USS Constitution by Stevied78 - FINISHED - Revell - 1:96 - PLASTIC

[Stevied78]

Hello,,I began this build a while ago,,as usual I had interruptions, but I have lots of pics,,I am just now getting to the rigging, so I apologize for not keeping a log earlier.

so I will post some of the pics from the beginning and go from there.

I did not go too far out of the box here, ,I did modify some things, like adding the bell housing etc , and changing the design of the capstan.

I have gone a long way building this, without all you great shipwrites advice, and that is one big regret, as the advice and talent here, on these pages are 

unprecedented,,, but hey, I can't rewind time, so I'll do my best to show you my progress, jump aboard , beat me up,,that is why Im here!

 I really appreciate this opportunity to share this all,, with all of you!

Oh! one last thing, most all of my pics were taken with a green screen background so sorry for that distraction,,

The two halves attached and painted, I used Krylon copper spray paint for the hull,,

 

[Stevied78]

On to the decks, I used model expo paints, and dry brushed different shades for the effect of wood,, I did not pick out the lines and tree nails,, maybe next time,,

[Stevied78]

[Stevied78]

I assembled the canons and coranades and other deck furniture,, as I said I wanted a more realistic Capstan, and added the bell and housing,,

[Stevied78]

[Stevied78]

Putting gun deck together 

[Stevied78]

painted the stern housing,,

 

Edited February 14, 2018 by Stevied78

[Stevied78]

On to the spar deck,,

[Stevied78]

I am on to masts and rigging, I will post more pics later,, Keep sailing my shipmates,, I love you all,,,God Bless,,,

[Srodbro]

Ah yes ... your pics bring back memories. 

I understand about interruptions ... I started my plastic Connie in 1968, and finally took her out of storage over 45 years later. Finished her two years ago. Here is a pic of her when I took her out of the box in the attic. 

I would be so bold to make one suggestion while you are at this stage of your build. Once you start rigging, a lot of stress is applied to your fife rails, pinrails and the lanyards on the channels. Mine wound up breaking off the hull while rigging (perhaps a consequence of sitting in the sweltering/freezing conditions of the attic for decades), and were very difficult to reinstall with other rigging elements in the way. I would suggest reinforcing the connections of these rails with a steel pin thru the rails into the hull. And then don’t store it in the attic for many years. 

Have fun. 

 

[Stevied78]

Thank you Srodbro,,the model sure  is fragile,  one of the spar connections already broke off, not even from rigging,, I will take your advice thanks again,,

[sprtsracer]

Just received my 1:96 Revell kit today! I will pour over the instructions and get my ducks in a row before I start. I understand the newer kit, which is the one I have, has a few problems with installing parts 36, 37, and 38 (Topmost decks). A few things on the Amazon reviews to help with that, along with some good info on YouTube. I hope some of you can help me out along the way, as well. Glad to be a "newbie" here! Hopefully, my next model will be a wooden model. I'm happy to come aboard!

[Stevied78]

sure thing Sprtsracer,,anything you need and welcome aboard,,

[Stevied78]

Sorry I have not updated for a while,Here is what I have been doing,,

I built the masts and added the foot ropes and blocks,, Two things I would do if I had to do over again.

One would be to find a better way to attach the yards, the method Revell uses looks goo on paper ,but to me its horrible, the break off and were very frustrating,

I need up putting a fine pin through the center of the yards and into the masts, I then glued everything to hold in place. It worked, but I would find a better way to keep them secure.

Two , I would go further into the rigging plans and attach other blocks that have to be used in running rigging, there are not a lot, but its just easier to watch the blocks to the yards while the masts and yards are not mounted yet. there wise all went well, when I fine tune the model after completion, I will add a drop of glue to the loops holding the ropewalk on the yards,,

 

 

 

[Stevied78]

I mounted the masts to the ship, another learning curve, since the masts are plastic , they are very flexible so I should of lands the masts slightly toward the stern so when doing the standard rigging they would be somewhat straight and not leaning forward as you'll see,,,other wise I guess this sep was not too bad,,,

[Stevied78]

The standard Rigging is complete, It was not too bad, I did have a lot of bending especially at  the  top mast and royal, an issue with the thin plastic. I did my best with the backstays too equal them out, but they seem to have a mind of there own,,, when the model is complete I will make final adjustments, ,,,I hope,,  I had plenty of black cord included with the kit for the standard Rigging, and it looks nice Tedious, but I enjoyed it,,Now on to the Running Rigging,,,,sorry it is hard to see all the rigging,,tough to photograph. the fore mast in the first pic is not as bad as it looks in the photo, and I have adjusted it since,,,

 

 

Edited April 14, 2018 by Stevied78

[Stevied78]

Hi Shipmates, sorry I have not been posting, long summer, ,the model is almost finished and I will be posting the final pictures soon,,

I hope you all had a great summer!

[Stevied78]

Hello shipmates, I finally finished Old Ironside,,Wow lots of rigging and a learning experience. All in all a great model. my biggest problem was the flimsy plastic masts, I recommend a good pitch toward the stern so when you rig you don't pull them too much toward the Bow like I did, I straightened best I could and cheated by pitching the bow a bit higher than the stern when mounting,!, Hey, my first ship!, Now on to wood, the USS Syren , But after I finish a USS Massachusetts plastic kit for a client. Enjoy the pics below of the finished ship and the base and case I made! Also enjoy the video,,and Not to mention, I know I did not ask questions, but trust me, I went on all the Constitution builds and checked them out for ideas ,advice and inspiration, so thank you all!