USS Constitution by David Lester - FINISHED - Model Shipways

[David Lester]

Thanks Dave,

When I was doing some google research on Flemish coils, most of the references I found were to modern sail boats rather than old war ships. It seems there is a school of thought that overuse of these coils can be considered "yachty" which is evidently a pejorative term. I don't know enough about sail boats to have an opinion one way or the other, but I guess to some I will have a very "yachty" Constitution!

 

David

 

[David Lester]

Hi All,

I'm still just barely started on deck and hull details, but nevertheless felt like a change of pace, so I started shaping the lower masts. I was curious to find out how well the styrene would work for the chafing fish. I find that styrene very unpleasant to work with generally and it seemed to me that the .03 sheet would be very resistance to bending around the masts. However I was pleasantly surprised to find that it worked like a charm and wasn't even too hard to do. The secret is to do it in stages and to hold it in place with large paper clips and leave it for a long time. I often make the mistake of thinking CA glue is instant, but for something like this it needs to set for quite a long time.

 

I first applied glue only to the lower narrow part of the piece and clamped it in place. Then to the centre only of the upper wider section. Then to one side of the wider section and finally the other side. That's four separate steps to the process and for the one mast it was actually five as I needed to give the extreme outer edge on one side another gluing and clamping.

 

I sanded the edges and once it's all painted it should be just fine.

 

As always, thanks for checking in.

David

 

 

[Geoff Matson]

David

 

If you have any problem with the styrene you can use a heat gun on low heat or steal your wife's blow dryer to help coax the styrene to the shape needed. Just don't get too aggressive and I would practice on some scrap. 

Edited April 15, 2016 by Geoff Matson

[David Lester]

Good Morning All,

Just a brief update. I've done quite a bit of backtracking, so no pictures util my next post. I added the four rear gun carriages on the port side and just to compare with the starboard side, I left the flemish coils off.

 

I now had some decisions to made and factors to take into consideration.

1. I was torn between which look I preferred.

2. My rigging on the second set of four was considerably cleaner than on my first set of four

3. If I decided on going without the coils, it would mean removing the first four which would leave quite a mess on the deck where the glue was.

4. I had been a bit sloppy and had two dabs of glue on the deck which I covered with some paint. It was passable but not really very nice.

5. If I was going to make any changes, it had to be now before I had any more details in place.

 

All of this was rolling around in my mind and it seemed to leave me with two options - either carry on as is and add coils to all of the lines and live with the two dabs of glue and so-so rigging on first four carriages or (shudder) remove the eight cannons, strip the finish off the entire deck, refinish it and then start over, being much more careful with the glue.

 

So, I set all that aside while I considered my options and built the mast top for the main mast which was quite an enjoyable diversion until I reached my decision. In the end I removed the carronades, masked the entire model from stem to stern and removed the finish on the deck with paint stripper. I've applied a new finish, which turned out to be better than the first one and I've now masked most of the deck to help ensure a tidier job as I reinstall the carronades. As for the coils, I'm going to install all of the guns without them and will decide whether or not to add them later.

 

I've have a couple of pictures in my next posting.

David

[DocBlake]

WOW!  That was a really momentous decision and a ton and a half of work.  You're a better (and braver) man than I am, David.  I can't wait to see the photos.

[JSGerson]

You made the right decision. The way you know that is you feel much better now that is is done. If you are going to do something, you might as well take your time and do it right. You saw the problem and you fixed it when it was easier (not necessarily easy) to fix (now vs later). It's a hobby, there is no rush, and in many cases there is no "right" way, just "your" way.

 

Jon

[Geoff Matson]

David

 

If something bothers you, fix it. You always feel better after doing it. Look forward to your pictures

[GuntherMT]

Hi David,

 

Your Connie is looking great!

 

I've been a bit lax keeping up with this build, so I've missed out on a bit and will try to address a few questions you've asked, or issues you ran into in this response.

 

First - Your problem when trying to cut thin slices of dowel for sheaves.  I highly recommend getting a good razor saw to handle this type of very thin cutting.  They are not expensive, I am using the one from UMM USA - http://umm-usa.com/onlinestore/product_info.php?cPath=21_28&products_id=35 Hopefully that link works, if not look for the JLC002 JLC Micro Combo Saw.  I use that along with the Micro Mitre Box http://umm-usa.com/onlinestore/product_info.php?products_id=3340 more than any other tool I own, with the exception of the X-acto handle/blades.

 

Also, if you round a piece of hard-wood like Boxwood or Pear, it will slice much better than a typical dowel.

