USS Constitution by Avi - BlueJacket Shipcrafters - 1:96

[KurtH]

Installation of the decking sheets looks great.

The sheets I had did not reach all the way to the stern, so I hid the seam between the two lengths under the Captain's inner cabin bulkhead.

Concerning the assembly of the guns - you may already be aware of this, but just in case, the trunnions are not exactly midway between the top side and under side of the barrel, so the gun will sit lower or higher in the carriage depending on which way is up.  I did not realize this until I had half of them done.  Consequently, they align beautifully on the starboard side of my model, but not so well on the port side.  My apologies if this info is superfluous.

[Avi]

They aren’t quite installed yet - if I had used a closer hires pic you’d see it - but getting there. A little more adjusting to do, but I ran out of time for the day. 
 

oh I did not know that about the guns. That’s really really helpful. Thank you @KurtH!

 

I wonder, should the guns be mounted higher - giving them an ability to shoot higher - or lower - an ability to angle downwards more? Obviously these are not shooting, but I’m quite curious as to what would be realistic. 

Edited July 29 by Avi

[KurtH]

Guns were always mounted higher.  The trunnions were always located below the midway point between the upper side and the underside of the barrel.  If you look at the guns on page 83 of the Marquardt AOTS you can see what I am talking about.

[Avi]

Yup I see it. Thank you

[KurtH]

You may already be aware of this, but just in case - the rope sizes given in the BJ instruction manual are circumference, while the ones on most packages and spools of rope are diameter.  I did not catch that, and as a result the rigging of the 24 pounders on my model are way out of scale.  I ended up doing the math and writing the correct size into the instructions for all the lines.

[Avi]

I probably am months away from installing guns, but thank you again. Very helpful indeed. 
 

the Mr Metal showed up, so time to figure out how to use it. I understand it’s got quite the fumes, so outdoors only. Unfortunately August here is brutally hot and humid, so maybe I’ll get up early one morning. 
 

My understanding is:

 

1. wash the metal (guns) with soap and water and dry them

2. apply a coat of Mr Metal and let dry

3. apply regular primer and let dry

4. usual two coats of paint

 

is that correct? Or does Mr Metal function as a primer, and I don’t need step 3?

[KurtH]

I went on line and found Mr. Metal primer, Mr. Metal paint, and Mr. Metal polish.  If yours says Mr. Metal primer, then I would assume that you leave out step 3.

[Avi]

Haha! You’re right, I’d forgotten that it’s called “Mr metal primer”. Hopefully I’ll find an early morning this week to do the guns. 

[Avi]

Getting ready to do some painting. I’m not dealing with spardeck guns for now, just the gundeck long guns. I won’t really need them painted for months, but I might as well prime and paint and construct them, so I can use them for measurements. 
 

I opened the bag with the gundeck lids a while ago to measure the gunports, so might as well prime and paint them too. 
 

As far as I can tell, between my pics from the ship and the guide:

 

- cannons black

- wheels black

- truck carriages red (sort of, kind of a wine red?)

 

The gunport lids are listed in the guide as white interior (which makes sense, keep it as light as possible inside when closed), exterior not listed. I could do black, or white to keep with the stripe on the ship. My pictures from the real ship show a *black* interior, and exterior split 50/50: upper half white, lower half black. I’m thinking just white interior and exterior, so it aligns with the stripe when closed, and shows light when opened. Of course, mine will be fixed in place, but might as well get it right. 
 

Also, I cannot figure out how many long guns on the gundeck. There are 16 ports to a side, and there are 32 cannon provided, but the guide at times suggests 30 on gundeck, although this may just be historical information. 
 

If I mount 32 on the gundeck, I only have the 24 carronades for the spardeck. 
 

Counted the ports again. There are 16 per side (including the bridle port). There are 12 on the spardeck (plus the opening to the head, I don’t think that counts). AotS shows 22 carronades on the spardeck and 2 long guns. 
 

Confusing. 
 

