USS Constitution Tribute Build

[Greif8]

On 3/29/2024 at 8:53 PM, LSP_Ray said:

Well done!

 

On 3/29/2024 at 8:58 PM, Gazzas said:

Exceptional!

 

On 4/4/2024 at 8:27 AM, MikeMaben said:

 

Thanks guys!  Mike I hope the popcorn does not have too much butter on it, bad for the arteries! 

 

[Greif8]

Progress continues to creep along.  I finished the main topmast shrouds and ratlines and have rigged the fore topmast shrouds.  Below are a few shots showing the work.  The ratlines are a challenge to get right, and I am not quite there yet, but the finished one are not too awful - far from perfect though.

 

Starboard side shot of the main topmast shrouds/ratlines.  Again they

are far from perfect but look better then the kit part.

 

Another view of the shrouds/ratlines.  I managed to tension the shrouds

so that the top mast is both straight and very stable.  You can also see

the main topgallant shrouds; these also firmed up the main topgallant

mast very nicely.

 

Starboard side of the fore top mast.  Like the main top, I managed to tension 

the shrouds so that the top mast is both true and firm.  The next step

will be tying off what feels like several hundred clove hitch knots to

make the ratlines.

 

[Iain]

Fabulous work!

 

Iain

[LSP_Ray]

Agreed, mind blowing!

[JeepsGunsTanks]

You can almost see tiny little men rigging this ship; man, it looks good!

[Gazzas]

Brilliant work! 

In real life, do most ratlines have that scalloped look you see in artworks?  You know, scalloped because they have been climbed so many times.

[Greif8]

On 4/5/2024 at 5:23 PM, Iain said:

Fabulous work!

 

Iain

 

On 4/5/2024 at 10:34 PM, LSP_Ray said:

Agreed, mind blowing!

 

On 4/6/2024 at 5:56 AM, JeepsGunsTanks said:

You can almost see tiny little men rigging this ship; man, it looks good!

 

2 hours ago, Gazzas said:

Brilliant work! 

In real life, do most ratlines have that scalloped look you see in artworks?  You know, scalloped because they have been climbed so many times.

 

Thank you gentlemen!  It is very kind of you to compliment my work, though I admit that I do not think it is some of my best work, but it looks ok.

 

Gary, the ratlines do have a "scalloped" look in real life.  That is part of the reason I am not completely satisfied with how mine have turned out so far.  I am finding it nearly impossible to get the ratlines to react to gravity at 1/96 scale as they are not heavy enough.  To be fair, nearly all the ratlines I have looked at that some excellent model ship builders have made look pretty much like mine.  At this point I think I have to accept how they look and not worry over much.

 

Ernest 

[John1]

Amazing work, those masts and rigging are stunning.  Just read a great book called The Wager, about a Royal Navy frigate circa 1700’s.   In it, a RN Midshipman talked about the terror he felt the first time he had to go “up”.    Wooden ships, iron men for sure.  

Edited April 8 by John1

[LSP_Mike]

Ernest, 

I don't want to blather away with superlatives...

A workman like effort has been turned in, resulting in a reasonable facsimile of the real ship.

So, good work!

[JeepsGunsTanks]

11 hours ago, John1 said:

Amazing work, those masts and rigging are stunning.  Just read a great book called The Wager, about a Royal Navy frigate circa 1700’s.   In it, a RN Midshipman talked about the terror he felt the first time he had to go “up”.    Wooden ships, iron men for sure.  

 

I find it really interesting, and so few people know that the Mids were kids! And they were not the only kids on boards. The movie Master and Commander really did a good job showing this.  It's a real shame it did so poorly.

 

[John1]

7 hours ago, JeepsGunsTanks said:

 

I find it really interesting, and so few people know that the Mids were kids! And they were not the only kids on boards. The movie Master and Commander really did a good job showing this.  It's a real shame it did so poorly.

 

I need to track that down and watch it.   It was on the list and then I completely forgot about it.   Thanks for the reminder.   Once I'm done bingeing a sci-fi series, I'm starting on the books as well. 

[Greif8]

20 hours ago, John1 said:

Amazing work, those masts and rigging are stunning.  Just read a great book called The Wager, about a Royal Navy frigate circa 1700’s.   In it, a RN Midshipman talked about the terror he felt the first time he had to go “up”.    Wooden ships, iron men for sure.  

