USS Constitution by Avi - BlueJacket Shipcrafters - 1:96

[Avi]

Glued the trucks to the carriages, picture below. I’ll glue on the cannon piece next. There’s a picture below with a single without the cannon piece and with it on top (but not glued into place yet). 
 

I took the picture on top of the manual. It says (section in the picture) that it’s really hard to secure them onto the gundeck after planking the spardeck (which makes sense), so it recommends drilling a #75 hole through the carriages and pinning them to the gundeck, in addition to gluing (of course). 
 

I can see how that makes sense. The only contact surface between the cannon and deck is the four points of the wheels, which are minimal. What I do not understand is where on the carriage they are recommending the drilled hole and pin.  🤷‍♂️ 

 

I am missing  one truck (set of wheels). I couldn’t honestly tell if it was missing from the set, or I lost it along the way. Either way, I’m not bothering to order just one. I’ll construct something close from wood stock (I’ve lots of planking, including wales), paint it grey/black, and put it on one of the cannon which is not as visible. 

[Avi]

Margherita at the Navy Historical Command responded to me. Here is her response:

 

I am receipt of your message from last Thursday concerning USS Constitution’s guns and the “color” of the barrels.

 

I’m not certain where your group received information that the gun tubes may have been grey in color, but that is incorrect.  The barrels/tubes were black in the era of the War of 1812 and they are black today.

 

In fact, the term for the protective surface coating applied to gun tubes was “blacking” the guns.  You can find a list of ingredients and instructions of how ‘blacking’ was made and applied in Marshall’s Practical Marine Gunnery…In the Gunner’s Department, in the Navy of the United States by George Marshall, 1822: https://books.google.com/books?id=lHcNBLcgVSQC&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=Marshall's%20Practical%20Marine%20Gunnery&pg=PR5#v=onepage&q=Marshall's%20Practical%20Marine%20Gunnery&f=false – look at pages 94-95 for the information.

 

I trust this information is of use to you and your fellow modelers.  Good luck with your projects!

[MrBlueJacket]

So photos can be deceiving. If the real guns were blackened, then I'd say your blackening would be accurate.

 

Nic

[JSGerson]

For those who did not take` the time to read this vintage text, I copied the section in modern font for your convenance:

Composition for Blacking Guns

	lbs.		lbs.
Black lead	20	Red lead	10
Lampblack	14	Linseed oil	18 gals.

DIRECTIONS:

First the above mentioned articles must be ground very fine with boiled oil.

PROCESS

Boil the oil sufficiently until every appearance of froth subsides – the best way is to have two iron pots, dividing the oil in each pot, put the black lead in the boiled oil, and boil it half an hour. The 10lbs. of red lead must be put in the other pot, after the oil is put on the fire and boiled half an hour; after which, put the lampblack to the red lead and boil them together half an hour. – The two pots must be put by until nearly cold, when by the means of an iron ladle the ingredients must be shifted from one pot to the other, until they are naturally well mixed.

CAUTION.

Great care must be taken during the time the liquor is preparing to prevent its boiling over, and in particular to keep stirring the ingredients during the time of boiling.

 

Marshall’s Practical Marine Gunnery CONTAINING A VIEW OF THE Magnitude, Weight, Description & Use, OF EVERY ARTICLE USED IN THE SEJ GUNNER'S DEPARTMENT, IN THE NAVY OF THE UNITED STATES., 1822, p94-95

[Avi]

I don’t think I’ll be doing historically accurate paint, then. We can stick with the blackening toner or acrylic paint. 😂 

 

Any thoughts on the pins, @MrBlueJacket ?

[GGibson]

1 hour ago, JSGerson said:

 

PROCESS

Boil the oil sufficiently until every appearance of froth subsides – the best way is to have two iron pots, dividing the oil in each pot, put the black lead in the boiled oil, and boil it half an hour. The 10lbs. of red lead must be put in the other pot, after the oil is put on the fire and boiled half an hour; after which, put the lampblack to the red lead and boil them together half an hour. – The two pots must be put by until nearly cold, when by the means of an iron ladle the ingredients must be shifted from one pot to the other, until they are naturally well mixed.

 

 

59 minutes ago, Avi said:

I don’t think I’ll be doing historically accurate paint, then. We can stick with the blackening toner or acrylic paint. 😂 

 

I think I'm going to need bigger pots!!!  🤣🤣🤣  And my wife thought my homebrew kettles back in the day were stinky! 

 

As usual, Jon brings the historical receipts! 👍🏆

[Avi]

Anyone understand about the pins through the carriages? @MrBlueJacket perhaps?

[MrBlueJacket]

50 minutes ago, Avi said:

Anyone understand about the pins through the carriages? @MrBlueJacket perhaps?

The pins would be used to help fasten the carriages to the deck. The most logical placement would be through the crossbar at the rear, below where the quoin goes.

 

Nic

 

PS - The quoin is a wedge shaped piece with a handle, used to fine adjust the angle of the cannon.

Edited September 18 by MrBlueJacket

[Avi]

The quoin is permanently attached to the carriage, single piece of metal. Do you mean to the right or left of it?

 

See the pic, here?

[MrBlueJacket]

1 hour ago, Avi said:

The quoin is permanently attached to the carriage, single piece of metal. Do you mean to the right or left of it?

 

See the pic, here?

No, just through the center would work.

 

Nic

[Avi]

So before mounting the cannon, drill a hole through the quoin and crossbar? Or did you mean just on the bottom, ie not all the way through? And then the pin can be put in after cannon is mounted, wedged between bottom of cannon and into the deck? So if deck to crossbar is, eg 1cm, then drill a ¼ cm hole in deck and bottom of crossbar, and put pin in?

[Avi]

I’m drilling the holes in now, before I mount the cannon barrels, as it is easier. 
 

It did occur to me that a better solution than pins may be a small strip of wood. You cannot visually see the gap between the bottom of the rear truck (axle) and the deck. I can cut some wood stock to the right thickness and same width as the axle, paint it same colour as the truck, and glue it in place there. That would give a much larger surface of attachment. 
 

In the meantime, drilling holes to leave options open for later. 

[MrBlueJacket]

The answer is yes to all options.  There is usually more than one way to achieve a goal.

 

Nic