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

[mbp521]

29 minutes ago, kurtvd19 said:

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.

Hi Kurt, unfortunately I do not have a zero clearance insert for my saw. I had never really thought that I would use the saw for small detail work like ship modelling. However, that is something that I will look into if I can't swing the Byrnes for a while. I'll definitely bring the finger saving idea up to the wife though. If no one hears anything from me for a while I may be recovering from a mysterious frying pan upside the head accident. 😁 

 

-Brian

[KeithAug]

On 12/2/2022 at 12:59 AM, Alex-Ks1 said:

I have a precision small table saw, it uses a very thin diamond blade,

That is interesting, could you provide more information on the diamond blade and perhaps where you purchased it from. 

[KeithAug]

On 12/2/2022 at 6:19 PM, mbp521 said:

I'll definitely bring the finger saving idea up to the wife though.

The advantage of the Byrnes saw is that the amputation is much cleaner, which facilitates the process of surgical re-attachment. The more aggressive blades on full size saws produce quite a ragged cut and this complicates surgery and can even lead to mistakes when deciding which finger to attach to which stump.😁

[mbp521]

2 hours ago, KeithAug said:

That is interesting, could you provide more information on the diamond blade and perhaps where you purchased it from.

I can’t speak for the UK Keith but over here we have a place called Harbor Freight. They sell tools really cheap, but of course they are cheap. Several years ago when I first got into wooden ship building I purchase one of their cheap mini table saws for something like $20. Needless to say, you get what you pay for, and it wouldn’t cut a clean line for anything. Long story short, it came with a diamond blade, but it does say for masonry. Never thought to try it on wood. 

 

2 hours ago, KeithAug said:

The advantage of the Byrnes saw is that the amputation is much cleaner, which facilitates the process of surgical re-attachment.

Good to know that digit reattachment is easier with the Byrnes. Good selling point. I sure hope this information doesn’t come from personal experience though. 😁

 

-Brian

Edited December 4, 2022 by mbp521

[Keith Black]

 

49 minutes ago, mbp521 said:

Good to know that digit reattachment is easier with the Byrnes. Good selling point.

 

    Brian, the second you say "digital reattachment" in a discussion with your wife about purchasing a Byrnes saw will be the last second of the conversation. 

[KeithAug]

15 hours ago, mbp521 said:

Long story short, it came with a diamond blade

Thank you Brian. I wasn’t sure it was a masonry blade, but now I know I will try it.

[Roger Pellett]

If “digital replacement” becomes a selling point, you need to replace that Craftsman full sized table saw with a SawStop table saw.  That’s a Rabbit Hole involving $$$$!

 

My full sized table saw is a 10in Delta Contractor’s saw bought for $150 from a local canoe builder who upgraded to a SawStop.  The sale price included a trailer to haul it home! 😁

 

Roger

[wefalck]

On the Internet you can find all sorts of sizes and grades of diamond-coated cutting saws. They are not only used in tile etc. cutting, but also for cutting gem-stones.

[mbp521]

23 hours ago, Roger Pellett said:

If “digital replacement” becomes a selling point, you need to replace that Craftsman full sized table saw with a SawStop table saw.  That’s a Rabbit Hole involving $$$$!

Roger, I had looked at those several years ago, but they were way too expensive. They are also proud of their saws as well, and having to replace the cartridge every time it was used can get a little pricy. 

 

23 hours ago, Roger Pellett said:

My full sized table saw is a 10in Delta Contractor’s saw bought for $150 from a local canoe builder who upgraded to a SawStop.  The sale price included a trailer to haul it home!

What a steal! I bought my Craftsman about 20 years ago and paid about $1500 for it, and that was the floor model. Not to mention it didn't come with a trailer. Had to haul it home in the truck and have three friends help unload it. 😁

 

-Brian

[mbp521]

23 hours ago, wefalck said:

On the Internet you can find all sorts of sizes and grades of diamond-coated cutting saws. They are not only used in tile etc. cutting, but also for cutting gem-stones.

I have a set of diamond needle files that work great for fine sanding wood in those hard to reach places, but have never used one on a saw. Seems that the speed factor would tend to gall up the blade pretty quick with the wood fibers.

 

-Brian.

