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Inspired by a large RC model of the Rattlesnake featured in an issue of Model Ship Builder magazine, I looked around for a subject to built and decided to built the ship in my own back yard, the sloop of war Constellation tied up in Baltimore's Inner Harbor since the mid 1950's. Some video of Rattlesnake Constellation was a sloop-of-war, of 22 guns, designed by John Lenthal, and built in 1854 by Gosport Navy Yard at Norfolk, Virginia; the last US warship designed and built to operate under sail alone. For a long time she was believed by many to be the old frigate of 1797, rebuilt and moderized, and that debate has raged in the maritime history community for decades. Her lines and sail plan were acquired from the National Archives where I got to handle the actual hand drawn documents. I decided to build her as she appeared in a portrait by deSimone when she was in Naples in 1856 and still a new ship. Her lines were drawn in 1:36 scale, which was perfect, giving a model: Beam: 13-5/8" (34.713 cm) Length over the rig: 96" (243.84 cm) Width over the rig: 36" (91.44 cm) ~ Main yard w/o stuns'l booms. Length on deck: 61" (154.94 cm) Length between perpendiculars: 59-1/8" (150.178 cm) Draft, without ballast keel: 7" (17.78 cm) With 3-1/2" ballast keel: 10-1/2" (27.94 cm) Height bottom of keel to main truck, without ballast keel: 65" (165.1 cm) With ballast keel: 69" (175.26 cm) Sail Area: 2,807.01 square inches in 17 sails (19.5 sf, 18,109.7 scm, 1.8 sqm) This log will cover my work on this model since it began in 1999 up to where it is now. Author's Note: This is a log of how I am building this model, not a guide to how a model such as this ought to be built. It's full of fits and starts, changes of mind, errors, re-do's, more error's, a few mistakes; and somehow, despite all this, it seems to be becoming a working, sailing model that actually looks something like it's namesake. The director of the actual ship recognized it on first sight - I take that as a good sign! If you're considering taking on a project like this, please, please, don't let this build log deter you - it's not nearly as difficult as I make it seem. Just take away from it that which helps you along, and ignore the rest.
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