USS Constitution by kmart - Model Shipways - scale 1/76

[usedtosail]

Nice work on the bow filler and framing. I found this area to be very challenging, and you did a great job.

[kmart]

Thanks Usedtosail.  Yes, I found the bow challenging. I'm glad how it came out.     Now on to the stern.   I figured it would be easier after working on the bow.. But I'm finding that its a real bear.

 

I've spent hours and hours staring at the plans trying to figure out the stern.

First I started on the filler pieces.

Marked up the R bulkhead with some reference lines.

 

 

G

Glues some blocks together to be larger than the shape I needed.

 

 Rough cut them on bandsaw to the approximate shape

 

 

Made lots of sawdust using a dremal tool and sanding drum and sand paper to get to the right shape

 

The lower tips broke off.  they get quite thin.  I was able to glue them back on.  But they are supper fragile unlit they are glued in place.

 

Before I glue the filler, started working on the counter block.

The counter took me awhile. and several attempts.    The main reason being I tried a different approach than the directions.

What I was thinking was to make the counter in two slices instead of 1 thick piece.  The lower slice was cut to a thickness that would make the top surface the same high as the gun deck.  What I was trying to plan for was the quarter galleries.  The floor of the galleries are at the same level as the gun deck.  I was going to keep the counter block wide and extend it out to include the floor of the quarter gallery's.  This would make positioning and building the galleries easier.

However after a week of struggling with it, I gave up and  went back to  and following the instructions after all.

Through all this...I failed to take any pictures.....

So I'll jump ahead to pics with the counter block and the filler blocks installed

 

 

    

If you look close at the counter block.  You can still see that it is made up of two slices still.   But the two pieces together still match the plans shape and size.

 

Next I added the 2  outside frames of the stern.  Actually I had to do this twice.   Uggg 

Again, I spent hours looking at the plan, measuring and trying to figure out how to position these two properly.

The difficulty being they cant inward, as well as its edge follows the angle of the  bulwarks on frame R. 

And because of the angles, you need to bevel the edges so that they sit flush.   

and of course both sides need to be symmetrical but mirror.

 

Well after all the planning, I glued them in places... they looked good.  so I walked away and let the glue set.

Come back a few hours later to admire my work.    All looks good.   But then for kicks...I take out the stern rail piece that lazer cut. 

This will sit on top of the stern bulwarks.    My bulwarks were canted in way too much and were too narrow at  the top.  didn't match the top rail piece,

Swear, swear some more.     Then pry the pieces off without breaking them.  (Thankfully the Glue was not yet completely cured yet and I got them off )

 

 

  

 

Soo Attempt # 2 I learned my lesson and made a template /jig to position the pieces properly.

You can see in the pic the actual top-rail piece that the bulwarks need to align with.  and a template with the positions indicated.

With the template,  the second gluing attempt was much easier and accurate.

 

 

This time...  much better.  And some batons in place to make sure the run looks good as well.   

 

Now, I'll let those dry.   And start planning for the next part.

As this is a 1812ish version... I need to pick the stern so that I can adjust the other stern  frames to account for the sternwindow configuration.

 

 

The big question 3 or 5 or 6 windows.

I made a copy of the plans,

and then a copy of the AOS stern versions.

Then after an hour playing with scale,  I determined the AOS picture scaled to 179% will math the ME plans.  Or close enough.

So I printed the AOS versions to the same scale as the ME plan.

 

C2/3 (1803 version)  and c2/4 (current day)  are both out of consideration.    But I used C2/4 to size and compare the scale to the ME plans.

 

 

At this point, I like and would be happy with either c2/1 or c2/2   they are basically the same except for the 1 extra window. 

I'll play around with adjusting the frames to see how I can make either of them work. 

Right now I'm leaning towards the 5 window version just because it makes the framing easier.

 

I'll let you know what I decide in my next post.

K

 

 

[JSGerson]

Just found your build log today. There is some real good stuff here so I'll be following you with great anticipation of more good stuff.

