Dave Fellingham

I think you have done very well for a first, or even a tenth, try. I'm sure you see the minor fault with the sail seams not lining up on the two sides. Perhaps the fault lies with the photographer who back lit the model. I look forward to your next project. Do it as a building log showing with photos your progress through the build.

I checked out the link and am very intrigued by some of the saw blades sold there, some with even finer teeth spacing than the one I show. I especially like the versions that mount in a standard blade holder for making small detail cuts. Bookmarked and a wish list started.

I've been using an outstanding micro saw from MicroMark on my Constitution project. I couldn't do the work I've done on it without this little saw. The saw blades look like, and are the size of, double edge razor blades but both edges are very fine saw blades -- 70 teeth per inch and only .005 in./.127 mm kerf. The saw blades sell in packs of five double edge saw blades. Handle for the saw blades. I sanded a flat on one side of the handle so it wouldn't roll off the work bench. The usual disclaimer applies -- I don't have any affiliation with MicroMark other than being a very satisfied customer and user of their products.

Moving forward with detailing and installing ribs. Rib 27 is the aft-most of these ribs and is the last one that is directly on the keel. #28 locates on the deadwood (the piece sitting on the keel with the upward curving top profile). #27 needed to be within .005 in./.013 mm of it's correct location so that #28 and those behind it will locate correctly. It's .002 in./.051 mm short which is better than long. Close-up of the ribs. The gaps above the lower gun ports will be filled with short segments of the ribs that will glue to the lower gun port lintels and, at the three upper gun ports to the right, to those gun port sills. These ribs are beginning to look much like those in the black and white photos at the top of page 2 from the 1873-77 rebuild. This close-up shows how I use the center line thread to verify the ribs are centered. I'll try to report progress weekly during repetitious work, like these ribs, or when work more interesting is done.

Thanks, Jeff. The wood was removed from Constitution in 1996 during normal maintenance according to the certificate of authenticity. That was the year that a lot of deck planking was replaced and part of the reason I believe it is long leaf yellow pine -- the wood I found difficult to work with. That planking was installed during the major rebuild in 1928-31 in which 85% of the ship was replaced. The remaining 15% included the keel and most of the lower rib futtocks which were determined then to have been from the original construction in the 1790's. After the rebuild Constitution was towed to numerous ports on all three US coasts and two passages through the Panama Canal in 1931-34. Over 4.6 million visitors walked over those deck planks during that tour.

After looking at both books on Amazon I get the impression the second is a reprint of the first but in a slightly larger format. Same number of pages and almost identical descriptions. The only way to know for certain though is to buy both. After some more searching I found that "Classic Manual . . ." is listed as a reprint of the first "A New Manual . . ." so I think it's safe to say they are the same except for the second is a slightly larger format.

Absolutely, regarding timing the work. I was amazed after a day of working for a time then taking a break, back and forth from breakfast until almost bedtime and finding I had put in almost 9 hours at the bench. My guesstimate would have been 6. Other days I find it hard to stay there for an hour total. I have also learned not to work up until bedtime because I'll spend 2 - 3 hours laying in bed trying not to think about what needs to be done next. I hadn't specifically noticed that McCaffery doesn't build powered ships, but as I think about it - and thumb through his book - I think you're right.

I use dial calipers that read to .001 in., make sure my zero is right on and take multiple measurements at the keel. By using the most repeated measurement and estimating the splits between the marks it's fairly easy to read to .0005 in and even .0002 in. The width of the pointer itself on most dial calipers is 1/10 the distance between calibrations on the dial. Also, I worked with vernier and dial calipers and with micrometers most of my adult life so am quite comfortable with extrapolating that 4th decimal place.

