USS UNITED STATES

I would do the exact opposite.

Paint the area of the white strip...put down your masking tape, then shoot the black. I presume you mean the SS United States, the liner?

Jeff Herne

Thanks Jeff. No it is the USS United States, the 44 gun frigate. It is the sister ship to the USS Constitution. There was one only 44 gun frigate the USS President. The only one to survive all these years is the USS Constitution. The stripe I am talking about is the stripe that goes long the gun ports (it may actually be just below the gun ports). I guess you would call it the boot stripe.

Snoopy,

you're approach is a good one. I built the Revell Constitution and the white stripe does run down the gun ports above the waterline. See this link for an example:

http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery/misc/sail/constituion-196-kp/const-index.html

When I painted my hull, I approached the painting as follows.

1) I masked off the lower hull at the waterline
2) I painted the upper hull flat white. let dry for a week
3) I bought Tamiya low tack masking tape at the exact width I needed to cover a stripe at the height of the gun ports. I applied the tape along the hull using the gun ports as a guide
4) painted two coats of flat black over the upper hull to cover the white..
5) I removed the tape and let all dry for a week.
6) Then, masked off the upper hull and painted the lower hull copper.
7) let the lower hull dry for a few days. For some reason, the metalizer paints dry faster.
8) Then I gave the lower hull a wash with clear/black to fill in the recesses and bring out an "aged" look to the copper. This effect came out really well by reducing the "shineyness" of the copper. Be sure to have the hull upright for this or the wash may run under any openings in the mask.
9) Then remove the upper hull mask.

Letting the paint dry is the key. When completely dry, the tape will not peel it off or flake as you remove the tape. I always recommend peeling the tape edge away from the edge of the paint to prevent flaking off the hull.

Snoopy wrote:
"There was one only 44 gun frigate the USS President. "

Snoopy,
are you sure there was only one 44 gun frigate? This link also says there
were two more, the Constitution and the President.

http://www.flash.net/~dadis/frigates/frigates.htm

OLD_McDONALD,

I meant that there were all together three 44 gun frigates made by America. One was lost shortly after launching due to a storm I believe, one was captured by the British, and the only survivor was the USS Constitution. There were three others to be built but Congress did not see any need to build any more so they stopped the funding.

A couple of corrections:

There were indeed three 44 gun frigates of the Constitution class, with President and United States being the other two.
Constitution still exists today, in Boston harbor.
President was captured by the British in the War of 1812.
United States served until 1861, when she was burned and scuttled when the Federal troops abandoned the Norfolk Navy Yard at the start of the Civil War.

The white stripe along the gun ports is not called the "boot stripe" . The "boot stripe" or "boot topping" is the (typically black) stripe at the waterline of modern ships.

I have Wilkin's book, and I think it is generally a good one. I agree however, that nmormally that is doing things the hard way by painting the hull black first, and then adding the white. However, in this case, remember that hte hull is molded in black plastic, so when in the sequence you paint the white isn't really going to matter-- in either case you'll be putting while paint over a black surface.

After you paint the black, seal it with a dull coat then apply the white this will keep the paint from bleeding through.

Jake

The flat black will also give a bit more " tooth" than a bare plastic surface for the white to grip so it won't bleed away from the molded wood grain so readily.

MJ

Hi guys, I'm new here :)

I thought a sister ship of Constitution was also the Essex.

Lon

Lon,

The Essex was a 32 gun Frigate of 118 feet. Much smaller that the 44 gun Constitution.
Scott

hey guy's
I asked some ??'s a while back on the USS United States, USS President & USS Constitution and all the info I found on the USS United States was that she had a woodish brown stripe instead of white (as with her sister USS President) and was nick named the Old Wagon for being slow to respond to rudder inputs because of the deck house built for the Captians wife, and she was scuttled and burned during the US Civil War by the Confederates after being captured by them, the USS President was captured by the British during th War of 1812 and scraped and the they rebuilt it under their flag and materials, and we all know all about the #2 built ship she's in the Harbor at Boston Mass. and still in active service for the US Navy

