USS Constitution 1:70 Scratch

I always admire those who venture into total scratch building. I limit myself to kit bashing…I use a kit for the basic pieces parts and core of the model but often upgrade to better parts and may even “scratch” rebuild a part to improve details or historicity. So wicked good modeling! Awesome!
 
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Just discovered your build log. Very impressive. I too am building the Conny with a gun deck using the Model Shipways kit. Even though I am 5 years into the build, at the rate you are going, you'll surpass me within a year or two.

Jon
I've been following your build log for a while and stealing some of your work. I take this opportunity to thank you here. :)
 
I started the assembly of the gunport headers on the gun deck by completing the waterways. Like other modelers, I used spacers to keep the headers at the same height. I will add the cannons with full rigged carriages instead of dummy cannons on the gun deck.

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Just discovered your build log. Very impressive. I too am building the Conny with a gun deck using the Model Shipways kit. Even though I am 5 years into the build, at the rate you are going, you'll surpass me within a year or two.

Jon

I started the assembly of the gunport headers on the gun deck by completing the waterways. Like other modelers, I used spacers to keep the headers at the same height. I will add the cannons with full rigged carriages instead of dummy cannons on the gun deck.

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I have the Model Shipways plans as well and your beginnings are enticing me to attempt a new build. I used the wrong kind of wood to make the bulkheads which resulted in the upper sections breaking of with the slightest bump. Learning continuously seems to be the norm. I will finish the Blue Shadow first but closely watching your build process. Thanks for all the detail which is very helpful!
Danno
 
I have the Model Shipways plans as well and your beginnings are enticing me to attempt a new build. I used the wrong kind of wood to make the bulkheads which resulted in the upper sections breaking of with the slightest bump. Learning continuously seems to be the norm. I will finish the Blue Shadow first but closely watching your build process. Thanks for all the detail which is very helpful!
Danno
I have the Model Shipways plans as well and your beginnings are enticing me to attempt a new build. I used the wrong kind of wood to make the bulkheads which resulted in the upper sections breaking of with the slightest bump. Learning continuously seems to be the norm. I will finish the Blue Shadow first but closely watching your build process. Thanks for all the detail which is very helpful!
Danno
Thanks for stopping by and welcome on board. I used 6 mm thick plywood to make the bulkheads and former. Looks pretty sturdy.
 
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Hello friends. After a long summer break I feel happy to be back at my shipyard. Continuing the construction of Conny.

The gun port frames on the gundeck are complete. The stern frames have been prepared but have not been glued in place yet. Since I'm going to make the captain's cabin visible, I modified the stern middle frames by going out of the plans.

The filler blocks were made for the stern and bow. They have not been glued yet either.

By the way, I tried making the gratings in a different way. I am quite happy with the result. It is also very simple to make and I will show you how I did it in my next posts.

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Hello friends. After a long summer break I feel happy to be back at my shipyard. Continuing the construction of Conny.

The gun port frames on the gundeck are complete. The stern frames have been prepared but have not been glued in place yet. Since I'm going to make the captain cabin visible, I modified the stern middle frames by going out of the plans.

The filler blocks were made for the stern and bow. They have not been glued yet either.

By the way, I tried making the gratings in a different way. I am quite happy with the result. It is also very simple to make and I will show you how I did it in my next posts.

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I hope that you have enjoyed your vacation, as usual you do a particularly impressive and very beautiful job
 
Hello friends. After a long summer break I feel happy to be back at my shipyard. Continuing the construction of Conny.

The gun port frames on the gundeck are complete. The stern frames have been prepared but have not been glued in place yet. Since I'm going to make the captain's cabin visible, I modified the stern middle frames by going out of the plans.

The filler blocks were made for the stern and bow. They have not been glued yet either.

By the way, I tried making the gratings in a different way. I am quite happy with the result. It is also very simple to make and I will show you how I did it in my next posts.

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Very nice work! I will be back at it soon also as fall creeps into North Carolina. Love watching your progress! I will be starting my Conny this fall. Mine is a kit. I am not to your skill level yet but enjoy watching a pro on a scratch build.
 
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In my previous post, I mentioned that I made the gratings in a different way. This method gave both easier and more satisfying results.

Of course, I am not the inventor of this method. I also saw it in another modeler's build log and I am sharing it here for my friends who do not know about this method. There is only one tip. The depth of the slots in the South-North direction and the depth of the slots in the East-West direction should be different so that a depth can be achieved.

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