mbp521

Man that structure is tiny! I don’t think there is any way that I could do a full build at that scale. Even the tiny bits on my boat gave me fits. Definitely like the added details. 
 

-Brian

Looking good Tom. I’ve never been a fan of the Britannia parts MS uses in their kits, and I often replace them with scratch built pieces when I can. Needless to say though, you did a great job on straightening and cleaning up the kit pieces and the bird cage looks wonderful. It will be a bittersweet day when “Finished” is added to the title of this build log. 
 

-Brian

Playing catchup on the build log entries. There seems to be a lot of information posted lately, 

On 12/31/2022 at 11:27 PM, Roger Pellett said:

Absent documentary or archeological evidence, I would tend to believe then that these boats did use rope anchor cables instead of chains.

Roger, to answer your question about whether the Cairo use rope or chain to attach the anchors, I would say that it was chain. The below pictures were screenshots that I took from a conference Edwin Bearss gave just before he passed away. In his presentation he had these photographs taken during the recovery efforts up on the screen. I searched in vain to find the actual photos and finally settled on just taking a picture of my computer monitor (hence their graininess). One picture shows the starboard chain going through the hawse pipe and the other shows the chain draped across the foredeck. The port hawse pipe empty so it would somewhat be hard to tell if there was a chain or rope attached to the portside anchor.

There is documentation from journal entries of sailors aboard the Cairo and the other boats in the flotilla, at the time she struck the torpedo that tell when the explosion occurred the port anchor was launched from the deck. If I remember correctly, one of the flukes from this anchor is on display in the Cairo museum. So the possibility of the port chain being broken and with the force of the explosion could have cause it to recede through the hawse pipe and would not have been visible during salvage. Or this hawse pipe could have simply been strictly used for rope to tie the boats off to the shore.

During my build, I struggled with the same question, how did they haul in the anchor with a capstan that was designed for rope. I came up with one possibility that they would use a length of rope attached to a hook or a loop. They would secure the hook through the chain loop and run the rope through the hawse pipe and around the capstan and haul the chain up a little at a time. This by no means would have been an efficient method of doing it, but as with John Howard and the rest of the St. Louis team have stated, documentation is scarce. So with the limited information on this subject, this is the way I incorporated it into my build. As also stated previously, most of the time these boats were tied up to the shores of the rivers, but there were times that they were at anchor. Given that many of the Western Rivers were not known for their great depths at the time, there was the possibility that there would not have been much anchor chain to haul in.

Just my two cents.

-Brian

1 hour ago, Cathead said:

It's interesting that your photos (and I believe your model) show a gently curved roof on the structure aft of the wheel, while both the BlueJacket plans and the more detailed digital plans you sent me show that to be flat. I went with flat because it's how the kit was designed and it was easier. You probably covered this in your log but I was lazy and didn't go looking for it

This was a real noggin scratcher when researching how to build the roof on the forward and aft structures of the paddlewheel house, and to be honest I can't remember if I covered it or not. Since there is only one known existing photograph of the Cairo it is really hard to tell how this was constructed. I stared at the picture for hours on end trying to figure it out. The HSR plans show the roof to be flat and I think they were drawn that way going off the Cairo photograph. But the more I researched and studied the picture I came to the conclusion that what it looks like in the Cairo picture that makes the roof look flat is the loading booms that were sometimes attached to the aft mast pole were stored on top of the forward roof when not in use. These booms can be seen in the Cincinnati photo in my previous post, and I added them as a deck detail on my build. 

Since the Cairo, Mound City and Cincinnati were all built at the Mound City shipyard, I took it upon myself that they would have all been built the same way. The contemporary photos of the Cincinnati and Mound City, show that the rooftops on these two structures do have a curve to them as well as the four other boats built in the Carondelet shipyard, so why would the Cairo be the only one with flat rooftops. This was my reasoning for building my version with the curved roofs. I may have gotten it wrong, but I think it will definitely be hard to disprove my theory that the Cairo had round rooftops as well. 😁 In the back of my mind I would sure like to know for sure, but there is just not enough information out there on it. I'm sure the guys in St. Louis have run into the same issue, but since there is a photograph of they aft end of the St. Louis, they had an easier time with this part.

