USS Constitution by BruceWayne426 - Mamoli - 1/93

[BruceWayne426]

I have been making slow but steady progress. The planking on the deck is now complete. All the planking is still in its raw state - sealing will come later.

 

 

The Mamoli kit came with parts for making the grating and ladders in the same bag. The grating for the poop deck was a challenge to cut precisely. I messed up a few pieces and am now short for the grating under the life boats. I will need to search for a source of grating in this scale at some point.

 

 

  

 

The same long pieces were made to create the ladders that go from the upper deck to the gun deck.

 

  

 

 

 

I am now working on all the pieces for the deck. The last pic for this post is my solution for sorting and storing the lumber. I hot-glued 10 empty water bottles to a scrap piece of wood. I labeled each bottle with the size of the wood with a marker on the outside of the bottle (hard to see). When I have a piece that is too short to stick out the top of the bottle, I cut a slit in the side of the bottle and insert the shorter piece into the slit. So far the system is working well, it helps in tracking what stock is on hand and doesn't take up a lot of precious desk space.

 

[Gregory]

I like the bottle idea..

[BruceWayne426]

The deck pieces are finished and in place. I enjoy this type of "close" work. 

 

  

 

 

The kit instructions make attempts at noting the sections that are painted white and painted black. There is only one color picture in the kit and that is on the box lid (see the first post) and I refer to that often. As a side note, like any build, mistakes are made. Either there were too few pieces in the kit or I made too many cutting mistakes, but I am short of grate pieces as you can see by the missing grates below the life boat area. I have four sections that need grating. I have not yet starting searching for additional grating, but I am sure I will find pieces when I go looking. 

 

The initial wood build is almost completed. The deck has been sanded and sealed.

 

 

Next up is work on the rudder and then onto painting.