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

[SawdustDave]

Thanks Tom..... another great tip much appreciated for sure.

 

Great to see CapSteve back in the saddle.  Can't possibly have too much help at this point.

Edited December 28, 2016 by SawdustDave

[SawdustDave]

Just now beginning to browse for photo's to draw from.  Holy Molly!
I'm beginning to feel like a "pig in a huge mud puddle".

Photo's like this is music to my ears....
But that eagle is a loooooong way off at this point.
 

[Geoff Matson]

Hello Dave. I will be following with interest. I love to see how other modelers solve similar problems.

[SawdustDave]

Welcome aboard Geoff.  

 

Hello Dave. I will be following with interest. I love to see how other modelers solve similar problems.

 

And I certainly do love having another Connie builder looking over my shoulder to keep me out of deep troubled waters.

[Greg the peg leg sailor]

With all ......

 

.......... pic below.

 

Looks like I'm in for a real sawdust day. 

 

bulkheads2.JPG

After all Dave, your name isn't no-sawdustdave!

Looking good my friend and it's good to show how it is done from the start to help any new members.

'I take my hat off to you' to take your time to show this side to help the less experienced and people like me who has only been around for a few years.

Havagooday

Greg

[SawdustDave]

Bulkhead former's all cut out....

Finally finished cutting out all of the bulkhead former's and fit them into their slots on the keel former.  Can now begin marking and cutting in the rabbit before adding the keel and stern post.
Then, of course, comes all the squaring, and measuring, and aligning of each bulkhead.
Note, all of the top beams have been removed from fifteen bulkheads, allowing the possibility of installing a full gun deck.
I have not yet decided just how far I will take the gun deck.... still studying photo's.... looks like a lot of exciting possibilities.

 

 

 

[Greg the peg leg sailor]

G'day Dave

Looking good mate. I assume that you will check the diagonal measurements between each bulkhead for squareness before you attached the rabbits. Are you going to use a cradle of sorts to hold the bulkheads in place?

When I did my builds, I put temporary wedges to keep them square before adding the rabbits. I found that method a bit "if and miss", so next time I will make up a cradle like jig that will hold each bulkhead square.

Havagooday

Greg

[albert]

Great start, very nice work.

[SawdustDave]

Began the morning with my first measurement of the dry fittings of the bulkheads to the center keel.

Great news, and to my complete surprise..... laying a straight edge along the top of the bulkhead beams, every single one of them were perfect.  
I fully expected to have some highs and lows that would require some tweaking....right?
This is kinda scary to me mates.  I'm accustom to trouble....always prepared for a fight.

I think I can proceed to marking the bearding line and begin cutting the rabbit before attaching the keel and stern post.
 

[BANYAN]

You're not mucking around with this one are you  That is significant progress in a very short time.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[SawdustDave]

You're not mucking around with this one are you  That is significant progress in a very short time.

 

cheers

 

Pat

Been told I need to slow down Pat.  

 

[SawdustDave]

I managed to get the rabbits cut last night.  
I did take a little different course in the method I chose.  Instead of making the rabbit at the bottom of the main keel former assembly, I marked the tips of each bulkhead and re-cut the edge of that entire assembly flush with the marks.  

Then I simply shaped a slight bevel along the new cut.

 

Then I re-cut all five pieces of the keel assembly.....which no longer fit the modified shape of the keel former.....
Then I used a small router bit to cut the rabbit along the top edge of the new keel parts, including the stern post and beak.

Everything came together real nice in a dry fitting.

 

 

 

[SawdustDave]

The Billet Head....

 

I spent a lot of time finding and studying close up photos of the beak .... particularly the billet head.  Most interesting was this old photo I found of the original billet head after being removed for restoration.

 

 

Since this is something that must be done off-ship, I decided I will need to do the carving before fitting the beak to the keel former. That represents a big problem with gluing up the entire assembly....right?!

Went to bed last night with this on my mind, realizing I would never be able to come anywhere close to creating that detail with the wood I used to create the bow stem....poplar is not great for carving small details.

 

The solution popped in me noggin at 4:30 am.... Up and to the ship yard!

 

Four hours later......

This is the beak as created from the plan pattern.... 

 

 

And here's the beginning of the poly vinyl billet head carving I began working on this morning.  Much to go yet, but I'm fairly pleased with the experiment at this stage. 

 

And the simple method that came to me at 4:30 am this morning.... inlay the carving onto the beak!

Used a small router to remove the material from the area where the inlay will be fitted.

 

 

Once finished and painted up with black and white details, I'm hoping it will turn out not too bad.

 

Edited December 31, 2016 by SawdustDave

[Omega1234]

Hey Dave

 

Happy New Year! What are you doing staying up to 4.30 in the morning???

