Revell Constitution Build Log

Eagle90

Member since
November 2010
From: Florida-West Central

Posted by Eagle90 on Friday, August 16, 2013 6:42 AM

Hey Jayman,

Wow, what a great looking kit! I may venture into a ship someday, but until then, I will stare in awe of those of you who do awesome work with the ships!

Eagle90

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Aubrey-Maturin

Member since
August 2013
From: Essex, England

Posted by Aubrey-Maturin on Friday, August 16, 2013 6:33 AM

Look forward to seeing the build progress, especially when you get to the wonderful mass of rigging!!

For the photo's from your photobucket pictures:

-Bring up the individual photo you want to post

-Click the 'html' link to the right which will copy it

-In your post on here click 'use rich formatting'

-Click the html in the top right of the menu bar next to 'paragraph, font family, etc'

-Paste the html link you copied in the source editor that comes up

Thats should work fine then, if you hadn't worked it out properly from your trials. Hope that helps!

Finished: 1/180 Airfix HMS Victory, 1/50 Revell Viking Ship, 1/130 HMS Flora (Lindberg Jolly Roger), 1/400 Airfix Mary Rose

Current: 1/196 HMS President (Revell Constitution), 1/110 Revell HMS Bounty

Flickr Albums

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jayman

Member since
June 2013

Posted by jayman on Wednesday, August 14, 2013 3:03 PM

Thanks David. This photobucket is a trial and error process for me. I managed to post some photos and I hope I can replicate the ptocess.

Jay

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David_K

Member since
March 2012
From: Marysville, WA

Posted by David_K on Sunday, August 11, 2013 10:50 AM

Looks good, Jay!

Can't wait to see your build as it progresses...

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     )_))_))_)
     _!__!__!_         
     (_D_P_K_)
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Current Project: Imai/ERTL Spanish Galleon #2

Recently Finished: Revell 1/96 Cutty Sark

Next Up: ???

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jayman

Member since
June 2013

Posted by jayman on Saturday, August 10, 2013 2:03 PM

This is trial and error.

http://s263.photobucket.com/user/captjayman/media/15ManyClamps.jpg.html?#/user/captjayman/media/14ScrewampNut.jpg.html?&_suid=137616071547505098508870659157:600:0

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jayman

Member since
June 2013

Posted by jayman on Saturday, August 10, 2013 1:48 PM

15ManyClamps.jpg.html[/URL]:600:0]I am going to see if this works.

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jayman

Member since
June 2013

Posted by jayman on Saturday, August 10, 2013 1:23 PM

I have some photos I would like to include but I have no idea as to how to do it. As I remember, you have to use an intermediary. So I posted the photos to an old photobucket account. Does anyone have any suggestions?

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jayman

Member since
June 2013

Revell Constitution Build Log

Posted by jayman on Saturday, August 10, 2013 1:19 PM

When all else fails, follow instructions.

I failed on at least three other attempts to complete the Revell model of the USS Constitution. The main reason for my failure was that I did not follow instructions. I tried to do too much and went beyond my skill level without proper preperation.

I purchased the Bluejacket Shipcrafters instruction book and plans with the intent of of building the Revell kit and rigging it acording to the Bluejacket plans. It sounds simple. After all, they are the same scale. But, for me, it was a disaster.

This time, I am going to follow instructions and go step by step through completion. Well, I am going to follow instructions for the most part.

After all my attempts, I have develpoped a respect for the instruction book. It is one of best I have seen. Not only is it written in English, it tells you what to do instead of giving you some symbol to follow. And there is a purpose in the order of the steps, especially in the rigging.

Some interesting and informative sources:

Arnot, Lawrence. U.S.S. Constitution 18-12-1815, Bicenentennial Edition. Searsport, Maine: BlurJacket Inc., 2000

Gillmer, Thomas. Old Ironsides, The Rise, Decline, and Resurrection of the USS Constitution. Camden, Maine: International Marine, 1997

Lankford, Ben. How To Build First-Rate Ship Models From Kits. Hollywood, Florida: Model Expo, 1999

Magoun, Alexander. The Frigate Constitution and Other Historic Ships. New York: Dover Publications, 1987

Martin, Tyrone. A Most Fortunate Ship, Revised Edition. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2003

The one thing I am not going to do is to agonize over anything. The moment this build ceases to be fun, it goes back in a box

STEP 1

Painting;

I am using Model Masters acrylic paint. I have come to like this paint. It dries fast, is water solubile and brushes clean up with window cleaner and amonia. Fast drying is a double edge sword: I have to clean the paint brush about every 10 to 15 minutes to prevent the paint from drying on the paint brush.

I am using BlueJacket Shipcrafters paint schedule for Isaac Hull's paint scheme. It calls for the spardeck bulwarks and waterways to be painted green and the gundeck ceiling and gunstripe to be white.

What shade of green? I haven't the fogiest idea. So I slected a medium green. Right in the middle and it will have to do.

Assembly;

This thing is warped! Look at the gap between the two hull halves.

It needs a bunch of clampsThe molds for this model are probably 50 to 60 years old. I think there are only two molds. One is for Revell-Monogram and that one is in China. The other is for Revell Germny and it is in Europe. (I forget which country.) I have attempted both and I can state that the molds are identical.

The instructions are identical with one exception: The German plans have three pages showing the location of each part. It is very handy and I don't see why Revell-Monogram won't inlude them in their instructions.

The molds are showing their age. But I don't think that the warping is a product of the mold. I think that it is a function of the cooling of the plastic after molding. It means that someone was not paying attention to detail but the next one may pay attention to this detail and the parts might not be warped. It is what it is and I will deal with it.

There is a very nice feature of this model that is not mentioned in any of the instructions. The model was designed to be mounted on pedestals. Trap a #8 nut in the cavity provided and open up the path for the screw before assembly.