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

[Glen McGuire]

Thanks for the well wishes on the Hawaii trip.  We had an amazing time.  Beaches, sunsets, mai tais.........ahhhhhh.

 

Time to get back to work.  The first thing I did upon return was finish seizing the mizzen shrouds and threading the deadeyes.  Still managing to keep the deadeyes aligned fairly well.

 

 

 

Next up was the forward stays and preventer stays.  These are looped around each mast with an eye and mouse.

 

 

I made my mice with a 3/16" dowel, sanding to a conical shape and drilling out the center for the stay to pass through.

 

 

 

One more thing to make before installing all the stays - the two U-shaped collars that the fore stay and fore preventer stay attach to at the base of the jib boom.  I carved these out of 1/8" thick basswood.

 

 

 

Here's a good look at the attachment points.   The fore stay and fore preventer stay are in the foreground with the U-shaped collars.  In the background you can see the main stay and main preventer stay using lanyards anchored at the base of the bow pinrail.

 

 

 

 

And here's a look at the whole thing.  That was a lot of work to string only 6 dang lines!!

  

[Knocklouder]

Glad your back my friend. Carson ship is looking  fantastic  he must be impressed with each post as we all are. Nice work on the bow, I am just starting mine.

  Pile says hello 👋      

Bob &crew

[Keith Black]

 Yes, welcome home. Did the cows miss you? 

 

 The Connie is looking right smart, Glen.  Fine job you're doing. 

[Glen McGuire]

17 hours ago, Knocklouder said:

Pile says hello

Right back at him!  And tell him I hope he's enjoying his long rest, but he needs to get back to work ASAP!  That pile of kits in your workshop ain't gonna build themselves!  

 

9 hours ago, Keith Black said:

Yes, welcome home. Did the cows miss you?

Thanks, Keith.  Yes, they were quite happy when I got back and gave them their cow candy!

 

 

Edited November 21, 2024 by Glen McGuire

[FriedClams]

Good to hear you had an enjoyable get-away, Glen.  Nice progress on the Constitution!

 

Gary

[Glen McGuire]

More progress the last couple of days.  First was adding the mast top deadeyes.

 

 

 

Next was snaking the fore stay and main stay.

 

 

 

Then I snugged up the lower shroud deadeyes and added sheer poles.  

 

 

 

 

I went outside yesterday morning and there was something in the air.  Took me a few minutes, but I finally realized it was the smell of ratlines.  That dang north wind blew it all the way down from @Knocklouder's workshop in Canada to Austin.  I don't see any way out of it, so I started by making some templates.  Only 1700 knots.  If I can average 30 seconds per knot, that's only about 14 hours of fun and frolic!!  Or maybe I should send Bob a plane ticket and have him fly down here and knock 'em out for me!

 

  

[GrandpaPhil]

Glen,

 

The Constitution is looking good!
 

A set of ratlines usually takes me a week or two on a warship.

 

I may or may not have been known to take a week of vacation specifically for tying ratlines, lol.

Edited November 23, 2024 by GrandpaPhil

[Knocklouder]

Wow 1700 clove hitches,  I would be in Heaven. You know if you sing the ratline song it go's by fast.

 99 ratlines on the wall. 99 ratlines on the wall  etc......   Do that 17 times you'll  be done in no time.17 sounds better than 1700 lol. Enjoy, they say ratlines are therapeutic, I need therapy.  Lol

 The ship is looking fantastic  Glen    Bob M & crew !!

[Keith Black]

 Seventeen hundred clove hitches?!  That's why I use the weave method. 

[Glen McGuire]

850 knots down and 850 to go, on the lower shrouds anyway!  I haven't estimated a number for the uppers yet, but at least it won't be near as many.  I kept waiting for Bob to get here and help but I guess PFC Pile would not give him a weekend pass.  Mini-Dimples did show up to supervise.  Unfortunately, she was not much help.

  

 

 

 

As tedious as those ratlines are, the ship really starts coming to life visually when they are added.  For me, they are a defining aspect of the look and feel of the large age of sail ships.  My goal when I got back from Hawaii was to get the lower starboard side complete before I head out of town for Thanksgiving.  Mission accomplished!  After the holiday, I will take a break from the Constitution here and swing back over to the Flying Dutchman/Black Pearl SIB to have a go at making the whirlpool.  Yikes!!

 

Speaking of Thanksgiving, one of the things I'm thankful for is all of the incredible people that make up the MSW community.  As I've said many times before, y'all make all of my work better and so much more enjoyable.  Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!   

 

 

Edited November 27, 2024 by Glen McGuire

[Knocklouder]

Glen the flight is canceled, snow? Ice, plus Pile said  NAY .   So 850, They do go by fast. Did that song help lol.Looking great my freind. The best part about finishing the ratlines?  is there not many lines left to do.   fantastic work,she sure is shaping up  nicely. 

 Bob  M.

PFC GP. 

Goober

Edited November 27, 2024 by Knocklouder
Typos

[Keith Black]

 Glen, the ratlines look fantastic. And a Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. 

Edited November 27, 2024 by Keith Black

[Glen McGuire]

After a month of working on the Flying Dutchman and Black Pearl, it's back to the Constitution and the port side of the ratlines for the lower shrouds.  

 

On 11/23/2024 at 9:45 AM, Knocklouder said:

Wow 1700 clove hitches,  I would be in Heaven.

