Lindberg 1/138 Constellation 38 Gun Frigate?

Not bad.

I am a firm believer in plastic kits simply as "fodder", that is to say that they are boxes of material that contain pieces that are shaped but are not necessarily the end result. That said, the Lindberg/LifeLike/Pyro Constellation can be made into a decent model of the sloop if you are willing to put the work into it.

One of the first things I would recommend to anyone pursuing the sloop idea should beto look for a copy of "Fouled Anchors : The Constellation Question Answered" by Dana Wegner. Make no mistake; this is quite scholarly, but it does give one the unexpected background behind the old Pyro kit and why it, and many subsequent Constellation kits, look the way they do; they were manufactured to look like the ship that sits in Baltimore Harbor. Once the true origin of the Constellation was determined (a sloop from the 1850's, not the frigate from 1797), the ship underwent a major rebuild to address all of the "frigate" modifications. The real frigate Constellation looked more like the Constitution. 

But that's not to say that this model is bad. In essence, it is what it is. As for a way to learn sailing ship construction, it is perfectly fine.

Well sorry to plug my thread but seeing as I am building the Lindberg Constellation I think it wouldn't hurt as it is a WIP thread.

/forums/t/139106.aspx

I'm still working on it right now.

Vagabond_Astronomer

Sorry for bumping this one up, but was just looking up something else and stumbled across this. After looking at the pictures very closely, it looks to me that the Lindberg 1/138 USS Constellation is the old Pyro kit, which scales out closer to 1/384, and actually represents the horrible mish-mash Constellation (wherein they tried to make it look like a frigate instead of a corvette). Small kit, not that great,  lots of work.

If this has been answered elsewhere, my apologies!

 

Cheers,

Rob

Sorry for bumping this one up, but was just looking up something else and stumbled across this. After looking at the pictures very closely, it looks to me that the Lindberg 1/138 USS Constellation is the old Pyro kit, which scales out closer to 1/384, and actually represents the horrible mish-mash Constellation (wherein they tried to make it look like a frigate instead of a corvette). Small kit, not that great,  lots of work.

If this has been answered elsewhere, my apologies!

Cheers,

Rob

Thanks for all the responses everyone.

Sorry for the late response, it's been one of those weeks!

I had a feeling that the scale was wrong, especially on the kits that I could actually see the hull.

I am definately more interested in the larger scale ships, so I guess missing that auction wasn't a bad thing after all.

Once again, thanks!!

Adrian

Warshipguy presented a great summary. I believe there are some other threads here that go into the controversy in more detail. There is a book by Howard Chapelle, "The Constellation Question" that fully details the arguments. I have a model database compiled by one of the members here(I'm embarrassed I don't remember his name) lists the model as 1/250 which seems more realistic.

Actually, the 1850 "rebuild" was not really a rebuild of the 1797 frigate.  The frigate was decommissioned and broken up.  The new Sloop-of-War USS Constellation of 1850 was built on a nearby slip, although there is some question whether some of the materials from the old frigate were used in the new ship.  The Sloop-of-War was the last sailing warship built for the U.S. Navy.

After WWII, the hulk of the Sloop-of-War was taken over by the new museum and was modified to include a spar deck and presented to the public as the original frigate.  She has since been restored to her original configuration.

The Lindberg model was indeed a Pyro kit originally, but it is in no way 1/138 scale.  The hull measures close to 8 inches in length. 

It represents the ship as modified by the museum to present the ship as the original frigate.  Therefore, it does not show the ship at any point of her service life.

Bill Morrison

You might try looking for Pyro kits of the same name as this was a reissue of an old Pyro kit.  Scale with Lindberg is always an issue but it is highly unlikely that it is 1/138.  According to the Rajens  Kit list this is a model of the 1850 rebuild and not of the original 1797 Constellation.  WS

itv

Don't sugar coat it 1/138 or not.heh heh heh

Rod

linberg is always confused! i have seen photos of that kit too, im pretty sure your correct,no way is that piece of crap 1/138.