USS Constitution by usedtosail - FINISHED - Model Shipways - scale 1/76

[usedtosail]

Thanks guys. I think part of the problem, besides my inability, was that the planks are not supported right at the bow, so there was a lot of flex in them while drilling. The outside planks were also very thin from sanding, kind of like an eggshell.

[Guest Tim I.]

Thanks guys. I think part of the problem, besides my inability, was that the planks are not supported right at the bow, so there was a lot of flex in them while drilling. The outside planks were also very thin from sanding, kind of like an eggshell.

 

I have had that problem on some other builds. What about adding balsa formers between the frames / bulkheads and carve / shape them to provide some underlying structure?

 

- Tim

 

Also, Happy New Year!

Edited December 31, 2014 by Tim I.

[foxy]

Happy New year Tom and sort the problem out soon, which I am sure you will on the bowsprit .

 

Happens to all of us.

 

Frank

[usedtosail]

Thanks Guys.

 

Tim, you are exactly right. If I were build this again, I would put supports across the bow and especially between bulkheads A and B, to get those curves better.

[usedtosail]

I got to spend some time in the shipyard this weekend, so was able to fix up the area around the bowsprit hole.  The outer hull planking was pretty straight forward and I cut the plank sections to fit around the bowsprit. Here they are before sanding:

 

 

And here is the bow after sanding:

 

 

On the inside, I decided to take the bowsprit out and plank over the edges of the hole, then file the hole out later. Here are the four planks that are cut by the bowsprit:

 

 

The next plank up is partially cut by the bowsprit, so I added it as a full plank to be filed later. None of these planks are glued in yet, as I still have to add the rivet heads to them after they are bent:

 

 

I added the rivet heads and glued these planks in, then used a rat tail file to enlarge the hole, filing slowly and easily so as not to dislodge the plank ends. I then bent the top plank which is a narrow plank, added the rivet heads, glued it in, then sanded it down to make it flush with the rest of the bulkhead:

 

 

And here is the inner bow with the bowsprit dry fit:

 

 

And the outer bow with the bowsprit:

 

 

 

I will add a little filler around the outer hole when the bowsprit is permanently added much later. You may also see a small piece of wood on the stem, which is there to fill a gap between the bowsprit and the stem.

 

I sanded out the sides of the two openings to the head, then gave all the spar deck gun ports a final sanding with a square sanding stick and some fine sandpaper. I used a tack cloth to clean out the gun ports, than painted the insides of them black. I also touched up the black paint around the gun deck gun ports, especially the insides of the rabbets. I will now mix up the green paint for the inner bulwarks. I mixed up a batch last night but it looked too green this morning. 

 

[usedtosail]

Wow, I just realized that I am starting the second year of this build today. Where does the time go?

[GLakie]

Outstanding job on your bow repair Tom. Looks great.  Edit: You must be having fun.

 

Cheers 

Edited January 6, 2015 by GLakie

[Guest Tim I.]

Looking great!

 

- Tim

[patrickmil]

Nice repair Tom! It's looking really nice.

[usedtosail]

Thanks Patrick, Tim, and George, and for the likes.

 

I finished painting the inner bulwarks. This is five coats of thinned blue/green paint. After these pictures were taken, I touched up the black paint in the spar deck gun ports and the off white paint on the gun deck bulwarks where I slipped with the brush slightly when painting the green. The simulated rivet heads just show under the paint, which I like.

 

 

 

Between painting sessions, I made up the rest of the tackles for the gun deck cannons. I also figured it was a good time to make the cradle so I could test the supports before the copper plating was installed. I used a contour gauge to get the shape of the hull at two points, then transferred those shapes to paper and scanned it into a drawing program. I developed the shape of the supports in the drawing program, doing one side then flipping it over to get the other side, so they would be symmetrical. I printed them out on paper and cut them out to test fit on the hull, thinking I might need to make some adjustments. But, they fit really well, so I tacked the shapes to a piece of 1/4" thick walnut and cut them out roughly on the scroll saw.

 

 

I then used the 1" belt sander and the drill press with a Dremel sanding drum to get down to the final shapes:

 

 

 

I then hand sanded the edges and the faces. the walnut tended to have chips along the edges, so I used the Dremel tool with a sanding drum to sand a bevel into the edges to remove the chips.

 

 

I clamped the supports between two wood strips on the workbench to test fit the supports to the hull:

 

 

I'll have more pictures of the assembled cradle later. I am now going to make the wood strips that fit across the outside of the hull across the open waist.

Edited January 12, 2015 by usedtosail

[HIPEXEC]

I just did the same thing and made a stand. After I did all the measurements.Augie suggested a contour gage.Nice job.

[GLakie]

The cradle's looking great Tom. Sweet!

