Wilhelmshaven 1:200 scale USS Constitution

[Bowdenja]

Dang Man ............ what are you using to put that thing together... an electron microscope?!!! :shock:

I'm still trying to get my hand to follow those black lines that outline the model pieces! I bet you used to build them dang
ship-in-the-bottles things!

 

[Jim Krauzlis]

Thanks, bowdenja!

If you look at the thread on our workshops you'll see I need to use a few illuminated manifiers.

Yep, I toyed around with those ship in the bottle thingies a few times...learned the hard way you have to consider how much room you have in the bottle before trying to hoist the masts...my Cutty Sark looked like a over-masted Baltimore clipper rather than a tea clipper. :lol:

Hope you enjoyed the update...the photos didn't really come out as clearly as I had hoped, still learning how to take closeups with this dang digital camera. At least they're somewhat in focus...now I just have to get the lighting right! :lol:

Cheers!

Jim

 

[Ajax]

Great detail work, Jim! The add-ons you're manufacturing give an excellent three-dimensional effect -- the difference it made to the headrails is striking!

AJ

 

[barry]

Stern fittings

Hi Jim

I guess your quote line to the thread should now read "Master shipwright"

I would have been happy with the first transom but you're right the second is even better.

barry

 

[Jim Krauzlis]

Thanks, Barry, but I rather doubt I'm a "master" shipwright, or a master anything, for that matter; maybe "obsessed" with this build at times (okay, all the time), and most likely a gluton for punishment, but certainly not a "master". :lol:

I'm glad you are enjoying this thread. I very much appreciate your very kind words, particularly from one who has made (and is making) some outstanding builds.

Thanks so very much, mate!

Cheers!

Jim

 

[Gil]

Jim,

Even with several magnifiiers your nickname has got got to be "squinty"...,

Keep up the "very fine" work, Gil

 

[Leif Oh]

Oooh! - I like this, especially the close-ups of the stern. Magnificient add-ons; I can just imagine how much you've been thinking about this, and how you enjoyed it. Came out very well, didn't it - congrat's!

Leif

 

[Jim Krauzlis]

:lol:
Thanks, Gil!

"Squinty" Jim

 

[jrts]

Hi Jim

I don't know which is better the build or the thread itself 8)

Both are great and I find myself checking in just see what you have done to her

Fantastic thread mate keep up the good work.

Rob

 

[Jim Krauzlis]

Hi, Rob!

Thanks so much!

I tried to get a bit more done on the quarter galleries today, but family commitments didn't let me get too far :? ...I'll try to get things done here and there and post some more photo updates.

I'm very glad you are enjoying the thread, and do appreciate very much your generous words of encouragment.

Cheers, mate!

Jim

 

[Jim Krauzlis]

I was able to do just a little more this weekend, after our weekend guests from Boston left. The quarter galleries are coming along, slowly but surely, and with quite a bit of trial and error fitting.

I used painted silk thread glued onto the plastic windows to add the dimension of window trim. The thread was glued onto the plastic, and when dried the ends trimmed to the edge of the "windows." The windows were then glued onto the window outline pieces from which I had cut out the printed windows. I used the cut out windows to help align the threads for the sills. I also separated the three window outlines to make them into three separate window units to make it a bit easier to fit them in place on the hull. The original piece was designed to be curved and folded into a single assembly, but the folds just weren't realistic when done, so I opted for this piecemeal approach with the hopes that it might look a little better.

The threads did not glue very well to the plastic, but lucky for me when the plastic was glued to the window outlines they all seemed to hold together at least long enough to be handled and glued into place. :?

I built up the lower trimming below the windows a bit before putting the window pieces on. I also had to fashion two supporting pieces to stand the windows off from the hull, and that was done with a lot (and I do mean a lot :roll: ) of fitting and trimming and cutting and checking until they seemed to be the right proportions and size. I have to say I had to remove these support pieces once or twice to ensure they supported the upper and bottom parts of the window units, and that all were at the correct level with the transom decorations and the gunports. The lower level of the windows are still a bit higher in comparison to the gun stripe then they should be, but unless I wanted to rework everything and start from scratch, they would have to do...so that's the best it's gonna get, folks! :lol:

There is still a lot of touchup work to be done to the windows, and I have to fit the upper trim piece or "roof" piece, but just ran out of time this session...so, hopefully I can figure out that roof shape by the next update. I hoped the plastic would be a bit cleaner than it ended up, but I'll have to wait and see what I can do about that when I touch things up a bit next time.

Hope you all enjoy this shortened version of my update. :lol:

Cheers!
Jim

 

[Jim Krauzlis]

Some more views showing the half finished starboard quarter gallery...

Jim

 

[Jim Krauzlis]

Just one more for Barry and Rob... :lol:

Jim

 

[barry]

Jim

Thank you for the extra one I like that the best a really fine bit of work there especially at that scale.

Really, really looking great worth waiting for !!

barry

 

[Jim Krauzlis]

Thank you, Barry.

You are too kind, mate. Everytime I take these dang digital photos, some new mistake pops up at me! Well, at least it helps by giving me a real close look at the hull to see things that are not evident as I am building. Maybe we should start a game "Can you spot this week's mistake?" :lol:

I already mentioned how the level of the quarter gallery is just a tab too high compared to the real thing....now I see the aftermost window trim, the one just before the transom, is a tab too high. :roll: And then there's the trim that wraps around the gallery to the transom trim, the upper of the lower two white strips, doesn't join flush. :? I'll have to fudge them both a bit when I get back to the work shop.

I'm very glad you're enjoying this build. It is fun, even with the problems that pop up here and again.

Cheers!

Jim

 

[DN]

That's some piece of work Jim, it really is.:shock:
It's scary to think what you will do with all that rigging.:lol:

 

[jrts]

Hi Jim

Only one extra photo :roll: :lol:

Realy great stuff this, as Barry said worth waiting for
The detail is fantastic :shock:

Curtains at the windows next I think :lol:
More when you can, can't wait to see the rigging either.

Rob

 

[Jim Krauzlis]

Thanks, Rob!

Actually, mate, if you look real hard you can see the door that is between the captain's cabin and the quarter gallery/head, and there is even a small seat of comfort along the after wall, which is probably not visible in the pictures. :lol: I didn't see any curtains when I visited her last time, so I left them out. :lol:

Glad you enjoyed them, I will try to post more photos next time.

Cheers!
Jim

 

[Leif Oh]

I have to keep telling myself all the time that this is that little puny model of a ship you showed at its real size in one of the previous pictures! - L.

 

[Jim Krauzlis]

Okay, Rob...but just this once... :lol:

Here's bonus photo.

Actually, a composite photo showing the real thing versus my sad attempt to replicate a true example of the shipwright's art... ops:

Oh, boy...there sure is a lot of work left to fix that quarter gallery, now that I see them side by side.... :? Still, as bad as it looks, I think it's a bit better than the printed part.

Enjoy!

Jim