USS Constellation by jlheureux - FINISHED - Artesania Latina - 1:85

[jlheureux]

So a quick hand here...I have WAYYY to little belaying pins in this kit. I went to my local game shop and they ordered me some AL pins, but they are too big. They were cheap so I'm not stressing out about it. A quick measure shows that the one they ordered in for me are 10mm in length and the ones supplied by the kit are a scale size or two smaller at 8mm. So, would my best bet be ordering these from Model Expo? Does this look right?

 

http://www.modelexpo-online.com/product.asp?ITEMNO=MS0680

[mtaylor]

The one's that Tower Hobbies has is the same size for AL...    Weird, my kit had brass.

 

What came with the kit is wood or wood like, right?  If so, they should work.

[Jetwrench]

Jason, those should work.

 

My kit had 8mm wood pins as well, but it appears AL only offers 4mm/6mm/10mm pins for sale. Strange that they put 8mm pins in the kit but don't sell them.

[jlheureux]

See that's what I thought was bizarre.

 

The ones that came with the kit were 8mm long and appeared to be boxwood ish. I need almost 100 to fill all the pinholes but the kit came with literally 20. Online they are availible in 10 but not 8. Seemed absurd. I'll give those model expo ones a shot

[jlheureux]

Well, it's been a while. I promise you I've been hard at work. BUT I've also had a wife hit 4 months pregnant, had a birthday, moved to a new apartment hit 290lb on bench press, brewed a TOP NOTCH batch of Winter ale, and tied a couple thousand clove hitches.

 

I'm working on back and forward stays this week, then will get my jib sails on and then I'll be back to the woodworking carving up some yards to get some sails on this thing. It's coming along and I'm happy. A much more complex kit than that SF and I've learned a lot on this kit. I'm already looking forward to my next kit and will be trying my hand at painting next time. Here's a couple shots of my recent progress for your enjoyment.

 

 

[toms10]

That is a real nice job.  I just started with the first hull planks.. someday I hope mine comes out as good as yours.

[HIPEXEC]

nice work!

[jlheureux]

Thanks guys! It's a process and I am still learning. This is only my second ship so I still have a way to go!

[jlheureux]

A good weekend of progress.

Whenever the Lady has to work and I have the weekend off I get a lot done. It's a good trade off. I get to build and my wife knows I'm out of trouble. All I have to keep an eye on me is the rabbit and as you can see she's rarely impressed with my work.

 

I got the rest of the sails ironed and got the 'rough draft' done on all of the yards for the ship. I got them all shaped and then I'm gonna get the blocks on them as I go along.

 

Next I finished the stays and the spritsail. It's crazy how much line is just on the front of the ship. Then i got in all of those staysails. Mine hang a little differently than the rigging diagrams, but I like em anyhow. I was starting to get tired but I had a little more juice so I went ahead and rigged the foremast mainsail and did my loops for the bow pinracks. Good progress overall. I got the hallyards for the foremast main yard but will have to wait on running the other lines until I get the top / gallant / royal foremast yards up. Maybe I'll find a couple hours this week.

 

To anyone else working on this kit: The rigging diagram on this kit is pretty good, but I'm noticing all the kits make the assumption that you have some knowledge of ship rigging before hand. I recommend really looking at the diagrams and being completely sure what every line is and what pin they all run into. On my rigging diagram I labeled them all so as I go along it's just one line at a time.

 

What a fun hobby.

[jlheureux]

Keep pressing on. I got the formast main, top, gallent and royal up and hung on the masts. I then completed rigging the hallyards for all the formast yards. 

 

My next step is to do all the foresheets etc and hten finish up dressing the pinracks. A good ay of work tonight though.

 

****I have one question. As per the diagram I attach here on this post it appears to be diagramming the sheets coming off of the corners of the sails which then go through blocks and to the deck. However, with that rigging through the holes in the yards all those sheets will do is make the sails go 'more straight' for want of correct terminology. It seems that the rope should go from the end of the sail to the block to the deck so when you haul on the line it would trim the sail in....Does that description make sense? Any idea what's up with this particular diagram? If I rig up the formast as per this diagram it doesn't seem like the rope will be 'doing' anything....Help please.....****

[mtaylor]

Jason,

 

I think they are missing a block at the end of the yards.  The line would go through the block instead of the hole.  What these lines do is hold the foot of the sail out and spread.  To furl or reef, the sheet line would be loosened and allow the sail to billow in the middle (if need be) or pulled up a furled.

[jlheureux]

just having a hard time visualizing I guess. so in this ship these sails would have been furled by hand and these lines are just to haul the corners into place? my last ship seemed to have lines that ran from the corners of the sails to blocks to the deck so the sails could be furled from the deck.

