USS Constitution by JSGerson - Model Shipways Kit No. MS2040

[Robp1025]

I'll be purchasing a conny and be using your build as a reference for sure. Thank you for all the detail in your posts. 

[JSGerson]

Be sure to create a build log so I and the rest of us Conny builders can follow and help you avoid many of the mistakes we've made. You will notice, no two builds are the same and yet it's the same ship!

[Robp1025]

7 hours ago, JSGerson said:

Be sure to create a build log so I and the rest of us Conny builders can follow and help you avoid many of the mistakes we've made. You will notice, no two builds are the same and yet it's the same ship!

Amen to that and currently finishing my HMS Beagle build which has a log but not as detailed as I will be with the conny because I know I'm taking on a much different beast. I will be glad to have all the help I can get. 

[JSGerson]

It’s down to the last belt.

[Nirvana]

That's a lot of planking!

Nicely done.

[JSGerson]

Not done yet, but a quick thumbnail calculation works out to 300ft of 1/8" wide plank. That's a lot of glue too!

[JSGerson]

The last hull plank has been installed. As I’ve mentioned before, this is only my second hull planking and it’s a lot better than my first (Rattlesnake). Here at least I think I knew what had to done. I came close but there was a bit more stealer joints used than I had planned for. A fine model builder and kit designer, Chuck Passaro once said that if you plan the planks right, you won’t need any stealers. Well, I needed them.

 

That’s all a moot point because the hull has to be sanded, touched up to fill some voids, sealed, and prepped for copper plating, and painting, which will cover the planking imperfections from the critical eye.

[JeffT]

You did a nice job. There are a lot of planks on that hull.

[ERS Rich]

Keep going, I’m still catching up…..!
 

Cheers!

[Tidbinbilla]

You got that right about all that planking being eventually covered -up with copper.  All the filling, sanding, etc will not be seen by anyone.  I treated that part of my hull like it was a panel being restored in one of my antique cars.  Sanded with 220, applied glazing putty, sanded with 400, then 600 grit!  

 

[JSGerson]

I have spent considerable time cleaning up the imperfections on the hull planking. To fill in voids, dings, dips, valleys, etc. I used 3M Glazing Putty which was recommended by Ken Forman (xKen) to a question I asked when I was following his Constitution build log .

[JSGerson]

The stuff sets up in about 30 minutes, but I would wait as a minimum of four or more hours just to be sure. It becomes hard but easy to sand. Then the areas were scraped and sanded. Because the putty shrinks slightly upon hardening, I used more than one coat in many areas and repeated the process and repeated again till satisfied. Here are the instruments of removal: scrapers, sanding sticks, files, and a sponge sanding block.

[JSGerson]

This what the hull looked like after putty application.

[JSGerson]

And here is what it looked like after scraping and sanding. Still not satisfied yet.

[Freezing Parrot]

I am enjoying your build log, and seeing your attention to detail. This is great!

[Boatsinc2000]

Jonathan, 

Spent some time last night reading your log.  Can't believe all of the details that you've added to your build.  It really motivates me to do a better job.  I'll really use your ships boats section when I get there.

 

Keep up the great work! 

 

Jeff 

[JSGerson]

Thank you both Freezing Parrot and Boatsinc2000. Flattery will get you everywhere!

[JSGerson]

Well, here is the hull smooth as a baby’s butt for copper plating, The smoother the surface, the easier it is to plate…or so I’ve read. The part of the hull that’s to be painted, a minimum of wood filler was used as the real ship does have a slightly bumpy surface.

[JSGerson]

Gun Port Hull Bolts

Before upper hull is painted, there are numerous accruements that I want to install first, such as scuppers, port windows, bolt heads, etc. They will all be painted black. If it can be avoided, don’t want to glue to painted surfaces.

First up are the bolts that protrude from the hull around the gun ports. These are the bases of the ring bolts for the cannon rigging. These are NOT shown on the kit’s plans but can be seen on the actual ship. Based on the photos, I made a pattern to follow. The actual dimension vary slightly from gun port to gun port. 

