USS Independence 1814 by Glen McGuire – FINISHED - Bottle – 1/500

[Glen McGuire]

File this under "Questions I should have asked before doing something."  The end grain is really exposed with the wheels and as soon as I applied the tung oil, I noticed it was darker that the long grain.  So I buffed it quickly.  Of course since I did it on 1 wheel I had to do it on all 4.  It ended up being a touch darker but I can live with it.  Lesson learned - I tested on the long grain but didn't think to test on the end grain.

 

Thanks for your insight.  I like the way you tested and laid out all the different shades of stain in your Pegasus build.  In hindsight, I think varnish might have been the way to go, but I will definitely test all sides from now on!     

[Landlubber Mike]

Doesn't look bad at all from what I can tell.  Did you try it on the end grain of the carriage sides?  The change seems very subtle, and not so drastic as with redheart.  Looks nice to me.

 

Redheart is an extreme case.  It's a very interesting wood in a variety of ways besides the end grain turning black with oil products.  It cuts and sands as if it is a hard wood, but inexplicably can get crumbly and not have much lateral strength.  With UV light it turns a more orange-brown color over time.  Has a little bit of a rubber-like smell when being worked too.

[Glen McGuire]

41 minutes ago, Landlubber Mike said:

Did you try it on the end grain of the carriage sides?  The change seems very subtle, and not so drastic as with redheart.  Looks nice to me.

Thanks, Mike.  Yes, I did put a touch on the end grain of the carriage sides.  It was going to be a hair light without it and a hair dark with it.  It was not going to be perfect either way, so I went with the slight darkening. 

[Landlubber Mike]

Looks good to me!  It didn't impact the end grain that much at all.  I would have done the same

[Deperdussin1910]

Glen, your build caught my eye because I have the USS Franklin on my long list of 'too be built' models.  I've always had a hard time keeping straight which ships were launched and where, because 18 of the authorized American ships-of-the-line were not launched due to being: cancelled, abandoned, altered, burnt, or not even built.  So, I made a list.  I hope it's of some esoteric interest.  Cheers!

 

US Ships-of-the line by launch date

 

USS America was launched at Rising Castle Island (Kittery ME), 5 November 1782 (given to France)

USS Independence was launched from the Boston (Charlestown) Navy Yard, 22 June 1814

USS Washington was launched at the Portsmouth Navy Yard, 1 October 1814

USS Franklin was launched at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, August 1815

USS Columbus was launched at the Washington Navy Yard, 1 March 1819

USS Ohio was launched at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, 30 May 1820

USS North Carolina was launched at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, 7 September 1820

USS Delaware was launched at the Norfolk Navy Yard, 21 October 1820

USS Pennsylvania was launched at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, 18 July 1837

USS Vermont was launched from the Boston (Charlestown) Navy Yard, 15 September 1848

 

- On 20 November 1776, the Continental Congress authorized the construction of three 74-gun ships of the line. 

- An Act, 2 January 1813 – for the construction of the U.S. Navy’s first Ships-of-the-line

-"nine ships to rate not less than 74 guns each" authorized by Congress on 29 April 1816

[Glen McGuire]

@Deperdussin1910 Thanks for the comment.  I do find the list very interesting.  When Chappelle said the Independence was the first ship of the line commissioned by the US Navy, I assumed it was the first US ship of the line.  But maybe he was alluding to the fact that the Dept of the Navy did not officially exist until 1794 and the Independence was the first one commissioned after that.  The history is always fascinating.

[Glen McGuire]

Finished making the last pieces of carriage hardware.  For the breeching ringbolt I took a piece of copper wire, wrapped it around a dowel rod and soldered the ends.  For the capsquare key I took a small brass rod, bent it into a circle around a small nail, and soldered it to part of a small finishing nail.

 

The 2nd pic shows all the completed capsquare hardware.    
 

[Glen McGuire]

The carriage is now complete with the exception of the rigging.  I’ll “tackle” that after finishing the ship.  🙄

 

The first pic shows all the pieces and parts of the carriage before assembly. 

 

[Keith Black]

 Wow, Glen, that looks sharp! I'm thinking you should have made two carriages, one for the Independence and one for a cannon model. The carriage is beautiful work. 

 

Edited March 22, 2022 by Keith Black

[Glen McGuire]

Thank you, Keith.  That was certainly a change of pace working at a roughly 1/12 scale instead of the usual 1/500! 

 

A cannon model?  Hmmmmm.  That is an interesting idea.  I may have to put that on the list.  It would certainly be easier the 2nd time around.  I screwed up so many things along the way while building this one it's not even funny. 

 

  

[Landlubber Mike]

That looks amazing Glen, great job!  Can I ask how you blackened the hardware?  I really like the look of it.  

[Glen McGuire]

57 minutes ago, Landlubber Mike said:

Can I ask how you blackened the hardware?  I really like the look of it.  

 

Thanks, Mike.  I tried the Jax Pewter Black stuff but it kept rubbing off.  I tried brushing it on like others suggest as well as multiple coats but still could not get it to work well.  So I ended up rubbing it all off and just spray painting with Rust-oleum flat black. 

