USS Constitution by JSGerson - Model Shipways Kit No. MS2040

[JSGerson]

Helmarsowick: Thanks for the info, I'm tempted. If I may ask, what/how does he charge? I've got the kit's and the US Navy plans. Be that as it may, I think before I do that, I would want to give it a shot myself following Ken's lead. I mean, it's the point of building a model. I just need to know my skill limits.

 

Jon

[helmarsowick]

I consider his rates reasonable as the Polish Zloty if 4 to 1 US. You need to send a copy of scale plans to work from. I had an architecture office scan the 8 drawings and sent them as PDF's. He has all the plans for Conny so he can make anything you want. I use him for things I'd have to carve or can't make, remember I've only done some small boats and Bluenose. He does an estimate including mailing, but sticks by his number. His English is fairly good but he can take a while to respond so be patient. He also has another job.

Big jump to the Constitution but I used to be a cabinetmaker and enjoy woodworking. I also enjoy striving for perfection. Not that I'll get there but the pursuit is enjoyable. If you contact him let him know Helmar says hello.

[JSGerson]

Helmar: I will definitely drop your name should I concede in my attempt to fabricate the companionways. Thanks for the info.

 

Jon

[helmarsowick]

Jon

Best of luck.

Helmar

[JSGerson]

Jax Black arrived and seemed to work just like Blacken-It, so all the trunnion caps were blackened. They were fastened to the carriage with CA very carefully so that the barrel could still rotate for final adjustment when the guns are placed in their final positions. Due to their function, the quoins are not glued in place awaiting that final placement. In addition, black dots were painted on the carriages to represent the black bolts. At this scale and final viewing location, that’s all that is needed. When I looked back at the practicum for the spar deck, that is exactly what Mr. Hunt did for the cannonades’ bolts.

[JSGerson]

In preparation for the fabrication of the guns’ train tackle and breeching lines, a jig was made to facilitate the fabrication of those lines off-ship. Because the kit obviously does not have any supplies for the gun-deck guns’ rigging, 3/32” single blocks, 1/8” double blocks, 0.018” and 0.030” scale rope was ordered from Syren Ship Model Co. Those should arrive next week.

[JSGerson]

Things are going to get crowded on the gun deck. To install the guns, the anchor ropes and chain need to be installed first, as the guns’ tackle will lie on top of the anchor cables. Also, the structural elements such as the diagonal knees, stanchions, and spar deck beams and braces all need to be installed in concert as I move down the length of the gun deck. Don’t forget, all the gun deck furniture that was fabricated earlier needs to be installed as well.

 

So, to start off simply, gun rigging also requires six hooks per gun which need to be either fabricated or purchased. Syren offers plastic hooks but unfortunately, there is a problem. The problem exists not only with Syren’s product, but with other manufactures as well, be it plastic or photo-etched. The eye of the hooks is parallel with the hook itself. In the picture below, you can see the actual hooks have the eye turned at a right angle to the hook. It appears, I will have to fabricate at least 132 1/8” hooks just for the gun deck. I haven’t checked out what the kit has supplied for the spar deck. If anyone knows a cheap supply of properly formed hooks, I would be very interested.

[Snug Harbor Johnny]

  If hooks are made of metal (whether wire of P/E), the eye should be able to twist 90 degrees with 2 pairs of pliers (and deft hands) once without breakage.  Don't over-bend or bend more than once in order to avoid work hardening of the metal.  If the eyes are plastic, then there may be a way to warm them sufficiently (without melting) to allow for a similar 90 degree of the small eye ... once cool, the shape should be stable.

[JSGerson]

Thanks for the possible solutions. I have some plastic ones to experiment on. I'll have to think about an easy, safe, effective, and efficient heat source.

 

Jon 

[mtbediz]

9 hours ago, JSGerson said:

Thanks for the possible solutions. I have some plastic ones to experiment on. I'll have to think about an easy, safe, effective, and efficient heat source.

 

Jon 

I make my own hooks using the hand tools in the photo. 

Edited October 25, 2023 by mtbediz

[Geoff Matson]

Isn't it amazing how many little "models" there are in this model. The ships boats, the cannons, it is really a kit that tests your modeling skills. It is also a kit that lets you expand your kit bashing ideas.  Everything is looking great. So...go make some sawdust and have fun.

 

[JSGerson]

Mtbediz: Your hook style was what I was originally thinking of doing. It was just the sheer number of them that seemed daunting that I considered purchasing them. Hand crafted hooks might still be the way to go. I'm not certain that twisting flat plastic or PE hooks is worth the appearance or effort.

 

Geoff: I agree with you 100%. You can't get bored with this build and I've been at it since 2017.

 

Jon

[Der Alte Rentner]

4 minutes ago, JSGerson said:

You can't get bored with this build and I've been at it since 2017.

Makes me feel better to know that.  I've been sidelined with two projects that need to be done before I can return to the shipyard.  While I may not achieve your exemplary results, I will follow your example and adopt a relaxed pace.  Thanks for the inspiration.

[JSGerson]

Der Alte Rentner: I didn't know I was a muse! I thought I was just an old fart😁

[usedtosail]

I make hooks like that out of pre-made eyebolts, so I only have to bend the hook part. The small eyebolts that Model Expo sells are what I used on the Conny.

[JSGerson]

Good idea Tom!

 

Jon

[GGibson]

3 hours ago, JSGerson said:

Der Alte Rentner: I didn't know I was a muse! I thought I was just an old fart😁

No rule that says you can't be both, Jon! 🤣  Keep up the great work! 

[JSGerson]

I took Usetosail’s suggestion and used the 1/32” eyebolts to make the hooks so they look like mtbediz’s results. They were then blackened (not shown).

