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Model Shipways is
proud to produce the best and most accurate USS Constitution
available. The 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 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. 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.
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