Constitution Transom Glamming

by John

[I wrote this post a month ago, or so, but it looked a bit boring to me so I did not publish it. But on review it is not totally hopeless, so here it is. ]

I have been back in my workshop making a better strip cutter, so until today not much has happened to Constitution.

The stern has some decorations, the nameplate, and 3 gunport covers. The original ship had several makeovers, design changes, and colour changes in its 227 year career to date, so I did not feel guilty about some personal changes to the Mamoli design. I used the Mamoli metal components for the name, the eagle, the pillars and the gunport overs. Unfortunately the kit came with only 4 stars, and I dropped one and could not find it. So I searched the internet, and eventually found a site which sold stars the correct size, for little girls to stick to their fingernails! They were inexpensive, the right number of points, and the right size, but they were very glitzy and shiny. So I painted them with gold paint to approximately match the other gold bits.

The transom is the same colour as the external planks on the sides of the hull. There is a light shining on the transom which makes it appear paler.

If the ship was painted, the wood would be painted black, and the metal parts white/black. But I liked the gold so that was that. The curved metal bits are 0.5mm brass wire superglued in place. That was tricky. The method was to trace the plans, and to bend the wire over the tracing. Then to glue the centre of the bent wire, holding it in place with a piece of plastic until the glue set. Then CA glue to every 2 cm or so, holding the wire in position with the plastic rod until the glue set. Then to trim the ends, and glue the in-between bits. There are 6 square holes in the transom, and the gunport covers on the Mamoli plans are on the lower 3 only, with the upper 3 left open. Looks a bit odd to me. I could make the upper 3 stern chaser gunports, but surely they would have had hinged or removeable covers. Since the model is configured to be a “ready for action” “battle-stations” it probably makes more sense to leave them as openings, so guns from the spar deck could be moved into stern chaser positions through those openings. Still considering.

But that can wait. I am close to starting the masts and standing rigging on Constitution. Looking at the ropes supplied by Mamoli and thinking that I might make my own model rope making machine. Watch this space. [ 19 sep 2024… rope maker is made and producing scale model rope. There is a learning curve to operating the machine….I am still learning “the ropes”. Pictures soon.]