1/96 scale USS Constitution build.

[Sherman 18]

 

[Tim A.]

Oh she's gonna stand tall!

About 30 inches from keel to tip of main mast.

 

[Tim A.]

After some thought on how to do the channels and deadeyes I think I have a plan. I'm shaving the molded parts from the kit's channels and filling the gaps with styrene strip. Drilling holes for the deadeye strops. Once everything is painted black I'll glue this assembly to the hull. The chain plates will be added last. On this build the plates are just for show. This is not how it is supposed to be done, however it would be nearly impossible to get the chain plates right at this point. It all should look the part when done I hope...

 

[bob letterman]

Beautiful Job Tim. I love the old sailing ships. I've built the Constitution twice as well as the others in that series, The Cutty Sark, etc.

 

[Tim A.]

Beautiful Job Tim. I love the old sailing ships. I've built the Constitution twice as well as the others in that series, The Cutty Sark, etc.

Thanks Bob. I started the Cutty Sark but something was missing for me... CANNONS
Back in February my wife surprised me with the Heller 1/100 Victory kit. Looking it over it appears the Constitution is just a warmup to that beast of a build.
This is my third go around with the 1/96 scale Constitution in a span of about 50 yrs. I'm determined to see the build to the finish this time.

 

[Tim A.]

I have the starboard side channels with the deadeyes on. The deadeyes are 3.5 mm from Model Ship Ways. They look about the right size to me.

 

[Tim A.]

Because the chain plates won't be functional I felt there needed to be some support to the channels, so I made some knees for the channels. They're not easily seen when viewed and will give me a little insurance that the channels will stay put when the shroud tension is put on them.

 

[Tim A.]

Experimenting with how to do the chain plates. Strip styrene. Mine are going to be like the ones that are on the real ship now. Simpler!

 

[moon puppy]

Ah ha, now I understand what you're talking about.

 

[Tim A.]

Ah ha, now I understand what you're talking about.

Photos of the real thing help to show what I'm trying to do

 

[Tim A.]

The main mast's channel, deadeyes and chain plates complete.

 

[Rhino]

I wondered how you would do that. Very nicely done, Skippah!
Whatcha gonna do about gun port hatches?

 

[Tim A.]

I wondered how you would do that. Very nicely done, Skippah!
Whatcha gonna do about gun port hatches?

Thanks Rhino. No gunport hatch covers on this one for me. There's some argument among the Constitution historians that the ship more than likely was built using port covers that were removed and stowed, not the hinged covers. And since these ships ran around with their guns run out most of the time (except in severe weather) I chose that look.

 

[Rhino]

A reasonable and accurate decision! It's a much more exciting model with Her guns run out and cleared for action.
I expected nothing less!

 

[Tim A.]

 

[Tim A.]

I have all of the channels, deadeyes and chain plates on the ship. I've temporarily rigged a couple of the main mast's shrouds to test the setup. I think it's going to be fine. This build is at the rigging stage. I'm going to take a break from it now and switch to a couple of armour projects.

 

[moon puppy]

Love the work Tim.

Hope you don't mind but in the process of cleaning up the old galleries I found your previous work. Why it's not linking to your profile I do not know.

The Merchant ship that you restored

Merchant vessel model

• Tim A.
• Dec 30, 2010
• 10
• 1

Baltimore Clipper

+59

Baltimore Clipper

• Tim A.
• Dec 25, 2010
• 68

Tim has some armor stuff in there also.

 

[Tim A.]

Love the work Tim.

Hope you don't mind but in the process of cleaning up the old galleries I found your previous work. Why it's not linking to your profile I do not know.

The Merchant ship that you restored

Merchant vessel model

• Tim A.
• Dec 30, 2010
• 10
• 1

Baltimore Clipper

+59

Baltimore Clipper

• Tim A.
• Dec 25, 2010
• 68

Tim has some armor stuff in there also.

Thanks Bob. I don't have some of those Baltimore Clipper build photos anymore so it was interesting to see them again. The friend I built it for sent me a recent pic of it in his man cave and said it's holding up beautifully. Btw the friend is Tom Curran. If you do a Google search for Guantanamo Bay cargo plane crash his name will be there as the first officer/co pilot of the flight. That crash changed the entire airline industry.

 

[Rhino]

Baltimore Clipper!?! Too cool!

 

[Tim A.]

After a little armour project it's time to get back to Constitution. I said I was ready for the rigging stage of this build but there's a couple of miscellaneous deck things to do still. The steps to the bowsprit needed a lot of tweaking to fit to the bulwarks. I also added some strip styrene moulding. Thought it added a little detail.

I have no idea how the real one looked though. It'll be painted to match the bulwarks with the raised foot planks in white.