USS Constitution from Revel - The Start

At the beginning of this year I started to work on this kit from Revell. It is my second attempt, after a first half successful one. 
During the next (long) period of time, I will post additional photos and comments during the construction of this model.

USS Constitution (AKA Old Ironsides) is a wooden-hulled, three-masted heavy frigate of the United States Navy, launched in 1797. I will not get into details, there are better sites that provide its history (check wikipedia for starting point). An official site exists, too.

The kit from Revell is a complex one, designed at a scale of 1:96. The model dimensions: 918mm in length and 680mm in height. The kit include over 1300 plastic parts and the rigging, together with the complex assembly instructions. No dyes, glues, paint brushes or other tools are included, so they have to be acquired separately.

Some pictures with the parts below (some parts, already used, were not included):

 
... parts and rigging...

 
... and plastic sails