Well go for it and have fun, that's what it's all about anyway.

Happy Modeling

Nope, don't want a more accurate ship, just thinking aloud about building something different for a change of pace that I already have on hand. I doubt I'll get to it though; I stumbled across another Lindberg ship kit in my stash of thousands, the old Lindberg LCVP in 1/32 scale. And it's motorized!

The Lindberg Virgina needs a lot of work to get it right too.  A nice starter kit but if you want a better accurate version Flagship Models would be a the better choice. 

A picture from the Mariners Museum in Va of ballast used to force the Virgina bow under the water.  These were made of iron.  When fully loaded only the iron plated superstructure would have been above water. 

http://i649.photobucket.com/albums/uu218/sumterIII/mariners009.jpg

Go for it- it looks like an assault gun!

NO zimmerit though....

As I recall, I owned a Monitor/Merrimack set that had an incomplete molding for one part of the Merrimack hull. I wrote a letter (pre-email days) to Lindberg about the bad parts. In return I received this set, a complete boxing of the two kits on the blue vacuformed base. They were different kits than the original ones done in a different scale. I do not remember what happened to the original set I had, most likely thrown away in a subsequent move.

I ran across this box while looking for some old kits to email a copy of instructions to someone. The Monitor was partially built so I decided to finish it off. I normally build tanks, and the turreted ship looked enough like a tank to interest me.

The boxart was the completed kits sitting on the base. The roof of the turret looked like it was painted to represent wooden deck planks. My kit had a sink mark in the center of the turret roof so I used strips of styrene to replicate the detail that was damaged on the roof.

I am half motivated to start the other kit in the box, but it's not my normal cup of tea.

A couple of points.  First, the grating on the top of the ship's turret was indeed fine enough for people to walk on.  That's one of the interesting things that have been revealed since the turret was brought up.  (When the ship sank, the turret fell off and the hull landed on top of it, with only part of the turret projecting - and upside down.  Nobody knew just what the top looked like until recently.)

Lindberg has marketed two Monitor/Merrimac (Virginia) kits.  The company made its own pair of kits, which were, as I remember, always sold in the same box; I don't know the exact date, but I suspect it was in 1961, at the beginning of the hoopla over the Civil War centennial.  The Merrimac was motorized.  I built them when I was a kid, but I don't remember much about them.  It's pretty clear that Mr. Gronovius's model was built from that kit - in a later, unmotorized boxing.

At about the same time, Pyro issued a similar kit (with no motor).  Lindberg apparently acquired a lot of the old Pyro molds when Pyro went out of business.  (I don't know when that happened; I think maybe in the early '80s.)  I'm not sure whether Lindberg is actually producing kits any more, but the Monitor/Merrimac that's been in a Lindberg box most recently  is the old Pyro kit.  In a lot of ways it's a nice kit for its age; it includes the iron "boxes" over the vents and steam exhausts in the afterdeck, and pretty nice reproductions of the Dahlgren guns.  But it does suffer from one howler of a mistake.  The real Monitor's turret, as shown in all reliable plans, photos, and models, was located smack on the geometric center of the hull.  Why the Pyro designers moved it a considerable distance forward of amidships is hard to fathom.

In terms of detail, the Pyro version probably has the pure-bred Lindberg one beat.  But in overall shape and outline the Pyro one is a disaster.  The old Lindberg one looks considerably more like the Monitor.

Nice work, Rob!

That canvas covering must have been pretty stout, or the grate covering the top of the turret fine enough for people to walk on, as I've seen drawings and pictures with people on the top. 

Anyway, the Lindberg Monitor is approximately 1:250 and the Merrimack is about 1:264.  I was given that kit by my brother in law, as it was a gift to him, and he didn't do model kits.  I have yet to assemble them, I'd like to scratch-build some added details, but just haven't gotten to it yet.  I'll probably get the Flagship Models detail 1:192 detail sets and try to fit as much as I can to them.  The Canvas roof supports look to be not too difficult to adapt. 

I've been following some of the work that's being done at the Mariner's Museum:

http://www.marinersmuseum.org/uss-monitor-center/uss-monitor-center

And am both impressed and amazed at what kind of technology they had to work with back then.  It was just a few years after the Bessemer Steel process was patented, and none of that had made it to the 'colonies' yet.  The steam engine was constructed of brass, copper and iron.  The propeller was very inefficient (little more than a twisted paddle wheel paddle) and the vessels could do little more than about 4 knots under full steam.  I find that all just amazing. 

Gene Beaird,
Pearland, Texas

Rob, as usual looks great!!!