 

Second - N'thing what everyone else said about the sequence.  Think things through and do it in an order that makes sense and works for you.

 

Third - Inhaul tackle.  I left these off of the AVS for a few reasons.  One is that the deck arrangement didn't really have the room for the in-hauls on a couple of the guns, the eye-bolts were simply too close to the guns when in the out position.  Two is that I agree that the in-hauls would only be rigged when action was pending, and my model was to be displayed on the way's without sails.  It seems to me that they would be out of place on a ship displayed without sails.  I did however mount all of the ring-bolts that the tackle would have been rigged to, as they would be a permanent part of the deck.  In the end, whatever you think will look good is how you should probably do it.

 

And Finally - Coils.  As you know, I did place the coils on my deck, as I like how they look.  In the last year I've had the wonderful opportunity to go sailing on 5 different tall ships, and my observation about things like 'dressed coils' was that they were a lot more common than I would expect based on discussions on this forum about how they would only be present for inspections.  I imagine that different captains would run their ships in different levels of 'dress', and that in the end, other than inspections, that is what would determine the presence of things like this.

 

My general observation about how 'dress' coils are handled on ships that are actually being sailed is this - When the ship is being sailed in tight quarters where the tacks or turns that will require sail handling are frequent, the ropes are cleaned up in very quick 'functional' loops in between the maneuvers, but whenever the ship was going to be maintaining course for any sort of time (10+ minutes) the crew would go about dressing all of the lines as soon as the course was set and the captain was happy with the trim.   I realize that these ropes were all sail handling ropes, not gun tackle, but I would think that if they were so good about dressing the lines that are used to sail the ship, then they would also be pretty good at dressing lines for the guns when they were not in active use.

 

On the only ship I have had the pleasure of sailing on that had 'real' guns (6 pounders) rather than sleeved 'show' guns, they kept the guns lashed sideways to the bulkhead when not ready for action.   Because of that, they didn't have the flemish coils, simply because they were stowed completely differently when not in use, and the tackle was completely removed and stowed off the deck.

 

In summary, my personal opinion is that on a ship like the Constitution, the captain was highly likely to run a very tight ship as compared to a merchant ship or a privateer, so the likelihood of ropes being properly 'dressed' at all times that conditions allowed for it, was probably also very high.  But in the end, you are the modeller and you should dress them in a way that is pleasant to you.

 

Happy Modeling!

[David Lester]

Hi Brian,

Thanks for your imput; very much appreciated. I'm quite interested in the micro saw and mitre box you mention. I have a very old (40+ years) xacto saw and mitre box, but they have seen much hard and inappropriate use over the years and are not functioning at their best. It looks like I could add these two new ones without breaking the bank.

 

David

[GuntherMT]

David,

 

The big difference is in how fine the teeth are, and how thin the blade is.  You do need to be careful, as side pressure will easily break the blade because it's so thin, but it's fantastic at making very fine clean cuts in the woods we use.

[David Lester]

Hi All,

Here are a couple of pictures of what I've been doing lately. As I mentioned earlier, while I was contemplating what to do about my deck, I worked on the main mast top which you can see below. When I got back to the deck, got it all stripped down and refinished, I began to add the details back in. I'm working on the gun carriages. As you can see I've become overly cautious about getting glue on the deck again, so I am masking it like crazy, exposing only the areas where the carriages sit. I'll work my way through the whole process like this, and like a surgeon, only expose the immediate area that I'm working on, whatever that might be. Knowing me (and quite unlike a surgeon) as I remove the final bit of masking tape I'll probably drag my sleeve across the deck having just inadvertently dipped it in some glue. But I try not to let me mind go there.

David

[Elijah]

You really can't be too careful !

[cobra1951]

You're moving along with this build quickly and still achieving a great finish, nice

[donrobinson]

That mast top looks great David as does the masking

[DocBlake]

David:  Excellent job on that mast top.  Your Constitution is shaping up very nicely.  What kind of wood is the mast top made of?   It looks like boxwood in the photo.  Did you stain basswood to get the look?

 

Another question:  What kind of camera are you using for your photos?  I use my IPad, which is the best camera I've ever owned!  I'd love to see your photos in a larger format.  Yours are about 70 KB.  The MSW maximum is 2.0 MB per photo.

[David Lester]

Hi Dave,

The mast top is just basswood. It all gets painted white and gray. For my camera, I've been using my Nikon Coolpix which is a very little camera with a zoom lens. It's about the size of a pack of cigarettes. I bought it in Venice (Italy) after my old camera bit the dust our first day out.

