USS Constitution by Unegawahya - Model Shipways - scale 1:76

[Unegawahya]

Here we go! 
My process for making my Companion-way Canopy frames.

All brass is from K&S Precision Metals

#8149 SQ. BRASS TUBE 1/16x.014 for all of the side rail connection points.

#8160 BRASS ROD .032 for vertical supports and center shaft of the finial & hub.

#8159 BRASS ROD .020 for the side rails.

#8125 RND BRASS TUBE 1/16x.014 for inside of the finial, hub, ball, and the ball above the square connectors

#???? RND BRASS TUBE 3/32 for the outside of the finial, hub, and ball.

 

I started by making a jig to drill the 4 corner holes for my hub in the 3/32 tube. Once the holes where drilled I added the 1/16 tube to the out side of the hub.By adding the 1/16 brass tube to the inside of my hub it got the inside diameter down to about 1/32.I then glued about 2” of the 1/16 brass tube inside the 3/32 to give me a good length to use on my 8” drill press with files to make the finial and ball for the tops of my frames. The finial hub and ball is held together with a peace of 1/32 brass wire.

With the stanchions I started with the corner ones that will be glued into the holes made previously in the hub. The stanchions are the 1/32 brass wire bent to shape using the plans. Each stanchions has a ball that sits directly above the top square connection that I made from the 1/16 brass tube using my drill press again. Each stanchions has two square connections for the crossbars that I used the 1/16 square tube for. The connections where left loose to make the addition of the crossbars after all the stanchions where installed. I drilled a 1/64 or .5mm hole for each side where there would be a crossbar and one extra hole for the eye for the hand rope that has been in my way for what seems like forever. I also marked the stanchions for the level of the top of the hatchway.Once I had all for stanchions made the the connection points on. I stuck them into my predrilled holes in the hatchways and trimmed them to fit the holes in the hub. Wile I was installing the hub with the finial attached I tied a string to the finial so when I eventually dropped inside, I wouldn’t lose it. The 4 center stanchions are made the same as the corners. They are just glued to the side of the hub.After all the stanchions where installed, I marked my needle tweezers for the height of the connection blocks and started adding the crossbars from the bottom to top. The crossbars where made from the .020 brass wire. Once I had each crossbar in place I would check the height and then glue the connections. Then I would move to the next crossbar and turn the next lose connection to hold the crossbar.Once all of the crossbars where in place and glued I made the eyes for the top of the hand ropes with the .020 brass wire using my jewelry pliers. When the glue was fully cured I was able to tie the hand ropes on and set the knot with glue to prevent it from unraveling. The hand rope was installed when I put the ladder in before I planked the spar deck.

[GGibson]

Thanks for sharing your process on these canopy frames, Unegawahya!  I will definitely refer to this when I get to this point on my Constitution... whenever that will be! 🤷‍♀️😄👍

[Unegawahya]

5 hours ago, GGibson said:

Thanks for sharing your process on these canopy frames, Unegawahya!  I will definitely refer to this when I get to this point on my Constitution... whenever that will be! 🤷‍♀️😄👍

I completely understand! Mine is 5 years in the making!

[DanielD]

Good morning, I just saw a post on Facebook about your model. It looks great! I was just on her decks about a week ago and I immediately recognized the canopy frames of the USS Constitution. Keep up the great work. This might be my next build….but need to finish my Amerigo Vespucci first.

Edited November 3, 2024 by DanielD

[JSGerson]

Thank you very much for showing us mortals how it's done. I was on my way figuring out this process by trial and error until I ran into my drilling problem. (We will see if I fixed that.) Hopefully you have reduced my chances of committing an over abundance of errors.

 

Again, many thanks

 

Jon

[hamilton]

This is a great tutorial for what I imagine is a challenging task for many modellers! I have the MS Constitution under the bench, and I've book-marked this for when the time comes! Thanks for your generosity!

hamilton

[GGibson]

2 hours ago, hamilton said:

I have the MS Constitution under the bench, and I've book-marked this for when the time comes!

 

My Constitution is up on the shelf waiting its turn, as well, Hamilton.  If we both get to this point in our builds at roughly the same time, help me remember where you bookmarked Unegawahya's tutorial... 🤷‍♀️🤣

[Der Alte Rentner]

On 8/27/2023 at 2:02 PM, Unegawahya said:

I’m sorry for the massive delay! 
Bothe of my tailboard came partially laser cut in my kit. I used a razor blade to cut all the surrounding wood and then carefully apply the details to my bow.

You carved the scrollwork out with a razor blade?  How is that possible?  Working on those pillars on the transom with super sharp Xacto blades caused all kinds of splitting.  How did you avoid that on this laser cut piece?  There MUST be more to this story..

 

Nice work on the headrails!  I haven't seen anyone else do it quite the way you did it - actually installing the timbers first..  Even the Hunt practicum put the cart before the horse in this case.  

