USS Constitution by JSGerson - Model Shipways Kit No. MS2040

[JSGerson]

I didn’t like the idea of styrene as it just felt wrong and the final construct, I believed, would be too flimsy to support the rudder chains properly. Other builders merged the straps gripping the rudder together and just extended them to where the rings attached. Some builders used a square cross section brass tube to support the rings. The problem I felt was that the straps had to support an extrusion that extended 90° from the aft end of the rudder beginning with a round cross section and morphing into a flat vertical tail where the two rings are attached.

 

I initially tried to use my limited silver solder skills with a flat head nail. I placed the 1/16” diameter nail in my Dremel to spin like a lathe. With a file, I tapered the nail shaft down a bit away from the nail head using photographs as my guide. Then I cut the tip off the nail leaving the nail head and shaft at the proper length. Using the file again, the aft end was flattened vertically to accept the eventual chain rings. Finally, I silver soldered the nail head to the center of a length of 3/32” wide strip of brass.

 

I had hoped the nail head would give me enough surface area for a strong solid joint. Then I could wrap the length of the brass strip around the back edge of the rudder so the nail shaft would protrude aft. At this point I still hadn’t figured out how to attach the rings. This became a moot point when I tried to wrap the solder part onto the rudder, so I would know how much I had to trim the straps. The soldered joint broke apart and the nail fell off.

[JSGerson]

Thinking about this more, even if the joint had held, how do I fasten the rings? If I solder the rings on, I risked unsoldering the nail head (I didn’t have different temperature solders). Gluing with either CA or epoxy was iffy at best due to the miniscule gluing surface areas.

 

I opted for another method. Instead of a metal shaft. I used boxwood. This time I used a small brass head nail. I drilled a hole in the center of the strap and pushed the nail through it from the backside pointing aft. This was silver soldered into place. The shaft was made from a piece of boxwood for strength and ease of shaping the round cross section forward and vertical flat aft. Two holes were drilled on either side of the tail for the eventual ring bolts. An additional hole was drilled at the forward end along the axis to accept the shaft of the soldered nail. Still, the wood piece was very difficult to hold and carve, so I did not get the precise shape I wanted. The CA glued nail will provide a solid connection and structural strength. Finally, the eyebolts were cut to length, and inserted into the aft hole with CA glue. The whole component was painted black, and CA glued into place on the rudder. Using wood in lieu of metal is just fine. It’s painted black and no one will be able to discern the material it’s made of.

[JSGerson]

Gudgeon Hinges Installation

Now it was time to install the straps and gudgeons to the hull. This was not as easy as I thought it would be. The plan was to install the topmost one and then one by one, the next in order using the rudder as my guide. Since I had the model upside down, I was working from the bottom up, but I had a devil of a time. The highest strap (on the bottom) had the most radical bends. I rough shaped the strap bends just to position them onto the hull.

[JSGerson]

Once I got the first one installed, I tried to install the second. I emphasize the word “tried” because I couldn’t get the two pintles to slip into their respective gudgeons at the same time. Just a thousandth of an inch off in any direction, and they wouldn’t fit. If I did get them to fit, the angle of the whole rudder was off. I must have ripped off these two gudgeons and straps at least a half dozen times or more. However, once I finally got them to fit, the remainder of the strap and gudgeons fell into place relatively easily. I emphasize. “relatively”.

[Jeff Titus]

I just found your Constitution build and it looks like I have a lot of catching up to do.  

[JSGerson]

Jeff, just 5 years worth 😁

[JSGerson]

Stern Draught Marks

Now that the rudder has been installed, I created the aft draught marks and installed them just like the ones on the stem. I did this now, so that the rudder iron chains won’t get in the way.

Rudder Iron Chains

I had some preconceived thoughts as to the purpose of the rudder Iron chains, but surprisingly, I found little written about them until I checked one of my books, Ship Model Making Vol. III, How to Make a Model of the U.S. Frigate Constitution, by E. Armitage McCann, 1927. He stated:

These chains are quite small and are there to save the rudder, if it comes off or to steer with, if the other steering gear breaks down.

