CSS Columbus ironclad in 1/250 scale

[ct ertz]

Well, here is the CSS Columbus, an early war attempt by ship builders in the south to compete against the Union on the rivers and inland waters. This is yet another boat first brought to my attention by John Wallis, who was kind enough to share his information with me. Unlike many of the ships I have been doing lately, this ship was finished. Well, it was ready for launch, had guns, and it's armor was delivered in 1862. By 1864 local news papers were complaining about the ship still sitting on it's stocks, apparently ready to go. The official Navy Record states that this ship had only 3 inches of armor, a four sided pyrimid style casemate forty feet square at the base, and was 250 feet by 40 feet overall. The single engine was a 36 inch bore with a 36 inch stroke, turning the ships single screw with enough force to reach speeds of possibly 11 knots! The guns, six of then crouded into the small casemate, where described as "Confederate 30 pounder Parrott rifles". I wounder if these were really Brookes rifles?

When The Union took Columbus the fully functional ironclad was burned before ever getting wet! We will never know why such a ships was not used after being built, armored, and armed.


This model is a bit more complex then my others in that the open top casemate has inner walls and spacers for the ten gun ports. i have not desided yet if this ship will have two ships launches one on each side near the casemate (so the aft firing guns are clear) or a single boat on the fantail.

On this ship, the anchor davits and the anchor storage is behind and alongside of the forward pilot house.

Anyhow, looking for a test builder. Anyone up for it?? I do not have the instructions yet either, but for the most part it is like my others.
CT

[Knife]

You know I'm always ready for a go. I just need to free the drydock of your CSS Wilmington.

[ct ertz]

Sure thing Knife, how is the Wilmington going?
CT

[Paperwarrior]

Corey,

This looks like another great kit. I find it interesting that it sat there ready to go for all that time. I wonder why.

Jeff

[Knife]

If I remember my history, it stayed moored mostly because if it's deep draft. I couldn't get over the various bars to get into open water. They also had a hard time filling out the crew. The Army had drafted most of the men, and wouldn't release them to naval duties. When the water was finally deep enough and a full crew assembled, the Union forces have had time to bring in some Monitors to block her.

My Wilmington just needs some rigging and her boats to be complete.

[ct ertz]

I am glad your Wilmington is working out! Looks great. I like the dead lights too. I got lazy and skipped those on my build.

Well I sent off the first draft PDF for you, we shall see if it goes together to make a boat or not.
CT

[Knife]

After designing the CSS Arkansas until my eyes are crossed, I printed out your Columbus model. One thing I noticed was one of the sides is slightly cut off. I'm not sure if I had the printer on "borderless", but if the side was angled slightly more inward if would allow even idiots like me (ie those that don't check their printer setting) to print it out properly.

[ct ertz]

OK, I will scoot that up a bit if I can. Are you going to use the pieces as is and fake that corner or re-print?

CT

[Knife]

I'm just going to color the little missing bit with some markers and continue building. I did recheck the drawing, where the little bit is drawn in, so I'm sure the mistake was on my end with the wrong printer setting. You don't have much room to move the side piece, but just a slight angle adjustment may be enough. When I get around to designing my own blank sheet template, I think I will use the offset tool to throw in a 67" (1/4" X 250) border on the inside of the full size border to allow for printer printing borders.

One other item I noticed is the grating for the top of the casemate is missing. I should be able to report more on the actual building this evening.

[ct ertz]

I am unsure of what to do about the top. In may have been left open, much like the Tennessee 1.

CT