CSS Alabama by Glen McGuire - FINISHED - Mamoli - 1:120

[Glen McGuire]

Unfortunately I did not discover this fantastic community until I was almost finished with my CSS Alabama build (wow, there's some incredible talent out here).  I am done now with my build but thought I'd post my pictures and comments from the 8 months of harrowing work.  This was my first attempt at a wooden ship model. 

 

Not sure why I thought I could do this since the only other models I've ever attempted were Revell plastic car models when I was a kid 50 years ago.  But how hard could it be, right?  It's just a kit, right?  All you gotta do is follow the instructions and glue the parts together, right?  Right, noob (as my son would say). 

 

Even though I'm done now, I would appreciate any comments/tips/advice on what I could have done better as I'll be doing another one of these things soon.        

[Glen McGuire]

Easiest part of the build - gluing the frames on the keel.  I figured I'd be done with everything in a couple of weeks at this point.

[Glen McGuire]

Then things started to get interesting.  The shackle for the prop needed a frame with a routed groove so it could slide up and down.  No part in the kit for that, so I used spare wood pieces from the framework to carve it out.  The kit instructions said to just glue the prop in place but I thought the prop should be able to spin.  So I drilled out the middle between the 2 blades, added the little pipe you can see to the right of the prop, and then inserted a tiny finishing nail as an axle.  It spins when you thump it!  And now I was starting to get an idea of what I had gotten myself into.

[gsdpic]

Haven't seen this kit before.  I'll follow along to see how it went.   Those middle five bulkheads look far apart for planking.  My guess is that was one of your challenges.  Are there two layers of planking?

 

Oh, and by the way, welcome to MSW!

Edited July 20, 2021 by gsdpic

[Glen McGuire]

Planking steps.  Whoever came up with the idea of using binder clips to hold the planks in place is a genius!  Not sure if I really planked it correctly though.  I started at the water line and went up.  Then from the keel up.  The gap got smaller and smaller and I ended up having to get creative with how to hold those last few planks in place.  Rubber bands and pieces of clothes pins.

Edited July 20, 2021 by Glen McGuire

[Glen McGuire]

@gsdpic Thanks for the welcome note!  Your comment is actually one of the reasons I wanted to post this build - I found several logs of the plastic Revell Alabama but none of the Mamoli wood kit.  Figured someone might benefit from my experience even though I'm a rookie.  Regarding the planking and bulkheads, yes the distance was a challenge.  But being new to this, I assumed they were all like that.  You will see in some later pictures that it is double planked just above the water line and copper plated below.  So I figured I didn't have to be perfect with the base layer of planking (thank goodness!).  

[Glen McGuire]

First layer of planking done and sanded.  It went ok but was incredibly tedious taking a couple of weeks of repetitive work.  There are probably better ways to bend/mold the planks.  I soaked them in warm water, clamped them in place, let them dry, then glued 'em up.  Rinse, repeat, rinse repeat...  I also used some wood filler to cover some of my bad technique since it would be covered later with another layer of planking as well as copper plates.

Edited July 20, 2021 by Glen McGuire

[Glen McGuire]

The second layer of planking was applied to the upper half of the hull starting slightly above the water line using darker wood.  The color does not matter since it is painted black later.  It was quite a chore for me to get all the pieces fitted smoothly (sort of) around the stern.  I really struggled with the angles and curves and transitions.  Copper plates go below the second planking layer down to the keel.

[Glen McGuire]

Next step was the deck.  I borrowed a tip from somewhere to use a carpenter pencil and rub it over the edge of each deck plank to give it a dark accent between the strips to simulate caulking.  I thought it worked quite well.  However, as you can see, as I glued the planks on the 1-piece deckboard, the whole thing began to bow upwards.  So when I went to glue the whole thing onto the boat, I needed some weight to hold it in place hence the assortment of every small, heavy thing I could find in my garage.  

Edited August 12, 2021 by Glen McGuire

[Bob Cleek]

Yes, there are easier ways to bend planking. Check out the "more" drop down menu at the forum masthead. There are planking tutorials there which you'll find most helpful. There are many approaches. My favorite is simply dry heat, using a plank bending iron ( a modeling tool) and/or a small travel iron. It's fast and not messy. 

 

For a first effort, it appears you are doing quite well. It can be a steep learning curve, but, obviously, you have what it takes to succeed. 

