USS Kearsarge paint scheme in 1880s?

The Kearsarge kit I have seems OK from the point of view of flash and other flaws. Certainly no more than you'd expect from a 1960s moulding, and less than many kits of this vintage. Most parts need some cleanup, and there are some sink-marks on the deck that need filling in, but otherwise the kit is perfectly "buildable".
Seems like I was lucky!

The American and European Revell websites apparently have been refurbished and updated during the past few weeks.  The European one doesn't include either the Alabama, Kearsarge, Oriana, or "Spanish Galleon."  The European list does include such gems as H.M.S. "Beagle" and a version of the "Peter Pan Pirate Ship" that glows in the dark.

I guess I should have added to my earlier list of U.S. Revell-Monogram ships the announcement of the 1/72-scale Gato-class submarine.  (It's not on the European Revell list.  The 1/72 German U-boat is on the European list but not the U.S. one.) 

I can suggest two possible additional reasons for the apparent failure of the Alabama and Kearsarge reissues.  One - according to several Forum members who bought it, the Kearsarge has so much flash and other molding flaws that it's almost unbuildable.   That has to be at least slightly embarrassing for the manufacturer.  Two - the prices were utterly outrageous.  Modelers are willing to spend more for high-quality merchandise than they were twenty years ago, but there are limits.

I'd be delighted to see the old Revell Olympia again, but I'm not optimistic.  I haven't been to Philadelphia for quite a few years, but every time I've been on board the ship she's been almost deserted.  Hardly a major tourist attraction.  And I can state, on the basis of experience in teaching freshman-level U.S. history and American military history that a staggering percentage of the American population is at best vaguely aware that the Spanish-American War ever took place.

Sheesh, this is depressing.  I'd better stop.

It doesn't surprise me too much that the Alabama has sold poorly, as most people likely to buy a kit like this are modellers and enthusiasts who are probably aware of how inaccurate the kit is. It's surprising that the Alabama is currently in the Revell AG catalogue but not the Kearsarge; maybe (rightly or wrongly) Revell think that the greater fame of the Confederate ship will make it sell better regardless of the accuracy of the kit.

Not sure why the Kearsarge hasn't sold well - presumably the high cost put a lot of people off (it certainly did me until I managed to find one at a discount price) and maybe ships like this just don't appeal as much to the average "casual" buyer as more picturesque traditional sailing ships? (Anyone know if the reissue of the infamous Revell "Spanish Galleon" has sold well?)

On the subject of the new Revell AG releases, it's good to see the old Chris Craft boat being reissued even if under a bogus name. Craft of this type aren't often represented in kit form, and this particular kit seems to fetch very high prices on eBay currently.
The Oriana and Guided Missile set are also interesting. Maybe it's not beyond possibility that kits like the Calypso and Olympia will be reissued in the future. (You'd think the latter would sell well considering that the Olympia is on display as a museum ship)

jtilley wrote:

If you want an Alabama or a Kearsarge, best get it now.

I can only agree with that - apparently, already the Kearsarge wasn't that much a success for RoG, and the Alabama even less (which isn't exactly surprising taking into account how many people have an interest into such a ship in the first place and are then ready to get not one but a number of them).

Jorit

I don't have anything to add to this discussion beyond a couple of comments on product availability.  One - if you're at all interested in the research that goes into a good ship model, one of the best and most entertaining investments you can make is the set of two CD-ROMs containing the entire run of the Nautical Research Journal.  The price - something over $100 - may seem steep at first glance, but I don't know of anywhere else where one could acquire such a mass of information so cheaply and in such a compact format.  For information, check out www.Naut-Res-Guild.org. 

Two - In connection with another Forum thread last night I happened to go browsing around the Revell/Monogram website (www.revell.com).  I checked both the U.S. Revell-Monogram and Revell Germany kit listings.  Both the Alabama and Kearsarge have disappeared from both of them.  The U.S. catalog in fact lists a grand total of eight ship kits - three of them of the sailing variety:  the 1/96 Constitution (originally released in 1965), the 1/192 Constitution (1956), and a "Caribbean Pirate Ship," which obviously is a reboxing of "Peter Pan's Pirate Ship Jolly Roger" (1960). 

