USS Constitution by stevenmh (Steve Herzberg) - FINISHED - Mamoli - Scale 1:93 - Cross-Section

[S.Coleman]

Can't say I have ever seen a Mamoli cross section build on here. Your doing a great job. Love the lots of detail so well done and placed. 

Good work

[stevenmh]

Thanks EJ and Scott, and for the likes.  If I cut the ring I would only have to spread it a little so I could push the foot (heel?) of the mast through as I inserted it through the decks, but it would leave a scar, so I'm still up in the air about this one.  I have a while to sort it out, as I still have to finish the knees, beams, plank the deck and install the guns and gun tackle - looking forward to my first attempt to rig 3mm blocks...

[stevenmh]

While waiting for the paint to dry I thought I'd start on the gun tackles (with 3/32" blocks), but since I was having trouble threading my miniscule line through the tiny holes, I figured I'd go back to the berth deck - more knees in place, taken through one of the gun ports.  Needs to be painted - again.

 

[stevenmh]

Starting to put in some of the berth deck furniture/fittings before I block my own way with the framing for the gun deck.

Decided to play with making one of the guns, and trying to thread the tiny blocks for the gun tackle.  Despite the best advise from several members on how to skewer those darn things, I had to be rescued by the Admiral.  Eyes like a hawk, that one.

Then I made the "mistake" of re-browsing some other cross-sections and decided to allow myself to be seduced by Modeler12 and his hammocks.  So I'm going to place another roadblock in my quest to complete this thing by the 36th Annual Northeast Ship Model Conference and try to make a couple of hammocks.  I bought some bits of cloth at Joann's, but we (meaning the Admiral) decided a scrap of old cotton sheet actually looked best.  Photo shows prototype # XVII placed to see the scale.  If I do manage to make something I like, I will post the method, but so far it ain't quite right.

 

[JSGerson]

You might want to take a look at Tlevine's build of the HMS Atalant (March 23, 2014 post) for the hammocks and see if that will help.

 

Jon

[stevenmh]

Thanks Jon.  Since he is working at twice my scale, that will be a challenge to duplicate.

[JSGerson]

i was think more in terms of the material for the hammocks than the additional detail.

[stevenmh]

Worth trying, that's for sure.

[stevenmh]

After (somewhat unsuccessfully) chasing the total solar eclipse ten days ago, I'm back to wrestling with hammocks - this one was not a total shambles.  Will probably keep it and add a couple more.

 

 

 

Edited August 30, 2017 by stevenmh

[EJ_L]

I like the hammock and the other details as well. They are really bringing her to life!

 

I'm not too sure about the last picture though. When up is down and down is up you have either drunk too much rum or there is a major problem...

[stevenmh]

Yeah, I couldn't figure out how to delete it once it was up there.

[stevenmh]

Hammocks about as good as I'm gonna get them, I think.  Now to finish the deck framing for the gun deck.  Originally I was intending to plank over the whole deck, but now I think I will leave a good portion of it open so the berth deck and the hold are visible from above - just need to figure out which sections to do what with.  I do want to mount all 4 long guns, just to complicate things.

 

[stevenmh]

A bit more progress - dry fit the mast, added the columns in the hold, and tried out a figure from a 1:96 plastic kit on the 1:93 berth deck.  Nearly finished with the deck frames and waterways, almost time for the deck planking (still haven't figured out what will be covered and what left open) and then time to mount and rig the great guns!

 

[EJ_L]

Nice touch with the people. I personally like having figures on the models as it helps to put things into perspective. Looking at the outer hull, are you going to copper plate the lower hull? If so, you might want to do that before permanently fixing the mast in place. Looking good! 

[stevenmh]

Thanks EJ - although I did see someone copper the hull while sticking the mast into his keel clamp!!

 

Turning to turning match sticks in my home-made drill lathe.  Using these for the columns between the berth and gun decks - a bit hard to see when painted white.

 

I also wanted to have something representing the lines that drew water from the bilge into the pumps - settled for 2mm - ish square balsa sticks, painted white again, that straddle the keel, go through the berth deck openings and up to the underside of the gun deck where the suction pumps will be placed - you can see them most clearly behind the mast seat.

[stevenmh]

Still here, been a hectic couple of months, but getting the space in the basement set up again and should be on to rigging the guns, putting in the rest of the knees on the gun deck, and framing the spar deck.

 

Did manage to get most of the posts in on the berth deck and some representation of the hoses for the pumps in - I made the mistake of gluing on the planking of the gun deck before putting those in, so had to work from below and bend and twist and glue them all at once - coulda used 2 or 3 more hands at that point.

 

Guns and gun deck fittings are just dry fit at the moment.  I'm also trying to decide how to handle the finish below the waterline.  I don't like the look with shiny copper foil at all, and the green wood chips that came with the kit are so uneven, not to mention ugly.  I may go for a bit of fantasy and paint the hull an off white to represent lead-infused paint, and may paint just the one side I have already painted the black with white stripe - I am still planning to leave the other side unpainted, I think the walnut with wipe on poly will look fairly dark, and the holly I got is very light (and hopefully will remain so once it to has been poly'd), so I may just leave the rest of the hull unpainted.

