Constitution by Geoff Matson - Model Shipways 2040 - 1/76 scale

[Geoff Matson]

Greg Believe it or not, my shop is in my bedroom! I have one end of it for my shop. We live in a really small farm house with a good size bedroom. Here is a quick picture of part of it.

 

Edited November 29, 2015 by Geoff Matson

[dgbot]

Looking good Geoff.  You must have seen my apt.  That resembled my workshop.

David B

[GLakie]

I'm doing something similar.  My workshop is half in my bedroom and in my living room. That means in order to keep a handle on dust, I've had to designate any dusty work to the bedroom. Sawing, sanding, and drilling jobs.  I throw a tarp over the bed, then after the dust settles in a couple hours, the clean-up operations begin. Electronics, TV, computer ect. are all in the living room, but glue-ups, staining, varnishing, and assembly can be done there.  Kind of a hassle, but it works.

[Geoff Matson]

I know what you mean George. Dust in the bedroom will get you in trouble. I hook up an shop vac to my tools to help keep the dust down. For small sanding I even hook a funnel up to the shop vac and sand my parts over the funnel. I made sure to insert a small screen in the funnel so I don't suck up any parts.

 

I also made a boat dock to keep my model protected from dust and cats!

 

Edited November 29, 2015 by Geoff Matson

[GLakie]

Cool boat-dock!  May do something similar myself. 

[lambsbk]

Just catching up Geoff. Your build looks great. I love your bench set up too.

[Landlubber Mike]

Really nice work Geoff.  Very crisp on the details, looking fantastic!

[Geoff Matson]

I finished up the fore mast runner pendants and am now ready to move on to the foremast swifters. I am rigging as much as I can off the model. Here are few pictures of my progress.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The runner pendants were served and seized. I leave the tails on to help adjust everything and then clip them when I have it the way I want it. 

Edited December 2, 2015 by Geoff Matson

[kurtvd19]

Geoff:

Nice work.  For the next Ships on Deck (January - December's strictly party) bring some of these photos on a flash drive so the rest of the club can see your work.

Kurt

[Geoff Matson]

I have been working on the foremast swifter.

 

I picked up those little copper clamps from Radio Shack and found them to be helpful with my rigging. They are small and light.

 

 

 

 

Lots of lining up and getting thins right before applying some diluted white glue to help set the lines in place. Now it will be on to the shrouds. There will be four pairs of shrouds to both the port ans starboard sides of the foremast. I am trying to get as much rigging to the foremast before placing it on the model. I am really fearful of breaking something trying to rig this mess of sticks and strings as my wife refers to my rigging

Edited December 5, 2015 by Geoff Matson

[xken]

Geoff Great work! I will checking in on your progress I am just starting my Constitution build. 

[Geoff Matson]

Thanks for your interest Ken. I do have your book Modeling Building with Brass. Our club President, Kurt Van Damn recommended it and it is a great addition any modeling library.

[GLakie]

The rigging and served shrouds are looking great Geoff. Good idea with doing as much as possible, off the ship. 

[Geoff Matson]

I now have my shrouds for the foremast set in place on the mast.

 

Here is a shroud ready to install

 

 

Lots of fiddling with ropes to line everything up right.

 

 

 

Here is a view looking up. 

 

 

 

All the lines were served around the mast head.

Edited December 7, 2015 by Geoff Matson

[robnbill]

What's the fun in that! I broke the nose on my Connie twice. The first time badly but I used epoxy to glue the splintered spar back together. The second time finished off the first time. I ended up breaking out the Acetone and removing it and turning a new spar. Much happier with the results.

 

I finished up my off model rigging of the bowsprit I think I will mount the bowsprit last so I can lessen my chances of breaking it off. Here are some of tools I use for my rigging. I dilute with white glue with water and apply it to the rigging using the paint brush. With the cotton rigging the glue absorbs into the cotton for a clean contact.

 

IMG_3369.JPG

 

Here are few pictures of the finished bowsprit.

 

IMG_3388 (800x533).jpg

 

IMG_3405 (800x533).jpg

 

IMG_3442 (800x533).jpg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When you live with a St. Bernard you have to remove a few white hairs from everything.

[Geoff Matson]

You know Bill, I learned a long time ago if something bothers you DO IT OVER  otherwise you will be kicking yourself you did't fix it when you could. I am so hoping to lessen my do overs by rigging as much as I can off the model. I think I am realizing why Admiralty Style models are so popular

[Geoff Matson]

I installed the two bulls eyes on the lower foremast. 

 

I use the figure eight knot to install the bulls eye and then tighten it up and then slip the other loop over the mast, position it, and then tighten it up. The thread looks like a little bow tie with two adjustable loops.

 

 

Here is the upper one

 

 

And here is the lower one

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 9, 2015 by Geoff Matson

[BobF]

Hey Geoff,

 

It was great hanging out with you last night at Kurt's.  Your Connie is awesome!  I think using a flash drive to showcase your model at meetings would be a great idea.  I know the membership would enjoy seeing the photos, especially those that don't have Internet access.  Take care, and happy holidays.

 

BobF

[Geoff Matson]

I am making some progress on the fore top mast. The pictures show the the foremast with the runner pendants, swifter and shrouds dry fitted to the mast.