EDIT: I just remembered, I bought a bottle of the BlueJacket Pewter Black toner a while ago. Would that be better (for the cannon and wheels) than prime+paint? It looks like it is 10:1 water:toner, is that right? What are your thoughts @MrBlueJacket?

Edited August 25 by Avi

[KurtH]

I found that when I constructed the stern the oversized metal quarter gallery components forced me to sacrifice the aft most gun port on both sides, so I ended up with 30 guns on the gun deck instead of 32.  I understand that a couple of long guns were installed as "shifting gunnades" on the forcastle at various times during Constitution's career.  You might want to use the extra guns for that if you run into the same problem that I did.  I used MS gun bulwarks carriage red for my model which I thought matched the color I saw on the real ship quite well.

Edited August 26 by KurtH

[Avi]

Thanks @KurtH maybe I will hold on the aft most gundeck long guns until I see what happens elsewhere. 
 

for the colours, I spent a lot of time in the first few months matching up various colours. I couldn’t tell you now why Vallejo flat red was right, but I trust my work from back then. Of course, I looked back at those notes over the weekend, and the list shows that that was the one paint that was out of stock then and “don’t forget to buy it.” Oops. 😂 

 

Apparently, I was missing matte varnish too. I just put it in an order, along with lacquer thinner for the Mr Metal, and a few other things. 
 

now to wait until someone (Nic? 😉) tells me how if the toner would work for the guns and how to use it. 

Edited August 26 by Avi

[MrBlueJacket]

On 8/25/2024 at 4:16 AM, Avi said:

EDIT: I just remembered, I bought a bottle of the BlueJacket Pewter Black toner a while ago. Would that be better (for the cannon and wheels) than prime+paint? It looks like it is 10:1 water:toner, is that right? What are your thoughts @MrBlueJacket?

Yes, the toner works great 10:1 is recommended, but it can be stronger or weaker, it just changes how long it takes. After rinsing and drying, a coat of flat clear will preserve the finish. It is kinda like rust, in that it can rub off with handling.

[Avi]

Hi @MrBlueJacket 👋 

 

Rinsing and drying? So what do I do? Create a 10:1 solution, dunk the cannon in there and leave for 5 mins, then take them out and rinse them and dry them gently with paper towel? 
 

I didn’t expect to rinse; with paint and primer and such, you wait for it to dry, not rinse it. 
 

I have read of people using matte varnish after applying blackener. If I like the toning results, I’ll do that. I’ve got a shipment of matte varnish due any day. 

Edited August 26 by Avi

[MrBlueJacket]

3 hours ago, Avi said:

Hi @MrBlueJacket 👋 

 

Rinsing and drying? So what do I do? Create a 10:1 solution, dunk the cannon in there and leave for 5 mins, then take them out and rinse them and dry them gently with paper towel? 
 

 

Exactly. You have to remove any solution, then of course dry them.

 

Nic

[Avi]

I set up a 10:1 water:toner mix, and then soaked the cannon for five mins. And then 3 more. And then 2 more. Finally took them out, rinsed well and patted dry. 
 

Here’s a picture, with the to-be-toned wheels next to them, for before/after contrast. 
 

I have matte varnish to protect them. However, I’m not sure if they’re black enough. I’m trying to decide if I should put a single layer of black paint on them first. 

[MrBlueJacket]

I think they look fine.

[Avi]

17 minutes ago, MrBlueJacket said:

I think they look fine.

Thanks Nic. Just some varnish and good to go?

[MrBlueJacket]

YUP

[Avi]

Are the current guns blacker? Or is that a modern change?

 

from my visit there a few years back. 

[Avi]

I’m not sure what your thumbs up means @ERS Rich? That it’s fine the way it is, or that the guns do look blacker on the real ship, or that it’s a modern thing?

[ERS Rich]

Hi Avi,

 

Thumbs up for the pics and the conversation.

 

I just make my models the way I want without too much concern for historical accuracy, other than the general appearance, and following the given plans.  My view is scale and finish are more important than the what kind of toilet seat is in the head, the shape of the urinal bowls, or what kind of Eagle is on a paper flag.  To each his own, you know, whatever floats your boat.

