HMS Surprise — Royal Navy Frigate Model, Medium (27.5 in / 70 cm, Rosewood, Mahogany & Teak)
HMS Surprise — Royal Navy Frigate Model, Medium (27.5 in / 70 cm, Rosewood, Mahogany & Teak)
How big is it?
Length about 70 cm / 27.6 in. Drawn to scale; the model outline is a simplified shape.
Model details
- Size
- 27.5 in / 70 cm
- Materials
- Mahogany, Rosewood, Teak
- Construction
- Plank-on-frame, built by hand
- Condition
- Fully assembled, ready to display
- Display
- Wooden base with brass nameplate
- Collection
- Tall Ship Models - Admiral Line
- Item no.
- T357
The frigate from Master and Commander, at 27.5 inches — built in rosewood, mahogany and teak under a clear varnish, so the exotic grain stays visible.
Plank on frame throughout: each strip of hardwood is joined to the next over a wooden skeleton until the hull closes into a smooth curve. No plastic anywhere — wood and metal only.
Specification
- 27.5 in / 70 cm
- Plank-on-frame hull in rosewood, mahogany and teak, clear-varnished
- Two rows of cast metal cannon along both sides
- Bowsprit, fore, main and mizzen masts with hand-knotted rigging in matching colours
- Full-size fabric sails with detailed stitching
- Main deck: two ship's boats, bunkers, wooden-and-metal wheel, telescope
- Poop deck: navigation station with two wheels and a cabin
- Metal railings from beakhead to quarterdeck, plus anchors, lanterns and cast figures
- Wooden rudder, solid stand with nameplate engraved "HMS Surprise 1794"
- Fully assembled, shipped in a wooden crate
History
The real Surprise was French — the corvette Unité, captured in 1796 and rated a sixth rate by the Royal Navy. Patrick O'Brian made her Jack Aubrey's ship across twenty novels, and Peter Weir's 2003 film built its Surprise on the hull of the 1970 replica Rose, which was renamed after filming. She is dockside at the San Diego Maritime Museum and still seaworthy.