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

[Geoff Matson]

Dave

 

I enjoy watching you turn problems into fixes. You are doing a great job and when you are finished you will have a great model. 

[Guest Tim I.]

I apologize if this question has been asked before, but what source are you using for the gun deck cabin detail?

 

Thank you,

 

TIgoe

[SawdustDave]

Note, in the previous posting, that some progress has been made on developing the gun deck bulwarks as well.
Note the addition of the deck planking on the Spar level directly above the Commodore's quarters, which I will not attempt to create on this model.
The Commodore's cabin will remain completely open and will eventually be furnished.

At this point, the bulwarks on both sides within the cabin area have been added.
Also, the port side bulwarks for the first four gun ports forward from the cabin bulkhead have also been added.

 

I must say, getting the angle of the knees was kinda hit and miss at first.  Finally was able to create a pattern after about the fourth cut.  Those knees will not be seen entirely since there will be partial decking on the Spar level of sufficient width to mount the carronade placements down both sides.

Finally, note, the black lining inside each gun port is actually black construction paper.

Edited February 21, 2017 by SawdustDave

[SawdustDave]

I apologize if this question has been asked before, but what source are you using for the gun deck cabin detail?

 

Thank you,

 

TIgoe

Excellent question Tlgoe.

After many hours of examining dozens and dozens of photographs, I gave up on trying to get the placement and scale out of all the confusion.  So I called the office of the museum and discovered that there is a staff of modelers dedicated to the care of the museum's large scale model.  Finally getting in touch with one of the staff shipwright's, he directed me to the source where I was able to purchase a CD containing detailed drawings of the entire ship....including the gun deck.  

In order for me to use the drawings, I must convert the format of each from PDF to JPG, which allows me to pull them into my graphics package and scale them for my model.

Well worth the $14.00 purchase..... at that point I would have been willing to pay ten times that amount.

 

 

 

Edited February 20, 2017 by SawdustDave

[Guest Tim I.]

Ok, understood.

[BANYAN]

Great progress Dave, your build is looking very good.  A very helpful resource in those drawings; wish I could find something like that for my research.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[SawdustDave]

More ripping out....
Before installing the forward bulwarks, I must first remove the original beams from bulkhead A and B.  Also, there is a serious issue with the deck planking I have already installed in that bow area.

Seen here, I have removed the beams and now should be ready to prepare that bow area for planking the gun deck in that area.  First, the top surface of the filler blocks is not the same level as the bulkheads.  So I have to rough out that surface to take it down to the same level.

Now to carefully remove a number of the staggered planks in order to re-plank the area with the correct pattern of butt joints.

 

 

This is a good quitting point for the night.

 

 

Edited February 23, 2017 by SawdustDave

[SawdustDave]

Managed to complete the re-planking of the forward gun deck this morning.  

 

In this next photo I noticed some slight sanding swirl marks that came out after staining.
The camera is our most reliable critic.

 

 

I can now go back to working on the gun deck bulwarks.  

[Greg the peg leg sailor]

3 hours ago, SawdustDave said:

 

The camera is our most reliable critic.

 

 

G'day Dave 

Havta agree with you, but sometimes it's a big pain in the ar#e. I wish the lens are more like our old eyes: not too sharp.

Havagooday mate 

Greg 

[SawdustDave]

We all tend to forget, our models are viewed by human eyes, usually from a distance of two or three feet Greg.  
Only an accomplished modeler has a keen eye to understand and appreciate the kind of details we continuously bust our tails to achieve.
 

What's the first question people (non-modelers) usually ask about our models?

"How many hours did it take you to build that ship?"

For that very reason, I am logging every hour I work on this model..... 352 hours as of this posting.

 
 

[Greg the peg leg sailor]

23 hours ago, SawdustDave said:

Only an accomplished modeler has a keen eye to understand and appreciate the kind of details we continuously bust our tails to achieve.

 

So true, but the same modellers also understand and feel how frustrating the camera lens can be. 

But this is the reason why we all try to beat that 'EVIL EYE'. Not for the Joe Public, but for our own self esteem. 