Lloyd McCaffery and Donald McNarry have both been very inspirational in my work. Just seeing their work has challenged me to attempt the work I'm doing now. If they can do work I previously thought impossible, perhaps I can do something similar. So here I am, trying to come close. I just passed 140 hours, not counting research and drafting, actual tools to wood. I have all the ribs built up, except for some in the transom/stern gallery, and have started cutting them out and detailing each one. I also have the keel ready for installing the ribs. The keel with stem and beakhead, stern post and deadwood installed. A few of the ribs are also in place, rib zero at left and ribs 1 through 6 going aft of it to the right. This is all held in the clamping fixture I mentioned in an earlier post. It is two pieces of basswood each with a shallow rabbet cut along one corner to receive the keel. It also has three through bolts and two guide rods to keep the top surface flat so I can use squares to align parts as they are installed. Close-up of stem and beakhead. The white material is holly, used to see how it works. Not great to work with, it's prone to severe end of cut break-outs. Holly is usually chosen for its color rather than working properties. It is often used as a substitute for ivory. It also dyes extremely well and when dyed black is also a substitute for ebony. You may notice a dark line along the curve of the holly. That's a shallow bevel sanded along the edge of piece of stem under it. That bevel is the bearding line, the line where the hull planks meet the stem. It will be deepened into a Vee groove to match the planking once the ribs are all in place. That bearding line continues the length of the keel partially visible here. Sternpost and deadwood; all but the small piece with the little steps are wood from the Constitution. Much work remains to be done here but I'm not quite sure how much of the deadwood needs to be chiseled away for the hull planks to lie correctly. I'll know for sure when the ribs in this area are installed. You may have noticed a black thread running from stem to stern in these photos, it's a center line used to verify the ribs are centered correctly. Detail shot of the ribs. Spacers are card stock with a strip of household tape for a thickness of .0115 in./.292 mm, 1:240 scale of the space between ribs as designed. I have to check the length of the installed ribs along the keel, I'm currently about .0005 less than they should be but will be easy to correct by not clamping the next 2 or 3 as tight as I've been, then check that length. I must watch out for accumulated errors so the last rib is where it needs to be. I have gun port lintel and sill pieces (made from craft stick wood as test pieces) in place. That port is .180 in./4.55 mm horizontal and .146 in./3.70 mm true vertical. Along the curve of the tumble home it's more and looks it. I noticed that the sill isn't quite in the groove cut in the rib the way it should be. You may also notice there are two gun deck beams made from the darker pear wood visible among the spacers. I've stolen another of Bob's ideas -- the use of a stop watch to time and record my hours worked on this project. I've averaged 6 hours per day, 5 days per week since first putting tools to wood. It's a hard habit to get used to but I can't pick up my OptiVisor without seeing the stop watch to remind myself. I've always been curious about my time on a project and have had to guesstimate up until now. On this project I'll know for sure. It's starting to get interesting now that some of the pieces are coming together. Dave

Using the ribs in the boat plan will help keep your hull in shape. A couple of sails appropriate for that size boat that may work well. This spritsail might work well, too. I get the impression that your plan is to place your boat directly on the sea of petals. You might want to consider attaching the boat to the bottom of the flask on risers of some sort so that it doesn't capsize with the inevitable handling then placing the petals under and around the boat. I suspect you have already considered this but just haven't mentioned it.

You might try cellophane from cigarette packaging or similar for the clear 'windows' in the sails. Glassine might also work but it is not quite transparent - but an option for the sails. Archival tissue may also work well for sails for the translucent effect. Onion skin paper is very much like either one, very light and thin, perhaps between the two. Haven't seen it since I was a child. About the same as tracing paper which I also haven't seen in a long time. You could scan the signatures you're getting for the sail, and print them, reduced and arranged to fit best, on whatever you use for the sails. It does not seem likely to me that the actual signatures could be used. Odds of them being arranged and of a size to fit on the sail seem mighty slim. I have some glassine and archival tissue - enough to last me two lifetimes. Be glad to send you a couple of 8 1/2" x 11" sheets of each. Just PM me a mailing address.

Here's a link for Lloyd McCaffery's miniatures at the J. Russell Jinishian Gallery. McCaffery miniatures Here's a teaser: Three of the figure heads here are miniatures of those carried on U.S. Frigate Constitution. Can you identify all three? The first figurehead, lost in a collision with President during the First Barbary War, may be the most difficult of the three.

