Three Revell Constitutions on hand to build.

I still can not figure how to get the pics from Fotki to FSM. I have added five pix of the gun deck, showing installation of spurling holes just forward of main hatch for the anchor cables, messenger cable pulley forward as well as a support column for the bow sprit. I turned an old thread spool into a capstan for the gun deck.

Rick-wayburn.yi5@fotki.com if you want to peek.

I raided my wife's sewing kit and found a box of eyelets that made excellent spurling holes in the gun deck...drilled two proper size holes in the gun deck and dropped the anchor cable into them...still have to do the cable bits and messenger cables and messenger guides. The eyelets fit into the deck snugly but added a little ca for good measure.

I added a pillar support for the bow sprit and set a messenger cable pulley on that. I turned the pulley on my lathe and need to secure the pulley on the pillar.

I turned the gun deck capstan on the lathe and may just turn another one for the spar deck. After I paint the capstans I have an assortment of foil candy wrappers to use on them...these come in aluminum, copper, bronze, gold...they come in handy.

I started putting the ropes on the gun ports covers. Revell did not drill out all the holes on the gun port covers. Must be old molds...and is a pain, the old pin drill is getting a workout. And then to rig the 24 lbers on the gun deck.

I found an article that says the sides of the water buckets and sponge buckets were not tapered, as the small base and wider top made them more prone to tipping. That's good news as I intend to make my own, and now a simple drill with proper size rod will do the job.

Looking at your bilge pumps too.

The guns are in awaiting rigging. I put 15 in per side according to the Model Shipways plans and closed in the extra port.

Doing the anchor cables and messengers now. I added a capstan on the gun deck too, as well as the spar deck capstan that came with the kit. (Some photos I found show the gun deck capstan) Thanks for sharing your knowedge on those things.

I have the grog tub and water barrels. They will go in with the shot holders surrounding the hatches.

Thanks, will study those too. I used the kit guns but got HiS carriages. The brass guns from HiS are a bit off scale, and why brass when you paint them black? The carriages will be glued and pinned.

Your build is fantastic.

I got some leds from Evans to light the giun deck. My little 4 year old grand daughter has pulled the wiring out of the hull. So the third hull I have on hand will wired for the leds...too lazy to try to redo this hull.

Rick

I have lots of pictures on my build:

http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/7/t/178637.aspx?page=4

Go about 1/3 of the way down.  I have multiple shots of the gun deck, even highlighted the route of the messenger cable.  Close-ups of the front pivot, chock to guide the cable, and brass rings the rest of the way.  Hope that helps.

Bob

Just checking to see if I have this right. The guns are in on the gun deck, 15 per side. The anchor bits are at the bow, two uprights joined by a cross bar, with a brass band where the messenger goes around them, to help prevent chaffing.. The messenger goes on a round trip between the capstan to those anchor cable bits,, with several laps around the capstan for gripping power. The bits are tied to the anchor cable, looks like about every four feet, and the messenger hauls the cable in where it drops through "spurling holes" to the cable tier on the orlop deck.. As the cable drops into the spurling holes, the cable bits are untied and the messenger round trips continue until the anchor is stowed away.

I'm ready to model this, just checking to see if I have it right.

Thanks to Bill Morrison for helping me understand this process.

The gun ports are solid, British yellow on the outside to match the gun stripe, red on the inside with red sills.

I will model the shot storage next, around the hatches as in Model Shipways plans, then rig the guns in. 

One of the problems with the Revell sailing kits is the instructions. 

For instance they tell you to paint the bulkheads. What they don't say up front is that paint interferes with bonding on plastic models. And THAT will cause problems with pin rails, for instance.This should be a given but one doesn't always have their brains in gear! (That's me!)

I now use Playdough to fill in areas I want free of paint, such as the points where pin rails on the Constitution...or the Cutty or Themo...exist.

Plug these areas with play dough, make sure the seal is good, then go ahead and paint. When the paint is dry, unplug the play dough (or something similar.) This gives a proper glueing surface for plastic cement. (Wash the joint to make sure no oils might be in the play dough.)

It also helps the bond on a wood to plastic joint.

I've added cable bitts to the gun deck, waiting for the anchor rope from Syrene. Thanks for explaining all of that to me and for the pictures. That was a big help.

Rick Sr

Those old sailing vessels entertained a lot of heavy work. I doubt you had many chubby sailors back then, excepting COs.

 

"I have been unable to ascertain exactly where the anchor bitts would be positioned, on the Constitution"

They are on either side of the camboose (stove) in the foredeck area.  Lots of pictures online.  Also, you can order a CD from the Constitution Museum which gives you the plans in PDF format.  Been looking at those a LOT.

