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Showing results for tags 'Cairo'.
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.Hi I live in England and a had an idea that I want to build an ironclad river gunboat so I started to find out some information and plans that was when I came across the build of USS Cairo 1862 by MPB521 I liked the look of this model so much that I thought I would have a go at building one. This is the first time I have tried to build a model with so much wood work it will be a steep learning curve so please be patience with me as I am not very good at writing up and posting pictures of what I am building. I have been modelling for about 15 years and have manly built British Lifeboats and there trailers. I intend to build the model at a scale of 1 to 50 and build the hull using 5mm plywood for the frames and then clad the bottom and sides in lime wood. And then build the frame of the casemate area and then the top deck and cabins again in lime wood. I want to build the outside of the model first and when this has been built I will go about building and fitting out the inside. I decided to do it this way as I am not getting any younger and with health problems so if I could not finish it I would at least have a model to look at and may be for someone else to finish off in the future.
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Hello Everyone, Welcome to the beginning of my build log for my first scratch build model. I recently completed work on the 1884 Packet Steamer Chaperon, which was my first attempt at a build log, and I enjoyed it so much that I wanted have another go at it. The comments and suggestions and overall conversation on the build was way more than I had expected. There are so many people out there with so many great ideas that helped along the way. Not to mention the knowledge I gained from the research. For this build I will be taking on the City Class USS Cairo American Civil War Ironclad as she was shortly before her sinking in 1862. I have been in love with this particular ship since my first visit to Vicksburg NMP back in 1984. Something about the mystique of the recovery of a sunken ship and the history of those who lived aboard is just fascinating. And, since there are no large-scale wooden model kits out there for this particular ship, I figured this was the perfect opportunity to scratch build one. My plan is to build this model in 1:48 scale using the Bob Hill plans, the USS Cairo HSR documentation from the Vicksburg NMP, and several other builds, especially the build log for the Civil War Ironclad USS ST. LOUIS by the Gateway Model Shipcrafter's Guild. This is an exceptional build and their extensive research has found many discrepancies with the USS Cairo HSR and I hope to “borrow” some of their research findings to accurately build my representation of the USS Cairo. I won’t be building out a whole lot of interior details, with the exception of what can be see through the gun ports, skylights and deck vents. I will probably build out the tops of the boilers, flue, capstan, and possibly simulate the engines. I haven’t quite determined what material I will use for the iron plate cladding, but for the railroad irons on the forward and aft casements, I plan on using HO scale model railroad track to try and make it look as authentic as possible. Without boring you with too much of a detailed history of this ship, here is a little background info on it: The USS Cairo, along with her six sister ships (Carondelet, Cincinnati, Louisville, Mound City, Pittsburg, and St. Louis) were commissioned by the U.S. Army (later transferred to the U.S. Navy), designed by Samuel M. Pook and built by James B. Eads at the Carondelet and Mound City Shipyards in 1861. USS Cairo was 175’ in length with a 52’ 2” beam and drew only 6’ of water. Not very deep for a 512-ton heavily armored ship. Ironically, she was sunk by a Confederate “torpedo” on December 12, 1862 in the Yazoo river while on a mine clearing mission. The USS Cairo wreckage was located in 1956 and finally raised from the mud in 1964. She sat in neglect at the Ingalls Shipyard in Pascagoula, MS for several years, until 1977 where she was transported, restored and placed on permanent display at the Vicksburg National Military Park in Vicksburg, MS. This will definitely be a learning experience for me, so if you would like to follow along, please pull up a chair and feel free to offer up any suggestions. I am always open to new ideas and constructive criticism. If you see something that I am doing wrong or see a better way to do something, by all means, please let me know. I welcome the input. As she sits today (well, six years ago when I took this picture): -Brian
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My next project will be the USS Cairo kit from BlueJacket. This vessel was an ironclad gunboat designed and built during the American Civil War for service on the Mississippi River and its tributaries, as part of the Union's push to control the West's inland waterways and cut off Confederate supply lines, communications, and commerce. Her actual service was unremarkable, and she sank less than a year after her commissioning upon hitting several mines near Vicksburg, Mississippi. However, she became immortal when her wreck was discovered mostly intact in the mid-1960s and eventually salvaged, restored, and placed on display at Vicksburg National Military Park. I've visited the display and associated museum, where it's absolutely fascinating to be able to actually walk around the vessel and peer into her depths. When completed, this will join my scratchbuilt Western River steamboats Arabia and Bertrand, two other examples of mid-19th century Western River steamboats salvaged from old river channels in the American interior. This kit is a much smaller scale than those two models (1:64 and 1:87, respectively), so will nestle comfortably alongside the Bertrand. For inspiration, I'll have on hand this simple paperweight acquired at the Cairo museum! Announcing the start of this build feels unusually good, as I've had a forced ~7 month hiatus from modeling building due to a complicated situation involving a serious hatched-derived wrist injury (with subsequent surgery and long recovery) that, for a while, had me unsure if I'd regain the dexterity and strength necessary to keep building scale models (much less the larger-scale timber management and building work I do in real life). The Cairo kit is a 43rd birthday present but also a celebration of a return to reasonable normality. Thanks for looking in! Next post, I'll cover why I chose this model and what I hope to achieve with it.
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I have been away from this forum for a few years. I put my wooden shipbuilding aside and for a few years I have been working on plastic modelling and building some simple dioramas. Lots of fun and you definitely improve your airbrushing and painting skills. I have have had an interest in history for years and have read several books on the Civil War including biographies of Sherman and Grant. Both mention the "naval" battles along the Mississippi. I remembered purchasing a couple of model kits for Civil War ships, the Monitor and the USS Cairo; both from BlueJacket. Sure enough I searched my "stash" and located the USS Cairo kit. I jumped into building this model about a week ago. During this first week of building I discovered that what appeared on the surface to be a simple model (low parts count and no planking required) was actually going to be a bit challenging for me. This brought me back to this site to see if anyone was building the same kit. I came across the log by Cathead who had just started on the kit. His comments lead me to start this log. I want to warn any readers of this build log. I am not an experienced ship builder so as I stumble my way thru the build my solutions to encountered problems may not be the best. As you read, if you know a better way or got better results; please don't hesitate to comment. I also hope that when I do encounter problems, the fact that I have started this log will discourage me from just "setting it aside". Finally, we (my wife and I) own an RV and love to travel; so there may be some breaks in the progress of this log. -
As I wrote here http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/11538-western-river-steamboat-heroine-by-ggrieco-scale-124-1838-as-she-appeared-before-hitting-a-snag-in-the-red-river/?p=401974I plan to build the USS Cairo, as all my modelships in 1:50 scale. The history of the ship is well known, there are so many pages in the internet, so I will not bore you with that. But there is a big question I have. I have a set of the plans from bob hill, and I am not sure, where to measure the length of the ship. Is the lenght of 175 feet measured at the hull, or includes this the rudders between the blue lines on the plan? I have marked the lines with red arrows. Would be happy to get some info about that, so I can scale the plans and start with the ship. Regards, and thank you all Gerhard
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