USS Constitution by Mundie - Model Shipways

[Mundie]

My work schedule changed, and I've had limited time to commit to my ship. I did in fact find my digital camera that allows photos w resolution as low as 200 mb, so it will work very well with the limitations of the photo posting.

     I finished the coppering, I did this while watching football! cutting was easy. I marked of the length on my cutting mat, then would use the pounce wheel on lengths appx. 5", the I would cut each one with scissors, then pounce each one on the short side. (its important to know whice side gets the vertical pounce, for each side of the ship is different) I had to purchase a second roll of tape, it is the same exact type that came with the ship. A slight color difference in color existed, but both rolls look the same after the tape was exposed to air. I used Hunt"s practicum for guiding me on the lines needed for the tape to run even up and across the ship. I did the best I could and I"m happy with the way it turned out. The one big problem was the tape was "curling" in areas, and needed to be adressed. I'm not sure if the tape adhesive was just weak or the primer I used on the planking affected it.(I did not paint the haul) So after I completed the coppering, I CA glued each plate under the curl, and then lightly coated the entire haul with CA glue (yes the entire haul) I figure it should hold up for a century or more!!! LoL!!! There is a minimal amount of visual evidence this "coating" was done, and I am happy with the results.

   I almost completed the officers head, (just some fine tuning) and will touch up the paint after in finish the front of the ship, so I can do final paint touch up at the same time, the windows are a little off (not level with the rest of ship) but this being my first build, I"m satisfied, I know I can do better, I just don't want to spend too much time on perfection and keep rolling.

   I also almost completed the back of the ship. I used paper for the stars, using stars I printed from another build log on this site. I tried using styrene, but could not get them to my satisfaction. So, I simply painted the stars and CA glued them. I used the eagle that came with the kit, and printed the eagle that was included in Hunt's practicum, although I had to use "Word" for resizing until I got it right, I CA glued the flag the coated it with CA glue. I was not happy with the way the name plate turned out, so after many attempts I decided to paint a piece of paper with the white paint I used for the ship and the after sizing the word "Constitution" I ran the painted paper through the printer for a better color match, raw white from the paper without being painted was far too bright and looked off. The thin strips are styrene. More to come!!
 

[Mundie]

its not letting me upload pics that are only 850kb?? anyone?

[usedtosail]

Welcome back! I can't help you with the pictures but I hope you get that worked out so we can see your progress. Sounds like you have made a lot.

[Mundie]

[Mundie]

[Mundie]

I'm back at it after a break. My work schedule is still making it difficult for me to find time to build. 

  I bought some mini brushes to paint the design. I'm going to "fine tune" the top star w more detail. 

 I was "afraid" of this part, but thank's to a Dremel, life is good?  .015x.030  styrene was a little tricky, I just used clamps and did and inch or so at a time, the curves were a little tricky but it worked. More to come!

[Mundie]

The timbers on the prints did not exactly line up with my model (Hunt's practicum mention this issue) so I just did my best to make them line up. I did both sides at the same time- placing both together and leaving the top point a little long in order to account for minor differences (one may be a few mm different then other (port/starboard). My Dremel came in very handy to fine tune the timbers- and I pretty much followed the prints to get the spacing and angle correct- the top lean a bit forward. 

  The 3rd rail is tricky- it's taken some time, and I decided to make the 3rd rain after I installed the timbers. I hasn't worked out as perfect as I would have liked. I'm going to do a little fine tuning w the Dremel to the rail (in pic) and see if I'm happy w them- if not , I'm going to scrape it and start over- I want this to look smooth and blend w the rest of this part of the ship- and xtra hour or so isn't a big deal compared to not being happy w the look! 

[JSGerson]

You've got a great looking model and I hope mine will eventually would look as good as yours.

 

Jon

[Geoff Matson]

You are doing great. The bow timbers were a real learning experience for me. I am looking forward to seeing more. 

 

[Mundie]

I wasn't happy w the way the 2nd 

[Mundie]

I wasn't happy w the fitting of the 2nd rail relative to the timbers- the timbers  needed to be a bit farther out to connect w the rail, so I just had to ad an extension piece on 2 of the center timber to add a 1/4". It worked out ok! The top rail and supports and planking was easy. 