Havagooday 

Greg 

Edited February 26, 2017 by gregchard

[SawdustDave]

Port side gun deck bulwarks....
Note, the planks seen laying on the beams are being used for measuring the height of the bulwarks.  

Eventually, after the gun deck is completed, I will remove these planks and install all of the beams that will support the spar decking.

[BANYAN]

That looks great Dave, nice recovery job

 

cheers

Pat

[SawdustDave]

Spar deck bulwarks....
For all you fellow builders of this ship, you are well familiar with the challenge of the bulwarks of the spar deck.  More specifically, the thousands of bolt heads so prominently  visible from bow to stern. 
After several failed attempts to create those tiny dimples consistently.... 3D fabric paint, nails, CA gel - you name it - I finally settled on the use of those beautiful little plastic tooth picks with the flossing brush on one end.  (used previously on the SOS)

 

After shaving the bristles off (50 at a time), the following steps are tedious, but pretty straight forward....

 

 

Marked out the pattern on the white vinyl piece I'm using.... scored the simulated plank lines with a knife.... and began making holes along the pattern lines (two holes per plank).

 

 

Tipping the peg end with the tiniest bit of CA gel, I inserted the batch of 50 into their holes.... 

 

 

Allowing the "pegs" to dry for about an hour, I snipped them off as close to the surface as I could with these nail snippers.

 

 

And here's the result before painting....

 

And here's the result after spray painting with Hunter Green (Satin finish)....

 

Port side completed.... starboard side just started.
I did a rough count and came up with just over 3,000 bolt heads for both sides combined.
 

 

 

 

 

 

  

[JSGerson]

Could the some of the longer bristles that were cut off be used for the MS 1:76 scale model? Yours is 1:60.

[SawdustDave]

5 minutes ago, JSGerson said:

Could the some of the longer bristles that were cut off be used for the MS 1:76 scale model? Yours is 1:60.

Good question mate.

I doubt it.... those are really tiny bristles.

However, I am quite sure the first half of each peg will work just fine at 1:76th scale.

Note that the stub is well tapered toward the end.  In fact, I only used the skinny end to line the sides of each port.

[Greg the peg leg sailor]

G'day Dave 

The bolts looks fantastic! Your patience and perseverance shows through for a great result. 

Wonder if this idea could be used for the bolts on the wales, because they are mostly painted black?

Havagoodone mate 

Greg 

[SawdustDave]

Thanks Greg.... very pleased with the result.

No reason to think they would not work on the wales exactly the same.

I should have also noted.... before painting, I used a long sanding block with medium grit paper in order to bring all of the pegs to uniform height.

Two coats of spray paint filled in around the base of each peg very nicely and left a nice rounded appearance to the top of the pegs.

[Piet]

Very nice work Dave.

 

Cheers,

[Omega1234]

On 3/7/2017 at 4:35 AM, SawdustDave said:

Spar deck bulwarks....
For all you fellow builders of this ship, you are well familiar with the challenge of the bulwarks of the spar deck.  More specifically, the thousands of bolt heads so prominently  visible from bow to stern. 
After several failed attempts to create those tiny dimples consistently.... 3D fabric paint, nails, CA gel - you name it - I finally settled on the use of those beautiful little plastic tooth picks with the flossing brush on one end.  (used previously on the SOS)

 

After shaving the bristles off (50 at a time), the following steps are tedious, but pretty straight forward....

 

 

Marked out the pattern on the white vinyl piece I'm using.... scored the simulated plank lines with a knife.... and began making holes along the pattern lines (two holes per plank).

 

 

Tipping the peg end with the tiniest bit of CA gel, I inserted the batch of 50 into their holes.... 

 

 

Allowing the "pegs" to dry for about an hour, I snipped them off as close to the surface as I could with these nail snippers.

 

 

And here's the result before painting....

 

And here's the result after spray painting with Hunter Green (Satin finish)....

 

Port side completed.... starboard side just started.
I did a rough count and came up with just over 3,000 bolt heads for both sides combined.
 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Hi Dave

 

Now that's clever!!

 

Cheers

 

Patrick

[CaptainSteve]

Bolt-heads looked fantastic, Dave. More to scale than other methods which I had considered. I'm just hoping, though, that you have left enough room for all the cannon fixings, cleats etc etc ...