Bob

Sanded down the flash on the gunports, painted red inside, and yellow outside. They are glued in place. Still have to tie them in. Next step is rigging in the guns, but before that I would like to model in the anchor bitts, cable and messengers. 

I have been unable to ascertain exactly where the anchor bitts would be positioned, on the Constitution. Common sense says in the area of the Hauser holes. After the messengers lines are in, I will finish the long guns, and add the supports (columns) for the spar deck. (I did not know you could clear those out for imminent action). I will make those out of the sprue material. On the hausers and bitts was anything used to prevent chaffing?

When you pin the guns to the deck and the channels and pin rails to the side, what gauge wire do you use? And what glue?

When I was a kid on our farm, I could never imagine what the "Poop" deck was, but it seemed most unsanitary to me. Now I see we have an "Orlop" deck. To a landlubber some of the nautical terms seem to be...outlandish? The next time I become peeved with my better half I think I will call her an "Orlop" just to see what happens!

gun deck and captain's quarters in. Before I do the gun ports, I will be putting in the anchor cables, messengers and anchor bits. It seems like Revell forgot about these things, probably figuring no one would see them.

Thanks for clueing me in on those items.

As far as I can ascertain, the gun ports were only closed when running, especially in foul weather .At the time being modeled, they were single piece, white on the bulwark side, in this case, British yellow on the outter portion with red sills. When not in use they were stored on the berth deck, handed down by hand akin to the water brigade lines of old when fighting fires.

Those old sailing vessels entertained a lot of heavy work. I doubt you had many chubby sailors back then, excepting COs.

Good thing there is a parts kit. I broke a part yesterday. Putting in the officers quarters, fitting problems so a little extra work, thanks to that three piece deck layout.

Once you hit copy, your computer holds it until you come back here.  Open the reply window.  Put the curser on a fresh line, then left click on the little mountain icon in the right side box on the third line of boxes at the top of the reply box.  That will open a box. Cursor should be blinking, just right click, will open an options window, then left click on copy.  Picture should then show up.  To add more photos, hit enter and repeat the process.

Here's one.

Rick,

You gave us your email address, not your picture site on Fotki.

Here is your site:

https://public.fotki.com/Rick-Wayburn/my-first-album/

Typically, you can highlight any text, right click, then click copy (or Ctrl-C).

To paste, you click in the box, right click and click paste (or Ctrl-V).

Good luck!  Pictures look good (last one out of focus though).

Bob

After clicking share, it does say copied. But not where.

Managed to get 10 pics on Fotki. Still haven't figured out how to get them to Fine Scale.

Rick-Wayburn.yi5@fotki.com is album.

Not a computer guru, when I say I am lucky to be able to turn the darn thing on I am not kidding!  

That little box should say "copied".

If not, highlight the line in the box and then use control C.

Move over to this site, open the reply window.

Click on the button that looks like a mountain with a moon over it.

usally whatever you have "copied" will already be pasted in there. If not, do so. Click "ok"

Rick Sr

Thanks, not a computer guru, just figured out how to load pix into the computer, now trying to get them into Fotki.

 

Thanks, not a computer guru, just figured out how to load pix into the computer, now trying to get them into Fotki.

Hello Rick,

Glad to see another "Old Ironsides" build on the forum. I am looking forward to seeing you progress, hoping for some pics soon. 

A couple of thoughts on thickening the gunports.

1. The ship's sides are 21 inches thick at the gun deck. 24 inches at 1/96 scale works out to 1/4 inch, 21 inches is 7/32 inches at scale. I did not make my bulwarks quite that thick in my model, because I didn't think of it until it was too late, and you don't have to if you don't think it will look good, it's just food for thought. 

2. There is a fair amount of tumble-home on the ship (that is the inward slant of the sides of the ship as you go up from the waterline). If you mount the styrene strips you are adding flush to the bottom of the gunport, the sill will be slanting downward from the outside looking inward toward the inside of the ship. On my model I glued the styrene high rather than flush so some of the styrene was showing through the gunport, then used a small file to flatten it so the sill would be horizontal, flat and parallel to the gun deck. It's a fair amount of work, but I think well worth the effort. 

Cheers, 

Jose

I have two other kits, one is for spare parts. I will camber the deck on the second one. Again, thanks for taking the time to answer.

The anchor cable looks out of place running to the base so scrapped that idea

"I am planning on bulding up the bulwarks as you did. "

My method:

Laying wood decking is not difficult and is very rewarding.

A full description is easy, but I don't want to hijack the thread.

