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USS Constitution - Model Shipways

Peter, since you’re still at the early stage, let me suggest something: the gap between the lower and upper deadeyes looks a bit too small. If you double that distance, it will look much more realistic and visually pleasing. The photo below from the real ship.

20261009_221557.jpg
 
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Peter, since you’re still at the early stage, let me suggest something: the gap between the lower and upper deadeyes looks a bit too small. If you double that distance, it will look much more realistic and visually pleasing. The photo below from the real ship.

View attachment 642304

I originally had them higher, then I checked the plans.

20261009_150509.jpg

I'm using the correctly sized dead eyes, the correctly sized lanyards and according to this photo in the plans, the upper dead eyes are aligned with the main rail.

To change it now, I'd have to undo four shrouds and basically redo them from scratch. I'm not sure I want to go through that much hassle. But I'm calling it a day and will go home and sleep on it.


I think the problem is that the lower dead eyes are too high. I will not be taking those off.

20261009_152151.jpg

(It would have been nice if Bob Hunt had included some photographs of this in his practicum, instead of showing the shrouds dead eyes and lanyards from a different ship.)
 
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I think the problem is that the lower dead eyes are too high. I will not be taking those off.
I noticed that too, but I thought you might not want to remove the lower deadeyes, so I didn’t mention it. Re‑doing the upper deadeyes is much easier. The spacing between deadeyes was usually set at about three times the diameter of the deadeye. This proportion allowed the lanyards to work properly and gave the shrouds enough room for proper tensioning. Also, having the upper deadeyes positioned above the level of the main rail doesn’t cause any issues in terms of accuracy.
 
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Now, that nugget of information about the distance being three times the diameter of the Dead Eye may make the difference in my decision making. I've been reluctant to add any more seizing to this job then absolutely required, but I just ordered some tools that might make this a lot easier. I'm hoping they'll arrive on Monday. I saw these used in Tom's build of his Constitution, and I believe they're called clip Hackle pliers. I'm taking the weekend off. Back sometime late Tuesday or Wednesday..

P.S. After I posted this reply, I took a second look at the picture of my shrouds. To attain that "three times the diameter" distance between deadeyes would place the upper deadeyes right next to the one on the Swifter. I may have to compromise and settle on twice the diameter spacing. Lots to think about...

Thanks Mustafa.
 
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Beautiful, inspirational work. Thank you for posting.

-Rich
Thanks Rich. I appreciate your popping by to see my build.

As an aside, have you considered using a signature here at SoS? That way anyone viewing one of your replies can easily navigate to your own build log. I supply two links in my signature. One takes you to the start of my build log. The other to my most recent post.
 
I may have to compromise and settle on twice the diameter spacing. Lots to think about...
Your welcome Peter. Believe me, even this will make it look better! :)
Deadeyes are among the most eye catching features of a sailing ship and add greatly to the overall beauty of a model. Getting them right will go a long way toward making the model look more realistic.
 
Thanks Rich. I appreciate your popping by to see my build.

As an aside, have you considered using a signature here at SoS? That way anyone viewing one of your replies can easily navigate to your own build log. I supply two links in my signature. One takes you to the start of my build log. The other to my most recent post.
Good morning,

My build logs were lost over at MSW. Here, so far, only the photos of my USS Main and Constitution logs are posted, without text.

My Constitution is “Laid up in Ordinary” after I reached a roadblock with the deck brass hatch railings. Ready to tackle that now with the assistance of your build log.

IMG_3043.jpeg

This last year HM Badger consumes my time - posting updates out on the Current Build Images page: https://shipsofscale.com/sosforums/...ance-present-it-here.5055/page-31#post-534600

Want to improve the Badger rig, from my previous builds, and your Build Log certainly helps with that.

Thank you,

-RBF
 
Rich, I have your log. I copied it to MS Word for my personal use, by eliminating chit chat and any side conversations. If you want it let me know and I will send it to you either through personal email or message through this site.

Jon
 
Rich, as soon as I saw your note saying that your build log was lost, my immediate thought was Jon is going to jump in here. Somehow I knew he had a copy of yours. Good luck on the rebuild,

Jon, once again, you're the man!
 
Greetings from the Baraboo Hills. Once again, the weather was too nice to stay home. This time my wife joined me for the drive. We bicycled the Great Sauk Trail a little while ago and are now chilling at the B&B.

20261011_165815.jpg

At lunch on the road today, I placed an order for motors, gears, and peripheral devices to construct a rope walk. I also placed an order for a clip hackle pliers that will make re-rigging the shrouds easier.

Yes, I am taking mustafa's advice and undoing the four shrouds I've done - making the lanyards longer, raising the dead eyes at least the distance of the diameter of one dead eye.

... but that will all have to wait until Tuesday. Happy hour on the Bluffs is at hand.
 
I also placed an order for a clip hackle pliers that will make re-rigging the shrouds easier.
Enjoy your day off, Peter!

Why don't you prepare the shrouds off the ship and then pass them over the mastheads from above? As far as I know, you haven't permanently secured the topmasts in place yet. I prepare all my shrouds off the ship, and it makes the job so much easier.

If you take a look at my post number 882 and the posts following that one on my log, I explain how I did it there.
 
Enjoy your day off, Peter!

Why don't you prepare the shrouds off the ship and then pass them over the mastheads from above? As far as I know, you haven't permanently secured the topmasts in place yet. I prepare all my shrouds off the ship, and it makes the job so much easier.

If you take a look at my post number 882 and the posts following that one on my log, I explain how I did it there.


I clearly missed the circled part of your post below! If I can loosen the seizings at the top of the shrouds to get them off the mast, I can indeed more easily perform the midifications off the ship. Thanks for bringing that to my attention.

Screenshot_20261011_212352_DuckDuckGo.jpg
 
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