IgorSky

I looked again at “Constitution: All Sails Up and Flying” by Olof Eriksen, found it on Google, where I could read some of it, and decided I had to have it, ASAP, whether it fits in my budget this month or not.
 

 
The portion I was able to read on-line included (among others) his research and conclusions on the Bentick shrouds on the fore and main masts and how they were rigged. He concluded that the Hull model correctly depicts them attached to the channel by a pair of blocks. This accounts for one of what I concluded were "shroud preventers" on each channel. The current USSC has them terminated at the waterway inside the bulwark rather than on the channel outside the bulwark. From what I could read, Eriksen compares, line by line, much of the standing rigging on the current USSC with period books by Lever (which I rely on heavily), Brady and another gentleman (whose name escapes me at the moment - getting old sucks) and the Hull model. I suspect that I will be relying on the Hull model and Eriksen's book for much of the rigging.
 
Dave

You would. The biggest drawback to the 50 L flask is cost, but experience has shown me that quality has a cost and that quality glass is worth every penny at twice the price.
 
My photo-shopped concept image reminded me of the three earliest known SiBs by Giovanni Biondo.
 

Model of Fama built by Giovanni Biondo in 1792. This bottle is clearly not spherical but is close in size to the 50 L flask. 
 
 
My mention of the Royal Navy draft of President, dated 1815, reminded me to take another look at it.
 

The Royal Navy draft of the captured President.
 
I made a detailed comparison between the three drafts I have and USSC as it is currently. First thing I noticed is that the Gun Deck gun ports on President are located somewhat differently (they look to be generally shifted aft) than on the Doughty and Chapelle drafts and that those gun ports on the current USSC are changed very little, if at all, from the Doughty and Chapelle drafts. The biggest difference is the bridle port added at the fore end of the Gun Deck by Bainbridge after he took command. The President draft has the bridle port. The Chapelle draft includes a pronounced flare of the bow bulwarks, which dates much later, and the Gun Deck bridle port. The draft of President clarified for me the more likely appearance at the bow rail. This draft also includes a partial detail of the transom with six gallery windows. 
 
I also compared these drafts to the Hull model and found what must be called an error on the model's Gun Deck. The Hull model has 15 ports on the Gun Deck but the most foreward of them is very close to the location of the bridle port cut out later. The spacing is consistent with the Doughty and Chapelle drafts but is one short. The only conclusion is that the model is short by one gun port and an average space between ports amidships. This realization resolved several inconsistencies and allowed further progress on my working draft, particularly the Spar Deck gun port locations and deadeye assemblies' positions on the channels. The channels on the Hull model are shorter than those on the Doughty draft and much shorter than those on the current USSC. I'm inclined to give the Hull model greater weight in this regard because the unnamed men who built it likely knew better than anyone about such details. The channels show two or three extra shrouds rigged with conventional blocks on each channel. Log entries for USSC between the declaration of war and the battle with Guerriere include the mention of rigging "shroud preventers". A preventer is an extra line rigged specifically as backup in case of battle damage and these block rigged shrouds seem to be the preventers mentioned in the log. Details that only crewmen would know.
 
I have also resolved the issue of the guns carried by USSC just before the Guerriere duel. Armament was 30 - 24 pounder cannons on the Gun Deck with 24 - 32 pound carronades and a single 18 pounder cannon on the Spar Deck. Unfortunately, I have no idea where this "shifting gun" might have been stowed. Some sources say this 18 pounder was rebored for 24 pound shot and is sometimes referred to as a gunade. Log book entries during the Great Chase state the 18 pounder was run out one of the stern chase ports, a 24 pounder was brought up from the Gun Deck and run out the other stern chase port which necessitated cutting the taffrail, and two more 24's were run out gallery windows. Bainbridge eliminated the 18 pounder by the time he fought Java, By 1815, four of the carronades were removed and replaced by two 24 pound gunades when USSC faced Cyan and Levant.
 
Dave

Congratulations on getting a start. I look forward to hearing the size flask you choose and the resulting scale, since this effects so many decisions. I hope to start my next Constitution next year, at a large (for me) scale of 24' = 1".
I am in the Constitution Museum fairly regularly and my wife and are soon visiting the Peabody Museum. Let me know if there are any pictures you'd like me to take.
I skimmed the Anatomy of the Ship edition on Constitution and was disappointed. If you can find a copy of Larry Arnot's guide for building Constitution from Bluejacket (without paying the hefty price!) there is interesting reading in it.
I take the liberty of attaching two pictures of my last model of Constitution which I hope may be of interest to this log. It was at 29' = 1", for a 10 liter bottle. The first is of the gundeck with the turned cannon barrels. I was very proud of them at the time but can't say they had much effect on the finished model. The second is of the hull in an early stage with the station lines across the bottom. The hollows are for all the lines that will have to be rigged through the hull.