 

Jon

[Tom Schongar]

Nice job on the transom, very difficult build. You have to take your time and think though 10 steps ahead to get everything in the right place. Took me all day to do mine. I used a caliper.small trisquare,and cardboard template to get everything  in the right place.then cut off the excess wood beams and sanded for 2 hrs.lol

 

[kmart]

Thanks for the likes.  And the Comments.   I'm just glad  people are taking an interest in my build  :-)

 

 

Have spent some more time in the workshop. 

Progress on the stern continues.

I did decide to go with the 5 window stern.

 

First step was to update my template with the positions of the stern pieces to match the proper position for 5 windows.

Did this by comparing it to the scaled up stern plans from AOS

 

 

 

With template in hand...

Prepped the stern pieces.

I made a Slight modification from the plans.  I made the stern crosspiece wider,  and then notched in where the stern pieces need to fit.

This will help hold them in proper position when  gluing in.

 

 

 

 

 

gluing them in

 

 

And checking with the template

 

 

 

Was Progressing along.

Then I got a big scare.

 

Went to work on the model one night.   (This was after recent cold  spell we had New England.)

Remember those struts I put in between the bulkheads....

 

Look Close

 

 

 

Six of the struts.   3 on each side pulled away from the bulkheads.    Note these were glued in with wood glue that is  as strong as the wood . 

And the struts had a nice snug fit between the bulkheads and the frame.   There was really no way , no where for it to expand or move.

My first fear was the frame was now warped and ruined.   But after checking and checking.  it dosesnt appear to be.

I put a square against the frames.    The ones with the spaces  were off... but very very minor.  < 1mm.  Not enough to ruin the model.

And they seemed to offset each other between port / starboard sides.

Now the funny part is.  A few days later.. I went t to do some work and they went back to normal...The spaces closed up.

Over the next week, this cycles repeated with the space opening up,  and then closing again.

 

I am baffled.

My one though was maybe  the struts "shrunk" due to humidity or lack of in my shop.    But the wood had been in the shop for more than a month and had time to acclimate before I used it. So that shouldn't be the cause.

 

My next thought is that the temperature varies in my shop greatly.   My workroom is in the basement in a semi finished room.   

When not in use.... the baseboard heat is turned off.. and the room temperature hovers in the mid 50's.

When I'm going to work (mostly weekends)   I put the heat on and it goes up to 65 degrees.

Would 10-15 degree swing make basswood  expand/contract that much???

 

Anyhow... While the space was there... I filled it in with more glue.

For the last week or two, the space was gone.   I have not seen it open back up again.   I keep watching.

I don't know what I can do at this point or if it will re-open.

 

Any ideas????  Anyone?

    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[kmart]

Posting Continued

 

So the incident  with the struts opening I'm concerned.  but I need to continue on.  I'll keep watching to see if they re-open.  Hopefully the infusion of the glue helps solve it or at least stabilize it.   For now at least.   the gaps are all closed and have stayed that way for the last week+ post re-gluing.

 

I decided the next part I would work on on is the gun deck   gun ports.    I figure that putting these in will help strengthening the thin upper parts of the bulkheads before I start cutting out deck beams to model the gun deck.

 

First, I made some jigs

 

 

I cut a piece of stock to 10mm x 14mm.   This is the inside dimensions of the gun ports.  So as I frame the gunports... this block should fir in snugly  and tat will ensure they are framed square and the proper and identical size.    Now I cut these into 2 lengths.   Each piece is longer than the width of the ship.    This lest me frame the mirror gun ports on each side of the ship.

 

The Next two pieces are spaces.  they are narrow enough to fit between the bulkheads.  and they are 6 mm high

So .... to make a gunport

1) place the spacer on the strut.    

 

 

 

 

2) Cut out 4 pieces to be the sill and header of the gun port.  (they should all be the same length.  the distance between the two bulkheads

  Note   these need to be 3MM thick( hight)

3) Glue in the sill  by placing it on the spacer.

   -From the plans,  the top of the sill needs to be 9mm off the high of the gun deck

   -remember my struts are at the same height as the bottom support on the bulkheads.

   -And from the plan.  The bottom support of the bulkheads are at height of the gun deck

 Sooo  The spacer  = 6mm,  the sill's 3mm     6+3= 9mm.   (higher math :-) ) The top of the sill should be at the right height.

