Modeling comes to a temporary halt

Today, I pack up the remains of my modeling tools and supplies. In seven days we will be moving to La Veta, Colorado. By the time we get into the new house and unpacked and I get my modeling bench set up it will likely be near the end of this month. I intend to resume work on the Hunley kit and get it finished on on display. I may then finish the 1/72 Revell U-Boot Type VIIC and display them together. The Hunley should be small enough to sit on the deck of the U-Boot.

At this point, I have not decided what kit to start in the new house. I am leaning toward one of the Wingnut kits or perhaps the 1/32 Tamiya Spitfire IXc. I'll need to get a few resin detail parts from Roy Sutherland for that one though. Whichever it is, I also plan to keep one of my orpahn kits going toward completion at the same time. My skills are better now, so I can do a good job on the Eduard Bf-110C I've had since Anaheim. I also have the Dora and the new Oeffag to build as well. That's part of the fun though; planning what kit to build next.

I am leaning toward making plans for and scratch building one of the Confederate ironclads, perhaps the CSS Palmetto State. I don't think this would be too hard, especially if I used pre-cut strip styrene for the armor plating and bought a few canon barrels. Something to think about. I admit to being fascinated by Blackmore's huge USS Monitor kit, but that one will have ot wait for a while.

At this point, my main modeling will be via the internet and various history books.

Hunley: Rigging the Spar and Torpedo

There is scant evidence on how the spar, torpedo and supporting tackle were set up and rigged on the H. L. Hunley. William Blackmore has adopted a rigging system based on research materials, which I have not seen, and on the actual boat now in Charleston at the Clemson Research Institute I believe. I think some of this remains speculative. That the torpedo was carried at the end of a long spar mounted to the Hunley's bow, and that the torpedo was designed to separate from the spar after being attached to a ship's hull by means of a wicked harpoon-like point as the boat reversed and backed away is established. What has not been conclusively shown is where the spar was attached to the bow - top or bottom - and how the spar with torpedo was supported while the boat was underweigh to render it relatively stable and secure from currents and course changes of the Hunley.

I think the most plausible theory holds that the spar was mounted to the bottom front edge of the bow on a strap that was attached there for that purpose. It evidently could swived up and down, a necessary mechanism for attaining a proper angle to the curving hull of an enemy vessel. A shorter spar, or boom, was attached to the upper front edge of the bow extending forward over, and in line with the spar carrying the torpedo. From this, supporting line and perhaps chain could have been rigged to the spar mid point for support.

There is a notch on the Hunley's bow, front edge just below the peak of the bow. What purpose did this serve? My view is that this was an anchoring point for the end of yet another metal support member, a firm brace attached to the bow and spar for additional carrying strength and support. With this in place, and at the speed possible with the boat, a maximum of perhaps four knots, this may have been sufficient structure to carry and deliver the torpedo successfully.

During the recovery of artifacts from the boat certain components were found in situ where the commander, Lt. Dixon, was stationed, that may have been components of a simple battery. The Confederates had the capability and equipment to detonate mines, or torpedoes, electrically. The USS Cairo, a river ironclad, was sunk by what is now believed to have been an electrically detonated torpedo. Recall that what were then called torpedoes would these days be more properly termed mines. So, it is possible that the Hunley was equipped for this kind of detonation as well. Not conclusive, but the battery artifacts makes this a likely proposition.

For modeling purposes then, I will construct this portion of the boat and the torpedo delivery system as I described above. At this scale I may not include separate electrical detonation wires, but I will have to see how that looks when I get to that part. The other big question is how the upper spar, or supporting boom, was attached to the bow. Probably more speculation will be called for.

Spar progress

I cut out and cleaned up the kit white metal "barb", or harpoon point. I filed down the aft ends that it would fit in the smaller diameter aluminum tube, cut a short segment of this and a shorter segment of the larger diameter tubing. I mounted the barb into one end of the small diameter tubing section and slide the larger diameter section half way onto the other end of the small tube. I attached both with CA. Now, the barb assembly will slip over the end of the spar that is attached to the boat's bow. I will construct the torpedo next and affix that with straps made from flattened soldier to the barb assembly's small tubing. The torpedo will hang just behind the barbed point and ahead of the large tubing section.