 

Edited December 15, 2015 by Geoff Matson

[robnbill]

When I did my Connie, I was really unsure of the rigging. I knew and had confidence in woodworking. However, I found that rigging was actually fun to do. The lines started making sense and it really made the ship start to seem more alive. However as each line went on, it made me more leery of approaching it since I could see myself accidentally catching something while working on something else. It is just so easy to do when you have your magnifying hood on and focused. However other than that,  I really enjoyed rigging. 

 

I cannot express the relief once she was safely in her case.

 

My current ship, the Brig Eagle will be rigged. The next one will in all likelihood be an admiralty build of the Naiad and will not.

 

You are doing a great job on your Connie. I am enjoying following your blog.

[Geoff Matson]

Thanks for you comments. I too am looking forward to that day I can put my Conny into the display case.

 

Once you get the rigging figured out, it is fun. But coming up with that original plan to follow can be a pain. It is really tough at this scale to add detail and not make it look clunky. I am on my third try to get things right. I want the rigging to look as good as it can.

 

The kit supplies several sizes of rigging and tells you to do your best. I purchased the Jim Byrnes rope walk and decided to make my own rope. I use about eight sizes of thread. This gives me about 24 different sizes of line consisting of eight single strands, eight three strands, and eight nine strands. If you serve a few of sizes you now come up with a few more sizes.

 

My hopes are to come up with a more realistic looking rigging at this scale. As the rigging goes up the masts it becomes smaller and smaller. The shrouds and stays are larger than most of the rest of rigging. You can see the size difference between the shrouds and the swifter, The shrouds and swifter are the same size, the only difference is that the swifter is served. 

 

It has taken a long time and lots of mistakes and do overs to get where I am at. So far I am happy with my results. I can't wait to move on to some larger scale models, I seem to be leaning toward 1/48th scale where you can add more detail than at 1/76th.

[GLakie]

That's interesting about what you mention about using 8 different sizes of thread to get the needed sizes.  I've been under the impression that you could start with one of the smallest threads and "build" it up to the required sizes. I'd be interested to know which sizes you're using, because it would probably take less steps that way, to reach the same goal. 

[Geoff Matson]

Hello George, thanks for your interest.

 

I basically use Coats and Clark 35 wt and 30 wt cotton thread. Gutermann 50 wt cotton thread, sold at most fabric stores. Lizbeth 80 wt and 20 wt thread, and DMC #5, #8 and #12 both sold at Hobby Lobby. I also use Aunt Lydia's #10 and #3 cotton thread also sold at Hobby Lobby. All my thread is cotton.

 

For my Conny build I chose to use only single, three, and nine strand rope. 

 

At single thread this material gives me 10 sizes for thread. If I choose to serve the thread I get another 10 sizes. Some of the threads are close to the same size, but they do differ slightly. Then if I use my rope walk and make three strand rope I now get 10 more larger sizes of scale rope, and if I choose to serve it I get another 10 sizes of scale rope. Moving on, if I use the three strand rope on the rope walk I now have 9 strand rope in 10 different sizes, and can serve them and get another 10 more sizes. And so on and so on. So out of 10 single strand sizes I can well over 30 different sizes. Some of the sizes may only vary by .001 or so in diameter. 

 

The best thing to do is experiment making rope in the scale size of your model. 

 

I will be posting a few pictures in the future that will show one of by do overs and show how much difference a smaller size of serving line made.

[GLakie]

Thanks Geoff! I've already reserved myself to the idea that much experimentation will be needed. I appreciate the makes and sizes of the rope you're using, and that will no doubt be how I approach it in the end. 

[Geoff Matson]

Here are two photos. 

 

 

 

The top photo looked to clunky to me so I redid it and second photo is the result I am happy with.  Both rigging lines are the same and served with the same thread. The only change is I used a smaller size line to seize them to the mast. To me one little change made a big change in appearance.

 

That's what I mean about experimenting George.  

 

To me the bottom photo just looks cleaner and more to scale.

Edited December 17, 2015 by Geoff Matson

[dgbot]

Geoff, I love the way you are building your Connie.  Too bad I cannot see it up close.  I remember taking close ups and saving them.  I do not envy you getting it to a meeting.  How is the thread you are using doing with all the handling?  Any kinks, fuzz or unraveling? Have a merry Christmas.

David B

[Geoff Matson]

Hello David. Hope you are feeling better.

 

As for bringing it to the meeting I am putting some construction pictures on a flash drive and Kurt is showing it to the members with the projector. Works out well and no hassle in transporting.

 

So far I am happy with the cotton line. A little fuzz, but just don't look too close

[dgbot]

Geoff, If I remember there was a discussion about rigging line and Egyptian cotton was recommended.  Have you tried it out?  Just thinking about making the job a little easier.

David B

[J T Lombard]

Geoff how do you measure the dia. of your line & how do you determine the correct scale (dia.) to use for each application?

 

best regards

 

J

[Geoff Matson]

Hello J T

 

The plan sheet for the Constitution lists the rope sizes on the rigging plan. I just used those measurements and scaled the rope to those sizes. 

 

There are many ways to measure line diameter. The one I chose was a simple digital caliper that displays you your sizes in inches and mm. You have to find a way that works for you. You and I would probably come up with different sizes depending on how hard you squeeze your caliper. 

 

 I feel making my own rope gives me a more realistic look than just using the kit supplied few sizes. Plus the fact I want to get into some scratch building and figured this would be good practice for that.

 

Hope that helps and thanks for your interest