USS Cairo 1862 by MPB521 – FINISHED - Scale 1:48 - American Civil War Ironclad - First Scratch Build

[mbp521]

Hello again everyone,

 

I took advantage of the cold rainy weekend and got some work done on the ships boats rigging. A big thank you to @wefalck@Cathead & @Keith Black for keeping me honest and pointed in the right direction. 

 

I spent some time studying the old City-Class pictures and from the limited detail the old photos provided, this is what I came up with for the control and stabilizing lines on the davits. The eyes at the end of each davit is hard to make out in the photographs so it is difficult to tell if the control lines and stabilizing lines are separate or one continuous line. I went with the executive decision to make them separate. My reasoning for this was that it would be easier to replace one shorter rope should it break than a long one, and I thought it looked better having them all separate. First thing I did was to secure the tackle to the davit on the covered boats. I did it this way out of sheer laziness, I didn't want to remove the boats and their covers and redo them with cutouts for the tackle to go down the lift rings on the boats. Not to mention that I have not been able to find a single photograph of a City-Class ship with a covered boat anywhere, to show how it was stowed.

 

Tackle secured to the davit.

.

 

Control lines and stabilizing lines in place on the starboard boats.

 

 

 

Control lines and stabilizing lines on the port boats.

 

Since I still had some time and it was still raining after finishing up the boats, I decided to do some touch ups and a bit more weathering. Here is some of what I got done.

 

Bow weathering.

Closer details.

 

Wheelhouse and deck structure weathering.

 

I still have a bit more weathering to go, I just wanted to get this out there before the Thanksgiving holiday, I am currently working on more weathering, as well as the ensign and the commissioning pennant. I have seen some models and pictures of another pennant flown from the center mast on some of these ships but I am not sure of what it is. It would be a neat addition, just not sure of it's authenticity.

 

 

 

I also need to find out if the commissioning pennant the Cairo flew was the 13 star or the 7 star version. Still looking into that one.

 

Thanks again for all your input and for stopping by,

 

-Brian

 

Edited November 16, 2022 by mbp521

[yvesvidal]

2 minutes ago, mbp521 said:

Incredibly beautiful and realistic. It was hard for me to pick up a picture, but I think this one summarizes the excellence of your work.

 

Yves

[Keith Black]

Wow, Brian. The ships boats, covers, and tackle look great and the deck structures look amazing. 

[BANYAN]

Very nice work indeed Brian; a very nicely bui;lt and presented model.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[bdgiantman2]

Hey Brian, amazing progress with this ship of yours! She looks very authentic and should get many prizes. Just as a FYI, with my current model ship (Brig Eagle of Lake Champlain in 1814), I also bought an American flag with the 13 stars in the circular pattern. Of all the places, to get the flag in the size suggest getting (the size of an index card), I ended up buying from a company in England! Will need to see if able to find the name of the company to send to you over private messaging. I tried companies in the United States like Blue Jacket, but the biggest options they had available was 1:96 scale or else it was too modern.

 

I look forward to additional progress on this amazing model as well as whatever your next project will be on here.

 

Brian D

[Nunnehi (Don)]

Brian, your model is just stunning, I’ve really enjoyed watching it come together!

 

Don

[LEFEBVRE]

Very well done! Magnificent achievement. 😍

[French Mr Bean]

Splendid !!!

[mbp521]

 

Thank you all for the kind words and likes!

  

13 hours ago, bdgiantman2 said:

Of all the places, to get the flag in the size suggest getting (the size of an index card), I ended up buying from a company in England!

Oh the irony of that one. 😁

 

12 hours ago, bdgiantman2 said:

Will need to see if able to find the name of the company to send to you over private messaging.

Please, by all means send the link. I'm always on the look out for places to shop for modeling supplies. For this build I am attempting to make my own ensigns, but if I fail I may need a fallback.

