USS Constitution — Copper-Bottom Exclusive Edition Model | Admiral Line

Old Ironsides with a metal-sheathed bottom, built to our highest specification and individually recorded.

Two details separate this edition. Below the waterline, the hull is plated in overlapping metal courses the way real hulls were coppered. And a serial number etched into the hull ties your model to its build date, timber and workshop.

Construction

• Plank-on-frame hull in western red cedar, rosewood and mahogany
• Metal-sheathed bottom in laid, overlapping plates
• Gun deck and spar deck batteries, individually fitted cast cannon
• Three masts and bowsprit, complete hand-knotted rigging with ratlines
• Hand-stitched linen sails on every yard
• Carved stern, eagle, billethead and trailboards
• Ship's boats, capstan, wheel, gratings, anchors and rudder
• Solid wood base and engraved brass nameplate
• Serial number etched into the hull

The copper connection

Paul Revere — better known for a night ride — built the first successful copper rolling mill in America at Canton, Massachusetts, and supplied the copper for Constitution's hull sheathing and fittings. The Revere Copper Company he founded still exists.

The ship

Launched at Boston in 1797, designed by Joshua Humphreys to outgun anything that could catch her. Four Royal Navy warships taken in the War of 1812. Oldest commissioned warship afloat.