USS Constitution by BruceWayne426 - Mamoli - 1/93

[BruceWayne426]

If you read the new members section, you will read a little about how I came about this kit and into ship building. This will be my second ship, the first being an A-L Victory. I was given both kits by a neighbor who found them among the belongings of his sister's home after she was admitted to a memory care facility.  Neither kit had been opened. 

 

I have been reading posts on this site and learned a little about Mamoli kits. I recall one post saying Mamoli kits were no longer produced because of a factory fire. I know nothing about this brand, but it is what I have been given, so that is what I will work with. I have noticed there are very few full Mamoli Constitution builds on the site, mostly were cross-section builds, so that must have been a more popular kit. I only found one Mamoli Constitution full build that was completed and have studied it thoroughly. I have also viewed many other Constellation builds for tips and ideas have have started following some builds. 

 

I am hoping to show what the Mamoli kit has it in and how the ship goes together. The kit contains one 4' X 4' sheet with full size drawings on both sides. There are eighteen 2' X 2' panels (9 sheets, printed on both sides) of instructions in four languages. I am hoping this build will be of interest to those who are building the Constitution from another maker, if nothing else but to show the difference in kits.  I am new enough to the hobby that I probably will not be going off-course too much, rather focusing my efforts on understanding the enclosed plans and following the assembly instructions. I will seek advise where plans are lacking and will always appreciate comments.

 

Today's photos are assembling the keel. The keel came in four sections. It was suggested to lay out a board and tack the full-size instructions to the board, which I did. I then laid down some clear wrap over the instructions so I could not get glue on the paper. The board was to nail the keel to while the glue dried so it would dry perfectly flat. I used yellow glue at this point because I knew it would not show after other parts were added.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Gregory]

The Mamoli kit had little competition when it was released.  Mamoli had a lot of the best kits available at the time .  Check some of the drawings for a date.  I would like to remember, because I had that kit back in the early 90's, but sold it because life got in the way.

I believe the drawings are very good, but the kit itself may have it's detractors these days because  kit quality in some areas has come  a long way with laser cut parts and such.

My recollection is that the Mamoli kits really have everything you need in the box to build it to match the drawings.  That has been my experience with a few other Mamoli kits I have built.

If I were going to go outside the box, I would consider a different coppering scheme than the little green wood chips they provide, other than that, I would  be happy to build it as is.

 

I look forward to following your progress.

[SUBaron]

Welcome aboard - and especially to another USS Constitution build! I’ve heard good things about the Mamoli kits. 
There are several active Consitution builds going on - in quite different phases. They could still be of help. Regardless of the maker - the builders here can share great technical skill and help you kill your budget with tool ideas 🙂

 

Have a great journey - and have fun!!

-Andre

Edited April 23 by SUBaron

[BruceWayne426]

Greg: Replacing the 1700 (the number given in the instructions) little green chips is one of the things I will change. I have been following mufasa's build. Wow! What a craftsman. When I get to that stage, I plan on asking him about the source for his copper strips. I really like how they look.

[BruceWayne426]

Andre: I have been watching several Constitution builds and enjoy seeing the differences in kit composition and parts offered. As near as I can tell, the kit I have was copyrighted in 1982, anyway that is the date on the printing which may or may not have anything to do with the actual production. The price tag on the box was $129.95 which is a little clue as to how old the kit is. Thanks for your reply.

[Gregory]

7 hours ago, BruceWayne426 said:

The price tag on the box was $129.95 which is a little clue as to how old the kit is. Thanks for your reply.

I will have to look at my ModelExpo catalog from the 90s..   I’m pretty sure the price was at least twice that.

[Gregory]

Went through my stuff and found I had saved the page from the catalog, because it was high on my wish list.

$339 would be about $700 today..    It was high on my wish list back then, but not in my budget.

[BruceWayne426]

Thanks! That is fun to know. The picture is different than on my box but it clearly shows the wood chip copper plating. 

[BruceWayne426]

Next step is attaching the frames, or as my wife calls them, the "ribs". Since I do not have a small hobby square, I purchased a plastic miter square at the local HD and cut it down to 2" wide by 3" tall. I used this to square the frames to the keel, both vertically and horizontally. Since this kit was produced prior to laser cutting, all the frames came in a single package and did not need to be cut from a larger piece of stock. The fit to the keel was good and snug. I also measured the distance between each frame on both port and starboard sides to make sure it was the same. I installed three or four frames per day and let them set up and dry before going on. In the background, you can see the plans, which at this point have been pretty good, but then this part of the build is pretty simple and straight forward. 