I hope others will also share their experiences with this wonderful ship.
Alex

Perhaps not indispensable, but very useful. I have the photo-etch bending tool and very fine saws from this site. I have used the bender on photo-etch fittings for the Langton brig and the saws are very fine indeed.
 
http://www.radubstore.com/
 
Alan

Thanks for the image Igor.  I am a very visual person so I really appreciate it.  The resulting blocks look very realistic.
 
Gwyl

Thanks Gwyl
These blocks are only an imitation. I have tied the threads in knot and added a tiny drop of glue.
I tried to make a block of wood 0.5x0.5 mm, but then I decided that this result is not worth the time.

RS 1

 

 
and boat Mediterranean Sea
 

 

Thanks Gwyl
These blocks are only an imitation. I have tied the threads in knot and added a tiny drop of glue.
I tried to make a block of wood 0.5x0.5 mm, but then I decided that this result is not worth the time.

Fantastic!  She looks real nice Igor!  
 
Can you share how you  built those tiny blocks?
 
Thanks
Gwyl

Now I need only to come up the interesting cap.

Now I need only to come up the interesting cap.

I tried importing the original into a small CAD programme I have. (Totalcad 2D-3D. It cost about £7 and has a reasonable tutorial and pdf manual). Trouble is, I'm very much a learner on CAD, however the original was way too 'noisy' for the auto trace function to work. I then tried importing it into a paint program that allowed me to scrub off a lot of the extra that was obviously not part of the drawing. After that I used the draw function in Powerpoint because I'm familiar with it. Its reasonable, and using the zoom, and points editing, you can get curves ok. The other features I used were replication, grouping, aligning and rotation. Sizeing was fine adjusted by using the % increase or decrease buttons in the size and position function,. Basically, I used it as an 'electric drawing board and instruments' coupled with good old fashioned engineering drawing skills. Remember to save regularly. Likewise I used it to 'sketch' from some of the film stills for deck fitting details. Its taken a while, but I'm getting there. I'll do a build log when I get started. I'm also going to learn to use CAD - must be quicker.
 
Regards
 
Alan

After much discussion, both public and private on this forum, I've decided to build a model of "Old Ironsides" in a bottle. After a quick study of the available information, I decided to depict her as she appeared just prior to her battle with Guerriere which inspired her nickname. The Constitution is currently in dry-dock for a two year refit including replacement of the copper sheathing and a probable restoration of the stern decorations to the 1812 configuration. My dead line for completion will be around the time of completion of this refit. I photo-shopped a general idea for my model in a bottle using an image of a completed Revell model with the bottle shape drawn in. I've decided to use a spherical boiling flask, neck down, with Constitution displayed as a conventional full hull model. I have not decided on the size of the boiling flask or the scale of the model.
 

General plan for USS Constitution in a boiling flask, neck down.
 
Research
 
I ordered and received the set of drawings on CD from the USS Constitution Museum [ USSC Plans ] and set to work. The three view plans of the hull from the CD are from a draft by William Doughty under Joshua Humphreys' supervision following the original Humphreys plans and suggested revisions by Josiah Fox. On the CD this plan was in two parts and needed to be reassembled. This required cutting up, digitally, these two pages into five pieces - fore and aft profile, fore and aft plan, and the end view - and reassembling them with as much distortion (from reproduction of the original images) as possible removed. I'll call this draft the Doughty plan and it is my primary source for the hull form.
 

Doughty plan after reassembly with some additional text for scale of this draft, notes and view labels.
 
I also downloaded Howard I. Chapelle's re-draft of the same 1794 plans because he includes profiles from station lines forward and aft of the last frames built square to the keel which I can use to check my own projections in these areas. [Chapelle plans] Having two re-drafts of the same plans proved useful later. "The History of The American Sailing Navy: The ships and Their Development" by Chapelle has been useful for understanding the history of the draft being used.
 

Chapelle plan used to double check some details when needed.
 