 

As for the Constitution cannon, or anything, I go with what looks good to me, and easiest to make.  I’ve tried the blackening solutions and for me, there are too many steps involved, plus dealing with the solution, and the waste.  That’s just me.  Certainly others like the blacking solutions, and that’s ok.
 

Here are the cannon for my rendition of the Hermione Lafayette.  The picture shows the cannon, the carriages are one piece castings.  The unfinished figurehead is there as well.  Artisania makes the castings with a white metal.

 

The castings were primed with Mr Metal, the barrels were airbrushed with Vallejo black, then a dry-brush of aluminum to highlight the crown near the touchhole.  The wheels were brush painted.

Thanks,

 

-Rich

 

Edited September 4 by ERS Rich

[Avi]

Good philosophy, @ERS Rich thanks. 😃 

[JSGerson]

Quote

I just make my models the way I want without too much concern for historical accuracy, other than the general appearance, and following the given plans.  My view is scale and finish are more important than the what kind of toilet seat is in the head, the shape of the urinal bowls, or what kind of Eagle is on a paper flag.  To each his own, you know, whatever floats your boat.

Rich, that is the difference between a model (what you are making) and a reconstruction which matches every little detail to the real thing. Mine is a model, based on the recent 2015-17 restoration, with elements of 1812 and 1927 configurations. We are the ship builders and captains and the resulting product is as much a part of ourselves as it is of the original builders and subsequent restorers of the actual ship. 

 

Enjoying yours and Avi's logs

 

Jon

[MrBlueJacket]

To my eyes, Avi's pix of the real cannon look very dark gray as opposed to flat black. Then there is the "scale effect" of distance, which means the further away you are, the more washed out colors become. People looking at your model from 2 feet away is like looking at the real thing from 20 feet away.

 

Nic

[Avi]

I actually called the museum to ask. My wife is laughing at me right now. 😂 It won’t change much, but once we are discussing it, I want to know. No matter what I do. 
 

The people at the museum thought it was more black. But they suggested I call Margherita Desy, historian at Historical Command and ask her. She wasn’t in, but I left a message. 
 

As for my ship? I’ll probably leave it. Looks good enough, too much of a headache to paint it too. Maybe I’ll do one set of wheels just to see. Once installed, you cannot tell if one of those is different without a microscope. 

Edited September 6 by Avi

[Avi]

I painted one set of wheels black. On the gundeck, no one can see if one set of wheels is a little darker than the rest, unlike cannon. It looked good, but not enough of a difference. So I left the rest of the wheels and the cannons, and varnished the whole thing. Waiting for a few things to dry, and hopefully next week construct a few cannon. Then I can use those to measure out my gundeck planking height. 

[ERS Rich]

7 hours ago, JSGerson said:

Rich, that is the difference between a model (what you are making) and a reconstruction

Hi Jon,

 

Yes, the difference is understood and fully agree, to each his own.  A “reconstruction” is also a model.

 

In my world, I operate a shipyard.  It mirrors the 18 months, I spent in 
Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, onboard the USS California, performing a complex overhaul of the reactors and power plant.

 

The real yard fabricated many things, and relied on suppliers for others.  The point of the yard is to produce many ships in a timely manner, the point of my yard is to produce models, also in a timely manner.

 

Some want to spend a long time on one model, or reconstruction, my view is to increase the skill level one must build many ships.

 

Thanks

 

 

 

 

 

[Avi]

@ERS Rich what is that plastic container you’ve got the cannons in, for protection until you’re ready to install on deck?

[ERS Rich]

Hi Avi,

 

That’s just the tray that held the fittings, it came with the kit.

 

I apologize if my rants polluted your log, have a good weekend.

 

-Rich

[Avi]

That’s a rant? Clearly you haven’t spent time on social media and made a political point in the last few years! 😂 

 

I am privileged to have your input, keep it coming.