Proof that one man's heaven as another man's hades!  I do not share Bob's affection for ratlines.  I queue up a bunch of music or a long podcast, put my head down, and grind thru it.  Many, many hours later, it's done!

    

 

 

 

Next up is the upper shrouds.  Of course that means more ratlines, but not near as many as on the lower shrouds.  I'm guessing about 1/3 the number of knots. 

[Knocklouder]

Great job, very neat and straight.  Awesome job.   

Bob  M.

[Keith Black]

 She's looking awesome, Glen. 

[Glen McGuire]

Here are my steps for the upper shrouds.  First, the spaghetti strings tied off in pairs to the cross trees. 

 

 

 

 

Next, looping the ends of the shrouds around the upper deadeyes using my alignment jig and then seizing the loops.

   

 

 

 

Here's the upper deadeyes on the fore topmast with double seizing followed by a shot of all the upper deadeyes ready for threading to the lower deadeyes.

 

 

 

Deadeyes in the process of being threaded together.

 

 

 

And finally, upper shrouds complete with deadeyes rigged and sheer poles added.

 

 

 

That can only mean one thing...it's time for the next round of ratlines!!!  WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  🤐

Edited December 31, 2024 by Glen McGuire

[vossiewulf]

11 minutes ago, Glen McGuire said:

That can only mean one thing...it's time for the next round of ratlines!!!  WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

<squawk>Uhhhh... think we need an emergency CT scan for Glen , over<squawk>

[Knocklouder]

Wow my freind, are they ever  straight.  I don't think I would be  too much help, lol. Shakey  Builders Syndrome  😆  Great work my freind. 

Bob  M.

[Keith Black]

 That's super nice, Glen. Very pleasing to the eye. 

[G.Frost]

On 12/31/2024 at 2:18 PM, Glen McGuire said:

Here are my steps for the upper shrouds.  First, the spaghetti strings tied off in pairs to the cross trees. 

 

 

 

 

Next, looping the ends of the shrouds around the upper deadeyes using my alignment jig and then seizing the loops.

   

 

 

 

Here's the upper deadeyes on the fore topmast with double seizing followed by a shot of all the upper deadeyes ready for threading to the lower deadeyes.

 

 

 

Deadeyes in the process of being threaded together.

 

 

 

And finally, upper shrouds complete with deadeyes rigged and sheer poles added.

 

 

 

That can only mean one thing...it's time for the next round of ratlines!!!  WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  🤐

 

Greetings from Australia 

Glen that is a breathtakingly beautiful ship. I'm no expert but from what I can see the craftsmanship and attention to detail is amazing.  I can only hope that one day I can produce something as beautiful as that.

[Glen McGuire]

4 hours ago, G.Frost said:

Greetings from Australia 

Glen that is a breathtakingly beautiful ship. I'm no expert but from what I can see the craftsmanship and attention to detail is amazing.  I can only hope that one day I can produce something as beautiful as that.

Thank you for the kind words, Mr. Frost.  Very much appreciated.

[SaltyScot]

I can only agree with what has been said here more than once, extremely good work. This is definitely a build to aspire to, to say I was in awe regarding the quality of the work would be an understatement. You have another follower sir!

[Glen McGuire]

8 hours ago, SaltyScot said:

I can only agree with what has been said here more than once, extremely good work.

Thank you, Mr. Salty!  I wish I could take credit for the entirety of this build, but most of the fine work was done by the original builder.  I just did a bit of repair work and am now grinding my way through the rigging.  Regardless, I definitely appreciate your complimentary words and you following along.

[Glen McGuire]

Second level of ratlines complete!  Only the top gallant shrouds/ratlines left to go.  But they are only 3 strands each and short by comparison.  So they should only take hours instead of days!  I can see light at the end of ratline tunnel!!  🐀🐀🐀

 

 

Time to hop back over to the Flying Dutchman/Black Pearl to put the finishing touches on that project.

 

Edited 4 hours ago by Glen McGuire

[Ian_Grant]

Glen, you're getting fast at rattlin' down. They look great!

 

Topgallant shrouds did not usually have ratlines; I know - it's a puzzle to me too. Perhaps the "ladder" just gets too narrow to be useful?

 

To man the topgallant yard they could lower it to the cap and access from the top of the Topmast ratlines.

Edited 3 hours ago by Ian_Grant

[Glen McGuire]

51 minutes ago, Ian_Grant said:

Topgallant shrouds did not usually have ratlines; I know - it's a puzzle to me too. Perhaps the "ladder" just gets too narrow to be useful?

I find that interesting too, Ian.  Some of the build logs I've been using for reference do not have ratlines on the topgallant shrouds.  However, the BlueJacket rigging plan clearly shows ratlines on the topgallant shrouds.  

 

 

I've also gone thru a bunch of Constitution pics in the MSW Gallery and most of those also have the 3rd level of ratlines, like this one from @AndyMech.  So as much as I'd like to have all the ratlines in my rear view mirror, I've still got a few to do.

 

 

You make another interesting point about the topgallant shrouds being too narrow for use as a ladder.  The plans also show a "Jacob's Ladder" that runs from the cross trees of the topmast to the cross trees of the topgallant mast and is perpendicular to the longitudinal line of the ship rather than perpendicular like the ratlines.  So not only do I get to do more ratlines, I also get to build a few ladders!