The next main assemblies I can make prior to painting or assembling all together (they will break off during the move if I do that) are the torpedo, the line and electrical cable, and the rudder, shroud and screw assembly.

All this measuring, cutting, flattening and filing is getting dangerously close to scratch-building territory, which, now, doesn't seem all that daunting. In fact, I am now considering how to scratch build one of the Confederate ironclads. These are not overly complex ships and with the judicious use of Evergreen strip for the long armor plating, it might be a simple way to try my hand at this. I would likely need some canon barrels, but the rest might be fairly easy to make. Maybe the CSS Tennessee or CSS Virginia... More research is called for.

The Coldest Winter I am listening to my CD version of Halberstam's "The Coldest Winter", a history of the Korean War. I have seen this book many times, and almost bought it once due to a continuing but previously distant interest in this conflict. I got the CD unabridged version at a Library sale for $8. Best $8 I have spent in some time. I thought I knew something about it, but I knew very little. This is a very well done history, extremely readable and full of very interesting facts about the army, Mao, Stalin, MacArthur (not flattering at all), the Marines and the average Joe. I intend to buy the book after I finish the CD - something to write notes in and refer to with an index. Not easy to do with an audio book. I would buy the Kindle or iBook version so that I could easily search it, get definitions on the spot, highlight areas and passages and write my own notes into it (also searchable). Besides, it would cost less than the paper version and I could carry it around on my iPad like I am doing my other ten or so books I have currently loaded.

Cottage Industry Hunley 1/72

Having received the CI Hunley, I have spent some time during the house showings and all that cleaning up the resin hull. A few of the hull plate join lines were not terminated so I re-scribed those and cleaned out the rest. I smoothed the tops of the reinforcing bands that run fore and aft midway down the hull on each side. A few detail features were not crisply cast, so I cleaned them up with a dental tool and small files to make sharp lines where necessary.

There is a small imperfection line, sort of line a sink mark in styrene, on the bottom starboard bow. This will require a little fill. I drilled out the mooring holes forward and aft and rounded the vision ports and areas where shafts will later be installed. The long boom forward that carried the torpedo is made from small diameter aluminum tubing. Collars are cut from aluminum tubing slightly larger in diameter and slid over the smaller tube at the indicated points. I flattened one end of the boom with pliers and cut a notch into it with files so that it fits over the mounting bracket on the lower part of the bow.

I plan to make a scratch torpedo from rolled styrene sheet of two different thicknesses to get a "lip" on each end and make attachment bands and brackets from flattened soldier. This will be attached to another tubing section that will be constructed to slip over the end of the boom, as the real thing. I also plan to make a braided line, like a mooring rope, that will attach to this torpedo boom section, then through an eye on the boom and on to the spool mounted on the submarine's hull. I am making the assumption that the torpedo was detonated electrically because of the risk of a mechanical mechanism being actuated when the rope connecting the torpedo jabbed into the hull of a ship with the submarine went taut. The line could foul as the boat was backing away detonating the charge when it was much too close for safety. Also, from my last reading of the ongoing archeology of the Hunley, there is evidence, not conclusive, of an electrical detonation device. Therefore, I will need to add an electrical wire connecting the torpedo with the boat. I plan to route this from the torpedo to the line running to the spool on the theory that this would both protect the electrical wire from parting and fouling as the line spooled out.

I will attempt to post a drawing of what I have in mind for the torpedo, it's own boom and connection details.

H.L. Hunley arrives

The Cottage Industry 1/72 scale Hunley Confederate submarine kit arrived yesterday speedy delivery. Aside from a few resin casting imperfections the boat is very nicely done and detailed, showing revisions that were made by Mr. Blackmore in response to the new information that has come to light from the original boat's recovery and restoration, which is still in progress in Charleston, SC.

There are many white metal parts representing the screw, shroud, rudder, diving planes, etc. and various diameters of brass rod and aluminum tubing. This isn't a clip-and-glue kit. Marty did one for a friend and it turned out very well. I hope to do as well.

Not much time to model now, but even a few minutes working on something with my hands is relaxing.

