That looks amazing, yeah the public should see this! KC or Atlanta!
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1/700 Confederate Raiders CSS Alabama, CSS Florida
- Thread starter Rhino
- Start date
Then you'd sweep the category.
Amazing 
Rhino
Super Moderator
CSS Florida's rigging is complete! I was so pleased, I heaved a big sigh of relief and she "Sailed" an inch or so!
Flatting the c/a glue shinies will see her ready for 1/700 Confederate Raiders box artwork.
Disclaimer time: The real CSS Florida did not have a cross yard in her bowsprit. In my sailing ship zeal, I built it on my model and so rigged it.
Ah.... There's nothing like the serenity of a Caribbean lagoon! The narrow channel in the lagoon is 35 feet deep at it's deepest point.
Thanks for looking again, and again and AGAIN!!
Bugatti Fan
Member
This thread has generated a lot of interest.
Judging by this it would be good if one of the mainstream plastic kit manufacturers did an accurate CSS Alabama, Florida or Shenandoah in something like 1/200th scale. Large enough to make a well detailed showcase model but not too big like that old 1/96th scale inaccurate Revell kit.
Judging by this it would be good if one of the mainstream plastic kit manufacturers did an accurate CSS Alabama, Florida or Shenandoah in something like 1/200th scale. Large enough to make a well detailed showcase model but not too big like that old 1/96th scale inaccurate Revell kit.
Rhino
Super Moderator
Thanks Bug!
CSS Florida/SS Oreto's references are quite scanty, where Hull 290, built at Laird & Sons has wealth of deck plans and blueprints and even a few old tin types. My sweetheart posted a few of these photos on the Facehole 1/700 scale modeler's group page, and visits to tlarmodels.com increased markedly. The Kit includes 3 civil war sailing vessels AND a limited, 1/700 scale Horace L. Hunley will retail for $98.00 with an initial release price of $77.77
Disclaimer: Neither of my 1/700 Confederate Raider models include the winch over the stern grating for retracting the 2-bladed screw.
Bugatti Fan
Member
I reckon the Alabama might be the best bet for a new plastic kit as there is superb reference in Bowcock's reference book CSS Alabama the Anatomy of a Confederate Raider.
As Rhino said there is less information about the Florida.
Model kits of Alabama that I know of (apart from the Revell plastic one that shares it's hull mouldings for the Kearsarge, so one has got to be totally wrong as the ships lengths differ by 12ft and the Alabama had a retractable propeller) are all in wood and also very large. Mamoli's wooden kit is one. The other is Bluejacket's kit that is reckoned to be very accurate, but again a 1/96th scale kit that is huge.
There is a book by Charles Robinson named Shark of the Confederacy that is a brilliant account of the ship being built in secrecy, some background about its captain Raphael Semmes and a full account of its activity and eventual demise at the hands of the USS Kearsarge.
As Rhino said there is less information about the Florida.
Model kits of Alabama that I know of (apart from the Revell plastic one that shares it's hull mouldings for the Kearsarge, so one has got to be totally wrong as the ships lengths differ by 12ft and the Alabama had a retractable propeller) are all in wood and also very large. Mamoli's wooden kit is one. The other is Bluejacket's kit that is reckoned to be very accurate, but again a 1/96th scale kit that is huge.
There is a book by Charles Robinson named Shark of the Confederacy that is a brilliant account of the ship being built in secrecy, some background about its captain Raphael Semmes and a full account of its activity and eventual demise at the hands of the USS Kearsarge.
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Rhino
Super Moderator
Shark of The Confederacy is an easy read that tells the story well. For those seeking more of CSS Florida's story, I recommend Frank Lawrence Owsley Jr.'s book "The C.S.S. Florida Her Building and Operations". This volume unveiled the capture of the U.S. Revenue Cutter Caleb Cushing by Lt. James Read.
When I read Clive Cussler's first Non-fiction book, "The Sea Hunters", the missives about USS Carondelet, CSS Arkansas, CSS Florida and H.L. Hunley stoked the fires of creativity up to the breaking point.
TLAR Models' Office of Nautical Obscurities took on these projects in earnest in 2018. Man-scale 1/700 Models for Men. Made In the United States by Men.
The story of the hunt for CSS Alabama, Bonhomme Richard and their return to Jimmy Flett's homeport are much better than Clive's non-fiction works.
When I read Clive Cussler's first Non-fiction book, "The Sea Hunters", the missives about USS Carondelet, CSS Arkansas, CSS Florida and H.L. Hunley stoked the fires of creativity up to the breaking point.
TLAR Models' Office of Nautical Obscurities took on these projects in earnest in 2018. Man-scale 1/700 Models for Men. Made In the United States by Men.
The story of the hunt for CSS Alabama, Bonhomme Richard and their return to Jimmy Flett's homeport are much better than Clive's non-fiction works.