 

There are several methods that are posted in the "Tip and Tricks" section of MSW and I want to try a few as well as experiment on my own. Most of them require the ensign to be printed out, which helps when you can't find the correct scale online, and it allows you to go with any size you like. In this case I am going with a 6'x10' 34-Star ensign in 1:48 scale. Should be just about right for the ones flown on these boats. As for the pennant, from what I have found so far, they call for them to be 32' in length. Scaled to 1:48 that is about 8" long. I think that would be a little too much and wouldn't look right on the model. I'm still investigating that one and may have to shorten it up a bit to get it to look right. I did discover that the 13-star version was used during the Civil War, so I am one step closer.

 

I am going to play around with these for a bit and see how they turn out.

-Brian

[Roger Pellett]

Stiff paper flags can ruin the appearance of a well built model and your beautiful model deserves lifelike ones.

Following techniques published years ago in the NRG I made flags that I an happy with for a Longboat model.

 

I used Japanese Rice paper.  I suspect light weight Silkspan would work too.

I taped a xerox copy of the flag onto a hard surface; in my case, a homemade light table. I taped the rice paper over the xerox copy.  With a sharp 4H pencil, I traced the flag on to the rice paper.  I painted the flag onto the rice paper with thinned acrylic paints.  I then turned the rice paper over and repeated the process, including pencil tracing of the flag.  The pencil provides a little crease in the paper to help you paint a sharped edge.  I did not paint white areas of the flag, instead I used the natural rice paper color.  These flags can be teased into various natural shapes with a wet paint brush.

 

Keep in mind “scale distance.”  In your case viewing the model from 1ft is equivalent to viewing the real thing from 48ft.  At 48ft the stars in the flag would not show up with crisp 5 points, so you can cheat a little.  I don’t know when sewing machines were invented or became common but I suspect that these flags were not machine made.  Actual photos of old flags show that their geometry is not as exact as we might expect.  Below is my attempt with shaky hands.  

 

Roger

 

 

 

Edited November 17, 2022 by Roger Pellett

[mtaylor]

Another way to get natural looking flags is take an aluminum can, open it flat.  Then bend it to the desired shape for the hanging flag.  Put the flag on the shaped can and soak with white glue/water (if printed... test to see if the ink runs) and press into the can to shape.   Let dry.    I used that on my Constellation and Wasa and the flags came out very well, IMO.

[KeithAug]

Brian I'm looking forward to seeing and learning from your flag experiments. I think it is time you stopped pretending this is your first scratch model, you are fooling no one😁.

[mbp521]

 

 

10 hours ago, Roger Pellett said:

Stiff paper flags can ruin the appearance of a well built model and your beautiful model deserves lifelike ones.

Thank you Roger, I agree 100% with this statement. Never would I even think of putting a stiff paper flag on any model. It's almost blasphemy to spend that much time on a build only to tarnish it by slapping a unrealistic flag on it.😁

 

Actually you brought up one of the methods from the NRG that I was going to try. I was going to deviate slightly from the method and attempt to see if the Silkspan would hold the ink from my printer first without bleeding. If it does bleed, I may see if I can locate some rice paper and try that. I've never dealt with rice paper before, but there is always a first time for everything. I am not real confident in my painting skills and getting straight lines, but there is always the need to improve a skill I'm lacking in. However, the star field is what's holding me back from painting. 34 small stars (at 1:48 on a 6' x 10' flag are about 2mm across) and doubling that for both sides would test my patience to the max. I may someday try painting one on a more simpler pattern such as the Union Jack, I just don't think I'm ready with this one. Not to mention with the eyes that are on me now, I want to make sure that I get it done right so I don't disappoint.

 

 

7 hours ago, mtaylor said:

Another way to get natural looking flags is take an aluminum can, open it flat.  Then bend it to the desired shape for the hanging flag.  Put the flag on the shaped can and soak with white glue/water (if printed... test to see if the ink runs) and press into the can to shape.   Let dry.    I used that on my Constellation and Wasa and the flags came out very well, IMO.

Mark, Thank you for the suggestion. This is not a method that I have run across yet and will definitely take into consideration if I am not able to achieve a natural look. 

