Novice Ship Builders Desperate Plea

If one is serious of building a correct model of the USS Kearsarge, you must read Richard E. Winslow III's "Constructing Munitions of War". This is the history of the Portsmouth Navy Yard (NH/ME not VA) during the period of 1861-1865. In this wonderful book you will find letters sent during the building of the ship from the Navy Yard to the Sec. Navy Welles. How the ship was to be modeled after the Mohican. Why Commander Pickering was chosen to captain the ship. A picture of one of the two 400 horsepower engines installed in the ship, transported to the Navy Yard by the schooner G. T. Hubbard. A photo of a painting owned by FDR  of the foundering of the Kearsarge Feb 2 1894.

Yankee Clipper

  Thanks for the kudos guys. I strive to make every model I build look like the real thing. When I decided to build my first Tall Ship (the Constitution)I figured I could do the same with it. In the first hour of research I realized it just wasn't possible. But it was possible to build an exciting ship to look at.

  That's my goal with my Kearsarge build. If I have to scratchbuild the whole figgin' kit that's what I'll do. But no one can build anything without plans. Maybe My Nautical Research Guild articles will come before I pick up the B-29 I'm thinking of doing.

   Now that we're all thinking about doing a Kearsarge or Alabama, does anyone have any detail info on the turnbuckles that were used instead of Deadeyes? Looks easy to scratch build if you have some specs or photos.

   Thanks to all who have come forward to share their thoughts with me. I know I've joined a small and select group of modelers/historians and appreciate all the input I've received.

  P.S. I guess I'll buy the CSS Alabama this weekend so I have the complete set to choose from.

I'm glad I saw this thread, I have the Alabama waiting in the wings and I also was wanting some additional info on the ship.  I ordered the book also from amazon.  I'm in the middle of 2 builds now so it will be awhile but keep us posted on your build and research.

    Leftie, say those are some great models, they sure don't look like models at all that ME 262 is just beautiful always loved that aircraft, the first jet aircraft that saw combat, I enjoy the Luft 46 experimental aircraft designs as well, talk about future thinking....

   to get back to your question, I'm building the 1:96 Revell CSS Alabama as my first sailing ship because of the size  and less rigging as opposed to my HMS Victory and Soleil Royal that will be built sometime this century...I hope, but I bought from Amazone . com the book CSS Alabama Anatomy of a Confederate Raider by Andrew Bowcock, this book should give me all the information I'll need to finish this model, I haven't checked for a book on the Keasarge but there might be one available from Amazon.com as I plan to get that ship as well. good luck with your quest, again great aircraft modeling.   Karl

  Thanks Guys. I guess I was being a little naive thinking that I'd find someone with Kearsarge info on the shelf. I know as an aircraft modeler I've accumulated very detailed info on just about every plane ever built. Very necessary when the goal is getting the model right.

  I guess the ship community is a bit smaller, Which means there's less of a chance of this kind of info being instantly email to me. Hey...I'm a 55 year old guy of the 'Now' generation. We never wanted to wait for anything.

  I'll order those articles. Thanks for your help.

 

This website might be a good start -

http://www.naut-res-guild.org/

They have an index of backissues of the Nautical Research Journal that are available for purchase, with an encapsulation of what articles are in each issue.  Parts 2 and 3 of the 4-part article you mentioned are available (March & June 2000) at $3 each, and you can just order photocopies of individual articles for $5 for the first 6 pages and 50 cents each page after that; that would take care of parts 1 and 4 as well.

Those are some awesome aircraft man. Unfortunately I can't help you with your civil war project except make the usual suggestions about civil war history books etc. Do you hang with a crowd who are knowledgable about civil war vessels? If not, cheat a little. An artist has alicence ya know. Just keep in mind things that could not possiby work and don't do them. But judging from your work you should be able to handle that task with boxing gloves on.

 This won't help you with your research much but I used to live in Alaska and I remember a little history about the civil war there. One Of the confederate raiders raised a lot of Cain with the union whaling fleet even for some time after the war because of poor communications. How about the Alabama covered in ice?