Still working on ribs but have also made progress on other components. Couldn't work on them because I was without electricity for two days - first hot day of the year (90F at 9am) and several transformers blew out here in the desert. I also had to do a bit of new tool set-up that kept me from some of the work until the set-up was done. Here's some photos of cutting, sanding and detailing my rib zero. Just finished cutting out zero on the scroll saw which made quick work of it compared to doing it by hand with a jeweler's saw. The black tube is connected to a small shop vac for saw dust control so I can see the cut line. Finished sanding what I could safely do with this shaper/sander attachment for a Dremel motor. Learned quick to use slow speed to prevent making smoke instead of sanding dust. And there's that ubiquitous black pipe again. Some hand work left at the 'steps' in the inner side of the rib. The steps are for gun and spar deck beams. Zero rib again with one of the half-ribs cut away for a gunport on the forward side and notches cut for the gunport sill and lintel pieces. Not much rib here above the spar deck line - this rib is in the low bulwark waist area. If you look closely you will notice the glue line between half-ribs and at the segments used to build the rib. Those segments partially replicate actual construction except that each half-rib was made up of six or seven futtocks on each side of the keel. Chose not to do that - way too much work even for this detail fanatic. I think the suggestion of those futtocks is enough. One down - about seventy more to go, not counting the cant frames fore and aft and the bow and transom ribs. Work on the keel continued with sanding of the stem and beak head and gluing it to the keel and stern post. Used a print-out from the computer, covered with plastic wrap so I don't glue the pieces to the paper, to lay these pieces out. I did the same with those rib pieces but failed to mention the plastic wrap in that post. Again, chose not to duplicate the beak head assembly exactly which was made up of about 10 individual pieces scarfed together. Much of that will be covered by the trail boards and painted so there's not much point to the tedious work that would be. I also cut and steam formed deck beam stock to the correct scale camber (arching curve) for the gun deck and spar deck (different camber on each) and made a clamp to hold the keel assembly when it comes time to start installing the ribs. Photos of that when I start using it. As I mentioned previously, I'm using Castello boxwood for the ribs. It's a bit hard but works beautifully either by hand or with power tools. Now I know why Lloyd McCaffery uses it for his miniature figure head sculptures. (Actually he uses European boxwood - different species - nearly identical in working properties but a lot more money here in the States, that he finds, harvests, cuts and dries himself.) If you haven't seen his miniature figureheads, search him on the web, you will be amazed.

Time for the fun part, Bob. Inspiring as always.

I have found that heat shrink tubing (made to insulate electric wire splices) shrunk onto the tips of fabricated metal tools provides a non-marring, grippier grip than bare metal. A wrap of masking tape also works but is far less durable.

Thanks for sharing your device with us, it inspired me to make my own just for the task of cutting hull cladding plates. I'll also use it for cutting uniform, narrow strips of paper for mast bands, paint stripes and numerous other similar details. I don't score my decks, preferring to build them up from strips of wood similar to McNarry and McCaffery, but will certainly use it for numerous other tasks. I already had the dial indicator and bolted it on so I can use it in other applications. Thanks again, Bob.

Do NOT substitute waxed paper for freezer paper - waxed paper is waxed on both sides - the ink won't set and the wax will melt onto the face of the iron. We mustn't piss off the Admiral! Remember - freezer paper, NOT waxed paper. I cut it to standard paper size and keep a supply pressed flat in a book to take out the curl from coming off a roll so it will feed through the printer. Both McNarry and McCaffery have done full-on plank on rib construction in their models which inspired me to try it on this project. I studied larger scale conventional models in progress on Model Ship World as well. I find craft stick wood much like basswood, kind of soft and not real good at holding fine detail like clean sharp corners. Try pear or boxwood, much better than the unknown soft wood used in those craft sticks. I love the smell of boxwood as I cut it on my mini table saw - kind of sweet and nutty that reminds me of Mom's butternut squash baking in the oven on Thanksgiving when I was a kid.

While waiting for wood I made a tool based on one similar built by Shipbuilder. See: Deck Scoring Here I'm trying out my scoring tool to partially cut through .0014 in. / 0.036 mm copper foil to use as the 16 in. x 48 in. / 41 cm x 122 cm cladding sheets. They are .066 in. x .200 in. / 1.68 mm x 5.08 mm. By scoring the copper foil I will be able to break them apart on the score lines. I cut about 2200 scale copper hull plates, most still connected to use later. Also while waiting for wood and tools to arrive I made the keel, stern post, rudder and some deadwood from the piece of USS Constitution. That piece of wood was miserable to work with because in tiny pieces it had a tendency to split at the growth rings so I chose not to use as much as I originally intended. I also generated patterns for many of the parts I'll need to make and, as soon as the wood arrived, set to cutting them. I use freezer paper for printed patterns. The paper has a waxy/plastic coating on one side and is unfinished on the other. Printing is done on the paper side then the pattern is placed, coated side down, on the wood and ironed to soften/melt the coating to make it stick to the wood. Makes it easy to cut out the part then sand it to split the line. The pattern comes off easily, rarely leaving a bit of the waxy/plastic as residue which can be controlled by turning the heat of the iron down a bit. Constitution wood in the keel, stern post, rudder and deadwood (bottom and left side). The keel required four pieces to be spliced together. To the right are some of the pear wood bow pieces with patterns attached, cut out but needing sanding to finished size. Assembling the ribs in two layers to replicate the original construction. Four have the two layers epoxied together such that butted joints are lapped and don't coincide to leave a weak spot in the construction. The second one from lower left is the only single rib used. The three in the upper row to the right will have another layer applied. The rib at lower left, labeled "zero" on the printed sheet, is at the widest place in the hull. These ribs are aft of that zero station. I'm using Castello boxwood for the ribs. Thirty-six ribs with freezer paper patterns ironed to them. Next step is to cut them out, sand to finished size and detail them - about half of the ribs needed. This is the first time working with either pear or boxwood. Both are a dream to work with.