 

 

 

 

 

 

4)  Repeat process  between the same bulkheads but on the opposite side.

5) Now take the two long gun port jigs and place them on the sills.    Make sure they are facing the right way up.

 

6)   You can now glue in the header piece on both sides  by placing them on top of the gun port jig.

7)  Give the glue a 1/2 to set.    Then carefully slide out the jigs....

 

 

You now have the gun ports  sill and header,  the proper and equal height off the deck and the header also equal and the right height above the sill.

In two sessions in the workshop.  got all 30 gun ports  in. (hearer and sills only)

Looking down the side, by eye , they look to have a good run.

 

 

Now I still have to do the side pieces of the gunport.

again using the jig.,  place it back on the sill and all the way across the hull

 

cut and and glue the side pieces.    Both port and starboard.

 

 

So I was able to get the first 4 ports done.  2 on each side starting at the stern.

Using this method.  The sills , header and side pieces are all square  and identically sized and proper height and symmetrical with its pier on the opposite side of the ship.

In case you cant tell....  I've become kinda obsessive about making sure the gun ports look right  :-) 

This is from my experience building the Friesland... ( a Dutch 2 decker 80 gun ship)  Try aligning 13 guns per deck, om 3 decks , crossing 4 wales  all with cambers... and make them look symmetrical.   I digress.

 

 

Also note... An added piece under the sill.    There is not a lot of surface area at the ends where the sills are glued to the bulkheads.    I was afraid that when working on the side pieces, they would be susceptible to breaking off.    So with some scrap wood.   I cut a bunch of filler pieces.   6mm high and same depth as the sill.    Glued them underneath the sill.  Now much stronger.    To do all 30 gun ports took <2 hours .

 

Now... If you've lasted this long and are still reading this.....   You spent too much time here and should be in your own shop working on your own models  :-)  Just kidding!

 

Final thought/ question before I end this post.

 

When looking at the ME planes,  the gun-ports are NOT evenly spaced across the length of the hull. Some have 25mm between gun ports .  others are 30, 32, 28...

However, when looking at the AOS side view..    They are all consistency spaced.  So which is right?    Did you other Connie builder experience this and what did you do???

Need to figure this out before I do any more work on mine.

 

Till next post.

K

 

 

 

[CaptainSteve]

Another "Gotcha !!"

You had me dashing for my copy of AOTS again, KMart. I see what you mean. They definitely do appear to be more uniform in Marquardt's book, as opposed to the MS plans. A cursory flick thru a Google Images search seems to bear this out, but hard to tell precisely with most of the pics I found online.

                                                                                                     

 

Personally, I think even-spacing would look better on the overall model. The next question is: Will this be possible, given the positioning of the bulkheads ??

[Tigersteve]

Correct me if I’m wrong gentleman, but the grain in this photo should run in the other direction?

Steve

 

https://modelshipworld.com/uploads/monthly_2018_01/20171228_180325.jpg.2211dd2e286b32fc2fe16e8817d037e5.jpg

Edited January 21, 2018 by Tigersteve

[JSGerson]

With regards to the gunport spacing, or any other dimensional detail, I always check the US Navy plans. As I read it, the spacing is close but not consistently the same. From a distance, the eye may not see the differences.

 

Jon

[David Lester]

I just took my measurements right off the plans. I think the differences are virtually undetectable. I don't have other resources, so I've just assumed that there are similar differences on the real ship which are also undetectable. It didn't occur to me to do anything else. I don't think you will be disappointed with the result if you simply follow the plans. Some of the gunports are tight against bulkheads as it is, so it might be more trouble than it's worth trying to re-space them. For what it's worth, that's my thought on the subject.

David

[kmart]

TigerSteve:      The grain on that particular piece doesn't really matter as its a Jig only used to space the stern pieces.   Wont actually be used on the model.

JS Gerson:        I did the same as you.  went and checked the Connie CD with the historic and restoration plans..

                     

                      Also, I was looking at your log today.. Saw the discussion on the stern. Along with Cpt  Steve's comments.

