USS Constitution by Tuffarts - Mamoli - 1:93 Scale - Cross-section

[robnbill]

Your model is looking great. Your extra detail really sets it off. Will you also be adding any of the ballast? Sorry if you have addressed and I missed it.

[Tuffarts]

Your model is looking great. Your extra detail really sets it off. Will you also be adding any of the ballast? Sorry if you have addressed and I missed it.

 

 

I will be putting some bluestone ballast, I will get some chips from local rail line and lacquer them into a neat lump, with barrels on top.

I just want enough ballast to show it is included, I am still looking for suitable cloth to use as canvas to make bags of tack, spare sail cloth, ditty bags etc.

So the hold will be very full of varried stuff.

[robnbill]

Very cool. That will be a very interesting model. I will be following this with interest.

[robnbill]

I was tempted from time to time to pick this up since it is the same scale as my Connie. It would look great as a set, but I decided to move on to another boat. I will just live vicariously through your build.

[Tuffarts]

It is a different shaped hull I imagine, the cross section is more wineglass shaped.

 

The real thing is shaped less romantically, looking straighter on the sides.

 

It also has a different number of decks than the original.

 

So It may have looked out of place beside a real hull.

[robnbill]

Nevertheless it is a wonderful model you are building.

[mattsayers148]

Hey Scott,

 

Man, those barrels are awesome! I'm at the barrel part on my bounty launch. I'm sanding them down and was rolling ideas through my head, when CaptainSteve told me to check out your barrels. I will try hard not to steal your idea, but make no such promises.

 

Matt

[dgbot]

In this hobby it is okay (steal) borrow an idea from someone.

David B

[Guest Tim I.]

Looking good!

 

- Tim

[Tuffarts]

Hey Scott,

 

Man, those barrels are awesome! I'm at the barrel part on my bounty launch. I'm sanding them down and was rolling ideas through my head, when CaptainSteve told me to check out your barrels. I will try hard not to steal your idea, but make no such promises.

 

Matt

 

 

No problem Matt

 

There is a mini tutorial on page 4 of this log so people can 'steal' my idea. 

It is time consuming putting all the cotton in the slots, but it looks great.

[Tuffarts]

I have got the fire station and pipes installed, the pipes and reservoirs look good for scale but the fire station itself is a little large.

I am going to keep it as is as this is only a model and nothing else is particularly correct.

I may write 'FIRE' on the red vessel so people stop asking me what it is also.

 

 

 

I have looked at the copper plates for the hull, I purchased some a while ago and was put off with the gaps around the rivets when just laid like tiles.

Then I thought about overlapping tiles as they are in real life, I played around with for a while and came up with these results. You can see my first effort in the back.

 

I got them to go around 90 deg quite neatly, and this was just trial. They need trimming to fit so is time consuming but I only have small portion of hull todo.

Next I will be putting in the gun deck planking, there is a raised portion in the center planked in contrasting thicker wood that I will caulk in paper and actually sand the deck to fine finish. this should contrast the rustic look of the rest of the deck which will be caulked in brown cotton, like the other deck is. 

[CaptainSteve]

Tuff,

What did you use to make the impressions in your copper plates ??

Sorry, but to me, the rivets just seem a bit too big for your model.

 

Have you tried a ponce wheel ??

(Or even a gear cog from some watch-workings.)

[Canute]

Tuff, I agree with the Cap'n. Riveting appears large. You might want to check out Dubz' Syren build, starting on page 9. He makes up a punch to emboss rivets.

[Tuffarts]

They are performed plates I got from modellers shipyard in NSW

 

The rivets take up 2 mm each so to scale they are 186 mm apart from each other, this seemed to be within reason if not a little large.

 

Across the keel will be 3 rivets, so it neatly takes 1 plate on each side of keel bent at 90 deg, and 1 rivet 'set' in between the 2 

 

But I will do some more research, and see what is existing, and what I can obtain.  

[Modeler12]

At one post (#28 I think) you mentioned that some light might be good. 

Have you considered adding tiny LEDs? It might still be possible for your model.

 

One more question:

This is a great project and you are doing a tremendously nice job with the details. Obviously you have done a lot of research and given thought to such things as the barrels. Good for you.

Would you do this again using a kit?

It would seem to me that (in hind sight) you could have done the whole thing from scratch.

Edited February 7, 2015 by Modeler12

[Modeler12]

Here is some information about the copper tiles. You might be able to get more details about the rivets from them as well.

 

COPPER SHEET

The duration of time in which Constitution was out of the water required that her bottom be re-caulked. This required the re-coppering of Constitution's bottom.

All copper products were purchased within the Federal supply system.

 

Metal Sheet: 
Copper: 
0.032 in thick, 36 in wide x 144 in long 
approx: 53.28 lb/sht Supplied by: 
Revered Copper Products Inc. 
Sub of Revere Copper and Brass Inc. 
Seneca Street 
P.O. Box 300 
Rome, NY 13440

 

I forgot, but here is the website: http://www.maritime.org/conf/conf-otton-mat.htm

Edited February 7, 2015 by Modeler12

[Tuffarts]

 

This is a great project and you are doing a tremendously nice job with the details. Obviously you have done a lot of research and given thought to such things as the barrels. Good for you.

Would you do this again using a kit?

It would seem to me that (in hind sight) you could have done the whole thing from scratch.

 

This kit is supposed to be a learning experience for me, so I probably would have gone with a kit again.

​As for scratch building this it would be beyond the capabilities of the tools that I have for now.

It is really only a POB build, the 'ribs' are spaced out way too far there would have been 3-4 times as many ribs in the section I am building, and they would have all been different from each other to keep the curve of the ship.