 

Cheers

[CaptainSteve]

Nice work, Tom ... as always.

 

[usedtosail]

Thanks guys.

 

Rich - I have been following your log, so I saw your cradle too. This is the first one I have made from scratch, but I had bought the contour gauge last year to prepare for it. When I read about you using wire, I was going to suggest it, but Augie beat me to it. I really like your plastic one, however, as the one I bought is metal, which is why I didn't want to wait until the hull was coppered to use it. I think your cradle is sweet too.

[usedtosail]

To finish up from yesterday's post, here is the completed cradle, just not with any finish yet. I'll wait to do that later. There are two brass rods in each support, going from the legs through the small support base pieces and into the large base board. I used CA to glue in the brass rods and wood glue under the feet and base boards. Everything is nice and tight so should be good without any additional support, I think. I can always add support bars between the supports, but I would rather not. I had bought that base board for a previous model but didn't use it. It made a good base for the cradle. I'll probably add some felt to the arms where they contact the hull, too.

 

 

And here it is supporting the hull. I once had thoughts of carving the ends with the same billet head scroll as on the model, but the walnut seems too brittle to carve well. I may try adding some scrolls on the sides of the walnut, but we'll see.

 

 

 

I gave the hull a final sanding in preparation for priming it. There is one last step to do before that though which is to add the boards that will cover the gap between the outer planking and inner planking across the open bulwarks section. These are sort of vestiges on the existing ship, as shown on the plans. They have a groove in the outer edges so to make that I ground a profile into an old razor blade with a Dremel cutting disk.

 

 

 

The new profile is the deep one on the right. You can see some old ones that I used for other models with very unsatisfactory results. This one I made very deep so the tool won't wonder as I pull it across the edge, which was the problem with the old profiles.

 

And here is the result. This strip is just laying in the opening. I need to prime and paint it before gluing it in, as it is right up against the green plank sheer on the inside. I am really happy with how the groove came out, especially since this is basswood which doesn't like to hold a nice edge. I used a very small file to increase the bevel on the inside edges of the groove and also to clean up the bottom of it. I rounded the outside edges with some sandpaper.

 

 

 

I will start masking the hull tonight in preparation for spraying the primer. I am going to prime all the way down to the keel because I think it makes a good base for the adhesive copper tape. I have not had any problems with adhesion on previous models when I have primed the hull first. Plus, it will show areas that may still need some filler and/or sanding.

[GLakie]

I like the cradle Tom. Was thinking about a similar design myself for mine when I get to that point. Being on it's own permanent base will make it easier to remove from the case, should the need arise.  Makes good sense also, to have a nice smooth finish for the hull plating to adhere to.

 

Cheers 

[usedtosail]

Thanks George. I really like a cradle for the same reason. The case for this beast is going to be fun to design and build. I like RobnBill's design for a hinged back as the top will be too large to lift off, not to mention the space needed to clear the masts.

Edited January 13, 2015 by usedtosail

[usedtosail]

I gave the hull a few coats of gesso as a primer. I masked off the gun port openings and tried airbrushing this on, but was having too much trouble getting the right consistency, so I brushed on three coats of thinned gesso, sanded the hull down with fine sandpaper, then filled in a few more spots that showed up with the primer. I cleaned up the hull and gave it one more coat of the thinned gesso.

 

 

 

The thinned coats smoothed out nicely, so I am pleased with the brushing. I did order a new airbrush that should handle larger areas better, so I will try that with the black paint for the top sides. I am also going to get some nicer brushes. I have a few large ones but they are not as high quality as the smaller brushes I have. I already know I will have to do some brush painting on the topsides, especially around the gun ports, so if I end up doing it all by brush, that will be OK too.

 

I started experimenting with the copper tape for the copper plates. I have used this before, but I always put it on smooth. For this model, I wanted to add nail heads, so I had a cheap ponce wheel which I tried running down the edge of some left over copper tape from the back side. The nail heads looked just OK, but were not too pronounced. I modified the ponce wheel by using a cutter disk on the Dremel and cutting into each slot, then used a triangular file to sharpen the teeth.

 

 

The nail heads are now much more pronounced as you can see in these images.

 

 

I then made a jig to hold the copper tape while I make these nail heads and also when I score the individual plates from the tape, which I do with an X-Acto knife from the front side. There are two long pieces of wood on a base that are set to the width of the copper tape, which in this case is 1/4".

 

 

 

I then marked 5/8" lengths on the bottom side of the jig and ran the jig through the table saw to make the slots at 5/8" intervals. I can now place the tape in the jig upside down and score the nail heads for the ends of the plates. For the sides, I can place a 3/16" piece of wood in the slot and run the ponce wheel along it to get a nice straight line of nail heads. I can then turn the tape right side up, offset it a little bit and score the individual plates using the knife in the slots to get straight ends.

