"Help identifying a model " Topic

Can anyone help Jack Alexander (Jacklex) identify what type of ship this model represents? Nationality, rating etc. It was bought as a present and is very well constructed so he thinks it must be based on an actual ship.
jacklex.blogspot.co.uk

I'm going with the USS Constitution.

Definitely not the USS Constitution. She has a full spar deck and a figurehead.

B

Wonder if it's not the ESSEX?

link

If you say 50 guns, maybe not? But sounds like it.

Blutarski – fair enough in terms of the spar deck.

But IIRC, Constitution sailed for a couple of decades without a figurehead.

Looks like upper deck armament is carronades which suggests Royal Navy?

As she has carronades on the bow and stern upper decks, I would suggest that she is not French.

Jim

Hi Lucius – Was unaware that Constitution had been absent her figurehead for so long a period. Thanks.

Re the model in question, 15 ports on the gun-deck clearly identify this ship as a 40+ gun frigate. If not American, then the only other nations building to such a size would be France from the early 1790s (IIRC), Great Britain from slightly later on and perhaps Denmark in the early 19th C. It is possible that this model may even depict a ship from the immediate post-Napoleonic period.

FWIW.

B

We cannot really assume the model is an accurate representation of anything.

Some of the reasons it cannot be an accurate model of any of the big US frigates are:

- no spar deck (as mentioned above)
- no bridle port
- quarter galleries flat and not enough windows
- Constitution (only) had a split dolphin striker
- United States (only) had a roundhouse

That being said, it looks more like the Constitution than the Lindberg, Pyro or Life-Like Constitutions do, so why not just call it the Constitution?

Thanks everyone for your contributions they are really appreciated.

Virtualscratchbuilder's comment made me laugh.

On TMP we count every rivet, look up obscure paint chips, and argue about how much a jacket in a museum has faded from its original color.

So it never crossed my mind that this ship model might have just been made for the heck of it, representing a type, rather than a specific ship. Or that the builder might have had a bad drawing to work from. Or he started it, and then someone else finished it. Or that he just plain didn't like the way an accurate model would have looked.

USS President had a spar deck, but the stern side windows aren't quite right. I think she's American, perhaps with a bit of poetic license.

That appears to be an (albeit dressed-up) Imai/Monogram 'USS Constitution" in what they called 1/120. I have a couple of them, and the yards especially scream that particular kit.

Hi Minibeady
Had a look at the kit pictures on line and I can see where you are coming from. There are similarities particularly the bow sprint (is this the right descriptive word?) which.has carving rather than a figure head it looks vey similar. I should have said this is a wooden model. The USS Constitution looks the best fit in some respects, so I am going with the majority view that she is based at least on an 'American' theme. She has no longboats so Jack has decided he will add these. Can I take the opportunity to thank you all on Jack's behalf for your input. I know I have said it before but it is really appreciated.

Damn, I can't believe it's wood. That's a spitting image, down to every detail, of the kit I've got several of. Crazy. The bow is perfect, and the number/disposition of guns is identical as well(as much as I can see from the pictures)

Could be an East Indiaman eg;
Collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/15033