 

 

 

[JSGerson]

I saw your comment to mtbediz today and thought I would give a welcome aboard from a bunch of us USS Constitution active builders. We've been sharing our knowledge and comments with each other and we range from beginner to the more experienced. Although, as near as I can determine, there aren't  many Mamoli builders for the Conny at present. There is one active (last post in January) builder, Oscardeuce and an excellent builder, Bill Edgin (Robnbill) who completed his Mamoli kit in 2021 that you might want to check out as you work on yours.

 

Good luck and have fun

 

Jon

[mtbediz]

On 4/23/2024 at 6:53 AM, BruceWayne426 said:

Greg: Replacing the 1700 (the number given in the instructions) little green chips is one of the things I will change. I have been following mufasa's build. Wow! What a craftsman. When I get to that stage, I plan on asking him about the source for his copper strips. I really like how they look.

I used self adhesive copper foil tape. I remember I shared a few photos in my build log about how I implemented it. (Something like in the link below)

 

https://tr.aliexpress.com/item/32876412753.html?src=google

Edited April 25 by mtbediz

[BruceWayne426]

Jon:

 

Thanks for the welcome. It is much appreciated. I have been reading through all the Constitution logs. Even though they are different kits than what I have, I still glean a lot from their pictures. Even their comments about frustrations and mistakes are encouragement to me. I am still studying Bill Edgin's log since it is a Mamoli kit. He did several modifications. His experience and skill really comes through in his builds.

 

I am not far enough along in ship building to undertake changes, I am working hard at just making out what the plans are trying to get me to accomplish.

 

Thanks again for your welcome. It means a lot to a newbie like me.

[BruceWayne426]

Mufasa:

 

I read the section of your build when you were working with the copper foil tape with great interest.  The Mamoli solution of wood chips that are stained a greenish copper color just doesn't look right to me. That part of my build is a ways down the road so I have time to think about the options. 

 

Thanks for your response.  I am really enjoying your craftsmanship.

 

Bruce

[Gregory]

Interestingly, Bill Edgin’s build, mentioned above, has the green wood chips, and it doesn’t look bad.  However, there doesn’t appear to be much detail about his method.

 

[BruceWayne426]

I have enjoyed reading many of the Constitution build logs and studying the pictures. The next few steps for me and my Mamoli kit are quite different than the Model Shipways kits.  

 

There are two 10mm (1/2" square) walnut beams that run almost the entire length of the ship. The frames are notched for these. At the bow, there are two sets of beams that are placed side by side with the inner set protruding just outside the front frame. My kit does not have complete gun deck detail, but there are three openings down into the gun deck where steps and some minor detail will be visible. This was my only issue with the kit so far, There were precut pieces for the two forward gun deck hollows (as the instructions called them), but none for the poop deck. I finally decided to use some planking from my other build to create this deck. The gun deck is visible in the second picture.

 

 

After the beams set and dried, the next step is to dry fit the precut pieces for the deck. The deck was in three pieces. As you can see, some adjustment to the pieces was required to get them to fit. A ways down the road, the deck will get another layer of planking.

 

There were a few places where I needed to add a few shims to the point where the deck met the frames in order to keep the deck even.  After I was ok with the fit, everything was glued into place.

 

 

 

 

I am not convinced that the points where the masts will be placed into the frames is all that great. It seems there should be more of a receiver socket (for lack of a better term) for each.  I am going to study the other builds to see how that issue was addressed. 

 

Thanks for all the comments and encouragement.  

[Dave B]

Nice to see this build log starting! I bought this same kit in 1985. I found the receipt in the box, which shows I paid $239.95 from Model Expo. You may prompt me to work on it again. I also purchased enough little copper plates at the time to replace all the wood ones. They have a nice natural non-shiny copper look to them after 40+ years.

Will look forward to following your build!

Dave

[BruceWayne426]

Dave:

Thanks for your note. I am sure you have noticed there are no other ongoing Mamoli Constitution builds and only a few in the past. It would be fun and encouraging to have someone more experienced to bounce around kit ideas and questions. I am currently working on some alterations to my work bench so the ship is in dry dock for a few weeks. I will post again when I have made the changes.

 

Bruce