As Prof. Tilley mentioned, the "Jolly Roger" is supposed to represent "La Flore", an 18th century frigate. The kit is patterned after an 18th century model in the Musee de Marine in Paris. The plans available from Taubman are the Musee de Marine set. John F Kennedy reputedly had a model of this ship in his Office in the White House, due to the "history", now believed to apocryphal, that "La Flore" was built by the Americans and presented to France as a gift. It is now believed that she was a design exercise, and was never actually built. The Musee de Marine plans provide a lively, but unfortunately, mythical narrative of "La Flore's" history (in french, of course).
The "La Flore" is an "odd bird", with proportions and hull form uncharacteristic of the American Revolution. with a Length/Beam of over 4.3 ( vs. the norm of 3.6 to 3.9 for the period - the American "Confederacy" was unusual with a L/B of 4.18) ) and exagerated deadrise and entrance and run characteristic of a baltimore clipper (if she sailed with this hull, she might have been fast in light airs, but wet, crank, and miserable to serve on). She was pierced for 15 guns/side, as opposed to "norm" of 12-13 ports. With a hull form that could be considered "modern" for the war of 1812, she retained a "beakhead bulkhead" which was beginning to disappear before the American Revolution. She also only has two quarter-gallery windows, which was unusual for frigates past the Seven Years War.
Anyway, what this means is... if you want a representative sloop or small frigate for the
period 1770-1790, significant scratch building will be required. Unfortunately, aside from planking or carving a hull, this is the only game in town at this scale (1/133 to 1/44th, depending on which part of the model you measure.... such is life with plastic sailing ships). If you can get ahold of Robert Gardiner's "The First Frigates", you'll have all the info you'll ever need to do a conversion.
The "Jolly Roger" hull has a constant section between the 4th and 7th guns ports (counting from the bow). Sectioning the hull to remove the 5th and 6th ports will provide a L/B of 3.8, and the normal 13 ports. Filling and reinforcement of the joint is simple to accomplish.
Of course, this means that mast & channel placement changes, mast and yard dimensions change, and deck and hull furniture will change...., etc..... You can get as deep into this project as you want.
As was mentioned by one of the other respondents, the scale is mixed on the kit parts. The guns scale at ~ 6pdr, vs. 8 pdr (or 9 pdr brit) or 12 pdr. guns which would have been used on a frigate. Deck furniture is uneven in quality. Even though the molded shroud/deadeye/chains, are an improvement over the Revell ratlines in some respects, they are seriously inconsistent in scale and should be replaced. Hull planking (raised lines) detail is horrible and needs scraping. Like all small plastic sailing ships, the masts are too compliant and need carefull handling or replacement with wood or wire.
An of course we get the latest in 1960's model tech... vacu-formed sails.
This kit needs TLC, but can result in a good model.
Regards