USS Constitution by Model Shipways. - First Build Log

[Rob444]

Hi,
Can you help me out here please. just bought the above kit. When assembling the keel together, seems like the dowels they provided in the kit does not fit. What is the dowel size I need or alternative I can use.much appreciated

JMZ

I do not have this kit, but thee are multiple build logs of this kit here and and on the model ship world site as well as many you tube videos that may be of help.

Rob

 

[rturcic72]

All I did was cut the dowel out 3/4 inch and sanded down one side and used a jewelers hammer to tap it into the hole and it was a nice tight fit and then I made sure both sides were trimmed and sanded down on each side to build the keel.

 

[rturcic72]

Ok, well I'm finally back after a brief hiatus after my government contract finished and we found out that the company I worked for could no longer recompete because they were considered to big after the DOGE blew through town. Nonetheless, I'm back to continuing on the Conny. I continued where I left off with rigging the carronades which is painful because of how small everything is. It is small to the point that none of the ropes connecting the carronade to the bulkhead fitting are the perfect or correct length making it look taught. But, overall I pleased with it, it still look ok and consistent across the other carronades, lol.

 

[Jack Sparrow]

I made the rope loops off the boat and then all I had to do was tie the ends to the boat and the sides of the carronades, if that makes any sense. Anyways the idea was to do as much stuff as possible before installing the carronades.

 

[Spars]

JMZ

I do not have this kit, but thee are multiple build logs of this kit here and and on the model ship world site as well as many you tube videos that may be of help.

Rob

NICE WORK! I have this kit on the build. No hurry for me.

 

[kingkahn1950]

I had intermittently been working on the carronade rigging. Finally yesterday, I decided that the inconsistent length of the side tackles looked sloppy. The breech rope was OK, as I had made all of them slightly long so they wouldn’t looked “stretched”. I was also not happy with the bulwark double attachments for the side tackles, where one tackle from carronade A hooked to the bulwark along with a side tackles from carronade B. I also wasn’t happy with the 3/32” blocks which are metal from Bluejacket - requiring paint which inevitably chips off or clogs the sheave or the stropping hole. I airbrushed them to try to avoid this problem but had to redrill every one of them. Here’s whaat I had just before I decided to rip out the tackles and start over.
I had been working with a group build of the Gunboat Philadelphia with Olha Batchvarov and we have decided to use Chuck Passaro’s 3D printed blocks which are much more uniform and realistic. Syren Ship Modelers makes 2mm and 2.5 mm pear colored or boxwood colored single and double blocks. I ordered the 2.5 mm (to give myself at least a fighting chance.). I’m leaving the breech rope as they lay nicely and the attachment I made to the bulwarks looks like the original on the ship. My plan is to also use Syren’s plastic 3 mm hook attached to the stropping on the block and tie in the seized tackle rope to the stropping. The hooks with their respective blocks will be installed in the eyebolts and then I will reeve the blocks so that any variance in the length required can be adjusted, so they all lie the same. The attachment of the breech rope to the bulwark is not so visible in the photo, so here is a schematic:
The blue is the smallest styrene plastic channel that Evergreen makes and the yellow is a short brass rod CA’d to the plastic. The breech rope wouldn’t fit in the slot so I hardened it with CA and cut out a short segment and basically hooked over the rod to look like it was going around. The back side of the channel piece was then glued to the bulwark in the appropriate place.

 

[rturcic72]

I made the rope loops off the boat and then all I had to do was tie the ends to the boat and the sides of the carronades, if that makes any sense. Anyways the idea was to do as much stuff as possible before installing the carronades.

I just started doing something similar. For one, the blocks are way too small, but also very difficult to estimate or measure out properly how long they should be, plus the fact the rope goes through the larger block twice. Mine are loose, but uniform enough that it does work as long as they looks the same and it stays consistent across the all carronades.

 

[rturcic72]

NICE WORK! I have this kit on the build. No hurry for me.

