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

[reklein]

Very tidy paint job on the headworks. Would you please show us how you did it?? 

Edited March 11, 2018 by reklein

[SawdustDave]

2 hours ago, reklein said:

Very tidy paint job on the headworks. Would you please show us how you did it?? 

Sorry Bill.  I tend to forget to post photo’s explaining most of my techniques on this particular built since there are so many excellent comprehensive build logs for this ship.... Tom and Ken among many others.

However, I will explain the clean trimming for your benefit.

The technique I used for the white trimming of the rails is simply using Titebond wood glue to apply very thin strips of a heavy watercolor paper along the edges.

Actually, I used CA gel to secure the beginning end and then, after 30 minutes set time, was able to glue up the length of each strip a couple of inches at a time.

I would have several strips going at a time, so it actually went pretty quickly.

I used an old fashion office paper cutter to make precise width slices.

I am experimenting with thin watered down CA to give them a seal coating.  I will be very careful to come up with a coating that will not yellow the paper stock.

[Piet]

That's a sneaky way of doing it Dave, but effective. It looks really great.

 

Cheers,

[SawdustDave]

13 hours ago, Piet said:

That's a sneaky way of doing it Dave, but effective. It looks really great.

 

Cheers,

Tried masking and painting Piet.... What a mess!

Just call me Sneaky Dave.

 

Edited March 12, 2018 by SawdustDave

[SawdustDave]

Bow Structure Progress....

I finally corrected an issue that has bothered me for months.... the bowsprit steps.  It was brought to my attention by a local modeler who asked me about the angle of the steps.

OK, so the flats of the steps were noticeably pitched at an angle that would not have served well for walking on.

 

So, I ripped them off and re-cut them.... much better.
I also painted the flats of each step.  Also note the gammon irons have been added (a royal pain in the butt).  I definitely think they should have been added before installing the heads.

Next, I created the little life ring - and added the three steps to the bulwarks.

Finally, I was able to fill in the opening above the bowsprit....
Think I'll move to the stern and begin detailing the stern bulwarks next.

[BANYAN]

Nice adjustment Dave; they look good.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[mtaylor]

Dave,

Love the step fix. But, I have question.... would the Constitution have had the life rings?  I thought those came about much later.

[paulsutcliffe]

I'm with mark on that one, weren't invented then I don't think and would be a later addition maybe

Regards

Paul

[SawdustDave]

6 hours ago, mtaylor said:

.... would the Constitution have had the life rings?  I thought those came about much later.

Pat, Mark, Paul.... Yes, I saw that one coming.  It did occur to me whilst turning those  little rings.  Actually knocked off production at that point, but was having so much fun making them I guess I was compelled to finish the one I was working on.

So, naturally, I then had to see it on board.  It’s just hanging on a cleat with no glue.

At this point, I must admit, I’m a little torn between the obvious historic fact and the optics.

We all have to agree, they’re just “cute as a little button”.

Thoughts?

Dave

[JSGerson]

Very nice recovery on the bowsprit steps. I have to admit, I'm very leary about making ladders and stairs. Consistency in the steps geometry is paramount. How did you make them? I checked back in your log to when you first made them and you didn't address your method. Were they hand cut? If so, that is some precise cutting; or did you use a milling machine? I have a long way to go before I get to that stage, but I'm already apprehensive.

 

Jon

[SawdustDave]

Good question about the steps Jon.

The steps are hand cut from basswood.  The mistake I made with the first long solid piece, was that I failed to do the layout with the strip positioned at the exact angle of the bowsprit.  Everything looked great until it was positioned onto the bowsprit.

Part of the issue was that the angle of my bowsprit is not correct, as noted by the amount of exposure where it passes through the bulwarks of the bow and then through the deck planks.  This error is way beyond any possible corrections at this point.

So my only reasonable fix was to re-cut the steps to fit the angle of the bowsprit surface.

I do recommend a jig that will hold your strip of wood at the exact angle when laying it out.  I also suggest making the cuts on a wide strip and then ripping to the scale width after cutting, filing, and sanding.  Very careful measurement of the flats and risers being the key, I simply used a piece of paper as a spacer to make the measurements from one to the next.

Hope this helps.

Edited March 15, 2018 by SawdustDave

[yancovitch]

i would leave it and put a little sign on it saying ''artistic license''

[JSGerson]

Thanks for the feed back.

 

I got curious about the life preserver and found this at Nauticapedia:

Quote

The kisbee ring, sometimes ‘kisbie’ or ‘kisby’, is named for Thomas Kisbee, the inventor. He was also responsible for the invention of the ‘breeches buoy’. Kisbee was born in 1792 at Farcet, Huntingdon, England. He served as First Lieutenant(RN) in HMS Driver, the first steam paddle sloop to circumnavigate the world. He departed in March 1842 travelling via South Africa and China to New Zealand finally returning to Portsmouth (via Rio de Janeiro) in May 1847. Kisbee had spent 1846-47 transporting Governor Grey around the North Island of New Zealand during the Maori Uprising. Kisbee died in 1877 at Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England.

 

Widespread use of the life preservers became the norm when organizations such as Britain’s Royal National Lifeboat Institution (1855) started using them. The institution was also using a cork life belt invented by Commander J.R. Ward USN in 1854. The RNLI set up a Board of Supervising Inspectors that set standards and rules for lifesaving apparatus.

So yes, the Constitution could of had a life ring (kisbie), but not until 1855 or later.