-Brian

On 1/7/2023 at 8:53 AM, Cathead said:

The most specific question I have, and it's the one least answered by the kit, is whether I'm bending a plywood roof over the curved part of the wheelhouse. No drawing shows this one way or another. I think it would make sense for visual consistency, but I'm curious what Brian and others think.

Eric, your solution to your pilot house conundrum worked out great. This was indeed an unusual shape to get correct and I struggle with it a lot. I ended up making several mock-ups with card stock for the sides trying to get the angles correct, and the forward three panels with their added thickness just made it that much more difficult. At least the kit provided a resin mold to somewhat ease the pain of getting the shape correct. 

For your comment above, I know I am a little late in responding, my apologies but my arm was giving me fits this past weekend and my pain medicine tends to make me a little loopy. However, the curved section over the paddlewheel was not "roofed" like the rest of the structures built around it. From the contemporary photos of the City-Class boats I was able to discern that this area was planked with much thicker timbers (much like the deck material) and the rest of the structures were thinner planks and tarpapered. This can be seen in the photos of the Cincinnati and St. Louis.

On 1/7/2023 at 8:53 AM, Cathead said:

Second, and related, the little side buildings aren't supposed to have flat roofs, but angled ones

The pitch of these roofs was minimal. Basically just enough to shed the rainwater off. I believe is set my pitch at about 3-4 degrees.

Hope this helps.

-Brian

Another suggestion I could offer up would be, if the wood "armor" is even all the way around and matches up at the corners of the resin form, you could possibly glue them all in place on the resin cast and line them up at the top. Once everything dries, you could then do as Ken @Canute suggested and sand the bottom down on a piece of glass or other hard flat surface until the bottoms all match up. 

As a side note, to entice you on a previous post about a railroad ferry project, I took this picture in the Vicksburg Rail Road museum on our visit last year. I thought it looked like a pretty neat project, and something that I had thought about doing some day. My great-grandfather worked for Union Pacific years ago and was in charge of shuttling the RR cars on a ferry similar to this one between Baton Rouge and Port Allen.

-Brian

1 hour ago, Keith Black said:

The contraption looks like you've been borged. 

"Resistance is futile" 😁 It is a contraption alright, and real fun to try and sleep with at night. I've been dealing with the issue since early November, and since we had already met our medical deductible for the year I figured I'd go ahead and get it done. It was also under Admiral's orders.

-Brian

3 hours ago, KeithAug said:

I have an unreasonable aversion to drilling holes in the hull

That would be an almost unimaginable sin to drill holes in such a fine hull.  Glad you took the alternate route and went with the cradle idea.

-Brian

Finally back to where I can function again. Had to have little work done to repair a torn bicep tendon. Just got the cast off today, and now I have to wear this contraption for 5 weeks. Man this is sure cutting into my build time.  I am anxious to get started on my next project, but I don't think I am quite ready. With the time it took me to type this up it may be a while. In the meantime I have a bunch of catching up to do on other build logs since I can now operate the computer again. 

Hope everyone had a great holiday season and is ready for 2023.

-Brian

Merry Christmas Keith, and best wishes for a Happy 2023. 

-Brian

Merry Christmas Eric!

Sorry for all the heartache you are having with this build. I’m just following along and I get frustrated at the inaccuracies. But, I am so glad that you are pointing them out and finding great solutions to fix them so others that build this kit will be able to make the needed adjustments.
 

You guys, and the rest of you MSW members up north please stay warm through this arctic blast. It’s been in the negative numbers here for wind chills the past couple of days and I am really not ready for it. 

-Brian

Just taking a second to wish all my friends here on Model Ship World a very Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year!!

-Brian

Merry Christmas to you and your family as well my friend!

-Brian

Amazing job Keith!
 

I’m wondering how you find the time to work on the Germania, keep up with your detailed log, and keep your workshop so tidy. If I try real hard I can usually accomplish two of those three tasks at once, but somehow you can do all three. Truly a fascinating build, sad to see it approaching the finish line. 
 