 

Study the planking tutorials in the forum for tips on planking. I'm not familiar with the model you are building, but I'm sure there are more than one build log on the forum which you can follow and see where the pitfalls are. It's always better to learn from others' mistakes than to learn from our own!  You may want to consider buying after-market planking stock. Generally speaking, the planking material in most kits, save the "boutique" kit companies like Syren and Vanguard (See their sponsor ads on the forum homepage) run the gamut from poor to abysmal. Most experienced kit builders end up using better materials than what are provided with the kits. (Some wood species are much easier to work with than others.) Rigging line is a major after-market item, as are blocks and deadeyes. I can't speak to the quality of your Mamoli kit, but you can see here in the build logs what others decided to do in that respect. 

Edited July 20, 2021 by Bob Cleek

[Glen McGuire]

At this point I decided to take a break from the body of the ship and work on some smaller things.  The kit just called for gluing the rudder in place but I saw some other model ships with really cool strap hinges where the rudder could actually move back and forth.  So I created some hinges out of the excess photo-etched framework around the chain plates.  For the skylight glass, I used 4 layers of wax paper to give it an opaque, smoked-glass look.   

 

Edited November 30, 2022 by Glen McGuire

[Glen McGuire]

@Bob Cleek Thank you for the tip on the planking tutorials as well as the the dry heat bending technique.  That sounds soooo much easier than what I was doing.  I will absolutely explore that for my next try at this.  Interesting comment about the quality of the materials in the kit.  I thought the Mamoli parts were ok quality-wise, but I didn't really have anything to compare them to (sure wish I'd discovered this site earlier!!).  There were definitely a few things that were flat out missing from the kit and had to be made from scratch.  Not sure if all kits are that way or not.  One thing I did not like was thread they included for the standing rigging.  I ended up getting some pre-waxed, black thread that I thought worked better.  Obviously that was much later in the build process and I was starting to figure some things out.

[mtaylor]

Welcome to MSW,  Glen.   I see the hallmarks of a kit basher and potential scratch builder at work on your ship.   Looking good.

 

You might want to go the new member area and make a new member post.   Bob gave some good advice on the planking tutorials.   As for your comment to Bob, basically all kits need some scratch work or have something missing/not right.

 

The only thing I can add is have fun with models.

 

 

[Glen McGuire]

Next step was applying the copper plates to the hull below the upper second planking.  The kit came with a long roll of 1/8" wide copper tape.  I looked at a lot of pictures of other models with copper plating to get an idea of what to do here.  I didn't really like a lot of what I saw so I came up with something that was probably not historically accurate but I liked the look.  I cut the strips of tape into pieces that were 15mm long.  Then I dimpled 2 rivets into each end.  I wanted the copper to stand out vs seeing a million rivets all over the place.

[Glen McGuire]

Copper plating finished (except for the keel which I plated much later).  Another 3 weeks of my life gone!

Edited July 21, 2021 by Glen McGuire

[Glen McGuire]

@mtaylor "Kit Basher" - LOL!!  There were many times I was on the verge of bashing the kit and anything else within reach, but I'm not sure that's the kind of bashing you are talking about!  Didn't realize there was a new member area.  I will check that out.  Thanks for the tip!

[mtaylor]

Sorry for the confusion.  Bashing a kit is simply make parts on your own to improve the model or adding things to improve it.  We won't get into percussive adjustments with a hammer.   LOL.

[Glen McGuire]

Now to start outfitting the ship with all the cool stuff.  After so many weeks of planking and plating I was really looking forward to this part.  Below are the life boats and the 100lb and 86lb Blakley pivot guns that were mounted fore and aft on the deck center.  Carving out the little paddles was a challenge but fun. 

Edited August 13, 2021 by Glen McGuire

[Glen McGuire]

By now I was beginning to figure out that there were a lot of things the kit did not include and it was up to the builder (and builder's skill level) to decide how crazy to get with the detail, historical accuracy, etc.  I didn't take on anything too tough but continued to add some minor customization like the hinges on the gun port doors in the first pic.  That said, I was pretty incredulous that the Mamoli kit did NOT include cannon balls.  WTH!  How can you have all those cannons without ammo.  So I measured the inside diameter of the cannons and ordered some ball bearings that would just barely fit inside.  Then I built some trays along the centerline of the deck to hold all the cannonballs.  I also added the little white hammock rolls inside the bulwark railing after seeing those in various pictures.
  