Please include my info on your FineScale Modeler Community pertaining to the USS UNITED STATES. I am the Founder & President of the USS UNITED STATES Foundation, a non=profit organization and soon to be with a tax exempt status.
The USS UNITED STATES frigate, to my knowledge, always had a yellow strip along the gunports. She was a little "crank" from the wood stowed on the spar deck until the carpenter could get it below to finish the cabins and etc.
The frigate USS UNITED STATES was not burned to the waterline, but that she was left in a sinking condition with open seacocks. The Confederacy closed the cocks, pumped her out and raised her to use her as a training / receiving ship for the CSS VIRGINIA until she was placed into position along a blockage not too far from the Norfolk Naval Hospital. There, along with several other ships, UNITED STATES was to be brought into position to close the gap between the rows of pilons. However, the Confederacy did not complete the job and the Union MONITOR slipped through.
Raised again by the Union, she was scrapped in 1866. Officially, she was not only the First Ship of the United States Navy, but the Confederate Navy as well, yet she still kept her undefeated status since the Confederacy had "aquired' her while she was in ordinary when they captured the Norfolk naval yard. Being decommissioned, she was not captured.
The crew of the USS UNITED STATES, along wuith a (Portugese ) band were captured by the British when they took the USS PRESIDENT. However, UNITED STATES and the late MACEDONIAN 9the first prize brought to America during the War of 1812, were bottled up at Hell Gate New York.
For more information of the Frigate USS UNITED STATES, contact Ed. Zimmerman, Jr. at USSUNITEDSTATES@Yahoo.com
I will be proud to be at your service.
Edward C. Zimmerman, Jr.
Founder & President
USS UNITED STATES Foundation

QUOTE: Originally posted by Big Jake After you paint the black, seal it with a dull coat then apply the white this will keep the paint from bleeding through. Jake

Be advised, USS UNITED STATES frigate does not have a white stripe. If you are talking about the ocean liner, it is the SS UNITED STATES, not the USS UNITED STATES.

For further questions please contact me at USSUNITEDSTATES@Yahoo.com
Edward C. Zimmerman, Jr.; USS UNITED STATES Foundation

QUOTE: Originally posted by USS UNITED STATES QUOTE: Originally posted by Big Jake After you paint the black, seal it with a dull coat then apply the white this will keep the paint from bleeding through. Jake Be advised, USS UNITED STATES frigate does not have a white stripe. If you are talking about the ocean liner, it is the SS UNITED STATES, not the USS UNITED STATES. For further questions please contact me at USSUNITEDSTATES@Yahoo.com Edward C. Zimmerman, Jr.; USS UNITED STATES Foundation

UNITED STATES, thanks for the info, but do you have a website?

Wow...did this thread ever get dredged up from the murky depths...who reads back to 2003? I can't can't find the time to read back to last week...lol.

Jeff Herne

The USS UNITED STATES Foundation is dedicated to educate the public of the USS UNITED STATES frigate, and to set records straight that have been out of wack since the 1930's.
I am Founder & President of this foundation and would be most pleased in answering any questions you may have about the "first ship of war of this country". Although the foundation has only been around for a few years, I have been doing historic and construction data on this gallant OLD WAGGON since 03 September 1978.
Please contact me at USSUNITEDSTATES@Yahoo.com
Also, BE ADVISED, that the new model kit of the USS UNITED STATES from Revell at a scale of 1:50 does not have a poop deck. In my opinion this model is not the UNITED STATES without the structure. It would be like purchasing a model of the TITANAC without a fourth stack. Revell knew of the error because it manufactured a 1:96 scale in 1976 had a poop deck, and balestrade around it.
We do not endorse the 1:150 scale model of the USS UNITED STATES by Revell (Germany).
USSUNITEDSTATES@Yahoo.com

P.S. We are still working on the website. Will keep you posted on further events.
Edward C. Zimmerman, Founder & President
USS UNITED STATES Foundation

   The striping along the gun ports of the Frigate USS UNITED STATES was YELLOW. The color Yellow was carried on her maiden voyage.

FROM: USS UNITED STATES Foundation

Edward C. Zimmerman, Jr.

USSUNITEDSTATES@Yahoo.com

Striping on USS UNITED STATES was yellow and not white. She carried yellow on her maiden voyage.

USS UNITED STATES Foundation

Edward C. Zimmerman, Jr.

Founder, President and CEO

USSUNITEDSTATES@Yahoo.com

Jeff: the striping of the USS UNITED STATES was YELLOW and not white.

USS UNITED STATES Foundation

Edward C. Zimmerman, Jr.

Founder, President and CEO

USSUNITEDSTATES@Yahoo.com