USS CONSTITUTION 1797

USS CONSTITUTION 1797

by Model Shipways  Plank-on-Bulkhead Kit

Model Shipways is proud to produce the best and most accurate USS Constitution available. Our kit is based on the 1927 Navy drawings, photographs and documentation used during the 1993-97 restoration. It is so complete and highly detailed that shipping weight is an incredible 12 pounds! 

Plank-on-bulkhead construction features laser cut wooden parts. High quality basswood planking strips cover the hull and we include self-adhesive copper tape for hull plating. True-to-scale Britannia metal, brass and hardwood fittings and 16 photo-etched brass sheets provide life-like detail. Over 50 cannon, carronade and gun Model Shipways Barrels duplicate original armament. Extra touches include laser cut gratings and engraved scrollwork. Four-hundred yards of rigging line in six diameters is also supplied. 

Model Shipways kit includes eight sheets of detailed plans and 48 page step-by-step instruction manual by Ben Lankford uncover the secrets of building a museum quality replica. (Display base and pedestals not included.)

Launched on October 21, 1797, the USS Constitution has won every battle she's ever fought - over 40 of them! She earned her nickname Old Ironsides after a sailor saw a cannonball bounce off her hull. Resting in Boston Harbor, she's the oldest commissioned US warship. USS Constitution went through several restorations during her career. A major restoration between 1993 and 1997 prepared the frigate for her 200th anniversary. Workers restored the thick deck strakes and diagonal riders to strengthen the hull and make her seaworthy. They fitted fore, main and mizzen topsails, jib, flying jib, and spanker sails for the day when "Old Ironsides" would move under her own power once more. That historic moment arrived on July 21, 1997, when Constitution set sail from Marblehead Harbor to a point just one mile short of Halfway Rock. The five-mile cruise took one hour.

Model Expo No. MS2040

Length 122 cm or 48" / Height 81.3 cm or 32" / Width 40.6 cm or 16" / Scale 5/32" = 1 ft. (1:76 Scale)

Previous modeling experience helpful.