Royal Navy Ship of the Line Cross-Section by DocBlake - FINISHED - based on Mamoli's "Constitution" - 1:93 scale

[EJ_L]

I will echo the beautiful sentiments! Very nice work.

 

I would have to say that while having a kit out of the box ready sounds great especially for beginners, it is the changes that we do to each build that make them unique.

[DocBlake]

Finished the hatch and ladder, the table, two wooden boxes with hinged tops and a bunch of barrels for the orlop deck I still need to make several rope coils to store there.

[stripehunter]

Will be watching closely.  I have this kit in the closet and hope to get to it sometime in the next year or two.  Great work so far as always.

[DocBlake]

I installed the beams for the gun deck and finished the central planking.  I need to install the bilge pumps before I complete the decking.  The pump handles and discharge ports are pretty simple.  The parts are metal, and I'll prime them with flat black auto primer and paint the discharge area a brass color with flat white tops to simulate white canvas.  The pipes leading down through the orlop deck into the well are a little different.  The enclosed photo of the Constitution shows they were black pipe, fitted with a brass or bronze cap as they neared the pump mechanism.  I think I'l just use flat black stained dowels to simulate them.  Any thoughts?

Edited April 7, 2018 by DocBlake

[Old Collingwood]

Lovely work and what a great subject.

 

Have you seen this I posted  - 

https://modelshipworld.com/index.php?/topic/18038-new-film-about-nelson-and-trafalgar/

 

OC.

Edited April 7, 2018 by Old Collingwood

[MEDDO]

Great progress!  This is looking really nice.  

[donrobinson]

no reason dowels would not look good Dave. You have this model looking very good!!

[DocBlake]

Thanks, guys!

[DocBlake]

I finished planking the gun deck and planked the bulwarks using bloodwood.  I also painted the cast metal pump mechanism and installed drain pipes from the pump down to the well.  Next up are the cannons.  The carriages are walnut and are going to require some work.  I did discover that coloring walnut with a red Sharpie produces a color that is a dead match for bloodwood!  That's my plan!  The carriages for the carronades are cast metal.  They will have to be remade.

[EJ_L]

That is good to know about the red sharpie and walnut. I have an abundant supply of walnut scraps perfect for ship building but my blood wood supply is much more limited. May have to file that information back for a future project I am starting to put together.

[donrobinson]

Looking fantastic Dave

[DocBlake]

I'm working on the long guns on the gun deck.  I used some boxwood trucks I had left over, and replaced the metal axles in the kit with walnut axles.  I colored the carriage with a red Sharpie, then gave it a coat of poly.  I'm not sure how much hardware and rigging I'll use at this very small scale...maybe none.  I will place cap squares, though.  The red Sharpie on walnut turns out pretty nice, I'd say!  There is only one caveat:  Sharpie ink can "bleed" a little with polyurethane.  If you don't want your trucks to turn a little "pink" using the same brush to poly the red parts and then the trucks, seal all the Sharpie colored wood first, let it dry and then do the trucks .  The second coat doesn't matter, since the red is sealed.

Edited May 3, 2018 by DocBlake

[DocBlake]

All four long guns are completed.  The kit provided cap squares that actually looked pretty good so I used them.  I'm not planning any further hardware or rigging for the cannon carriages.  At this small scale, it will be impossible to rig blocks that aren't 18 scale inches long!  In my opinion, nothing ruins the appearance of a rigged gun more than out of scale blocks.   Ditto for eyebolts and rings that are out of scale.

Edited May 10, 2018 by DocBlake

[md1400cs]

Hi Dave,

 

Just found your log. Looks great indeed. Cross sections lend themselves (for me anyway) to new learning about how the "insides" were put together.

Very nicely detailed work - beyond the basic kit - as was mentioned. Also grabbing a chair.

 

Cheers,

[DocBlake]

Thanks, guys for all the "likes".

 

Michael:  Glad you stopped by!  I just saw your awesome cross section log myself.  Great job!

 

[DocBlake]

I decided to fit the gunport lids to the ports before setting the cannons into position.  These will be pinned and glued into position later, just before applying poly to the exterior hull.  I took 3 planks of boxwood that matched the planking width at the level of the ports and placed them tightly together side by side on some double sided tape stuck to my work surface.  I glued a single piece of bloodwood to cover.  when dry, I sanded the bloodwood flush with the planking and cut the individual lids from the blank.  They will be pinned and glued after the hinges are applied and the rest of the model is finished..

