USS Constitution by Der Alte Rentner - Model Shipways - 1/76

[Der Alte Rentner]

There wasn't enough of the 2 mm square stock supplied by Constructo to be able to complete the remaining two masts. So, this morning I used some of the ample 2x6 mm sapele stock they provided and made my own 2 mm square strips.

 

Also, while my jig did produce a decently chamferred product, I wanted a quicker process to chamfer an entire strip. So, I rigged my belt sander to accomplish the task.  This worked surprisingly well, or so I thought..

 

Readying the bandsaw to cut 2mm strips.

 

Pass 1

 

Pass 2

 

Sander setup

 

Chamferring done in two passes.

 

Two steps forward, one step back? This looked promising, but the second pass yielded inconsistent results, causing me to consider pulling these last two photos. 

 

I couldn't keep enough downward pressure on the sapele to get an even bevel on both sides on the sander. It did a nice job for one side, so I only needed one pass with the hand plane and jig.  I'll take that as a win. After beveling one side on an entire strip, I cut the material to length, clamped it into the jig and chamfered the second side by hand.  This netted very nice fits.

 

The admiralty is calling me back to home base. More next week..

 

 

 

Edited Sunday at 10:15 PM by Der Alte Rentner
Added photo

[Der Alte Rentner]

The hardest part is carving out the indentations for the mast cheeks. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two down.  One to go..

 

 

 

Edited 14 hours ago by Der Alte Rentner
Added photographs - round 2

[Ronald-V]

That looks really neat! And indeed complicated  

[mtbediz]

Perfect work Peter. She is going to be a very beautiful ship.

[GGibson]

Wow!  Nice work, Peter! 👍🏆

[Der Alte Rentner]

At last!  Chafing fish adorn all three masts.

 

 

I'm not quite ready to move on to what Gregg calls the fun stuff 😆.   I still have to do the mast bands, the fighting tops and the bowsprit. Then the hilarity should ensue.

 

 

[mtbediz]

4 hours ago, Der Alte Rentner said:

At last!  Chafing fish adorn all three masts.

 

 

I'm not quite ready to move on to what Gregg calls the fun stuff 😆.   I still have to do the mast bands, the fighting tops and the bowsprit. Then the hilarity should ensue.

 

 

Nice work on the chafing fish, Peter! Just a heads-up—the space between the main mast and the fife rail looks pretty tight in the photo. You’ll need room there for three stays coming off the mizzen mast, which get tied down to the deck with bullseyes. On my build, that gap was really small too, and I had a tough time securing the mizzen stays. Hopefully you haven’t glued the fife rails yet. Also, before you set the masts in place, it’s a good idea to get the eyebolts around them installed first.

Edited 1 hour ago by mtbediz

[Der Alte Rentner]

Thanks for the heads up, mustafa. I'm not worried because the Fife rails are not yet glued down. I was waiting for the right time to do so. Before I do I'll make sure they are where they belong.  I just staged them for the photo.