[SawdustDave]

On 3/8/2017 at 0:29 AM, CaptainSteve said:

Bolt-heads looked fantastic, Dave. More to scale than other methods which I had considered. I'm just hoping, though, that you have left enough room for all the cannon fixings, cleats etc etc ...

Thanks CapSteve....  Indeed I have considered the bulwark fixtures.  Great thing about these little pegs is that they are so easily trimmed flush in the event I need to add something over them.

BTW.... Managed to finish the starboard side this morning.

[SawdustDave]

COPPER PLATES....

Now that I'm adding a few planks to the hull (around the gun deck gun ports).... I am looking out to the copper plating and the thousands of copper plates eventually required.
Resources indicate there are over 3,000 of these 14" x 48" plates.
I am using 8 cm X 20 cm plates to represent the plates on my 1:60 model.

 

Used a paper cutter to slice the 8 cm strips from the 4" x 10" sheet purchased from a local hobby shop. 

Also purchased this little pattern wheel I found at WalMart, then cut the notches to create a pounce tool.... (the tools I found on the market do not have the right spacing of the serrated tips)

The results appear to be a pretty consistent pattern of dimples to represent the surface rivets....

So I figure I need to create about twenty five per day to accumulate a good starting supply by the time I get around to the need.

  

 

[SawdustDave]

Spar Deck Bulwarks....

Still dealing with issues that arise as a result of my initial launching of this build with plan sheets designed for a completely different configuration.
In this case, it is the height and location of the bulkhead extensions above the Spar deck.
Since my bulwarks have been created off ship as a long continuous module, I found it necessary to cut off all of the original bulkhead extension's and replace them with these custom fit pieces. 

These new pieces have been carefully milled to match the exact thickness of the black gun port framing seen here....  also, the location of each is uniformly mid-way between each gun port.

I can now continue with the planking of the hull all the way up to the rail caps.

[Greg the peg leg sailor]

G'day Dave 

Sounds like that you still having some teething problems mate. I do hope all of these enjoying issues will stop soon.

If anyone can fix it, I'll put my money on you!

Havagooday mate 

Greg 

[SawdustDave]

Thanks Greg... Knock on wood - I wouldn't expect any more of these types of issues.
However, I'm quite sure I'll manage to create plenty of unrelated issues on my own.... and will have to dig my way out of each as they come up.  It's just the wacky way I sometimes tend to go about ship building.

 

Dave
 

[SawdustDave]

VERY INTERESTING BIT OF RESEARCH....

"The hull of the ship began to be altered between 1847 and 1858, with the upper bulwarks being raised ~20”

Is this a coincidence that it is also the same time in history that the British began issuing muskets with rifled bores to their troops?
I would speculate the additional 20" inches might have been added to protect the crews from snipers.

What think?

[BANYAN]

Sounds plausible Dave; unless the original design led to a 'wet ship' and they needed more protection to stop the 'roughers' coming over?

 

cheers

 

Pat

[SawdustDave]

This fascinating point was brought to my attention by a friend who served as an Army sniper (Special Forces).  According to him, the development of rifled long guns quickly led to other improvements in sights and firing mechanisms that gave rise to highly skilled sharpshooters with real accuracy at ranges never before dreamed of.
New battle tactics had to be employed as a result.
 

[SawdustDave]

Plank Thickness Sanding Jig....

 

Creating scratch planks from raw lumber can be a bit of a challenge in terms of precision width and, even more so, thickness.

While it is easy enough to rip the exact width with clean edges on a table saw, the task of taking lumber through the band saw to rip the thickness is another story since band saws simply do not leave a clean surface as seen here....

Obviously this plank cannot be used until the outer surface has been dressed down perfectly smooth.  The trick in doing that is to wind up with exactly the same thickness from plank to plank.

Since passing such a thin piece of lumber through the table saw is not real safe, and I do not own a thickness planer, I created a little jig that utilizes an old osculating drum sander.

 

The fence allows me to pass each plank through the sanding drum with the thickness gap set to remove exactly the same rough surface from every plank.

 

Feeding the plank through the jig takes about 30 seconds per plank.

Perfect planks every time....