Report on the Monitor book

I have finished Ironclad (see previous post) and am glad that I bought this as a used book instead of paying the new price. Approximately two thirds of the book is devoted to the efforts to raise the USS Monitor's turret by a combined team of Navy divers and marine archeologists. While in itself not a bad thing, much of this portion was composed of matters related to diving in general, individual team members' personal and professional histories and dive stories not related to the USS Monitor. This portion could have been cut by at least half with no impact on the story of raising the turret.

I also think that much of what was written here about the vessels, USS Monitor and CSS Virginia was abbreviated and general, probably appearing in many prior publications about the ships and their one day of combat. I will have to get deeper into the historical data but that is my first impression.

I came away with little I did not already know about the basic histories of the two ships and their combat, and a lot about diving that I really did not care about since the book was supposed to focus on the two ironclads and the recovery of the USS Monitor, which turned out to the the Monitor's turret.

I also bought the Kindle version of The H. L. Hunley, the Secret Hope of the Confederacy by Tom Chaffin 2008. From the extracts I have read and a few recommendations from historians, I suspect this will be a more full account of the fish-boat, it's design, history and operation. More to come on this one.

Civil War: Ironclads and the H.L. Hunley

Since packing away most of my models and building supplies preparatory to getting the house on the market and ready for moving to Colorado, I have been reading more and modeling less. I am keeping up somewhat with modeling activities through the internet and email, along with infrequent coffee sessions with Rick and Marty. For some reason I have lately become more interested in modeling Civil War ironclads and, most especially, the H.L. Hunley.

I downloaded through the Kindle application, the book Raising the Hunley: The Remarkable History and Recovery of the Lost Confederate Submarine, by Brian Hicks and Schuyler Kropf. A well written book using serious references and the data from the now recovered submarine. I have also spent considerable time on the internet researching the boat, the fish-boat as it was termed at the time, both as to it's making, operations and recovery. Probably having lived in Charleston for two years while working in the submarine service with the US Navy has something to do with my  deeper interest. At this stage of life, I can more appreciate the terror, courage and foolhardiness of the men who operated and died in the boat.

This finer edge of understanding comes with concentrated study and interest. For example, there was a made for TV film of the Hunley's only operational mission which sunk the USS Housatonic and as authentic as it appeared, it is flawed. Not unusual for the cinema industry, but disappointing none the less, especially when the real boat is available for comparison. In one scene I have found on the internet, a rather stock actor, dressed in shirt, vest and coat is shown climbing down into the boat through one of it's hatches. He seems to have only a little difficulty. If the movie boat had been rendered more accurately, he would probably not have been able to fit, the hatches being all of fifteen inches in diameter.

Consequent to this interest, I have, of course, been investigating available models of the Hunley. There are few. Cottage Industry makes two, one in 1/72 scale, another in 1/24 which features a completely detailed interior, visible by a cutaway section of the port side of the hull. The smaller model is made with a one piece hull. The owner advertises his models as the only accurate representations in the world, and from what I can tell after much research, he is correct. I am, of course, interested in the fully detailed model, but it is expensive and appears to be a lengthy project, which I will have time for after getting moved and settled. However, I ordered the smaller model today thinking to begin simple and work up to the larger one. Also, I intend to display it alongside my 1/72 U-Boot VII model when finished.

Cottage Industries also makes large and very detailed ironclad kits as well as the other lesser known Civil War submarines: the Pioneer, and the David. I am favoring the CSS Palmetto State as a Confederate Ironclad model, and one of the Monitor class for the Union vessel. They are both extremely well detailed, with cut away sections so that much of the inner works can be seen.

Today I received, from a used book seller associated with Amazon, Ironclad: The Epic Battle, Calamitous Loss, and Historic Recovery of the USS Monitor, by Paul Clancy. I have another more general history of Civil War ironclads also on order. I will see where this takes me in terms of focus and subsequent modeling interest.

An interesting observation is that there is much less material on the H.L. Hunley than one would suppose, at least so far in my internet based research. I will continue to see what I can find in terms of publications, papers, letters, etc. on the fish-boat. Although a couple of books on the Hunley have been published fairly recently, including the one I mentioned above, I am not sure a novel has been attempted. Perhaps, but time will tell. It's a fascinating and somewhat horrifying story and might deserve a good telling, especially if one could be faithful to the times and sentiments of those involved.