USS Constitution by vacotton - Revell - 1:96 - PLASTIC - 1812 version - first kitbash ever

[vacotton]

I changed out the bitts to the earlier 1812 version and added a brass handrail to the camboose.  Note the notches that were cut into the forward afterdeck bulkhead above the Constitution picture.  That had to be done so that there would be room for the beam that was added to the spar deck.  All that's left to do on the gundeck is the pumps and some touchup work and then it's on to the starboard hull.  

 

Here are some pictures.  Note the wardroom forward of the Captain's afterdeck.  I haven't decided whether or not to furnish it.   I made sure that I included President Madison picture in the skipper's office.  

 

 

 

 

  Also note the chart on the skipper's table.  

 

 

 

Onward.

Verne

Edited August 29, 2013 by vacotton

[AndyMech]

The chart is a very nice touch.  I wish I'd thought of that.

 

Looking very nice.

 

Andy.

[lambsbk]

I love that chart Verne. I have to try that.

[vacotton]

Well guys,  I am done for today.  

Here's what happened in the shipyard today:

1.  Completed the shot racks after learning how to use a pin vise after several attempts.  The secret is to go very slowly a couple of turns at a time.  Then look.  Have to steer the bit along the pencil line.

2. Created the grog tub and the Scuttlebutt.  Disappointed that I couldn't make hoops out of the .005 brass.

 

 

 

3. Created the bitts ala 1812.

 

 

Things left for the gun deck:

1. Create the elm pump.  Have the brass rods but have to get some dowling or styrene rod.

2. Make the chain pumps.  Not tonight.  I am tired and when I get tired, I get really stupid.

3. Paint the bitts.

4. Lots and lots of touchup. (sigh)

 

Nice to dos (Maybe)

1. Look into making a circuit board for led interior lights.  That decision must be made before I assemble the hull.

2. Create a false berth deck.  No sense in cutting a hole in the gun deck unless there is a berth deck visible.

3. If I do the led system then furnish the wardroom.

 

Thanks for all of the encouragement.  It is really appreciated.

Verne

[vacotton]

Closing in on the gun deck (sans guns).  I will wait until I have the gun deck securely installed in the hull before even thinking about the guns as the have to be rigged one by one.

Tomorrow the fine work starts as I touch up.

 
I got the bitts fixed and painted and decided to paint the deck forward of the planking green. 

 

 

Created and painted the elm and chain pumps.  Went out on a limb and figured that there is a good reason why the chain pumps are lined up the way they are and that is so that they can be "ganged" together on the starboard and port banks of cisterns. 

 

 

 

 

I went ahead and installed the elm pumps even though they seem to be a bit redundant with the chain pumps present.  

 

The ever vigilant Admiral suggested that I move on to something else as she thought that my gun deck was starting to get a little bit "precious".  Ouch! .  So I will start working on the starboard hull tomorrow after the touchup session.  

 

Thanks for visiting,

Verne

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 3, 2013 by vacotton

[lambsbk]

Those pumps look nice Verne. I believe they were redundant because the 'new' hand siphon style pumps were, in fact, new. They could pump water on the up and the down stroke of the handle. They may have not worked out that well because not much is mentioned of them later in history.

[Force9]

Verne -

 

I'm just back from a family RV trip across the great American West. I was passing thru the wonderful Salt Lake valley on the way home from Yellowstone and saw an exit for Murray... You live in a beautiful part of the world!

 

Just catching up on the various build logs and I see that you have made rapid progress and have a terrific build going...

 

BTW - the large chain pumps led down to the lowest part of the ship and were used to pump out large volumes of water - usually when the ship was in danger. The smaller pumps were used for more mundane tasks - washing the decks and filling buckets with water, etc. They led down to cisterns just below the waterline that stored sea water drawn from small inlets in the side of the ship.

 

Looking forward to following along...

 

Evan

[lambsbk]

Did not know that Evan...thanks.

 

Welcome back BTW. Your build log seems to have moved along just fine. :) :)

[vacotton]

Welcome back, Evan.  Too bad I didn't know that you were passing through or I would have invited you over.  

 

Good stuff about the roles of the chain and elm pumps.  I figured that the chain pumps might have something to do with fresh water supply judging from those large cisterns.  You can see from the attached diagram that there seems to be a sliding board that when lifted controls the flow of water to the outlet.  

 

 

 

Dave:  It looks like the Navy moved on later on in the century.  Can I assume that the nice brass pumps and fire engines visible in the "Navy Tour" came on board in the 1850's?

 

Just waiting for the Vallejo #121 "Yellow Ochre" to dry.  That will be my first coat on the starboard gun streak.  I am with you Evan:  After reading Cmdr. Martin's account on page 45, I am convinced that yellow ochre was the "Color of the Year" for fashionable frigates.  Commodore Talbot had the Constitution's gun streak painted with ochre during the quasi-war with France before any hostilities ensued with Great Britain.  Could this have been more an indication of our admiration for all things British rather than an attempt to fool them?