[mtaylor]

Hmm...let me see if I can explain it better....  Look at the picture.   For each line (in green) it would go from the sail, thorugh the blocks (red) to the next blocks (next to the mast) and then down to the deck.  This set of lines would hold the foot of the sail in the proper position for use.

 

Then, there's the blue lines... which are not on that drawing for some reason.   They would run from the foot of the sail up to the blocks and then down to the deck.   To furl the sails, the red would be loosened, and the blue would be pulled.  Once up they would be furled by hand with crewmen on the footropes.  I may not have the blocks for the blue lines in the correct position.  They might be on the yard itself. 

 

 

 

[jlheureux]

thanks so much. that actually makes total sense. this diagram is of those foot of the sail ropes which my last kit did not have so I misinterpreted those as the 'blue ones' you drew in which allow the sails to be furled. in reviewing the rigging diagram there actually isn't a diagram for these lines and the yard diagrams only one set of blocks on the yard which are for these 'green lines. ' so. in order to do both I will have to take an inventory of my blocks and add another set of single blocks to each yard and then assess if I have enough room on my pintails. strange they decided to include these lines but not the other ones. if it comes to it and I don't have enough space I will probably approximate those green lines and rig up the furling sheets instead as I like them better anyhow. maybe I can do both. I'll let you know.

 

this is the first real hiccup I've had with the otherwise pretty good rigging diagrams for this kit so other builders keep a lookout for this piece.

[jlheureux]

So I've been running those extra lines so I have the sheets to trim up the sails and those down haul lines to trim down the sails. in reviewing the pin diagrams I totally had enough space on the rails, the instructions just watered down the rigging a little bit by not including these lines. so, since I've been doing twice the planned running rigging I got stalled tonight as I am out of .15 line! fortunately my shop should be able to get it in for me but it will take me till after Christmas which is a bummer because I had hoped to be finishing up while Im off this week. SO close!

[jlheureux]

Thanks for the encouragement Azzoun.

 

take it one step at a time.

 

In order to get the full sail effect what I do is I iron out the sails and then spray them with a spray heavy starch and iron it out like you would iron out a linen shirt. start slow and add the starch in layers so you achieve the desired level of fullness without making them look too fake.

 

I did this on my San Francisco as well and while initially I thought they were a little too still over time the starch softens up and now it looks pretty good.

 

I also found that step helped with sewing the sails into the yards and then when you rig the sheet lines on the corner of the sails it trims them in and they curl nicely. I suggest reading the post on this thread a little ways back about the lines not included in the original rigging diagram I added because once you get all those lines in place the sails really pop.

[toms10]

Nice job on the sails.  They really look like they are billowing in the wind.  I am sure I will be bothering your when I get to the rigging stage which will probably be next spring.  I am just getting close to closing up the hull with the first layer of planking.

[robnbill]

Great job on the sails. I am almost through with rigging the Connie. I cannot fathom all the extra rigging that would be required to add the sail handling lines.  I am in awe. Great job.

[jlheureux]

Thanks so much guys. you are too kind. really running the extra rigging wasn't bad at all. just like normal you take it one piece of rigging at a time and then you're golden. it gets a little crowded in the lubbar holes but it's all good.

 

I'll post some pics when it's all done and am happy to help anyone in the future so feel free to PM me. My extra line should be in soon. I ordered it today and if it wasn't for Christmas Id have it on Friday.

[jlheureux]

Well...Picking up where we left off I'm done!

 

I think as of last post I just had to finish the sheets on the main, and do the mizzen and the spanker. All done now. Also did the little row boat (it's a pretty lowsey cast) and I painted up the little crew.

 

Overall this was a great ship and I had a blast! I'm glad I took my time on it. I basically did the hull up to he masts then took about 3 months off on it then did all the masts, took another month off then did all the rigging. I've found it's important to take breaks!

 

This is a great model and a great kit. Instructions are as is typical kind of lowsey as well, but with some knowledge, a little research and some help on the forums it's not too bad at all.

[jlheureux]

For a little size comparison here she is next to my San Francisco.

 

It's been a running joke since the beginning of this build with my wife that when the box for the Constellation showed up at our doorstep it was a bit larger than I had negotiated with the Mrs.

 

I got myself the start of a little fleet here...

[GuntherMT]

Congratulations on the completion of a beautiful ship.

 

Best of luck on negotiating your next one!

[mtaylor]

Nicely done on a not so easy to do kit. 

[Jimz66]

Nice job and many congrats from me as well. 

[toms10]

That has got to feel good.  Nice job on a kit with some tricky issues. 

[CaptMorgan]

Congrats on finishing her up. It looks awesome and the sails add a lot to the ship.

VERY NICE !!!!!  

[jlheureux]

Guys!

 

It's kind of depressing actually. I've been messing with that ship for almost a year.

Every day when I get home from work I have her waiting for me to do just one more thing.....

I got the post-build blues!