USS Constitution by SawdustDave - FINISHED - 1:60th Scale

[mtaylor]

Well,  I hope they had proper beverages and food at the party, Dave.   Nice work on the bowsprit.

[SawdustDave]

Anchor chain "thingies" installed....

Decided to put this topic of chain stoppers/compressors in the rear view mirror early this morning before the bowsprit is installed, thus blocking the open view of the inboard hawse pipes.

 

Note the transition from chain to steel cable has been properly served and then both rope and cable taken to the aft chain bitts.
Stanchions have been added on each side of the stove along with a few small details added to the chain bitts.

 

Also note the progress on installing the spar deck cross beams from port to starboard.  I will continue adding these beams back to the captains great room and then begin the additional spar deck planking except for the cutaway areas that will be left for viewing the gun deck details.

Edited August 7, 2017 by SawdustDave

[xken]

Dave, what no chicken cooking on the spit? Great work and love the details!

[SawdustDave]

4 hours ago, xken said:

Dave, what no chicken cooking on the spit? Great work and love the details!

Thanks Ken.... Working on trying to wrap up the jib boom and flying jib right now.... I'm spending a lot of my time studying your build of that section.  

BTW - Your metal working is blowing my mind because soldering copper pieces is not exactly in my wheelhouse of modeling skills.

Edited August 7, 2017 by SawdustDave

[SawdustDave]

BOWSPRIT FINISHED....

I tried to focus on finishing up the bowsprit assembly this morning.  As seen here, the assembly has been installed but not glued in place as I will need to stow the jib boom and flying jib boom while continuing to work on the ship.  The bowsprit will be fixed in place at the point when I need to add the planking, coaming and grating where it passes through the spar deck.

 

 

I'm only posting these couple of shots because anyone interested in fine details can simply go to Ken's build where I followed his work very precisely.
Thanks again Ken.

 

[SawdustDave]

BEAMS AND STANCHIONS PROGRESS....
Needing to take a few photo's in order to examine more closely the stanchions being installed to support and level the spar decking.

For obvious reasons, these stanchions actually serve a vital function, as on the real ship, in that the spar deck must be leveled perfectly from port to starboard and fore to aft.  The only reference being the distance from the gun deck planking.
This first shot illustrates the method I have used to determine the precise length of each of the many stanchions.  This spacer block is one of several used as I worked my way down the length of the gun deck.  All have been closely trimmed to the same exact length of 22/16th.

Note, all of the cross beams are cut from hard rock maple for strength.

Most of the stanchions are painted white with a black foundation block, but several are natural wood with a golden oak stain.  The two heavy supports located at the bilge pumps are natural.

 

Edited August 9, 2017 by SawdustDave

[Piet]

Wow Dave, what great progress you made since I last visited. Must have spend 3/4 of an hour ogling and reading. Been just too busy to visit but hopefully I can squeeze some time out in the near future.  Our daughter and I went to Quebec City to see and visit the "tall ships" there.  We had a great time and stayed in a nice apartment in the old part of the city. 

Your ship is beginning to look really nice with all the detail work you are putting in.

 

Cheers and stay in good health,

[SawdustDave]

Great to see you drop in Piet.  Sounds like you had a nice trip to Quebec City.

My Connie....I guess she's beginning to shape up a little since I was able to move up from the gun deck.  Working on the spar deck finally....I think I can actually smell the fresh sea air.

[SawdustDave]

MORE PROGRESS.....

This is a fairly special morning for me in terms of progress posting.  

I spent the day yesterday working on capping off the rails.  We all know the feeling, right?
I took a couple of early shots before I set about working on the beginning of developing the spar deck.

 

 

[SawdustDave]

 

Working on the Fore Fife Rail....

These five stanchions supporting the fore fife rail are much too small to turn on my small lathe, so I'm spinning them on a cable drive Dremel. 

  

This second photo taken after the stanchions have been trimmed to length and also etched in the false sheaves.
Also included the two riding bitts.... note the copper top plates. 

 

Edited August 13, 2017 by SawdustDave

[JesseLee]

Wow, those look really nice Dave!

 

Jesse

[Piet]

Nicely done Dave.

 

Cheers,

[SawdustDave]

Thanks Jesse / Piet... Always good to see you drop in.

I just had to do another rip off and re-do, so I turned off the lights a little early this evening.

Enjoying a cold night cap before turning in.

Dave

[JSGerson]

May I suggest you add metal pins to the underside of anything you're going to mount to the deck that will handle rigging line. The rigging line adds a lot of tension to bits and stanchions and may pull them off the deck. Trying to repair that kind of catastrophe is something I would want to wish on any model builder.

 

Jon

[SawdustDave]

You are a very wise modeler Jon.  This is especially true with regards to these fife rail stanchions, having such small footprints.
Once I am building this section of decking off ship, I plan to use pins in the center and two end pieces.  The two bitts will also be pinned.