 

Thanks for visiting.

Verne

 

 

 

 

 

[Force9]

Verne - 

 

Regarding the yellow ochre stripe... Ochre would've been the standard color scheme for the US Navy thru most of the earlier years - mostly in line with the practice of the British navy.  Documentation clearly shows Isaac Hull moving to a white stripe with green bulwarks during a pre-war refit.  The US Navy seems to have moved to the more distinct white stripe in the pre-war years - probably to define their own identity by breaking away from British tradition.  In fact, there is only written evidence to support the yellow stripe late in the war when Charles Stewart notes the change in his log.  I just think it makes sense that the American navy commanders attempted to fool enemy commerce into thinking they were friendly frigates during most of the war - particularly since this is what we see reflected in all of the credible contemporary paintings.

 

I think the British navy did the opposite - at least in some cases.  My understanding is that HMS Shannon had a WHITE stripe and Chesapeake had a YELLOW stripe when they met in battle later in the war.

 

I don't know that it was a policy imposed by the respective navies... I think individual commanders were given wide leeway to change their paint schemes - often at the Captain's own expense.

[vacotton]

Evan,

I am sure grateful that you are back from vacation.  Your informed, well researched comments really fill in a lot of blanks as I move forward with this build. 

I am committed to the "no doors, yellow ochre" version now.  As for the stern windows, I was too late to get the K S PE so I don't know what to do about that.  

 

 

Dave,

I am eagerly awaiting an optical fiber rig that I picked up on E-Bay.  I think I will do the candle thing that you did in the aft cabin.  Even though Prof. Tilley says that the gun deck was probably not lit at night, I may put in a couple of lanterns overhead. And then there's that captain's great room that I built.  I am going to have to furnish it with a big table and some wooden chairs but I have no idea where to get furniture.

 

Thanks guys for your comments,

Verne

[lambsbk]

I am currently making a light box for the lanterns Verne. I have not perfected it yet but I think it will work well. The candles in the great cabin really light up the room well because they are close together. In my dry run tests they really allow the detail in the cabin to be seen. I am not as happy yet with the gun deck. But I am also not done experimenting. That is partly why I have not posted any updates for a while.

 

Concerning the furniture: I know one member of this forum used HO scale model train furniture. In the pics it looked pretty good.

 

Is that copper tape on your hull or do I need better paint?

[vacotton]

Dave,

 

It sounds like we will be working through this optic fiber thing together.

 

HO Furniture!  1:87.  Close enough for me.  I can make the table.  

 

As for the copper bottom:  It's not your paint, I used 1/4" Studio Pro tape, available at Hobby Lobby for around six bucks for 32 feet.  If you do that, don't be a goof like me.  Start at the bottom, overlap and work up.  A lot better once I figured that out.

 

Verne

[vacotton]

Okay.  I am done painting the starboard gallery and focs'l or my head will surely explode.  Couple of little things and then moving on to the port side.  It's amazing how cruelly revealing pictures are!

 

 

 

 

Verne

[lambsbk]

Verne: these are very small and tricky areas to paint. I remember using a very sharp no. 11 knife to gently tease away over-paint on the scrolls, transom, and quarter galleries. It took several weeks before I decided I could do no more good without causing even more bad.

[popeye the sailor]

I'm going to dread doing mine.......probably the most painstaking part of any model.  ya did good Verne

[vacotton]

My neighbor came over to see what progress I was making on the Constitution and he asked if I planned to build a manger.  Of course, I said yes.  Then later I started searching the internet and my books for information about the manger.  So far nothing has popped up except that one Captain Elliot was fired in 1835 for bringing livestock onboard a US Navy ship.  I am reasonably sure that Constitution had livestock on board earlier in her career.  Anyone have information about a manger and what it looked like and where it was located in the ship?

Thanks,

Verne

[texxn5]

You'll love this one, it came from the Constitution Museum a couple of days ago....this is a goat hanging from the yardarm, with a hoist for pulling it on to the deck.....there were also pigs, chickens, and other critters for food, milk, eggs, etc.....forgot to take the picture of the discription.

Edited September 9, 2013 by texxn5

[vacotton]

You are right, John.

Gives a whole new meaning to the term "Left him hanging out to dry".  Did you see any mangers on the foc'sle or did the meat just drop out of the sky? 

Verne

[vacotton]

Got into a little bit of a rush and joined my hull halves before planning how I was going to get the gun deck in under the knees.  Oops.  Almost like building the proverbial boat in the cellar.  No worries, I took them back apart before they cured so just a little bit of filing and I should be okay.  Anyway, I am waiting for a fiber optic rig to get here and that would not do to have the deck already in.  Plenty to do elsewhere.

Verne

[Force9]

Verne -

 

The manger was generally a small pen in the forward most part of the gun deck.  The anchor hawse holes would lead into the animal pen. You could build up a small bulkhead about chest high to a scale sailor using the molded deck strip that is already there as an anchor.  You'll need to allow for the bowsprit coming thru in that area...  I haven't decided to include it in my build - not very visible and I think it was struck when the ship was cleared for action.  Perhaps you'll inspire me to go that route.

