USS Constitution by JSGerson - Model Shipways Kit No. MS2040

[Geoff Matson]

I can see a lot of thought and design went into stairwell openings. Things are coming along well.

[JSGerson]

To install the wood column at the forward end of the furthest aft gun deck hatchway, the spar deck beam had to be installed directly overhead of that column so it could support the beam. This beam is also supported at its ends by knee braces previously attached to the bulwarks which the gun riggings are now attached. Unfortunately, when the beam was dry fitted on the knees, the beam did not center directly over the column. It was about a beam’s width aft off. To dismantle and reposition the knees meant removing the gun rigging as well. I could do that or fudge it. Because where the knees and the beam ends join will be hidden when the partial spar deck is installed, the beam was moved forward just enough to get it centered over the column, just not sitting directly on the knees.

[JSGerson]

This brings to light that some or all my support knees may not be positioned properly. I may have to fudge a bunch more. Because the main grating on the spar deck (under the pinnace) will be partially opened to allow viewing of the gun deck, the supporting beams below it must be aligned with the grating’s cross beams precisely. For that reason, I will pause installing the additional gun deck bitts and previously fabricated furniture (i.e., capstan, pumps, casks, etc.) until I have fabricated the spar deck hatchways and gratings. They will be dry fitted to ensure the key beams below are properly positioned.

 

Where to begin? I had several false starts trying to figure out how to fabricate the various grating using Robert Hunt’s practicum. Per section 4.2.2 Hatch Coaming Framework of the practicum, I installed the framing supports for the bowsprit hatch and foremast hatch just aft of it. These supports will allow the hatchways to be dry fitted.

[JSGerson]

I should mention here that at the time I purchased the MS kit back in 2016 or 2017, I also purchased a supplemental wood kit from HobbyMills (a company Mr. Hunt worked with and recommended) which substituted boxwood (among other wood choices) for certain elements of the MS kit’s basswood. Unfortunately, HobbyMills is no longer in business as the owner retired, so getting the supplemental wood packages from them now is impossible. Check with Mr. Hunt to see if he lined up another suppler.

USS_Constitution_Wood_Supplement - HobbyMill.pdf

[JSGerson]

These hatches are one of the items in the supplemental wood package. Mr. Hunt mentions that the MS kit does not have certain sizes of wood stock for the hatches, and you must fabricate your own. The supplemental wood package supplied the proper sizes in boxwood.

The basic hatch frames consist of three pieces of wood.

•        Outside: 3/32” H x 1/32” W
•        Center: 7/32” H x 3/32” W
•        Inside: 5/32” H x 1/32” W

When assembled you get the cross section shown below. Something like my diagram I believe would have been more helpful in the practicum than his Figures F4.3.1-1 and F4.3.1-2. I’m not knocking the practicum, I could not have started, let alone built this model without it; just some constructive criticism.

[JSGerson]

The first hatch to fabricate is the smallest, the simplest, and the easiest. I’ll use this experience to make the others. Mr. Hunt has chosen to use lap joints which I believe add more difficulty to the task. It is my opinion that the method used by Mr. Hunt is too complicated requiring you fabricate rabbets and dados. These may be fun to make for a skilled woodworker, but I do not have the tools nor have reached that precision skill level.

 

Although a lap joint adds strength to the joints, I don’t believe the added strength is warranted as no stress will be applied to the frames. I am using a simpler butt joint method and if I don’t mess up, the end product will look exactly like Mr. Hunt’s in the end (no pun intended).

[JSGerson]

Starting with the small grating frame just forward of the foremast, whose grating supplied by the MS kit measures 15/32” x 13/32”, I cut the 7/32” x 3/32” boxwood stock as follows:

•        2 pieces: 21/32” lengthwise
•        2 pieces: 13/32” beam wise

These pieces were placed around the grating, framing it with butt joints and glued (not the grating). Then the 5/32” x 1/32” boxwood stock was cut as follows:

•        2 pieces: 15/32” lengthwise
•        2 pieces: 11/32” beam wise

These were placed inside the and at the bottom of the glued frame. This left the 1/16” ledge at the top for the grating to rest on. Finally, the 3/32” x 1/32” boxwood stock was cut as follows to create a mitered joint, just for looks.

•        2 pieces: 24/32” lengthwise
•        2 pieces: 20/32” beam wise

The top edge was beveled to a 45° angle and the ends mitered before final assembly.

[JSGerson]

I next chose to make the bowsprit hatchway. This was almost identical to the first one except its sides extended along the bowsprit. Because the sides butted up against the bow waterway, it had to be tapered to fit. In addition, where the hatchway frame extended around the bowsprit, the top covering was cutout to allow the bowsprit to pass through into the deck. I made a blank out of 1/32” plywood to be fitted and painted later.

