USS Constitution - Spar Deck Details (Part I)

There are many details to take care once the spar deck is built. This part covers the capstan and the steering wheel.

The Capstan

I started with the simplest part - the capstan. The kit contains the capstan body, the top and the pin (in the pictures below, the raw and painted versions.

The pin was previously assembled when preparing the spar deck:

I assembled the capstan on the pin. I didn't need to glue it, it matched pretty good and I could take it off when I needed to add additional pieces around.

The Steering Wheel

Taking care of the steering wheel meant to wrap the rope on their axle, while keeping the wheel handles intact (they are very easy to ruin).

Of course, the first steps were to take the raw pieces and paint them.

The two halves of the wheel needed to be assembled. Both parts have holes, but due to paint and (I assume) plastic molding, they don't fit exactly, so I needed to make some adjustments. I used a set of tweezers to hold each piece during the adjustment process.

To assemble the steering wheel on the deck, I made first a knot on the steering rope previously left loose, I secured the knot with glue, and finally I cut off the rest of the remaining threads

I carefully wrapped the knotted thread around the wheel axle

and then I glued supports on the deck, securing the wheel, too.

Final touch, two eyebolts on each side

To have a proper look, use the tweezers to drag the extra thread from the wheel under the spar deck, through one of the holes.