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

[Burroak]

Tom I have a question for you if it's ok. When you were doing the framing for your gun ports, did you make the side frames for the gun ports square to the top and bottom gun sills or parallel to the bulkheads? I'm at that stage in my build and have heard two different answers to this. One answer was square to the top and bottom sill and the other was parallel to the bulkheads. I really like the way yours turned out for sure. Thanks

 

 

Greg H.

[usedtosail]

Greg - ask away. I will always answer if I can.

 

I made the sides of the gun ports parallel to the bulkheads, so they were always straight up and down. The tops and bottoms tilt according to the curve of the deck, but it was never by very much if I remember.

[Burroak]

Tom thank you very much. I've elected you my mentor without asking, I hope you don't mind.

 

Greg H.

[usedtosail]

I'd be happy to help, Greg. Do you have a build log going yet?

[Burroak]

I've got my ship going I just haven't started a build log.

[usedtosail]

The gun port lids are just about finished. I have all the lids glued in place and the starboard side rigols are all installed too. I have some touch up to do on the port side and some rigols to still install. Here is how the starboard side came out, with the different lid types.

 

 

 

 

 

I went with white edges on the open port lids, so they are more pronounced.

[GLakie]

Nice work Tom. She looks great!   Just wondering if you were thinking of rigging the hatches at all, or just as is. 

[usedtosail]

I just finished the lids on the port side, so here is how they came out.

 

 

 

 

Now it is on to the bumpkins. I have a few weeks off as I am between jobs, so I am looking forward to having a lot of time in the shop. Luckily I have another job lined up so I can enjoy myself.

[Burroak]

Tom she's beautiful! I hope mine turns out at least half that good.

 

Greg H.

[usedtosail]

Thanks George and Greg, and the folks who pressed the like button.

 

George - the bottom hatches would have had a draw line straight into the gun deck, but I decided not to add it. The top lids did not have a draw line as they were removable from the inside.

[usedtosail]

I made the four bumpkins, carving the ends like on the plans using a scalpel. I tapered the front bumpkins using the small plane my wife gave me for Christmas. It made short work of that task. I used black paper for the band around the ends and 28 gauge wire for the support rods. I made loops on the ends of the wire and hooked them to eye bolts which are glued into holes through the bands. I am hoping that I can do the same on the other ends after I install the bumpkins. I painted them black.

 

 

I then made the boarding steps, using a simplification from what is shown on the plans. These are only 1/16" high, so getting three strips of wood to make them up was not an option. What I did was to make a holder for 1/16" square stock using a V gouge to make a V in a length of wood. I then placed the square stock in the groove and used the small plane to plane off one corner, giving me a profile similar to the steps on the plans. I then cut steps from this strip and sanded in the 45 degree angles on the ends. These were painted white.

 

 

I also made the two "shelves" that go under the anchor ports, again using the small plane to remove two corners of a rectangular piece of wood. I also made the two anchor holders that go mid ship on the starboard side, using a manila template and the scroll saw. I added two pins to pin them to the sides of the hull and two eye bolts for straps that hold the anchor. These were all painted black.

 

 

Installing the bumpkins and support rods is next up to do.

 

 

[Burroak]

Looks great Tom

 

Greg H.

[usedtosail]

Thanks Greg and the likes too.

 

I glued the bumpkins in place, as well as the anchor shelves and the anchor supports.

 

 

 

The fore bumpkins seemed very vulnerable to me, so after the glue dried I drilled a hole up through the bumpkins into the middle rails, then pushed a small nail coated with medium CA into the hole. When the glue dried, I cut the nails flush with the bottom of the bumpkins and touched up the black paint at the spot. They seem much sturdier now.

 

I then started to hook up the other ends of the support rods. I did this by bending the rod at the right length, then adding an eye bolt and forming a loop. I cut off the excess wire, drilled a hole for the eye bolt and glued it into the hole. Here is the port fore bumpkin with the supports in place. I still have to do the starboard side.

 

 

The aft bumpkin supports are a bit harder, as the space is much tighter and the rail overhang makes it hard to get the support in place. I had to bend the one support I was able to get in place then try to straighten it out in place. The rear support could not be done this way at all, so I glued the eye bolt in place and made a hook on the end of the support, which I will hook onto the eye bolt when it is dry and make the loop in place.

 

 

While things were drying, I made the small detail I lost on the transom from Sculpey and glued the new one in place, then touched up the gold paint on all the transom details. Hopefully I can keep from getting damaged again.

 

 

[robnbill]

It is looking great. I ended up breaking both my rear bumpkins off several times before she was finally rigged. Thank goodness they were easy to put back.

[usedtosail]

Thanks Bill. Between those and all the guns sticking out I know something is going to happen sooner or later. I just try to move around the hull very carefully these days.

[usedtosail]

Some final work on the outer hull is done. I secured all of the support rods for the aft bumpkins into the hull, using eye bolts that I looped the ends of the wire around. A few of them I had to do in place by gluing the eye bolt in first, then wrapping and cutting the wire, instead of the easier ones where I could do the wrapping before gluing the eye bolt to the hull. There was just not a lot of room around the rail in the stern corners. It is hard to see in this picture, but the support arms are there.

 

 

I then added the steps to the sides of the hull. I did this my first making a tick strip of the step locations from the waist rail. I placed a strip of masking tape down the sides at the location of one end of the step, then marked off the locations from the tick strip onto the tape. I ended up using the step that was close to the top of the wale as the reference, since I didn't want this step to be half way across the wale. I then used the tick strip to space the other steps off this one. When I glued the steps in place I lined up the edges with the masking tape, then removed the tape when they were all glued on. I was careful not to let the edge of the step overlap the tape.