Edit: I’ve added additional bolts (shown in red) to indicate that these bolts are only on the spar deck level. Why, I don’t know.

 

 

Edited July 8, 2021 by JSGerson

[JSGerson]

Like I did bulwark bolt heads, I punch out hull pseudo bolts heads from 0.005” brass sheet with my Rivets Maker using a 1 mm punch in contrast to the 0.6 mm punch I used for the bulwarks. This was based on visual inspection of images of the real bolts. In other words, I made a wild *** guess.

[JSGerson]

The pseudo bolts were applied using the same Min-Wax Polycrylic sealer used to seal the hull. A very thin layer of the sealer was applied to the appropriate hull area with a small brush. Using an X-acto knife with a fine drop of sealer on its tip, the knife, by just touching a brass “bolt head”, picks it up and transfers it to the hull. The pseudo bolts were pushed into position while the sealer was wet. The picture below shows the port side hull, gun deck level with the pseudo bolts installed. The spar deck and the complete Starboard side have yet to be done. By the time the hull is painted black, these “bolt heads” will practically disappear. So why bother? It may not be apparent to the casual observer why one model looks better than another, but I believe subconsciously the fine detail are perceived even if not overtly observed. So, the closer you look, the more you should see.

[KirbysLunchBox]

On 7/10/2021 at 4:27 PM, JSGerson said:

but I believe subconsciously the fine detail are perceived even if not overtly observed. So, the closer you look, the more you should see.

Absolutely the truth! Keep on keeping on!

Edited July 11, 2021 by KirbysLunchBox

[usedtosail]

I love the detail you are adding to this build.

[JSGerson]

Thank you both Kirby and Tom, but you have to be juuuust a little bit nuts for this kind of detail.

[KirbysLunchBox]

48 minutes ago, JSGerson said:

Thank you both Kirby and Tom, but you have to be juuuust a little bit nuts for this kind of detail.

 But that is just the right amount of nuts don’t ya think?  🤪

[JSGerson]

The hull gun port “bolt heads are all installed. I had to make 350 pseudo bolts heads including ones I lost or were mis-formed. I didn’t take an overall picture because they would be difficult to see. The previously post close up give you an idea of what they look like.

[KirbysLunchBox]

Can’t wait to see them painted! Loving this build!

[JSGerson]

KirbysLunchBox, I can't wait for the paint job too, but that's still in the future...how far, I'm not quite sure. I.ve got to install the castings along the hull, as well as build the quarter galleries among other stuff  I haven't thought about yet. There is an old truism: No matter what you have to do, you have to do something else first.

[JSGerson]

Display Mount

And now for something completely different: The display mount. If any of you can remember when I was building the keel, I made mounting provisions in the keel. Specifically, I incorporated two pieces of original wood from the actual ship into the keel. Within those pieces I inserted a brass tube to accept a pin from the pedestals that were to be mounted on the base board. Originally, I thought the pedestals were going to be screwed into place.  

 

I tried buying brass pedestals from Model Expo or any other model supplier, but none had a brass pedestal with ¼” slot for the keel. I don’t have a metal lathe nor the skills to use one, so that left wood as my most practical choice.

 

As it would happen, I ran across wooden finials at Hobby Lobby which more of a crafts store than a hobby store. But it’s all I have within 35 miles of me. The advantage of these finials is they have a tenon which means I don’t need any screws, just glue.

[JSGerson]

OK, now I need a board so I ask a friend of mine who use to do a lot of wood working, if he knew where I could buy some hard wood. No such luck, Home Depot and Lowes just don’t sell the fancy woods, at least where I live, but he said he would check his scrap pile. What found was a 30 year old, 11 foot long piece of White Walnut almost an inch thick and a foot wide. Yes, that would work!

 

Because he was a wood worker, he had all the big toys. In no time flat we cut a piece of the board to 19” x 7.5” and drilled two 3/8” holes 13.75” apart to match the boat openings. The edges were routed, and sides sanded.