 

 

6 hours ago, KeithAug said:

Brian I'm looking forward to seeing and learning from your flag experiments. I think it is time you stopped pretending this is your first scratch model, you are fooling no one😁.

Keith, no pretending here. This entire build has been a learning experience. 😁 But, pull up a chair while I run through my first attempt at flag making.

 

 

 

With this much attention I decided to go ahead and get my beta test posted and get some input (positive or negative) from everyone. So here goes.

 

I started with printing out the ensign on just some plain white printer paper. Not a heavy bond, just lightweight so that the flag wasn't too thick and easy to work with.

 

I took an ochre chalk pastel and lightly brushed on a little color to give it a stained/weathered look and take some of the sharpness out of the white and dull down some of the blue and red.

 

 

Both sides aged a bit.

 

Then I trimmed away the excess paper get the full shape of the ensign.

 

This next step was really hard for me because it seemed a bit disrespectful to do this to the flag, but I kept telling myself, it's only temporary and part of the process to show it off properly. I wadded the paper to soften the fibers and make it look a lot more like material.

 

After unravelling it, I pulled it across the sharp edge of my desk to help smooth out some of the harsher lines. I repeated this step about three or four times to get the right feel.

 

Once I had the paper feeling like I wanted, I applied a thick layer of clear Elmer's glue to the inside and smeared it out evenly on one side. I used a good bit so that it allowed me to slide the edges together and get them even.

 

Once the two halves were glued together, I pressed them together with a steel block to smooth it out even more.

 

Now to the fun part. Trying to shape the ensign so that it looks like it is hanging naturally. I didn't want to show it like it was flying in a stiff wind, I wanted to have it look like it was hanging on a nice calm day, with hardly a breeze. Just enough to show the colors, but not stick out too much. I used my steel block to hold the header flat and in place since this side would be straight when secured to the rope. I then curled the rest to form a natural hanging look.

 

To hold the curl in position until the glue dried, I placed a wooden block on it. The block was not heavy enough to flatten the flag, but light enough to give it some dimension.

 

While the glue was drying, I pieced together the halyard and hooks. I simulated the grommets with a pencil and pierced the header with a small punch.

 

Next I needed to dress up the edges a bit so that the white paper didn't show, so I used a red and blue chalk pastel to cover it up.

 

I just ran the pastel softly along the edge then dusted the excess off. This seemed to work pretty good and blended the colors nicely. I also darkened the header a bit with a rust pastel to show the differences in material.

 

After I had the edges covered up, it was time to secure the ensign to the halyard.

 

Then the whole thing was placed on the mast.

 

For the most part I think it came out pretty nice looking for my first attempt. I am going to play around with some other methods, but I am looking to get an opinion or thoughts on what the gallery thinks of this version. I am open to any and all suggestions or criticism. This is a learning experience for me and I'd like to make sure that I learn right.

 

Thanks to all for stopping by and look forward to your comments.

 

-Brian

 

Edited November 18, 2022 by mbp521

[Roger Pellett]

I think that that looks first class!  

[leclaire]

I agree with Roger. Hard to believe you got such a realistic look with regular bond paper. Very nice indeed.

 

Bob

[wefalck]

The flag came out nicely indeed.

 

If the glue is not too stiff, I would round out the sharp diagonal creases somewhat to give the flag a bit more volume. If there is no wind, the diagonal crease from the upper corner would hang down parallel to the flagg-staff, rather than sticking out at 45°. Conversely, if it sticks out at an angle, then because some wind is caught in it, billowing it out ...

[Canute]

Well done on your flag. And nicely weathered.

[KeithAug]

Brian - yep that looks pretty good, have you considered trying the same process but with a single layer of paper printed on both sides?

[mtaylor]

Looks great from here.   You might want to try one like Keith suggested using a single layer of paper.

[Keith Black]

 I think the flag looks great, the thickness seems just right. Single layer printed both sides would look too thin IMHO. 

[mbp521]

@Roger Pellett, @leclaire, @wefalck, @Canute, @KeithAug, @mtaylor, @Keith Black Thank you all for your input and suggestions.

