USS Constitution Tribute Build

[Greif8]

9 hours ago, Jim Barry said:

You have me drooling for a visit to her. It’s just 90 minutes away. I’ve not gone for a long time, but remember it fondly. Very large wooden ships were built in the harbor not a mile down the road  here as well as the Dash, a privateer that captured a number of British vessels in the War of 1812

 

Hi Jim, thank you for following along and I am glad I have sparked your interest to visit the Constitution.  I will be posting an update later today that includes some more historical information.  You maight be interested to know that your family name is the same as the first captain of the USS United States, John Barry.  The United States was the first of the six frigates launched, being built in Philadelphia; and under Barry's command saw much active service in the Quasi-War with France during the end of the 1700's. 

 

Ernest 

[Greif8]

A little more history of the Constitution before I get into the progress on the build.  As I said previously the ship was built in Boston.  The ship was constructed based on the plans produced by master shipwright Joshua Humphreys of Philadelphia being built in master shipwright Edmund Hartt's shipyard located in the north end of Boston.  The construction was overseen by her first captain Samuel Nicholson and master shipwright Colonel George Claghorn The ship was the third of the six frigates authorized by congress to be completed and launched; though she was a bit reluctent to enter her element.  It took three tries before the Constitution was successfully launched on 21 October, 1797; she stuck on the ways after moving only a short distance the first two tries.   After launching the ship recieved her masts and "Top Hamper" which was quite large totaling 44 sails which when they were all deployed gave her about 44,000 square feet of sails.  In the right wind and sea conditions the Constitution could reach a speed of 19 knots - darn fast for a ship as large and heavy as she was.  Her speed and maneuverability would be strengths that her captain and crew leveraged in future engagements.  

 

The hull halves have been joined.  I first clamped and glued the halves using Tamiya Extra Thin glue.  After that had cured overnight I mixed some two part epoxy and ran it along the inside of the hull join.  I think that should provide enough strength to ensure I don't have any unwanted seperation as I work on other aspects of the build; especially while installing the gun and spar decks as they require one to spread the hull to place them in position.

 

While not the neatest job, I wanted to be sure I got good coverage and bonding, and of course all this will never be seen once the decks are in place.

 

 

Speaking of the decks, one of the weaknesses of the kit is the three part decks which makes getting everything lined up correctly to ensure both a good fit in the hull and 

to help ensure the masts are installed straight and square.  Getting rid of the seams is another real pain; however, I am using wooden decks so I won't have to deal with the seams.  On the other hand, I had to make sure the three deck pieces aligned as closely as possible to avoid having a hump on the wooden deck where the plastic pieces join beneath it.  The center deck section of the kit is thicker than both the bow and stern sections; the bow by only .3mm but the stern is a whooping 1mm thinner.  Below is how a dealt with this on the gun deck.

 

First I cut some spare evergreen plastic that were the correct thickness to size and glued those onto the stern and bow sections to shim them.  I let that dry a few hours.

 

I than cut a 1mm thick section of evergreen plastic and and used that to join the sections; currently on the center and stern sections.  I will wait to make sure those sections are well bonded and than I will join the bow section to the center.  I only plan to paint the wooden parts that will not be covered by the wooden deck(s).  

 

If I don't have any shifting while the parts dry I will be satisfied with this joint as the difference between the center and stern sections is .0034mm, not enough to be noticable at all when I install the wooden deck.

 

Ernest

[JeepsGunsTanks]

I love the build so far and the history.  I've been reading through Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin books, and I'm at the book where they were on the HMS Java when it was taken by the Constitution. Great books. I liked the movie, too.  Anyway, I have always wanted to build the Constitution as well, but the rigging, it seems daunting. 

[Uncarina]

I’m living my life vicariously these days Ernest, and I’m now seeing what the kit I built when I was 14 looks like when it’s in the proper hands! I also love your historical perspective: it really adds context to your work. Those tall masts and heavy armament really redefined the frigate class and came as a rude shock to the British.

 

Like JeepsGunsTanks wrote the Patrick O’Brien Aubrey/Maturin series really does a great job of showing us what it was like to encounter this magnificent ship. In fact this series is my favorite.

 

In case you haven’t seen the Model Ship World forum it is a gold mine of information and inspiration: https://modelshipworld.com/search/?q=uss constitution&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=135

 

Cheers,  Tom

Edited May 3, 2023 by Uncarina

[JeepsGunsTanks]

It really is a fantastic series. It's a shame the movie didn't do well.  I try and get people to watch it, just to see how they react to the children that were part of the ship's fighting crew! 

 

[Gazzas]

Brilliant work so far, Ernest.  Love how you leveled up the decks and stiffened the hull.  Thank you for the history, too.

[Furie]

Hello Ernest, I'm happy to see you starting this great ship!
I wish you all the happiness in the world to build it, both for your family history and for the beauty of the subject.
According to my sources, the captain's day room and cabin area was not RLM66 but RLM02! 

 

Have fun with it! 

[blackbetty]

cool project, i remember visiting her in Boston in 1973

[phasephantomphixer]

Will also be following this one. Didn't go for stacks of AM yet, but have a couple of these and Cutty Sark.

One kit I saved from Seattle Goodwill which is complete EXCEPT the hull halves. I keep a look out for them, never know...

 

I agree it best to decide a time period, also considering using the vac kit sails as templates or bucks to drape thin glue soaked

material on. Also want to build one underway and angled in rough seas. 

 

Appreciate the coverage of the steps required of this kit, and hope it emboldens the connection to your past.

 

 

[Greif8]

Thank you for the comments everyone!  I am surprised the build log has generated this much interest to be honest.  I'll have more progress to post in a day or two, right now I am doing a lot of filling and sanding which is not exactly that photo worthy.

