"New ACW ships on the blog" Topic

A request from a reader made me realize that I was very far behind when it came to photographing my painted Civil War ships. That problem has now been rectified! Please drop by and take a look. One thing to note: They are not on the main page; instead, they are on the page entitled "American Civil War ships"

link

BWW

I'm in the middle of building 19th C. ironclads and auxiliaries in 1/1200 scale, and I'm looking around at other people's crafting innovations and painting tips, so the timing of your blog post is perfect. I'm currently building the fleets of Lissa 1866 from Pithead (I bought the whole shebang), but I also have large collections of 1/1200 ACW and French ironclads and wooden ships to complete.

I agree the rigging is necessary, and as much as I dread it, I'll be rigging all my masted ships. I expect the steam frigates, sloops, corvettes and SOLs to be a real bear. (Or more accurately, I expect each to be an individual bear. And I have a couple dozen. Oof.)

I also think smoke is necessary, so I've been drilling out all of my smoke stacks to accept fuzzy pipe cleaners. I suppose that's going overboard (gluing on black polyfill batting would probably work just fine), but I have a hare-brained scheme to try using removable smoke markers as an indication of speed or movement. Someday. Maybe.

I'm surprised you have Thoroughbred ships, but not Langtons. I have a bunch of each. I find the Langtons to be a bit more exaggerated, but equally nice to look at, and until Toby gets around to making the big ships (Hartford et al) Langton is the best-looking source of frigates, sloops, corvettes, and oceanic raiders in 1/1200. I would recommend sticking to a single manufacturer for each class, but I think Langtons and Thoroughbreds should look fine steaming in the same fleet together.

- Ix

I just haven't gotten around to buying any Langton ACW yet. I'm sure I will once I need the big ships.

I also agree with you about the rigging. There needs to be some, even if there isn't as much as on a sailing ship. If you have those Skytrex/Red Eagle transitional ships, then yes I suspect rigging them will be horrible. Their masts and yardarms just aren't set up for it the way Langton ones are. I have some Skytrex hulls among the sailing ships, and I replaced all the original mast sets with ones from Langton. I've wanted to buy those, but just never have.

I thought about the pipe cleaner smoke as well. Actually that is why the stack on Atlanta looks a little bit wonky up close. I used a .5mm drill bit, but broke out the side part way down. Consequently, I haven't done it on any other ships. I think it would look great, but in 1/1200 is probably too fiddly. If you come up with something, I'd love to see it.
BWW

If you have those Skytrex/Red Eagle transitional ships, then yes I suspect rigging them will be horrible. Their masts and yardarms just aren't set up for it the way Langton ones are.

Mine are,because I put Langton masts on Red Eagle steam SOL and steam frigate hulls. They look really nice that way.

It was actually some trouble to talk Langton into selling me mast/spar sets separate from ACW vessels, but most of the Red Eagle British ironclads are on my future "to do" list, so I hope to talk my way into a second purchase some year soon. We'll see. I wish Langton's ACW era masts were sold in sets separately, like the Napoleonic mast sets. Langton's masts will make just about any blob of a hull look really nice. They're a bit thick but strong, well detailed, and nicely cast.

Later this year, I plan to use a mast set from a Langton USS Mississippi to fully rig a Thoroughbred model of USS New Ironsides. (The Langton New Ironsides is resin, so Thoroughbred's pewter hull makes a better counterweight to metal masts.)

Lately I've been experimenting with making my own masts from wire, and they can actually look really good. In the event Langton denies my next special purchase request, this is my plan B. The Langton spar sets with furled sails should provide all the spars I need. I've yet to figure out a durable way to attach the gaff, but I think if I form a furled fore-and-aft sail in a crescent between gaff and mast out of epoxy putty (e.g. green stuff), that should stick the whole thing together.

- Ix

I thought about the pipe cleaner smoke as well. Actually that is why the stack on Atlanta looks a little bit wonky up close. I used a .5mm drill bit, but broke out the side part way down. Consequently, I haven't done it on any other ships. I think it would look great, but in 1/1200 is probably too fiddly.

I fear you may be right, it may be too fiddly in practice, but I'm going to try.

Drilling a straight hole down the center of a tiny stack is indeed a special skill, and requires patience. I still get it wrong sometimes and ruin the lead stack. One of my solutions is to replace stacks that are separate pieces (as on Pithead models) with styrene or aluminum tube. The center is already hollow, so no drilling necessary.

- Ix

Well that's certainly one way to fix the Skytrex problems! I didn't know that Langton sold their ACW masts separately.

I've considered making my own masts occasionally. Vol Williams does some fantastic work when it comes to making masts. Problem is, I don't know anything about a lot of the things one would need to do it (wire diameter, cutting the wire, etc). Clearly, if I decide to do something like that I could learn; I'm just too lazy to have done that yet. :\

I think your green stuff gaffsail idea is probably the best way to guarantee that the gaff stays in place. Maybe wire the gaff in place with a loop, and then use the furled epoxy sail to provide the extra support/strength needed. My question for you is: How do you make the furled sails on the yards? Green stuff also, or paper, or something else?

Ooh, I quite like your idea about using tubing! I wish I had thought of that (insert embarrassment emoji here).