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

[usedtosail]

Thanks Pete, Geoff and Ulli ,and the likes.

 

I was thinking about clamps last night and decided to take a picture of all the different types of clamps that I use, especially for planking:

 

 

I think all of these clamps came off build logs on this site and they all have their uses. The office clip clamps I made in two sizes, with the small ones used when the gap between planks gets too small for the bigger ones. The hair clips came from Danny's build log and come in very handy when there is a long span to clamp over. The flipped clothes pins are great for planking the bulwarks, as you can see from my previous posts. The regular clothes pins have been sanded down to more of a point at the tips and are good for putting pressure on a specific point, but they are pretty shallow. The screw in clamps and push pins are good when there is absolutely no room between planks to get a clamp in, although just using a little CA on the planks works too. The others have been useful around the stem and transom. I also have bigger clamps that can clamp across both sides of the hull, but I use these very rarely.

 

As they say, you can't have enough clamps and I say you can't have enough kinds of clamps.

[usedtosail]

Geoff, you are so right I had forgotten the rubber bands that I also use. I have a few surgical clamps that I use for rigging, but hadn't thought to use them when planking. But, your post got me thinking about surgical tubing as a clamp, which would be sort of an open ended rubber band. I may have to experiment with it and see if it might work for wrapping around the whole hull, instead of trying to thread a rubber band around the hull. Hmm.

[CaptainSteve]

Thanks Pete, Geoff and Ulli ,and the likes.

 

I was thinking about clamps last night and decided to take a picture of all the different types of clamps that I use, especially for planking:

 

I think all of these clamps came off build logs on this site and they all have their uses ...

 

And yet, I notice that you've made no use, whatsoever, of the MS planking clamps which I spent approx $30 on and (around) 3 hours putting together. Personally, I have found them to be completely useless and will concentrate instead on using the ones which you have used.

 

Tom, you remain the build to follow when I (very shortly) get back to working on my USS Constitution.

[usedtosail]

Captain Steve,

 

I am not sure what the MS planking clamps are, but I have a bunch of stuff that I bought that is pretty useless to me too. Live and learn, I guess, but it is pretty amazing how many times the answer is simpler than we think. I will try to not steer you down the wrong path for your build, but at least it should be pretty obvious if it happens.       

[CaptainSteve]

The MS clamps I'm referring to are these:

 

 

They come in packs of four which have to be assembled and consist of a fastening bolt running thru the centre of a small U-shaped block. In practice, they are a right PITA to use, as you'd need three hands to operate them - one to keep in place and two to tighten them up. I seriously do not recommend them.

Oh well, live and learn.

Edited August 12, 2014 by CaptainSteve

[usedtosail]

Oh thanks for showing those, Steve. Another product to avoid.

[usedtosail]

There she blows - the waling (whaling, wailing) continues...

 

Here are some shots after a few of the wale planks were added to the port side. I started from the stern and worked my way forward. These first few planks were not too difficult, with just some tapering to do near the ends.

 

 

 

 

At the bow, I just had to soak and bend the planks to the hull. Here are two planks being bent at the same time. I found that if I bent these just to the bulkheads, I was getting a flat spot right after the bow filler piece, so I wrapped these around the wale above to get continuous support along the length of the plank.

 

 

Now things are getting more wonky. The rest of the stern wale planks bend up under the counter. I trimmed the ends of the stern planks so I could see what I was doing, then bent the next one under.

 

 

 

I am going to need some filler here, don't you think. I have no idea how you guys that single plank and leave your wood natural do it. Someday, someday...

 

And here are some of the center planks being glued in. I used the larger clamps to butt the new planks up against the previous planks. These wale planks are pretty thick, so I also beveled the back edges to get a better fit along the front edges.

 

 

In that last picture you can see the Excel spreadsheet I made up to calculate and keep track of the plank widths at each bulkhead for each belt. I also made this jig to hep hold the planks while tapering them, out of some aluminum angle:

 

 

I should be able to finish this side in a few days and give it an initial sanding. I'll have more pictures then.

[Guest Tim I.]

Watching your build makes me wish I could pull mine out of the box right now. The whales look great!

 

- Tim

[kscadman]

Beautiful work Tom.

 

I'm curious about the spreadsheet. Does it give you a total length along the circumference of the bulkhead(s)? 

 

Richard

[usedtosail]

Thanks Tim and Richard, and all the likers.

