Constitution Cross Section MS20245 Model Expo

[Rob444]

After painting the white stripe on the exterior wall, and letting the paint dry overnight, the masking tape was taken off and new tape put on to cover the white edge. the rest of the section was painted with two coats of black.

Once the paint dried the tape was removed. The thin area above the gun port that was not painted was touched up


The wales were also painted black.

 

[Smithy]

On this log I will be concentrating more on my mistakes, the other two logs give good instructions on how to do it correctly

Excellent idea. Much more entertaining that way.

 

[Rob444]

Before I aligned the inner and outer walls, I made sure that the gun port boxes I made would fit the inside gun ports. I had to do some trimming of the structuring using a knife to shave the wood. The instructions alluded that this would probably be necessary, and though a little "fiddlely" it was done. I was very happy that the interior and exterior gun port openings aligned well. Using a lot of wood glue I secured one of the exterior walls using a lot of clamps and a piece of wood held by rubber bands to secure the bottom.

 

[Rob444]

After gluing the exterior walls you can see the space between the interior and exterior walls that the gunport boxes will cover.



The spar deck gun ports easily fit into place. There are some small areas on the sides with noticeable spaces that I will fill in with filler, sand and paint.

The lower gun ports however proved a problem. Even though I fitted the gun ports into the inner walls, they would not fit easily into the bcombination of the inner and outer walls. In retrospect I should have tested them in the outer wall ports before I attached them. Using a sanding stick and a bit of carving I enlarged the ports to fit the boxes.


The lower gun port frames finally fit into place. I had to tap some if them in using a small hammer.

Looking at the inside of the spar deck it is obvious that the ports will have to be touched up. The instructions would have you construct all the interior "furniture" in place first before putting in the outer walls and gun ports. I believe doing the walls and ports first makes the construction process easier. It will definitely make the touch up of the port frames easier to do.

 

[icebiker3]

While waiting for that to dry, I started work on the orlop deck waterways (which for some reason are called scuppers). Both building logs I have read to help me with this build have complained that these pieces of wood are too curved. When I tried fitting them one fit rather well but the other had a bit of too much curve.

An angled cut had to be made on the waterways curving 1/16th inch from the top to a point on the bottom. I measured a number of points 1/16th inch along the top that will go against the wall. Then using my trusty #17 chisel blade, I used it as a plane and planed away the wood. When it was close to the angle I wanted I finished it off with sanding.

View attachment 492536 Then to make sure things fit well I soaked the waterways in hot water and clamped them in place overnight to help then achieve the correct curve.

I noticed that in the inst it showed the Orlop waterways on the frames, but in the drawings it shows them on the deck. I put mine on the deck, and the other pieces fit better.

 

[Rob444]

I noticed that in the inst it showed the Orlop waterways on the frames, but in the drawings it shows them on the deck. I put mine on the deck, and the other pieces fit better.

I agree that it is probably a good idea to set up the waterways on the orlop deck as you suggest! If you are building your cross section now I would strongly suggest you read the other build logs that I highlighted in the beginning of this log. They are very helpful!

 

[Rob444]

After the exterior walls were fitted I glued on the wales. Remember that there are port and Starboard wales so don't mix them up. To hold them while they were setting I used some rubber bands and strips of wood. To do touch up painting I use dental applicator brushes that are disposable and great for doing fine work such as fine paint application and gluing. The brush tip can be easily removed to give you a fine point for pin point application of whatever you want.