Fashioning masts for the 1/92 USS Constitution from Revell

"Wayne M Jackson" > I've never built the Constitution but I have made mast for other ships and found the easiest way was to use abrasive paper on a block. Make a "Test plate", mark the length of the mast on to a piece of plastic sheet and at the bottom and top position drill a hole equivelnt to the diameter you require at that point. Then drill 2 intermediate hole at equally spaced points between these and to the diameter of the mast at the corresponding points. If you don't have the right sized drills open the hole out to the right size with a file or a sharp knife. Hold the tip of the dowel against a firm "anchor" point. and begin sanding the very end gradually working back to towards you, turning the dowel to maintain the roundness. frequent checks can be made with the test plate by sliding it down the dowel to its corresponding position, this also helps check the "roundness" Medium coarse paper can be used to remove the bulk and then fine to finish up. With a little practice speed and accuracy can be easily achived. When you have the taper and size you need cut the dowel to length. Its easier to do than to explain but this has worked for me. Hope this helps.

I will give that a go.
One thing that I have done, is fill the hollows with Tamiya putty; this seems to have strenghten the bottom 2 segments further thus leaving only the last section which is very flimsy.

A couple of thoughts...
1. I've read of people putting brass tube or steel music wire inside the lower sections, to make them stronger.
2. If you're going to make a wooden topgallant mast, you will probably be better off to start with an appropriate piece of straight-grained square stock. The wooden ship builders generally avoid dowels for spars, as they never have straight grain, and thus are prone to warp. Another benefit of starting with square stock is that there is a lot more selection in types of wood, as opposed to the limited (birch only?) selection available as dowels.
3. From the FAQ on the page: "Degama" is the wood recommended for use as masts and spars. The Seaways page has a vendors section, which should point you to vendors that cater to the wooden ship modellign hobby. (I've heard good things about "Warner Woods West", though I haven''t used them myself.)
HTH,
-Bill

While I also recommend starting with square stock, I find basswood, available in many hobby shops, fine for masts and spars.
Care must be taken when rigging to keep pressure of lines proper. The strength of the masts comes from the rigging- the rigging should never bend the masts or be trying to pull it out of alignment.
RC Boater wrote: