USS Constitution by Avi - BlueJacket Shipcrafters - 1:96

[JSGerson]

Take a look at Jfinan's BJ build starting at Post 60, to help clarify the gratings for you.

 

Jon

Edited March 2 by JSGerson

[Avi]

Do you see description on a specific post there @JSGerson? I couldn’t find anything. On the other hand, the discussion about shot for the lockers will be very helpful.

[Avi]

There is some description of the gratings and pictures from @KurtH here post #5. Kurt, I didn’t quite understand what the “brass ones with holes are” and what you ordered of walnut?

[KurtH]

Gratings consist of strips of wood interlocking together leaving square spaces between them.  The PE gratings provided by BJ had round spaces instead of square ones.  I ordered grating strips from Model Expo which fit together egg crate style, similar to the cherry ones now offered (#MS0332), but larger.  There is a photo in the post to which you refer which shows one of the strips, and and assembled grating.  These are out of scale, and if I had it to do over, I would have stuck with the PE ones even though they do not really look like grating.  I believe that I still have those PE gratings.  If you like, I can photograph them and post them, but I believe you have these, and can see for yourself that the spaces are round instead of square.

[Avi]

Hi Kurt. That explanation helped. I see what you’re referring to now in your post. 
 

I’m not sure I know what the PE gratings are. Are they squares, ready to place? Those strips in the picture I posted, that need to be combined?

 

BJ has two different wooden gratings on their website, this and this. But that’s clearly not what’s in the kit. 

Edited March 3 by Avi

[KurtH]

I did a scan of the grates provided by BJ in my kit.

You can see why I say they have round holes to represent the spaces between the battens.  They should be square, but they are closer to being in scale than the strips I used.  As I said, If I had to do it over, I would use these.  The brass PE parts in your picture do not look familiar to me.  Perhaps the kit has been updated since I bought mine.

Edited March 3 by KurtH

[Avi]

That’s really helpful, thank you. I didn’t see anything like that, but I’ll do another detailed search later today. 

[KurtH]

Actually, if you took those parts out of their bag, laid them out and photographed them, they might look familiar to me after all.  I am sure Nic would be glad to help you out.  He is always so helpful.

[Avi]

Aha! I’d missed the sheet of PE parts when I searched earlier. I’d forgotten that they were stored in a different container. I imagine if I’d been looking for something obviously larger, like the transom, I would have realized immediately there was somewhere I didn’t look. Thanks Kurt. 
 

[Avi]

As far as I can tell, 3 of the gratings are intended for the gundeck, 3 for the spardeck, plus the big triangle shaped one for just behind the bowsprit. I’ll attach a picture of them on the deck but not attached (and no coamings yet; that’s next). 
 

The painting guide says, “gundeck hatch coamings - white - sides white; tops natural wood.” That’s easy enough once I construct them. 
 

But then, “wood gratings - natural wood - valspar varnish.”  Needless to say, the gratings are not wood, but are photo etched brass. 
 

so do I leave them brass? Paint them something that looks like it might be wood?

[Avi]

Might as well make the coamings in the meantime. Or try. 😁 

 

The grating is ¾” square, the coaming wood is 1/16”, so the whole thing is 7/8” square. I cut strips 7/8” long, then used the mitre box to cut 45’ angle on each end, and sanded where necessary. 
 

the question now is how to connect them. The wood is too narrow for a pin - it probably would split it - so glue is the usual fallback. Unfortunately, the tiny surface of the attachment angles means it doesn’t have a lot to hold onto, and the long relative length of the attached pieces puts too much torque. 
 

I suspect, although am unsure, that if I could do all four pieces at once, they would support each other, but I don’t quite know how I would do that. 
 

I might try painting the sides white and varnishing the top, and then gluing them together and to the deck. The deck should provide plenty of surface. 

Edited yesterday at 06:43 PM by Avi

[JSGerson]

You might try pasting a narrow piece of paper across the joint on the bottom side of the frame to act as reinforcing holding the frame ridged. Once the grid is fastened to the frame and attached to the deck, the frame will be permanently supported.

 

I had a thought about painting the hatch comings. In my limited experience, paint tends to slide as it is being brushed to smooth metal surfaces. Try blackening the brass a bit to add a bit of surface roughness for the paint adhere. This way you can add thin light coats of wood colored paint, and not clog up the grid openings. I've never tried this before; it's just a thought.

 

Jon

[Avi]

Those are two good ideas. I thought about a spare piece of plank across the corners. Those are pretty thin, but I think still thick enough that they would make it not flush to the deck. Paper, however, would be great. For those hatches that have gratings, I can make it a little wider, so it also would provide corner support for the gratings. Another alternative is cross supports. I can use spare plank and literally cut across the middle to middle, for those that have gratings. But I like the corner idea. I can do it for all of them. 
 

I don’t think I bought wood coloured paint. The blackening is a good idea. So what did you do in the end? Just leave it shiny brass?

[Avi]

Oh even better! I can use a whole piece of paper and glue the coaming pieces to it. Then what it all dries, just cut out the middle. 

[JSGerson]

Like I original mentioned, I've never tried blackening brass to enhance the painting process, so I would do a test on a piece of scrap metal.

 

Glad to be of help

 

Jon