USS Constitution by Avi - BlueJacket Shipcrafters - 1:96

[Avi]

Now that it is in a cradle, I decided to readdress the waterline marking. I will need to do this several times, since I am marking it now, in order to align and cut the gun ports properly, but also again after I prime and paint the hull. Might as well get it done though.

 

There are two challenges here:

1. Get the elevation of the hull correct. Since the waterline at the bows is 20'0" (at scale, 2.50"), and at the stern it is 22'0" (at scale, 2.75"), I need to tilt the bows up to make them both parallel.
2. Create a mount that can hold my marker (a pencil) at precisely the right height).

My process:

1. Use the profile template to mark the waterline at the bows and stern. Interestingly, at the bows it was right at the bottom edge of the rabbet for holding planks in the knee (is that part still considered the knee?). That made sense. In the stern, it was about midway through the height of the rabbet in the sternpost. I measured it at least 4 or 5 times, so I am comfortable with it, but it is odd.
2. Create a harness such that the point of the pencil is precisely at the waterline marking at the stern.
3. Use different pieces of scrap wood at different locations until the pencil in the harness is at the waterline mark in the bows.
4. Move the harness all around until I have a waterline marked. Do this lightly, so pressure doesn't bend or tilt it. It thus required several runs.

For elevation, the remaining length of keel after it was shortened to fit the hull length was perfect. It is ¼"x3/16". I placed it just behind the forward supports in the cradle.

 

 

For the harness, I tried many different things - different mugs, spices, peanut butter case (my friend the doctor has a new company of fabulous peanut butter called "Holy Butter"; the interesting marketing opportunities when you are selling from the holy land 🙂 ), cans, you name it. In the end, it worked perfectly with a ginger container, on top of which I placed the rudder (yes, I could have used any scrap of 3/16" thickness, and will for the next time, but the rudder was right there), then the pencil, and taped it.

 

Everyday kitchen appliances for detailed woodwork. I feel like MacGyver!

 

 

 

Edited June 14, 2021 by Avi

[Avi]

Next step: shaping the bulwarks. Unfortunately, the instructions are *really* weak on this, lots of confusion. One piece that stands out to me is that it says the bulwarks are 21” to 22” thick, thinning down to 15” at the caprail. This is the key shaping directive, but the rate of narrowing and where it starts is unclear. Is it 21-22” thick at the foot of the gundeck and thins evenly to 15” at the caprail? Does it stay 21-22” thick until the spardeck and then thin? Somewhere in between?

 

the other confusing part is how it “leans”. The photos show an inward slope such that the top of the bulwarks at the caprail overhang the bottom at the gundeck by 3/8”. If you combine that with the confusion above, it isn’t clear how it all comes together. It appears to be a slope on the inside such that it is 3/8” overhang, and a steeper slope on the outside such that you have the slope compounded by the thinning of the bulwarks (wherever it is that they start thinning).

 

it also isn’t clear to me where the material should be removed. Assuming the bulwarks to be 15” thick at the caprail, which translates to 5/32”, do you trim the excess from the inside at the caprail, and then further carve in below it to get the inward slope to an overhang of 3/8”? Or do you carve from the current inboard to get the 3/8”, and then remove sufficient material from the outside to trim it down to 5/32” thickness? I assume the former, since we did a lot of work to shape the outside of the hull to the templates,

but it isn’t totally clear to me. 

 

I’m hopeful a closer examination of the plans will yield more insights. 

Edited June 14, 2021 by Avi

[KurtH]

  Nice smooth looking hull shape.  Page 75 of the Marquardt AOS has cross section views which give a good idea as to how the frames are tapered.  Also, looking at the bulkheads on the Connie by MS builds can give a clue as well.

Edited June 18, 2021 by KHauptfuehrer

[Avi]

Thanks @KHauptfuehrer I’ve got Marquadt and will check it out. 
 

I’ll also see if I can find some MS builds here 

[Avi]

There is little doubt that I will have to modify. I measured the thickness of the hull (really the bulwarks) at the very top (caprail), and then at the bottom of the gundeck.

• caprail: 15" thick in reality, scaled at 1:96 is 5/32", which is a little more than ⅛". I have plenty of room to trim down to that. Should be ok.
• gundeck: 21-22" thick in reality, let's call it 21" (easier to scale) at 1:96 is 7/32". Add the 3/8" (= 12/32") overhang, and it needs to be at least 19/32" thick, or a little more than ½". Even then the remainder - 7.32", or just under ¼", will be quite than (and perhaps brittle).

