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

[alde]

That looks like a great space Tom. The natural light is a big bonus.

[usedtosail]

Thanks guys. The wine is just there temporarily, but there is a bottle of Tequila behind it that is staying, for after hours only.😋

 

So I unpacked enough stuff so that I could uncrate the Connie. I took the top off first and when I looked inside I saw this...😲 

As I feared the model slipped out of the cradle during one of the moves, since I had not tied it down. After taking it out of the crate and giving it a good examination, the only damage was the flying jib boom, which is snapped. Not too big a deal but I will have to do some re-rigging after replacing it.

I was happy to see the dolphin striker was still in one piece and none of the yards were messed up. So, once the shop is into shape, I will make a new flying jib boom and replace the rigging for it. I did manage to get more unpacked last night, so I am getting there.

Now back to unpacking...

[SawdustDave]

Boy do I know the sinking feeling after almost losing my Confederacy when the cargo box blew out the back of my truck returning from a show in Columbia, SC a couple of years ago.

Much more damage, but very lucky I didn’t build a bottom to the cargo box.

Took a couple of weeks to repair.

[xken]

Tom, that was the reason I made the boat cradle removable so that I could tie down the ship for transport. Lucky that it will only be a nose job. Nice new digs to work in.

[popeye the sailor]

nice big work area Tom.........plenty of room!       sorry to hear that Connie was damaged........though only minor......it could have been a lot worse  

   look'in forward to the continuance ........and the repair  

[Tigersteve]

Really nice workspace!

Steve

[Burroak]

Tom on page 443 of the USS constitution build, what thickness of styrene were you using? All I have is .020 and seems too thin. Thanks in advance.

[usedtosail]

Greg, I used .015 x .040 styrene strips.

 

Thanks for the condolences guys. The shop is all set up and I am making the new flying job boom this afternoon.

[rwiederrich]

Tom...new shipyard looks amazing...great space...glad things are working out and you can be back to work in no time.....

 

Pickin out my seat....

 

Rob

[usedtosail]

Thanks Rob, and for the likes. I am back in business and it feels great to be back at it. I started by making a new flying jib boom - well really one ad a half as the first one broke when I was half way done.

I then carefully undid the rigging from the broken flying jib boom to see if I can salvage any of the lines that are looped over the end of the fjb. A few of the seizings had come undone due to the pressure on the old part, so had to remake the inner martingale stays and the sprit yard parrel. I also had to cut the flying jib stay, as it ran through the sieve on the end of the fjb. I added a new line for it around the fore mast and put the seizings on in place, which is always fun when you are wrapping thread five feet off the floor.

 

I put the flying jib boom in place, after adding the traveler and lines with loops on the end.  A few of the lines need to be replaced to get the tension right but the rest look OK.  I added a pin to the inner end of the fjb which goes into a hole in the bowsprit cap, and glued the fjb to the cap.

A few more lines to fix up here and then I can start on the braces. It looks like I will be starting back to work part time next week but will still have a lot more time in the shop then I did when I worked full time.

[popeye the sailor]

the replacement looks super Tom   

[Ozark]

Hi usedtosail,

That part looks awesome. Could you quickly explain how you made that. or maybe point me to a video or a log showing how its done. Some of the parts in my Connie kit are warped and i'm not sure if I will be able to use them.

 

Thank's, Ozark

[usedtosail]

Thanks Popeye.

 

Ozark, I made the flying jib boom from a piece of 1/8" dowel that came with the kit. Some of the dowels in the kit were warped, which I replaced with new dowels that I bought online. To make the boom, I first drilled two holes to simulate the sieve in the forward end. I then used a small hand plane to taper the dowel towards the ends, then chucked the dowel into my Sherline lathe and used sandpaper to round then out again. I used a small file with the dowel in the lathe to make the shoulder on the forward end, then a small chisel to connect the two holes to finish simulating the sieve. You could also chuck the dowel in a hand drill if you don't have a lathe.

[Ozark]

Thanks usedtosail

 

I am really interested in the scratch building side of model building. 

 

Thanks, Ozark

[usedtosail]

Ozark, scratch building is where I would like to end up but I think I have a ways to get there.

 

all of the repairs are completed and I am making progress on the braces. I have the fore and main lower yard braces in place and have started on the crossjack yard and topsail yard braces.

[usedtosail]

Braces are all done now.

At this point I want to make and install as many of the rope coils as I can, before adding the main sheets and tacks, which will limit access to the pin rails. I modified the way I make rope coils after I saw how Ed T. is doing his for the Young America. I use a 3 pin jig to make each coil, loop the line around the two pins, then make a hitch under the coil to hold the loops together. I then make another hitch, looping that one over the pin on the top of the jig, so when I pull it tight and fix the hitches with glue, it all holds together.

I have added these to the port pin rails, and have started making the coils for the starboard side.

