CSS Palmetto State 1:250

[Benihana]

Hi All,

Thanks for the nice comments.

I managed to get the casement finished as a nice freestanding section. However when I sat it on the hull it showed gaps as it was not held down > it definitely didn't add to asthetic appeal. On top of this trying to figure out a way to remove with the guns showing out the gun ports got a little beyond me. So I decided to abandon my idea of a removable casement for an overall better look.

My next challenge was to get the guns on the inside and have them poking out. I eventually manage to do it (second photo) by putting them through the casement, putting a pin down their barrel and then adding a dollop of glue to the bottom of the gun carriage. Basically you put the casement with guns ontop of the hull, wriggles the guns to get them into place then held them down with the pins to get them glued in place. Once dry I glued the casement edges to the hull.

With all these exercises I turned a simple part of the build into somethign more complex......saying this the end result is pleasing! I'd reccomend to anyone else to build the casement in place with one side added last after all guns installed as this would be a lot easier.

Now for detailing the top side.....

[Benihana]

More building time thanks to a sleeping baby!

I looked at the ladders for the front and rear of the casement from the kit and couldn't really see how they were going to work (sorry CT). So I decided to scratch build them. A few lines in pencil followed by some cutting with a blunt knife (yes, I need a new blade) and a quick texta paint job and the two ladders finished. Also started on building the hand rails using the jig that can be downloaded free from the Paper Shipwright.

[ct ertz]

This is one of my earliest designs and I think there are many problems with it. You may not have noticed, but the fore and aft gun ports are too low for the pivot mounted guns. Other parts need "fitting" as well. However, you overcame my poor design with great skill! The build looks great. Railing? Wow, you are going all in!! I can't wait!
CT

[Benihana]

Latest progress with the stack, next I'll finish the rigging on the stack before putting the rails on > I learnt this lesson as rigging the Couer was difficult at the end when you've got various other parts you need to go around.

@ CT -I think you're being a little hard on yourself, it might have been an early design but its a great model . With a couple of tweaks I think the gun port alignment issues can be solved.

1. It was an easy fix to get the guns where they are now. I need to confess I cheated a bit. In earlier pictures (when I was going for a casement that could open) I positioned the guns where they were intended to be. Once I decided to close I realised the aligment problem. A bit of fiddling and I realised that the forward and aft guns sit higher than the side ones (due to carriage type). So I tried swaping position, as with casement closed you can't seen carriages anyway......and you know what they fit perfectly (now my secret is out!). This was my fix but alternatively if people didn't want to do the carriage it would be easy enough to position the barrel only in the port with the same net result.

2. Since I read your post I thought about the forward port and I had an idea to fix > assuming the builder wants the gun run out. See diagram attached for details but basically you could lift the gun port as the cover would cover the bottom of the port. Its a pretty simple fix and looking at the model it should work. Let me know what you think. Feedback would be appreciated if anyone tries.

....and yes the diagram is in purple pen, it was the first one I grabbed.

[ct ertz]

I think that would be a handy fix!
CT

[Joe711]

Good idea!
Maybe I also will build the ship, and I will take into account the change!
Sincerely, Joe

[Benihana]

Installed the ropes onto the stack and also the rails. This is the first time I've made the rails out of cotton and I'm very pleased with the result. Now for the row boats....this might take a while.

[marco1971]

Hello Benihana,

The ship looking very nice!

Marco

[Benihana]

Thanks for the nice comment Marco.

Some more photos. Installed ventilator and tow block? (can some one please tell me correct name?) on the stern and started on dem little boats.....

[Benihana]

G'day All,

More progress....davits, boat mounting and boat.

The davits took a while then when I did a dry fit of the boats the mountings didn't look right. Consulting the drawings of the Palmetto State provided with the kit I came up with a cut down version of the boat mountings which look kinda right.

....almost there.