                       By luck maybe... I didn't have the curve problem.. or I should say I dealt with it without seeing it as an issue.

                      As you mention, the transom block is curved.   But the 4 stern pieces are identical.   When I was fitting those 4  (6 if you include the 2 outside                               pieces)   As I was fitting them, I trimmed the end of each one (the side  toward the bulkhead) so that the bottom outer edge lined up with the                           stern block edge.    And thus all six of the stern pieces followed the intended curve.

                   Now I'm not detailing the Great Room / Captains Quarters as you ans Steve are........ (But then again...maybe its not to late to re-consider ;-) 

      

 

Sooo...  Today the wife was out of the house the entire day.  That means I got to spend the whole day in the shop!! Excellent!

And back to the gun port spacing issue.

And I have an answer.... :-)

 

 

The diagrams in the AOS book are too small to decern any difference.

The various ME plans are all consistent in that the spacing is inconsistent.   (Although the ME plans are consisting among each of the sheets  (if that makes sense)

 

So I went to the plans off the CD.    Awhile back I had the ones for the Gun deck printed ...scaled up  bigger than the ME Plans. and taped to my wall actually.  (How did I miss that !)   On this plan in the larger scale is was clear that the spacing was  Inconsistent.   Some minor.  some not so minor.

 

I was also looking at another view of the ship from the CD to compare.   Its a historic line drawing showing the profile of the ship with all the masts and rigging.   I believe the port locations are adjusted to avoid the shrouds and dead eyes on the chain plates.

 

So with that figured out.  I'm just going to follow the spacing as layed out on the ME plans afrer all.

So  back into the workshop..  With the entire day to myself.  I finished framing all 30 gun ports on the gun deck.

 

In progress

Basically working 4 at a time... two on each side

 

Only trick was that the sides of the ship have some tumble-home.  And the amount of tumble home changes  over the lenght of the ship

So while the length of all the pieces were consistent (10mm).  I had to cut both ends at angles (not square) for sections where the tumble home was significant

The end cuts varied from 5 - 35 degrees.  

 

After doing a few , I got into a rhythm .. they actually went a lot faster than I expected.

After I finished them,  let the glue set for a few hours   then sanded them all down to be fair with the frames

 

ahhhh   ...Nice square gun ports.   My OCD at work :-)

 

Now back to work tomorrow.

And the work week to think about and  plan..what to tackle next weekend

 

K

 

116678001.pdf

[usedtosail]

Nice work kmart on the gun port sills. If I may provide some guidance, those headers near the bow need to bow out in the middle so you have a nice curve of the planks there. Otherwise you will have a flat spot between the deadeyes. i can't tell from the third image above if there is enough curve on the header between the first and second gun bulkheads. Something I had to learn as I went.

[kmart]

Used2sail.  Thanks for the tip.  You just saved me a future mistake.   I went and checked.  You were right.  No curve in the top of the forward gun header.    Put a batton on it and the flat spot jumped right out.   Easy to fix now.  Would have been a major pain to fix had i planked it

 

[kmart]

TigerSteve:      The grain on that particular piece doesn't really matter as its a Jig only used to space the stern pieces.   Wont actually be used on the model.

JS Gerson:        I did the same as you.  went and checked the Connie CD with the historic and restoration plans..

                     

                      Also, I was looking at your log today.. Saw the discussion on the stern. Along with Cpt  Steve's comments.

                       By luck maybe... I didn't have the curve problem.. or I should say I dealt with it without seeing it as an issue.

                      As you mention, the transom block is curved.   But the 4 stern pieces are identical.   When I was fitting those 4  (6 if you include the 2 outside                               pieces)   As I was fitting them, I trimmed the end of each one (the side  toward the bulkhead) so that the bottom outer edge lined up with the                           stern block edge.    And thus all six of the stern pieces followed the intended curve.

                   Now I'm not detailing the Great Room / Captains Quarters as you ans Steve are........ (But then again...maybe its not to late to re-consider ;-) 

      

 

Sooo...  Today the wife was out of the house the entire day.  That means I got to spend the whole day in the shop!! Excellent!

And back to the gun port spacing issue.

