I, too, am one of those folks that had an ongoing build log on Model Ship World before its demise. The USS Constitution is my 6th ship since my retirement in 2020, so… I guess that works out to an average of about one a year, so far? This Constitution will take longer than that.
When I began my Constitution build, I was fortunate to find several completed build logs, as well as several ongoing build logs from builders who I have been able to follow, learn from, ask questions and contribute to their logs. Fortunately, several of those gentlemen either were also here on SoS from the start or have migrated here in similar situations as I and it’s nice to see them all here. I hope to also make some new shipmodeler friends as I continue working on my Constitution.
Even though I am sure to stumble often, your collective display of persistent encouragement will hopefully carry me through to a magnificent completion… however long it takes! Ha!
I am fairly early on in this build, as I began it in late June 2025 with a few lengthy breaks during that time for various reasons (this is a hobby, right? ) As I began planning for this build, I really wanted to concentrate on the 1812 version, even though the Model Shipways kit is designed more around its 1927 restoration period. I never really considered the original 1797 ship version, or the 1927 or 2015 major revisions. I want to do my best to stay as close as I can to that 1812 Captain Issac Hull model.
I also wanted to do a bit of kit-bashing, as some others have done, exposing as much of a detailed gun deck as I can. Another builder who completed a magnificent Constitution coined the term “1812-ish” and that is my goal, as well. This will not be a historically accurate museum piece but rather will be one that I will enjoy building as mine. I am guaranteed to get frustrated multiple times in the build process, but I will definitely have fun. And that’s what it’s all about…
With that said, here’s the current status of my Constitution. I have removed the kit’s spar deck beams, laid the inner waterways and planksheers, laid the gundeck planking, framed the gundeck’s gunports and painted the gundeck’s inner bulwarks.
At this stage, several builders have begun preparing the knees that the new, exposed spar deck beams will rest on, while others have begun the outer hull planking. After some thought and discussion with others, I’ve decided to actually do both! I really do want to get started on the hull planking, and the process of creating new knees will be slow, and there are a bunch of them to make, so let’s do those while I begin planking.
Time to make a bunch of knees! In looking at how to make these “en masse”, I first needed to determine what size they would be. To make this determination, I (of course) reviewed several of the build logs that I had already been referring to in other areas, as well as researching what I could find on this intended “1812-ish” version of the Constitution.
I am using as one of my resources Laurence Arnot’s “U.S.S. Constitution 1812-1815 Bicentennial Edition” which was issued in consort with BlueJacket’s Constitution kit to replicate as best as possible the ship during that period.
In discussing spardeck framing, its beam locations and the required hanging (vertical), lodging (horizontal) and diagonal knees to secure the beams, it refers to US Navy Plan #17636 as a part of the 1927 restoration which has a drawing of the spardeck framing, as well as drawings of the knees with dimensions. It was both helpful and confusing, as I found a couple of different dimensions referenced in the book.
While the dimensions are different in a few places, getting the knees down to a 1:76.8 scale should make those measurement differences unnoticeable. I cut a 12” strip of 1/8” thick basswood at a slightly larger width than what I thought the length of the hanging knees would be. Also, while the bulwarks change angles along the length of ship, I felt that an 80 degree angle for at least a good number of the hanging knees was appropriate for cutting the side of the knees that rested against the bulwark. Using an angle protractor, I marked that 80 degree slope on the basswood. I then hand-drew some variations of what the knee should look like. I chose the far left version.
Using a technique I saw on another Constitution build log, I connected my Dremel to a drill press workstation stand and sanded the outer curved shape of the knee, cleaning it up with sanding sticks. Using my Byrnes saw, I then cut the knee free from the basswood strip. Doing it this way provides a nice “handle” for when you are sanding on the Dremel.
All in all, I like the way the knee came out. It fits well against the bulwark with a flat top for the new spar deck beams to eventually rest on top of.
I will now use this “master knee” to trace the remaining knees for cutting/sanding. I will test-fit the knees against the bulwarks as the angles slightly change. I will also narrow the width of the basswood strips I cut so we won’t have the waste at the bottom of the knees when they are sanded.
The US Navy plans do provide slightly different measurements for the lodging knees and diagonal knees. Some build logs and instruction books suggest making all the knees identical and then shape them as necessary. I can maybe understand that for the diagonal knees, but it would appear the lodging knees would have to be a slightly smaller scale to properly fit between the required beams. We’ll see about that when we get to that point.
With that said, I am excited, as well, to begin work on the exterior planking, both on the outside of the gundeck and spar deck, in addition to the hull planking in preparation for eventual coppering. Updates on all of this will be coming up sometime soon. But, first, I probably should take a break this weekend to celebrate the awesome Mother’s in my life… my wife, my daughter, my daughter-in-law!!! And, Happy Mother’s Day to all the great moms out there!