The other five Revell-Monogram ship kits are the 1/426 Arizona (1958 - being promoted now as a "new release"), the nearly-fossilized Missouri (Revell's very first ship - 1954), the 1/72 PT-109 (1963), the 1/570 Titanic (1976), and the new 1/400 Queen Mary 2.  (All these dates, of course, are from Dr. Graham's Remembering Revell Model Kits.)

It seems that, with that one exception of the QM2,  Revell-Monogram has made the conscious decision to abandon the scale ship modeler. 

 The Revell Germany catalog doesn't look quite as bleak; it contains an interesting new German lifeboat and a handful of additional reissues from the fifties and sixties.  (The "new" release currently being trumpeted is a "sport fisherman."  This one originated as a "Chris Craft Flying Bridge Cruiser" in 1954, and got modified into a "Balboa Marlin Fishing Boat" in 1961; the "new" kit appears to be a reissue of the latter.

If you want an Alabama or a Kearsarge, best get it now.

weasel505 wrote:

Hi, Do you have any pics, drawings, or other images of Kearsarge in her 1864 fit? I'd like to backdate the kit to the Cherbourg fit but plans or drawings seem to be very rare. Thanks. Weasel

If I may step in here as the Kearsarge in 1864 configuration is one of my long-term projects; a good starting point for reference is Canney's first volume of his The Old Steam navy. Though not much in terms of plans it gives a good general introduction into the development of the class.

For a modelling project totally indispensable is a series of four articles by A. C. Roberts which appeared in the 1999 and 2000 issues of the Nautical Research Journal. In these, he describes in detail the construction of a model of Kearsarge in 1864 fit, not only addressing all the more problematic issues, but also giving lots of eminently useful drawings.

I can't recommend these articles strongly enough; it should be fairly easy to get them via interlibrary loan.

Generally, even if you start from an Alabam hull, it's an enormous amount of work. Revell made a valiant attempt of making a model that gives a general idea of how these sloops looked in the 1880s (making minor corrections to backdate them), but that is as far it gets - a general idea.  Making a decent 1880s Kearsarge out of it is probably fairly easy, but for a scale model of the Kearsarge in 1864 fit you have to change or rework pretty much everything that comes with the kit (so that at times I'm asking myself if it would not have been easier to scratchbuild the ship...). The one positive thing about the latter project is that rigging the model will be easier...

If you want to spare you at least some time and are prepared to spend a not too insignificant amount of money, Steve Nuttall of modelbarrels.com has prepared a set of CNC-cut brass barrels for a 1864 Kearsarge including the bow gun; they are absolutely fantastic. I must admit that I'm a little biased in this, as it was partly due to my interest in it that Steve made these - based on the Roberts plans -, but if you ask around you'll find that his barrels are generally considered to be the best around. Production of the Kearsarge set was limited, but he may still have one; if you're interested, just mail him.

He also produced a set for the Alabama based on drawings from Bowcock's masterly "Anatomy of a Confederate raider", which is just as nice. These I believe are still on sale.

Jorit

Unfortunately no, all I know of are the photos and paintings on the Steel Navy review page here:
http://steelnavy.com/Alabama&Kearsarge.htm

This review suggests that the Alabama kit is actually a better starting point for the 1864 Kearsarge.

Hi,

Do you have any pics, drawings, or other images of Kearsarge in her 1864 fit? I'd like to backdate the kit to the Cherbourg fit but plans or drawings seem to be very rare.

Thanks.

Weasel 

 

Looks like this photo answers my question: should have checked before posting, this photo was actually saved on my PC hard drive (along with a number of others of the Kearsarge in the late 1800s).
http://www.steelnavy.com/images/Alabama&Kearsarge/Kearsarge1880.jpg
Another example is this painting:
http://www.steelnavy.com/images/Alabama&Kearsarge/KearsargePaintingA.jpg
I have to say I'm glad this -is- the correct scheme, as it looks a lot nicer than a plain black hull! (which I thought might have been the actual paint scheme for the 1880s Kearsarge)

Some photos seem to show two white stripes on the upper hull, others only one, presumably one of them was painted out at some point. There also seem to be thin white dividing lines on either side of the boot stripe.
The painting shows a white funnel, but as all the photos I've seen show it black, I'm guessing this is an error on the painter's part. (White isn't really a very practical colour for a smokestack...)