And I have an answer.... :-)

 

 

The diagrams in the AOS book are too small to decern any difference.

The various ME plans are all consistent in that the spacing is inconsistent.   (Although the ME plans are consisting among each of the sheets  (if that makes sense)

 

So I went to the plans off the CD.    Awhile back I had the ones for the Gun deck printed ...scaled up  bigger than the ME Plans. and taped to my wall actually.  (How did I miss that !)   On this plan in the larger scale is was clear that the spacing was  Inconsistent.   Some minor.  some not so minor.

 

I was also looking at another view of the ship from the CD to compare.   Its a historic line drawing showing the profile of the ship with all the masts and rigging.   I believe the port locations are adjusted to avoid the shrouds and dead eyes on the chain plates.

 

So with that figured out.  I'm just going to follow the spacing as layed out on the ME plans afrer all.

So  back into the workshop..  With the entire day to myself.  I finished framing all 30 gun ports on the gun deck.

 

In progress

Basically working 4 at a time... two on each side

 

Only trick was that the sides of the ship have some tumble-home.  And the amount of tumble home changes  over the lenght of the ship

So while the length of all the pieces were consistent (10mm).  I had to cut both ends at angles (not square) for sections where the tumble home was significant

The end cuts varied from 5 - 35 degrees.  

 

After doing a few , I got into a rhythm .. they actually went a lot faster than I expected.

After I finished them,  let the glue set for a few hours   then sanded them all down to be fair with the frames

 

ahhhh   ...Nice square gun ports.   My OCD at work :-)

 

Now back to work tomorrow.

And the work week to think about and  plan..what to tackle next weekend

 

K

 

[kmart]

Time for next update.

 

First.  Did a bit more on framing the stern windows..

Wow, in the picture , they look, not square, or level.   I'll have to check again.

They should all be 13 mm high and and level.  Hopefully its just the angle of the camera making it look off.

The stern does have a curve... As many have pointed out. :-)

 

I've been eager and scared to start to the next part of the build.

That is working on the Gun deck.  Scared because that means cutting those spar deck  beams.   At that point I'm committed.

Well... I actually had dremel in hand with cutter bit running,  about to start cutting,  and stopped.

One thing that has been bugging  me is how will I be able to put in the new beams later, center the hatchways etc  without those existing beams  as reference points.

 

And to further complicate things:

The existing beams as per the kit are not accurate to the real ship.  # or location.   Since the kit, has the gratings on the spar deck, the beams are never seen, so it doesn't matter.    With the open gratings and visible beams.. they need to be reasonable accurate.

 

So after pondering awhile.. (Dremel still in hand running)   it hit me...

Build the whole spar deck beams, and framing for the open hatches FIRST off the ship.   

Ensure proper fit,location... Only then cut into the existing beams.

 

Now I had a plan

Step 1:  From the Connie CD/Planes.. study the Spar deck plans... re:deck beams around the open waist

 

 

Nn the blueprint above.. if you look close   has all sizes and distance between centers of the beams and carlings?.

The beams are NOT equally spaced... 

 

Step 2:  In MS Excel   map out my new beam layout 

Note this lays out the beams and lists the lengths and widths.  but Excel not good at making to scale.

 

Also in Excel.. convert from the CD plan   measured in actual Feet and inches

Convert to right scale 1:76

And then convert to MM in the new scale.   (In my models I find it easier to work in metrics )

The number with the green background represents the length inside of the opening (dashed blue line).   

       So from Actual(from blueprint)  scaled down is 161.4mm

       With rounding of all the summed individual lengths  is 163mm

       After some tweaking  162mm

 

The last row labeled mm adjusted is what I actually wound up using.

Minor changes.. +- mm here and there.

My conversions:

 

Next step is to make a scale drawing.

MS Visio  Unlike excel can have a metric ruler and print to scale.  So I can use the layout and measurements from excel.. to make a to scale version in visio. 

 

 

Next, I printed out the visio   and used it as a template to verify on the mode.

It took a few iterations and tweaking to get the right.l

 

Milled some basswood for the new beams  and cross pieces.

