CSS Nashville - Verlinden - 1:200 Resin

[BobCardone]

Hi all,

   I'm a big fan of pre-dreadnoughts , particularly ironclads. There's not a lot of kits available for these beasts, currently Cottage Industry Models offers some really nice 1:192 and 1:96 kits. The 1:96 kits are cutaway with full interior detail and I'll probably build one (CSS Tennessee) in the future. Other current manufacturers I am aware of are Flagship Models, Lone Star Models and Old Steam Navy (There are probably others, LMK).

   Most modelers are familiar with Verlinden Productions, a company that made some of the best PE and resin add on detail sets for armor and aircraft. Unfortunately, the company closed in 2016 so these fine products are only available  from ebay, as NOS or from in-store inventory. What most aren't aware of is that Verlinden released a line of waterline 1:200 civil war ironclads called "North and South". This is an unboxing and quick look at their kit of the Confederate ironclad CSS Nashville. I purchased the kit from Dragon-Hobby on eBay for about $100 shipped.

   Here's a quick history and description from Wikipedia:

   

   "The ship was 271 feet (82.6 m)long overall, had a beam of 62 feet 6 inches (19.1 m) and a draft of 10 feet 9 inches (3.3 m). The side wheels were powered by two steam engines with a 9-inch (229 mm) bore and a 36-inch (914 mm) stroke. She was armed with three 7-inch (178 mm) Brooke Rifles and a 24-pounder howitzer.

Nashville was laid down at Montgomery, Alabama because of the availability of riverboat engines there. Launched in mid-1863, Nashville was taken to Mobile for completion in 1864. Part of her armor came from the CSS Baltic. Still fitting out, she took no part in the Battle of Mobile Bay on 5 August 1864. She helped fend off attacks on Spanish Fort Alabama on 27 March 1865, supporting Confederate forces until driven away by Federal batteries, and shelled Federal troops near Fort Blakely on 2 April 1865. The ships retreated up the Tombigbee River 10 days later when Mobile surrendered. She was one of the vessels formally surrendered on 10 May 1865.

   Although never quite finished, she had been heavily armored with triple 2-inch plating forward and around her pilot house, only a single thickness aft and there had been some doubts expressed that her builders might have overestimated her structural strength.  After a survey by a Union engineer, he determined that she was hogged when surrendered and was not strong enough to bear the weight of her full armor, and that she could not live in a seaway.

Following her surrender, Nashville was laid up until 22 November 1867, when she was sold for scrap, her armor having previously been stripped for reuse in other vessels.

 

Here's an artist's rendition from Google images:

On to the kit...

   Packaged in a sturdy plain white box with a color label, the hull and parts bag were safely bubble wrapped and surrounded by foam peanuts.

 

   

 

 

Here's the instructions:

 

Here's some shots of the one piece resin waterline hull.  No flash, bubbles or distortion. This is one of the nicest resin castings I've ever run across. The cast detail is crisp and the finish is smooth. The hull measures about 16" long, 4" wide (with paddles) and 4" tall (with smokestack).

 

 

Here's the rest of the parts:

 

 

   Lots of sprues to saw off, but the overall detail is quite good. My kit was missing one cannon port cover, but there are extras included so no problem. One bottom edge of the paddle wheel cover is broken off, but the piece was in the parts bag and should re-attach with no problem. After a good cleaning, assembly should be pretty simple. A coat of proper primer and then she'll be ready for weathering. Ugly as she is, she should build up into an obscure but interesting model. Since these kits are out of production, they're getting harder to find but the good thing is that they can be found for a fraction of their original list price.

   In conclusion, this is a fine kit. Well cast, nice detail and relatively simple construction. This kit is in my build queue, and I'll start a build log when I begin construction.