And there's the rub. Other than right amidships - templates C through 17 (depending on the side, maybe a little more towards the bows at L or towards the stern at 23 - there just isn't that much material left. At two spots, it actually is exactly 3/8"!

 

It is possible I shaved down too much (obviously, it didn't seem like it at the time), but that is neither here nor there. I need a solution as to how I am going to continue to get the right shape. 

 

One possibility is to have <3/8" overhang, say half of that at 3/16". That would make the minimum thickness required to be 13/32", which I have everywhere (except at the very bows, but they curve forward and thicken that way).

 

A little bit stumped.

[Avi]

I’m also becoming aware of what @KHauptfuehrer wrote about the gun ports not quite lining up. They’re distinctly different locations in Marquardt vs the blueprints provided with the model. I’m still measuring the locations of them on the profile vs the top down views on the blueprint. 
 

in any case, Marquardt vs blueprints? 🤷‍♂️  

[KurtH]

Heads up.  The locations and measurements of the spar deck gunports for carronades shown on the elevation and on the deck plan do not match.  Not realizing this, I went from one to the other as I was marking out the ports.  As a result mine are in the wrong places.  Also check to see if your hull is exactly symmetrical.  If, like mine, it is not, the gunports on the starboard and port sides will not be opposite each other.  That can wreak havoc when you install the spar deck beams.  I recommend that you measure the distance between the stern and the stem on both sides to be sure they match if you have not done so already.  I found I had to leave the hull asymmetrical, so as to avoid sanding through the starboard gunwales completely.

Edited June 21, 2021 by KHauptfuehrer

[Avi]

Thanks for the warning @KHauptfuehrer

 

I am unsure what you mean by “stem to stern on both sides”; isn’t the stem in the middle?

 

also, how did trying to fix it mean you would have sanded through the gunwales?

[Avi]

I sat with the blueprints and a long metal ruler, placed it along the edge of the larboard and matching starboard gunports on the deck plan, and saw where it lined up on the profile. For the spar deck, it was just right. For the gundeck, all were just right except the bridle ports up near the bows, which probably is an artifact of the curvature (or missing) on the profile. I think you may just have gotten unlucky with a bad printing of theirs, Kurt, or they heard your criticisms and fixed it in future printing.

 

That also answers how I will do the gunport locations: with both profile and deck plans matching, I will stick with those over the slightly different Marquardt.

 

In terms of symmetry, I wasn't totally sure what you meant, so I measured at the top (i.e. where the caprail would be) from the very bows of the ship (edge of where the bowsprit will go) to the sternmost part of the bulwarks on both starboard and larboard sides. Both came out to precisely 60cm. which looks fine to my inexperienced eye.

 

Now if only I could figure out carving the interior of the bulwarks.

[KurtH]

Looks like you are good to go.

[Avi]

For that part yeah. For the bulwark width, still a little stumped. 

[Avi]

While I await a marking gauge so I can get the bulwarks the right width, I decided to tackle marking the gun ports, starting with the gundeck.

 

I definitely do not want to cut them out before finishing the bulwarks. It is much easier to shape them and send them when they are a single surface than when they are interrupted by holes (the ports) every ½" or so.

 

In theory, the gunports should be easy: they are all the same sizes (3/8" x 3/8") and are the exact same height above the gundeck at ¼".

 

 

In practice, it isn't quite that easy, since the gundeck itself curves upwards as you go from amidships to the bow or stern.

 

If I had the gundeck marked precisely on the outside of the hull, then it would be easier, but that just defers the problem of getting the gundeck marked properly. I may yet do that, but the technique and effort for marking the gundeck is the same as the gunports, so might as well do it once.

 

I did the following:

1. Took an extra copy of the blueprints and cut out the spardeck and gundeck plans 
2. Laid the gundeck plan on top of the hull, sure to align the (X) midship marking 
3. For each gunport, measure from the bottom of the gunport to the waterline, which *is* marked on the outside of the hull
4. Transfer that height to the hull, placing it roughly underneath the location of the gunport in the gundeck plan, which (from before), is sitting on top of the hull. Be extra careful as the waterline is straight, and the ports, while each one is straight, do angle slightly one from the other as you get further from the midship point
5. Made another small copy of part of the hull profile, to get just a few gunports
6. Measure them until I find one that is exactly the desired 3/8" x 3/8". The best one turned out to be just forward of the midship line
7. Cut it out precisely
8. Glue it onto a piece of scrap wood 
9. Hold it onto the hull: bottom aligned with the marking from the height-from-waterline measurement, left and right (technically, aft and fore or reversed, depending on sides) aligned with the edges of the gunport in the template on the hull
10. Trace the outline. You have a gunport!
11. Repeat for all of the gunports on the gundeck

 

 

In practice, I would do one thing differently if I had to do it again (and I may yet): trace the outline from the paper onto something stiffer, like Bristol board. It makes it much easier to trace the outlines.