Used the existing beam to get the right camber of the deck

 

 

And then glued it up using the printed visio template

 

shifted  so you can see the template

Just placed on the model on top of existing beams to  verify all looks good.

 

NOW I can safely cut out the exiting deck beams.

Went back to the Dremel... with cutting disk  and started surgery.

 

Note I started at bulkhead E.  On E    I cut only the center support but left the original beam in

F,G,H,I,J I cut out the beams

On  K   I also cut the center support but not the beam.

 

Also note... Prior in the build I put a ran a 2x2mm strip of wood under all the deck beam in preparation for this.  (To support the new beams.)

Those turned out to be level with the top of the gun port header as well.  You can see this below.

And now,  With the new beams just set in place (No glue):

 

 

You might have notices I also started making templates for the Gun Deck deck.

I'll save that for the next post.  probably next weekend.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jim Rogers]

Love the new beam work, looks great.

[JSGerson]

I can see that I have my work cut out for me when I get to this stage. Nice work!!

 

Jon

[Papa]

On 10/15/2017 at 12:04 PM, AntonyUK said:

Hi KM.

Yes that is a large amount of clamps..

Nice to see you started the build. 

Regards Antony.

You can never have too many clamps.☺

[kmart]

So I was away from the workshop for a bit.. but now I'm back at it.  At least until May when I launch the real sailboat.

Made some progress.   Since I am at the point of working in the gun deck, figured it was time to go to visit The real Connie and take some pictures. (Of the gun deck)

She is out of dry-dock from her last round of refit in 2017.

 

Gun-ports from outside

 

 

Bow scroll work

Since they haven't yet put the full rig back up,  Several of the spars were on the grown.  Very cool to get this close to them!

Main Yard

 

 

And of course the stern windows

 

Guns from inside /Gundeck

 

Victory or Death

(It looks yellow in the pic because of flash, but bulwarks are all white!)

 

 

Hatches/ Stairs and gratings on the gundeck

 

This set of ladders will get modeled.  Both the ladders going up to the Spar deck and the ones going down.

Those deck beams I made to for the open gratings.... And the real ones

This is the ladder that is from the open spar deck grating and the main gun deck hatch under that grating.

 

And just a nice shot looking down the deck to the Great Cabin in the Stern

 

[kmart]

And now back to modeling my gun deck.

When I last left off...  Had the gun deck   sub floor in,  and had cut away a section for where several stairs and gratings will go to the next level down.

 

created  templates for the gun deck floor.   Also started making the gratings

 

For the grating, as I don't need gratings that came with the kit for the Spar deck... I cut them up into individual gratings, and used them on the gun deck.   

This is what I cut up into individual pieces

 

I sized my gratings to make best use of these smaller pieces and tried match the grating pattern/layout on the CD restoration plans

The circled is what I'll put in with 4 stairs ( 2 up to Spar and 2 down to Berth Deck) in the main hatch and the 2 stairs running athwart ship in the forward section

 

 

The gun deck floor.   At first I going to try and plank it with some 1/32 thickness by 5 mm wide strip wood  I have in my stash from prior models.

BUT.. while in my local hobby shop... (in the wood section of course... ) what did I find, but pre scored planking.. 1/32" thick  with the plank scoring at 3/32"   

And by chance,  the planks  on the model need to be    3/32" wide.      What a find.

 

Next I used the template to cut pieces of that into the right shapes

While the planks are scored. the plank ends are not. So I needed to scribe those ine in.

I used the planking XLS calculator from this site.

Went with a 4 butt shift and 30 ft planks. That  gave me 30mm long planks

 

 

 

 

So following the template,  I drew the but ends on the sheets with a sharp pencil.  Then I scored each line with a sharp exacto knife.

After that I lightly sanded the surface.  It didn't remove the entire pencil line, but it made it much less noticeable.

I then vacuumed the sheets to get all the sanding dust off.

 

For the color, I'm using minwax stains.  Tested a few shades.    You can see how the but ends came out.  The pencil mark still visible, but the stain seeped into the scoring..  it also pooled in the gaps between the planks , leaving a nice simulation of the caulking.

t

 

I went with Golden Oak

 

 

 

Next step was to glue them onto the model.    Because they are thin sheets,   after applying glue, they wanted to warp.  So on the fly, while the glue was setting, I needed to find a way to hold them down in place....... 

