Reviewed by Timothy Dike
| The CSS Hampton was a small "Maury" Gunboat
built at the Norfolk Navy Yard in 1962. 100 of these small boats were planned.
These small boat were fitted with one 9" cannon, and one 32-pounder cannon
on the bow and stern.
The Hampton was based at Norfolk until that yard was abandoned and the fleet moved further up the James River. Hampton participated in the Battle of Dutch Gap on August 13th 1864, the attacks on Fort Harrison in late September, and the engagement at Chaffin's Bluff later in October. Hampton continued to operate with the Confederate Navy until Richmond was evacuated in April 1865 when she was burned to keep her from falling into the hands of Union forces. More about the Hampton can be read on the ConfederateNavy.com page. But you can preserve your own piece of history with the 1/192 multimedia kit by Flagship Models. |
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| HULL | |||||||||||||
| This kit is cast full hull style in a single piece. The casting has a different type of casting gate then what I am used to, joining at the top of the casting along the stern. This looks like it might be kind of tricky to remove. but probably helps the resin to flow more evenly into the mold. The hull itself has a nice wooden look to it and has nice deck planking cast on. |
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| WEAPONS AND FITTINGS | |||||||||||||
| If your wondering where the superstructure is, there isn't one. This ship had only a funnel, and some guns on deck. So it's those details that will make or break the kit. Fortunately the details are nicely done. The 9" and 32 pounder are nicely shaped with separate carriages. There will be some cleanup needed on these parts but don't get too carried away. Remember the guns were rough castings in real life and the carriage was made of rough hewn timber. |  |
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| FITTINGS AND DETAIL PARTS | |||||||||||||
| Brass rod, real chain, and plastic tube and strip are included to fabricate some of the parts. It's nice to see these extra materials included as there was a time when the modeler was expected to supply their own parts. |  |
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| PHOTO ETCH | |||||||||||||
| A nice brass fret is included with the finer details such as the rigging, and ships wheel. |  |
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| DECALS | |||||||||||||
| A simple flag decal is supplied in paper. It includes several different flags but you will only need the Confederate Naval Flag. |  |
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| INSTRUCTIONS | |||||||||||||
The Instructions two pages with assembly notes. These
are very detailed for such a simple kit and are more than enough to build
this kit.
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| CONCLUSIONS | |||||||||||||
Rusty White keeps cranking out the kits and bringing new interesting kits on the market. This one will look great motoring up river or in company with the better known Ironclad warships. This is kit #FM19217 CSS Hampton (Maury Gun Boat) with a list price of $50.00. You can order it direct from Flagship Models via it's online ordering system. With such a simple kit the painting and weathering be what makes this kit stand out. Not to worry, as Flagship has a line of How to CD's that will help you out in many topics from Building Resin Ships and Working with Photo Etch Parts to Making Realistic Water. |
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