On this kit all the ribs are the same making for a much easier build as the beams run straight as do the bulwarks.

On a 'real' ship there are no lines that run parallel, all the lines follow curves in hull, and decks are also curved.

I am working up to scratch building, but need to be able to resaw wood first.

[CaptainSteve]

... might want to check out Dubz' Syren build, starting on page 9. He makes up a punch to emboss rivets.

 

And this link here will take you to where another Connie builder uses a ponce wheel to make the rivets on his copper plating.

Hope it helps ya !!

Edited February 7, 2015 by CaptainSteve

[Tuffarts]

Thanks for the suggestions for the copper plating Steve & Jay.

The copper plates are still a long way off adding to the model, I will finish the interior first, then plank the outside of the hull starting at the top. This way I can get the details around the gangway lined up.

I have just been playing around with what is possible till then.

 

I have started to plank the gun deck.

The raised section has the pumps and the front part without pumps will be the stair landing.

It was caulked with white paper, tree nailed with 24 thou ramin dowel and scraped to a fine finish, varnished with minwax poly.

 

 

Next is to finish the deck, and start cladding the walls around the gunports and working out a method for lining the gunports.then more knees that are more complicated than the lower ones, as they have to go around the gunports.

[CaptainSteve]

Nice work on the planking,Tuff !! 

[Tuffarts]

I have put the walls in on the gun deck and also put the ledges in that hold up the top deck beams.

The gun ports are started but still need to extend them to their top extremity. I also made them a little smaller than the plans called for, the supplied port lids will fit better if they are 10mm instead of 11mm.

 

 

Next I will prepare the deck beams and install the knees for this deck.

 

 

I also have to finish the cannons and pumps these will need to be fitted before I can fit the top deck, theses I cannot fit from the side after the deck is fitted.

 

[Tuffarts]

Another small update;

 

I have been working on the beams for the top deck and the knees for the gun deck.

 

There sure is a lot of knees, this is only some of them.

I work out there shape in illustrator (it is good for keeping measurements consistent)

I print these and stick them to 2 pieces of lime wood that I have edge joined (I do not have correct size wood so I have to compromise) 

I then sand these with dremel sanding drum in shaper table, and finish with files and knife.

 

 

I find it easier, but much more time consuming to paint things before they are fitted then just touching up as necessary.

 

 

 

 

Here is a picture of the top deck, just sitting there for the photo. It does fit in but is a tight fit past the ribs.

I still need to fit the smaller beams and some horizontal knees.

 

 

 

After I have all the knees fitted and wall painted white I will need to finish the pumps and cannons before I can fit the top deck.

I still want to look into the riding bitt and get that to look more original.

It is very close to the pumps so clearance may be an issue, but I think I will be able to come up with something that will look suitable.

[Modeler12]

Terrific, and always, I love those pictures.

For close-ups like you have, the details always show up any little defect. I don't see any in your pictures.

Do you make mistakes?

[Tuffarts]

 

Do you make mistakes?

 

 

 

 

I try not to, but wood is forgiving medium for fixing mistakes.

 

Not in my other Profession, 25 years of tattooing and that medium does not like it when you make mistakes, it complains.

Edited February 20, 2015 by Tuffarts

[Modeler12]

I try not to, but wood is forgiving medium for fixing mistakes.

 

Not in my other Profession, 25 years of tattooing and that medium does not like it when you make mistakes, it complains.

Interesting comparison. My dad was a sailor for several years and had a couple tattoos that he was ashamed of. He always wore long sleeved shirts. Nowadays it would be perfectly normal to show what he had on his arm.

 

I am sure you run into many who love the idea, but then come back asking you to remove it. While others have their whole body done that way. It reminds me of the book by John Irving 'Until I Find You' where the character (an organist) had his body tattooed with musical lines of pieces by Back and others.

[Modeler12]

I don't know where you are with the coppering. But if you don't mind, here is the way I did mine using copper tape. It comes in different widths and is primarily marketed for the stained glass workers. I used a roll !/4 inch wide. Because of the scale I was working in, the rotary punch tool I bought at a fabric shop seemed to do the job. But you could easily modify it with a new wheel with the number of 'rivets' you want.

Here are a couple pictures of what I was talking about.

  

[augie]

I did my Syren the way Jay lays out.  Micro-Mark sells pounce wheels that are a little more robust and they offer several 'teeth per inch' selections.

[Modeler12]

I did my Syren the way Jay lays out.  Micro-Mark sells pounce wheels that are a little more robust and they offer several 'teeth per inch' selections.

True, and I had almost bought those from Micro-Mark, but being a cheapskate I decided that spending $25 (or so) versus $2 from a local sewing center was not much of a choice.

Being 'robust' for this one time application was not an issue either. Sorry, Augie.

[augie]

I just checked and you are correct.  These days they sell only a set of 3 for $ 30 .  Back when I got mine it was $9.  And I also get to use it to establish rivet patterns on aircraft.

[Tuffarts]

I have been looking at the Z63 riveter tool from SBS models (if my supplier restocks it).

It has changeable head, so adapting or making new tools will be possible for future projects.

As for what copper I want to use, I have seen the tape method used a lot on this site (individual tiles and strips)

​I will be getting some to try first but I really want the tiles to overlap, with the rivets from each tile matching to the next.

In doing a cutaway model the overlapping tiles will show up on the edge, bringing me to my concern with the copper tape with adhesive pre attached, would this show up or would it be possible to clean the adhesive from the tile for the edges.

I have still not found a suitable photo of the real ship that shows the tiles, I like to work from real photos where possible, I don't want to recreate the patina, just the shapes.