USS Constitution - Model Shipway’s 5/32” = 1 ft. (1:76.8) Kit No.: MS2040

[JSGerson]

This brings to light that some or all my support knees may not be positioned properly. I may have to fudge a bunch more. Because the main grating on the spar deck (under the pinnace) will be partially opened to allow viewing of the gun deck, the supporting beams below it must be aligned with the grating’s cross beams precisely. For that reason, I will pause installing the additional gun deck bitts and previously fabricated furniture (i.e., capstan, pumps, casks, etc.) until I have fabricated the spar deck hatchways and gratings. They will be dry fitted to ensure the key beams below are properly positioned.

Where to begin? I had several false starts trying to figure out how to fabricate the various grating using Robert Hunt’s practicum. Per section 4.2.2 Hatch Coaming Framework of the practicum, I installed the framing supports for the bowsprit hatch and foremast hatch just aft of it. These supports will allow the hatchways to be dry fitted.

 

[JSGerson]

I should mention here that at the time I purchased the MS kit back in 2016 or 2017, I also purchased a supplemental wood kit from HobbyMills (a company Mr. Hunt worked with and recommended) which substituted boxwood (among other wood choices) for certain elements of the MS kit’s basswood. Unfortunately, HobbyMills is no longer in business as the owner retired, so getting the supplemental wood packages from them now is impossible. Check with Mr. Hunt to see if he lined up another suppler.

These hatches are one of the items in the supplemental wood package. Mr. Hunt mentions that the MS kit does not have certain sizes of wood stock for the hatches, and you must fabricate your own. The supplemental wood package supplied the proper sizes in boxwood.

The basic hatch frames consist of three pieces of wood.

• Outside: 3/32” H x 1/32” W
• Center: 7/32” H x 3/32” W
• Inside: 5/32” H x 1/32” W

When assembled you get the cross section shown below. Something like my diagram I believe would have been more helpful in the practicum than his Figures F4.3.1-1 and F4.3.1-2. I’m not knocking the practicum, I could not have started, let alone built this model without it; just some constructive criticism.

 

[JSGerson]

The first hatch to fabricate is the smallest, the simplest, and the easiest. I’ll use this experience to make the others. Mr. Hunt has chosen to use lap joints which I believe add more difficulty to the task. It is my opinion that the method used by Mr. Hunt is too complicated requiring you to fabricate rabbets and dados. These may be fun to make for a skilled woodworker, but I do not have the tools nor have reached that precision skill level.

Although a lap joint adds strength to the joints, I don’t believe the added strength is warranted as no stress will be applied to the frames. I am using a simpler butt joint method and if I don’t mess up, the end product will look exactly like Mr. Hunt’s in the end (no pun intended).

 

[JSGerson]

Starting with the small grating frame just forward of the foremast, whose grating supplied by the MS kit measures 15/32” x 13/32”, I cut the 7/32” x 3/32” boxwood stock as follows:

• 2 pieces: 21/32” lengthwise
• 2 pieces: 13/32” beam wise

These pieces were placed around the grating, framing it with butt joints and glued (not the grating). Then the 5/32” x 1/32” boxwood stock was cut as follows:

• 2 pieces: 15/32” lengthwise
• 2 pieces: 11/32” beam wise

These were placed inside the and at the bottom of the glued frame. This left the 1/16” ledge at the top for the grating to rest on. Finally, the 3/32” x 1/32” boxwood stock was cut as follows to create a mitered joint, just for looks.

• 2 pieces: 24/32” lengthwise
• 2 pieces: 20/32” beam wise

The top edge was beveled to a 45° angle and the ends mitered before final assembly.

 

[JSGerson]

I next chose to make the bowsprit hatchway. This was almost identical to the first one except its sides extended along the bowsprit. Because the sides butted up against the bow waterway, it had to be tapered to fit. In addition, where the hatchway frame extended around the bowsprit, the top covering was cutout to allow the bowsprit to pass through into the deck. I made a blank out of 1/32” plywood to be fitted and painted later.

