USS Constitution — "Old Ironsides" Model, Large Painted | Admiral Line

The largest painted Constitution we build — black topsides broken by the white gun-port stripe, exactly the scheme she wears in the water at Charlestown today.

At this scale the frigate's proportions finally read correctly. She was longer and heavier than any European ship of her rate, and a large model is the only way that shows.

Construction

• Large plank-on-frame hull, hand-painted with white gun-port strake
• Gun deck and spar deck batteries, individually fitted cast cannon
• Three masts and bowsprit with full hand-knotted standing and running rigging, including ratlines
• Hand-stitched linen sails on every yard
• Carved stern, eagle, billethead and trailboards
• Ship's boats, capstan, wheel, binnacle, gratings, ladders and rails
• Metal anchors and wooden rudder
• Solid wood base and engraved brass nameplate
• Fully assembled

History

Joshua Humphreys designed the original six frigates to a deliberate compromise: heavier than any frigate that could catch them, faster than any ship of the line that could beat them. Constitution proved the theory in 1812 by taking HMS Guerriere in under an hour, then Java four months later. Her live-oak hull — in places two feet thick — gave her the name that stuck. She has been in commission since 1797 and still floats.