Thank you so much for your input mate.

 

Dave

[SawdustDave]

SPAR DECK PROGRESS....

The spar deck is coming along a little quicker than I expected.  Adding the stanchions to the cross beams has really worked out nicely in terms of building a level platform to build onto.

The natural starting point being the bow area, adding the coaming and grating around the bowsprit, the bitts and fife rails have been installed - then the coamings and gratings and the galley smoke pipe....

 

The single biggest unresolved question in my mind since deciding to detail the gun deck fixtures, has been how the cut away of the spar deck could be done without completely covering all that effort.  I think I have finally answered that question, as seen here....

The six plank width on each side allows just enough space to mount the carronades.  Except for the large main hatch amid ship, I think the cutaway down each side might work.   The port side cutaway will be one plank wider than the starboard side.

 

Still haven't decided whether or not the center decking will taken past the forward bulkhead panels to the Captains Greater Room.  I would prefer to leave that area open, but we'll have to wait to see how it fits the eye..... Opinions?

 

I guess it's time to break out the soldering iron and see if I can come up with some brass canopy frames. 
 

Edited August 16, 2017 by SawdustDave

[SawdustDave]

CANOPY FRAMES....

We all stand in awe of Ken's canopy frames.  As much as I would love to immolate his method, without having the milling machine capability he used so beautifully , I simply cannot go there.  So I have to attempt to tackle these canopy frames best as I can with what I have.... 0.032" brass rod and 0.058" square brass tube.
Seen here, I have drilled out the connection blocks for the three center stanchions.... stowing them on a scrap rod.
The corner connection blocks are drilled for the appropriate corner with single holes on the entrance corners, or two holes for the rear corners.
The assembly seen here is in progress, with two more rails to be added as indicated by the red arrows.
The platform is a assembly jig created to hold the stanchions in place and to insure the second module is precisely the same as the first.

 

Note.... I created two other jigs that are obviously critical to this build.  
First.... The corner block cut-off jig is used to insure that each of the corner connection blocks are the exact same length.

Second....The stanchion forming block used to shape the arc of each stanchion and also marked for the precise height location of each connection block. 

As much as I would have preferred soldered joints, I simply do not have the soldering skill to make 24 perfect soldered joints without having a big blob occur at some point and create a complete mess.  After several hours of attempting to solder the joints.... destroying at least a dozen corner blocks.... pulling out hand fulls of gray hair I can ill afford to lose.... I reluctantly gave up!

So I am now looking at one of several "liquid solder" solutions.

Any suggestions?
I do plan to solder the top center connection where the five brass rods come together.
The CA glued joints in the above assembly will be touched up with brilliant gold metallic paint.

Edited August 20, 2017 by SawdustDave

[JSGerson]

You might want to use 5 minute epoxy glue on those joints. They will fill in any gaps, you have the luxury of a little time to set the pieces once the glue is in place, you can file/sand off any excess, and you can paint it.  The main point though, due to the small gluing surfaces, I believe the epoxy will be a whole lot stronger. I used this method for the mast top stanchions on my Rattlesnake. (June 9. 2014 post).

 

BTY, what kind of drill did you use to form the holes in the metal? All I have are wood drills which either bend or break if you breath on them too hard.

 

Jon

[SawdustDave]

54 minutes ago, JSGerson said:

You might want to use 5 minute epoxy glue on those joints. They will fill in any gaps, you have the luxury of a little time to set the pieces once the glue is in place, you can file/sand off any excess, and you can paint it.  The main point though, due to the small gluing surfaces, I believe the epoxy will be a whole lot stronger. I used this method for the mast top stanchions on my Rattlesnake. (June 9. 2014 post).

 

BTY, what kind of drill did you use to form the holes in the metal? All I have are wood drills which either bend or break if you breath on them too hard.

 

Jon

Thanks for the suggestion Jon.  Had not considered epoxy glue.

As for the tiny drill.... I sacrificed one of my Dremal bits with  tiny burr tip.  Had to grind the burr off and carefully grind the tip into a cutter point.  So far I have only had to re-dress it once.

 

Cheers

[SawdustDave]

CANOPY FRAMES....
After some frustration with how brass canopy frames can be built without a milling machine, here's the best I can come up with mates.  
As noted in my previous post, the joints were absolute hair pulling, to say the least.
Tried soldering.... failed.  Tried CA.... not so good.
Tried epoxy Jon.... not much better, mainly because of the long cure time.
Then discovered the solution was actually in the method of assembly!

After tacking all of the corner connecting blocks into their carefully measured position on the formed stanchions, I drilled out the stanchion holes in the coaming frame, Then inserted the stanchions into the appropriate holes with NO RAILS.
I then soldered the center of the stanchion assembly, thus firming up the assembly.
From there, the task of adding the rails became a matter of careful measurement and forcing them into the holes in the corner blocks.
Although you will see some CA tacking in this photo, I'm not sure it was even necessary because the "spring tension" of the stanchion frame tends to hold the rails quite secure with no tacking except for the tiniest dab of CA on the tip of the rail as it is forced in place.
 