[Unegawahya]

On 12/26/2024 at 1:21 PM, Der Alte Rentner said:

You carved the scrollwork out with a razor blade?  How is that possible?  Working on those pillars on the transom with super sharp Xacto blades caused all kinds of splitting.  How did you avoid that on this laser cut piece?  There MUST be more to this story..

 

Nice work on the headrails!  I haven't seen anyone else do it quite the way you did it - actually installing the timbers first..  Even the Hunt practicum put the cart before the horse in this case.  

I worked slowly with an extremely sharp #11 razor blade. I have an extreme tendency to sharpen my razor blades or at least hone them to as sharp as I can get them. 
I worked in small sections from the inside out and if a peace chipped or split I was careful to keep all of the parts in the order they belonged. I did have some splits that I then had to peace back together. Just keep in mind to stay inside the laser cut and work in small sections.  
The other way that I didn’t think of till I had mine cut out would be to gently sand the back to make it as thin as possible.  Then the cutting would possibly be easier. I didn’t try this way and I don’t know if it’ll work!

[Unegawahya]

After years of looking at my Connie’s bow and saying I need to finish that and thinking I’ll do it later, I finally got the port side done!

 

After finally finishing the painting!

A long time ago showing what I had left.

[Coyote_6]

That looks very nice.

[Unegawahya]

I had a little more time yesterday to finish my starboard bow and start some of my small details. I got the handrails done for my skylight.

For the skylight handrail I made the ring with 1/32 brass wire that I coiled around a 13mm socket. (I think I should have used a 12mm because the ring was just a hair too big.)

The legs for the skylight are the same 1/32 brass wire and I drilled small holes in my spar deck using the handrail ring as a guide.

After getting everything lined up I glued the handrail to the supports. 

[JSGerson]

Again, you did an amazing job on those handrails, which BTW I am working on mine now. You got that ring absolutely round, and the ends meet with perfect closure. I cannot tell from the photo were the ends meet. How did you line up the ring with the perfectly vertical supports, hold them in precise alignment to apply, what I assume is CA glue? What's also amazing is there is such little surface between the mating surfaces for the pieces for the glue to adhere to. A job very well done!!

 

Jon

[GGibson]

Excellent work, Unegawahya!  The skylight and brass rail look sharp.  

[Unegawahya]

4 hours ago, JSGerson said:

Again, you did an amazing job on those handrails, which BTW I am working on mine now. You got that ring absolutely round, and the ends meet with perfect closure. I cannot tell from the photo were the ends meet. How did you line up the ring with the perfectly vertical supports, hold them in precise alignment to apply, what I assume is CA glue? What's also amazing is there is such little surface between the mating surfaces for the pieces for the glue to adhere to. A job very well done!!

 

Jon

To get my ring, I used my long pliers to hold the wire on my 13mm socket and I tightly coiled the wire 1.25 times around the socket. The I trimmed about 4mm off where the pliers where using my 0deg snips. Then I made the second cut to mach the first as close as possible. Last parts was to align the two ends to meet and glue them together once they were close enough. It took me a couple of times to get the ring close enough and I had to play with it for a wile to get the two ends to mach.
 

Once I had the ring made, I used it as a template to mark my holes for the post. With the ring in position around my skylight I would make a small dent with a pencil to mark where to drill my holes for the posts. I cut and marked all the posts to the same height. When I installed the posts I didn’t glue them in so I could adjust them with the rig balanced on top. After all the posts where in position I used thick CA glue on the tops of the posts to glue the ring on.

[Unegawahya]

23 hours ago, JSGerson said:

Again, you did an amazing job on those handrails, which BTW I am working on mine now. You got that ring absolutely round, and the ends meet with perfect closure. I cannot tell from the photo were the ends meet. How did you line up the ring with the perfectly vertical supports, hold them in precise alignment to apply, what I assume is CA glue? What's also amazing is there is such little surface between the mating surfaces for the pieces for the glue to adhere to. A job very well done!!

 

Jon

Now that the site had decided that I’m not spam… I can share pictures again!

 

This is how for lack of better terms, I made my dig jump ring. I hadn’t to use a smaller socket than the size of the ring because the brass bill spring back a little after coiled around the socket.

I would also suggest getting a Gundam panel line pin for marking the brass. It is basically a .5mm sharpie and you can see it better than pencil and it’ll rub off but not too easily.

Edited January 4 by Unegawahya

[Unegawahya]

I’ve had a little time over that past week to work on some more of the little things!

I got the brass bars on my skylight!I finally got my wheel attached!I got my shot racks done!Last I started my custom build of the 36’ Pinnace started. I made a hull jig for all three types of boats so I can shape the bass wood strips to the rib shape and then hopefully remove the boat from the mold once the planking is on.

Edited Tuesday at 01:30 AM by Unegawahya

[GGibson]

All looks really sharp, Unegawahya! After all the work you were doing last fall on the ship's wheel, nice to see it in place!  Congrats on the work-to-date!