I've not had problems, I use acid-free or pH neutral archival tissue, glassine or paper then seal it with a coat of artist's matte acrylic varnish.

I like the idea of wood for this kind of detail. An alternative is paper - standard printer paper is .004 in/0.10 mm, archival tissue is half that and glassine is about half again thinner. I'm not suggesting you re-do this stripe, just something to keep in mind for use on another project or application. Edited to correct paper thickness.

Mike, to clarify, in conventional hinged masts the stays from the foremast go through holes through the bowsprit and out the bottle to be secured and cut off after the mast is erected. I suggested securing them at the bowsprit and go through holes in the masts and out the bottle to be secured after the mast is erected. On this model secure the fore stay at the bowsprit, through a hole in the foremast and left long to go out the bottle. This is the inner stay, closest to the mast. The jib stay (outer line) secured at the bowsprit, through a hole in the foremast then through a hole in the mainmast and out the bottle. With the main stay (it's a horizontal line from mast to mast in your sketch just above the foresail gaff and gaff halyard) secure it to the foremast through a hole in the mainmast and out the bottle. The bow first insertion into the bottle will help. As soon as the stern clears the neck start rotating the hull while keeping the masts near vertical. Try this with your simplified mock up using a pair of back stays (one each side) at each mast and the stays as I've described above, just a hull with bare poles and minimal rigging to work out the geometry and manipulation. I'm sure doing this will help a lot. Remember. I'm talking about hinged masts. I suggest hinges rather than the guided divot method because the guide lines have to go through the bottom of the hull and complicates the mast raising.

Definitely go with the second bottle. Consider hinges at the masts but instead of having the control lines through the bowsprit, secure them at the bowsprit and have them go through the two masts making the raising of the masts very simple. A bow first entry into the bottle will also simplify the process somewhat allowing you to start raising the masts as soon as the hull clears the neck.. Nice work so far and I look forward to seeing the progress as you proceed.

Great photos, Alex. I envy you in that you can go visit the Constitution, and other East Coast nautical museums and attractions whenever you wish. I live in San Bernardino County (the city of San Bernardino is the County seat but a long ways west from where I live) which is the largest county in the U.S. and larger in land area than the five smallest States combined. My drawings are essentially complete. I'm using the drawing set for masts and spars from USS Constitution Museum with corrections from the current configuration in the drawings to the historical dimensions as recorded in 1815. The Eriksen book is also very helpful here as a double check to verify the historical configuration for rigging later. I ordered some power tools I've wanted for quite a while but haven't been able to rationalize buying. They were on sale at MicroMark at enough discount to essentially get one of them for free. I bought a model maker's table saw, thickness sander, jeweller's drill press and a scroll saw and received them about a month ago. Today I ordered accessories for them - additional saw blades, several guides and accessories for the table and scroll saws and sanding drums for the thickness sander. I am also in the process of placing an order for Costello boxwood, pear and holly from Crown Timberyard. I sent them an e-mail for a price and probable lead time for basic sheet stock in the thicknesses needed in quantity. With the miniature table saw I'll be able to cut down the sheet stock for the components needed. I have the piece of what is probably long leaf yellow pine from the deck of the USS Constitution I purchased which I will use for the keel and other major parts of the hull. I plan to use the holly for decking and planking, pear and some of the boxwood for structural pieces and the boxwood for the more carved and detailed parts. I haven't decided what to use for the masts and spars yet. I'm looking forward to making sawdust very soon! And taking lots of photos of the work in progress to share.

