Charles' Revell 1:196 USS Constitution (Finished)

John,

Haven't you said many times that one can make an excellent model out of a soup bone? I couldn't agree more! Also, I am looking forward to seeing you soon!

Bill

That's quite literally true - as anybody who's seen a POW model from the Napoleonic Wars can testify.

Hope to see you week after next, Bill.

Professor--

Thanks for the comments, and I find myself in complete agreement with your points.  Just for clarity, I was posing the issue not as "wood versus plastic."  As long as you end up with a ship you can proud of, who cares?  Even in my own little project, I used wood in a few spots--the false gun deck, gun deck hatches, duckboards in the boats, etc.  

I was posing a question, as a newcomer to ship modeling, as to what a path of learning might look like.  I've had it in my head that a sensible path would be to move upwards in complexity thru plastic model kits, and then make the jump to wood kits.

I don't claim to have based that on anything more than intuition (and a risk-reward on the cost side, perhaps) basis.  

As I've engaged with this community, and listened closely to feedback and suggestions, I'm re-thinking all of that, with the operating principle that there's no right or wrong here . . . it's just an interesting exercise, at least for me. I suspect that, ultimately, I'll be drawn to whatever feels more exciting/fun at each point.  Right now, I'm kinda torn between a La Flore/Surprise project (which would challenge my bashing/scratchbuilding skills) and the 1:96 Constitution (which would challenge my determination and patience for the longer, more complex work plan). 

Either way, it'll be fun.

PS--I'm also watching eBay, as Bill suggested, for a Sultana.  

Charles_Purvis

 Right now, I'm kinda torn between a La Flore/Surprise project (which would challenge my bashing/scratchbuilding skills) and the 1:96 Constitution (which would challenge my determination and patience for the longer, more complex work plan). 

Either way, it'll be fun.

PS--I'm also watching eBay, as Bill suggested, for a Sultana.  

GMorrison

Oh, do both. You probably should start with the smaller one, but you'll get sick and tired of the bigger one if it's all you have going.

And there you have it . . . 

I don't disagree. But do see if you can get hold of that Alavert book. It sounds as though you may live near a university; maybe its library has a copy (or could get one through Inter-Library Loan. The book will let you know what you're getting into.

Don't get the notion that plastic and wood modeling are mutually exclusive. The fact that you've built a plastic ship shouldn't discourage you from trying a wood one -  IF the particular ship appeals to you.

Model Expo is pricing its Sultana at $69.95 - this week. There's a good chance that it'll be on sale next week.

Think a bit more about which model you really want to build. Then go at it hammer and tongs, and don't let anybody stop you.

I didn't realize that Sultana was in the discussion. I heartily recommend that one, purely on hearsay but I'v built similar kits from the same source and they're great.

Sultana is a beautiful little ship. Make sure that you get "Jackstay". It can help on so many levels.

Bill

I don't know whether that book's been mentioned in this thread before, but it's Th Neophyte Shipmodeler's Jackstay, by George M. Campbell. I also recommend it highly. It was published by Model Shipways back in the sixties as a general-purpose manual for the solid-hull wood kits that were all the firm  made in those days. In terms of materials and techniques it's obviously dated, but it's crammed with good, reliable information about basic techniques and sailing ship technology. A person who learned everything in that little book would be well on the way toward knowledgeability in the subject.

It's available through ModelExpo at a very reasonable price. One of the best bargains in the hobby.

John/Bill--

Thanks for the book recommendation.  Sounds like a winner.  I also downloaded, and have read Ship Modeling Simplified, by Frank Mastini, and Rigging Period Ship Models, by Lennarth Peterson.  

Mastini's book seemed like a solid primer to me, and Peterson's book seems indispensable to me.

Charles

John,

That is the book I have been recommending. I have extra copies if Charles wants one.

Bill

Bill, you're very kind.  I found a used copy last night on Amazon for $4.50, and I should have it by early next week.  Thanks!

Charles,

I hope that you find it useful.

Bill

Thanks Bill.  I also found a copy of Lavery's Surprise book at the local library, and I'm picking it up tomorrow.

And, I began work on the Lindberg/Surprise conversion yesterday.  I'll start another thread at some point, but I got the saw out yesterday, and cut the hull into pieces. It was the first time I'd tried something like this, and I got mixed results.  On the port side, I lined up the cuts perfectly, with a clean join up and down the hull . . . but the hull features don't line up quite right (as Sumpter250 noted in one of these threads).  On the starboard side, everything lines up a treat, but I somehow got the aft-most cut slightly out of line.

Clearly, I need to work on some skills development.  

So, I'll spend the next couple of days gluing up, filling, sanding, touching up, etc, till I'm happy with it.  

Generally when I perform that kind of surgery, I do the following:

Say that the hull is dark brown plastic. I very carefully mask the edge of the cut with the tape on the "keeper" side. Then I spray a contracting color on the "scrap" side, like white.

Remove the tape and careful make your cut about 1/8" into the white.

Tape a big piece of medium sandpaper down on something flat like a glass table top.

And slowly draw sand the part. Test fit as you go doing both parts at the same time, until the white is gone and the pieces fit together well.

It's often a toss whether to glue the front halves together and the back halves together, or do all four parts individually.

GM--

That right there is very good advice!  At this point, I've gotten things as close as they're going to get, and I've glued all four hull pieces together.  With the exception of the gap (he says) everything fits together pretty nicely, i.e., nothing I can't file smooth.

Also, my measurements are right where Sumpter said they should be, so I think I made the cuts in the right places . . . I just muffed up the line.  I really like your approach, and will use it the next time I do something like this.

As for next steps, filling the gaps will be the key.  I've backed everything with styrene strips, and I've begun the process of puttying everything up.  I'm going to take my time and carefully sand and re-fill as I go.  I have high hopes of getting everything ship-shape over the next couple of days.

Once I get this part done, and it's something I'm not embarrassed to show others, I'll open up a build diary and post some pics.

Charles

Hey Charles, what did you use for the pedestals on your display mount? 

I don't see Charles around lately. Those look like these...

http://www.bluejacketinc.com/pedestals.htm

Charles,

Have you done anything with that La Flore/HMS Surprise conversion?

Bill

warshipguy

Charles,

Have you done anything with that La Flore/HMS Surprise conversion?

Bill

 

Bill--

Sadly, not much beyond what I last posted.  I got stalled on it for quite a bit of time over what felt like a silly couple of reasons--paint colors and when to paint some of the smaller parts, i.e., before or after mounting--and by the time I kinda sorta picked a path forward, we decided to sell our house, so everything's packed up.

Sigh.

I do plan to get back to it on the other side of the move, which will hopefully wrap up in the next 3-6 months, and when I do, I'll come back to, the boards.

Thanks for checking in!

Thank you!

Any suggestions on painting th white stripe on te hull after assembly.

I hope some of you still receive updates from this thread, because I wanted to thank you.  I built the 1:96 Constitution 45 years ago, with illuminated gun deck and hand-laid wooden spar deck, but she got destroyed in a cross-country move when life seemed more important than the model.  In my dotage, and after visiting her while she was being refit, I wanted to do it again but despite a bigger house, knew that I'd never find room to properly display that scale and so have bought the 1:196.  With your encouragement, I've already decided to cut out the hatches on the spar deck, and bought polystyrene to build a false gun deck underneath those, and will be starting soon.  I've bookmarked this thread, and will be returning often, i'm sure, to tap your experience and expertise.  Thanks again for sharing your experiences.