USS United States by popeye the sailor - Revell - 1/96 - PLASTIC - bash

[popeye the sailor]

it's a long story RadMan........this is what happens when you jump into something with both feet.   I start on one......have to wait for something to dry,  start another build........then I get some crazy idea,  and start another one.   then I get back to the one I originally started,   and the cycle repeats itself over and over.   next thing you know,  I've got six builds in the works.   what can I say.......I like to stay busy  .   I started this one,  because someone said that I could use my Gothenborg as a hospital vessel,  since I had no cannons in the build.   I pulled this one out and assembled a bunch of cannons,  to put on the deck of the Gothenborg.........you know.......as a show of force.  next thing you know,  I'm doing the wood decks I wanted to try and make.  it's a longer story than this,  I just condensed it.

 

not a problem following your build.......I built this ship a long time ago,  but I remember the galley quarters,  and noted that this ship doesn't have it.   in fact,  they seem to be omitted......all the location holes are still there.  these two ships are a spin-off of each other....the only difference with this ship,  is the extra quarters and the poop deck.  they both make for a beautiful build and that this is the best series of models that revell ever put out.  it's just too bad that they eliminated all but the Connie kit......there were several ship in this series of 1:96 scale kits.  I figure that when I get to continue on the Gothenborg,  I might throw a little time here and there on this build.  I have the dead eyes I need....may have to get more.......but I also need to get more deck wood.  when I'm ready,  I will continue.

 

I thank you,  good sir,  for being patient 

[dafi]

That skipped my eye :-)

 

I will follow with pleasure!

 

XXXDAn

Edited May 11, 2013 by dafi

[popeye the sailor]

hello Daniel.......I keep thinking of this build......I have the planking,  well,  most of it  {hoping to have enough}.   I've been so busy trying to get other builds finished.  when I do get back to this one.....it may not be as detailed as yours,  but I will try to make it interesting.  I hope you follow along.......your expertise will be quite an asset

[popeye the sailor]

I recently posted my year end report of my builds and where they're at.    all of the others are fine.......all except for the United States.   the gun deck appeared to have a slight case of curling......small problem I thought.

 

 

 

since I had the wood to do the spar deck,  I decided to put it together,  so I could see if perhaps a bit of scrimping on the gun deck planking.   I did an examination of the gun deck.......and I was amazed at what I saw!

 

 

this is just a sample of what I saw.   I didn't take pictures of the big picture......I should have.   to straighten it out,  I decided to cement the sections together,  and add in a pair of spines underneath.   first,  cement the sections together.

 

 

 

then,  when they were dry,   the spines were added.......a pair of 1/8 square stock.

 

 

 

most of the curl has been taken care of in doing this.   I had done the gun deck some time ago.....the end of 2012.....to be exact.   perhaps the cold in the hallway  {no heat in there}  didn't help matters either.......I think I should get the other builds out of there as well.

 

 

while I was handling the deck,  the one area not supported by the spines,  the curved tip of the bow,  cracked and almost broke off!   I made up a couple of plates and cemented them in place,  after cementing up the crack.

 

[popeye the sailor]

while I was working on the gun deck,  I began to assemble the spar deck.   one of the major players in the gun deck curling up like that,  was the way the grain runs....side to side.   dryness is another factor,  and when I get to doing the deck planking,  I will use steam or hot towels on it.......not long though....I don't want to undo all that I have done.   I had set aside the two 4 inch wide panels for it,  but I found that I could use the 3 inch ones just as well.   I cemented two of them together lengthwise.......I will have the grain run fore to aft.   to trace out the sections,  all extruding pins and tabs must be removed,  and then sanded.

 

 

the sections were then laid on the joined panel.

 

 

 

then......trace them out......starting with the bow section.

 

 

.....and then the mid section.

 

 

...and then the stern section.

 

 

 

the deck was cut out of the panel.

 

 

[popeye the sailor]

the deck was cleaned up.......smoothing the cut edges.   the holes in the deck were then cut out.   they will be edged with 3/32 and 1/16 square stock.

 

 

 

 

 

all of the inside edges were sanded with sanding sticks I had made,  using different width deck planking strips.   putting the gun deck back in wasn't too bad...I can't wait to see how it will come back out.  the bow tucks nicely in the cavity.

 

 

 

 

 

[augie]

All looks back on course.  Good day's work my friend.

[popeye the sailor]

I tried my best to keep the separations in the big hole in the mid deck section......but when I went to cut them out......one of them cracked and broke,  so I did them all.   there will be beams there.   one of the structural supports I still need to add...are these beams.  with the grain the direction it's going,  I will add them in,  is spacings under the deck......I also will give them a little camber.   the bow section sits in the cavity pretty good.   I will plank this deck after it is cemented in place,  so I can do the planking all the way to the edge of the bulwarks.

