USS Constitution by Glen McGuire - BlueJacket Bicentennial Edition - 1/96 - Repair and Complete Construction

[Glen McGuire]

A couple of months ago, @Keith Black sent me this MSW post from a gentleman in Austin, Texas who was looking for help completing a model.  

 

https://modelshipworld.com/topic/36787-looking-for-assistance-completing-model/

Since I also live in Austin, Keith thought this might be of some interest to me.  He was right.  The gentleman, Carson, was looking for someone to complete a model his father had been working on before unexpectedly passing away late last year.  He and his family were hoping to have the model completed as a way to honor and remember their father.  I contacted Carson, found out more about the model, and agreed to finish it up for them.  I picked up the model earlier this week and have just started to examine it and the kit's documentation.  I will also be studying some of the Constitution build logs out here on MSW.  Once I get my arms around the whole thing, I’ll put together a plan for how to attack this project.  

 

The model is the Blue Jacket Bicentennial Edition of the U.S.S. Constitution.  Carson’s father had done a significant amount of very nice work on the model - completing the hull, outfitting both the gun and spar decks, stepping the masts, and completing the complex bowsprit rigging.  It appears he was on the verge of diving into the real fun that goes with all the standing and running rigging. 

 

Somewhere along the way, the model took some hits and suffered a bit of damage.  But just like the real Old Ironsides, the model survived with the hull intact and just a few repairs needed.  So this project will be a repair job at first followed by completion of the construction.  For repairs, here’s what I’m seeing on initial review:
1.    The most significant damage is to the bowsprit which is broken in a couple of places.  
2.    The sky sail pole on the main mast was broken at some point but has been repaired to a degree.  
3.    The davits for ship’s boats on both sides are broken off.  
4.    The masts have been stepped, but the glue bond on the fore and main has come undone, so they will need to be re-stepped at the proper rake.      
5.    The netting for the hammock storage has some minor dings.

 

Other than that, I believe, the model is in good shape and I hope to complete the model in a way that properly honors Carson's father.  I know there are many folks here on MSW that have extensive experience with the Constitution and perhaps the Blue Jacket kit itself.  So please do not hesitate to offer comments, critiques, and suggestions.  I welcome it all.

Following are pictures that show the current state of the model.  I’ll start with my favorite which shows all the damage to the bowsprit assembly.  Yet Old Glory survives and still waves proudly above it all!

 

 

 

Edited Friday at 04:48 PM by Glen McGuire

[Paul Le Wol]

Hi Glen, it was good of you to step up to help. This is a fine looking model. Good luck with her.

[Bryan Woods]

Glen, that’s a wonderful way to share your abilities with others. I’m going to watch even though by the looks of it, I’m  not in that league yet:-)

Edited Friday at 08:00 PM by Bryan Woods

[tmj]

This is a very worthy thing that you are doing! I look forward to watching your progress, as it's made, while you move forward and work towards finally fulfilling the memorable desires of Carson and his family! I've reserved a front row seat and intend to stay for the entire show! "God's speed to you and best wishes to all!"   

[Knocklouder]

Good luck on your journey, my friend.  You know you can count me in as well and I am sure Carson will be relieved to know that he got the right person for the job, best of luck my man.

Bob  M

[Keith Black]

Glen, your willingness to complete Carson's father's model is the embodiment of kindness. You've set a high bar all us MSW/NRG members , thank you for being you.  

[Canute]

Nice to help the family realize the completion of a project their father started. And you'll have the MSW crew following along. 👍

[Glen McGuire]

My guiding principle for this project is, “First, do no harm”.  As I work through the repairs and additional construction, I don’t want to mess up any of the fine work that Carson’s father accomplished.

I decided to kick things off with something that seemed fairly benign.  The gun deck is equipped with thirty 24-pound cannons.  As you can see from the pic below, the barrels are still solid and had not been drilled out yet.

