CSS Stonewall

[Robert Woolley]

Hi all, I have recently been working on the Heinkel Models CSS Stonewall.
The ship has a fascinating history. In 1863 the Confederate army ordered the ironclad ship from a French ship builder. It was to be used in the American civil war, but the French government caught wind of the plans and stopped delivery to the Confederates, as they wanted to remain neutral regarding the civil war.
The ship was then sold with the name Sphynx to the Danish government, which was arming for war. After trialing the ship, which at this stage had been renamed the Saerkodder, the Danes returned it as its seaworthiness was not up to their standards. This was due to the long ram digging into the sea at speed.
The builders took the opportunity to again sell it to the Confederates, who were able to put a crew on it in January 1865 and sail it to France to resupply for the trip to America. It was renamed the CSS Stonewall along the way.
After leaving France it received damage in a storm, and had to put into a Spanish port for repairs. There it confronted a couple of wooden US navy ships which refused to engage in combat, preferring to turn tail and run.
The Stonewall sailed to Cuba, where it was learned that the civil war was over. The captain sold it to the Spanish authorities, who then on sold it to the US government.
It was taken to the Washington DC naval yard where it sat for two years. Many of the photos of it that can be found on the internet were taken there.
In 1868 a civil war was brewing in Japan, and the forces of the Tokugawa Shogunate bought the ship to use against the Japanese Imperial forces.
It was renamed Kotetsu, which means ironclad in Japanese, and delivered by an American crew. During the voyage the war broke out, and when it arrived in Tokyo Bay, the American government refused to deliver it, once again the reason was maintaining neutrality.
That neutrality didn't last long, and the Kotetsu was delivered to the Imperial forces instead.
It immediately set sail for Hokkaido in the north, where it went into action against the Shogun's navy. it was rammed by a larger ship called the Kaiten, but the 300 samirai of the shogun on the Kaiten were unable to successfully board the Kotetsu, being mowed down by the Gattling gun on the Kotetsu.
The Kaiten withdrew, unable do inflict damage on the ironclad, despite sinking three other imperial ships.
It later participated in the battle of Hakodate Bay, where it bombarded shore fortifications and put the Kaiten out of action. The Kotetsu was one of the defining factors that allowed an ultimate Imperial Japanese victory.
It was later renamed Azuma, and served until 1888 when it became a training vessel. it was finally damaged in a typhoon and scrapped.
So this ship served in four navies, and took part in two civil wars, and had five names.
This is a very nice little model. I bought it as soon as it became available and made a start, but only recently returned to making it.
It has nice detail printed on the hull, but I have done a little layering to bring the detail out a bit. I started making it as a waterline model, but decided that the bow ram was such a striking feature that I had to model it full hull, so I started again. I also added some armour plating to the sides, to try to make some of the shapes along the hull a bit more striking.
Besides adding detail to the hull, I have made the front of the ship as one wrap around piece, to more accurately reflect the way I interpret the pictures available on the internet.
The fit of all parts has been spot on. i have filled and sanded the hull and painted it a dark red colour to cover some of the imperfections I made during construction. It needs another coat of paint to cover some lighter patches and extra sanding.
The masts are made from the supplied parts, printed on thin paper. I wittled a bamboo BBQ skewer to fill in the mast and give it strength.
Here are some pictures of the waterline version

Robert

[Robert Woolley]

And here is where I am up to on the full hull version.

[Tim Crowe]

Looking good

Always nice to see a full hull being built up

Tim

[chicharrero]

Clean construction, Robert,of a ship with a fascinating history.

[heinkel111]

A wonderful construction for a difficult model. It is a pleasure and satisfaction for my. congratulations.

See My Models
http://heinkelmodels.webs.com/

[Joe711]

The ship and its history is interesting.
And clean work.
Sincerely, Joe

[elliott]

Great backstory to go along with some great modeling. Could you explain your one wrap-around front piece modeling in a bit more detail so that the slow among us (that would be me today) could catch on?

[Robert Woolley]

Thanks you everyone for your interest in this project.
Let me explain why and how I modified the front by wrapping a single piece around it.If you look carefully at the following images, you can just make out the armour plates coming up to just under the hawse hole plate. From there up it appears to be a solid piece of armour.On this model the armour plates are printed all the way to the deck.

I made the hull using card, then sanded it smooth and round at the front. I then printed the hull again on thin paper. I cut out the section that I think was solid plate armour from both side pieces and taped them together. I used this to make a template and cut it out as a single piece from some solid gray I had printed. I cut out the gun ports, and then, after gluing the rest of the sides in place, I carefully wrapped the single piece around and glued it in place. I used a marker pen to put in some rivets that I could see in the pictures and a pencil to draw a couple of panel lines, which I found in another picture which I can't seem to find now.
I also added a plate behind the side gun port, which is printed on the model, and a couple of drain pipes which were also printed on the model.
The deck at the front in the kit is flush, but on the real ship it hangs over the side a bit. I cut the deck a little bigger to recreate this feature. The gray paint I used to tough up in this area is not a good match so I will try and touch that up later, after I add some more parts. In real life it is a closer match tan the photos seem to indicate. Hopefully the pictures below will show what I mean.

Robert

[elliott]

Thank you kindly for your response Robert which I'm sure helped others besides me. Very clear explanation - much obliged.

[Michael Mash]

Hello Robert,
I think image 73 gives the perfect view of your great work with the full hull bow.
A great project. Those historical images are a treat.
This is one of those unique configurations that shows signs of the industrial revolution beginning to unfold. Yet, much of the old sail-era characteristics persist. A fascinating transitional vessel.
Mike