I took a quick look in the archived post and nothing popped up. Does anyone know what or where the Revell Mold makers got the idea for the Fiddlehead scroll work? The Griffin on the fiddlehead although looks nice it seems silly. Did the real ship have this at anytime?
I’m in th middle of doing one for a customer and just spend the last two hours detailing and painting. I explained that some if not all of the stearn and bow detail was not 100% acurate but hes OK with it. Mild to heavy weathering and the likes.
It does seem a bit odd - not exactly an American icon or patriotic image… Not even anything related to the sea!
My understanding from this and other forums is that the 1/96 is based on a Smithsonian model, which in turn is based on the famous “Hull” model in the Peabody-Essex museum in Salem. The Hull model shows the Griffin/Dragon on the billet.
The acknowledged expert in this area is CMDR Tyrone Martin. He states that John Rodgers commissioned the Dodge bros to render the billet work when he was in charge of her refit in New York and it included the “dragon” with the traditional scroll work.