 

[JSGerson]

The third hatchway is part of the stove stack. The grating was framed as the others, but the chimney platform section is 1/32” lower with seven 3/32” x 1/32” boxwood planks. The planks are supported just like the grating with an inside ledge. In actuality, the stack passes through the platform to the stove below. My first thought was to recreate the stack using brass tubing, but the stack is oval in cross section, and it tapers towards the top. Even if I had a metal lathe, which I don’t, I have no idea how I would/could fabricate a hollow stack of that shape. The kit’s casting is pretty accurate, so I went with it. Until I removed the kit’s cast stack from the kit box, I thought it would sit flat upon the platform. But the cast piece has a substantial plug/protrusion that requires an oval hole in the slats.

If I were to cut/drill a hole through the slats, the platform would collapse. Therefore, I glued a piece of 1/32” plywood under the slats for support. Because this a solid cast part, I drilled out the stack’s mouth just enough to give the illusion the stack pipe was hollow. Of course, just to make things more interesting, the plug is not circular but oval in cross section, and the stack’s base flange is supposed to be recessed into the platform. I decided that the recessed flange was a bit much. A lot of work for not much visual gain and a high probability I could really mess up and have a “re-do” on my hands. The drilling of the plug hole went smoothly. Using successive larger bits, a pilot hole was expanded to the proper width and then filed to get the proper oval shape. A couple of planks tried to come loose but the slight damage was covered up by the stack’s base flange.

The next item fabricated for the stack was the spark arrester in front of the stack mouth. It sits very close to the mouth and blocks a direct view inside the mouth enabling my hollow stack illusion.

 

[JSGerson]

This was a tricky bit. Ideally, I would have drilled a hole on either side of the arrestor plate, inserted some fine diameter rods into the holes and soldered them in place. The immediate problem is that I don’t have a fine drill bit that can drill into metal, even a soft metal like brass. I opted to cut a slit in lieu of holes and hoped the solder would fill in the gaps.

I cut 0.005” thick brass place to the oval shape and cut two pieces of 0.018” dia. music wire to length. Using silver solder paste with a butane torch, these were soldered as shown below. It worked like a charm until I tried to remove it from the wood block, and it fell apart. It took numerous attempts and a slightly different, more robust setup, till it held together. The excess solder was then filed off.

 

[JSGerson]

The final touches of adding the arrestor to the stack, eye bolts, shot racks, and painting will be done later, as the main purpose of this exercise was to get the hatchways completed for dry fit up to ensure proper alignment of the spar deck support beams.

BTW, the MS plans state that the shot racks on the forward hatchways were not installed in the 1997 restoration. I will install them because I believe they originally existed when the ship was militarily active. Also, I will not install the support beams under the main hatchway that pass under the grating openings. This was where the ship’s supplies were loaded into the holds. Even though she is technically an “active” commissioned warship, these recent modifications, I believe, were made to make the ship more of a museum piece, structurally sound, and for the welfare and safety of tourists. My model is based on the 2015-17 restoration but is not a total replica of that restoration.

[Looking at the stack mouth after I posted these images, I realized the casting had the spark arrestor, but I mistook it for a stack mouth flange. There is no mouth flange, so I will probably remove it when I go to attach my arrestor.]

Still to come are the forward hatchways and the main gratings.

Saving the main hatchways and gratings for last, I worked next on the double grating next to the ship’s wheel. The larger of the two gratings is a hatchway, and the smaller one covers a skylight. I never found an image where that grating was removed to revealed the skylight below. As a matter of fact, I never found a decent image of the double grating as a whole. However, this is where I realized I made a mistake in choosing the kit grating I used for the foremast hatchway. I used the one assigned for the skylight, a 7x5 grid instead of the proper 7x6 grid.

 

[JSGerson]

As it turns out, due to the construction of the ship’s wheel double grating, I was able to salvage most of what I had already made. First, I refabricated the foremast hatchway with the proper 7x6 grid grating. (Yeah, I know, no one will know the difference, but I and the man upstairs will). Using the old hatchway, now to become the smaller grating of the double hatchway, I removed all the 3/32” beveled edging from it as well as one wide side of grating 7/32” x 3/32” frame. This piece of the framework was replaced with another 7/32” x 3/32” (the length of the larger hatchway) that was glued to the larger grating frame. This is the piece that will act as the transition between the two gratings.