[Glen McGuire]

I also had a near heart attack moment during final assembly.  Somehow I managed to drop a dime-sized blob of epoxy on the display-side of the carriage right between the trunion and the breech ring.  And somehow I didn't notice it till the epoxy was almost dry.  After alarming the entire neighborhood with my shrieks of anger and panic, I scraped off as much of the epoxy as I could with my fingernail, then spent about 20 minutes going over the spot very lightly with 220 sand paper trying not to take off any more of the wood surface.  I finally got to a point where I thought there was no epoxy left, then gave the whole side a light rub with the tung oil.  Afterwards, I could not tell any difference.  OMG, what a relief.     

[BANYAN]

A stunning result, and a very unique display stand Glen.  

 

cheers

 

Pay

[Glen McGuire]

From the cannon yard to the ship yard. 

I’ve been struggling all week with how to make this hull with all the 1mm x 1mm gun ports.  My first plan was to build the hull, then drill out the gun ports.  After a trial run, it looked awful with round gun ports.  And the holes are just too tiny to square off after drilling.  

So after a few more failed ideas, I settled on a lamination plan with alternating layers of 1mm thick basswood.  That allowed me to carve out each gun port individually in a square shape (as best I could at this size anyway).  The hull in the 2nd pic is not glued yet – it’s just held together by the dowels sticking out of the top layer.

The last pic shows a couple of test cannons in place (.015” music wire).  I cut a groove into the gun port layer connecting ports on each side of the ship and inserted the wire all the way thru.  That will allow me to snip off each cannon at the appropriate length when ready.  

So now I’ve got to shape the hull, disassemble, paint the layers, reassemble, secure the bulwarks, then add the cannons.  Still some details to flesh out but I think this is going to work.  Maybe.   
 

[Keith Black]

 Heck yeah, Glen, laminating layers worked out great. 

[Glen McGuire]

Thanks, Keith!  I hesitate to even mention the cannons because you and my son will start telling me how I need to have smoke coming out of them!

[Keith Black]

Oh, that made me laugh so hard. 😂

[gjdale]

22 minutes ago, Glen McGuire said:

I hesitate to even mention the cannons because you and my son will start telling me how I need to have smoke coming out of them!

….and the problem is????????……….🤣

[Glen McGuire]

7 minutes ago, gjdale said:

….and the problem is????????……….🤣

Oh no.  Not you too, Grant!!!

[Keith Black]

 And a cry rose up from the crowd, "smoke, smoke, smoke"...........we'd find you playing hide and seek at the funny farm if you tried putting little puffs on the barrels of 62 cannon. 

[BANYAN]

but Keith .... imagine what could be hidden behind the smoke from a full broadside.  First salvo fired, let the iron balls fly...  now there's an idea, add cannon balls on the fly  

 

cheers

 

Pat

[edit]  Sorry Glen, couldn't help myself - they'll have to lock me up next.

Edited March 26, 2022 by BANYAN

[Keith Black]

 Pat, I couldn't get Glen to add penguins in his Aurora build and now you want him to add smoke AND flying cannon balls!? Glen, will I be able to get your daily schedule there at the funny farm so I'll know when's a good time to come visit? 

 

Edited March 26, 2022 by Keith Black

[mtaylor]

Glenn, you should figure out a way to add a magnifying glass to the display so everyone can see the cannons and flying cannon balls.

[Glen McGuire]

OMG!!!  Is there a moderator for this website that I can report y'all to for modeler abuse?  Someone help me, PLEASE!!!!

[Ian_Grant]

You could consider having one gun firing, perhaps as part of a salute on entering harbour   😏

[Keith Black]

55 minutes ago, Glen McGuire said:

Is there a moderator for this website that I can report y'all to for modeler abuse?

 Obviously not.  .........gawd I love this place. 

[Glen McGuire]

46 minutes ago, Ian_Grant said:

You could consider having one gun firing, perhaps as part of a salute on entering harbour   😏

 

Fingers in ears..  LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA...

[Glen McGuire]

I have some questions I'm hoping someone can help with.  This sail plan picture of the original 1814 Independence is the only thing I've got to build from and there are 3 things I'm not sure of (circled below). 

 

A - Is that an anchor?  If not, any idea what it is? 

B - It looks like there's a gap in the bulwark and some kind of fence?  Any idea what that is? 

C - Obviously it's a black and white pic, but it looks like there is an alternating color pattern between the gun deck levels and the wales.  Is it likely that the color scheme would alternate black and white?  If not, what would it probably be?

 

Any insight/opinion y'all could provide would be greatly appreciated.

 

[mtaylor]

A looks to be either a cathead or a fish davit for anchor handling.

 

B would be hammock stanchions with netting to hold the hammocks in place.  If not hammock stowage, they there were a single length of iron with ropes between them.  Sort of a hand rail for use when walking on the walkway between the forecastle and poop deck (

 

C.  Since it's American, probably alternating black and white paint with the white being on lines for the gunports.  Look at the color scheme for Constitution as an example.