It matched my original conjecture. Well, now you know.

I felt the practicum didn’t pay enough attention to details of rudder iron chains.:

• It used out of scale large hull eye bolts.
• It used four eye bolts per side in lieu of the present day five. (Note: prior to 1927 it had six per side)
• It had the chains pass through the hull eye bolts’ eye instead of hanging from them.
• No attempt at measurement of chains length or counting the number of chain links between the eye bolts or to the rudder iron was made.
• It instructed the builder to paint the chain black after installation on the model

[JSGerson]

By now, you know that I will attempt to follow the actual ship’s configuration. I counted the actual number of links. As best as I could make out from the photographs, there is a shackle and a long link followed by 50 links from the rudder iron to the first hull eye bolt and then 11 or 12 links between the remaining eye bolts. The kit calls for 40 links/inch chain which is about at scale (based on the link count) and the smallest of the three sizes provided in the kit. Each link is about 1/32” long. The brass kit chain was too bright and shiny, so I used Blacken-It to well, blacken it to match the actual chain.

 

The first problem was to determine how the chain was attached to the hull eyebolts. It certainly did not pass the eye of the hull bolt nor did the eyebolt link to the chain. As near as I could figure out, the chains are hung from each eye bolt with a double twisted hook. I’ve tried to recreate what I think is being used below. This would allow the chain to be removed or hung with relative ease in real life. That being said, at this scale there is no way of reproducing these hooks and even if I could, no one would see them. The simplest and most effect thing to do is to tie the chains to the eye bolts with black thread. It wouldn’t look any different than an actual hook at this scale.

[JSGerson]

As usual, making something that looks simple… usually isn’t. Attaching the eye bolts to the chain off ship looked easy. Tying the first eyebolt to the end link was. The thread passed through the end link and eyebolt and was tied off with a minuscule drop of CA glue with the point of a needle. The next eye bolt had to tied off about 12 links in from the end of the chain. Try as I might, the thread would (or could) not pass the through a link attached to two other links, even when the thread was stiffened with CA glue. There just wasn’t room enough Therefore I went to Plan B and I connected the second eyebolt by first tying a knot to 2^nd eyebolt then wrapping the thread around the chain and tying that off to the eyebolt. The third eyebolt was more difficult to position and tie off because I already had two eyebolts hanging off the chain with excess thread (in case I had to adjust) which caused interference with everything else. After all, the eyebolts were only 9/32“apart. It was at this point I created a simple jig to hold all five of the eyebolts 9/32” apart while I tied the chain to them. Trying to manipulate a tiny chain like that is like holding a wet noodle, it just does not do what you need it to do.

[JSGerson]

However, I did not like the way the natural hang of the chain was distorted by wrapping the thread around the whole chain. I abandoned Method B and returned to a modified Method A, trying once more to thread through the links.

 

This time, after stiffening the thread with CA glue, the end of the thread was trimmed to a long sharp point using an X-acto knife with a fresh blade. This allowed the thread to poke through the link just enough to be caught by my forceps. Then the thread could be tugged gently and coaxed through the link. The problem was that the fine thread tip was weak and would break easily. Also, any excess CA glue on the thread surface made the thread too thick to be pulled through the link if and when I was lucky enough to get a hold of the protruding thread point. Therefore, the excess glue had to be scrapped off but still leave the thread smooth, pointy, straight, and stiff.

 

This process was learned by trial and error, mostly error, but I managed to get the first one through the links after about a dozen or so tries over a couple of hours. By the time I did the last one, a week had passed but I was able to thread the last link in less than 15 minutes.

 

Once all the eyebolts were attached to the chains, adjusted as needed, and excess thread trimmed, 50 links were counted from the last eyebolt (closest to the rudder), about a 1¼”, and the excess was cut off.

[JSGerson]

The last connection from the chain was to the anchor iron. I needed to make a link that would be thin enough to pass through the last link in the chain and strong enough for the anchor iron. The photographs show an extra-long link as the last link on the chain connecting to a shackle bolted to the rudder iron. This was how I would make the transition.