Edited June 27, 2021 by Avi

[Avi]

Finally got my marking gauge, after being away on vacation for a while, so back on the game. 
 

I set it to ⅛”, and away it marks. I need to figure out how thick to make the bulwarks at the bows. The port and starboard side are fine at that thickness, still figuring out the bows. 

[Avi]

No pictures today. Took about 5 mins with that gauge to get a nice ⅛" all the way around.

 

Based on the excellent build log by @ERS Rich, notably these pictures, as well as actual pictures from the ship in Boston, the caprail at the bows is about the same thickness as around the rest of the ship. The rest of the "walls" - bulwarks, gunwale, etc. - at the bows are TBD, but appear to be roughly similar to the rest: either consistent thickness, or thickening some as it goes down, especially below the spardeck.

 

I used a combination of chisels and gouges to dig off much of the material around the sides. Unfortunately, these are rather crude tools, so I am left with a lot of material. I have been sanding it down slowly but surely, combination of a sanding block (I really like this one), sanding contours, and files. I have been tempted to use a power hand sander, but really worry about doing something very difficult to fix. The port and starboard sides are getting there, slowly, from forward to aft. The bows will be difficult due to: the sheer thickness of the material left there from the original hull as shipped by BlueJacket, the port to starboard curve, and the inward curve as you go down from the caprail. I will tackle that part last.

[ERS Rich]

Hi Avi,

 

Thanks for the mention.  Read through your log, and I’m going to follow along with interest.

 

Like the way you are using templates and pencil lines.

 

Hope you don’t mind a couple of thoughts.

 

Noticed the mention of chisels and gouges in the last post.  How is it going with “sharpness”?  Are you able to get a razor sharp edge on your tools?

 

When I first started out it took me a while to realize that I had to learn how to sharpen my tools.  Sharp tools make life a whole lot easier.  Saves a sore wrist from sanding as well.

 

Regarding the bulwarks.  Mini planes are a big help.  Lee Valley tools offers a collection of mini tools including the edge plane, on the left in the photo below.  On the right is a bull nose plane.  
 

It looks like the project is going well, best of luck and may your problems be small!
 

[Avi]

You know, @ERS Rich, I didn’t check the sharpness, but you’re probably right. All of the tools are new and could use a sharpening. 
 

The mini plane is a fabulous idea. I could chisel or gouge all of the way from bow to stern, but that would be slow and painful, and need a lot more sanding. 
 

thanks for the great ideas and help!

[ERS Rich]

Checkout this video from Lie-Neilson Tools up in Maine….  
 

Chisel Sharpening

Edited August 27, 2021 by ERS Rich

[Avi]

@ERS Rich the planes were a good idea. Almost. 
 

I spent quite some time trying to figure out why the mini block plane wouldn’t cut. Eventually I called their excellent support in Canada, who spent an hour on the phone with me. Eventually we realized that my tool was defective. The screw that holds the cap iron in place is supposed to be in a slot, so the cap iron can slide backwards and forwards to adjust it, which puts the right pressure on the blade at the right place to get a cutting angle. Mine is a single screw hole, so it cannot adjust and will not cut. 
 

Support guy had me remove the cap iron entirely and hold the blade down by hand from on top. Lo and behold, is shaved wood like a charm. 
 

My local retailer is going to check it and get back to me. Veritas support even offered my retailer to call him if needed. Those veritas tools are not cheap, but the company does stand behind them. 
 

Attached the picture of my plane, and the one from veritas site. 
 

[ERS Rich]

Hi Avi,

 

Wow, my heart sank when reading the beginning of your post. So sure glad that it worked out.  Yes, there is a subtle, but after noticing, an obvious difference between the catalog picture and what was delivered.

 

Forgive me if this is repetitive, but I love plank tapering and block shaping, with the plane in a vice, learned that technique from the late Phil Lowe, Master Furniture and Cabinet Maker and founder of the Furniture Institute of Massachusetts. 
 