[captgino]

Beautiful work! 

[Landlocked123]

Beautiful work Doc.  Based on your earlier critique of the kit, you’ve created the proverbial silk purse out of a sow’s ear! 🐷

 

Best,

John

[DocBlake]

Thanks, guys!

[DocBlake]

Progress to date.  The upper deck has been framed and planked, with the passageway opening to the gun deck framed out.  Ladders will lead below.  The inboard bulwark planking is bloodwood.  Next up is to fit the cap rails and frame in the entryways on either side of the cross section.  I also need to fabricate new wooden carriages for the carronades, install the rosewood trim around the stairway opening and place the stanchions for the rope rail.  There is a bitt with belaying pins that needs to be remade and installed.  Then I turn my attention to the outside of the hull.  If you look closely you can see the holes where the pins fixing the gun port lids will attach.

Edited June 1, 2018 by DocBlake

[MEDDO]

Looking forward to seeing the final stages.  Your work to s impressive.  It’s amazing how nice this looks compared to the stock kit.

[DCooper]

Thank you for sharing your wonderful build.  I am very inspired by just how fine and clean your details are.  It motivates me to upgrade much of my past work and improve my future builds.  I am following along and enjoying myself immensely, better still I want to got out to the bench and do better work.  Thanks!

 

Dan 

[Jim Rogers]

Dave she is beautiful.

[DocBlake]

Thanks, guys for the kind comments and the "likes".

[DocBlake]

I added the cap rails after cutting them out of ebony and rounding the edges over.  I the used swiss pear to line the two sides and the threshold of the boarding portals on either side.

[DocBlake]

The carronades for the upper deck are cast metal, and are the same design as currently in use on the real ship. These were introduced during the 1927 refit of the Constitution and are not original to the ship. I opted to rebuild them in the style used for the British 36 pound carronade dubbed "the Smasher". I plan a minimalist approach (no rigging or fittings) because of the small scale. The wood is better than cast metal, anyway. I also completed the woldings on the stub mast.

Edited August 5, 2018 by DocBlake

[DocBlake]

Stub mast with woldings and carronades temporarily set in place.

[DocBlake]

I've been busy with other projects, but it's time to put this one to bed!  I've been procrastinating because I need to add the boarding stairs and I think this is going to be a really stressful, difficult part of the build.  The first step is to cut the individual treads from ebony and boxwood.  The treads are 2mm X 2mm X 10mm, which is very small!  I first cut the tread profile on my Byrnes saw, then cut out each individual tread.  Here's a shot of the treads stuck to the side of the hull with my go-to temporary adhesive :  double-sided tape.   Placement of the treads is really finicky.  I think I'll take a few days to work up the courage to start gluing them in place!

[Jasseji]

And here i would have made so many less mistakes if i'd found this thread sooner

[DocBlake]

I finally got around to gluing the boarding steps to the hull.  The first step was to draw a vertical line lightly in pencil as a guide so the steps line up one below the next.  I laid out the pattern of the steps so that the spacing between steps is correct, using double sided tape.  See the photo in my post above.  I then started gluing the steps to match this layout on the opposite side.  To glue I used two small drops of WeldBond and three tiny drops of gel CA.  It worked well.  In the photos you can also a fife rail with belaying pins an the bulwark, and the aft  bit at the level of the main mast.  The holes above the gun ports are to mount the lids with pins and glue.  The channels and deadeyes are next.

 

I do have one dilemma!  Most (but not all) British naval vessels had hammock netting attached to stanchions on the main rail.  The stanchions are included in the kit , as is some white gauzy fabric to make the netting.  I think it will look like crap.  I'm thinking of mounting the stanchions and their ropes without adding the netting.  What do you think?

 

BTW:  The keel clamp the model is sitting in is one I designed and build myself.  I used fancy plastic star knobs for all the carriage bolts, but if you use plain old thumb screws, you could build the whole thing for  about $5 if you have some scrap hardwood laying around!

Edited August 4, 2018 by DocBlake