 

 

Here is how the port steps came out:

 

 

And here are the starboard steps:

 

 

That finishes the outer hull, except for the fastenings for the bowsprit rigging, which I will add when I rig the bowsprit, the channels and the stern and quarter boat davits, which I will add later. There are probably some other things that I will discover later too. Now I am going to work on the spar deck details for a while, starting with building and rigging the 20 carronades and 2 long guns that go on that deck.

[GLakie]

The supports and steps are looking good Tom! 

[Burroak]

Tom she's really looking nice. What reference did you use to keep the steps level? They look perfect.

 

Greg H.

[usedtosail]

Thanks George and Greg, and the likes too.

 

Greg - there were enough horizontal lines between the white strip and the planks that I could keep them level by eye. I was going to put another strip of tape down the other side before I started gluing them, but found it worked out better for me without it.

[CaptainSteve]

That's one impressive mile-stone passed, Tom !!

[usedtosail]

Thanks Steve. It has been great this week to have a lot of time to work on it.

 

I am deviating again from the supplied parts, this time the carronades. On the tour of the Constitution that Popeye2Sea gave me, he pointed out how the current carronades are not that authentic and should look like these with an elevating screw.

 

 

So, I took inventory of the supplied parts and decided I couldn't use the sled parts as the slot is too wide and they are too boxy, and I am not using the forward trucks because these sleds are pinned to the gun port sill and don't have trucks in the front. I will use the rear trucks, after I clean them up a bit. I can also use the barrels, but with a modification. I filed the casabels to be flat on the top and bottom, then by hand drilled holes through them for a small brass screw.

 

 

 

These screws are 1/2" long, but I don't have enough of them so I ordered some 3/8" screws that I will use instead. They are size 00-90 diameter. I also ordered flat head screws instead of round head. I don't think I am going to drill through the screws at the base for the turning rods, as that is just too small for me.

 

I also am making new sled parts, starting with the bases. I cut rectangular pieces to start with, then milled 1/8" slots down the center. By now you know I have an X-Y table on my drill press, which I used for this process with a 1/8" end mill bit. The X-Y table is one of the best tools I have and really makes the drill press so much more versatile. It is not the best mill though because the head turns as the height is adjusted, but I have marked the center point on the column and head so for this kind of work I can get it pretty close to square.

 

 

 

After all the slots were cut, I rounded the ends and sanded them smooth. The mill bit did such a nice job of cutting the slot, I had very little sanding to do in them.

 

 

After these I will make the slide part of the sleds.

[usedtosail]

More work on the carronades. I am making the sliding part of the sleds again using pieces cut from some sheet wood and some square stock for the supports to hold the trunnions. I will file slots in these when the glue dries.

 

 

You can also see the brackets I made. These will support the base in the gun port. I made them from some flat brass, then glued a small piece of brass dowel to look like the top of the pin. I should have drilled holes in the gun port sills before putting the rail on so I could actually pin these in place, but it is too late now. I will pin the bases to the deck near the gun ports, though, which will hold them in place. You can also see the new screws I ordered - flat heads and a little shorter than the ones I showed earlier. I am going to use the supplied trucks, but I am using the front trucks in the back of the base. The supplied rear trucks I am not using, as there will be no trucks in the front of the bases.

[popeye the sailor]

super progress Tom........cannonades and bumpkins look great!

[usedtosail]

Thanks Popeye and the likes.

 

I continue to build the pieces parts for the spar deck armament. I finished the cannonade sleds and cut the brass screws to size. I made up a small block with a hole in it that i put the screws in then cut them flush with the block, to get them all the same length.

 

 

I cleaned up the metal barrels and trucks to remove the flashing, and made the two quoins for the long guns. I assembled the long gun carriages.

 

I mixed up a new batch of bulwarks red paint for the carriages because the batch I used on the gun deck went bad. I think it is a close match. I painted the carriage parts with it and the wooden trucks black. I cleaned the metal parts with white vinegar and blackened the brackets and brass screws. I need to touch up the brackets with some paint because of the CA glue that covered some of the brass.

 

 

I still need to paint the barrels and metal trucks. I am also in the process of making all of the small parts I will need for rigging the guns, like 170 hooks and 88 ring bolts.

[GLakie]

That's a heck of an carronade assembly-line you've got going Tom. One of the more tedious parts of the build? 

[alde]

Tom,

 

It's been several months since I have been on the forum or looked in on your build. You are doing a wonderful job and have made great progress. I will have to go back and read what I have missed and get caught up.

 

I am only now getting back into the hobby after having to deal with real life issus. Now that life is a bit more stable I can start back in were I left off.

 

Al

[popeye the sailor]

nice assembly line you've got going there  

[usedtosail]

Thanks George, Al, and Popeye. It is not too tedious yet George, as there are lots of different things that need to get done, all be it 20 at a time. I am glad to see you back Al. I hope you get right into where you left off.

 

I finished making all the hooks and ring bolts, and added the ring bolts and eyes to the sleds. I need to finish painting the barrels and trucks before I can continue assembling the carriages.

 

This is my last week home before I start a new job on Monday. It has been fun having time to build during the day, but after this week it will be back to nights and weekends in the workshop again. At least for another 5 years or so.

[Burroak]

Tom I've got a question. On post 179 you showed a picture of the first piece of the wale planking that had been tapered both in length and along its thickness. Did you just use a sanding block for the thickness or maybe a tapering jig on a mini tablesaw? Thanks again

 

Greg H.

[usedtosail]

Hi Greg. For the width, I either use an X-Acto knife first than a sanding block or if the taper is slight just a sanding block. For the thickness, I used a sanding block, working from the end that is the same thickness as the upper planks, to a reasonable way back to the full thickness.I think it was near the last bulkhead or so. After all the wale planks were added, I evened up the thickness again with a sanding block until they were all the same.