 

Jon

[mtaylor]

I'll go with Yancovich.      I was just surprised.

[SawdustDave]

5 minutes ago, JSGerson said:

I got curious about the life preserver and found this at Nauticapedia:

So yes, the Constitution could of had a life ring (kisbie), but not until 1855 or later.

 

Jon

That pretty much solves it for me Mate.

Thank you for all that effort.

Dave

[paulsutcliffe]

The life preservers of the time I believe we're not actually used on ships but on the land and thrown out to people in the sea during shipwrecks of the coast, there was recently a series on the BBC about shipwrecks and one of the episodes was on lifesavers that we're being invented at the time, they then moved onto the ships themselves when companies like Lloyds got involved and started setting up rules and regulations for all ships to protect life ( and insurance claims)

Regards

Paul 

Edited March 15, 2018 by paulsutcliffe

[JSGerson]

More digging: Per Fisherman Outfitter

Quote

In the 1800s, the influence of organizations like Britain’s Royal National Lifeboat Institution (which used the kisbee ring) helped popularize life preservers. Shortly after the invention of the kisbee ring in the UK, the US Congress passed a law requiring ships to carry life preservers and similar rules have been in place ever since for military, commercial, and pleasure boats

How accurate / authentic the information is, I don't know. The choice is yours.

 

Jon

[SawdustDave]

The case gets stronger and more stronger Jon.

With that information, I now feel compelled to provide for the safety of my crew.

I am a real “ People Person” to the core.

Dave

 

[yancovitch]

hahaha......

[Geoff Matson]

Nice recovery on the steps. I found out, if something bothered me and I did not fix it, every time I looked at my model it would be the first thing I would see. Once fixed, I was able to  move on.  You are making great progress. Nice job.

[Piet]

Nice redo on the bowsprit steps Dave.

 

Cheers,

[SawdustDave]

Skylight fixture....

Progress on the skylight fixture is coming along very slowly.  The brass railing has not been cleaned up yet, and I haven't added the stanchion footings.
After I finish gluing the brass bars in place, I'll try to find a way to assemble all those little parts.

[SawdustDave]

Skylight progress....

 

Fitting the six wedge shaped light panels to the base has proven to be a little tricky.  After creating all six panels geometrically identical, I was able to get four of them to fit fairly tight  As careful as I was in laying out the geometry of the six panels, I just couldn't make all of them come together in assembly.

Seen in the second pic, I have cut the paper patterns which will be used to re-make the last two panels. 

 

[JSGerson]

Phenomenal job! Thinking ahead to when I get to this stage, or in your case looking back in hindsight, would it have been easier to make the triangle panels from a single piece of wood with openings cut into them rather than assembling 4 tiny pieces with extremely tight tolerances? Or would the solid piece just fall apart due to the nature of the material at that scale? As you found out, just the slightest deviation causes alignment issues. For such a small item, there are an awful lot of components. Out of curiosity, what type of wood did you use? I can't imagine you used basswood for this.

 

Jon

[SawdustDave]

Thanks for the visit Jon.  Interesting questions - 

The wood I used to build the panels is indeed very thin.... 1/64th thick.... it is a single ply taken from a piece of 1/16th" plywood I found in my boneyard pile.
Of course, the thickness is so thin it allows very little edge surface to glue the tiny frame butts, so I simply reinforced the back side with a strip of paper.... seen below.

This shot taken of the back side of the two panels I was unable to use.
Note the thickness of the paper on the left panel vs. the paper on the right after I have peeled the paper away from the CA leaving very thin remains.
Also note the outside rails on the left panel are noticeably wider than the rails on the right panel.  I made the rails a little oversized to allow for trimming and sanding to custom fit into place.

Hard for me to say the best technique for building this fixture.  I used auto cad to work out the geometry and it came pretty darned close in spite of the need to re-cut the two panels. 
You're so right about the slightest bit being off making a huge issue at this scale.
Just allow for, and be prepared to make some very small tweaks in the assembly process. 

 

Hope this helps Mate.

Edited March 20, 2018 by SawdustDave

[BANYAN]

Very nice work Dave, the skylight looks great.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[SawdustDave]

Inboard Stern Bulwarks....

Along with installing the skylight fixture, I just finished wrapping up the various fixtures found on the bulwarks of the stern as well as a few deck trimmings. 
One note regarding the skylight....
I found the overall circumference of the brass rail surrounding the skylight is slightly undersized, which prohibits the placement of the brass sheet on which the skylight base should be mounted.  Haven't decided yet whether to simply leave as is, or remove the entire rail assembly and e-make larger.  Not real crazy about that option to say the least.

Otherwise, I am ready to begin working on the three davits. 

[yancovitch]

i don't know dave...you seem to have a way of making your models so realistically dynamic..like i can actually imagine myself standing on that deck.....

[JSGerson]

Only the most discerning eye would know that there should be a plate and that it was missing. 99.99% of the observers of your model wouldn't have a photo of the real ship to compare and be observant enough to note the omission. You however are in that 0.01%. If this is something that will eat away at you, then by all means fix it. If however, you claim artistic license, well then, beautiful work, you should be proud.

 

Jon

[SawdustDave]

Thank you Vic.  

Jon.... Only time will tell about the “eating away” thing.  Now is not a good time for me to address it.

Love your visits guys.

Dave

Edited March 23, 2018 by SawdustDave