Both 1794 plans show 15 guns on the spar deck with a low bulwark at gunport lintel height, or a little higher in places, stanchions each side of the gunports and a cap rail. This was later changed during construction to 12 guns, fully framed and planked bulwarks (mostly) and a waist without guns between the fore and main mast. There are no known plans from 1794 through to the Royal Navy take-offs in 1815 of the captured President.
 
There are two existing sets of paintings commissioned shortly after Constitution's victory over Guerriere, one set by Michel Fellice Corne, commissioned by Captain Isaac Hull, and another by George Ropes Jr. There are other contemporary paintings and lithographs of this shocking (to the British) victory. The Corne paintings were supervised by Hull's purser to ensure accuracy and timely completion. Ropes was a protege of Corne and his paintings generally conform to Corne's depictions. I'm using these two sets of paintings for colors and some details.
 

Corne set of paintings of USSC in the Peabody-Essex Museum.
 

Ropes paintings in the USS Constitution Museum.
 
There are two contemporary models in existence. The first is a model started by a crew member that was finished with the aid of other crewmen and was presented to Captain Hull after he was assigned to other duties and Captain Bainbridge took command of Constitution. [Hull model] This model will also be a reference for details not shown on the plans or paintings. I found a set of stunning photos of this model [ Hull model photos by Evan Gale ] The second model was made from a section of damaged rail by some crew members for a sailor named Dunn who lost a leg in the battle. This model was hull only but was completed at a later date. This model is rather small, compared to the Hull model, and shows numerous details from the period of the model's completion rather than in 1812. [Dunn model]
 

Hull model.
 
The Corne paintings and the Hull model are in the Peabody-Essex Museum. The Ropes paintings are in the USS Constitution Museum and the Dunn model is in the Manchester Historical Museum. This is one of the few times when I wished I didn't live in California.
 
I'm currently awaiting delivery of two books: “A Most Fortunate Ship: A Narrative History of Old Ironsides” by Tyrone Martin and “The Boats of Men-of-War” by W E May. I am considering buying “Constitution: All Sails Up and Flying” by Olof Eriksen but it doesn't yet fit into my budget (at almost US$100 it's a bit pricey). I considered "The 44-Gun Frigate USS Constitution, 'Old Ironsides' (Anatomy of the Ship)" by Karl Heinz Marquardt but it is not on my list for reasons I'll get into a bit later.
 
After pasting the Doughty plans back together, I started to redraft them using a vectored graphics program that will allow me to scale them to the scale of the model without having my digital draft "pixelated" when it is scaled down. I started with the keel, stem and stern post components followed by deadwood and keelsons that trap the ribs. Then the ribs were drawn in the profile view according to the 1794 plans. Both of the 1794 plan re-drafts show the ribs as being doubled ribs of 11.5" / 29.2 cm - 23" / 58.4 cm total for each double rib - at 26" / 66 cm centers except for one single rib at the line of maximum beam.
 
I learned that Marquardt has these ribs as more or less alternating single and double ribs with a much greater than 3" / 7.6 cm gap between. This is one of the few things we know about USSC with certainty because the keel and most of the lower futtocks of the ribs are original to the 1794 to 1797 construction. Since Marquardt didn't get these details right I have serious doubts about the other details in his book, which explains why it's not on my book list. Reviews of the book comment on this and other discrepancies with other sources. I may check on an inter library loan a bit later just to see if the book offers any other insights, but I see little reason to buy it.
 

Current state of my working drawings.
 
I'm currently finished with drafting the ribs and cant frames fore and aft in the profile view with the gunports framed and the cant frames and hanging knees/hawser frames drawn in the plan, but the hawser frames remain to be drawn in profile. I'm working on two studies of the transom and counter framing for five windows and six to help me decide which way to go based on usual practice for this framing. The Hull model has six gallery windows but the Corne and Ropes paintings show five. I found an image from Marquardt showing six. One of the lithographs I mentioned above shows seven gallery windows. I'm thinking that I'll resolve these discrepancies by what makes the most sense structurally unless I come across more information. This is probably one of those questions that will never be resolved with any certainty until someone invents a time machine or finds an account from a reliable primary source that says for sure. I suspect those two choices have about an equal probability.
 

Stern detail on Hull model.
 

Stern and hull detail in first Corne painting. Note the yellow ocher gun stripe and absence of gun port lids.
 

Stern detail in first Ropes painting. Also note the gun stripe color and lack of port lids.
 
