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 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... 🤷‍♀️🤣