 

When I was posting at LLS it seemed I needed to reduce the size of the pictures substantially which is what I have still been doing here by force of habit. Maybe I don't need to. I'm still having trouble getting a clear focus for up close pictures. Maybe I'll try my ipad; I haven't been much in the habit of using it for taking pictures, but I'll give it a try next time.

David

[GuntherMT]

David, on MSW you can post photo's up to 1600x on the long side and 2mb in size.  This allows for some very nice photo's.  

[David Lester]

Thanks Brian,

I'll do a little experimenting and see what I can do to improve the appearance of my pictures. I've been reducing them in size to 650 px x 488 px and then choosing "save for web and devices." This takes them way below the 2mb size maximum. I'll try reducing them less next time.

David

[David Lester]

Hi Everyone,

Here's an update of where I'm at at the moment. The deck is refinished and most of the details have been added. Missing from this picture are the skylight, capstan and wheel, all of which are all ready and just need to be added. I'm going to build the horse blocks too, but will wait until the rail has been added, because they attach to it. I'm still undecided about the flemish coils. I might make a few and set them in place without gluing them before I decide.

David

[MEPering]

That's a really nice finish on the deck, David.  Very realistic.

 

Matt

[DocBlake]

Your deck looks super, David.  Great job!

[David Lester]

Happy Friday Everyone,

A little progress to report: I've all but finished the deck details and started on the upper hull details. I've installed the dummy cannons and the gunport lids on the starboard side and am about to do the port side. All is moving along with almost no problems. I say almost, because I did have one moment of panic when I was installing the dummy cannons. Their diameter is wider at the end than it is throughout the rest of the barrel. As you insert them, they fit tightly at first and then all of sudden they don't anymore. I lost control of one of them and it fell right through and into the hull. And I thought things were lost for good when they hit my basement floor. This cannon was gone. Of course, they don't give you any extra, so I was short one. They give you thousands of those little brass brads which I never use - (I tend to think of getting them with a model kit like getting all that extra white rice with an order of take out chinese food - you don't really use it, but they seem to think it needs to be there nevertheless,) but the things you really do need are doled out like they were made of gold. So I had three options. Either order a replacement(s) from Model Expo and wait forever and pay an exorbitant international shipping charge, or order from a Canadian supplier but it wouldn't be a match for the others, or make one out of wood which is what I did. It's in the last picture below. You can most likely tell which one it is, but the casual observer won't be able to detect it, especially when I place this side of the model against the wall.

 

David

[usedtosail]

Nice job on the replacement. I could have sent you one of mine that I didn't use, too. That is still an option if you like.

[Elijah]

But David, they are worth gold :D!

Edited May 6, 2016 by Elijah

[MEPering]

Looks like a very good replacement, David.  Like you said, a casual observer would never notice, and I probably wouldn't have noticed either had you not mentioned it.  It looks like you only have the eyebolts left to install on the deck?

 

Matt

[DocBlake]

Nice recovery, David.  I can't tell which it is for sure!

[xken]

David looking great! I could have sent you a bunch had I known I did not use any of mine that came in the kit.

Keep up the great job you are doing.

Ken

[David Lester]

Thanks for the comments and likes. And Thanks Tom and Ken for the offer of cannons. I appreciate it but I think I'm ok as it is.

David

[David Lester]

Hi Everyone,

I have only a minor update today. I haven't been working on my model much over the past week. My daughter and son-in-law listed their house for sale yesterday and I've spent the last week helping them to hide all its flaws... er, sorry, I mean helping them to get it ready to show! I'm off the hook for the time being, but their new house suffers from much deferred maintenance, so it looks like I will have a lifetime of home improvements ahead of me.

 

On the Constitution, I've finished all the gunport lids. I opted for thread instead of wire. At first I thought wire would be best, but no matter how hard I tried I couldn't get the two pieces of wire to join at the "Y" without a large ugly mass of twisting. The thread however worked quite well; I coated each piece in CA glue first and it was easy to handle and I got a decent join at the "Y". I used one size for the piece that attaches to the lid itself and a thinner piece leading back to the hull. I doubled that piece around the first piece which gives a smooth joint and glued it tight to itself.

 

I've started the chainplates and am finding that this is very difficult and finicky work. I have the ones for the main mast on the port side finished. They are less than perfect, but I'm hoping for better results as I go along. As of my last post, the starboard side was going against the wall. As of now, the port side is going against the wall. I'm thinking of running a betting pool for members to guess which side wins in the end.

David 

[MEPering]

I bet the are difficult, David.  They are very delicate photo-etch, and I just hope mine come out as good as yours.  What did you use to affix them to the hull?

 

Matt