Revell 1:96 USS Constitution Wrecked!!!

Brucer, I am so very sorry for you. In the past I put all my models in cases or cabinets, but with my last big bunch of sailing ships, they are all on shelves. We are thankfully very old & have no grandchildren close by & they are all grown. Only 1 old fat cat, who is no trouble. 

         I have over 150 1/48 fighter planes all highly detailed & in glass cases. 7 or more wood ship models ,in cases & 160 cars of all types in cases Right now I have at least 20 sailing ships & more WW2 ships.

               You think you can fix it?

   Sooooooooo Sorry for your loss.

Jim  

What a tragedy.  Mine survided two moves, but was knocked off a shelf during our third move.  Equally as bad, damage wise.  Ended up in the bin, since we had a newborn and zero time to even attempt a fix.

Hope the cat is Ok.  Could have easily been impaled by one of the masts.

Best of luck.

Bob

I had a similar experience with a wood Model Shipways Cutty Sark.

I was able to pretty much restore it. I suggest you sit down with a glass of wine and look at it carefully. I'll bet that the breaks are few, masts at the deck, a couple of the lower yards.

Think about the old "ship in a bottle". If you are able it all should be able to be sort of stood back up again.

The result is a little different than the original, but I suspect you who have really good detail skills, can get it to work.

I'm sorry that happened, and good luck.

Well;

 A Catacaine can be a devastating thing for a sailing ship. Now, Thing is .If the rigging lines stayed attached you can start remasting her. Just take your time and don't get mad at the Cat . She was doing what her instinct told her .A high and somewhat flat place.OOPS ! ! what's thing I just broke?

   I took a second, more intense look . Though the damage isn't light ,she can be re-rigged . 

Brucer, blame the dog, he was doing the chaseing. I have fixed a lot of broken pastic with an assortment of aluminum tube & rod & a big assortment of wood dowels. Fit them in each side of the broken mast & CA glue them in good. I also use a bunch of brass rod too.  When I build any plastic ship I put alum, brass or wood inside of the hollow masts.

          I like aluminum better than brass because it is easier to work with. I just broke the plastic bowsprit on my big Victory, twice & just cut it off & replaced the 2 front pieces with alum. tube with a brass rod inside.I also on solid masts, drill a hole in each side for a brass rod & fit & glue them together. Stronger than new. 

    You have a beautiful detailed hull all done so it is worth fixing. Buy a bunch of sizes in all the rods & tubes & dowels, you will use them forever. I am 88, & still building & still breaking. A real good friend of mine is one of the top model builders in the country, or world & he had a finished Titanic sinking to enter in the Tokyo Tamiya contest ( which he has one several times & a bunch of firsts) & his CAT knocked it of the bench. He took it to Tokyo anyway & won some disaster award first place.

That is a beautiful model, even dismasted.

You can't even lower your flag to surrender.

Definitely do your best to fix it. It may be possible to reattach the masts, and if careful to save some rigging.  Otherwise, like Gene said, get some rod and dowels.  This model is worth fixing.

 You can't fault the cat who "plays" with your rigging. 

         They are not Naughty. 

                 They are Nautical.

   Nino.

OUCH! That’s HORRIBLE! 

If you’re not up to the task of rebuilding all the masts and rigging, you could replace it all with a stub wooden mast, in the style of an Admiralty model. There is a lot of great work in that hull, after all!

Side question: It looks like the model has molded plastic ratlines- does the 1/96 scale kit come with those now? Or is this a photo of a fabulous build of the 1/196 scale kit???

Man, that is terrible, what a beautiful model you built. Clearly a ton of work went into it.

Yeah, pets and models don't mix. I am babysitting a cat and i moved everything out of reach. 

It's probably fixable, if so inclined. If not, you can keep it displayed as a ship devastated by a tempest that blew in. Could be a great conversation piece.

Sorry man.

Major Bummer  That would be difficult to fix because the rigging looks to be all tangled. I guess that you could remove the rigging, fix the masts and redo the rigging. 

That's really too bad. As everyone has mentioned, it looks like you did a great job on the ship.

Best of luck with any restoration efforts.

Perhaps, a diorama of the CONSTITUTION in drydock as she appeared in a recent series of restoration in Boston. All the rigging would be avoided as she is shown with masts stubs.

As dishearting as the situtation appears, don't give up.

Happy modeling      Crackers  

JohnnyK

Major Bummer  That would be difficult to fix because the rigging looks to be all tangled. I guess that you could remove the rigging, fix the masts and redo the rigging. 

 

The ones I've fixed all toppled over from a shelf and hit the floor upside down. Kind of the same.

Truly a shame.  I hope you'll find a way to fix the damage.

Glad the cat is okay.

Sorry to see this nightmare.

I would take GMorrison's advice above.

Then...Get it to your work table  and insure no pets can get near it.  Maybe build a lightweight jig from from dowels or wood  pieces that is bigger than the ship.  That way you can very carfully start picking up the parts and possibly tying them or taping them to the jig/frame I'm talking about.  Then you could assess the damage more clearly. Maybe glue the masts back using a plastic welder like Tenax, then go from there.  I think you could go a long way towards fixing this, but your mind has to be in the right place first.

Good luck

I have purposely not rigged my Revell 1/96 Cutty Sark because I don't have a case. 

Wilbur owns step three. Good call.

^^^ lol 

One fine point, GMorrison:

In step 2, the cat's legs should be pointed down.  Cats always land on their feet (unless they are brain damaged).

Otherwise, your assessment is spot on.

Bob

I feel for you my Friend. Since it was a Furry Feline involved. I could say that you may build another 8 Connies because she has used up 1 Life.....

Luvspinball

In step 2, the cat's legs should be pointed down.  Cats always land on their feet (unless they are brain damaged).

PS: Bills inverted feline reminds me of a funny experience. One late night I awoke, I was sore from being in one position too long. I attempt rolling to my other side only to find I can't, I was bound up in the blankets. I tried yanking on the blankets and they didn't budge. I thought, what the heck? In frustration I give them a huge pull whilst attempting to roll. Yea--it's working! As I do this, I look towards my feet and I see the silhouette of my cat rolling along with me. Her legs are pointing up, just like Bills picture, and all her toes are spread out like she is grasping at the air above. Over she went. The scene was so comical that I busted out laughing.

It was my cat that anchored the blankets down.

Wow! A real "Cat-tastrophe!"  It appears Oscar was emulating his namesake, the Ki-43 Japanese "Oscar" and simulating a kamikaze attack!

"Don't give up the ship!"  That's too fine a model to junk.

Gary

All,

Thank you for all of your comments and suggestions. However, one of the masts broke off below the deck line and I felt I couldn't repair. So she was discarded ((.

As a side note....if you haven't built this kit I would highly recommend it. It is challenging but not over the top. Parts had very little flash and the instructions were good. I would build it again in a heart beat and one day probably will.

Once again thanks!!

Bruce

Side question: It looks like the model has molded plastic ratlines- does the 1/96 scale kit come with those now? Or is this a photo of a fabulous build of the 1/196 scale kit???

Wow, that is a shame. I did a Constitution 1/96 in the mid 70s and my sister in law moved . my wife told her to store her stuff in the cellar and she dumped on my work bench, wiping out my Constitution. I had just finished building it.

Now I am doing a second 1/96 Constitution. I wound up with two kits and did both hulls, one with the plastic deck and obe with a wooden deck to see which I like best...so I have two kits.

If you need any spares let me know, I have a whole kits worth.