DId you use the rivet wheel? Would burnishing mess with the rivets you made?
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LUCZORAMA SHIPWRECK SCAVENGER HUNT GIVEAWAY. 4 Weeks of Fun • 1 Legendary Prize ((OcCre’s Fram Ship)) • Global Crew Welcome!
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USS Constitution by Model Shipways. - First Build Log
Have not tried the rivet wheel so can not say with certainty it would not. Might be worth an experiment.
Copper plating the hull was a lot more challenging than expected because I chose the plates over the copper tape. Several builders had choices, and from what I saw, did a pretty nice job with both choices, as well as dealing with size variations between copper tape, and different copper plates with sizes either on scale or very close to it. I found this to be very tedious as well, and learned soon that when cutting the plates, which is each individual plate, that you have to go back to each individual and make sure any existing left-over metal on each side has to be trimmed or cut off, otherwise you might be left with tiny gaps that are noticeable up close. When it came to the bow and stern, I found that to be quite the challenge because it is not like bending planks. I found myself having to cut or trim the copper plate to get into making my way to the bow and stern. I also had a chance to do a little experiment as well. I started with Hunt's Practicum and then followed what my gut told me halfway through. Going back to the variations in your choice of hull coppering material, one cannot be sure that if you follow the pattern in the practicum that it would work for all of the copper materials which I found out to be true. Because everyone's Conny might vary slightly after they had planked the ship, or based on the different copper plating sizes, etc. I was left with a very small gap that I would need to fill in. I could trim the plates to use them as if it were a filler like we did during planking, but I found that to be tough because if you cannot cut it the correct size, it will not look good and you might waste plates and not have enough to complete each side and each side takes ~1,024 plates for total of 2,048. You should be left with a very small amount of left-over plates. You may need to use plates to overlap the left-over areas to be covered so that it looks decent. If done correctly, any gaps you have should be towards the underside of the boat and there will be some at the bow and stern mainly because of the sharp turns. For copper tape users, it's easier to cut to fit. Ok, back to the experiment...what I did was initially try to cut the plates to try to fit inside the gap. I found that to be too hard because the plates are hard, and you need a knife or something to cut and trimming can be tougher because you now need to work with something much smaller. Anyway, I laid the tape over the area with the gap and then pressed it nice and hard where the rivets from the other plates could be seen through the copper tape. I then let it sit for an hour and then trimmed copper tape with an Exacto knife inside the gap. This actually worked out nice and made it look very neat and clean. Since the plates are not shiny, the copper tape is, so you can see a shiny line halfway under the hull. Now I'm debating whether to get a matte polyacrylic which would dull out the line to match it next to the copper plates around it, or a semi-gloss polyacrylic and apply it to the hull where the copper plating is which can act as a protectant on the plates as it did on the rest of the wooden parts of the ship. Does anyone know if brushing polyacrylic on the copper is a good or bad idea after the hull is complete? The pictures show that the portside is almost complete and progress thus far, and let folks know I'm still alive, lol. ![20250807_061046[1].jpg](https://shipsofscale.com/sosforums/data/attachments/520/520349-96654784678d7b6d362dfedf14c2b191.jpg?hash=OlW4bA9xGv "20250807_061046[1].jpg")
![20250807_061057[1].jpg](https://shipsofscale.com/sosforums/data/attachments/520/520350-7f6acf003ccf68cab13434dd4274c376.jpg?hash=SLSFVzrv-3 "20250807_061057[1].jpg")
![20250807_061112[1].jpg](https://shipsofscale.com/sosforums/data/attachments/520/520351-452f801b44f7ccc9549f098926b3396b.jpg?hash=ZrkDVliIvS "20250807_061112[1].jpg")
![20250807_061142[1].jpg](https://shipsofscale.com/sosforums/data/attachments/520/520352-6e2ecc8a36094b47f4fa2d8e9f15fe61.jpg?hash=rQX-_wT9nf "20250807_061142[1].jpg")
I’m happy to say that I survived the tedious task of copper plating the hull. I definitely had to take some Ibuprofen because at one point I thought my hands were going to fall off, lol. For those who have used the plates instead of the copper tape, I found out that even though each plate is separated from each other, each piece is left with a tiny copper tab left over on all four sides because they were all connected to each other. Using the exacto knife to trim these off for about ~2,280 copper plates was not fun whatsoever. I imagine the folks that used the plates when though a similar experience.
I learned a lot of stuff along the way after comparing Hunt’s Practicum that uses the tape with what other builders have used and technique. I found that there are two sizes of copper plates that are slightly off in size from each other, however both are acceptable to use on the Conny based on her scale. The tape has the advantage of being able to bend and make turns that are actually rounded off, whereas the plates are difficult to do this, so it may take a few more plates with gradual angles to look rounded, but a closeup will be straight lines overlapping each other to simulate something like a circle. The tape is easier to overlap than the plates. Each plate is individually glued on, so you can guess how many times I glued my digits together, or make new layers of skin, lol. I do have super glue remover, but even using it is not fun.