[ronald305]

Hi tom 

  I just caught your build log of the Connie you are doing a great job on her may I ask you why you purchased 

  more cannons didn't the kit come with canons thank you 

                             Ronald 

[usedtosail]

Thanks Ronald. The kit came with complete cannons and carronades for the spar deck, but only dummy cannon barrels for the gun deck. These go into box structures to simulate the guns on the gun deck. I added a portion of the gun deck that shows through the open waist of the spar deck, so the extra cannons were for this portion of the gun deck, so I could show complete rigged cannons on the gun deck. I bought the whole set from Model Expo, which were more than I needed, but it was still cheaper than buying the exact number of individual cannon sets that I needed. The last time I looked, it appeared that ME no longer sells the cannons as a set, though, but you can get them as individual kits.

[ronald305]

Thanks Tom

for the info and a good idea, it figures  that they stop a good thing  like selling sets of certion thing  

[maturin52]

I did the same thing that Tom did, and could not find the cannons as a set. I called Model Expo in Florida, however, and they sold me the needed number of cannons at the old set price. Sadly, I don't remember what that price was. Yes, Tom, I'm still around and still working on my Connie, following very much in your footsteps. I've just finished building the various hatches and will soon begin planking the deck. I've had a couple of surgeries recently which have slowed me down, but I am still at it. I'll update my log soon. I'm glad your move when well and that you're back to work in your new workshop.

[SawdustDave]

Still here as well Tom.

Taking a “burn out” break in the process of building spars.

I just needed to step away for a while.

So I started a new fun project.... not a ship.

 

Cheers

[ronald305]

Hey Tom 

 I have another question for you 

 on page 27 I could not make out the cannons on the top deck what kind of cannons are they that hardly have any wheels if they do have wheels I can hardly see them the lower deck have cannons with wheels how come the top ones have funny carriages thank you 

                           Ronald 

[usedtosail]

Maturin, Thanks, and I am glad you are still at it and you were able to get the cannons at the set price. I hope your health issues are in the past too.

 

Dave, I'm intrigued on your new project. Please elaborate.

 

Ronald, there are only two cannons on the spar deck, which have carriages with wheels. The rest are carronades, which have shorter, thicker barrels and ride on sleds that have two small wheels underneath them and are attached to the bulwarks at the other end. You can see these in pictures of the current Constitution to get a better idea what they look like, although the current ones are a bit different than what was on the ship in the 1800's, which is what I modeled.

[SawdustDave]

Rather than hijack your wonderful build log, I just posted to my Connie log.
Spect you're in for a little surprise..... 
Cheers

[usedtosail]

You got that right, Dave. Good luck with the new project.

[KurtH]

I so admire anyone who can do human figures sculpture on a ship model.  That aspect, more than any other is what stops me from attempting a scratch built model.

[KurtH]

I so admire anyone who can do human figures sculpture on a ship model.  That aspect, more than any other is what stops me from attempting a scratch built model.  I am also struck by your making diagonal knees.  This is an aspect I have not seen in the build photos I have seen thus far.  I wonder if you and I are the only ones who have done this on a Constitution model.  All in all, really beautiful work.  I am learning a lot by looking at your build photos!

[usedtosail]

Thanks Kurt. I know I have seen them on other models but I don't remember which ones. Not too many have modeled the gun deck. There are a few build logs that are in the process of doing it, so they will probably add them as well.

[usedtosail]

I finished adding rope coils for all the running rigging that has been installed to date. It was more trouble making them consistently then getting them in place on the belaying pins. Those long tweezers I bought last Spring really helped a lot. I had made all the ropes for the fore and main sheets and tacks in the old shop, but I had to strop blocks with hooks and loops for them.

I then added the sheets and tacks to the model. Since I am not adding sails, my plan was to hook the sheet and tack blocks to the clew line blocks hanging from the main and fore yards. When I did this, the sheets were right up against the shrouds which did not look good at all. I had a couple of options at this point. One was to leave the sheets and tacks off, but since I had already made them I didn't want to do that. The instructions pretty much say to do that if no sails are attached. They also suggest attaching the clew blocks to the reef tackle blocks, which would support he clew lines along the yards. Well, I had not added reef tackle mostly since I did not have enough belaying pins for them. But this gave another idea, which is shown here dry fitted:

It is hard to see in these images as it is hard to focus on individual lines, but what I did was support the clew lines further out on the yards using a simple loop of line around a jack stay stanchion. This moves the clew line block out so that the sheets and tacks are away from the shrouds and other lines close to the hull. I doubt this would have been done on the real ship, but I am only doing it for display purposes. If this is really a bad idea, please let me know and I'll try something else or leave the sheets and tacks off. Thanks.

 

I am also installing the quarter davits which I had made a while ago. I glued the two support pieces to a piece of wire that is through them and the davit. I was able to glue them and the davit is still able to rotate in the supports. I then glued the supports to the mizzen channel and hull sides. I have the upper bracket pieces to glue on next.

 

As you can see in this picture, the main braces and sheet get in the way of the davits rotating up and down, especially the braces. I don't know how they dealt with that on the real ship. Maybe they loosened the braces when lowering the boats on these davits? Anyway I think I can get them installed around the lines, especially since I am not putting boats on them.

 

Thanks for looking in. The list of things to do is getting pretty short now so maybe I can finish her this calendar year - not that I am in any hurry though. I will probably have to wait until the Spring to make the case although I might be able to build some of it over the Winter. We shall see...

 

Edited November 1, 2018 by usedtosail

[popeye the sailor]

superb looking ship Tom!