 

 

I may thicken the bulwarks as well.

 

 

 

 

 

I also tried a feeble attempt to get a couple pictures of the gun deck,  through the gun ports.   it may give you some idea of what you can see,  although there will be cannons there,  blocking the view.

 

 

 

 

I can skimp a little.......I'll use some of the other thin stock that I have.

[popeye the sailor]

thanks Augie........great way to spend a New Year's day.   I really need to get this gun deck planked though......and get it in place permanent!  ........and pronto! 

[Jim Lad]

Major surgery successful, Popeye!

 

John

[papercut]

Kit bashing a plastic kit! I'll be following with great interest. I've had some bad experiences with bad plastic kits before but this will open new doors for me!

 

Jeff

[michael20]

Wow Popeye,

I have this model of the connie and I was looking at the stick on wooden deck sheets that they have for this kit,but after seeing what you have done so far on this build I think I'll reconsider that move.

Great job man.

Happy Modeling,

Marty G.

[augie]

That's a really beautiful photo looking through the stern in the sunlight.  But what is that 'spaghetti factory' 2 points off the port bow? 

[popeye the sailor]

Happy New year's everyone!  I'm hoping that 2014 has a gas pedal.......I gotta get moving! 

 

thanks John........the decks done in two different approaches {grain directions} got me thinking that I should redo the gun deck......I'm happy though that I kept a cool head and kept it.   I also noticed another crack intersecting where the mizzen mast hole is,  but that is governed by the spine,  so I'm not too concerned........when it is planked,  it will take care of it.  I think now that by doing the spar deck this way will insure that if it does any curling at all,  it will be a template for cambering the beams.

 

I have built these Revell kits before Jeff........this is my second time with this one.   the deck assembly has been the Achilles heel of everyone who has done one.   we have a few folks here that are doing some bash work with styrene,   and there is Dr. Dafi,  who is doing his Victory build in this manner....that where I got the idea.   the decks will not be the only wood aspects that I'm going to do.   I'm hoping that it come out well.......hope to see you follow along......I'll try to update in shorter intervals 

 

hey Marty......I didn't know they had upgrades for this kit.  it's stuff like this that makes me wonder why they didn't continue to produce the other kits.   I think that would be a great idea........to see other folks do something like this.   I've done the Connie,   two Cutty Sarks, and the Alabama...and this is my second build of this ship.   just a shame....they are beautiful builds when finished.   I'm going to be using 3 mm wide planking.........probably should be 2 mm.........but even if I did it with 4 - 5 mm,  it would still look great!  hope you follow along.......thanks for the good word! 

[popeye the sailor]

.....something I'm working my way back to Augie.............something I'm working my way..............if the others would just sit still and wait their turn,   I could!  update soon,  I promise! 

[michael20]

I'll be following along Popeye, I know you have several pokers in the fire so I'll look for future updates.

 

Happy Modeling,

Marty G.

[popeye the sailor]

thanks Marty...........soon....I hope:)

[popeye the sailor]

I wanted to begin planking the decks on this 'ole girl, but time is not on my side at the moment. there is some paint I also wanted to do....weather hasn't either. I did do a little painting on the stand pieces. I need to do a bit more.

 

 

I also had a thought to assemble the first steps of the masts and bow spirit, to get an idea of the dowels I will need.

 

 

this way too.....I can look at the detail and figure out a game plan. the gun port lids are a touchy subject....were they there or not. they are part of the kit, so I will use them. I'm also deciding whether or not to leave some of them in the closed position.....leaving a battery of them open and guns at the ready.

 

 

this is as far as I got. perhaps I will remove the decks.....if I do, there will be an update for sure!

[Jim Lad]

Aha!  A little more progress here!

 

John

[popeye the sailor]

thanks Frank and Mark for the likes.......I wish there was more here. same goes to you John. when I can finally get the hull back out, there are a few thing I need to change....double check on the deck thickness, and perhaps plank them {I can't get them out of my head}. thanks for looking in......more soon to follow

[historyguysteve]

Hey Popeye

   I'm really looking forward to this build!!! I'm right in the middle of this exact model of the USS United States as well. I also took some of the steps you are taking to solve the deck seam problem, I sanded the plastic decks smooth and simply planked over them with thin stock- you went the whole hog with spectacular results - awesome. The gratings solution was impressive and the results are amazing!