With the different fillers used at various points on the hull, it was a lot harder to do with plates than the tape which can easily overlap each other and still look good. If you sit in front of your model long enough staring at the plates as you glue them on and then step back, it will not look good to you because we compare them to other builders who have done this perfectly. However, we are our own worst critique, and when all is said and done, it does end up looking better than you think, including the little patches you might stick in there when you reach the bow or stern.
I laid the plates from stern to bow, bottom to top on the starboard side following the practicum. The fillers are somewhat dismissed in the practicum because of the original scale variance that Bob noted in the practic
um. If this is the case, then that would likely or possibly hold true for the plates. I found doing a filler only in a couple small areas, although I had expected a lot more. Using the tape, it’s much easier because you can cut and/or overlap to make nice lines. The plates look neater, but do not leave you with nice lines because each plate is placed individually and some might go edge to edge of the plate or slightly overlap the plate. I had the luxury of realizing that the company I bought the plates mixed both sizes which made it challenging. The only way I made it without going insane was to overlap some plates and not overlap some of the plates to prevent any gaps and/or your row of plates from veering off from the right direction.
For the port side, I did it in reverse and started from the top to keel and from the middle and outwards. If my top waterline was taped off, that worked nearly identical in principle the starboard side. Bob uses two taped off areas of tape, but I felt that it was not necessary and more confusing to follow. In the end, it came out good and not perfect like some of the finished builds in the forum. Overall, I am very satisfied because there were may factors involved to consider. The next model will have tape because I learned how to smooth out the tape better, so it did not look wrinkled or mangled. I do not know how any rivet marks on the plates would be affected if you needed to smooth the tape out. I have not seen very much on this aspect from folks that chose copper tape over copper plates. This is my first wooden ship build, so I know it’s not museum quality, whatever that really means, and I will keep it as my trophy for surviving this feat, although I also realized I’m not halfway yet in the build, lol. So far, I am happy and if it looks good that’s all that matters.
I learned a lot of stuff along the way after comparing Hunt’s Practicum that uses the tape with what other builders have used and technique. I found that there are two sizes of copper plates that are slightly off in size from each other, however both are acceptable to use on the Conny based on her scale. The tape has the advantage of being able to bend and make turns that are actually rounded off, whereas the plates are difficult to do this, so it may take a few more plates with gradual angles to look rounded, but a closeup will be straight lines overlapping each other to simulate something like a circle. The tape is easier to overlap than the plates. Each plate is individually glued on, so you can guess how many times I glued my digits together, or make new layers of skin, lol. I do have super glue remover, but even using it is not fun.
With the different fillers used at various points on the hull, it was a lot harder to do with plates than the tape which can easily overlap each other and still look good. If you sit in front of your model long enough staring at the plates as you glue them on and then step back, it will not look good to you because we compare them to other builders who have done this perfectly. However, we are our own worst critique, and when all is said and done, it does end up looking better than you think, including the little patches you might stick in there when you reach the bow or stern.
I laid the plates from stern to bow, bottom to top on the starboard side following the practicum. The fillers are somewhat dismissed in the practicum because of the original scale variance that Bob noted in the practic
um. If this is the case, then that would likely or possibly hold true for the plates. I found doing a filler only in a couple small areas, although I had expected a lot more. Using the tape, it’s much easier because you can cut and/or overlap to make nice lines. The plates look neater, but do not leave you with nice lines because each plate is placed individually and some might go edge to edge of the plate or slightly overlap the plate. I had the luxury of realizing that the company I bought the plates mixed both sizes which made it challenging. The only way I made it without going insane was to overlap some plates and not overlap some of the plates to prevent any gaps and/or your row of plates from veering off from the right direction.For the port side, I did it in reverse and started from the top to keel and from the middle and outwards. If my top waterline was taped off, that worked nearly identical in principle the starboard side. Bob uses two taped off areas of tape, but I felt that it was not necessary and more confusing to follow. In the end, it came out good and not perfect like some of the finished builds in the forum. Overall, I am very satisfied because there were may factors involved to consider. The next model will have tape because I learned how to smooth out the tape better, so it did not look wrinkled or mangled. I do not know how any rivet marks on the plates would be affected if you needed to smooth the tape out. I have not seen very much on this aspect from folks that chose copper tape over copper plates. This is my first wooden ship build, so I know it’s not museum quality, whatever that really means, and I will keep it as my trophy for surviving this feat, although I also realized I’m not halfway yet in the build, lol. So far, I am happy and if it looks good that’s all that matters.
I finally finished Chapter 9 of the Practicum that involved the copper on the hull. This was followed up by painting thr red waterline and then adding the oak timbers on both sides of the hull. After I cut the timbers and beveled them, I used a golden oak stain on them which looks good on the Conny. The polyacrylic does help out a lot and giver her a very clean look and in the light some shine as well. This actually helps blend in any flaws and keeping everything looking somewhat uniform. Tomorrow it'll be time to attack, Chapter 10 of the Practicum.
Good morning. Wonderful progress. Cheers Grant