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Old 05-23-2018, 10:46 AM
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USS Barrataria, 1863in full hull 1/250 scale

The ship..
From wikipedia: Barataria, a 125 foot long ironclad gunboat, was seized by the Union Army at New Orleans, Louisiana, shortly after Flag Officer David Farragut's task force from the West Gulf Blockading Squadron captured that city on April 25, 1862. The Union Army used the steamer through the end of the year and transferred her to the Navy on January 1, 1863.The steamer was outfitted at New Orleans and armed with two 24 pounder howitzers so that she might serve as a gunboat in the shallow inland waters of Louisiana—such as Lake Borgne, Lake Pontchartrain, and Lake Maurepas.

Although few records of her service have survived, it seems that Barataria was used primarily to support operations of Army troops commanded by Major General Godfrey Weitzel in Louisiana's coastal inland waters. While on such a mission, the gunboat commanded by Acting Ensign James F. Perkins struck a snag in Lake Maurepas at the mouth of the Amite River early on the morning of April 7, 1863. Throughout that day, her small crew assisted by Union soldiers of the 6th Michigan Volunteers fought off Confederate guerrilla attacks while also jettisoning equipment to lighten ship. However, even sacrificing her bow gun and emptying her boiler failed to refloat Barataria by sunset. Then, lest she fall into enemy hands, Perkins put the torch to the stranded stern wheeler; and her magazine exploded soon after all hands had escaped in small boats.


The Model: This is a full hull 1/250 scale model of the little gun boat as I envision her after extensive USN refit. It is documented that the South spent only a fraction of the cost that would have been expected to fully armor this boat, and given her small size, it is likely that it was much more of a so called "tin-clad" rather then a full on ironclad. I show her as such, with typical USN additions.

The two small guns on slide mounts are taken from examples such as those on the USS Clyde, a narrow blockade runner armed with the same cannon. I reinforced the deck with iron mounting points and rails to support the weight and to protect the raw wood decking. The caemate protects the boilers and the center gun room. The single cannon amid ship again works like those on the Clyde, being swung from port to starboard mounting for action. The aft casemate protects the engine room. The pilot house is also iron protected. The middle section that likely held cut wood for fuel is a protected walk way between the two casemates made of heavy wood with slots for light well above the heads of the crew. Above this there is an un-strengthened and unarmored house for the crew when not in action, with windows and sunroof for lighting.

The build: I have printed out the model on three pages of 110 pound card stock. This is a test build and I may need to change things up if I run into issues...
Attached Thumbnails
USS Barrataria, 1863in full hull 1/250 scale-barrataria.jpg   USS Barrataria, 1863in full hull 1/250 scale-1-post-uss-barataria.jpg  
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Old 05-23-2018, 10:52 AM
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The parts print well enough on my printers standard setting. The model seems over built at this scale however I have used no heavy card board, simply single or double layers of 110 pound stock. The files are sharp enough that an enlarged model could easily be made, maybe 1/100 scale, and you could then simply layer the keel and ribs onto heavy .5 mm board. I have also chosen to "plank" the formers in a bow to stern fashion rather then the more common sections used in many ship models. This boat lends itself well to this and I like the finished look.
Attached Thumbnails
USS Barrataria, 1863in full hull 1/250 scale-uss-barrataria-parts-pages3.jpg   USS Barrataria, 1863in full hull 1/250 scale-1.jpg   USS Barrataria, 1863in full hull 1/250 scale-2.jpg   USS Barrataria, 1863in full hull 1/250 scale-3.jpg   USS Barrataria, 1863in full hull 1/250 scale-4.jpg  

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Old 05-23-2018, 10:54 AM
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The hull is done. I think it came out well. A little sloppy but I think that might be my fingers and not the design....
Attached Thumbnails
USS Barrataria, 1863in full hull 1/250 scale-5.jpg   USS Barrataria, 1863in full hull 1/250 scale-6.jpg   USS Barrataria, 1863in full hull 1/250 scale-7.jpg   USS Barrataria, 1863in full hull 1/250 scale-8.jpg   USS Barrataria, 1863in full hull 1/250 scale-9.jpg  

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Old 05-23-2018, 10:59 AM
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On to the deck. A simple double layered piece, that fits more or less at the right curve to mach the lines of the river boat. The aft casemate and the spacer logs are fine. The spacer logs are indeed four sided with endcaps, and at this scale one could easily use layered strips for the same effect. However, an up-sized model can take full advantage of the spacers being 3-d rather then strips. The bracing for the aft paddle wheel is a layered effect and looks good.
Attached Thumbnails
USS Barrataria, 1863in full hull 1/250 scale-10.jpg   USS Barrataria, 1863in full hull 1/250 scale-11.jpg   USS Barrataria, 1863in full hull 1/250 scale-12.jpg   USS Barrataria, 1863in full hull 1/250 scale-13.jpg   USS Barrataria, 1863in full hull 1/250 scale-14.jpg  

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Old 05-23-2018, 11:16 AM
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OK. Comeing along great. I got the midship gun done, although you will not see it well from the outside it is still fun for the model build to know! And the paddle wheel. At this scale I guess I could have blacked out the spaced between the spokes instead of cutting them out... but it worked. I am pushing my skills here a bit but so far so good! Only about thirteen paddles on this little guy.
Attached Thumbnails
USS Barrataria, 1863in full hull 1/250 scale-15.jpg   USS Barrataria, 1863in full hull 1/250 scale-16.jpg   USS Barrataria, 1863in full hull 1/250 scale-22.jpg   USS Barrataria, 1863in full hull 1/250 scale-23.jpg   USS Barrataria, 1863in full hull 1/250 scale-17.jpg  

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Old 05-23-2018, 11:34 AM
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You did a good job in cutting out the space between the spokes on the paddle wheel. It is a small diameter so that cutting must have been quite and adventure.

For some information next to the paddle wheel in the picture is a US dime which is around 18mm in diameter.
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Old 05-23-2018, 12:23 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SCEtoAUX View Post
You did a good job in cutting out the space between the spokes on the paddle wheel. It is a small diameter so that cutting must have been quite and adventure.

For some information next to the paddle wheel in the picture is a US dime which is around 18mm in diameter.
Yes... it was an adventure. I am pushing my skill levels a bit here but overall I am pleased. It is not as clean as could be but I didn't over cut anything and it came together pretty solid!

I did forget to add the wire center pole that would serve as the wheels axle... hmmm..

Well, got the boiler room casemate done and the pilot house. The pilot house and armored boxes for the upper pipes are all one piece along with the front shield, but it comes out well.
Attached Thumbnails
USS Barrataria, 1863in full hull 1/250 scale-20.jpg   USS Barrataria, 1863in full hull 1/250 scale-21.jpg  
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Old 05-23-2018, 12:32 PM
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A few more shots of the forward casemate, wheelhouse and the pipe bases. They all build up well. I do not know if the doors at the front were armored with iron or not, but my guess is that they were heavy timber painted the same as the casemate. I do not know the thickness of the armor of this boat, but it was deferentially bullet proof, and possibly capable of surviving field artillery. I do not believe that this boat was armored to the point of being an "ironclad" capable of repelling heavy guns... I could be wrong though.
Attached Thumbnails
USS Barrataria, 1863in full hull 1/250 scale-24.jpg   USS Barrataria, 1863in full hull 1/250 scale-28.jpg   USS Barrataria, 1863in full hull 1/250 scale-29.jpg  
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Old 05-23-2018, 12:52 PM
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Lovely work. That paddlewheel is a whole model in itself.
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Old 05-23-2018, 01:35 PM
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Great building job and the paddlewheel, in particular, is amazing!
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