   I have 'run up a stump' to use the vernacular. I'm a bit ahead of you in the build; the masts are up and the spars are under construction and I'm also replacing plastic for wood at every step. The problem is the martingale/dolphin striker. One resource criptically mentioned that the USS Constitution was the only one of the 44's to have the split striker..... I'm trying to go for a build that is sufficiently different to the Connie to be noticed by casual observers but still reasonably accurate. Do you have any thoughts or research - are you going with a split martingale or a single martingale boom???

  keep up the great work

   steve

[popeye the sailor]

hello Steve.......I guess your ahead of me! :D I mentioned earlier that this kit is a spin off of the Connie kit. the differences between them is the transom fascia and the extra parts that you probably found in one of the other bags. I do plan on bringing out the decks and planking them.....the pull is too great. to be honest, I haven't looked that far ahead yet. I took a short pause here to check this out for you.

 

 

 

these two pictures should help you.....but I don't usually trust drawings. there are some instances, where they can be a bit inaccurate. I built my first one using the supplied kit parts...I kinda liked the way it looked all rigged. I hope this helps you out to some degree. I should get moving on this bad girl.....I really like these Revell kits......aside from the crappy deck design, they were not bad kit. in their day, they were the best large scale kit that money could buy

 

do you have a log started on her? love to see what you've done......thanks for looking in

[riverboat]

Yeah, I'd like to see you finish this one too I want to see what you do with plastic. I'm like you, I like plastic kits too, if you get a good one the detail they put into the parts are just great.I have'nt done any plastic ships but I've done some armor.I have a Trumpeter 1/16th scale Russian

T-34, man the detail on that is just amazing...... So... get going Popeye , before the plastic melts!! :D

Frank

[popeye the sailor]

Hi Frank this is where it all started....I had done plastic for many years. here I was, happy as a clam, and then this guy Harold throws a Nordkap in my lap! ....and look where that got me :D I should just be happy with the decks and be done with it, but I think it would be much more fun upgrading her. I know I've just been pick'in at her.....I should throw a few sessions at her thanks for the good word Frank.

 

I like armor as well.......I'm a tank nut too!

[popeye the sailor]

the box came out of the closet I can't stands n' more! the deck planking bug is really getting under my skin here......how much of the gun deck is....or is not visible? what is the plank length in the molded detail? an even bigger question occurred to me.....masting. that's down the road a ways.....but I did begin to scratch the surface on it.

 

 

to get a good sense of the mast aspect, I started by cementing the sections together.

 

 

the fore and aft stands were cemented to the hull

 

 

the spar deck was cemented together

 

 

I needed to make sure that the addition of the planking would fit in the tabs of the inner hull.

 

 

after a bit of fidgeting, I managed to dry fit this together

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

all this was to see what actually can be seen of the gun deck. I didn't think of this when I did it.......but this would make a very nice diorama. I'd need to correct the joints of the sections {they're a little off}.......well worth hanging onto these parts for perhaps something in the future. so, I marked of the areas that could be fudged over with wider planking. even through the gun ports, I don't think the difference will be seen. I won't use simulated calking on these areas, I will use a ruler to scribe in the lines later.

 

 

the spar deck will be totally planked with 3 mm planking.

[lambsbk]

 I'll be following with you on this Denis. I have just put primer on my lower mast sections. I have had no time to work her lately. It is nice to see your United States moving along.

 

Double check that deck fit. The hull on my build needed some fine tuning port to starboard to allow the deck to fit laterally. I think the large molded hull sections have a little heat warpage...at least on my kit.

[Jim Lad]

By the look of all that fiddling, it might have been just as quick to plank the entire gun deck in the first place!  

 

John

[popeye the sailor]

thanks for the good word Dave. it's part of the reason why I chose to do this conversion......the deck sections are warped. you can see it in the pictures. what would a plastic model be without warpage?

 

 

I hear you John........I only have so much of the 3 mm planking, and I don't have the funds at the moment to get any more. the areas I plan on fudging will not be seen, and what I have in mind will look OK with what can. the main objective was the masting.......I see that I will need to make mast pots under the gun deck, probably about 1/4 inch deep. this might be a bit too much, but I'm just throwing a number out there. I do have a couple of thoughts that I'm toying with.....sort of a plan B. thanks for the good word

[patrickmil]

An accompanying diorama???? Pretty sweet idea if you were to ask me. I'm very anxious to see you get the decking in. The plastic models are always great on detail but I feel that the simulated wood grain never quite does the trick all the way. I've seen some very convincing painting for wood grain but you still don't get the total feel of wood planking.

[popeye the sailor]

thanks Patrick......while it would be something really cool.....I don't think I'd be doing something like that none too soon I just threw it together for some idea on numbers. I'm not a big fan of this preliminary stuff either.....I'd rather be building. I've never done anything like this {of this size} before....I want to make sure I have things in order. thanks for the good word