USS Constitution by lambsbk – Revell – 1/96 - PLASTIC – With Fiber Optics

[Force9]

Very nicely done! The crank handles look terrific and everything is nicely proportioned.

[lambsbk]

Kim: in answer to a previous question you posted - the furniture is all made of styrene (with the exception of the camboose floor - made of styrene base, brass square tube for the frame, thin blackened brass floor to simulate lead, and copper tape mounted on the collar). I don't have a large sampling of the parts but bought some styrene tubes, squares and a sample pack. They are measured, mixed, and matched for the piece needed then glued, sanded, and finished. Wood grain is simulated in some pieces by 'roughing' them slightly with a wooden nail file along the grain.

 

The parts are scaled from references on this site (i.e. other modelers), books I own, and via web search. When I am reasonably happy with what I need to make I start sculpting it - I hope that answers your question.

[popeye the sailor]

she looks great Dave........are you taking lessons from Dr. Dafi? 

[lambsbk]

I'll bite here Denis...Dr. Dafi?  The name is familiar but I am not sure why.

[popeye the sailor]

http://modelshipworld.com/index.php?/topic/76-hms-victory-by-dafi-to-victory-and-beyond/

 

your in for a treat

[lambsbk]

Denis:

 

I just read through it...I could have saved myself a lot of thinking through on some of these items in my build had I seen it had already been worked out. Amazing detail. I could use some lessons... :)

[popeye the sailor]

I'm doing something similar with my   U.S.S.United States {revell}.    love the detail he put into his build......I  know  I'll never get  to that level,   but it will be fun trying 

[texxn5]

Hi Dave, just now catching up with the logs.  I like the way your pumps came out.  Lot's been going on and had a bunch of honey-do's to get out of the way.  Going to get some work done in the next few days.  I think your pumps came out at a good scale. Hope all is well my friend.... 

[md1400cs]

Dave,

 

Made a second pot of coffee and went through you log. Very nice, the amount of details that  you have added through your excellent research is paying of handsomely. Beautiful build. Glad I found your log after you dropped in on mine. Kudos to your work

 

Regards,

 

Michael

 

PS: As many have, I also built the Revell Constitution so many years ago. Interestingly enough the revel kit still stands up today as a plastic kit.

[rommoz]

Shipbuilders,

Just got my aots book in the mail and my "Connie 1812" build log will be coming soon. I do have a question about marquardt's mast detail... The mast drawings show woolding of a dark color on the masts. All of the mast pics I've seen show just white masts with no apparent woolding on them. Should it be painted white? Are the drawings wrong, should the woolding not be there ? Any help here would be great.

 

Thanks

Joe

[lambsbk]

This question was discussed earlier in this log. Check out the following from Evan (Force9):

"The color of the mast hoops is interesting - there is much debate on what is appropriate.  I think it was most common across the world's navies to paint them black to contrast with the mast color up until the battle of Trafalgar.  We know that going into that battle, Admiral Nelson had his fleet painted a uniform pattern as an IFF measure... Having been in so many fleet engagements, nobody understood the fog of war better than Nelson.  And he knew that his upcoming tactics would entail an incredible intermingling of the combatants with banks of gunpowder smoke obscuring everything.  Oftentimes it would only be masts looming above the smoke or a bowsprit emerging from a gray haze that would indicate a nearby ship.  With this in mind, he ordered that all of his ships paint over their iron hoops to match the mast color as a way of making the British ships distinct.  (The combined French/Spanish fleet was still utilizing rope wouldings instead of iron hoops) It is interesting to note that the HMS Victory was restored in the 20th century to the most accurate historic Admiralty records available - which clearly indicated the black iron bands on the masts.  This is surely how she emerged from her Great Repair shortly before Trafalgar and that is how she appeared up into the 1970's.  But research revealed the Victory's signal log with an entry showing Nelson yelling at a couple of his ships to paint out their @#!*&^ mast bands to match the rest of the fleet as they formed up for the great battle.  Apparently these were outlying units that hadn't gotten the word to paint them out to match the masts, which suggests that Nelson had ordered this change very shortly before Trafalgar.  It should be pointed out that the Turner painting and the Clarkson Stanfield work both sat showing the painted out mast hoops for over 150 years.  These paintings were heavily influenced by veterans of the battle.

 

Gradually the British navy adopted the Trafalgar painting practices and the American navy generally followed suit.  The Hull model shows the mast hoops on Constitution painted out and the credible contemporary paintings do as well.  But all of this, of course, can/should be superseded by artistic license - it is your model.

 

Happy modeling!

EG"

 

I hope that helps.