D

[EJ_L]

Looking good! You could try spraying the copper plating with Dullcote. That should help tone down the shiny copper. The holly wood will hold it's whiteness well. I've used on some other projects and years later it is still as white as when I first turned it.

[stevenmh]

Rigging the cannon has been such an adventure - particularly when the glue doesn't stick.  First tried to use wood glue to strop the blocks and attach the home-made wire bolts to the carriages and bulkheads, didn't work on the wire and tended to swell the blocks and close up the holes; CA also often would not stick and soaked into the ropes.  Will make for a real adventure when I have to strop dozens of tiny blocks for the rigging.  Stay tuned.

 

[stevenmh]

Cannon finally done; in addition to trying to rig those little tiny blocks, I also had a lot of trouble preventing the lines from twisting - any suggestions on how to prevent that from happening would be greatly valued.

I've also finished trimming and notching the deck beams - I need to install the rear and the middle beam so I can fit the remaining knees into place, then it is on the gluing down the pumps, buckets and scuttlebutt, applying a bit of poly and then it will be time to frame the spar deck.

 

[CaptainSteve]

What threads are you using for your rope-work, Steve ?? I've read that Chuck (and other rope-makers) hang their ropes with weights to stretch them first.

[stevenmh]

An Egyptian cotton thread Chuck recommended, but I didn't know about the 'stretching-on-the-rack' bit.

[stevenmh]

Guess if I'm framing out the decks, might as well see all that work looks like from below...

And from aloft...

[stevenmh]

That's not good - sprung yard

 

[Canute]

Ouch, what hit that?

[stevenmh]

I was trying to shape it in my DYI drill-lathe - think I just squeezed too tight and gave it that spiral fracture - fortunately I had plenty of material and could start over, with a lighter touch.

[stevenmh]

Forging on - here is the updated version of my poor-man's lathe - works better, but I'm still nervous when I get to the thinner parts - however the main and topsail yards and main studs'l booms have been successfully constructed.

Spar deck is framed and now just needs the port side to be planked, then on to the masts and spars.  Given the configuration of the gun deck, especially the cannon that is run in, I don't think putting in the 2 ladders will work - especially as they are in the plans, running port to starboard.  Running them fore and aft probably also won't work, so I am going to try to use the materials provided, particularly the risers, to make a grating or two for the hatch.

 

I also am thinking about changing the positions of the deadeyes - the channels that came with the kit place the fore-most deadeyes so that the lanyards cross over the carronade gunports and the chains have to take a severe turn to avoid the gun deck gunports.  I'd just shift them back, but did not really realize this until after I had glued the channels onto the hull, so I will have to give this some more thought - thoughts and photos to come.

I've begun to add blocks to the main yard - using some of the stuff I've seen on this sight the first 2 were a lot easier than I'd dare to hope, but that could also be because they are 4 & 5 mm blocks, not the 2.5-3mm ones I was suffering over for the gun tackles.  The upper yards will tell - I'll just spend some time enjoying these victories.  The footropes will be made with 28 gauge wire, so hopefully they will not take too long either.

 

I have not had great love for the blocks that came with the kit, so as you might be able to tell from the above photo, I've gone to Chuck/Syren Ship Model Company to be rescued - I've even combined his single and double 'make-your-own' blocks to make the triple block for the main jeers.  You can see the quality difference below - kit blocks still in the bag, Chuck's on the bottom - they still have to be sanded and rounded, but still...

[stevenmh]

Spaghettification - nautical style:

[stevenmh]

Now that I am getting near to completing the hull, I can start on finishing the yards and starting to rig them and the ship.  I've added the holly on the outside of the gun deck to simulate the white-painted strip on the hull - will need to fabricate gun ports of the same wood.  You can also see the cut back channel and main chains.

I've attached the blocks for the falls of the truss:

And I've made the cleats and strops to go at the masthead to attach the pendants for the jeer blocks.

 

[stevenmh]

A lack of posts does not mean a lack of progress - just a lack of time if I want to finish in time for the Ship Model Conference at the end of April

 

Cannonade, main chains and main shrouds in place

I also had to make the white steps(?) for the side of the ship I am leaving unpainted

 

 

Spaghetti farm has migrated to the main top, particularly since I have installed the lift blocks and all the line that goes with them to the masthead.

 

 

One issue I am having is with the deadeyes for the top mast - the upper ones tend to pivot in relation to the lower sets.  Any suggestions how to cure that?

 

[usedtosail]

Steve, I found that I was able to straighten the deadeyes out when I added the sheer poles just above them. I used a piece of wood between the lashings and then lashed the sheer poles to the shrouds.