-Brian

54 minutes ago, yvesvidal said:

Shapeways is never inexpensive ... 😞

Yves you are correct. Every now and then I run across something that is reasonably priced. The lanterns I used were not terrible, about $1 a piece, but I have seen some things that were just outrageous. Most of it depends on the designer.

-Brian

Congrats on getting her done. Looks like a lot of builds are wrapping up before the new year. Beautiful work, can’t wait to see what’s next.  I may have to add this one to my wish list. 
 

-Brian

6 hours ago, Zetec said:

how many lights do you get

John, It comes with 10 complete lights per set. As shown in the picture, there are 10 bases and 10 globes attached to the sprue. The bottoms of the bases are open to accept the LED wires and the micro LEDs fit perfectly behind the globes. 
 

-Brian

Man Keith, even with your quick builds your work is remarkable. I’m sure she’ll be more than happy with her gift. 
 

-Brian

John,  my misunderstanding. I purchased those at Shapeways. 
 

1:48 Lanterns

-Brian

Thank you John, I appreciate the nice comments. 
 

The LED’s that I used are the multi resistor, micro led’s that I purchased off of Amazon. I used the Golden Yellow color since I thought it represented the coal oil lamp light the best. If I remember correctly, I have about 25 of these installed and they are all powered by a single 9v battery. The link to them is below. 

Micro LED's

I look forward to following your build. 
 

-Brian

3 minutes ago, Roger Pellett said:

Who built the Caroline N?

Thank you Roger. She was built by the Jeffboat Company in Jefferson, IN. She was originally laid down as the Louis H. Meece in 1973. She was later renamed the Caroline N. after my friends wife was born. When my friends father in law retired, he sold the company to Marquette Transportation out of Paducah, KY and she was renamed again. Not sure what the new name is just yet. Haven't gotten that far into my research yet. Hopefully I'll know more by the time I start my build log.

-Brian

Thank you Eric for the kind words. The towboat was not in my original plans, I wanted to start another scratch build of the City of Baton Rouge Ferry, but when my friend approached me about the towboat, I thought why not. To top it off he offered to pay me for it, and wasn't taking no for an answer, so here we go. I still have about six new kits sitting in my closet, two partial builds that I need to finish and the NRG Capstan project that I have to do as well. Looks like I have the next several years planned out for me. Hopefully my towboat project will help you out when you get around to that one.

As for swinging by on your Oklahoma road trip, no need to beg, my door is always open and we enjoy entertaining company.

-Brian

Thank you all for the kind words.

56 minutes ago, KeithAug said:

so what next?

Keith, after a short break, I will be stepping outside of my comfort zone a bit and into the 20th century. A good friend of mine asked me to build a model of a Mississippi River towboat that was owned by his father-in-law. His father-in-law named the boat the Caroline N. after his daughter (my friends wife). He wants me to build it as a  birthday/anniversary/Christmas gift, whenever I can get it completed. It should be interesting, since I have never built a modern boat before. 

We'll see how this one goes. I'll definitely be doing a log for it though.

-Brian

52 minutes ago, wefalck said:

I actually thought that she would be sitting directly on the board, evoking muddy waters around her, as someone was hinting at above.

Eberhard, there are still a couple of items that I need to add to the display. One is the data plaque that I am having engraved for it, the other is a mirror to go under the paddlewheel. I put so much work and detail into the building the paddlewheel that it was a shame to hide it. It is almost impossible to see it through the cutaway, so I decided that I would elevate the model from the base and place a small mirror under it. When the lights are on, it should highlight the paddlewheel nicely. If you notice, there is a coin located on the starboard aft of the base. This is a US Quarter for the Vicksburg NMP. The quarters obverse has a depiction of the USS Cairo on it, and I thought it was a nice addition to the display. The Quarter also functions as the switch to turn on the internal lighting of the boat. Once I get these other items completed, I'll get more pictures posted.