[JSGerson]

The blocks were stained with Minwax Gunstock 231, then the hooks were attached to blocks. Because of the small scale, wrapping the miniature rope around the block and seizing it was slow.

[JSGerson]

Initially I had difficulty threading the rope through the block sheaves. I’m pretty certain that the holes that were originally drilled into the Syren blocks were of the correct size for the scale, but the scale rope was definitely not going to fit. I first re-drilled the holes to match the size of the rope diameter. Then I applied CA glue to the tip of the rope to hardenite it into a needle point. I eventually got one rope through the single block sheave, but it took a lot of time, patience, and tenacity. So, I increased the sheave holes size twice more before I got a reasonable result. The holes may not be to scale, but no one will notice. In the first picture below, the 3/32 single blocks were for illustration purposes hooked to the bulwarks but eventually were attached to the carriage and the double blocks to the bulwark in the second image.

[JSGerson]

When I tried to thread the recoil rope through the vertical rings on the carriage, it wasn’t as easy as it seemed. The triple seized looped ends of the rope didn’t fit through the vertical ring. Note, in the image below, the initial recoil rope was made too long and was subsequently trimmed down.

 

Edited November 16, 2023 by JSGerson

[JSGerson]

All the tackle was removed because I found it much easier to thread the recoil rope first when I could hold on to the flopping vertical ring for threading the recoil rope. After a little trial and error, I passed a piece of thread through the ring then through the rope end loop and back through the ring again. After a little coaxing, I was able to pull the loop through the ring with the thread. Rope just does not want to be pushed. Then the tackle lines were rebooked on.

[JSGerson]

The triple seized looped ends of the recoil rope were attached to bulwark with pins that drop through two eyebolts attached to the bulwarks with the rope loop in between. The pins were created by shortening nails (typically used for nailing planking to bulkheads, seen in the above image). Nails were used because of their nail heads. A piece of rod would just fall through the eyebolts. Those nails had to be filed just a bit narrower for them to fit through the bulwark’s eyebolts. All of this work was done on the protype in the jig.

[JSGerson]

The recoil rope is wrapped around the spherical nob or button at the back of the gun, but there does not seem to be a consistent method used on the Constitution (see first image below). Once more I removed all the tackle because I should have done this before I threaded the rope through to gun’s rings. I chose the simplest method to attach the recoil rope on the gun button as seen below. This assures I could make each side of the rope equal length., Once more, the rope was threaded through the vertical ring and pinned to the bulwark. With the recoil rope now installed properly, the remainder of the tackle re-hooked once again. The gun jig proved its worth. I would have hated to have learned the sequence while trying to do this on the model. Now I’ve got two guns rigged and sitting on the model. The rope positions are not finalized nor is anything glued into their final position. I want these loose until I build the beams supporting the spar deck with its stations, not to mention the furniture I’ve already fabricated. There are a lot of moving parts that must fit, and I want the flexibility to adjust them if needed. Only 20 more to rig.

[GGibson]

Great idea on using the jig, Jon.  Gives it a nice consistency in rope lengths, etc.  Need to remember that! They look sharp.  Well done, sir!

[JSGerson]

Forward Gun Deck Bitts

As I started rigging the third gun and thought, I’m going to go nuts rigging the remaining 20 guns all at once. Not only that, where am I going to store them prior to installation as I will have a bunch of other items (as I’ve mentioned before) that will need to be fabricated and installed as well? So, I decided to put that aside and fabricate the forward gun deck bitts and work my way aft installing all the bits and pieces as I progress one gun port at a time. This way, there will be less loose pieces and it won’t get monotonous.

 

First, I fabricated the ceiling beam between bulkhead C and D. When creating the gun deck so long ago, the spar deck beams, that were previously cut off the hull forming bulkheads, were saved. (These will be used later as the spar deck is fabricated.) Using the bulkhead C beam, a new beam shape between B and C was extrapolated, fabricated, and positioned directly over the aft end of the most forward grating. This grating was previously fabricated with aft notches for the bitts going from the gun deck to the ceiling beam.

[JSGerson]

These bitts have a vertical sheave and a horizontal beam which passes through the vertical structural element. Based on the US Navy arrangement drawing, I determined the scale size of the vertical post as 3/16” width x 1/8” depth but did not find any other plans for these bitts. I had to use just my library of images to guesstimate the remainder of the dimensions. The height was easy, the space between the beam and deck. The braces were totally guesstimated.

 

Each bitt was made from three pieces for ease of construction; two for the brace and one for the vertical post.

[JSGerson]

The post sheeves were carved after two holes were drilled into each of the vertical posts. The two brace parts were shaped and glued together before being glued to the posts. The horizontal beam was made in two parts. Instead of trying to insert square cross section beams through square holes cut into the posts which would have been quite difficult, the beams were made as plugs that fit into a drilled round hole which passed through the post. Once assembled, the bitts were stained with Minwax Gunstock 231 and the sheeves painted black.

[JSGerson]

The side attached vertical roller bearings were made from 1/16” brass tube, 1/32” brass rod, and 0.010” brass sheet. After I eyeballed the roller’s length and width, the brass tube was cut to length. The brass rod, which fits inside the tube perfectly, was cut just a bit longer so it protruded. Brackets were fabricated with a hole drilled to accept the rod. In real life, there is a bracket at the bottom as well so the roller bearing can spin, not so for the model. Finally, the brass parts were blackened. and black dots painted as pseudo bolts on the braces.

[GGibson]

Great work, Jon! I think I mentioned early on, although I don't yet have the Constitution in my shipyard, it is one I am seriously considering adding to my queue.  Waiting on Model Shipways to offer a great deal on it.  With that all said, I have been following several Constitution builds, and have appreciated the detailed precision work you have demonstrated in your build.  Continue on doing great work, Jon!  Thanks for letting me tag along! 👍🏆