I built the old Lindberg kit years ago, not the greatest and they couldn't even make the Virginia and Monitor the same scale

If anyone gets out to Norfolk/Hampton Roads the Maritime Museum has a full scale mock-up of the Monitor you can walk around on the deck of. Plus windows into the conservation area where you can see them working on the real thing.

 The top was metal grating for the battle of Hampton Roads, they changed it later with a canvas top but it remained predominantly open.  The reason was ventilation and smoke.  Even though the guns protruded through openings as they fired the recoil would still cause a great deal of smoke to enter the room.  Without the open top the gun crews would have been consumed in fumes and blinded.   Later versions had a pilot house on top but they too had grating for a roof.  Please see link for more information.  Also note the turret top on the Monadnock model from Cottage Ind. with the grated top in PE.

http://www.cityofart.net/bship/monitor.htm

Quote  (Here's an idea Don, get the Verlinden 54mm Monitor turret......Then scratch build the hull under it! If you wanted to go all out get two and do the double turret version! )

Or you could buy the Cottage Industries twin turret model.  

http://www.modelwarships.com/reviews/ships/misc/ironclads/96-monadnock-bc/monadnock-review.html

The armored deck overall was only 5/8" thick, over wood beams. So I don't think plunging fire was much of a consideration.

Looking at the section of the ship, it appears to me that the roof of the turret was stout timbers laid over a big open frame. I'd suspect that the timbers were removed whenever possible, as the turret without an air conditioning system is a pretty miserable place.

Photos show monitors with a kind of temporary flag bridge set up on the turret roof, under a tarp. That wood would make a nice deck.

I'm just guessing...

 Here's an idea Don, get the Verlinden 54mm Monitor turret......

http://redfroghobbies.stormer.net/productDetail.php?id=5979

Then scratch build the hull under it! If you wanted to go all out get two and do the double turret version!

tigerman

Nice Rob. I didn't know that the roof was made of wood. Interesting, as it would have been vulnerable to plunging fire.

I thought the top of the turret was an iron grating, but it still would have been vulnerable to plunging fire.  However, consider that those were solid cannon balls at the time, and the ships lacked any kind of fire control to shoot at ranges where the shot would plunge at much of an angle.  Indeed during the two battles the ships fought at very close range.

a view from inside

 http://i649.photobucket.com/albums/uu218/sumterIII/mariners037.jpg

http://i649.photobucket.com/albums/uu218/sumterIII/mariners041.jpg

http://i649.photobucket.com/albums/uu218/sumterIII/mariners040.jpg

Nice Rob. I didn't know that the roof was made of wood. Interesting, as it would have been vulnerable to plunging fire.

They're not all that accurate, but Verlinden released some 1/200th resin Iron clads that are easy to build and great for toe-dipping into resin or testing tetechniques for other ironclad builds.

thats very neat..

Very nice looking results !

I watched the 1990s era made for tv movie "Ironclads" earlier this month; anniversary of the historic battle.

Would be nice if more Civil War ironclad kits were available .

Rob Gronovius

Here is a photo of a Lindberg Monitor I built a while back. While my normal genre is armor, the ship is like a tank and I guess it floated like one as well. Unfortunately, I broke off the forward flagstaff and the carpet monster carried it off, but I'll replace it with something.

I'm not sure of the scale, but the kit came double boxed with the Merrimack on a blue vacuformed display base. I added strip styrene to the top of the turret to give the appearance of deck planks, but the kit is otherwise built out-of-box.

sumter III

http://www.flagshipmodels.com/zencart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=7&products_id=45

http://www.flagshipmodels.com/zencart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=7&products_id=49

 

Try these

Yeah, that Keokuk is what I was thinking of.  Maybe I'll try that!

Pretty neat Rob! Great to see you post your builds no matter what your subject is.

http://www.flagshipmodels.com/zencart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=7&products_id=45

http://www.flagshipmodels.com/zencart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=7&products_id=49

Try these

sumter III

Don

Have you seen Flagship models kits?

USS Onondaga

USS Keokuk Twin Turret Ironclad Ram

The links don't seem to work for me.

Don

Have you seen Flagship models kits?

USS Onondaga

USS Keokuk Twin Turret Ironclad Ram

Nice build.

Overlooked part of the world's navies, for sure. The RN had some in WW1 that fired an 18" shell about 40,000 yards. Ammunition was moved around on deck on a rail system.

The USN had quite a few in Vietnam.

Or I would say- "looks like a monitor!"

Looks great!  I have been wanting for some time to build a monitor, but have been thinking of doing a double-turret version.  Ships in Scale had some drawings of one, so if I can't find a kit, maybe I'll do a scratch version based on those.  I love the era of the beginnings of steam armored warships.