 

Richard, the spreadsheet looks like this. This is the start of one row representing the planking band between the top and bottom of the wales, so all the wale planks, and columns for the first three bulkheads. There are other rows for the other bands and other columns for the rest of bulkheads.

 

   

 

I first establish each planking band, using a batten to check the run of the planks at the top and bottom of the band. I then mark the locations of the top and bottom of the band off the battens, and measure the gap between them at each bulkhead, which goes in the first row labeled "Gap". I then measure the width of the planks I want to use across that gap, and the number of planks to fill that gap, which go in the next two rows. The bottom row is calculated from the above information, which is the width of each of the planks to fill that gap using that number of planks. I can play with different starting widths and different # of planks to make sure I get all positive numbers in the bottom row and that I am not taking too much off each plank near the ends, which would call for stealers or dropped planks. It doesn't do all the work for me, but helps me visualize what the planking will look like before I start adding planks.

Edited August 22, 2014 by usedtosail

[kscadman]

Brilliant! Did you design it? If you did you need to patent it. I know I could of used it when I planked my Syren.

 

Richard

[usedtosail]

Tim - your Pinky Schooner is really coming out nicely, so your Constitution should be great too when you can start on it in your new house.

 

Richard - not sure design is the right word, but it is my own doing. As spreadsheets go, it is really very simple. I would be happy to make it available to anyone that wanted it, though. It would need some modification for each kit, though, based on number of bulkheads and planking bands, but that is simple cut and paste stuff.

[Guest Tim I.]

Tom,

 

I would be interested in a copy if you don't mind, for when I can get back to my build.

 

Thank you,

 

Tim

[CaptainSteve]

Tom,

I'd also appreciate a copy of your spreadsheets. It shouldn't be too much longer until I (finally) get around to working on my Connie.

[kscadman]

I would like to have a copy if its ok with you. thank you for the offer.

 

Richard

[usedtosail]

I'll be happy to send copies, but I realize that I can't attach an Excel spreadsheet to a PM, so whomever would like a copy, please PM me your email address and I will send it to you that way. Also, if you are using an older version of Excel, let me know and I will send you an version that will work with that version.

[HIPEXEC]

I like your array of clamps.

[usedtosail]

Wow, I guess I haven't updated this in a while. I gave the port side wale planks an initial sanding before moving onto the starboard side. I thinned down the bottom three wale planks so the wales will flow into the rest of the hull planking. I also thinned the wale planks at the stem to be flush with the planks above. I will sand these all some more when I do the final sanding of the whole hull before painting and coppering.

 

 

 

I turned the hull around and started adding the two remaining planks between the gun ports and the wales on this side. It took me over a month to get the port side where it is from this point, but hopefully I will have more time to work the starboard side so it won't take as long. We will see...

[Guest Tim I.]

Looking great! What are you doing for gun deck cannons? Model Expo's Constitution cannon kit?

 

- Tim

[usedtosail]

Yes Tim, I bought that set a while ago. It really is a good deal compared to buying the guns individually. Even without filling the whole gun deck with these guns it was still a lot cheaper then if I just bought the guns I need.

[Guest Tim I.]

I have debating purchasing them for mine. However, the castings for the carronades in my kit leave a lot to be desired. So I have not yet.

 

- Tim

[usedtosail]

Yes, the castings in these are a bit rough too, as are the castings that came with the kit. I think they can be cleaned up with some work, though. The carriages needed a lot of modification so that these cannon barrels would match the elevation of the dummy cannon barrels, since i am using both. it wasn't too bad since I am only using 16 of these "real" cannons, though.

[GLakie]

I haven't really made a post until now since it will probably be another 6 months or so before I can start my Connie build, but I've been following this build, and others with a lot of admiration and respect for the attention to detail. Especially this build, because I've been considering following a similar path of building the gun deck. The one major problem I've been noticing is the lack of availability of the proper guns and carriages for the gun deck. Since the spar deck had 12 pounders, and the gun deck had 24 pounders, (unless I'm mistaken), the size and appearance of the gun barrels is noticeable, and with so much attention to detail and accuracy, I'm thinking maybe this should be a consideration. I know Syren is supposedly working on more sizes for cannon and carriages, but does anybody have an idea as to when those might be available?