The problem I've seen with this specific kit is that the thread provided for the ropes is cheap and frays easy. I replaced all of it with much better quality. And you need that quality because the holes are ridiculously tiny and stuffing it with cheap thread isn't worth dealing with. Even the wood provided for the deck were two different styles and the variance in the width definitely was a challenge to work with including not having enough wood in the kit and you would have to request it from model expo who sends or replaces all parts for free. So, along the way to building this, you will definitely be presented with a variety of challenges to fix. It'll be a year from 25 April when I started this and had to stop temporarily on 1 October and resumed last week. So, I've invested about 7 out of 12 months physically assembling it up to the point you see in the pictures following along Hunt's Practicum.

 

[Jack Sparrow]

I just started doing something similar. For one, the blocks are way too small, but also very difficult to estimate or measure out properly how long they should be, plus the fact the rope goes through the larger block twice. Mine are loose, but uniform enough that it does work as long as they looks the same and it stays consistent across the all carronades.

i hear you. what i did was tighten the loops up once i had them anchored to the ship and the carronades. If I am making any sense.

 

[Rob444]

I made the rope loops off the boat and then all I had to do was tie the ends to the boat and the sides of the carronades, if that makes any sense. Anyways the idea was to do as much stuff as possible before installing the carronades.

I have done something similar, I constructed a "set" out of foam board (any kind of scrap will do) with cutouts for the gunports and eyelets places on the wall and deck, as they would be on the ship. I then constructed each cannon with all ropes and coils. After it was finished I simply transferred the whole cannon placement over to the ship glued it into place and attached the lines to the ships eyelets. It gives you much more area to work so you are not clashing into already done work (being clumsy I need the extra space).

 

[Jack Sparrow]

I have done something similar, I constructed a "set" out of foam board (any kind of scrap will do) with cutouts for the gunports and eyelets places on the wall and deck, as they would be on the ship. I then constructed each cannon with all ropes and coils. After it was finished I simply transferred the whole cannon placement over to the ship glued it into place and attached the lines to the ships eyelets. It gives you much more area to work so you are not clashing into already done work (being clumsy I need the extra space).
View attachment 582171

good idea

 

[rturcic72]

So, I survived the painful rigging of the corronades. I started exploring shortcuts based on what I can or cannot be seen unless you bury yourself into the model, lol. Anyway, I was able to knock out a bunch of stuff and and right now working on the rudder and then the boats before finishing this practicum. Then it's off to the races with rigging and I know I have much better quality rope to work with. The fine rails drove me nuts, especially the forward rails on the ship. I actually broke that twice because I was muscling it around a bit and there is so much already on the deck to break. I have a habit of using one of my hands for leverage while I'm working on something inside of the deck and then I'll hear the dreaded snap, thank God nothing major. Or nothing super couldn't fix, lol. Og course somw of my work is sloppy doing it all by hand, but I have to deal with slightly shakey hands.

 

[mtbediz1]

Spar deck looks amazing!

 

[Rob444]

So, I survived the painful rigging of the corronades. I started exploring shortcuts based on what I can or cannot be seen unless you bury yourself into the model, lol. Anyway, I was able to knock out a bunch of stuff and and right now working on the rudder and then the boats before finishing this practicum. Then it's off to the races with rigging and I know I have much better quality rope to work with. The fine rails drove me nuts, especially the forward rails on the ship. I actually broke that twice because I was muscling it around a bit and there is so much already on the deck to break. I have a habit of using one of my hands for leverage while I'm working on something inside of the deck and then I'll hear the dreaded snap, thank God nothing major. Or nothing super couldn't fix, lol. Og course somw of my work is sloppy doing it all by hand, but I have to deal with slightly shakey hands.View attachment 590178View attachment 590179View attachment 590180View attachment 590181View attachment 590182

it is a lot of work no matter how you look at it. I appreciate cross section models more and more!

Rob

 

[JSGerson]

I thought I would never get through rigging those #$@&* guns, so I know exactly how you feel. I am about at the same stage as you, but it took me 9 years to get here. I did add a gun deck with all the goodies. At the rate I'm going, you will have long finished before me, so I look forward as how you solve problems as they come up. Well done!

Jon

 

[Kurt Konrath]

I thought I would never get through rigging those #$@&* guns, so I know exactly how you feel. I am about at the same stage as you, but it took me 9 years to get here. I did add a gun deck with all the goodies. At the rate I'm going, you will have long finished before me, so I look forward as how you solve problems as they come up. Well done!

Jon

Be glad your not doing the HMS Victory with 100 guns!