Dismal Swamp Vessels, Civil War Ironclads

[Knife]

Yea, I'm looking through my parts desk for some chain right now. I used four layers of cardstock to make the awning struts (used two sheets sandwiched between the fold) and that makes it look like rough cut 4 X 4 timber.

[ct ertz]

Cool, four layers n that awning posts. I will add that to the note as an option, along with doubling the decking.
CT

[Knife]

Don't forget to make the internal formers thinner (guess how I found out) if you double the deck thickness.

I moved one of the gun trucks to the back of the track as it would be during transit or reloading. I like to change up the gun positions to make the model more interesting. I just cut the truck from the rail, and re-glued it on the opposite rail.

I also added some of the parts that mount on the main deck. EVERYTHING fits perfectly so far.

That's all for tonight due to old eyes and no sunlight.

[Thomas Meek]

It's really looking good, Knife! A nice neat job. It is always good to see one of CT's designs going together well.

I like the other little ironclads that just happened to be passing by when the pictures were snapped. Are they all from papershipwright?

Also, please be careful with that piece of glass.
I cringe every time I see it. It does seem to be doing the job though...

Thomas

[Knife]

The jagged glass is there to remind me to be cautious and observe everything. Same reason to plant poison ivy and keep a bee hive in the garden. Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there's not somebody out there trying to kill you! Or maybe it's just a spare piece of glass I had lying around that can serve as a flat base.

I like to add models to make the photos a tad more interesting. Maybe Yankee spies are keeping a watch on the Ironclad's construction. All the additional models are from papershipwright. The mortor barge and the Mosel's are free downloads from papershipwright. Like CT's models, it's such a pleasure to build them since every part fits precisely in place. The Rhein/Mosel models in the window shot are my three attempts to build the ship, always get distracted before I finish outfitting her. I get to the ship's wheel and think "how in the heck do I cut something that small and detailed?" SO, if anybody has any suggestions on how to best model the ship's wheel please let me know. There's 17 more of CT's ironclads that I need to model.

Here's a rendering showing how thick the armor was on these ironclads.

[Thomas Meek]

Thanks for the rendering showing the thickness of the armor. Pretty amazing!

As for ships' wheels, I am still trying to learn how to cut them well, but awhile back I broke down and purchased a sheet of laser cut ships' wheels. That's not the answer you were looking for, but it works for me. :D

[Knife]

Today I got down to the fiddly bits. I made the boat pivots from four layers of cardstock, like I did for the canopy posts. I trimmed the floor of the boats so that it fits further down into the boat. I used markers to paint the interior of the boats tan, then remembered that boats of that era had white interiors (duh). I'm going to use bits of a guitar string to hang the boats.

Only two observations on the build today. The top of the Captain's box is painted in sun-bleached color, probably should be the darker wood color. I also think that the boats need some oars stowed onboard.

While gluing the boat hoists in place, a large drop of glue fell on the stern deck. I'm thinking of two ways to hide this error, either make up a crewman with a bucket like he's cleaning it up, or just remake the whole darn model.

[Knife]

Here's the rest of the fiddly parts. I'm not too sure the winches are in the right location. It seems like the anchor chains would get in the way of the forward cannon.

I drew some cross planks on the ramps, having used smooth ramps on scaffolding before. After your first attempt to navigate the ramp with a load, you will naturally add cross planks to give you some traction. I also added bollards on the bow to give the anchor chains something to pivot around.

On the top of the casemate there's no cover for the ramp openings. Parts 17 are about half the size need to cover the hole. I added the stars and bars from another of CT's creations.

Having a mark on the stern deck where the boat davits go would help in placing them accurately. Other than that, the build didn't have any problems.

[Knife]

Here's the final project. Any misalignment is strictly caused by the builder, the plans are perfect. The only changes I would make to the plans is recolor the awning planks and the top of the captain's platform. Increase the size of part 17 to cover the ramp openings. Mark location of boat davits on the aft deck.

I'm not sure how the pilot would see during battle, since the design doesn't have a pilot house.

Another great design from CT Ertz!

[Thomas Meek]

Looks Great, Knife! A super job, and done quickly, too! (I'll bet CT likes that part.)
By the way, that ship's wheel looks pretty good.

An excellent, gem-like little ship. Congratulations to you and to Cory Ertz on a fine addition to the Confederate Ironclad Fleet.

Thomas