Happy Labor Day!

 

[Avi]

I like the idea of holding it in a vise. And I have the perfect one for when I need to shape other things than the hull. 
 

for now, the shoulder plane (albeit too narrow compared to the block plane) is shaving nicely, I got a lot off. It will require more sanding to smooth it out, but it did a nice job. 

[Avi]

Sorry to be a bit slow in posting. 

 

The Veritas importer replaced the block plane, new one works just fine. It doesn't work on the entire hull - anywhere there is an inwards curve, i.e. concave, it cannot get to the surface. But for most of the bulwarks, a combination of the mini block plane and mini shoulder plane has worked. I pretty much am at the limit of what those can do, am going to break out the chisel and gouges. They will handle both the very aft of the bulwarks, where they meet the slight raising of the hull where the counter will go on the outside (per the instructions); as it is both raised (so the plane cannot get closer than about 1cm to it) and curved inwards, and the bows, where gouging is pretty much the only way to remove all of that word on that double curve (port and starboard towards the very bow, and inwards from caprail to gundeck.

 

Fortunately, I had the Veritas tool vendor throw some of those sharpening paddles - plastic paddles with diamond "sandpaper" (not sure what they actually are called) and Arkansas stones of various shapes into the delivery package, so I should be able to sharpen them correctly. And hopefully avoid my fingers this time. 🙂 

 

Some pictures will be forthcoming once I make more progress.

[Avi]

Not quite done with shaping yet. It’s been a long haul of back and forth between block plane, shoulder plane, sander, chisel and gouge over and over again. I’m almost at the point where the bulwarks are the correct thickness and 90 degree vertical from the aft end of the bow curve all the way to the stern. Almost. 
 

It needs a few more runs of all of those tools. 
 

Then I need to return to the bows, which is harder to do both because of the curvature towards the bow, as well as the inwards curve on the vertical from the caprail in towards the gundeck. My current calipers (digital pair, in one of the other posts) is not one of those pincer shaped ones, so it doesn’t help here. I’ll pick up a proper simple outside calipers like that next week. 
 

Speaking of the bows, there was an enormous amount of material to remove inboard. I started by gouge and chisel, realized it was absurd, so I broke out the dremel with sanding drum. 10 mins of dremel saved me many hours of hand effort and frustration. 
 

Speaking of frustration, there have been spots in the wood where the texture got harder or, well, grittier. For the harder, it become very difficult to sand those down, leaving a pronounced ridge line. I used a gouge, cut through all the way down, then sanded smooth. For the grittier parts, it was just strange, the plane would get stuck, felt like a car going over gravel that’s too thick, bump bump crunch. Just lots of gouging and sanding for those spots. 
 

Once all of that is done, I need to get the inwards angle for the gundeck. 
 

My plan is to use my marking gauge to mark the bottom of the spardeck (or more likely the midpoint of the deck itself, between bottom of spardeck and top of gundeck), and then use a combination of gouge, chisel, sanding block/contour sanders, and planes and cut on an inwards angle. 
 

Attaching one picture for the current state. 

Edited October 10, 2021 by Avi

[Jerry Berenson]

Hi Avi, I sporadically go on modelshipworld and enjoy the blogs especially yours. You did mention at one time about what cements were best to use. On my Constitution build I use Elmer’s glue -all extra strong formula as well as CA (krazy glue). I buy both on Amazon especially the CA in a10 pack. I have a lot of respect for those model builders who did not have CA cements in their arsenal. Reducing the thickness of the bulwarks as you are doing is vital. I made the mistake of not thinning them down sufficiently and not allowing some of the cannons on the gun deck to protrude enough. All in all I am having a great time building the Constitution and am privileged enough to live near Boston where I can see the actual ship. I am approaching a year into my build and have enclosed a photo of it along with a couple of others of the actual ship. Do not hesitate to contact me at jerrybdds@comcast.net if I can help you out with any advise about the pitfalls and successes I have had while building it. שלומ Jerry

[Avi]

@Jerry Berenson she’s a real beaut! You’re only a year in? I find that progress amazing. 
 

Yeah I’m spending a _lot_ of time thinning those bulwarks. I used chisel and plane where I could, but I’m finally at the point where it just needs to be hand sanded. The most surprising part is some of the harder “striations” (for lack of a better term in my limited knowledge), where the wood doesn’t want to wear down under the sandpaper. It’s been a long haul. I’m close. 
 

after that I still need to finish the bows - my recently acquired external calipers show about ¼” when I need to get then down to closer to ⅛” - and then getting that inward curve. 
 