 

The long links were made from thin brass wire and the “shackles” were made from a typical staple found in any common stapler. It was a little thicker but would pass through the long link as well as the eyebolt on the rudder iron. A staple is tough, malleable, and easy to manipulate. The components were formed by bending the metal to shape and then blackened. The staple did not blacken very well. But it removed the shine from the metal. The chain and eyebolts were then “simply” inserted into the predrilled holes just under the transom. Well, not so simple. I had to re-drill the holes because my well measured spacing of the eyebolts didn’t match the well measured holes in the hull. If I had to do it over again, I would have added a couple of more links per eyebolt.

 

Finally, the “shackle” was attached to the rudder iron and the long link connected to the shackle,

[JSGerson]

Stern Window Port Lids

The last major item on the stern are the window port lids. These have changed their appearance over the years, but I am being consistent to model them as they are today, simple horizontal lid openings with no internal window sashes.

 

The kit provides only the top half lids with the round window openings pre-cut out. The bottom lid halves are simply pieces of wood cut to size. The practicum fabricated all their lids in a closed position. I decided to open the center one partially because although there is nothing to see inside except my pseudo printed walls and flooring, I wanted the viewer to be aware that they opened. Photo-etched hinges were provided by the kit. They are just for looks and are not functional.

[JSGerson]

To ensure that the double lids are flush with each other, a backing was added which the top and bottom lids were glued to. Obviously, the backing won’t be seen when the port lids are installed. Then the photo etched hinges were glued on’

[JSGerson]

The kit does provide the 1/32” eyebolts, but I didn’t know which part of the kit they were intended for. The practicum doesn’t use them because Mr. Hunt used styrene to simulate the cord lines. I used mine that I bought as a bag of 100, years ago from Model Expo. They have come in handy many times. In addition to the eye bolts, I noticed that cord used to open the port doors is not simply tied to the eye bolts directly but have additional rings and accoutrements. Because I believe even my 1/32” eyebolts are still oversized out of scale even at this size, trying to emulate the rigging exactly was out of the question, but I wanted to suggest it. I made 1/32” rings from brass wire (the diameter of a #77 drill) in the typical way by wrapping the wire around a standard stick pin to create a length of coil, and then the coil was sliced up its length to create the rings, which were then blackened. The rings were then inserted into the eyes of the bolts.

[JSGerson]

The front of the lids with the hinges attached were painted black, while the center port lids additionally had their backs painted white because they could possibly be partially visible. Then the eyebolts with their rings were inserted into the top lids. Finally, black thread was attached to the first ring in the door while the loose end was threaded through a ring tied to another thread. Finally, the loose end was tied to the remaining bolt ring on the door. As near as I could tell, the pull line was not tied to the line that went from eyebolt to eyebolt, but to a ring that could slide back and forth. This would always provide even tension to both door rings.

[JSGerson]

Installing the two outer doors was easy enough, just glue them in place. The center lids were to be partially open which would reduce the gluing surface, so a piece of wood was added to the edge of those half lids to establish the lid ajar angle and a gluing surface. After the lids were secured in their final positions, the loose line attached to the sliding ring was glued into position. Initially, holes were drilled into the transom to accept the pull cords, but was just easier to glue the end of the thread at the hole with no one being wiser.

[JSGerson]

Gun Port Gutters

I am not sure what the structure above the gun ports are officially called. The kit refers to them as “carved boards,” the practicum refers to them as “curtains”, and I’ve read on other build logs as being called “eyebrows.” Then there is the question, what are they made of. The kit drawing states they were a “decorative carved surface” while the practicum states were a “wrinkled canvas.” My first impression was that they were painted copper sheeting. In any case, the purpose of them was to shed water away from the guns port openings. In other words, a gutter. Luckly the kit provided these structures as nicely cast metal parts. All I had to do was paint and apply them to the hull.