 

[JSGerson]

Now for the tricky part, the inside transition curve between the two grating frames. This curve was initially fabricated by trimming off the corners to start the transition. Then, using a router bit on my Dremel tool, the router bit allowed me to carve the inside curve of the 7/32” x 3/32” boxwood using the side of the bit as the cutting tool. This was done by hand, no drill stand or jig was used. To create the curved beveled edging was even tricker due to its size. I was trying to emulate a curved piece of beveled 3/32” x 1/32” boxwood because bending a strip of boxwood 90° in that short of distance was neigh impossible (for me at least). The curve was created by cutting a separate piece of boxwood to the basic shape and finished by carving by hand, again with the router bit fitted Dremel and assorted files. I suppose if I had a milling machine, it would have been more precise, but I think the results I got work just as well.

 

[JSGerson]

The last hatchways prior to the main one are on either side of the capstan. One hatchway is planned to be open, and the other closed. I found a small discrepancy with the kit gratings. If you look at the actual ship, there are separate gratings for each ladder, four in total. The kit provided two double wide gratings. Maybe they were this way in 1927 which is the main basis for the kit’s design, I don’t know. Whatever the case I’m leaving the closed hatchway as a double wide. The open one looks closely like, but not exactly like individual gratings. The main difference is the center beam between the ladders is flush with the top of the hatchway, whereas mine is sunk down to facilitate the formation of the lip which holds the grating should it me placed back on the frame. The image of the open hatchway is dry fitted pending painting.

 

[JSGerson]

I also noticed that the painting scheme of the actual ship has again changed. You will notice the frames of all the hatchways presently have black trim, whereas prior to the 2015-2017 restoration, the frames had natural wood finishes. Since my model is based on the present ship configuration (with some exceptions), I painted these last two frames with black trim now because the interior elements had to be painted during fabrication and to see how they would look. The others will be painted later.

 

[JSGerson]

The Main Gating

If I was following the kit instructions (what there is of them), the main grating would be very simple; just build a border around the laser cut main grating provided by the kit and it would be done.

If I were following the practicum, it’s a bit more complicated. Mr. Hunt would have you slice the grating lengthwise and add a support beam down the length of the full grating using complex lap joints.

But, if you plan on leaving half of the gratings open, and adding ladders to the gun deck so that the gun deck can be viewed, it’s almost a complete scratch build.

The exterior border frame, which is taller than the other grating frames, was fabricated just like all the other frames using the boxwood pieces (provided by the wood supplement package). The 5/16” x 3/32” boxwood was cut as follows:

• 2 pieces: 6 9/16” lengthwise
• 2 pieces: 2 5/32” beam wise

These pieces were glued together with butt joints creating a large open frame.

Next, I held my breath as I cut off the four most forward gratings with the Byrnes Saw. These were used to set the first internal beam frame. The two outer corner gratings will remain off the framework to allow the installation of ladders to the gun deck.

 

[JSGerson]

The remainder of the main grating was sliced lengthwise. One half remained intact, while the other was cut again into individual gratings. It is to be noted that there are six different size gratings that comprise the 18 total on the single laser cut piece. So as not to mix them up, I only cut off what I needed, before I moved on to the next one using them to set the next beam frame in turn.

The internal framing was made from various pieces of 5/16” x 1/16” boxwood which I had to mill myself on the Byrne’s Saw. The supplemental wood package was based on the practicum which did not address removing grating to reveal underling structure.

Using 1/8”x1/32” boxwood, the internal lip was created to support the intact remaining long grating as well as the individual open frameworks. Finally, the assembly was stained and painted. The last components to be added to the main grating frame were the six eyebolt and rings assemblies.