 

 

 

The barrels are made from Britannia metal so I figured they would be fairly easy to drill out.  The 24-pound cannons have a bore of 5.8 inches, which at 1/96 makes a 1/16” drill bit pretty close.  It was a little awkward drilling the barrels with them installed and sticking out the gun ports, but it went ok for the most part.

 

 

 

I say for the most part because a few of them came loose and popped out.  That’s when I realized that there were not individual cannons on the gun deck.  The barrels have a post on the breach end that fits into a hole drilled into some solid wood inside the gun deck.  Ironically, that is pretty much the method I use for my ship-in-bottle ships like the Independence that have gun decks with cannon barrels protruding through the gun ports.  

 

The cannon barrels here that popped out were very easy to drill out and reinstall with a bit of wood filler.    

 

 

 

 

 

Here's what it looks like with all the cannon barrels back in place and repainted.

 

 

The spar deck has much smaller cannonades, 18 pounders I believe.  Their barrels have not been drilled out either.  However, as you can see in the picture above, they are set back from the gun ports on the gunwale.  And for all but a couple, the channel is in the way so it would take a very long and very thin drill bit (probably 1/32" or maybe 3/64") to try and bore those barrels out.  The cannonades are all glued to the deck quite securely with complete rigging, so removing them and reinstalling is not an option.  So I will probably leave them as is and not risk damage to the surrounding areas by trying to do some heroic drilling. 

 

 

Edited yesterday at 02:44 PM by Glen McGuire

[hollowneck]

On 9/13/2024 at 1:01 PM, Paul Le Wol said:

Hi Glen, it was good of you to step up to help. This is a fine looking model. Good luck with her.

I concur, Glen.

Doing a restoration for others can be rewarding in many different ways. As you're aware, the principal challenge can be simply the logistics concerned. Earlier this year I did a restoration on a model that I had to work on in my garage because it was about 6 feet long. The beautifully-crafted model was in need of much TLC and when I finished, my clients were thrilled; the looks on their faces said it all when my garage door opened to show them their fully-restored 19th-C historical society racing yacht!

It's a nice gift to share; bringing joy to others because of one's skills and talents.

[Glen McGuire]

28 minutes ago, hollowneck said:

the looks on their faces said it all when my garage door opened to show them their fully-restored 19th-C historical society racing yacht!

That's a great story, Ron.  Thanks for sharing.  I'm hoping my work here is worthy of a similar reaction!

[hollowneck]

10 minutes ago, Glen McGuire said:

That's a great story, Ron.  Thanks for sharing.  I'm hoping my work here is worthy of a similar reaction!

Glen. On delivery day, the look on their faces says it all. Carson's smile will be your real award too, my friend. You'll do a stellar job!

Yep, that's the transporting pick-up truck in my driveway...

Moi, in El-Garage-o.

[Glen McGuire]

Whoa!  That is amazing work, Ron!

[hollowneck]

Thank You, Glen. I should mention that unlike my basement shop, my garage isn't heated (long-sleeved shirt, puffy vest, etc)

The large model was beautifully built and came to me with broken rigging items (per normal challenges, an errant animal I was told).

 

However, my principal task on the two week project was to thoroughly clean-off years of accumulated gunk and restore the model's beautiful natural woods (mostly mahogany) as well as all the impeccably-painted surfaces (some scratches needed tricky aged paint touch-ups). Unfortunately, after doing some internet research - it was a gift to my client - I was unable to trace its builder but I did discover to my amazement that such a finely made model came from a random nautical gift store somewhere in Massachusetts.

 

I'm currently writing a detailed article on the "Restoration of the Puritan, the 1885 America's Cup Defender" for the NRG Journal with a focus on the materials and techniques I used to restore this beauty. I got detailed, nice closeup photos during my work. I understand the restored model is being donated to a Pennsylvania Historical Society.

Edited 17 hours ago by hollowneck

[Glen McGuire]

1 hour ago, hollowneck said:

I'm currently writing a detailed article on the "Restoration of the Puritan, the 1885 America's Cup Defender" for the NRG Journal with a focus on the materials and techniques I used to restore this beauty.

I look forward to reading that article when it comes out!