-Brian

Hello again everyone,

160 years ago today, December 12, 1862, the USS Cairo had her rendezvous with destiny. While patrolling the Yazoo River about six miles north of Vicksburg Mississippi, Commander Thomas O. Selfridge and his crew of 175 men were on a torpedo (mine) clearing mission along with another City-Class iron clad the USS Pittsburgh, the Union Ram Queen of the West and two other tin clads, the Marmora & the Signal.

Roughly four hours into the mission, two loud explosions in rapid succession, rocked the Cairo tearing a huge hole in her portside bow. As the forward hold started to fill with water, Commander Selfridge ordered his pilot to run the ship aground on the east bank of the river. Once the ship was on the bank he ordered part of the crew to secure a hawser to tree on the riverbank and the rest of the crew to abandon ship. 12 minutes after the explosions doomed the Cairo, she slipped her hawser and slid into her muddy resting place for the next 100 years. Not a single life was lost.

In 1956 Edwin Bearss and two associates, Warren Grabau and Don Jacks, discovered the wreck and set out on a mission of their own to pull the Cairo from the muddy riverbed. On December 12, 1964, 102 years to the day of her sinking, the final piece of the sunken Ironclad was set on top of the recovery barge. The wreckage was then towed to Ingalls Shipyard in Pascagoula Mississippi where the pieces were to be reassembled, tagged and catalogued. 

Finally in 1977, after several years of neglect, red tape and debate, funding was secured and what remained of the Cairo was transported to Vicksburg National Military Park where she, along with the thousands of artifacts recovered with her, could permanently be displayed properly. In November of 1980 the Cairo reassembly was completed, the protective shelter built and the museum was opened to the public.

I first saw the Cairo in the fall of 1984 when I was a Boy Scout. Our troop had taken a trip Vicksburg to hike the park tour road as part of some of our merit badge requirements. A few months prior to our visit, I had just finished my first ship model, Revell’s 1:96 scale USS Constitution. This was the model that started my life long love of model shipbuilding. I still recall as we came down the hill to the Cairo museum and I fist laid eyes on the display, I said to myself that one day I am going to build that ship.

A photograph from my first visit to the Cairo in 1984.

Well time passed and life went on, but that thought still remained in the back of my mind that one day I would get around to building my model of the Cairo. In 2011, I moved away from plastic models and started my first wooden ship model, ironically enough it was the USS Constitution cross section. Since that time I have been hooked and have not looked back. In 2014, on our way back from Parris Island, SC to see my daughter graduate from Marine Corps Boot Camp, the Admiral and I decided to take a side trip to Vicksburg NMP. It was then that my interest in the USS Cairo was renewed and I was finally determined that the build was going to happen one way or another. So I searched and searched, but could not find a model kit of the Cairo that I personally felt was good enough (or big enough) to feed my desire to fulfill my dream. So I decided that it was going to have to be a scratch build. Well with only three years of wooden ship building under my belt, I felt that my skills were just not there yet, so I set out to hone my skills by completing more model kits until I felt the time was right.

During my Chaperon build, I did a lot of additional research and I added a lot of extra scratch-built details that I had found from contemporary photos of her and from a lot of help from people here on MSW. So in 2020, after completing my Chaperon kit I felt that I had enough practice under my belt that it was time to knuckle down and start a full scratch build. In my mind there was no debating that the Cairo was going to be that build. So here it is, after 38 years of dreaming and over 2 ½ years of work, my final product of the USS Cairo City-Class Ironclad circa 1862.

I want to thank all of those who have stopped by to have a look and those who have stuck with me through this build, offering up your suggestions, comments and words of encouragement. It means so much to me to have you following along. I’ll have better pictures coming soon for the Gallery. My daughter works with a professional photographer that is going to do a shoot for me. She is a bit tied up through the holidays, but hopefully after the new year I should have some good ones to add.

I am going to take a short break through the holidays, I need to have a procedure done that will put me out of commission for a few weeks, but I need to get it done this year so insurance will pay for it. After that, I will be back at it. I’ve got another scratch build planned that is a bit outside of my wheelhouse, but it should be fun.

Thank you all!

-Brian