 

 

We will see how this works out when I get to the coppering.

 

 

 

[CaptainSteve]

Nice job on the hull, Tom.

 

Are you planning to cut the copper strip into individual plates before putting them on the ship ??

[usedtosail]

Thanks Captain. Yes, I take a strip of tape and score the individual plates but don't cut through the backing. Then I peel them off the backing as I apply them to the hull. This makes it much easier to get the backing off then if you cut them into individual plates first.

[CaptainSteve]

I have seen some builders who do as you are planning, and others who leave the strip intact. To me, who has never done this before, it just seems easier to leave the strip uncut.

I'll follow yours along and be prepared to change my mind, Tom.

[robnbill]

I have a couple of questions. Is this the same copper tape used in stain glass? Do you use anything other than the adhesive back on the tape? Is there a danger of the adhesive not adhering long term?

 

I ask because my kit used green boards. Individually cut to represent the copper. So my questions are for my future builds.

[usedtosail]

Captain, I have tried leaving them on as a strip, but had trouble keeping the offsets looking right from one row to the next. With the individual plates, I can compensate a little with each plate.

 

Bill, yes this is the same copper tape as the stain glass folks use. It is what Model Expo supplies with the kit. I have used this in the past and as long as the hull is well prepared and the strips are burnished as they are placed, they hold extremely well with just the adhesive on the back. I prime the hull under the plates to get a nice smooth surface for the plates, and use a popcycle stick that I filed to an angle to burnish the plates down with. This will be a little more challenging on this one because I don't want to burnish the nail heads away, so I have to be a bit more careful during that process. I have used this method on almost all my models and the tape is still stuck after 8 years. How archival this is I don't know, but I am not too worried about that. It would be interesting to hear if anyone has had problems over the long run with the tape as is.

[CaptainSteve]

... but had trouble keeping the offsets looking right from one row to the next. With the individual plates, I can compensate a little with each plate.

 

 

That's one very good argument for doing it your way.

Edited January 20, 2015 by CaptainSteve

[robnbill]

Thanks. Enjoy sticking the plates. It really makes the hull pop.

[usedtosail]

Snow day today so got to work at home. A quick update...

 

I finished priming the top sides of the hull.

 

 

and gave the stripe areas three coats of white paint.

 

 

In between coats of primer, I have been making the two chain pump housings for the gun deck. Tim I, I found your build log from the cross section and you had a nice sequence for making the chain pumps, so I used it along with the plans in the AOS book.

 

 

 

 

I will paint these brown and make up the wire handles, then put them aside until I can install them.

 

Tonight I will mask off the white stripe and start painting the topsides black. I have already marked off the top of the copper plate line, which I will overlap some with the black, to get a good line at the top of the copper plates.

[Guest Tim I.]

Looks great!

 

- Tim

[Modeler12]

Tom, a suggestion. This is well into the future for you, but I think important to remember.

 

When I installed some of the posts and fife rails on the deck, I simply glued them to the deck without any further thoughts. Then when I was doing the rigging some of the lines going up the mast put enough upward stress on those 'simple' glue lines to break two of them off. I ended up drilling a hole in the bottom of the posts and inserted a brass pin. A similar hole in the deck and some epoxy and it was fixed. 

 

However, it would have been a lot easier and less stressful on me personally if I had made the posts longer and inserted them through the deck with some kind of attachment from underneath. This is also the reason I use epoxy on almost all eyebolts. CA just does not make it.

 

I do have a question about your model and plans. You show and have part of the gun deck showing, whereas mine is like the ship is now in Boston. The kits were made by the same company, but I am wondering when that addition of the lower deck was made. I really like yours because it gives a much better feeling of what all those guns below are about. How do you stow the large boat?

Edited January 28, 2015 by Modeler12

[Guest Tim I.]

Tom,

I also made mine from the AOTS. However, in my cross-section I got the scaling wrong and made them too big. Some thing I get to fix in my new build. Your chain pumps look better than mine! 

 

- Tim

Edited January 28, 2015 by Tim I.

[usedtosail]

Thanks Tim.

 

Jay - Thanks for the advice. I have had pin rails come up on previous models while rigging, so I always pin them to the deck now. As for the gun deck, this is the same Model Shipways kit that you built. I just chopped up the tops of the bulkheads and added the gun deck planking, so I am kit bashing the MS kit. The hatch on the spar deck will be open, not closed with grates, and the boat will sit on deck beams across that opening. This is more like the ship's configuration in the early 1800's. The process I used to add the portion of the gun deck is documented earlier in this build log. I bought the cannons separately for the gun deck, as they will have carriages and not just dummy barrels.