 

Look for it on page 71 of the Marquardt AOTS book - item 23 on drawing D1/3.

 

Hope that helps

EG

[vacotton]

Thanks, Evan.  I will get on that so that I will not have to hang the animals in the yardarms as Texxn5 suggested.     Sure good to see you back again.

 

Dave, maybe you can help me out on this one:

I bought an Optical Fiber illuminator kit off of Ebay.  Comes with the illuminator and a length of clad OF filament.  Assembling the illuminator was no problem.  It lights up.  Problem is that no light passes down the filament from the LED to the other end.  Is there something wrong with the filament or am I just doing something wrong here.  

 

Thanks guys,

Verne

Edited September 10, 2013 by vacotton

[lambsbk]

I used separate elements for the optic and light source. What size is the fiber optic? Can you post a pic of the rig? Plastic or glass optic?

 

There should be light transmission. Make sure the ends of the optic are free of interference. Are they inserted into the barrel of the illuminator in a focused manner. What is the wattage/lumens of the illuminator?

Edited September 10, 2013 by lambsbk

[vacotton]

Here's what I have now.  

 

 

You can see white light coming out of the illuminator.  Blinding if you look down the tube.

 

 

And the filament attached to the illuminator tube.  What appears to be illumination along the filament is the white cladding.  No lighting at the tip of the filament.  Dave, I don't know the wattage/lumens, but the illuminator is super bright.  I have spent more time than I want to trying to get the filament to focus.

 

The seller says that if any filament came with the illuminator that was not his doing because he just sells the illuminator separately.  He suspects that I got some old glass stuff that had to be polished first, a real pita.  I bought 100 ft of his plastic .75 and it should be here Thursday.  Seller says that this is the newer stuff and will work for sure.   Light in and light out.

 

So we shall see.

Verne

Edited September 10, 2013 by vacotton

[lambsbk]

Verne:

 

I have been adding info on a separate thread about my experience with these lights. I am going to post some more findings tonight. If you are interested it starts on page 2, bottom of the lamp tutorial. I hope that helps. http://modelshipworld.com/index.php?/topic/3163-fiber-optic-lanterns-ca-1845-196/page-2

 

It takes a fairly bright light source to drive these optics and lanterns. I bought a beads LED 10watt, 1050mA, 1100 lumen lamp and bolted it onto an aluminum CPU heat sink from the local computer guy - heat sink -no cost; beads LED $2 on Ebay. I made an experimental light box from some old plumbing pieces in the house (I think I must have watched too much 'McGuyver' in my younger years). So far I like the 1100 lumen bulb and it really lights up the deck in a very realistic fashion

 

Oh... I should mention the bulb should be in the 3000-3500K range for a 'warm' white light.

 

It is easy to get lost on the build for this lighting step but looking at the model in the lantern light tonight I was very glad I got it to work. It is not super bright - and I am sure some of the details of the gun deck are not going to show but the detail that does show really pops. Good luck.

[lambsbk]

Verne I just looked more closely at that second pic - I don't think you have fiber optic there at all. The 'wire' seems to be bent a little near it's origin - fiber optic plastic does not bend in that way - it should be a lot more 'springy' than what is shown. Also, unless you get several more LED's I fear the kit included light will not be strong enough or the right color wavelength (as you probably already know, measured in Kelvins (as in the temperature of molten iron when it glows yellow [3000K] or white hot [6500K]). You will want a light output near 3000K.

[vacotton]

Dave,

Oh, lovely.  I have been reading your other thread.  Maybe I should have studied it a little more.  So it sounds like I got a bunch of junk.

Wouldn't be the first time for that.

Verne

[lambsbk]

Not at all Verne. I GOT THE SAME KIT. It came with the fiber optic cable and I realized fairly quickly just as you have that it would not be sufficient.

[texxn5]

Verne, no mangers or any thing that looked like it could hold livestock, however, they did say that they were on board. It appeared that they really might have held some of the goats from the yards in these slings. I don't know for how long, but this is an actual display in the museum.....beats me, and I forgot to take a picture of the description. Duh!

[vacotton]

Well guys, I am killing time waiting for my fiber optics to come in so I have been looking at the transom and comparing what I found in Marquardt.  The designs from the early 1800's are supposed to be per the Corne paintings.  The Revell version doesn't even come close to any of them.  Since I read that Revell did credible research too, is it possible that Marquardt got it wrong?  Also is anyone planning on cutting the two carronade ports into the transom at spar deck level?

So far, I have removed the "Constitution" and built in the two airing ports.  Once I know how to go on the windows, I am considering making them out of cardboard with an exacto knife since K S is now out of the picture.

 

 

 

 

Don't want to proceed though until I hear some consensus.

Verne

 

Postscript:  Ah, negitore on that plan and I don't have a plan "B" either.

Edited September 13, 2013 by vacotton