Modelling the USF Constellation

Cornell Maritime Press, Published 1985. Paperback, xvi, 144 pp; 23 cm; illustrated with numerous black-and-white line drawings and diagrams throughout, 2 folded leaves of plates with detailed ship plans (Gun Deck and Inboard Profile; Frames & Half Breadths, Sheer & Body Plan; Belaying Pin & Eyebolt Schema, Spar Deck; Rigging Plan), and black-and-white photographs of the completed model. [From back cover] This is a practical guide to the construction of a detailed plank-on-frame model replica of the historic vessel presently moored in Baltimore's Inner Harbor. McArdle chose to model this vessel for several reasons, perhaps the most dramatic being that he chanced upon the original vessel's restoration going on at Baltimore's harbor in the early 1970s under the direction of naval architect Leon Polland. From Polland he acquired insight into the long and controversial history of the Constellation, one of the first and still extant vessels of the U.S. Navy, whose keel was laid in the 1790s. Starting with the hull, the modeller is given step-by-step instructions with tips on materials and processes that McArdle found to be most helpful when he built his model. The modeller will then learn clever techniques for simulating the fittings and various kinds of eighteenth-century ship furniture as well as that part of ship modelling which represents that awe-inspiring appearance of large sailing craft (the spars and rigging). Gilbert C. McArdle, a lifelong nautical and modelling enthusiast, has completed a six-foot model of the USF Constellation which is on permanent display in the lobby of the World Trade Center at Baltimore's Inner Harbor.Contents: Preface; Historical Notes on the USF Constellation; Part I, Hull (Keel, Stern, Stem, and Rudder; Decks and Planking); Part II, Fittings (Stern Section, Quarter Galleries, and Forward Timberheads); Part III, Spars and Rigging (Masts and Spars; Standing Rigging; Running Rigging); Bibliography; Index.