 

George  

[usedtosail]

Welcome George. You make a very good point concerning accuracy. In my case, the majority of guns on the spar deck will be carronades which came with the kit, which are quite a bit different than the gun deck guns. I think there are a couple of regular cannons that came with the kit for the spar deck and these are probably the same as the gun deck guns, so there is where the inaccuracy may show.. The gun deck guns are a mixture of the dummy cannon barrels that came with the kit and the Model Expo gun kits that they sell separately. The barrels on these are close to the same as the dummy barrels, and should be OK for 24 pounders. I don't know Chuck's schedule for the Syren guns.

[Guest Tim I.]

I haven't really made a post until now since it will probably be another 6 months or so before I can start my Connie build, but I've been following this build, and others with a lot of admiration and respect for the attention to detail. Especially this build, because I've been considering following a similar path of building the gun deck. The one major problem I've been noticing is the lack of availability of the proper guns and carriages for the gun deck. Since the spar deck had 12 pounders, and the gun deck had 24 pounders, (unless I'm mistaken), the size and appearance of the gun barrels is noticeable, and with so much attention to detail and accuracy, I'm thinking maybe this should be a consideration. I know Syren is supposedly working on more sizes for cannon and carriages, but does anybody have an idea as to when those might be available?

 

George  

 

 

George,

 

I am not sure what period you are looking to depict with your build, but you are right. Prior to 1810 the USS Constitution had an armament of 30x 24 pounders, and 14x 12 pounders from her 1803 refit in Boston. Carronades showed up on the Constitution in 1804 (8x 32 pounder carronades) as per a letter from Commodore Preble to the Secretary of War dated 11 March, 1804. Interestingly enough there seems to be some variability in the description of armament in the period from this letter to 1810. By the time Isaac Hull took command in in 1810, he changed out the 42 pounder carronades, for more a uniform armament of 32 pounder carronades on the spar deck. So by the war of 1812, her armament is pretty close to what is included in the kit.

 

- Tim

[GLakie]

Hey thanks guys for the welcome and getting back so quick.

From what I've been able to gather, originally, she had the 30 of the 24 pounders, 16 of the 18 pounders, and 14 of the 12 pounders until she was put into reserve status in 1802. Everything's subject to change, but my plan, so far, is to build her as close to that original launch state as feasibly possible. On the other hand, I might just use MS's cannon kit and ream the ends of the barrels a bit and put larger wheels on the carriages to make up for the difference because this will be my first wooden ship build, and I should probably keep it as simple as possible. Not my first model though by any means. I've done the Revell Connie and Cutty Sark each twice with full rigging and sails, but it's just not the same as the satisfaction I'll get from building them in wood. Spent all my life in the trades, doing cabinetry and finish carpentry, this shouldn't be too much different, except in a way smaller scale. We'll see. Can't wait to get started, but until I wrap up a couple of immediate projects, and finish my little workshop, it'll have to wait.

 

Thanks again and fair winds

George 

[cookster]

Tom, I've now  found your build after coming back from my long break.  Very nice!  You've done things I wish I'd thought of before it was to late.  The gundeck is a great addition.  Your 1812 modifications are great, you're doing better than me for sure on those mods.

 

Keep up the good work!

[usedtosail]

Tim, thanks for that information. You are a fountain of knowledge on this ship and I much appreciate it.

 

George, simple is good, but I'll bet you will add a lot of detail once you get going. I agree that wood building is so satisfying, but can be frustrating at times too. Trying to get the planking to look nice and even is frustrating me at the moment.

 

I checked back into the kit supplied parts last night, and the only armament supplied are the carronades for the spar deck and the dummy gun barrels for the gun deck, so no cannons for the spar deck. Tonight I will take a picture or two of the three barrels (carraonade and dummy from the kit, and cannon from the cannon package), so you guys can see what is available from Model Expo and how they compare to each other.

 

Wes, Thank you. I got the idea for the gun deck from this forum and figured I'd see how far I could go. It was not a big decision because I figured I could always cover it up if it didn't come out right. So far, I am happy with it although keeping it clean while hull planking is a bit of a challenge. Also, I have to figure out how to mask it when I go to paint this monster.

[Guest Tim I.]

Tom,

 

My kit has two bow full cannon barrels for the long 24s, the rest are the half barrels. Is yours the same?

 

Thank you,

 

Tim

[usedtosail]

Hum, I didn't see the long 24's but maybe I overlooked them. I'll look closer tonight and let you know.