 

JeepsGunsTanks:  I agree that the O'Brien series is a wonderful read, and I to am sorry the film did not do well enough to generate follow-ons.  I think it was one of Russell Crowe's best performances.  As to the rigging it is intense; my dad gave me some good advice on running it during our build together, "Focus on it one line at a time."  

 

Tom:  Thank you man, I hope my skills are up to the task!  I visit the Model Ship World forum to glean ideas fairly frequently.  Lots of very talented ship modellers reside there and it is a wealth of information.

 

Gary:  As always I appreciate your support and comments!

 

Furie:  HaHa!  Good one on the RLM colors!

 

Blackbetty:  Thank you, and I hope you enjoyed visiting the ship!

 

Phasephantomphixer:  Glad to have you along and I hope you find those Cutty Sark hull halves - beautiful ship.  While building a do remember my father's voice giving gentle guidance all those years ago; so in that aspect at least there is a connection.  Now if I can just get close to his skill that would be perfect.

 

Ernest 

[LSP_Mike]

Great project. I was gifted this kit by our own DBAndrus. I am intending on a waterline build with just the waist gun ports open; a down the road build. I read "Fighting Frigate" as a youth, which gave a stirring account of Constitution under Hull and her battle with Gurriere.

 I've been fortunate to walk her decks a few times. The fit was a little snug below deck as I am 6' 3", but a fascinating experience nonetheless. Any thought on rigging guns yet?

[Greif8]

3 hours ago, LSP_Mike said:

Great project. I was gifted this kit by our own DBAndrus. I am intending on a waterline build with just the waist gun ports open; a down the road build. I read "Fighting Frigate" as a youth, which gave a stirring account of Constitution under Hull and her battle with Gurriere.

 I've been fortunate to walk her decks a few times. The fit was a little snug below deck as I am 6' 3", but a fascinating experience nonetheless. Any thought on rigging guns yet?

 

Hi Mike, thanks for stopping in!  I will be rigging all the cannons.  The carronades and the cannons that can be seen on the gun deck are going to be fully rigged.  Most of the cannons on the gun deck can't be seen, and those will only get the breeching line rigged on them.   One day a hope to visit the Constitution.

 

Ernest

 

[Greif8]

A bit more history of the ship before I show the progress of the past few days.  During the Quasi-War with France the Constitution did not have much success as she only rarely saw enemy ships, the Constellation was the star of that little known conflict.  The ship's next active service was at the beginning of the 1800's when she served as the flagship of Edward Preble in 1804 during the first operations against the Barbary Pirate nation of Tripoli.  Preble was a very aggressive and active commander as shown by his reaction during an unexpected nighttime encounter with an unknown ship.  After an exchange of hails the unknown ship refused to identify herself and Preble answered that he would order a shot fired if the ship did not immediately identify itself.  The ship answered, "If you give me a shot, I'll give you a broadside."  Preble demanded again that the other ship identify herself and the stranger replied, "This is His Britannic Majesty's ship Donegal, 74 guns, Sir Richard Strachan, an English commodore." The speaker then ordered Preble, "Send your boat on board."  Preble jumped up on the bulwark and exclaimed, "This is United States ship Constitution, 44 guns, Edward Preble, an American commodore, who will be damned before he sends his boat on board of any vessel!" And then to his gun crews: "Blow your matches, boys!"  It turned out the British ship was actually the 32 gun frigate HMS Maidstone and fortunately for both the relations between the United States and Great Britain, as well as the HMS Maidstone which had been caught unprepared hence the attempt at subterfuge, an engagement was averted. 

 

Ok, on to the build!

 

I have finished the base painting of the hull.  It was primed black and I than sprayed Tamiya Copper on the copper sheathing.  By the way, before sailing the Constitution recieved a new copper bottom from the firm of an unknown coppersmith at the time named Paul Revere.  The outer turned out pretty well and I only had to do a few very minor touch ups after spraying the copper.  I am not going to weather the ship, so the copper will be left pristine.  I did end up touching up the dark green on the bulwarks, but even that was pretty minor.  This finishes the majority of the painting on the kit as compared to the hull the masts and fittings won't need much paint at all.

 

This is a big beast and am very glad I have a large spray booth!

   

A closer view.

 

I also sprayed the areas of both the gun deck and spar deck that will not be covered by the wooded decking.  I first sprayed those areas with Tamiya Desert Yellow and than oversprayed that with Tamiya Transparent Orange.  I varied the coverage of both colors in an attempt to add some interest be avoiding a boring monotone.  We will see how that looks when I install the wooden decks.

 

Overview of the gun deck.

 

And a close up.  The majority of the gun deck will not be seen once the spar deck is installed over it, but I wanted to do it justice.

 

 

And here is the spar deck.

 

With its close up.

 

I also did some woodworking.  I cut a piece of Walnut plank to length and used a router to groove the edges.  I still need to varnish the wood, I don't think it needs to be stained, and will than drill the holes. 

 

Ernest 

[LSP_Mike]

It looks good. In the mid '70s Revell released a 22" simplified kit, with boxart showing bare poles in harbor, with just the waist ports open. I want to replicate that in my build. The base looks good. Will the stern or bowsprit overhang?

[phasephantomphixer]

  As usual I didn't write my post proper, one of my Constitution kits has no hull halves.

But if I was so lucky, would be most pleased to locate a USS United States hull!

 

Doing those tones in color really looks great, and the clean masking does a lot for scale. Looks great Ernest.

With all that copper I am considering as you said, "adding interest" by spraying into cap, and brushing up

a few select and varied panels as well as a light wash for some depth even as new replacements.

Nice work, things moving forward - important with such an endeavor.