Help support TMP


U.S.S. Amphitrite in 1/600 Scale


Amphitrite
Product #
IC101
Manufacturer
Suggested Retail Price
$10.00 USD


Back to Workbench


Andrew Walters writes:

I really enjoy the step-by-step photo things. I especially appreciate it when there are lots of pictures, and good explanantions. Its all I can do to stop myself from running out and buying that ship.

Thanks very much. Do more.

Andrew


Revision Log
2 July 2007page first published

Areas of Interest

American Civil War
19th Century

Featured Hobby News Article


Featured Link


Featured Ruleset

Fire & Fury


Rating: gold star gold star gold star gold star gold star gold star gold star gold star 


Featured Showcase Article

CSS Mississippi

Personal logo Editor in Chief Bill The Editor of TMP Fezian completes a Confederate river ironclad.


Featured Profile Article


11,828 hits since 2 Jul 2007
©1994-2024 Bill Armintrout
Comments or corrections?


TMP logo

Membership

Please sign in to your membership account, or, if you are not yet a member, please sign up for your free membership account.

Personal logo Virtualscratchbuilder Supporting Member of TMP Fezian of Virtualscratchbuilder writes:

This model is from the Age of Ironclads range from Merrimack/Old Glory Shipyards, and is in 1/600 scale.

USS Amphitrite was an iron-hulled monitor laid down in 1874, launched in 1883, and finally commissioned in 1895. She partook in the bombardment of San Juan during the Spanish-American War, but was sent home to Florida before the Battle of Santiago de Cuba. She was a powerful ship for her size, but hampered by being a poor sea boat and had very short legs (short range).

I have built about 50 resin ships, as well as mastered my share in the past 10 years - ranging from simple prime-and-paints to high-dollar 1/700 scale kits. This kit was a delight to work with.

Comparison

Amphitrite was 262' long and 55' wide. The model scales to within 1mm of those dimensions in 1/600, which to me is about as good as it gets, as molds can shrink by more than that over their life.

Materials used in construction:

Step 1: Clean-Up & Assembly:

Kits as delivered

The kit(s) as delivered. Also included in my package was a model of the Russian circular battleship Novgorod... a ship so weird I chose to built it later!

Pieces

The pieces fresh out of the bag.

  • 1 resin hull
  • 2 main turrets
  • 1 funnel
  • 1 ventilation cowl
  • 1 military mast
  • 3 ship's boats
  • 1 bridge
  • 2 crossdeck boatbooms
  • 1 searchlight platform
Hull

The hull as supplied. There were a few air-bubble holes, but nothing I have not seen before, and nothing that could not be filled with putty. The hull is crisp and devoid of flash, and needed no sanding or bending (resin often warps) - which is good, because I really hate resin dust. Overall, a good clean casting.

The metal parts needed a little touch-up, as there were typical mold-lines and vent threads, but otherwise little attention was needed. After test fitting, most of the plugs (the things you insert into pre-drilled holes) on the metal parts needed trimming, but this is a good thing... I'd rather have plugs that were too long rather than too short. The ventilation-cowl plug needed a little thinning, but otherwise test-fitting was a breeze. The holes themselves were accurately placed and nicely drilled out... no attention needed.

Into the soup

Once trimmed and lightly sanded, everything went into the "soup" (which is what I call my soap bath).

Partially built

After cleaning and drying, the ship was built to this point. Normally, I build as little as possible prior to painting, but in this case there are no tricky nooks and crannies, so I built almost the whole vessel. (The boats and bridge will be primed and painted separately, and assembled later.)

Stern view

A view from the stern. Normally, I would add some of my own detail at this point, but I am opting to build right out of the bag.

Side view

A view from the side... the work surface is uneven. The ship itself sits nice and level. The turrets are still loose, and will probably stay that way - I like to play with them when the ship is on the table (or floor, as the case may be).

Top view

A view from the top. I have to say that at this point I am very pleased with this kit. At $10 USD, it prices out very nicely, in my opinion.