USS Constitution by JSGerson - Model Shipways Kit No. MS2040

[JSGerson]

The second canopy frame is completed in one month, half the time it took me for the first one. This is one of the pairs of hatchways at the ship’s wheel. The other one is closed and therefore has no frame. The last two are on the main hatchway. They are a bit smaller and have only seven stanchions each.

 

Jon

[mtbediz]

4 hours ago, JSGerson said:

The second canopy frame is completed in one month, half the time it took me for the first one. This is one of the pairs of hatchways at the ship’s wheel. The other one is closed and therefore has no frame. The last two are on the main hatchway. They are a bit smaller and have only seven stanchions each.

That canopy frame looks nice Jon. Well done. It's a good idea to leave one of the companionways closed. I might steal that idea from you

Edited April 2 by mtbediz

[Unegawahya]

On 4/1/2025 at 2:02 PM, JSGerson said:

The second canopy frame is completed in one month, half the time it took me for the first one. This is one of the pairs of hatchways at the ship’s wheel. The other one is closed and therefore has no frame. The last two are on the main hatchway. They are a bit smaller and have only seven stanchions each.

 

Jon

Great job on your canopy frame! I love the way you overcame the problem of drilling the holes in the center! Keep up the great work!

[JSGerson]

Unegawahya - Tenacity, sheer unmeditated tenacity is all it took.

Jon

[JSGerson]

One more to go!

[JSGerson]

Finally, all the canopy frames (that I’m going to make) are completed. It only took me about four and a half months from figuring out how to fabricate these structures to actually creating them. They are done, not perfect, but done. The camera reveals all kinds of flaws, but after the rest of the model is done (in the near decade), those imperfections will blend in with everything else and most won’t notice them. The frameworks are only dry fit to the deck. I still need to install the ladders and rope handrails.

[mtbediz]

Congratulations, canopies look beautiful. It was worth the effort

[g8rfan]

Congrats Jon! I'm sure you're glad to get that behind you. As always, you are an inspiration, showing that with a little perseverance, anything can be accomplished. Keep up the great work

[GGibson]

Canopy frames look really sharp, Jon.  Your perseverance paid off.  Carry on, sir!

[JSGerson]

Just a quick summary the canopy framework effort

[Der Alte Rentner]

That was quite the commitment, and netted admirable results.  Congrats. 

[kmart]

Wow Jon.   Looking Awesome.  She has soo much going on on the Main deck.  Looks like a working ship.     Your main hatch with the Canopies....  All the hatches and Grating.   

 

 

 

[kmart]

Whats your plans for the spar deck guns.  you leaving them off or covering up parts of the deck

 

[JSGerson]

Right now I'm adding the ladders and their rope railings that go through the hatchways that are covered by the brass frameworks. It turned out to be a little tricker than I thought it would be due to the tight tolerances between the openings and the ladders. Once those are completed, I've got the ship's wheels and binnacles to fabricate and install as well as the brass railing around the skylight. I'm going to try to leave off as much planking as I can so that the gun deck can be visible (more or less). My personal philosophy is to have viewers see more the longer they look. For instance, there is a lot of stuff I fabricated for the gun deck that is not clearly visible at first glance. If the viewers move around and spend a little time studying the model, hopefully they will discover new items they weren't initial aware of. I don't want them to become bored.

 

Although I am building my model in the style of the 2017 restoration, the carronades will all be 1812 style. Presently, the actual ship has only two (I believe) 1812 style guns. It has been discussed before that the carronades with the wedge (used for adjusting elevation) are incorrect for the 1812 period. These replica non-working guns were installed during the 1927 restoration. I decided to correct that error and to replace all of them with the 1812 versions (screw type adjusting elevation). I will discuss that process in more detail when I get to them.

 

Jon

[JSGerson]

Companionway Ladder Hand Ropes

As I mentioned in my last post, I am adding the hand ropes to the companionway ladders going from the spar deck to the gun deck, which were made last year. At the base of the ladders, the stanchions anchor the hand ropes. Trying to maintain close to scale as possible (within reason) with the US Navy plans, I used 0.013” (0.33 mm) music wire cut to 3/8” lengths for the scale stanchions. Additionally, I deduced from the plans that the rope was about 1” diameter or 0.016” scale. Therefore, I used Syren Ship Model Company 0.012” (.30mm) black rope which I had on hand, for the hand rope.

[JSGerson]

To secure the stanchion to the ladders’ sides, brass brackets were made out of .005” brass sheet cut into a strip and cut to length. These provided sufficient gluing surfaces to secure the stanchions.

[JSGerson]

I ran into a problem with the ladders for the capstan hatchway. I made them snug to the hatchway walls such that I could not slide the ladder down the hatchway because the stanchions made the ladders too wide. Therefore, I modified the stanchion attachment method. I filed a grove in the ladders’ sides for the stanchions to recess into. In theory this should have been simple, but the execution was not. Just the slightest nudge, on the stanchion and it would pop off the ladder. It took numerous attempts, gnashing teeth, time, and vocabulary that would have gotten me divorced if I had ever been married. But eventually, it got done. The upper ends of the hand ropes were tied off on the brass framework.