I even could live with having sanded down a bit too much, as a thicker layer of wood glue, or thick CA, could smooth it out. But if I don’t get it thin enough then I’ll have the issue you raised; and if it is not smooth and uniform enough, it’ll make attaching the planks very challenging. 
 

[Jerry Berenson]

I resorted to using a Dremel carefully to reduce the inside of the hull. Thanks for the compliment but as I stated previously, I am a recently fully retired dentist with lots of time to work on the ship. Enjoy ! Jerry

[Avi]

Dentist? Funny, every time I use the dremel I think of my dentist! 😂 

[Avi]

It turned out to be a great idea. I had to be very very careful, and even then I dremeled it too thin by the starboard bridle port and had to put a nice thick layer of wood putty on it, but other than that, dremel was far easier. 
 

I even got to the outward curve from the bottom of the spardeck towards the bottom of the gundeck. In figuring out where to begin that curve - bottom of the spardeck- I did the following

 

1. measure spardeck line on the profile above each gundeck gunport using external calipers 

2. transfer the line to the model, where I already have the gunports marked

3. measure those spardeck markings from the top of the bulwark using outside calipers 

4. transfer the marking to the inside of the hull

5. connect them all with a marking gauge

 

I decided to check the top of the bulwark from the spardeck on the profile and compare it to what I had on the model. My model had a solid ⅛” in many places. Looks like my model needed the height of the bulwarks trimmed down. 
 

I verified it by measuring the height of the top of the bulwark on the profile from the gundeck, then comparing to the model. Sure enough, I needed to trim it down. 
 

shoulder plane did a fantastic job, followed by some easy hand sanding. 
 

I then took my marking gauge, set it to ⅛”, and remarked the thickness of the bulwarks. Then used a chisel to remove the inside, hand sanded some, then on to the dremel as above. 
 

in the end, I finally have the bulwarks where I want them. Remaining:

 

- wait for the putty to dry and sand it down

- gouge the angle where the bulwarks meet the gundeck, to get the right angle and to make room for the waterway 

- hand sand all of the inside to get it as smooth as it needs to be to attach planks. If there are areas where I dremeled too deeply, I’ll fill in with putty or thick CA glue. 

[Avi]

The putty sanded down beautifully. Once the paint and planks are on, it will be invisible.

 

It also looks like I didn't Dremel too thin anywhere else. I might have a chunk of hand sanding left to do, especially using the contour sanders, but that is ok.

[Avi]

I’m pretty much done shaping the bulwarks. They’re the right thickness, and, after using progressively higher grit sandpaper up to 400, nice and smooth. 
 

There definitely are spots where I wish it were slightly more straight or flush, but as I plan on a thin layer of CA before planking, I should be fine. 
 

you can see at the bows where I dremeled too much and had to fill in with putty, then sanded it to shape and smooth by hand. 
 

pictures attached. 
 

next step: on to remeasure the gunports and opening in the spardeck bulwarks amidships, and cut them open. 

 

Edited November 14, 2021 by Avi

[Avi]

Remeasured all of the gunports and various other openings. Finally got to start cutting then open, which surprised me how exciting it is! I’ve spent the bulk of work over the last months - possibly half a year - sanding and shaping the hull. Sure, there’s been finer work on the bulwarks, and the sternpost, keel, stem and knee were fun, but it’s been a long haul without seeing too much change. Now, in two days, I see the progress. It’s exciting!

 

so far I’ve only cut those from the top of the bulwarks, ie spardeck level openings. 
 

I used a jewelers saw to cut the bulk of the openings. I intentionally cut them smaller than needed, but not by much. It’s easier to expand a hole than to correct if I cut too much. 
 

I then used files - mainly flat but also square - to shape and finish the openings. I used sandpaper on the large midships openings, starting with 80 and moving up to 400 grit. 
 

As you can tell from the attached pictures, I’m not close to done, but progress is being made. 

 

once I’m done with the spardeck level openings, I’ll do the gunports on the gundeck. My plan is to experiment with two different techniques. One is to drill small holes in each corner and then cut away with a keyhole saw. The other is to drill a larger hole in the centre, and the just use files to complete the opening. We will see what works. But plenty to do on the spardeck first.