USS Constitution by GGibson - Model Shipways - 1:76.8

[GGibson]

22 hours ago, Der Alte Rentner said:

Then, by all means hold off fairing until the bulkheads are solidly in...

 

11 hours ago, mtbediz said:

I only faired the first bulkhead in the bow before gluing it in place...

 

Thanks for the input, fellas!  Yeah, it seems like that is the proper thing to do.  I may look at "pre-sanding" some of the "end bulkheads", i.e. Bulkheads A, B, Q, R, that will require a deeper sanding than others to eventually fair properly but otherwise will hold off on the detailed fairing until all bulkheads are in and I can test them with a planking strip.  Appreciate the reminder, gentlemen!

 

Last night I did give each of the bulkhead tops a nice, thin coat of Titebond glue to help strengthen them, as I know I am bound to snag one or two of them during this build/install process.  Hopefully. a nice topcoat of this glue will toughen them up to prevent any serious *SNAPS*... 🤷‍♂️😬

 

Before I begin securing the bulkheads to the keel, I am thinking this would be the best time, if I am going to do it, to drill holes in the bottom of the keel in order to insert brass rod and tubes to help hold and provide additional support for the ship on whatever type of pedestal/cradle base that is eventually made for its display.  Although other builders may have done this, I do know that Jon Gerson described his process of doing this very well in his build log.  Thanks, Jon! 🏆

[JSGerson]

Quote

I do know that Jon Gerson described his process of doing this very well in his build log.  Thanks, Jon!

Your welcome Gregg. I am always happy when my successes and/or mistakes helps someone else.

 

Jon

[GGibson]

Another (I’ll try to be) quick update on this Constitution build.  In my mind, this feels like one of those “…small step for model builder man, giant leap for Gregg-kind” type of accomplishments.  I’ll take the baby-step wins when I can get them, because I know a ton of “what the…?!?”s will cross my lips ultimately in this journey, as well.

 

First thing I wanted to get done was what I had mentioned at the end of my last post… and that is to insert some brass tubes up through the keel and into the bulkhead former a bit in order to provide additional support for when this ship is placed in a permanent base.  Several builders have done this on whatever ship they were constructing, and I mentioned that Jon gave an excellent tutorial on what he did early on for his Constitution, so… I had to follow suit.

 

I decided to place the two support holes about 12” apart, approximately at the F & N bulkhead locations.  Using just a pin vise and drilling holes by hand, I had to accurately drill straight down through the rabbet and keel in order to insert a 3/32” tube at each spot.

 

 

I started with a #60 micro drill bit and carefully worked my way up through larger drill bits so as to not tear out the hole.  So, a #60 drill bit, then a #54, then a #50, then 5/64”, then finally a 3/32” bit so that I could tap in the small tubes.  Sweet!

 

 

I had also mentioned in my last post that I was considering making some cuts into the appropriate bulkheads and keel locations in order to have visible ladders going from the detailed gun deck down to what would be the berth deck.  I looked at what others had done to the bulkheads and bulkhead formers to accomplish this visual.  Some had made the cuts at this stage, others had made cuts into the frames after the bulkheads had been secured to the center spine.  I decided to do this before attaching the bulkheads.

 

After reviewing several previous build logs and several USN documents, I made the following cuts in the center keel…

 

 

For the fore hatch going down to the berth deck, I cut out the center keel 19.34mm back from the Bulkhead F and 1” deep.

 

For the main hatch going down to the berth deck, I cut out the center keel 37.12mm back from Bulkhead I, which removed all from between Bulkheads I & J and went back another 12.44mm from Bulkhead J.

 

For the after hatch (the one that will be just in front of the capstan), I cut out the center keel 19.43mm from between Bulkheads L & M, beginning 9.78mm back from Bulkhead L.

 

For the companionway hatch (the one that will be just behind the capstan), I cut out the center keel 19.43mm from between Bulkheads M & N, beginning 14.52mm back from Bulkhead M.

 

  

 

 

In addition to the cuts made to the center keel, cuts also need to be made to a couple of the bulkheads that will be in the way in order to accommodate the “ladders to the berth deck” illusion.  So, the gun deck beams from Bulkheads I & J were removed now (other gun deck beams will be removed similarly later) as well as some deep cuts.  According to the USN plans (and looking again at other builds), it appears all of the gun deck hatches going down to the berth deck are 5’ wide, which translates in our 1:76.8 scale to 0.78125”.  So, the openings in these bulkheads were made that wide.

 

   

 

And, yes, the beams that are being removed will be saved in order to use as templates for when the new beams are added back in later on in this build process.  And, yes, I am still worried about snagging and breaking off at least one of these bulkhead extensions at some point during this build process! Uggghhh...

 

So, all in all, a good start to the first major bashing in this project.  I believe, then, that the next task is to get the Lego blocks out and, after a bit of initial fairing on a few of the bulkheads, secure each of the bulkheads to the center keel.  Then, begin on the filler blocks.

 

Thanks, as always, for peeking in.  Appreciate the likes, comments, advice and criticisms.

Edited Thursday at 02:51 PM by GGibson

[JSGerson]

I always feel trepidation when I do things outside of the instructions/guidelines because once done, some things can't be undone. You have to make doubly or trippily sure you got all the measurements right. So far it looks like you've done everything right.

 

Jon

[GGibson]

19 minutes ago, JSGerson said:

So far it looks like you've done everything right.

 

Great to hear that acknowledgement from you, Jon.  As I said, I'll take the baby-step wins.  Thank you, sir!