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CSS Alabama


noelsmith

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I have recently read a book named 'Shark of the Confederacy' that is a really good read. It follows the history of the CSS Alabama from when she was secretly built in Liverpool, England, and all her exploits until her final demise at the hands of the Kearsarge off the French coast at Cherbourg. As far as I am aware there is only one plastic kit of this vessel. The 1/96th offering by Revell. It would be an interesting ship model to build.....BUT? is it accurate? From what I hear Revell used the same hull mouldings for both the Alabama and Kearsarge models. But which?

I read somewhere that the real Alabama was 12 feet longer than the Kearsarge, so one of the Revell offerings has got to be very inaccurate.

Can any body who is well clued up on Civil War Maritime assets confirm which of the two kits is correct.

 

Also, from what I can gather the CSS Florida, and the CSS Shenandoah were also built in England.

Has anyone got any more info to impart about these two vessels.

 

Victorian era ships are very much in the minority in plastic apart from Brunel's Great Western (Airfix) and the Great Eastern (Revell). Funny thing is that both these ships have long gone, but the one that actually still exists is in Bristol, and the Great Britain has never been kitted. Nor has HMS Warrior now berthed in Portsmouth close to the Victory and the Mary Rose Museum.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Have seen reviews & builds of the Revell Alabama & Kearsarge in magazines over the years. Like any of this stuff, you can get as deep as you want, regarding accuracy. Am personally fascinated by steam/sail hybrids such as the Civil War battlewagons, Commodore Perry stuff, etc. Imai made a kit of the USS Susquehanna that may have been the basis for a Monogram or Aoshima kit of her. I think great-grand-dad sailed aboard one of these things in the Prussian Navy. Love this subject, but don't know much about it.

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According to the history book on Revell kits, the USS Kearsarge without Sails (H-391) and the CSS Alabama with Sails (H-392) were both originally issued in 1961 and continued into the mid-1970s. Both kits shared the same basic hull, but there were changes to make each ship different from the other, The model was about three feet long. It doesn't say which kit has the correct length, and would the average viewer know or care which one is "right" and which is not?

 

Ed

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Didn't I recently (sort of) read an article on correcting the Kearsarge in the Journal? that article went into some depth on the accuracy of both kits. Maybe I've got the wrong magazine, but I know there's a recent article out there. As I recall, there were a lot of changes necessary to "accuratize" the Kearsarge and the Alabama needed even more work.

 

However, I built the Kearsarge a long (LONG) time ago and can attest that it builds up into an impressive looking model, even with the limited skills I had at the time. With new techniques and supplies, it would be really nice.

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Cottage Industries Models (www.cottageindustrymodels.com) makes gun upgrade kits out of resin and white metal for both the CSS Alabama and the USS Kearsarge Revell Kits. Two sets are available for the USS Kearsarge: Civil war version and post war version. Quoting from their web site the USS Kearsarge out of the box is in post war appearance. I have these gun sets. They make a lovely addition to either kit. I can strongly recommend them.

 

Blue Jacket Shipcrafters (www.bluejacketinc.com) now offers resin kits of both of these ships in 1/8" = 1' scale (1/96). There was an announcement here on the IPMSUSA forum about a year ago.

 

The Finescale Modeler magazine forum is a very good source for information on sailing and steamship kits and their history. The section on ships is one of the best around for this type of modeling. Searching the ship section for CSS Alabama and /or USS Kearsarge brings up many topics about these Revell kits including building details and kit accuracy.

 

BoB

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  • 3 months later...

Didn't I recently (sort of) read an article on correcting the Kearsarge in the Journal? that article went into some depth on the accuracy of both kits. Maybe I've got the wrong magazine, but I know there's a recent article out there. As I recall, there were a lot of changes necessary to "accuratize" the Kearsarge and the Alabama needed even more work.

 

However, I built the Kearsarge a long (LONG) time ago and can attest that it builds up into an impressive looking model, even with the limited skills I had at the time. With new techniques and supplies, it would be really nice.

I BELIEVE the Kearsarge article was in FSM.

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