 

[JSGerson]

The main reason the hatches were fabricated at this point was to work out the alignment with gun deck bulkhead spar beams. If you look at the image below, you will see the comparison of the:

• Assembled main hatchway based on the kit’s gratings,
• 1927 US Navy Main hatchway beam plan which matches the kit’s plans,
• 2010 US Navy Main hatchway beam plan which also matches with the kit,
• Kit bulkheads beam plan.

 

[JSGerson]

The fabricated main hatchway DOES NOT match or align with any plan!

The biggest surprise was that the main hatchway DID align closely (although not perfectly) with the pre-installed knee supports on the gun deck bulwarks which were “eyeballed” into position. If I had just looked far enough ahead to understand all the interconnections or had a consistent and complete set of construction plans. I might have had a little better alignment at this point.

If one fabricated the kit as designed like Mr. Hunt did, there would be no problem; all the beams would be hidden. The 1927 and 2010 US Navy plans for the hatchway support beams match closely with the kit (which was based for the most part on the 1927 restoration). The kit plans even indicated the removal of the aft ladders during the 1996 restoration. The kit’s laser cut gratings, however, do not match anything I can find in the US Navy plans and the gratings design are not even shown on the kit plans. So, my model will be a Frankenstein combination of components and adjustments that may look good to the layman but won’t be accurate. So be it and move forward. Below are some dry fit ups.

 

[JSGerson]

There are several things that still must be accomplished on the gun deck before I can start work on the spar deck. They are:

• Ladders going up to the spar deck.
• Main mast bitts
• Capstan and its related anchor ropes and chain
• “Temporary” support posts under the main hatchway

Ladders

The first item I attempted was the ladder leading up to the double hatchway by the ship’s wheel. I figured this would be a good one to do first because if I don’t do a decent job here, it would be hidden under the grating I presently have in the hatch.

I have yet to make a ladder to my satisfaction starting from my first POB model, Rattlesnake. Because of my dissatisfaction, I haven’t made ladders the same way twice each time trying a different method. This time, I am taking my cues from Mustafa (aka mtbediz, MSW post #340)

Mustafa has a real drill press, something I don’t have. So, using my Dremel rotary tool, an old version Dremel drill press accessory, and a Proxxon X-Y table, I rigged an ad hoc drill press. I mounted a normal and reverse image of the US Navy plan for the ladder on a wooden block with double sided tape. The sides of the ladder were to be 1/8”x1/16” and the steps 1/8”x1/32” boxwood, also mounted on top of the plan images with double sided tape. Then the wooden block itself was mounted on the X-Y table with double sided tape. A 1/32” router bit was installed in the Dremel to cut grooves in the ladder sides 1/32” deep to accept the steps.

 

[JSGerson]

The Dremel drill press stand is not a precise instrument. I needed the router bit to stop precisely 1/32” above the X-Y table when I lowered the Dremel to its stop position to cut the 1/32”x1/32” groove in the 1/16” thick side pieces. Unfortunately, the drill-stop only adjusted to 1/16” increments. I had to use a piece of scrap 1/32” wood inserted in the drill stop.

Because the X-Y table is just clamped to the drill stand, aligning the block with the ladder images as well as the X-Y table to the stand was very tricky and tedious. The X-Y axis of the table must match the X-Y axis of the ladder images. This in turn must align with the drill bit so that the cuts match the images when the table cranks are turned. Finally, I got it all working after a couple of false starts.

 

[JSGerson]

I initially used white glue to install the steps one at a time with a right-angle block. This allowed me to adjust the steps. Once all the steps were glued to one side, it was a little like herding cats. All the steps had to line up exactly to their counter part on the second side piece before it would all come together nicely. The results were not perfect, but better than my previous attempts. Here is a dry fit. Although the access is closed with the grating, you might be able to see part of the ladder from other openings in the spar deck. I will probably remove the grating when it’s permanently installed.

 

[JSGerson]

Then I had to do it all over again because the main hatchway ladders were fabricated. This time because the two ladders were identical, the grooves in the four sides were cut at the same time. These will be installed when the hatches are. Mustafa made it look easy.