Clothespins work in an emergency

 

Now this picture I show ..because something is missing.     I forgot to account for .  Do you see what it is????

 

 

Give up?

The hole where the main mast tenon rests!   I forgot to cut that in.   After carefull measuring, I found the spot and cut it back in. 

Whew!  glad I caught that now and not later or it would have been a real problem.

 

 

 

 

note,  I think the camera flash highlights the pattern in the grain that looks terrible in the pic below.  But by eye in normal light.  it looks good! coloring is uniform light golden color.  more like midship.

 

And a closeup with the deck beams.  you can see how the openings align with the gratings and openings on the Gun deck.

Also, the plank caulking and butt ends look better in this pic

 

 

And you can start to visualize if you are looking in through gun-port, you can see the deck in there.

 

So that it for now.   

Next up,  I'll paint the gun frames black. 

Then put the inner planking on the walls of the gun deck, 

Then outer planking  (again just the band on the gun deck.)

 

 

 

 

[Cpt Jack Sparrow]

Love the pictures, hopefully I'll make it to see her one day...

[usedtosail]

Very nice looking gun deck, K

[JSGerson]

Very nice pictures. I've added them to my reference library. The gun deck is looking great too.

 

Jon

[kmart]

Next up... planking the Gun deck bulkwarks... Sorta.

So they should be planked...  but considering

1) They will barely be able seen when looking through the gun ports.  And then in low light after the spar deck is in place

2) With the Spar deck beam there...its practically impossible for me to do a decent job planking and getting them to come out well.

        Let alone sand or smooth them after installed.  Not with my fat fingers.

 

Soo after pondering it a bit.  I cam up with an alternate approach to planking.

First,  I took some basswood stock and made some sawdust on the mini table saw.

After a bit of practice,  I was able to rip some pieces that are 1/32 thick.

I further cut these to 18mm wide strips

 

 

Sanded them down,  cleaned them up

 

And primed and then painted them bulwarks white!

 

 

Added glue and preceded to glue them in as the bulwarks planking.

Sorry, didn't take any pictures of the assembly part. But lots of clothespins were involved.. and some swearing!

 

After all glued.  I cut out the gun-ports and touched up the paint

 

 

Obviously , they don't looked "planked"  but  once spar deck is on,  you wouldn't be able to see that level of detail anyhow.

Overall I'm happy how it came out.

 

So next.  test fit a gun

I assembled 1 cannon to see how it would fit

 

From experience I know that the trucks (wheels) alone don't provide enough surface area to keep the cannon in place once glued.   Especially when they inevitably get bumped during construction.   My plan was to add a piece of wood under the carriage the same height as the wheels.   But while assembling the test cannon and struggling the best way to make the axles.. I got an idea.

Replace axles with the piece of wood of the right height.    Even better, I can mass produce these easily to ensure all the cannons are at the same consistent height.  And as a bonus, it makes assembling the carriage a bit easier.  (The two pieces when put in the notches.. hold the pieces and provide a surface for the carriage floor to rest at the right height when gluing up)  Does that makes sense?

 

Now this looks ugly and unrealistic.  Accept I'll glue the actual carriage wheels to the ends, and they will become invisible at that point!  At least that's the theory!

 

This also  just looks wrong!

 

At least it came out at the right height.  Looks centered in the gun-port.

I'll clean up the one.  paint it all up , add the wheels.   If it works, looks acceptable.. then I'll repeat 29 more times. :-)

Otherwise it will be back to the drawing board.

 

Now with the inner planking is done...I'm getting close (and eager) to adding some planking on the outside.

Still need to paint the gun-port sills black first.   

That will have to wait for the  next session!

 

 

[alde]

Exellent log and great build so far. Thanks for going into so much detail in your explanation of the work.

[JSGerson]

You make it look easy...OK, easier than it actually is. I'm just starting the gundeck gun ports myself and I'm glad I have your build log to help guide me.