[JSGerson]

The third hatchway is part of the stove stack. The grating was framed as the others, but the chimney platform section is 1/32” lower with seven 3/32” x 1/32” boxwood planks. The planks are supported just like the grating with an inside ledge. In actuality, the stack passes through the platform to the stove below. My first thought was to recreate the stack using brass tubing, but the stack is oval in cross section, and it tapers towards the top. Even if I had a metal lathe, which I don’t, I have no idea how I would/could fabricate a hollow stack of that shape. The kit’s casting is pretty accurate, so I went with it. Until I removed the kit’s cast stack from the kit box, I thought it would sit flat upon the platform. But the cast piece has a substantial plug/protrusion that requires an oval hole in the slats.

 

If I were to cut/drill a hole through the slats, the platform would collapse. Therefore, I glued a piece of 1/32” plywood under the slats for support. Because this a solid cast part, I drilled out the stack’s mouth just enough to give the illusion the stack pipe was hollow. Of course, just to make things more interesting, the plug is not circular but oval in cross section, and the stack’s base flange is supposed to be recessed into the platform. I decided that the recessed flange was a bit much. A lot of work for not much visual gain and a high probability I could really mess up and have a “re-do” on my hands. The drilling of the plug hole went smoothly. Using successive larger bits, a pilot hole was expanded to the proper width and then filed to get the proper oval shape. A couple of planks tried to come loose but the slight damage was covered up by the stack’s base flange.

 

The next item fabricated for the stack was the spark arrester in front of the stack mouth. It sits very close to the mouth and blocks a direct view inside the mouth enabling my hollow stack illusion.

[JSGerson]

This was a tricky bit. Ideally, I would have drilled a hole on either side of the arrestor plate, inserted some fine diameter rods into the holes and soldered them in place. The immediate problem is that I don’t have a fine drill bit that can drill into metal, even a soft metal like brass. I opted to cut a slit in lieu of holes and hoped the solder would fill in the gaps.

 

I cut 0.005” thick brass place to the oval shape and cut two pieces of 0.018” dia. music wire to length. Using silver solder paste with a butane torch, these were soldered as shown below. It worked like a charm until I tried to remove it from the wood block, and it fell apart. It took numerous attempts and a slightly different, more robust setup, till it held together. The excess solder was then filed off.

[JSGerson]

The final touches of adding the arrestor to the stack, eye bolts, shot racks, and painting will be done later, as the main purpose of this exercise was to get the hatchways completed for dry fit up to ensure proper alignment of the spar deck support beams.

 

BTW, the MS plans state that the shot racks on the forward hatchways were not installed in the 1997 restoration. I will install them because I believe they originally existed when the ship was militarily active. Also, I will not install the support beams under the main hatchway that pass under the grating openings. This was where the ship’s supplies were loaded into the holds. Even though she is technically an “active” commissioned warship, these recent modifications, I believe, were made to make the ship more of a museum piece, structurally sound, and for the welfare and safety of tourists. My model is based on the 2015-17 restoration but is not a total replica of that restoration. 

 

Still to come are the forward hatchways and the main gratings.

 

[Looking at the stack mouth after I posted these images, I realized the casting had the spark arrestor, but I mistook it for a stack mouth flange. There is no mouth flange, so I will probably remove it when I go to attach my arrestor.]

[GGibson]

A ton of great information here in this last series of posts, Jon!  Thanks for sharing!

 

I have purchased wood strips from Joe at Modelers Sawmill - Milled wood lumber strips for the model ship builder - Modelers Sawmill.  I'll probably look to him again when I get to my own Constitution.

 

Great work on yours, sir!

[JSGerson]

Gregg, glad to have you as a reader!

[Der Alte Rentner]

3 hours ago, JSGerson said:

Mr. Hunt worked with and recommended) which substituted boxwood (among other wood choices) for certain elements of the MS kit’s basswood. Unfortunately, HobbyMills is no longer in business as the owner retired, so getting the supplemental wood packages from them now is impossible. Check with Mr. Hunt to see if he lined up another suppler.

I chime in with Gregg in recommending Modeler's Sawmill.  I just received my third batch of wood from him, and I'm very pleased with the quality of the milling.  Dimensions are spot on.  As mentioned in my own build log, I wish I'd known (or even had an inkling) about replacing the subpar materials supplied with the kit when I started.  Coulda, woulda, shoulda..  

Edited 16 hours ago by Der Alte Rentner

[woodartist]

I wholeheartedly concur, Joe Volpe, at Modelers sawmill provides high quality wood, that is precise and does it timely.

[Geoff Matson]

Great job on the spark arrestor.