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

[usedtosail]

Thanks DAR. I am glad that there are still some little gems in the log to help folks out. God knows I can't never remember all those little details now. Merry Christmas to you too and you are doing a great job on your Connie.

[Der Alte Rentner]

On 2/9/2017 at 2:55 PM, usedtosail said:

I traced the forward edges of these pieces onto some 1/16" sheet and drew out the shapes for the forward edge pieces. I cut these out roughly with an X-Acto knife and sanded them to almost final shape. I glued them to the sheets and will finish sanding the outside edges later.

 

 

 

These are supposed to be only 1/32" high, but I am going to plank these tops on the top and bottom sides, because pictures of the tops in the instructions clearly show the planking. After planking with 1/32" strips, these edge pieces will be exactly the right height. I used straight 1/16" wood strips for the side pieces.

 

 

Tom,

I hope you’ll pardon my trip to your shipyard via Way-Back Machine, but since I’m starting work on the fighting tops, I’m looking at build logs to help fill in the gaps in my plans and experience.  

 

The plans (page 6) show that the top platforms are 1/32”  thick.  And a note below the drawings of the three tops says, “This (sic) is fore and aft planking on real ship.”  

 

You said above, if I’m not misreading, that you planked the top and bottom of the platform, with 1/32” stock. Furthermore, you said you used 1/16” wood for the edge and side pieces.  My math suggests that the thickness of the tops add up to 3/32”, which is thicker than the side and edge pieces.  Did you only plank the top’s tops?  Bottoms? Did you use wider material for the sides and edges?  Or did you sand a 64th off of the top and bottom of the fightings top after planking?      

 

(and Jon, if you’re following along, I KNOW you recently supplied me with the official plans showing the planking, but for the life of me, I can’t find that post.  Please steer me in the right direction.  Thanks)

 

Best,

Peter 

 

 

[usedtosail]

Wow Peter that as a while ago. Looking back at my notes I can tell you that I did not wrap any wood around the outside edges of the tops. The side and edge pieces I'm referring to lie flat on the top on the outside edges. The planks go in-between these edge pieces. I did the same on the bottom of the tops. All in all I am sure if I measured the thickness of the tops at the edges it would be thicker than 3/32".

 

 

Edited January 16 by usedtosail

[Der Alte Rentner]

Yeah, sorry about that..

I'm still trying to wrap my head around the details of the fighting tops - specifically the dimensions of the three layers comprising the 1/32" part supplied  with the kit, the fore and aft planking on the bottom, and the side to side planking on the top.  I won't bore  you with details here.  When I do figure things out, my build log will show the results of the research. 

 

Thanks for chiming in.

 

 

[usedtosail]

Good luck with that. If it helps I took a picture of the tops up close for you. My top looks like it is about 1/8" thick from the side.