We deliver our models in specially designed wooden crates. We have been delivering models in these for many years with great success.
Insurance
All our models in transit are fully insured. In the unlikely event that the model is damaged in transit, The Model Shipyard must be notified immediately. Arrangements will then be made for the model to be returned to the studio in South Africa where it will be inspected and repaired. If the model cannot be repaired to its original splendour a replacement model will be built and sent to you.
Delivery
We deliver DAP (Delivered At Place duties unpaid). This means that we deliver door-to-door. We pay for the air freight, insurance, customs clearance and final delivery to your door.
Import Duties and Taxes
We export our models under a tariff heading that is usually duty free. However this is not a guarantee because it can vary from region to region. You might have to pay VAT (Value Added Tax) or GST(General Sales Tax) depending on which tax regime prevails in your region.
SHIP DESCRIPTION
USS Constitution Model Ship
USS Constitution was a three-mast frigate of the United States Navy.
About the USS Constitution wooden scale Model Ship
This model ship of the USS Constitution was custom built from the following information:
Drawings by Karl Heinz Marquardt
The book “The 44-Gun Frigate USS Constitution Old Ironsides” by Karl Heinz Marquardt from the Anatomy of the Ship Series
The book “USS Constitution Old Ironsides” Photography by Steve Dunwell
The book ’Seamanship in the Age of Sail’ by John Harland
An article on the restoration of the ship in the National Geographic magazine of June 1997.
About the construction of the USS Constitution wooden scale Model Ship
The hull is built using the Double Plank-on-Bulkhead construction method
The bulkheads and keel are laser cut from marine grade pine plywood
The first layer of planking is done plank by plank using Mahogany planks
The second layer of planking is done using Mahogany Veneer strips
The deck is made of Anagre, a light brown timber from the Amazon
The hull is sheathed with real copper plates below the waterline
The gunwale and stringers are made of Cherry Wood
The fife rails and pin racks are made of Cherry Wood
The deckhouses and gangways are made of Cherry Wood
The USS Constitution is a three-mast frigate of the United States Navy with an armament of 32×24 pounder long guns, 20×32 pounder carronades, and 2×24 pounder bow chasers. She was built by Edmund Hartt in Boston and launched in 1797.
She had a complement of 450 and is the world’s oldest commissioned naval vessel afloat. Built in Boston to defend the young American nation, USS Constitution is nearly as old as the document for which George Washington and Congress named her. Both the document and the ship have proven to be resilient symbols of America’s strength, courage, and liberty.
The USS Constitution’s first mission, during the 1790’s, was to protect the American merchant ships during the Quasi-War with France and in 1803, President Thomas Jefferson sent her to the Mediterranean to protect American ships from attack by the Barbary pirates. The USS Constitution bombarded Tripoli and as a result, the treaty of peace was signed between the USA and Tripoli in 1805 on board the USS Constitution.
In 1810, captain Isaac Hull took command of the USS Constitution and she defeated the HMS Guerriere in the War of 1812. It was during this battle that she got her nickname “Old Ironsides” as a result of the cannonballs bouncing off her hull as if her sides were made of iron.
In 1815, when her war service ended, the USS Constitution was laid up for 6 years for extensive repairs. She was rebuilt in 1833, and under the command of “Mad Jack” Percival, she became the first American warship to circumnavigate the globe.
During the Civil War, the USS Constitution was brought to Newport, Rhode Island, to serve as a training ship for Naval Academy midshipmen.
In 1882, she was removed from active service and retired to Portsmouth, New Hampshire Naval Shipyard. She was brought back to Boston in 1897, refitted for display and opened to the public in 1905 where she became a national monument.
From 1931 to 1934, the USS Constitution was re-commissioned for a tour of ninety American cities after which she returned to Boston harbor at Charlestown Navy Yard.
The USS Constitution rests here today as an enduring symbol of the document for which she is named and of America’s determination to defend the republic she so long protected.