 

So I spent the evening playing around with different methods and here is what I came up with.

 

My second attempt was to try printing the flag on silkspan just to see if the ink would bleed. Turns out that the printer did a fantastic job on the silkspan and the lines came out nice an clean. I taped the silkspan to a piece of cardstock to hold it in place so it wouldn't crinkle up under the printer head.

Then I separated the printout from the cardstock and trimmed the edges after a bit of weathering. I wasn't too keen on the color of the white areas on the silkspan when I pulled it off the cardstock, it looked a little too gray, but when I folded it over the gray toned out a bit and it looked a little more white.

The silkspan that I had on hand was very thin, something left over from a balsa airplane I made years ago. But I figured I'd give it a shot, so I slathered some glue on the back side and folded it over to glue the two sides together. That is where I screwed it up. The glue thinned the silkspan down so much that it was next to impossible to work with and when I went to align the side it just smeared and ruined the whole piece. So on to the next method.

 

The next method I tried was @KeithAug suggestion to print the pattern on both sides of the paper and just make the flag a single layer. I printed out about five versions of it before I finally gave up. My poor cheapo printer just would not line the paper up when I would turn it over to print the other side. This was the closest I could get the sides to line up with each other.

I went ahead and gave it a shot anyway to see if I could distress it and get it lay the way I wanted to without using any glue. The distressing looked great, but the paper was just to flimsy to lay right. So I moved on to the next method. Parchment paper. Well needless to say, that method didn't work either, The parchment paper was too crinkly and when I went to shape it the wrinkles were just too unrealistic.

 

So finally I decided that I would make another attempt at distressing the printer paper like in my beta test. I liked the way this version looked aesthetically, I just wasn't happy with the way it was hanging on the halyard. As Eberhard pointed out, the angle was not natural, so I redid this method to place the header down the middle of the flag and have it hang more centered on the mast.

 

Here are all of the attempts I made, just to show the differences.

 

A. second version of distressed bond paper. I added a little more weathering than the beta version, but I liked the curl and hang a lot better.

B. The  beta test

C. The single layer

D. Parchment paper

E. Silkspan

 

Here is version A placed on the model. I like the way that it hangs and I think the weathered patina looks just right,

 

 

I found some pictures online of flags sitting on stages in flag stands to get the drape right, and used these to mold my shape. On the western rivers, there was always some sort of breeze, so the flag wouldn't be sitting perfectly still or hanging against the mast. So I took this into consideration and left the left the bottom of the ensign hanging slightly out from the mast, just to give it some "life". I think I am completely satisfied with this version, and now that I have beat this subject to death. time to move on to the pennant.

 

Thank you all so much for your valuable input and suggestions. It is greatly appreciated.

 

-Brian

[KeithAug]

7 hours ago, mbp521 said:

print the pattern on both sides of the paper

Brian - alignment

 

Print the flag on a piece of paper.

Tape the "tissue" paper over the printed flag and reprint the flag on to the tissue.

Remove the tissue and flip it over and carefully align the printed tissue paper image with the image on the paper. Tape it in position.

Re print the image on the reverse side of the tissue paper.

 

Hopefully the images on the two sides match.

 

Having said that your chosen flag looks great.

 

 

Edited November 19, 2022 by KeithAug

[Cathead]

On 11/17/2022 at 10:11 PM, mbp521 said:

This next step was really hard for me because it seemed a bit disrespectful to do this to the flag,

I'd say that the tribute this model represents far outweighs any fleeting disrespect. Especially in a country where outright abuse of the flag code (e.g. clothing) is rampant, especially and ironically among the most self-professed patriotic.

 

Brief rant aside, yet another seminar in modeling. I wonder if your methods for making such a lovely draped flag would be a good fit for a short article in the Nautical Research Journal? We so often see waving flags, so rarely draped ones.

[mtaylor]

The flag came out great.  Well worth the testing, IMHO.  

[hollowneck]

Excellent description of your work. The draped flag may be the best I’ve seen on the forum. Thanks for detailing the steps and also for attempting some of the suggested alternatives. I wholly concur with your final choice. It looks great on your model.

