French Ironclad Neptune 1:250 Scale

[romanmodels]

looking good Mike like the steamer.

[Michael Mash]

Thank you David.

The boarding ladders on French predreadnought battleships are always a challenge.
To reach out over the tumblehome hull, they usually come in three sections. First, a ladder descends from the main deck. Then a platform extends out to reach over the curve in the hull. Then another ladder extends down to the waterline.

The odd looking wood device in image 289 is my ladder assembly tool. It helps me achieve some level of uniformity. All the parts for the boarding ladder assemblies are made of paper.

Since some railing was needed, I show those being made in images 291, 292 and 293. After the paint dries (image 293), they can be cut out and installed.

The vintage photo 297 was my best source for replicating the ladder assemblies.

Best Regards,
Mike

[Don Boose]

The model is absolutely beautiful, and I always enjoy seeing your construction methodologies and devices.

There is a boarding ladder on each side?

Don

[FRD]

It's a masterpiece Michael!
(The exact opposite of what I do!)

[Michael Mash]

Originally Posted by Don Boose

The model is absolutely beautiful, and I always enjoy seeing your construction methodologies and devices.

There is a boarding ladder on each side?

Don

Thanks Don. Yes, boarding ladders on both sides. I think they were used mainly, but not always, by officers and dignitaries. The crew had a different curious method for getting to and from the boats. They often used a “tangon” (French word for pole), that they would “catwalk” out over the boats, and then climb down ladders. It seems an odd method, but I have seen it used on most of the late nineteenth century battleships. See images below. The first image is of a model. Sorry, but I don’t know who to give credit to for this. It nicely shows how the boarding ladders (left) and the “tangon” (right) were used.

[John Wagenseil]

A modern "tangon" used to support sail
Tangoned bow. Let's review the maneuver
And for fishing
TANGONS TELESCOPIQUE CARBON HAUTE RESISTANCE

[mdesaxe]

In British and US service, these were called boat booms. They were fitted to almost every powered warship from cruisers upwards (including aircraft carriers) in every navy from around 1850 to well after World War II.


Maurice

[Don Boose]

Always something new to learn.

Don

[rjccjr]

Hi Michael;

Just got onto your thread about Neptune and went back to the start. It is a beautiful build. Wish I could do that. It is pretty easy to see what you have encountered along the way. There's a certain Deja Vu about that. During research through the years, bits and snatches of information crop up and get filed away. Then later on you make a connection. You tend to spend a lot time asking yourself, why did they do that? During an undertaking like Neptune, such answers help a great deal with filling gaps, that is the only way of overcoming lack of information, which you need to complete some models. Found out about that with CL-52.

Here are a couple of observations, which may or may not be useful. Back when researching the Seydlitz I noticed that she had anti torpedo nets before Jutland, but they were gone after repairs. Why? If the ship took hits from medium artillery, those nets became shrapnel, ruining super structure and entering small openings. Thus causing casualties. After World War One they disappeared from general use. Again, when researching material for USS Susquehanna for the 1854 configuration the question occurred, why put sails on a steam powered ship? Answer, coal fired boilers used enormous amounts of fuel. More than the ship could carry if going someplace like Japan. Secondly they broke down far too frequently to trust. Coal fired boilers required huge amounts of ventilation, and coal bins, hence a lot of cowl vents. A man in superb physical condition could stand about twenty five minutes feeding a boiler. Shortly after the Civil War the screw propeller proved its worth and ships got larger, requiring more power. They also required a lot of coal chutes, usually along the waterline and close to the boilers. When a ship was taking on coal, all vents would be open and no flame was allowed, because coal dust was highly explosive. It took several hours to button up, relight the boilers and get up enough steam to move, after fueling. That was what led to the demise of The Kaiser Wilhelm Der Grosse.

Neptune was a coastal battleship. Judging simply from the design it was about as capable as a civil war monitor on the high seas. The engines couldn't stand up under high speed, and the armament was so numerous and heavy that armor protection and any unnecessary weight above the waterline, had to kept to a minimum. Hence the extreme tumblehome and thin superstructure. That accounts for the long reach of the davits and the length of the anti torpedo spars. The main guns had a peculiar, but frequently found arrangement. The turret was about as high as a sailor and the gun sat on trunions on top of it. That meant that loading the weapon was a nightmare. The weapon had to be elevated for the crew to reach the breach from behind and consequently the rate of fire was extremely slow. Metallurgy in those days was underdeveloped and breech explosions were common. Given that it took eleven years between keel laying and commissioning, it figures that there were budgetary problems and the vessel had been bypassed by advancing technology before it finally got to service. Hope you find this interesting, if not particularly useful. That' s a beautiful effort.

Regards rjccjr

[Michael Mash]

Thanks for the contributions: John W., Maurice and RJCCJR.

The final parts added were the port and starboard tangons (boat boarding beams), forward binnacle, life rings/preservers and flagstaff.

The flag is now waving over the stern. That marks the end of this project.

Thanks for all the comments and support. I want to acknowledge the efforts of Renaud A. for the language assistance, drawings and photos.

Final images to follow.

Best Regards,
Mike