I'm not sure what you mean by "chain plates" but assume you mean the channels which are strong, broad planks mounted horizontally on edge to the hull to keep the dead eyes in the chains away from the hull and to spread the shrouds farther out. Chain plates are at the attachment points of the chains from the deadeyes to the hull. Drawing for a current project showing fore channel with deadeyes, chains and chain plates. The channel is in red. Chains from one deadeye are in green and a chain plate is magenta. Note that alternate chains here have doubled chain plates. Also note that the two chains at extreme left (for topgallant and royal mast backstays) don't have chain plates. Chain plates are used on more modern sail boats as shown here to anchor backstays and were used historically on similar sized small boats. The Philippine company that makes and internationally markets the tourist shop junk SiBs uses a technique similar to the one you're considering. They rig the ship outside the bottle by gluing the shrouds and backstays to the hull with PVA then soften the glue with alcohol (92% rubbing alcohol) to "un-glue" them. They then reassemble the ship and the masts with shrouds still attached (at the upper glue points) inside the bottle and re-glue the shrouds. They trim the excess after the glue dries. They do essentially the same thing with the center-line stays. They never use channels on their representations (I refuse to call anything built by that company "models" because they aren't). You may be able to glue the shrouds and back stays to the edges of the channels inside the bottle using the lower deadeyes as stops to get the shrouds and backstays tensioned like they were outside the bottle. You will have to be very careful about what glues you use and where because the alcohol will soften all the PVA it contacts.

The vessel is a four masted barque with double topsails, topgallants and royals. It isn't a jubilee rig with double topsails and double topgallants because the upper two yards would usually be close together like the topsail yards when the sails are furled. It is likely not German-built because it doesn't have the two gaffs on the mizzen that can be seen on the Kruzenshtern (ex-Padua) unless it was built before the German ship builders began using the double mizzen gaffs. Here's a photo of the Glasgow built Earl of Dunsmore which is much more like the model than the Kruzenshtern. Earl of Dunsmore (1891 - 1917, sunk by German sub) Jubilee rigged Bannockburn (1886, re-rigged as barque in 1894, sold and renamed Leif Gundersen 1915, captured by the French and re-named Atlas 1917, sunk same year by German sub). Notice the difference between this jubilee rig (double topsails and double topgallants) and the model with double topsails, topgallants and royals. The interrupted black and white stripe shown on the Earl of Dunsmore was not uncommon. Most of the photos of similarly painted vessels show black above the deck line, the interrupted black and white stripe, a narrow black border stripe and light gray below to the waterline. This basic paint scheme was not exclusive to any one company. Six "Lochs" of the Loch Line in the Victoria Dock, Melbourne, Christmas 1907. From left: Loch Etive, Loch Broom, Loch Garry, Loch Katrine, Loch Carron, Loch Torridon Obviously this pattern only partially matches the paint scheme on the model. I have not found a photo of a ship with the interrupted stripe and narrow lower border stripe on an all white hull like the model. Of course, that does not mean that one or several did not exist. Also, paint schemes frequently changed during the life of a vessel especially with changes in owners. The abbreviated name on the barque (Emmi.) seems strange, but, with the name on the tug (Heinrich[?] as near as I can tell), suggests the builder's name (Emmi Heinrich) rather than names of the two vessels. Searching the name strongly suggests female, perhaps a loved one of the builder. I can't clearly see the flags at the peaks of the 2nd and 3rd masts - are they the letters 'E' and 'H'? The builder seems to have been at least moderately familiar with how such a vessel was rigged with the braces routed correctly and other details also correct as far as I can determine. The short cork and short straight section at the mouth suggests a brandy rather than a wine bottle. Wine bottles usually have a longer straight section to provide a seal with a longer cork. It looks like there is some red substance on the neck just at the bottom of the cork. Perhaps this bottle was sealed with wax upon completion, now gone with time and handling. POWs held in England were well treated during both World Wars and often made extra spending money by building ship models and SiBs, more so during the First than the Second. Perhaps an ancestor stationed in England during or shortly after one of those wars purchased this from a POW. Some research into family history may reveal ancestor(s) who may have purchased this while in the service or who immigrated to the US. Given Daniel's good guesstimate of the bottle age, WWI seems most likely. The lighthouse, if this is a scene from an actual place and the lighthouse is reasonably accurate, may give a clue to the port. It would take a photo by photo search of lighthouses to find possible matches. Good luck.