 

Jon

[kmart]

So this week  worked on the stairs going from gun deck down to berth deck

Did some measuring and decided the size stairs needed to be.

I don't know if these sizes are to scale, but they fit the space and "look" right by my eye.

• 18mm high
• 24 mm long at the base
• 2 mm treads
• 2mm hieght of each step
• 9 steps per flight.
•  

To make the steps I took 2 strips of basswood.   5mm x 2mm by 24"

I glued them together lengthwise.  with a 3mm overlap.  (That leaves me the 2mm tread)

Once glue dried... I cut it in half and glued those two together again 3 mm overlap.

Repeated process 2 more time.. so I had 12 steps.    

 

Cut off the extra steps, and cut to width.  

4 sets are 8mm wide and 2 are 12mm wide.

 

Cleaned them up and just set in place,

Note stairs and are not glued in yet.

 

 

 

Soo.  plans show 4 stairs going down.  with the other two mirroring the ones above. 

I cant see how that would work in real life.  The bottom steps would almost touch??

I think I'm going to leave it configured as above with only the 4 total.  leaving out 2 stairs.

 

Overall.. I think they came out acceptable.   I'll stain them add some rope handrails and glue everything down next session.

 

Oh.. And a preview what they look like when the spar deck gratings in.

There will be 4 more stairs that go from the spar deck down to the gun deck.  one at each corner of the open gratings.

 

 

[kmart]

 

I also, spent some time this weekend painting...  in prep for planking the topsides of the hull.

 

gunports.... White stripe (Including the ledge/lip that supports the gun ports.   But black sills.   

As my painting is not very good.  How do I paint those black silts on white and not muck it up?  Not easy.

 I took the approach to paint them white first. 

 

(Yes I did paint the gun carriage red to see how it looks.  Not bad :-)

Then I painted the black sils

 

 

 

Not Bad. Even the inside came out respectable.   Will still need some touch ups later..  But I could've done much worse.   

 

Now I'm almost ready to lay the hull planks starting with the ones right above and right below the gun-ports.

There needs to be a 1/32" lip around the frames when installing the planks... (This is to support the gun covers when closed.

So I need a jig.

 

I took the  jig I used when I first framed out the gun ports to keep them the correct and consistent shape/size.

And cut them into 14 individual  pieces.  1 for each gun port.

I then glued  a 1/32" thick strip   on the top and bottom.

 

 

Next weekend, when I go to add those first two planks...

I'll put one jig in each of the gun ports. 

Lay the plank to rest tight against all 14 of those jigs against those 1/32" in strips..

And I should get the perfect spacing between the top and bottom of the gun ports and the planking. 

I'll then use same technique for the spacing on the sides .

That's the plan anyways. 

 

Till next time

K

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ehonig626]

Have been following your and other Connie builds (UsedToSail, Sawdust Dave) with interest (and envy for your carpentry skills). Had a question about your design for the spar deck framing. You are planning an open waist 1812 version, but you have incorporated the 8 full beams from the 1926-27 plans, and shown by Marquardt. The Hull model includes only 5 beams across the main hatch as do the 1:96 Revell version and 1:48 version attributed to the Smithsonian (http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery/misc/sail/constitution-48-sm/scan0001.jpg). None of these show a gangway in the middle. Are you planning to stick with the 8 beams or will you cut back to 5 when you complete the spar deck?

 

Best,

Eric H

 

Current build: USS President 5/64 (scratch)

Past Builds: USS Essex 5/64 MSW

[kmart]

Hello All,   

Sooo I've been out of the workshop all during the Northeast Sailing season (May-Sept).  Just put the real sailboat away this past weekend.  (Depressing)

 

But now I'm eager/excited to get back into the wood shop and pick up where I left off on the Connie.   

Just ordered xKen's new  book "Modeling in Brass".  I'm sure that will come in very handy.  Should have it in hand in a few days.

And catching up on some of the great Connie logs I've been following to get inspired! (JSGersion, UsedToSail, Capt Steve, XKen.....and many others!)

 

So hopefully I'll have some new posts, updates, pictures and questions for everyone over the next few weeks!

Best

K