Some things learned so far were surprises. The most surprising is the gun deck ports did not have lids except the two most foreward on each side which had single lids unlike the clam shell lids currently on USSC. The plans and Corne and Ropes paintings don't show any and the Hull model shows only the four mentioned. The CD from the museum has a scupper plan for the gun deck that shows more scuppers than seems necessary for a closed-in deck but this conclusion is more conjecture than fact. The other surprise was finding that the Hull model has skysail masts/poles connected to the royal/topgallant masts but aft of the mast instead of foreward like on the rest of the mast.
 

Close-up of Hull model showing skysails masts/poles. Fore mast is on the right.
 
I have promised myself that I must finish another project before even one piece for Constitution will be cut, so for a while this log will cover my research and drafting of detailed plans. 

Hi Gwyl!
Thanks for the compliment!
I have used for this model:
for hull - pear
for deck - light and pink pear 0.5x0.5 mm
for planking of the hull - light pear and colorized hornbeam (red and black) 0.5x0.5, 0.8x0.5 mm
mast, yard and bowsprit - bamboo
Before I used the planks cutted of veneer with a scalpel and a metal ruler. But a few months ago my friend have cut the planks of different size with a circular saw.
 
 

Hi everyone!
 
Building of my boat coming to an end. Now I need to decide about the sail - make it expand or collapse the yardarm.
I'll be grateful for your advice
 
Best Regards!
Igor.
 
 

 

I have tried to do the boats of the small sizes in the traditional way

I have tried to do the boats of the small sizes in the traditional way

I used the same technique to make boats for Esmeralda. 
 

Three boats, two with thwarts painted on clear plastic inserts. Zodiak
hull is a portion of paper boat hull with bent wire for the inflatable pontoon.
Floor boards obscure the Vee hulls in this view.
 

Boats in place with oars on the thwarts. Macro-photography is so unforgiving.
 

One of two more boats in an assembly with davits and inflatable life boat containers below. 
 
 
The track I raced on was in the basement of a pool hall. I (mis-)spent a lot of my time and paper route earnings in that place doing both. I was something of a junior hustler in those days.
 
I also had a Mattel wood turning lathe.
 

 
What a different time that was (50 years ago) when boys worked paper routes at as young as 12 and products were sold for use by children (with adult supervision assumed) that would have the nanny state banning them today to "protect" the users from assuming the responsibility for using the tool safely and learning valuable lessons in the process.
 
 
It seems to me that both techniques have their uses. Vacu-forming seems to have limitations for very small parts due to the thickness of the plastic sheet where the paper mache can work a bit better. Both techniques work well for multiple copies of items. I haven't made a vacu-forming tray like the one shown yet but won't hesitate when the time comes.

Hi everyone!
 
Building of my boat coming to an end. Now I need to decide about the sail - make it expand or collapse the yardarm.
I'll be grateful for your advice
 
Best Regards!
Igor.
 
 

 

Nice work Igor.  Your miniature work is beautiful.
 
Gwyl

Hi everyone!
 
Building of my boat coming to an end. Now I need to decide about the sail - make it expand or collapse the yardarm.
I'll be grateful for your advice
 
Best Regards!
Igor.
 
 

 

RS 1

 

 
and boat Mediterranean Sea
 

 

Hi Jeff!
Try to pay attention to the bamboo for the making of masts for SIB. It is possible that the mast with the top part thickness of 0.5 mm with 0.3 mm aperture still retains sufficient strength.
Igor.

Thanks,
The problem with wire is that although it can be made straight or curved very easily, it must not be messed with after that, because if you bend it whilst it is in position on the model (when folding down or up), it will not go back to being straight or having a smooth curve again!     The only SIBs I have made, I cut the bottom off the bottle and put them in the wide end, replacing the bottom when complete.     Naturally I was told that this was cheating   but they were very popular.     I made several of them at sea and they were raffled to passengers, the money going to seamen's charities!     I doubt whether I will make another, because I always felt the opitical clarity of glass bottles was generally not very good.    Light bulbs have perfect clarity, but are more difficut to open!       I am also lacking in patience and was getting a bit tired of the Minnie by the time she was complete!
Bob 

Copper wire rigging units would be a bit difficult to work with inside a bottle, but bristle would almost certainly work for the shrouds, perhaps with flyline ratlines. The model is delightful, so naturally showing something that appealing to a pack of bottlers is going to set minds spinning over ways of getting the vessel into a bottle, reminds me a bit of when the Seven Dwarves put  the comatose Snow White under glass.
 
TJ