[wefalck]

Indeed, and I would not use it on thick stock, where lots of material is to be removed. However, I am using sometimes the 20 to 40 mm diameter versions on the saw table of my lathe for thin stuff.

 

Make sure you get a cutting-saw, that is one where the coating is on the rim and extends some mm on the side surfaces. Disks that are covered all over in diamond are for grinding and may get stuck, as there is no clearance when you feed them in further.

[Roger Pellett]

Old tools are often a good buy if you’re at the right place at the right time.  The trailer was nice too.  It had been built as “Government Work” at the nearby Duluth, Messabe, and Iron Range Railroad maintenance shop.  It had detachable racks for hauling four canoes.  Unfortunately my wife and the next door neighbor lady quickly got tired of seeing it parked outside so I donated it to the fund raising auction for our local sailing assn.

 

Roger

[mbp521]

Hello everyone,

 

It's getting down to the final details of my build, I am almost done. I just wanted to share this one update right quick on a little gem that I found this weekend.

 

I was trying to decide how to display model properly. My plan was to build another case and mount it in there, eventually. Then the Admiral came up with the brilliant idea to mount it to a slab of wood. I tell you, I'm not sure what I would do without her. So I looked around on the interweb for some ideas and then it came to me, a live edge black walnut slab. So headed down to the sawmill and picked up this beautiful piece of wood. It is a tad bit thicker that what I was wanting (about 2" thick), but I think it will work out perfectly.

 

So I took it out to the barn and gave it a good sanding to get the sawmill chatter marks out of it. Started off with an 80 grit and worked my way up to 400 grit and then a final rub down with some #000 steel wool.

 

Once sanded and dusted, I then applied one coat of Tung Oil to it and let it dry.

 

and then a second. Just finished with this coat and I think that should do it. There are some pretty porous areas on the edges that will need a few extra coats to soak in, but the main part looks perfect.

 

Once this coat cures I am going to flip in over and work on getting the base ready for the light switch and battery compartment. Can't wait to see what the boat looks like mounted to this beauty. Oh, did I mention this son of a gun weighs about 40 lbs. (without the boat). I'm going to have to find a heavy duty shelf to put this on.

 

-Brian

 

Edited December 7, 2022 by mbp521

[Keith Black]

Brian, what a great piece of lumber for the base. The live edge is reminiscent of the rough muddy banks of the rivers the Cairo patrolled. 

[mbp521]

15 minutes ago, Keith Black said:

The live edge is reminiscent of the rough muddy banks of the rivers the Cairo patrolled. 

Thank you Keith, I am glad you saw that to. That is exactly the look I was going for. The grain of the wood matches the shape of the bow almost perfectly. 😁

 

-Brian

Edited December 7, 2022 by mbp521

[Cathead]

Fan-freakin-tastic! Keith's right, the color and shape really evoke the river.

[Canute]

Great find for your display base. beautiful piece of wood. 👍

[yvesvidal]

Presenting an "Ironclad" on a piece of wood is a good way to create a nice contrast. Well done.

 

Yves

[KeithAug]

Brian, I wouldn’t have thought about it but I do have to admit that the grain is quite reminiscent of a wake in muddy water. It will be interesting to see how Cairo looks when mounted.

Edited December 11, 2022 by KeithAug

[mtaylor]

Keith makes a good point and re-looking, I think he's right.

[FriedClams]

Just catching up Brian.  Beautiful work on the flag.  The color and value of both red and blue are spot on - natural realistic drape as well.  That handsome slab of wood will make a wonderful base/stand.

 

Gary

[wefalck]

Sounds like a nice and unsual idea - curious now to see how it looks ...

[mbp521]

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

[FriedClams]

Congratulations Brian on completing this beautiful model.  Truly something to be proud of. Wonderful.

 

Gary

[ccoyle]

Wow! That's a great display!

[wefalck]

Looking very impressive indeed 👍 

 

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

[Shotlocker]

Simply magnificent build!

[mbp521]

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

Edited December 12, 2022 by mbp521

[wefalck]

Oh yes, I forgot about her wheel. That makes perfect sense to show it with a mirror underneath ... 

[Canute]

beautiful work on Cairo. Superb display. 👍