 

12 hours ago, LSP_Mike said:

Ernest, 

I don't want to blather away with superlatives...

A workman like effort has been turned in, resulting in a reasonable facsimile of the real ship.

So, good work!

 

7 hours ago, JeepsGunsTanks said:

 

I find it really interesting, and so few people know that the Mids were kids! And they were not the only kids on boards. The movie Master and Commander really did a good job showing this.  It's a real shame it did so poorly.

 

 

Thank you gentlemen.  I think I will be finished with the fore topmast shrouds and ratlines, and the fore topgallantmast shrouds in the next day or two; so I will have some progress to post then.

 

John, I do not care for heights so I know I would have been terrified to climb up the masts.  

 

Mike, thank you again man.  I am trying to achieve a high level of craftsmanship with this build and I am generally pretty satisfied with my work thus far.  There is still a long way to go and plenty of time for me to screw something up though!

 

JGT, I really like the Master and Commander movie and I think it does a decent job showing both shipboard life and combat during the age of sail.  Most of the midshipmen were indeed very young, but there a few were as old as 30+, having failed the test for promotion to Leutnant several times.  The young man who commited suicide in the movie looked like one of those midshipmen who struggled in the Royal Navy (RN).  You are right about the other young kids on board many of the RN ships, most being servants to the captain and other officers.  Excellent observations man!

 

Ernest

[Greif8]

Just now, John1 said:

I need to track that down and watch it.   It was on the list and then I completely forgot about it.   Thanks for the reminder.   Once I'm done bingeing a sci-fi series, I'm starting on the books as well. 

 

John I think you will like the movie.  It is too bad it did not do well enough at the box office to generate sequels.

 

Ernest

[JeepsGunsTanks]

12 hours ago, Greif8 said:

 

 

 

 

 

JGT, I really like the Master and Commander movie and I think it does a decent job showing both shipboard life and combat during the age of sail.  Most of the midshipmen were indeed very young, but there a few were as old as 30+, having failed the test for promotion to Leutnant several times.  The young man who commited suicide in the movie looked like one of those midshipmen who struggled in the Royal Navy (RN).  You are right about the other young kids on board many of the RN ships, most being servants to the captain and other officers.  Excellent observations man!

 

Ernest

 

Ernest

The movie and the book series it's based on are among my favorites. I would LOVE to see Russell Crowe play the part again; he did a great job portraying Lucky Jack. It's still possible. By book 20, Aubrey is pretty old! It's my favorite movie to watch with people who do not know much about history. Most parents today won't let kids the age of the young mids out of their sight, let alone sail away for months or years on a wooden ship. It can be mind-blowing! The Johah Mid is another one of those shocking moments.

 

It was almost an entirely different world than we live in. 

 

 

[Greif8]

A fair amount of work finished for a small update.  As the shrouds/ratlines on the fore topmast look pretty much like the one for the main topmast I will spare you all a bunch of photos that look almost the same.  This completes the topmast and top gallantmast shrouds/ratlines for all three masts.  Overall they turned out fairly nice and look much better than the soft plastic pieces that are in the kit.  I should now be considered an Able Seaman when it comes to tying clove hitch knots!  

 

Following are two shots of the finished work.

 

I tried to take a photo showing the center line that is run for all topgallant shrouds.  On actual ships of the time these were tied off on or near the lower center deadeye to provide stability.  I ran and tied off the line as it would have been on the real ship.  You can just make it out running behind the shrouds/ratlines.

 

Finally, here is one of the sails, it is the Foretop Sail, I had made to use on the build.  It is made out of a material called Silkspan and whoever the seamstress is that made the sails he or she is very talented - the sails look great.  Shaping and attaching them are going to be a yet another first time challenge for me. And I see some very slow methodical work in my future.  I'll have to attach the Fore and Main Courses, and all three of the Royal Sails (which will be very loosely furled) with the yards on the masts.  Because I opted to rig both the main and fore yards more realistically then called for in the instructions those to yards had to be attached to the masts fairly early one.  As for the Royal yards, that was a stupid mistake by me gluing them to the masts.  I am sure attaching the sails to those yards is going to be as fun as a barrel of monkeys. 

 

 

Ernest