uss constitution which one

What kits are you looking at? Darned if I know of any that are 1/100 scale.

There's little question in my mind that the big Revell, at 1/96, is the way to go.

If you're talking strictly about plastic kits, the Revell version, at 1/96 (or 1/8"=1') is the only one available that comes close to 1/100 scale.  It's advertised by Revell of the USA and by Revell Germany, but the kits are, to all intents and purposes, identical.  It's been around for a long time (since 1965), but it's still one of the best plastic sailing ship kits on the market.  There have been complaints lately, though, about quality control in terms of the quality of the plastic.

There are several wood Constitution kits on the market.  Two are made by good American companies.  The Bluejacket one (http://www.bluejacketinc.com/kits/ussconstitution.htm ) is on 1/96; it's a solid-hull kit.  The Model Shipways version ( http://www.modelexpo-online.com/product.asp?ITEMNO=MS2040 ) is larger, and is based on the plank-on-bulkhead system.  Both are extremely advanced - and expensive - kits; I wouldn't recommend either to anybody but an experienced modeler.

Several European companies also make Constitution kits.  I don't recommend any of them; those companies' products aren't serious scale models.

Hope that helps.

I have a question for anyone who knows about the different Revell 1/96 Constitution versions....

I've seen pictures of some that have copper plating on the hull from the factory, and some that just have a plain black molded hull...is there any way to know which versions come with the pre-plated coppering?  And also, is the coppering from the factory well done??

Thanks!

Dave

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When the big Revell sailing ship kits were new, the manufacturer shot the hull bottoms with copper-colored spray paint. I imagine it was enamel, but in any case it was just paint. You can get the same result in five minutes with a spray can or an airbrush.

I like the molded "plating" detail on those kits. It's probably about as good as the injection-molding process can produce - certainly better than Heller ever did..

If you find a pre-painted kit, it's probably quite old. That may imply that the styrene is better than that in the newer kits - but I wouldn't bet on it. I've heard lots of complaints about quality control in Revell kits, but not recently.

I would advise against finishing the bottom with a shiny copper finish as copper quickly oxidizes in air and in water. A brown/bronze color with light green would be best. Think of the Statue of Liberty.

Just what is the authentic color for the bottom of a model of a copper-sheathed ship has been a subject of much discussion over the past few years.  Personally, I'm inclined to agree with Subfixer.  But there are other ways to look at the question.

Different authors have said different things about the appearance of copper after it's been submerged in salt water for a while.  Some claim that the motion of the water as the ship moves through it "scours" the copper, and keeps it bright in color; that it only starts to turn green (and various other colors) when it's exposed to air (i.e, when the ship is hauled out of the water).  The metal-sheathed hulls I've seen have generally had a mottled, brown and green appearance.

Then there's the question of just what the metal in question was.  When we're talking about the Constitution it's pretty safe to assume it was actually copper.  As the nineteenth century went on, though, the metallurgists (if they can be called that) made improvements, by adding zinc and other metals to the sheets.  That seems to have made the stuff look more yellow (hence the term "yellow metal). 

One thing that we can be sure of:  though metal sheathing prevented critters from boring holes in the wood planks, it didn't stop things from sticking to the hull.  In real life, a hull that had been in the water for a while would have had lots of stuff like seaweed and barnacles sticking to it.  I don't think anybody's interested in making 1/96-scale seaweed or barnacles.

Bottom line:  to each his/her own.  I've seen some beautiful scratchbuilt models with shiny copper sheathing - and some equally beautiful ones with green or otherwise weathered copper.  My personal preference is for the latter, but others are perfectly free to disagree.

I had posed that question to Revell (about any differences) and they didn't know any. However, RG's description has it slightly longer and has more parts. So, who knows. Maybe RG has some figures, which account for the higher parts number.

On the copper hull, my opinion is to paint it copper then weather to a brownish patina with artist's oils, with a little green (here and there) along the waterline.