[Zetec]

Hi I came across your build site as I was looking for information on the USS Cairo that I have just started to build. What a lovely model you have built. You must be very proud of what you have achieved. I only hope mine will come out looking something like yours this now gives me a bench mark to aim towards.

 

John

[mbp521]

8 hours ago, Zetec said:

Hi I came across your build site as I was looking for information on the USS Cairo that I have just started to build. What a lovely model you have built. You must be very proud of what you have achieved. I only hope mine will come out looking something like yours this now gives me a bench mark to aim towards.

Thank you John for the kind words. I see that you are new to MSW and I hope you are planning to do a build log on your model. There are so many wonderful resources here at MSW and I would love to follow along and help out where I can.

 

- Brian

[Alex-Ks1]

On 6/10/2020 at 10:10 PM, mbp521 said:

Hello Everyone,

 

It's been a little hectic over here since my last update. With the warm weather we had several of our goats give birth within a few days of each other, so time has been split between nursing kids and my build.

 

I did manage to make some progress on my Cairo though (along with a lot of sawdust) and her hull is finally starting to take shape.

 

 

I cut out the filler blocks for the bow and stern sections and got them all temp installed into place.

 

I then used my template to mark the hull outlines on top and bottom.

 

This is where a lot of sawdust was generated. The filler blocks were cut down and glued into place. Then they were shaped to the contour of the hull with the sander.

 

Next, I installed the center keel and stempost.

 

Next, I started planking the hull bottom on both sides of the center keel between the port and starboard keels.

 

I finished up with the center planking and then installed the port and starboard keels. I also installed the display mount blocks. Since this is a rather wide ship, I decided to go with four mount points to give it a better stance for stability. Not to mention that with all of this wood, this is going to be a fairly heavy model and I definitely don't want to risk any damage to it by scrimping on the display.

 

Once I had started the center keel hull planking, I noticed that the port and starboard false keels had developed a slight curve to them beginning just past the end of the center keel. Rather than just trust the CA to hold everything in place, I decided to drill and install trenails along the false keel to add extra support. I also temp installed a piece of 1/8" plywood between the keels to keep them straight until the bottom hull planking was done. Just to be sure that everything stays straight.

 

 

From here I will work on planking the rest of the hull bottom. As you can see from the above picture I have some of it in place on the starboard side. This week I will try to finish up on it and get it all sanded flush with the edge of the hull sides, then hopefully start planking the hull sides.

 

Until the next update, thank you all for looking and for all of the likes.

 

- Brian

 

I have a precision small table saw, it uses a very thin diamond blade, this dose not put the rips in the wood, it looks more like it was uses with a hot knife. Very smooth, no rips, 

[mbp521]

16 hours ago, Alex-Ks1 said:

I have a precision small table saw, it uses a very thin diamond blade, this dose not put the rips in the wood, it looks more like it was uses with a hot knife. Very smooth, no rips, 

Alex-Ks1, thank you for stopping by. I have been eye-balling a Byrnes precision table saw for some time now, it just hasn't been in the budget as of yet. I cut the bulkheads on my Craftsman 10" Industrial table saw from 1/4" plywood, with a brand new carbide tipped blade. Even with a new blade I just couldn't keep the plywood from shredding. Of course the plywood was not of the best quality either, but this is the reason for all the tear-outs. Fortunately all the bulkheads were hidden and none of the "nastiness" of the plywood can be seen. For the finer stuff, I used an Xacto saw blade and a lot of sandpaper. One of these days I may be able to talk the Admiral into a Byrnes (fingers crossed).

 

-Brian

[kurtvd19]

Brian:

Do you have a zero clearance insert for your saw blade?  The use of one for each saw blade cuts down on the splintering on plywood.  Makes a much cleaner cut.  Tell your wife that the Byrnes saw is a matter of saving your fingers.  While it is quite capable of taking off a digit or two it being smaller and sized to the work you do with models makes it safer to use than the big shop saw.

Kurt