[GGibson]

52 minutes ago, JSGerson said:

It took numerous attempts, gnashing teeth, time, and vocabulary...

 

Well, the ladders look pretty #@*#!&^%# good to me, Jon!  Nice finish to them! 

[Geoff Matson]

It is amazing all the added details us modelers can add to a model. Great job!

[g8rfan]

Nice job Jon, the ladders look great. I can certainly imagine some of the words that helped get the task done. I am married and my wife is always asking if I really do enjoy what I'm doing. It often doesn't sound that way. Keep up the great work

[JSGerson]

Officially, the gun deck is now complete...I think. I am now planning to install the Captain's skylight I previously made onto the spar deck. This will involve planking part of the spar aft section, creating the black square area on the planks in the area where the skylight will sit on, and fabricating and installing the circular brass railing. No idea how long or short time this will take.

 

Jon

[GGibson]

6 hours ago, JSGerson said:

Officially, the gun deck is now complete...   This will involve planking part of the spar aft section... 

 

Ooooohhh... now we get to see to what extent you are planking your spar deck and exposing the gun deck! Yay! 👍

[Der Alte Rentner]

Yes, indeed.  Let's have a look at your plan for the spar deck planking.  Tapered planks?  Or straight?

[JSGerson]

Captain Skylight Railing

I could not find any US Navy plans for the hand railing surrounding the Captain’s Skylight, so I referred back to the MS kit plans. There, I measured the dimensions as follows: the railing is ¾” in diameter and 3/8” high off the deck (scale). The skylight sits on what the plans identifies as a square metal plate, imbedded flush with the deck. The composition of the plate material is hidden and therefore will not be fabricated but the area will be just painted black to get the flush effect. From the photos, it appears that the plate is coated with some sort of tar material, so I assume this was a form of a waterproofing seal for the skylight. BTW, the US Navy plans for the skylight do not show the plate.

[JSGerson]

To be consistent with the companion ways, the rail and stanchions were made of 0.032” brass rod with the connecting joints and deck fasteners made from 1/16” brass tube. The brass rod was wrapped around my work bench peg insert which just happened to be ¾” diameter bending it to the initial shape of the circular railing.

[JSGerson]

I wanted to create stanchion/connecting joints from brass rods and tubes. This meant confronting my old nemesis, drilling holes in brass. And this was especially difficult as I wanted to do this on a curved surface of a tube. The hard part was biting into the brass with the drill bit, so I skipped that part! Instead, I cut halfway through into the tube with my miter handsaw, just exposing the interior of the tube. Then with a fine drill, that cut was opened into a small round hole, and with a 1/32” drill bit, it was widened to accept the 1/32” rod. The ends were trimmed a bit to shorten and center the drilled hole into the tube (not shown in the picture below). Finally, 1/16” length pieces of the tube were cut off creating the deck fasteners.

[JSGerson]

To assemble the parts, I had two choices, glue them or silver solder them. The best way to assemble them with strength was to solder. If I was inept enough in this endeavor, hopefully I could fall back and use either CA glue or epoxy.

 

Ideally in soldering, you want the joints to be mechanically strong on their own, and the solder just holds the pieces rigid. In this case that wasn’t possible. The solder had to do all the work. Just inserting the rod into the cut hole in the tube wouldn’t work. If the rod was inserted completely, it would prevent the joint from being threaded onto the railing. During the solder process a length of 1/32” rod was inserted into the tube to act as a “stop” for the 1/32” stanchion rod. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be soldered in place as it needed to be removed after the soldering process. As it turned out, of the first five attempts, two got soldered in place and had to be discarded. I found that if I used 1/32” brass rod as the “stop,” it was a 50-50 chance it would get stuck. However, when I switched to music wire for the “stop,” I had no problems.

In the photos below:

 

1 – 1/32” brass rod inserted into tube to act as a “stop” (later music wire)

2 & 3 – Brass stanchion rod held in place for soldering

4 – Silver Solder paste applied to joint

5 – Soldered joint formed after heat with mini torch

6 – 1/32” brass rod “stop” removed. Competed soldered joint before cleaning the component up

 

The last photo shows the joints strung onto the circular railing. The deck fasteners, rail closure, and final positioning of the stanchions will have to wait until the deck planking is installed.

[mtbediz]

Your attention to detail is truly admirable. As for me, I just don’t have the patience to wrestle with tiny details, and I tend to dodge them whenever I can.

[GGibson]

11 minutes ago, mtbediz said:

Your attention to detail is truly admirable.

 

I totally agree!  You have demonstrated on countless occasions, Jon, your ability to find solutions to small intricate details.  Kudos, sir! 👍🏆

[JSGerson]

It seems the quest for detail is a curse or talent that is in my family. My mother's family had artists and woodworkers and she passed the painting talent on to my sister. I didn't get any artistic skills other than studying and getting a degree in Civil Engineering though I never practiced that skill. But it seems I like visual detail. Below are a few of the items my sister created. These are NOT photographs, but paintings.