When I began my Constitution build, I was fortunate to find several completed build logs, as well as several ongoing build logs from builders who I have been able to follow, learn from, ask questions and contribute to their logs. Fortunately, several of those gentlemen either were also here on SoS from the start or have migrated here in similar situations as I and it’s nice to see them all here. I hope to also make some new shipmodeler friends as I continue working on my Constitution.
Even though I am sure to stumble often, your collective display of persistent encouragement will hopefully carry me through to a magnificent completion… however long it takes! Ha!
I am fairly early on in this build, as I began it in late June 2025 with a few lengthy breaks during that time for various reasons (this is a hobby, right? ) As I began planning for this build, I really wanted to concentrate on the 1812 version, even though the Model Shipways kit is designed more around its 1927 restoration period. I never really considered the original 1797 ship version, or the 1927 or 2015 major revisions. I want to do my best to stay as close as I can to that 1812 Captain Issac Hull model.
I also wanted to do a bit of kit-bashing, as some others have done, exposing as much of a detailed gun deck as I can. Another builder who completed a magnificent Constitution coined the term “1812-ish” and that is my goal, as well. This will not be a historically accurate museum piece but rather will be one that I will enjoy building as mine. I am guaranteed to get frustrated multiple times in the build process, but I will definitely have fun. And that’s what it’s all about…
With that said, here’s the current status of my Constitution. I have removed the kit’s spar deck beams, laid the inner waterways and planksheers, laid the gundeck planking, framed the gundeck’s gunports and painted the gundeck’s inner bulwarks.
At this stage, several builders have begun preparing the knees that the new, exposed spar deck beams will rest on, while others have begun the outer hull planking. After some thought and discussion with others, I’ve decided to actually do both! I really do want to get started on the hull planking, and the process of creating new knees will be slow, and there are a bunch of them to make, so let’s do those while I begin planking.
Time to make a bunch of knees! In looking at how to make these “en masse”, I first needed to determine what size they would be. To make this determination, I (of course) reviewed several of the build logs that I had already been referring to in other areas, as well as researching what I could find on this intended “1812-ish” version of the Constitution.
I am using as one of my resources Laurence Arnot’s “U.S.S. Constitution 1812-1815 Bicentennial Edition” which was issued in consort with BlueJacket’s Constitution kit to replicate as best as possible the ship during that period.
In discussing spardeck framing, its beam locations and the required hanging (vertical), lodging (horizontal) and diagonal knees to secure the beams, it refers to US Navy Plan #17636 as a part of the 1927 restoration which has a drawing of the spardeck framing, as well as drawings of the knees with dimensions. It was both helpful and confusing, as I found a couple of different dimensions referenced in the book.
While the dimensions are different in a few places, getting the knees down to a 1:76.8 scale should make those measurement differences unnoticeable. I cut a 12” strip of 1/8” thick basswood at a slightly larger width than what I thought the length of the hanging knees would be. Also, while the bulwarks change angles along the length of ship, I felt that an 80 degree angle for at least a good number of the hanging knees was appropriate for cutting the side of the knees that rested against the bulwark. Using an angle protractor, I marked that 80 degree slope on the basswood. I then hand-drew some variations of what the knee should look like. I chose the far left version.
Using a technique I saw on another Constitution build log, I connected my Dremel to a drill press workstation stand and sanded the outer curved shape of the knee, cleaning it up with sanding sticks. Using my Byrnes saw, I then cut the knee free from the basswood strip. Doing it this way provides a nice “handle” for when you are sanding on the Dremel.
All in all, I like the way the knee came out. It fits well against the bulwark with a flat top for the new spar deck beams to eventually rest on top of.
I will now use this “master knee” to trace the remaining knees for cutting/sanding. I will test-fit the knees against the bulwarks as the angles slightly change. I will also narrow the width of the basswood strips I cut so we won’t have the waste at the bottom of the knees when they are sanded.
The US Navy plans do provide slightly different measurements for the lodging knees and diagonal knees. Some build logs and instruction books suggest making all the knees identical and then shape them as necessary. I can maybe understand that for the diagonal knees, but it would appear the lodging knees would have to be a slightly smaller scale to properly fit between the required beams. We’ll see about that when we get to that point.
With that said, I am excited, as well, to begin work on the exterior planking, both on the outside of the gundeck and spar deck, in addition to the hull planking in preparation for eventual coppering. Updates on all of this will be coming up sometime soon. But, first, I probably should take a break this weekend to celebrate the awesome Mother’s in my life… my wife, my daughter, my daughter-in-law!!! And, Happy Mother’s Day to all the great moms out there!
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