[JSGerson]

Just a minor update. In my last post, I waxed on about what the proper name was for the gun port gutters. According to Cornwall Model Boats, they are called “drip shields” and some readers in Ships of Scale site call them “wriggles.” Take your pick.

 

BTW, since my last post, I had to take a break from the shipyard as my computer, with all my research and reference material, refused to run after 45 minutes. It would shut down like someone pulled the plug. I suspected it had to do with something related to the cooling system; mine is liquid cooled. It’s also six years old and can’t be upgraded to Windows 11. Since Microsoft won’t support Windows 10 after October 2025, I reluctantly decided to put my money into a new computer than try to fix a soon to be obsolete computer.

 

I got the new computer from an online company I trust, and it worked as advertised. However, Windows 11 with Office 365 is a whole other animal. Because Office out of the box runs in the “cloud.” It wouldn’t read files on the hard drive or thumb drives. To use pre-existing files, you had to move them to the cloud first. I’ve got ¾ Terabyte worth of files on two hard drives I wanted to install, so that wasn’t going to happen. Long story short, I finally got the hard drives installed with help from the computer company and downloaded an offline version of Office from Microsoft. This took me away from the shipyard. But now everything is up and running save for the audio, but that’s another story.

[Marcus.K.]

"Computers are made to help us in problems we would not have without them!"

 

I hate to be forced to change my way of working (which was really on very professionell level with the "non-cloud" office) every time MS is reworking their product. What they call "intuitive" is a nightmare for me, since my "intuition" forces me to follow the way I had learned before... Why can't they offer an option like "all functions and menues as in previously used configuration". Well, they don't do that... even if they could...

Good luck with the new cloud based version...

 

[Der Alte Rentner]

On 7/14/2023 at 9:16 AM, JSGerson said:

Just a minor update. In my last post, I waxed on about what the proper name was for the gun port gutters. According to Cornwall Model Boats, they are called “drip shields” and some readers in Ships of Scale site call them “wriggles.” Take your pick.

 

BTW, since my last post, I had to take a break from the shipyard as my computer, with all my research and reference material, refused to run after 45 minutes. It would shut down like someone pulled the plug. I suspected it had to do with something related to the cooling system; mine is liquid cooled. It’s also six years old and can’t be upgraded to Windows 11. Since Microsoft won’t support Windows 10 after October 2025, I reluctantly decided to put my money into a new computer than try to fix a soon to be obsolete computer.

 

I got the new computer from an online company I trust, and it worked as advertised. However, Windows 11 with Office 365 is a whole other animal. Because Office out of the box runs in the “cloud.” It wouldn’t read files on the hard drive or thumb drives. To use pre-existing files, you had to move them to the cloud first. I’ve got ¾ Terabyte worth of files on two hard drives I wanted to install, so that wasn’t going to happen. Long story short, I finally got the hard drives installed with help from the computer company and downloaded an offline version of Office from Microsoft. This took me away from the shipyard. But now everything is up and running save for the audio, but that’s another story.

Because you had a liquid cooled PC, I'm going to guess that you built that one yourself, which would put you into the advanced user class when it comes to PCs, which has me scratching my head as to why you're having this issue.

 

I built my own PC about three years ago and have Windows 11 and Office 365 running.  The software itself does not run in the cloud.  You can test this by disconnecting from the internet and trying to use Word, Outlook, or Excel.  If you can run the programs, then only the data is in the cloud.  Even that is most likely a user setup issue.  I don't have a single file in the cloud, though when I'm asked to back up something like a new Word document or Excel spreadsheet, office will try to get me to do so in the cloud.  I just select my own destination folder on one of my local hard drives.  My wife uses Outlook in the cloud; I do not, choosing to sync my PC with my phone using a program pair called Companion Link and Deja Office.  That might be the one exception I can think of for why you might be tied to the cloud, though even my wife can work offline in Outlook. This does not compute...

 

When you open something like Word, or Excel and try to open one of your files, what happens?  Can't you point to one of your drives to open a file?  

 

If the online that you trust is a good one, call their support people and tell them you don't want your data in the cloud.  They should be able to steer you in the right direction.  If not, I'd love to know why they say you can't...  

