CSS Columbia

[paperboy]

Hey Guys

I'm starting work on my second Confederate ironclad, the Columbia. This was a powerful 215 ft. ironclad built in Charleston SC in 1864. The Columbia was covered with 6in plate and armed with Brooke banded cannons. One 10 in Brooke was on display at the Washington Navy yard. The Columbia hit a submerged wreck near Ft. Moultrie and broke its back in January 1865. It was repaired and taken to Washington after the war. Curiously there were no photos made of it as were the Albemarle,Atlanta and Tennessee by Union forces.
As to the model, I've begun the keel and hull ribs and will be posting as I work.

Vernon

 

[Ziga]

That's great to see another CS Navy ironclad being built! I've been researching them for a long time and it's a shame that there are so few photos available. I will check your progress very often

 

[Gregory Shoda]

Hmmm. Confederate ironclads on the half-shell? Looking forward to your work. I love Civil War ships. Any thoughts of a later timberclad?

 

[westmalle8]

Looks to be yet another fantastic model. Please keep us posted.

Westmalle8

 

[lriera]

I will follow your build with great interest.

Thank you.

 

[paperboy]

Just a picture of the full hull to show and I'll get the main deck on and do some touch up work to the hull ribs. Its not a ironclad on a half shell any longer. Ha


Vern

 

[paperboy]

Hey the deck is on. Now I've got to figure the pivot gun positions and cover the hull. Great fun!
Vernon

 

[loadmat]

Awesome Modeling - I am gathering info. to convert a stearnwheeler model into a "tinclad". I ran across these ships when I was doing research for ironclads. I really enjoy ACW maritime subjects. I'll enjoy following ths-is thread.

 

[paperboy]

Hi all

I've had a little time to work on my model of the Columbia and here's a picture to show progress. I've cut templates for the casemate and have to pierce them for the guns. also I made templates for the lower knuckle and hull and will sheath it this week. Have a great week all.

Vernon

 

[col. kurtz]

hwere can i get this model id love to build it looks excellent !!:thumb:

 

[gman95687]

Yes,these Ironclads are awesome! are any of them available for download?

 

[KenG]

Looks great! What did use to color the deck? --Ken

 

[Elliott]

If I'm not very much mistaken, Vernon designs these himself. As you can see he does excellent work.

 

[paperboy]

Hi Ron

The colour is called Goldenrod and is made by Prismacolor. I color in the whole deck area that is lined for deck planks and then detail it. as for durability I have watched other decks done the same way and after several years they still look great.

The models aren't available commercially, they are scratchbuilt. I've wanted to have a model of the Charleston ironclads and other ships for awhile and either none were available or they were 1/700 scale or cost alot. I'm working my way through the Charleston ironclads kind of like Gregg Shoda is working his way through the pre-dreadnought battleships. his scratchbuilding has been an inspiration to me. There are a few more complicated ships that I want to build such as the USS Charleston C-2,the USS South Carolina BB-26,SMS Kaiser Barbarossa a Kaiser FriedrichIII class linenschiffe,CSS Nashville/Rattlesnake and HMS Guerriere. These are the ones in my head and maybe if I live long enough I'll do them. Now mixed in there are the kits that I've bought of the Seydlitz,Scharnhorst,Bismarck,Prinz Eugen,Leipzeig,Indianapolis,Saratoga,Thuringen,Wien and some airplanes that I'll get around to eventually. wow now I'll go and work on the hull.

Vern

 

[herrmill]

Vern,

You are doing a great job on Columbia! I happened across this site while researching CSS Tennessee which was based on the same class & fought in the Battle of Mobile Bay. I don't build card models, but focus on RC models, mainly kits, but am getting my feet wet in scratch building with 1/72 versions of Tennessee as well as USS Tecumseh, a Canonicus monitor.

I'm got a great set of plan & templates for the monitors & am building Tennessee off a Mahmood papermodel, but don't have a good hull drawing with cross sectionals to adequately do the job. Did you do your own drawing as indicated above or are using the Tennessee plans that are available from Taubmans or Maryland Silver?

Chuck

 

[paperboy]

Hi Chuck

The plans i'm working from are from the Smithsonians warship plans catalog. they are 1/4 scale and i sized them down to the scale that I'm working at. They are specific for the CSS Columbia/Texas. I'll send you the hull templates for Columbia/Texas if you need them. I have the Fredericksburg,Neuse and Arkansas as well. I also have the Mahmood Tennessee and have thought about enlarging it to fit with my other ship models. As far as hull shape, didn't it have a hull shape similar to Neuse or Albemarle? I've not seen plans for it.

Vern

 

[herrmill]

Vern,

Many thanks for the info & offer. I sent you a PM regarding the template.

Regarding Tennessee, from what I've read she was of the Columbia class & only difference was her armor thickness while Texas, had a smaller casement. Loyalhanna/Taubman offers 3 different plans including a very detailed set from the National Archives.

Chuck

 

[Gregory Shoda]

Paperboy:
Wait, "HMS Guerriere" & "SMS Kaiser Barbarosa?" What do they have to do with South Carolina? Is HMS Guerriere the sailing frigate? I would love to see a model made of the Kaiser Barbarosa (and all the Confederate ironclads you mentioned). By the way, thanks for the kind words.

Herrmill: What is the oldest boat that you're speaking of?

 

[paperboy]

Chuck
The oldest ship would be the HMS Guerriere most famously bested by the Constitution.

Greg
They dont really have anything to do with S.Carolina except that I've always wanted to build a British Frigate and since I seem to have to do things the hard way I want to build the Guerriere. I think it has to do with the picture of the ship dismasted and about to surrender. That's a tough one.

As for the Kaiser Barbarossa I found the plans at Dreadnought project and since I love pre-dreadnought warships I kind of fell for it. I'll display it beside the tripod masted l'Indomptable that I'm gathering info on.

Vernon

 

[herrmill]

Vern,

Again, thanks for the frame set. I was down in my shop this morning at 0500 sizing them to scale & cutting templates. :thumb:

If you like tripod masts & Confederate ships, you may want to consider the Laird Rams since they were the first warships with tripod masts to offer a clear field of fire for the twin turrets. Its a shame they never had a chance to be used by the Confederacy as planned as it may have made for an interesting turn of events. I may go that route after my first two are done, but then USS Monterey has always been of interest since she was based near here in Shanghai while on China Station a century ago.

Greg, I would presume you are referring to my profile location? I live in Xiaoshan which is a district of Hangzhou, "China's Most Beautiful City"™ & home of the famous West Lake. Marco Polo called it "the most enchanting city in the world", which I always thought referred to the singsong girls he met in the local teahouses... Just south of Hangzhou where I reside, we have another lake with 8,000 years of recorded settlement on its banks & its in this area where archaeologists unearthed a 7,600 year old canoe that is supposedly the oldest known boat discovery, at least in China's mind.

World's Oldest Known Boat

Getting back to the forum, I have to say I am impressed with the work you guys have here, not to mention the knowledge of your subject. Thanks again!

Chuck