and the original which came with the kit. The polycrylic finish did leave a base on the foil plates to apply masking tape over. I applied masking tape over the copper plates and painted an iron-red (bulwark red with a couple of drops of black) stripe. To prevent the copper plates from coming up upon removal of the masking tape, I lifted the masking tape away from the plates in the same directions the plates were applied. This worked fine, other than a few places where paint leaked under the masking tape. The pictures below show the final result.

 Using his method, you can still use regular masking tape. I hope this helps a bit.

 

Jonathan

[JSGerson]

You might want also contact Model12, he made a real nice model of the Conny with a red stripe.

[DocBlake]

Outstanding job on the copper bottom, David!

[David Lester]

Thanks for the comments, likes and suggestions guys. I've looked at several other build logs and thought about the red stripe and I think I've decided what to do. On the build log at knightdreamers.com he found that he was able to lift the masking tape off the copper without it damaging the plates ok which is good, but I noticed that he had quite a bit of paint find its way under the masking tape and the line isn't very crisp. So I think I won't mask it at all and just paint it freehand down to the bottom of the top two rows. There is a band of two rows of full plates going around the top. The stripe is supposed to be 1/2" and the total width of the top two rows on my model is about  7/16". That's close enough for me. I should be able to get a good crisp line using the edge of the plates as a stopping point.

 

David