[Der Alte Rentner]

Outstanding workmanship!  ..and I remind you that I placed an order with you some time ago for a pair of those hand-crafted wheels.  You can add the canopies and skylight to the order too, now that I'm window shopping.. 😁

 

Um, why do you think you'll have trouble removing the hull from the mold?  What's going on with the rubber band(s)?   and, hells bells, you seem to be putting more effort into the molds than most of us would even consider for making the boats themselves..  You, sir, have waaaay too much time on your hands!    But keep it up.  Your work is a wonder to behold.

[JSGerson]

Placing those window bars on the skylight is tough (at least for me); nice job! Everything is coming together nicely. And that Pinnace looks like a real beauty. Other that the obvious reasons, why did you choose to scratch fabricate the boats instead of using the "bread and butter" build from the kit? How did you make the mold? I'm still dicking around on my canopy frames.

 

Jon

[Unegawahya]

4 hours ago, Der Alte Rentner said:

Outstanding workmanship!  ..and I remind you that I placed an order with you some time ago for a pair of those hand-crafted wheels.  You can add the canopies and skylight to the order too, now that I'm window shopping.. 😁

 

Um, why do you think you'll have trouble removing the hull from the mold?  What's going on with the rubber band(s)?   and, hells bells, you seem to be putting more effort into the molds than most of us would even consider for making the boats themselves..  You, sir, have waaaay too much time on your hands!    But keep it up.  Your work is a wonder to behold.

lol. The last I remember, you said to hold off on the ships wheel. But I understand.

 

i made the molds for the ships boats because I’ve never really been a fan of the supplied parts for the ships boats. Unless the builder was going have their boats covered. So, I used photoshop to make a frame mold to shape and place all the frames. All three of my molds have a wide side with the frame numbers and a small hole for the 1/32 bass wood to thread into. The other side has notches for the other end of the ribs to pass through.
I used the rubber bands to hold the ribs in position wile they dried after bending and wile I got the first couple of planks on. 

 

I was worried about removing my hull from the mold because I didn’t treat the mold with wax like I was intending. But that worked out! I also have JSGerson to thank for the layout for the 36’ pinnace!

Edited Tuesday at 07:22 PM by Unegawahya

[JSGerson]

Gorgeous work, but are my eyes deceiving me, it looks like the mold is only one side of the Pinnace. How does that work?

 

Jon

[Unegawahya]

8 minutes ago, JSGerson said:

Gorgeous work, but are my eyes deceiving me, it looks like the mold is only one side of the Pinnace. How does that work?

 

Jon

lol No it’s the full hill from the gunnels to the bottom for shaping and setting the ribs.

[JSGerson]

You've got to admit, it's an interesting optical illusion 🫣😁

 

Jon

[Unegawahya]

5 hours ago, JSGerson said:

You've got to admit, it's an interesting optical illusion 🫣😁

 

Jon

Looking at the picture, I see it now!

[Unegawahya]

Well that was a lot easier than I was thinking it would be! I’m now looking forward to when I get to do the other three boats!

I have the mane hull and planking for my 36’ pinnace done. I ended up remounting it to the mold and finishing all the planking with the hull on the mold for support.
Its now time for the details!

Edited 15 hours ago by Unegawahya

[JSGerson]

It looks great! I had a lot of fun installing all the accoutrements the boats required. I still have to make the oars at least and any other goodies I may think of. It's for that reason, I plan on not covering the boats. It would be a shame to hide all of those details.

 

Jon 

[Unegawahya]

19 minutes ago, JSGerson said:

It looks great! I had a lot of fun installing all the accoutrements the boats required. I still have to make the oars at least and any other goodies I may think of. It's for that reason, I plan on not covering the boats. It would be a shame to hide all of those details.

 

Jon 

I know you had a lot of fun decorating your boats! I went back on your blog and saved all your pictures for references. They all looked really great!

Thank you for your help.

[Unegawahya]

On 1/14/2025 at 12:01 PM, JSGerson said:

Placing those window bars on the skylight is tough (at least for me); nice job! Everything is coming together nicely. And that Pinnace looks like a real beauty. Other that the obvious reasons, why did you choose to scratch fabricate the boats instead of using the "bread and butter" build from the kit? How did you make the mold? I'm still dicking around on my canopy frames.

 

Jon

It’s not just you placing the skylight window bars was very difficult!

 

I decided to scratch build my boat hulls because I’m not a huge fan of the bread and butter method. I put together and sanded the hull for one of the whaleboats and I wasn’t happy with it. 
 

I made the mold from the line drawing you sent me. I used photo shop to separate all of the frame lines. I then glued the printouts to 3/32” basswood. All of the frame templates where cut out with my table mounted jigsaw, sanded and placed over their top down frame lines.I have the files to build the molds for the Pinnace, whale-boats, and gig if anyone wants them!

[Der Alte Rentner]

It will most likely be a year or more before I get to this point , but going by the principal of, better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it, I will gratefully accept your offer!

 

( I'm pretty sure that Gregg will also be chiming in shortly..)

 

BTW, Beautiful workmanship. 

 

thanks.