American Civil War Warship models

[Rob Weaver]

I love ironclads! I would definitely enjoy fine scale models. Even better if they were remote controlled!

[Tarheel57]

If you would like to see some really great models consider coming to Columbus Ohio Aug 8th weekemd for the IPMS ( International Plastic Modelers Society) Nationals. You WILL be amazed. I used to be a member and thought I was pretty good until I saw what some of these guys do. You should be able to google IPMS USA to find info.

Speaking of plastic models, there is the old Lindberg Monitor and Merrimac kit. (Their terminology, not mine.) They are very basic and different scales, 1/210 and 1/300 respectively. I've built several sets of them over the past several decades. At one time I intended to use these as guides to making a larger scale model, but never acquired the skills or the tools. (For ACW, I have stuck with 1/72 scale figures.)
At shows I have seen some very fine wooden models the CSS Virginia and the CSS Arkansas, in quite large scales. Several kits of the CSS Atlanta exist, including a resin one by Verlinden, and I think Verlinden has a kit of the CSS Nashville, too. I have never been very proficient with resin kits.

[Rob Weaver]

There was an even older plastic kit with both the Monitor and the "Merrimac" on separate stands, with full realization (not just to the waterline). Even though they were out of scale, I used them as riverine craft back in my teenaged wargaming days. I've never been able to find the kit again; perhaps it was made by a knockoff company like "Life-Like."

[Pete K]

I was at a fall festival in Altoona, PA a few years ago and stumbled into a CW Navy exhibit. The gentleman had an excellent exhibit under a full sized authentic replica of the steel and canvas canopy of the Monitor. I was impressed with the size of the turret by being under the canopy. He had a few accurate scale models and displays of naval artillery shells/ fragments/fuses and uniforms/ insignia. I was opened up to a whole new area to research in my (scant) free time in the local libraries. By all means, I would love to see a good ship model display.

[EasySam]

I love ironclads! I would definitely enjoy fine scale models. Even better if they were remote controlled!

That would be cool, especially if they were hard to maneuver, as hard as the originals.

[Tarheel57]

There was an even older plastic kit with both the Monitor and the "Merrimac" on separate stands, with full realization (not just to the waterline). Even though they were out of scale, I used them as riverine craft back in my teenaged wargaming days. I've never been able to find the kit again; perhaps it was made by a knockoff company like "Life-Like."

That sounds a lot like the old Lindberg. They are on separate stands and do have the full draft. Maybe the Lindberg was a knockoff... While I lamented the lack of detail on the Lindberg duo, the size was really about the maximum my space would handle. I always built the CSS Virginia first and the Monitor ended up sitting in the box for awhile.
It always interested me how builders of ironclad models interpret the color of the iron plating. I've seen various people paint the armor flat black; iron gray; and rust. On my Virginia's, I painted the armor medium gray with a slight drybrush of rust. I don't know how authentic this was, but it looked good on my shelf, heh. I love the river campaigns too. One of my favorite books is "A River Unvexed: A History and Tour Guide to the Campaign for the Mississippi River". At one time I wanted to try to build some scale river craft out of balsa wood, but I quickly realized this was sheer fantasy.

[sbl]

There's some consensus of black...modelers bring out the details with gray dry brushing.

http://agapemodels.com/?p=766

http://hsfeatures.com/ussmonitorcl_1.htm


http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/s...m/monitr-k.htm

http://www.wideopenwest.com/~jenkins...lads/qanda.htm

[Shortround]

You may have seen this already....

NavSource Online: Battleship Photo Archive
USS PASSIAC

http://www.navsource.org/archives/01/passiac.htm

The second, third, and fourth, drawings have plans that could be scaled down.

Scott,

I love doing the math needed to make a scale model ship. Passiac has simple lines. I'm doing a 1/96 scale model of the Armored Cruiser USS Pennsylvania and the casemates makes one pay for their sins.

Thanks.

[Shortround]

Speaking of plastic models, there is the old Lindberg Monitor and Merrimac kit. (Their terminology, not mine.) They are very basic and different scales, 1/210 and 1/300 respectively. I've built several sets of them over the past several decades. At one time I intended to use these as guides to making a larger scale model, but never acquired the skills or the tools. (For ACW, I have stuck with 1/72 scale figures.)
At shows I have seen some very fine wooden models the CSS Virginia and the CSS Arkansas, in quite large scales. Several kits of the CSS Atlanta exist, including a resin one by Verlinden, and I think Verlinden has a kit of the CSS Nashville, too. I have never been very proficient with resin kits.

Cottage Industries makes superior resin CW models. But at $200 on up for their model;s I get sticker shock. Indeed, their excellent Keokuk ironclad (it's not a monitor) burns through hundreds of dollars.

Revell has the CSS Alabama and the occasional USS Kearsarge (I found out it's pronounced Kear-sar-gee). You should reference Steelnavy.com for a build reference. Strangely, the 1/96 scale CSS Alabama will build into a more accurate CW Kearsarge than the Revell 1/96 Kearsarge. Basically, the guys at Revell did an excellent job but they didn't know the National Archive drawings of Kearsarge was in her 1883 fit, not her 1860s fit. That's a huge mistake. It's like Yorktown II in 1944 vs Yorktown II in 1967.

I've seen the Lindberg kits. They are nice things to introduce the kids to models. Honestly, I think a modeler could make a fair kit. But the 1/300th Scale Virginia is a little small.

A company called Roberts Combat Models makes both a 1/72 scale Monitor and Virginia. But that's a medium of "vaccuform" and it can be dreadful to work with. I just might waste the $50 and get a model of Monitor from them.

For you rivet counters the scales that matter to ships are 1/192, 1/196, and 1/48th. It's all based off the English system. 1/100, 1/200th, 1/350th are metric. 1/72 scale is an adapted aircraft scale (I've built dozens of tanks in that scale).

Happy modeling...

[Tarheel57]

There's some consensus of black...modelers bring out the details with gray dry brushing.

Here is a great monograph with an interesting section on Ironclad colors.

http://walternelson.com/ironclads.pdf

For me, black seems too dark in smaller scales. On another tangent, I have "Guns in the Western Waters: The Story of River Gunboats in the Civil War" by H.Allen Gosneil, and I found it fascinating that most Confederate river gunboat crews were technically civilians! Union gunboats frequently used "borrowed" Army troops!