Here's that little center top ball... shaped by spinning two Dremels (one with a diamond cutting wheel).

I still have to polish the brass a little and paint the soldered joint with some brilliant gold metallic.
I haven't decided if I will try to add a little foundation block at the foot of each stanchion.  Playing around with that detail now.

NOTE.... I will be taking a break from the shop this afternoon to go outside and watch the solar eclipse, as we are very close to the path of "totality".... yes, we do have our special glasses. 

Edited August 21, 2017 by SawdustDave

[SawdustDave]

RE-DOING THE CANVAS FRAMES....

Due to a fund raiser project I've become deeply involved in, I haven't been able to focus a lot of time in the shop since my last posting.  Unless I manage to get some help, this might be the case for the next several weeks.
For the couple of early morning hours I do have, here's a short progress photo....
Wasn't real happy with the first attempt at creating canopy frames seen in my last post.... so I did what we all do.... tear it out and do it over.
Other than the improved assembly technique, the biggest, and perhaps only notable difference would be the shaping of the top joint blocks which now have an upper bead turned into them.

Secondly, since I'm definitely not much of a metal worker, it took a little practice and a lot of wasted brass rods to develop the technique for soldering the frame stanchions where they come together in the center of the module.
Seen here, I've not added the little ball to the top nor painted over the solder. 

[SawdustDave]

Still not happy with the brass frames.  Stay tuned mates.

[Piet]

What kind of soldering method are using Dave? Soft solder or "hard" solder? The latter one comes in ready to use past form, just dab some on the join(s) and heat with a mini propane or butane torch. Soft solder can work good as well. Use a pencil type "iron" set to an appropriate temp and may use a heat-sink in places. I wish I lived closer by to give a hand but with some practice you can certainly produce acceptable results. So far they look okay but knowing you, you are not happy till you got what you are after. Keep plugging at it my friend.

 

Cheers,

[SawdustDave]

Thanks Piet.... And knowing you as well, you would have knocked this one out of the park on the first pitch.

Actually, the reason I'm fretting so over these first two frames is 'cuz there's three more companionways and the  skylight once I get past the main hatch area.

Using soft solder and a mini butane torch.  Getting there, slowly but surely mate.

Of course, if you want to take another road trip up my way, I'll save this little task for the master.

Personally, I would dearly love to be building the first of several launches right now.

 

Cheers

Edited September 4, 2017 by SawdustDave

[SawdustDave]

Canvas Frames Progress....

I don't really like to admit this, but at some point, we have to accept things and move on.... right?

The brass canvas frames may be the most challenging tasks I have personally attempted in the ten years I've been hooked on tall ship modeling.

I am saying this as a wood worker, having very limited experience soldering tiny brass parts together.... getting 32 connection points together without leaving a big blob of solder took a bit of trial and error and a lot of scrap pieces for me to develop a little bit of technique.... not perfect, but they do pass the 36" test.

Back to work on developing the Spar deck.  It has been almost a month since I have made a single grain of sawdust!

 

Edited September 15, 2017 by SawdustDave

[usedtosail]

I think you did a great job on those canopy frames Dave. I didn't even attempt to make them, rationalizing top myself that they wouldn't have been on the 1812 version. We'll have to call you SolderDave for a while.

[SawdustDave]

2 minutes ago, usedtosail said:

I think you did a great job on those canopy frames Dave. I didn't even attempt to make them, rationalizing top myself that they wouldn't have been on the 1812 version. We'll have to call you SolderDave for a while.

Tom.... I must admit, after so many failed attempts, I was very tempted to scrap the idea of modeling the canvas frames with the same reasoning as you stated.  

But then Ken's work is so inspiring....I guess I'm just too stubborn to walk away from a good scrap, even when I'm getting my butt clobbered!

[xken]

• Dave great job considering no lathe! Down the road consider a lathe purchase. I use my lathe for turning metal, wood and serving shroud lines. I cannot imagine starting a ship model of this level without one. Hat's off for your efforts!

[mtaylor]

Nice work, Dave.  Those frames pass the extreme distance test (from my place to yours) and the camera test.  

[SawdustDave]

4 hours ago, xken said:

• Dave great job considering no lathe! Down the road consider a lathe purchase. I use my lathe for turning metal, wood and serving shroud lines. I cannot imagine starting a ship model of this level without one. Hat's off for your efforts!

Thanks Ken.... I do have a lathe, but have never used it for anything other than turning wood.  I have have no tailstock chuck, which I would need in order to turn metal..... so I just placed an order for one with MicroMark.  By the time I get around to those other three frames, I should be in business.

Also Mark.... Thanks for the visit.  Always a pleasure to hear from you Mate.

 

Dave