The multi part weather deck of this kit has always been it's worst feature.

Whichever way you go; paint, plank or complete wood overlay- get the plastic parts glued together and made flush and smooth in every way other than the seam.

If you want to take her home, add camber to the weather deck. Thats the arch across the beam of the ship.

You can make a series of arched beams that have a high point of say 9" in scale relative to the ends (wales).

Glue them to the underside.

"Got some leds from Evans Design to light up the gun deck, chip leds, soft white."

Whale oiul lamps did not flicker.

"The gun deck is installed with Scale Decks veneer wood deck...laser printed. Not as nice as a real wooden deck but a huge improvement over that plastic monstrocity.

I am planning on bulding up the bulwarks as you did. There are little nibs for rigging the guns, tying off the shrouds and they are in the way. I will be cutting those off. I will use the kit eyebolts for the gun deck carriages only."

Please allow yourself the freedom to only detail the part of the gun deck visible through the opening on the weather deck.

"As soon as I figure out how to download pics from my smart phone to my pc then post on Fotki...

I just email them from my phone to my email and pull them off on the PC.

"The instructions say to run the anchor cable between the rear of the two forward hawser holes in the hull..??? That is obviously wrong, no way you could raise or lower the anchors like that. I'm a landlubber and know better than that! How would those anchors be properly rigged?

That's a model tip.

No that wouldn't work. A ship lays cable (the rode) for at least 7 times the depth on which she anchors.

Cable is the term for the very large rope that is attached to the anchor and secured on board to the bitts.

It comes on board through the hawse hole and runs back along the gun deck until it drops into the cable tier. That's usually somewhere forward of the main mast.

The capstan is used to raise the cable. I don't remember on your model, but it usually has room for the crew to insert bars on all of the available decks. It has a vertical axle, on account of the power exerted on it; that has a socket on the keel and is braced pretty solidly at the deck levels. It is located just behind (aft) of the cable locker.

But, the capstan does not handle the anchor cable. It pulls a messenger, a lighter thickness of rope. The messenger is a loop that runs around the barrel of the capstan  enough times to bind to it, up to the bows where it is passed around the fore part of the anchor bitts (big stout posts with a crossbar) and then back down to the capstan. It's taught on the side under load where the capstan force winds it in, then fairly loose in the run back up to the bow.

Here's the trick. As the cable which is big and thick and wet, comes aboard, boys tie short lengths of line around the cable and the messenger, called nips. They do this a lot. When the nips get near the holes that the cable follows down into the locker, other boys (called nippers) untie the messenger. and so on.

It's a great feature to model. 

As soon as I figure out how to download pics from my smart phone to my pc then post on Fotki....

The hull is mounted on a 30 inch x 5 inch saddle board, white oak on two Model Expo brass pedestals. The gun stripe is British yellow. The engravings are in gold.

I used Testors cement and glass maker for the transom windows instead of that plastic kit sheet. The widows look like real blown glass. The transom has to be painted first before using the window maker, and is painted to the instruction specs.

I drilled out the brass pedestals and mounted them using 2 1/2 inch # six bolts and washers, the drilling allowed wiring ffrom Evans Design to go up through the pedestals with shrink wrap for protection...I am using chip leds, 26 of them to light up the officers quatrers and gun deck.

I glued the gun deck together using Plastruk I beams. But the stern section is thinner than the bow and mid sections so the I beam had to be built up with Evergreen strips so the three sections would mate properly. Wonder why Revell did that?

The gun deck is installed with Scale Decks veneer wood deck...laser printed. Not as nice as a real wooden deck but a huge improvement over that plastic monstrocity.

I am planning on bulding up the bulwarks as you did. There are little nibs for rigging the guns, tying off the shrouds and they are in the way. I will be cutting those off. I will use the kit eyebolts for the gun deck carriages only.

The instructions say to run the anchor cable between the rear of the two forward hawser holes in the hull..??? That is obviously wrong, no way you could raise or lower the anchors like that. I'm a landlubber and know better than that! How would those anchors be properly rigged?

I plan on furled sails.

The hull is done on the second model, with a white stripe...I'll finish that one later.

I also managed to get my hands on a third kit, this one made in Germany. It is identical, except the plastic seems to be different, softer.

I do have a midi lathe and am considering seriously on making my own spars.

Incidentally, for the hammocks...n scale netting and link fencing would go great there, instead of using rope lines...I understand the hammocks were aired out there.

There seems to be a question on the gun ports. They were left off or open in good weather and good sailing, off in battle and in port... provided better ventilation in port. The sills seem to have been painted red. Where they were stored is a good question.

The Comey paintings show them off during the battle.