 

Don't you need your beauty sleep? Having said that, your solution to the beakhead's carvings is ingenious.

 

Onwards and upwards!

 

Cheers

 

Patrick

Edited December 31, 2016 by Omega1234

[SawdustDave]

Thanks Patrick....

I should clear up.....in bed by 10:30-ish..... woke up to pee at 4:30 and couldn't go back to sleep with this problem going round and round in my hard head.

Might as well put a pot of coffee on and go to work.... right?

[Omega1234]

Thanks Patrick....

I should clear up.....in bed by 10:30-ish..... woke up to pee at 4:30 and couldn't go back to sleep with this problem going round and round in my hard head.

Might as well put a pot of coffee on and go to work.... right?

Can't argue with that one!!!! Edited January 2, 2017 by Omega1234

[UpstateNY]

Hi Dave,

 

Lovely work as usual....hopefully still a little standing room at the back for me to follow along!

 

Cheers,

 

Nigel.

[SawdustDave]

For sure Nigel..... welcome aboard.

[BANYAN]

I thought you were told to slow down Dave?    Very nice work on that rabbit, very clean cut.  I can understand the 4:30 thing - I have got to the point that if I am not asleep within 30 mins of hitting the hay, I get up and write down everything stirring in my head; actually setting to work is another thing though.  The beakhead is coming on nicely.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[CaptainSteve]

Nice modification on the billet, Sawdust !!

 

(I knew it had to happen ... but my bookie had longer odds on you starting to carve already)

[Piet]

Hello Dave,

 

Great start with a beautify ship.  Glad you chose a large scale so you can add plenty of detail on her.

 

Gwen and I wish you and the family a very prosperous and healthy 2017.

 

Cheers,

[SawdustDave]

 Thanks Pat, CapSteve, and Piet....and for a host of other old MSW friends hooked up on this little project.

 

Happy New Year all!

Edited January 1, 2017 by SawdustDave

[SawdustDave]

Beak refinement....
The last posting was an experiment, but needed refinement in order to entirely work.  The idea to use a router to create and inlay proved to have issues in terms of allowing me to attach the bow stem to the assembly now, yet allowing me to work on the beak carvings off ship.

I worked it out by completely whacking off the beak and creating a tongue-and-groove beak that can be added after completing the carvings.

 

 

 

Problem solved!

 

 

[Mundie]

Nice to see the build going well.. You know maybe someone can help w this. I live 10 minutes from Baltimore's Inner Harbor. The "Constellation" is just sitting there waiting for me to take a ton a great photos.(I have a great DSLR Camera) but if I attempt to upload the photos, I will have to reduce the res so low I'm not sure if it's possible or worth it? Any suggestions?

[SawdustDave]

Hi John....Man, would I love it to be so close to any ship I'm trying to build.

Great offer, but with all the great photo's out there already, I wouldn't begin to know what to ask for at this stage.

I do know I am planning a spring trip....after I get a little further along.

Maybe we can hook up somehow when I go up.

 

Dave

[SawdustDave]

Keel former assemble done.....

Removed the assembled keel former from all the clamps first thing this morning.  Note the missing beak.

Looking closely, you can see that each of the bulkhead slots have a perfectly square track created with a 1/4" router bit.
The shallow track is routed to both sides of the former.... creating a very snug fit for each bulkhead and perfectly square to the former.

 

 

 

Also removed the holding base from clamps I glued up yesterday.

I will probably add a two inch wide board to the bottom of the holder base in order to have a really stable holder as this model will eventually become quite large and heavy.

 

She's ready for some bulkheads.

Edited January 2, 2017 by SawdustDave

[SawdustDave]

Billet head carving....

 

Giving each bulkhead an hour under the clamps gives me time for some carving on the billet head.
 

Using one of the photos taken from the net, I have managed to rough out this relief carving for the starboard side.
Looks pretty rough for now.  I'll have to leave everything as a flat surface for now until after I eventually paint the entire piece black.
Note - I haven't worked on the oval area of the flag yet.

 

The pencil marks indicate the upper and lower rails which I will begin playing around with after carving the port side of the beak.
Eventually the knee with the howse holes will be created to blend into the beak and I will have to continue the carvings into that knee.

My plan is to paint the whole thing flat black, then carefully remove the black from the top surface of the relief with a scraper and try to paint the white scroll work.  At that point, I can work on getting some of the subtle detail to the scroll "leaves".

[Greg the peg leg sailor]

G'day Nils

Wow this is the first time I realized HOW BIG the model is going to be.....you holding the base stand in your hands and the photo of the stand next to the false keel. It's mind boggling.

Havagooday mate

Greg

[Greg the peg leg sailor]

Great start on the carving of the beak!

[KirbysLunchBox]

Did anybody else notice the gallery windows behind the billet head in Dave's picture? Looks like the are painted on.