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A couple of scratch built Civil War waterline Ironclads

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A couple of scratch built Civil War waterline Ironclads
Posted by philo426 on Monday, May 29, 2023 8:40 PM

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Posted by Flintlock76 on Monday, May 29, 2023 8:42 PM

Nice!  And a twin-turret monitor, you don't see those every day! 

(Yes, they really did build some.)

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Posted by philo426 on Tuesday, May 30, 2023 6:25 PM

Yes I heard that they did do I decided to add a second turret.

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Posted by pennytrains on Tuesday, May 30, 2023 7:39 PM

Cool Big Smile

Big Smile  Same me, different spelling!  Big Smile

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Posted by philo426 on Wednesday, May 31, 2023 5:13 AM

Thanks!

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Posted by M636C on Thursday, June 1, 2023 7:28 AM

While a little later than the USA Civil War, (1867), there is such a monitor still in existence in Port Phillip Bay, Victoria, Australia. While it was sunk as a breakwater in 1926, the structure has survived owing to the corrosion resistance of the iron structure. I believe that at low tide,  the hull is clear of the water, almost at its original waterline.

The link https://www.navy.gov.au/hmas-cerberus-hmvs

provides a history of the ship and interesting drawings that might assist in detailing a model. While they are active elsewhere, the Russians have so far shown no interest in invading Australia. The Japanese were the last threat in that regard in 1942. Two Russian warships turned up in Sydney Harbour without prior notice about the time the Cerberus was ordered which caused a considerable panic, although it was just a normal friendly visit.

Peter

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Posted by Flintlock76 on Thursday, June 1, 2023 8:22 AM

M636C
there is such a monitor still in existence

VERY interesting Peter!  Cerberus must have been one well-built and tough ship, from the picture we can see that even after nearly 100 years as a breakwater she's still relatively intact.  Impressive! 

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Posted by philo426 on Thursday, June 1, 2023 9:58 AM

Still in pretty good shape the iron must be thick indeed!

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Posted by M636C on Thursday, June 1, 2023 4:39 PM

philo426

Still in pretty good shape the iron must be thick indeed!

 

Most of the visible parts of the ship are armour plate, which would have been thick and very hard. I'm told the lower parts of the hull have not survived as well. Otherwise I'm sure it would have been retrieved for a museum and replaced by a pile of rocks. But the drawings and photographs would be a help for detailing a model, since it is pretty much contemporary with the Civil War vessels.

Peter

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Posted by pennytrains on Thursday, June 1, 2023 6:18 PM

Here's a free paper model of an 1871 German monitor type warship.

https://www.papershipwright.co.uk/product/sms-rhein-mosel/

Amazing how fast the concept of a gun turret spread around the world after Hampton Roads.

Big Smile  Same me, different spelling!  Big Smile

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Posted by philo426 on Thursday, June 1, 2023 8:06 PM

No doubt ,they way they pounded each other often at point black range was remarkable and it ended in a draw ..

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Posted by M636C on Thursday, June 1, 2023 11:05 PM

While I had the website open, I thought I would indulge myself and look at a ship I've actually been to sea on, HMAS ANZAC. It was almost new when I was aboard and everything worked as designed.

Going to https://www.navy.gov.au/hmas-anzac-iii

The third photo dated 2005 shows the ship as first built. I was particularly impressed by the "Sea Giraffe" radar that could automatically track the ship's own 5" projectiles, the small antenna on the foremast. This was replaced by the lower phased array on the new mainmast shown in more recent photos.

I assisted the ship's engineer to prepare the first damage control instructions, which provided an excuse to visit every compartment and space on the ship.

Peter

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Posted by philo426 on Friday, June 2, 2023 7:31 AM

Interesting job!

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Posted by cnw1995 on Friday, June 2, 2023 10:24 AM

They look great, 'Philo' - what scale are they? Or what size? (I have a host of similar models for gaming that are far smaller at 1:1200)

Doug Murphy 'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers...' Henry V.

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Posted by philo426 on Friday, June 2, 2023 11:14 AM

Not sure of the scale they are between 12 and 14 inches long.

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Posted by Flintlock76 on Friday, June 2, 2023 2:26 PM

pennytrains
Amazing how fast the concept of a gun turret spread around the world after Hampton Roads.

I imagine a lot of naval architects were kicking themselves and saying "WHY didn't I think of that?"

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Posted by Flintlock76 on Friday, June 2, 2023 2:28 PM

philo426

No doubt ,they way they pounded each other often at point black range was remarkable and it ended in a draw ..

 

Sure.  The ships were armored but armor-piercing shells hadn't been developed yet.  But it wouldn't take long.

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Posted by Flintlock76 on Friday, June 2, 2023 2:33 PM

You know, the ship classification"monitor" lasted up until WW2 but the ships were quite different.  Built as single-purpose shore bombardment ships here's one the Royal Navy had during the war.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monitor_(warship)#/media/File:HMS_Erebus_I02.jpg

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Posted by M636C on Friday, June 2, 2023 5:37 PM

philo426

Not sure of the scale they are between 12 and 14 inches long.

 

Assuming that the monitor is the same size as the Cerberus, which is 225 feet long, the scale would be therefore around 1/225. This is about Z scale.

At first thought, this seems ridiculously small, but I guess ships are quite big.

There is a very good model of the port area of the Australian city of Newcastle in N scale and even the relatively small ships would be several inches long.

Peter

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Posted by pennytrains on Friday, June 2, 2023 8:34 PM

I was guessing that an O scale 1:48 model would be almost 2 feet long.  Then I did the math and boy I was WAY off!  Wink

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Posted by philo426 on Saturday, June 3, 2023 2:14 PM

Bummer Penny!

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Posted by fifedog on Saturday, June 3, 2023 2:19 PM

I approve. Pirate?

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Posted by philo426 on Saturday, June 3, 2023 2:45 PM

Cool mail box!

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