 

I don't know if your build log is the best place to address this, if you want to take this discussion offline, contact me via the message option here at MSW.

 

 

[JSGerson]

Mooring Staples

Here is an item that is easy to overlook on the plans, the mooring staples. There are three of them at the waterline on each side of the hull, near the stern, amidships, and the bow. I could not find a direct image of these staples, but I was able to get glimpses of them in some photos. From what little the photos showed, there was very little detail to them other than what is shown on the MS plans.

[JSGerson]

The staples were made from 0.032” music wire, close enough to the 1/32” (0.03125”) rod called out by the plans. Music wire was chosen because it won’t deform easily, and it’s dark in  color. The wire was bent while in the grasp of a small vise and using a light hammer forming two 90° legs to the shape of a staple. The staples were glued into pre drilled holes in the hull.

[JSGerson]

Guns with Tampions

Tampions are wooden muzzle stoppers. The first gun port starting at the bow does not have a gun as there is no room for one in the interior of the bow. As a result, the lids are usually kept closed and the muzzle opening is closed with a special tampion, which is a bit larger than the a muzzle tampion. This tampion is painted black with a red star in the center.

[JSGerson]

The next two guns positions moving aft on my model will also have their lids closed, but their gun muzzles will be exposed poking through the lid opening. Their tampions will be painted red with a black star. Additionally, the first two gun ports from the stern will also be presented in this manner as well. Finally, the remaining guns will be in their firing positions with their lids opened, tampions removed, extending out of the ports, and fully rigged. This will present the guns in two positions which will reduce the number of gun positions that will require full rigging. The eight guns with tampions will be dummy guns having no trucks or rigging in view. Only their tampion covered muzzles will be in view.

[JSGerson]

The raw gun port lids are provided by the kit which consists of an upper and lower part. The upper has two window port openings and the top half muzzle opening for the gun. The bottom lid just has the bottom half muzzle opening. The kit also provides pseudo photo-etched hinges. Mr. Hunt’s practicum creates the pull mechanism out styrene which I didn’t like. As with the port lids on the transom, the upper lid opening mechanism consisted of an eyebolt and ring assembly on either side of the lid. All the ports except the bow port will have pull lines to open the top lid.

 

 

As simple as these port lids look, there are a lot of components for each one. Ten in total.

• 2 raw lids (upper and lower)
• 2 eyebolts
• 2 rings
• 4 pseudo hinges
• 1 thread line between the two eyebolt ring assemblies (excluding bow lid)
• 1 draw line thread from center of assembly line through the port gutter to inside the hull (excluding bow lid)
• 2 pieces of mica for the two windows openings (backside of lid)
• White paint

[JSGerson]

Bow Gun Port Lids

Like on the transom ports, 1/32” eyebolts and scratch made 1/32” rings were used. Shown below are the parts for the bow lids. The tampions were made from 1/64” thick plywood. I tried to make a decal for the tampion so that the black star could be seen, but the resolution for this small image was quite poor and had low contrast. Instead, a red dot was painted directly on the black painted surface of the tampion which looked just fine from a foot away.

[JSGerson]

Tampion fitted Guns

The kit’s cast metal guns are OK but not great. Looking directly at the muzzles you can tell they are not perfectly round, so some detailing was required. They were painted black,

[JSGerson]

Again, the tampions were made from plywood, but this time, 1/32” thick. Looking at the photos, they look at least 2 inches thick beyond the face of the muzzle. That translates to 1/32” scale. Once again, I painted a dot in lieu of the star, this time black on red. I abandoned hanging a ring from an eye bolt in the center of the tampion as it was too small to make at scale.

[JSGerson]

The gun port lids were assembled and installed with the dummy guns.

[JSGerson]

Hawser Plugs

This one I almost missed, the hawser plugs, which BTW are not covered in the practicum. I thought they were going to be a little tricky; but they weren’t. Once more, I used plywood for added strength for these items due to their size. There were only three components that made up the plug: the outer rim, the inner plug, and the hinge.