Edited July 20, 2021 by Glen McGuire

[Glen McGuire]

Deck fully outfitted.  I may have gone overboard with all the cannonballs but I wanted my ship to be ready for a rematch with the Kearsarge.

[Bob Cleek]

14 hours ago, Glen McGuire said:

The kit just called for gluing the rudder in place but I saw some other model ships with really cool strap hinges where the rudder could actually move back and forth.  So I created some hinges out of the excess photo-etched framework around the chain plates.  For the skylight glass, I used 4 layers of wax paper to give is an opaque, smoked-glass look.   

As mtaylor said, you are definitely exhibiting the symptoms of scratch-building, AKA "kit bashing." This is known as "going over to the Dark Side."  It seems you've discovered the dirty secret of most kits: there's no way anybody can build a model that looks like the the picture on the box the kit came in without supplementing what the box contains. To achieve a model as good as what's on the box cover, the builder has to do a lot of customization and research, not to mention having the skills necessary. Your work is quite impressive for a novice. The next thing you know, you'll be building from scratch. Before that, do a couple of really good quality models. Don't let the average-quality European (or, God forbid, Chinese counterfeit) models turn you off to the hobby. Try one of the really good kits to really impress yourself with what you can accomplish. 

 

Just a couple of observations... I'm not sure if your photos show your coppering as complete or not, but in the off chance they were showing what you thought was a completed job, be aware that the coppering covers everywhere there's wood below the waterline, including the entire keel and rudder. You might also consider adding a patina to the copper (if the tape hasn't been coated to prevent that) or paint it to accurately depict the true appearance of a coppered bottom. This is a stylistic thing, I suppose.  Some like shiny copper bottoms, but they don't really exist in real life. Also, cannon balls are colored black, so you may want to paint them flat black. 

 

Nice work on the propeller, although I'd be hesitant to encourage people to "flick" it when the model is done.  If it isn't permanently mounted as yet, you may want to file or sand the casting seams from it. Fortunately, Mamoli did provide an historically accurate two-bladed propeller. Some kits provide inaccurate details like that, since it's cheaper for them to use the same castings in multiple kits. The propeller would have been of iron and should be painted flat black, of course. If you really wanted to make yourself crazy, you could install an electric motor to slowly turn the prop at scale speed and a smoke generator for the stack. (Smoke generators are a model railroading item, sold in model railroading catalogs.) I mention this just to give you an idea of how creative some modelers have gotten.  

[Keith Black]

17 hours ago, Glen McGuire said:

I ended up getting some pre-waxed, black thread that I thought worked better.

 Glen, waxed thread gathers dust and is a bear to clean once dust collects on it. Also, cotton thread's life expectancy is minimal, instead, I suggest you use polyester thread. Gutermann makes a great polyester thread, Gutermann, Mara 30 and Mara 11 are good standing rigging sizes. Gutermann Sew All is finer (50) and comes in many different colors and works well for running rigging.

Edited July 20, 2021 by Keith Black

[Glen McGuire]

@Bob Cleek  Thank you for the detailed comments.  I definitely agree about the dirty little secret!  It was quite an eye opener when I finally realized how much more there was to this model than just following instructions and gluing things together.  And believe me, despite the countless frustrations along the way, I have not been turned away from the hobby.  Quite the opposite in fact.  The necessity of having to be creative both artistically and mechanically makes this so much more fun than I had ever imagined going in. 

 

I'd be interested to know what you consider good quality models.  I bought a couple of kits for my next efforts at this (Amati Hannah ship in a bottle for something weird to try and Artesia Latina USS Constellation). 

 

Regarding the copper plating, I should have not labeled my picture as complete.  I did in fact cover the keel and everything below the waterline.  Afterwards, I coated it with polyurethane to seal it.  Not sure how that will turn out long term color-wise.  Thank you for the comments about the cannonball and prop colors.  Lesson learned.  Same with the casting seams.  Dang!  I was so smug about getting the thing to spin that I totally missed that.  And OMG - your idea about an electric motor to drive the prop!  Seriously?  Now I truly understand what you mean about going over to the dark side!      

Edited September 16, 2021 by Glen McGuire

[Glen McGuire]

@Keith Black Thanks for the tips on the thread.  I read something that recommended rubbing beeswax on all the rigging lines which is why I got the waxed thread, but what you say makes a lot of sense.   I will definitely check out the Gutermann products for my next build.  This is the kind of info I was hoping to get by posting this build log.  I'll be posting my rigging work later tonight or tomorrow so hopefully you can look at it and comment on anything you see I could have done better.

