Here are photos of the famous
"Hull Model" and photos of the
Smithsonian Museum's 1/48 scale model of USF Constitution.The three photos below are National Archives photos of the famous "Hull Model" named for the model's first owner and ship's captain at the time, Isaac Hull.
The Hull Model of USF Constitution was made by the real ship's crew and presented to their captain, Isaac Hull, as a gift just after their War of 1812 victories. The model now rests in the Peabody Museum in Massachusetts. Since the model was made by actual crew members it is considered to
definitively show Constitution's true War of 1812 appearance. Certainly the ship's own crew knew what their ship looked like and built an accurate representation for their captain.
Of the many injection-molded plastic kits now commercially available
the Revell 1/96 scale kit most closely resembles the Hull Model.
Note that Hull Model shows that Old Ironsides only carries gun port lids at the extreme bow. Period documents confirm that Old Ironsides carried
no hinged lids at this time. Those lids that were present were removable and stored below decks prior to going into action.
Also note the coloring of the masts and fighting tops (white) and yards (black) and that this model of
Constitution does not carry her name on the transom.
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Compare the Hull Model photos to those of the Smithsonian Museum's 1/48 scale USF Constitution model which was built from early plans and using the Hull Model as a significant reference. The Smithsonian's modeler(s) chose to paint the gun deck stripe an off-white, very similar in tone and hue to what we today might call "radome tan". The rigging of this model is nearly identical to the Hull Model in arrangement.
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Some sources state that about 1809, her inner spar deck (upper deck) and forecastle bulwarks may have been painted "red ochre", a common practice at the time. The Smithsonian model is painted this way. Sometime between 1812-1815 her inner spar deck and forecastle bulwarks were repainted from red ochre to green as they are today on the actual ship at Boston. The Hull Model's inner bulwarks, rails and trim are painted green as is most of the spar deck trim moldings and the pinrails. During the War of 1812 it is believed that the inner bulwarks of the gun deck, one deck below, were whitewashed to aid in visibility. Also note that the Smithsonian model's boats are all individually colored. This is consistent with period practice in order to help identify individual boats at a distance at sea.
Various sources state that when originally built her hull was not painted black, just tarred, and that she had no white gun deck stripe or any gun deck stripe at all. The contemporary artist Michel Felice Corné was commissioned at the time to paint
Constitution at Tripoli as the ship appeared eight years before the War of 1812. Note the different coloration and that the ship's name does appear on the transom.
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Michel Felice Corné Constitution during the Tripoli campaign.jpg [ 81.62 KiB | Viewed 10898 times ]
Compare the 1804 Corné painting to this superb model in the possession of the US Naval Academy Museum.
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Some sources state that
Constitution as built had a red stripe and blue stripe painted on one strake each immediately
above the gun deck gun ports.
Sometime shortly before 1809 her hull was painted black and she received a white or yellow ochre gun deck stripe painted on the four strakes between the gun deck gun ports achieving her now familiar black hull with white stripe appearance. Her gun deck stripe was alternately white and yellow ochre throughout the War of 1812.
Constitution acted as a raider during that war. Her log and other documents state that her crew changed her coloring from time to time partly as a deceptive measure to confuse her pursuers as to her actual identity.
The painting and a cropped detail of it below are also by Michel Felice Corné. The painting depicts
Constitution's approach to HMS
Guerriere in preparation for battle. It was commissioned as part of a set by Captain Hull. The paintings of that set were supervised by
Constitution's purser Thomas Chew. The set of Corné paintings are considered to be accurate representations of the ship at the time of the battle, both in color and detail. This is because the artist had access to the ship and her crew, several members of which he interviewed. Corné personally visited the ship shortly after the battle and he took extensive notes regarding details and coloring from which he developed his paintings.
Here are some significant observations about the ship's appearance and coloring as depicted by Corné in this painting and others in the set. Note:- no gunport lids
- black hull, beak and transom background
- yellow ochre gun deck stripe (in other paintings of the set, the forward end of the stripe is a semi-circle terminating just ahead of the forward-most gunport, aft of the anchor line hawsepipes)
- yellow ochre lower masts
- natural wood upper masts
- white beak decorations
- white gallery decorations
- red gallery window frames
- pale green ship's boats, which may be the same green color applied to the inner bulwarks
- white and yellow/gold colors of the transom decorations
- red transom window frames
Also note that, like the Hull Model, the name "CONSTITUTION" does not appear on the transom.
The coloring of her masts and yards also changed a bit during these early years. In all of the Corné paintings, the lower masts are painted yellow ochre, not white as they are today. It is difficult to make out the color of the yards but several, if not all, appear very dark, possibly black, a common practice at the time.