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Soykils (Brooklyn for Circles)

In 1856, Constellation had two 10 shell guns mounted bow and stern as "pivots" or shifting guns. To make shifting them easier, and prevent them tearing up the deck, sectional were screwed down to the deck, a bit like model rail-road track, these were referred to as "circles" or "gun circles." What pattern was actually used on Constellation is so far unknown. The museum folks think there was just a basic circle under each gun, but I think they've interpreted the name a little too literally, as I can find very few examples where just a single simple circle was used. I decided to base the model on the more complicated patterns I found in photos and a diagram in the Navy's 1852 manual: Preparation of Vessels of War for Battle. I cut the circles from 1/32" (.5mm) sheet styrene, painted black, and glued to the deck with gel CA. Both guns on the model sit on access hatches that don't correspond to any actual hatch, so the bow circles, especially, had to accommodate the seam of the hatch.

5 years ago by Jerry Todd