[Glen McGuire]

Now it was on to the masts, yards, and yard arms - and another rude awakening.  Guess what, everything needs to be tapered to a point and of course nothing in the kit is tapered.  So I did what I'm guessing many of you have done, which was turn my electric drill into a mini-lathe.  After practicing on a bunch of dummy dowel rods, it actually worked quite well.  

[Glen McGuire]

Lashing the yard arms to the yards and adding footropes.  I don't think the footropes turned out all that great but I could not figure out a good way to hang them.  Any suggestions?

[Glen McGuire]

With all of that done, it was finally the moment of truth!  The whole time I was doing everything up to this point, dark thoughts of rigging were always floating around in the back of my mind.  I had read somewhere that something like half the people that buy these kits never finish them.  And most of the time they quit when the rigging starts.  Not sure if that's true or not but it was definitely making me anxious.  At this point, I also happened upon a book that looked like it might be helpful so I got it off Amazon.  "Wooden Ship Models" by Wolfram Mondfeld.  I found it to be a great help in understanding not only how to build all the different things on a ship, but also how the things work as well.  Great reference.  I think it will be particularly helpful should I ever truly go over to the "dark side" and try a scratch build as Bob Cleek and mtaylor have suggested.        

Edited July 21, 2021 by Glen McGuire

[Glen McGuire]

I read in some places that it was best to put as much rigging in place as possible before stepping the masts into the deck.  Other places said to do the rigging afterwards.  I chose the former.  Curious to know if there is a consensus for this community on which way to go.

 

Below is my first effort at tying ratlines.  I started with the mizzen mast since it was the shortest.  I also tried several methods of holding the shrouds taut while tying the ratlines but never came up with one that was all that great.  My first try at tying deadeyes is shown in the 2nd pic.  I had trouble getting the top row in a line as you can clearly see.  I tried a little bent wire tool to hold the upper and lower deadeyes equally apart but it was a struggle.    

 

 

Edited July 21, 2021 by Glen McGuire

[Glen McGuire]

After attaching as much rigging as I could to the masts it was time to attach the yards to the masts and step them into the deck.  I had a lot of trouble getting the yards secured to the masts.  The yard cleats in the kit were so tiny and fragile.  You can't really see it in the picture but I ended up wrapping safety wire around the junction of the yard and mast to keep it in place.  It turned out to be almost invisible when I was done.

 

Also in the pic below you can see a little more "kit bashing" (my new favorite term).  The kit instructions did not have ratlines running from the cross trees to the top of the upper main and fore masts which I guess would have provided access to the top gallant yards.  And the picture on the box didn't show them either.  But in my research, pretty much all the paintings I saw of the ship showed upper ratlines on the upper main and fore masts.  So I decided to add them. 

 

 

Edited July 21, 2021 by Glen McGuire

[Glen McGuire]

Next up, sails.  More research and more different opinions.  Some said don't add sails because it hides all the rigging.  Others said sails make the ship look more complete.  My preference was the latter.  It's the Age of Sail, right?  Well, maybe sail and steam for this ship but you know what I mean!  So I figured you gotta have sails.  Of course then you gotta decide how many you are going to display.  I decided to go for broke and put every single sail on the ship.  I don't know if ships ever actually sailed that way but that's what I wanted to do.

 

The bad news was that the kit did not have any pre-made sails.  There was a single, white piece of cloth and patterns for 12 sails of various sizes and shapes.  The even worse news was that I'd never sewn anything like this in my life and did not know anyone who knew how to use a sewing machine.  Actually, I didn't know anyone who even owned a sewing machine.  So this incredible learning experience was about to go into overdrive!

 

I bought a new singer sewing machine (model 44S which was fantastic) and started hitting youtube tutorials.  I also bought a bunch of muslin fabric to practice on before actually trying it out for real on the kit fabric.

 

After getting the sewing basics down, I then realized I needed to be able to sew a hem around the edges of each sail to keep it from having frayed ends.  This meant sewing a tiny double fold hem about 1/8" in width on each edge of each sail.  Which meant I also needed to buy an iron and learn how to use it.  Ironing was the only way to get the hem fold to stay flat enough to put thru the sewing machine.  It was way too tiny for pins to work.  

 

So add a sewing machine and an iron to my expanding tool kit for this project!

Edited September 16, 2021 by Glen McGuire