 Now I'm carefully adding the styrene trim. As tedious as it may be- I'm taking my time- I want this area to look good. 

[Mundie]

I wasn't happy w the way the styrene trim was working for the rails. So I decided to use a different size, I'm going to use .015X.020 (a tad thinner the the .030)  instead is .015X.030- there is a big difference for the small scale of the application. 

 So while waiting for the mail for the styrene, I started the cannon ports. I may shop around for different cannons. 

 The painting of the hatches was a little tricky- I bought few micro paint brushes from a local crafts store- and they worked well. Tweezers where needed to attach the hinges. 

 I purchased an "Exacto" kit when I began the model that included 3 micro drill bits that I used for the small holes on the top (white) hatches- the rope that holds the window open is attached through these holes- I plan on using the thin black wire that came w the kit. 

Edited March 28, 2018 by Mundie
Forgot something

[Mundie]

I had to buy more black paint (MS4830) and while I had to wait I decided to finish up the cannons. I'll jump back and finish the rails this weekend. I tried to get the wire angles  (came w kit) as close as possible to the true size, but it would risk breaking the lids- so I settled for what was more practical. I decided to have them open. 

[Mundie]

Ok, finally!!! The smaller styrene definitely was easier to work w and looks pretty good. 

[Mundie]

Ok, so I built deck cannons- not much to them, just glue and paint. I painted the wheels before attaching to the base- and touched up the cannons after they were glued up. The little handles required a pin vice bit. 

Then started on the dead eyes/chain plates. A little tricky- I used a 3-way alligator clip holder for the soldering of the wire twisted around the dead eye to the chain plate. I had to paint them twice because the paint didn't bond to the brass right away. I haven't decided how I'm going to go about attaching the bottom of the chain plate to the ship. I'm going to look at some other build logs before deciding if I'm sticking to Hunt's plans or deviating a bit. Any suggestions are welcome. Thx

 

 

Edited August 21, 2018 by Mundie

[Mundie]

Ok, so I’ve started the deck furniture. I opted to use “Testers” paints for the wheel etc. I had a hard time deciding what color- you went w a brown. After looking at numerous other models, it seems it’s almost impossible to get a exact replication of the current state of the ship, so good enough is good enough:)......

   I feel if I spent more time I could get a little better at the deck furniture, but I really want to keep rolling, and being inexperienced- I’ll take what I can get.. 

   I’m currently rigging the cannons, patience is a virtue!!! I hope to finish the deck within the up coming months. I’ve been following Hunt’s practicing combined with build logs from this site and some ideas of my own- I’m having a good time and plan on building a high end electric guitar next. 

 

 

[Mundie]

The third pic above (white styrene) attach between the cannons- and rigging hooks are attached- I used styrene- drilled tiny holes- files edges- and squeezed the center w a small “rounded” pair of needle nose pliers to simulate the roundness of the actual rigging. 

[Mundie]

I decided to use 34 awg copper wire that’s coated black- and make the cannon rigging hooks. 

[Mundie]

Rigging the cannons I decided to loop the rope around the inner rigging. Most of the pictures I’ve seen of the ship use this method.. I’ve deviantex from blocks w 2 holes to blocks w one, on the inner rigging. Most of the pictures I’ve seen, the blocks are covered w rope anyway. 

[Mundie]

So, I’ve been gone a while. Between Covid and my schedule- my ship has been docked for a while..

 I completed a lot of the deck furniture.(nothing to hard)

 I’ve begun the mast. Pics / details soon to come. 
  I did a side project during Covid quarantine building the body of a electric guitar from scratch.

a sandwich of:

coco bola

hard maple

Purple Heart maple

hard maple 

w Schaller hardware.

[JSGerson]

Good to see you back and look forward to your future posts. I been working on my Conny since 2017 and still have not finished the hull. I've been using Mr. Hunt's practicum only as a guide as I am adding the gun deck to my model. Nice work on the electric guitar body.

 

Jon