Edited December 12, 2013 by lambsbk

[lambsbk]

BTW Joe -  welcome aboard and good luck with your build. I am sure you will have fun with it. I look forward to your log.

 

My shipyard should be open again soon - then it's back to work on the elm pumps and capstan.

[rommoz]

Don't know how I missed that... Although I read the logs on an iPhone so I might have skipped over a few pages due to the small screen...thanks for the repost

[Sailor1234567890]

I never knew that about the masts. I knew of the "Nelson Checker" but didn't know it extended to the masts as well.

[lambsbk]

Well...it has been so long since my last post I hope I remember how to update!

 

I am finally tackling the capstan. Since the kit supplied capstan is only on the Spar deck I will make one that more properly transitions both the Spar deck and the Gun deck. I was not happy with the current capstan on the Connie in Boston as it is designed to haul CHAIN and not HEMP. The drawing below from the USS Constitution website is what I will be trying to produce. The core of the capstan was 7/32" at this scale ...no Plastruct in my stock that size BUT I do have a spare model...and the masts are perfect (spare mast material is probably what they used anyway) - so that is what you see clamped crudely here. This will be the core start of the capstan. All the measurements are in 32nds of an inch. I will post more pics as the capstan morphs to completion.

Edited April 14, 2014 by lambsbk

[augie]

Good to see you back Dave ..... and Happy New Year.

 

Hand made capstans are fun.  Can't wait.

[popeye the sailor]

I may try to do the same thing on my United States build.  with so many Connie builds in progress.......I'll be able to see the many different directions folks take.   I've replaced the decks with wood.......and most likely I'll be doing the same to the masts.  looks like I'll have the  'spare parts'  your referring to      I tried to talk the admiral into letting me get a Connie kit......but she told me I was insane!  man........I hate it whenever she's right 

[lambsbk]

I placed 1.0mm plastic in a octagonal pattern to receive the cogs of the lower portion of the capstan. The base is also finished. A hexagonal pattern just did not work.

 

 

Edited April 14, 2014 by lambsbk

[lambsbk]

Not much work to report this week. The gun deck capstan is nearing completion...spar deck yet to go. There are no less than 32 pieces of plastic on this little 'mini-build' so far.

 

Capstan cogs...

[lambsbk]

And then when put together...

 

These were taken with a cell phone camera. I apologize for the decreased detail.

 

 

[Force9]

Very, very nicely done!

[augie]

Very nice.  I have no concept how to make one out of plastic.  Most interesting. 

 

I've seen some blueprints of real capstans and have been amazed at how they were constructed.  Our forefathers were pretty darned good, mechanically !!!!!!

[popeye2sea]

I like it.  My kit has neither capstans nor helm.  I am thinking about putting them in

[lambsbk]

Augie: I don't either. I am making this up as I go.

 

Henry: I have NO doubt you can add this if you decide to. Just a reminder - the measurements in the above pic are 1/32 inches. 1/96 scale.

 

Thanks for the likes guys.

[popeye the sailor]

when I built my Connie,  so many years ago..........and then the United States,  for that matter......I had no idea that Revell left out these important parts.   gun deck capstan....riding bits,  chain pumps.........gonna make this second United States build much more interesting

 

nice work Dave.......what is the overall height of the capstan?

[lambsbk]

From top to bottom it will be about 34/32". Maybe slightly taller. I will probably have to cut the shaft in half to place it into the spar deck then glue it back together. Before doing that I am going to try to place it through the deck in one piece and THEN add the cogs to the upper capstan. It will be tricky not getting the glue onto the deck however. That would not be a big deal but I am trying to preserve the Revell intent of allowing it to turn mechanically, even though I will almost certainly will not be hauling any lines with it.

 

...but you never know.

Edited January 31, 2014 by lambsbk

[lambsbk]

Just a minor update. I've had a lot of travel lately.
 
I wanted to preserve the rotation of the capstan on both levels. Revell had originally allowed the spar deck capstan to rotate and I wanted that also. The trick is getting it through the deck without painting the deck or gluing it to the deck. So I came up with a capstan 'sleeve' idea. I.e., I will make the spar deck capstan separately and paint it separately and then glue the entire assembly to the axle. A start of this idea is shown below.

Edited February 10, 2014 by lambsbk

[augie]

Kind of like putting in a casing in a well.  Nice idea!

[lambsbk]

The capstan is finally ready to fit into the spar deck and start closing the aft section of the deck. This little model has been more time consuming than I thought it would be.

 

The plastic was first glued into position then shaped.

 

 

[lambsbk]

I can't get the pics to load onto the text so I will have to add separate posts here.

 

 

The plastic was then shaped.

Edited April 24, 2014 by lambsbk