Thanks to everyone for the kind words concerning my model. It appears there are many CSS Alabama experts on the forum, which is very educational and helpful. I am not a sailing ship modeler, but still think this Revell kit is the best looking sailing ship model ever made. Also, having lived my whole life in Alabama and being fascinated with the ship's history helped motivate me into building it.
tucchase-The sails used are the vacform parts from the kit. First, I painted them flat white. This was the only painting done. Next, medium brown pastel powder was applied with a soft, flat brush on each side. The flat white paint was added in part so the pastel powder would have something to grab on to. A very soft t-shirt was used to burnish the pastel powder into the sails. Doing this should produce a multi-color effect, and also highlight all of the recesses and indentations on the sails. It is kind of like a reverse dry-brushing technique. Care was taken to not rub on the parts too hard, since that can damage the white paint or the part itself. To get a specifc area darker I applied a little more pastel powder to that area. Once I was happy with the color, each sail was airbrushed with Testors Dullcote (50/50 mixture of Dullcote and thinner). This was required because buffing the parts produced a semi-gloss finish. The finished model is protected in a glass display case.
Many people might be aware of this, but there is a great review/comparision article of the Revell Alabama/Kearsarge models by Joel Labow at www.steelnavy.com/alabama&kearsarge.htm. It appears the Kearsarge kit was modeled after what she looked like when she sank in 1894, which is really different from what she looked like in 1864. To make the Alabama kit it appears Revell just heavily modified the Kearsarge molds. I grew up thinking it was the other way around, since the Alabama is a much more well known ship. But that might be my Alabama state pride getting in the way. Probably the most ironic thing about the article is the suggestion that if you want to build an 1864 Kearsarge it would be much easier to do it by modiying an Alabama kit than trying it with a Kearsarge kit!
Below are a couple of interesting facts about the CSS Alabama I learned from reading the book "My Two Years on the Alabama". It was written by a man named Sinclair who was an officer on the ship.
>The ship was manned by Confederate navy officers but alot of the crew were not from the Confederacy. In fact it was common for sailors of captured ships to become part of the Alabama's crew.
>The Alabama never seemed to have a full crew compliment of 115 men. It varied but on average it ranged between 90 to 105, which created more work for the existing crew.
>At the time of its sinking the ship was in terrible mechanical condition. Its boilers had not been overhauled since it was launched, and the hull below the waterline was in bad shape, making it no match to do battle with the Kearsarge. According to Sinclair, the day before the battle the ship was cleaned and polished to where it looked brand new, even though it was in very poor condition. It seems I read that Captin Semmes knew the Alabama was no match for the Kearsarge, but he was determined that the ship would end its career in battle as opposed to being surrendered intact. I also read that during the battle, after it became clear the Alabama was losing, Semmes attemped to run along side the Kearsarge so the two ships could be lashed together and hand-to-hand combat would determine the winner. However, the Kearsarge anticipated this and maintained a safe distance.
If I could do it over again I would have gone to the effort to fill in the rectangle openings around the transom, and I would have raked (tilted back) the masts. These are the only items that really bug me. However, I have only built two sailing ships and do not plan on building any more. They are too hard! Thanks.
Phillip1