The original:
She was originally built in 1853 as a sidewheel merchant steamer named
Nebraska. In 1862 she was acquired by the government renamed USS Choctaw
and converted into a gunboat and ram. Carrying a battery of 3 x 9” Dahlgreen
smooth-bore guns, a single 100pdr Parrot Rifle, 2 x 30pdr Parrot Rifle’s
and 2 x 24pdr Howitzers made her a rather well armed ship but in reality
she was weakly armoured and underpowered. At a length of 260ft, and a beam
of 69ft she displaced 1.004 tons and had a crew of 106 men.
From April 1863 until the end of the war Choctaw operated in the Mississippi
River and its tributaries. Between 29 April and 1 May 1863, she stood up
the Yazoo for a feigned attack on Haynes' Bluff designed to prevent the
Confederates from reinforcing Grand Gulf. During this action she was struck
53 times. Remaining in the Yazoo, she took part in attacks with the Army
which led to the destruction of Confederate works at Haynes' Bluff and
the burning of the navy yard and ships lying there at Yazoo City between
18 and 23 May. On 6 and 7 June, she joined in repelling a Confederate attack
at Millkin's Bend, Louisiana, after which she rescued a large number of
Confederates from the river and sent them in as prisoners. Between 7 March
and 15 May 1864 she took part in the operations leading to the capture
of Fort DeRussy.
In July 1865 she was placed out of commission and sold. Her further
fate is unknown.
The model:
I ran across a picture of this obscure vessel several years ago and
I knew instantly that I had to build a model of this. Honestly, just take
a look at these unusual lines those towering smokestacks and the huge wheelhouses;
it looked like something from a comic book, definitely nothing like a proper
warship even if you count those French heavy metal absurdities of the pre
WWI era.
As luck would have it, I found a shipbuilding magazine which had a plan
of this very vessel in it. Even though these plans turned out rather crude
and not highly accurate but I still could use them and just to make sure
I found another set of plans of acceptable quality too. As it turned out
there are quite a few cardboard models available and I also found a few
small scale short run resin kits of this apparently not so less known ship.
But as usual, my idea of a model was the usual much bigger and highly detailed
version in the one true scale of 1:72.(!! ) |
So here I am at the very beginning of building this model. Just to
have a little more fun I decided for a small change, this time I did not
start with the hull but instead with all those small details which I usually
add much later in the build to the earlier finished hull and superstructure.
The very first parts I started to build were those 4 rowboats, a work
that went pretty fast, since I used resin cast boat hulls which I simply
covered with wooden veneer. A rather time consuming job but easy and simple.
The final result looks quite good. |
![Choctaw-WIP-(016)](thumbnails/Choctaw-WIP-(016).jpg) |
Even easier than that were the next parts; I needed several 9”
Dahlgreen smoothbore guns.
According to my first plan there were at least 6 such pieces aboard
the vessel. I found a set of them at Shapeways, 12 pcs. of these guns for
66 euro ,not exactly cheap but the picture looked good and I would have
a few of them left for another project and it would help me to save
some time. So I went ahead and ordered them ;they reached me
within 2 weeks.
Turned out I should have waited a bit longer with this order. Don’t
get me wrong, the 3D printed parts turned out pretty good, they need a
bit more details but this is something to achieve rather easily but a new
set of plans for this vessel and more detailed information’s revealed the
fact that this ship only carried 3 of these Dahlgreen gun’s while the rest
were of different origins....!! |
![Choctaw-WIP-(002)](thumbnails/Choctaw-WIP-(002).jpg) |
With that knowledge in advance I would have built them
by my self just like the rest of these guns and saved a lot of money
instead of only a bit of time. Ah well... next time... !
And learning I did, so for the 100pdr Parrot Rifle I decided to build
it entirely scratch. The gun tube was made on my little lathe from a wooden
dowel; the rest is a pile of plastic bits cut from small strips and profiles
plus a few self-made PE parts from my spare box. The rest of the armament
was done the same way, well more or less. The gun tubes were made from
wood.
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I needed 2 different types, 2 pcs for the 24pdr Howitzers and 2 pcs
for the 30pdr Parrot rifles. I found the right dimensions in some books
and the internet delivered the proof that these were indeed right, all
that was left which kind of carriages I would build. To be honest, I do
not know if exactly these carriages were used on this very ship, I just
tried to build different types to make it a bit more interesting, while
this may not be totally historic accurate I can say at least that such
weapons were used and that they all appeared in such a form on various
ships of the Union at this time. At the end I had 8 guns of 4 different
types, 3x 9” Dahlgreen smoothbore guns, 1x 100pdr Parrot Rifle, 2x 30pdr
Parrot Rifles and 2x 24pdr Howitzers. |
![Choctaw-WIP-(086)](thumbnails/Choctaw-WIP-(086).jpg) |
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At the last moment I decided just for the fun of it, to
add one of those Gatling guns on a horse drawn carriage. These guns were
used outside the casemate on the open main deck to keep away enemy boarders.
This particular carriage was scratch build too, from plastic profiles and
some tin foil, a few PE parts, the wheels came from the spare box and the
gun itself was made by using hollow needles. It took me about 9 hours to
build this Gatling gun, except painting
Building all these guns was quite some fun,as there is only one
simple problem with them,
that no one will ever see them again , aside from the muzzle
. |
![Choctaw-WIP-(041)](thumbnails/Choctaw-WIP-(041).jpg) |
![Choctaw-WIP-(055)](thumbnails/Choctaw-WIP-(055).jpg) |
![Choctaw-WIP-(097)](thumbnails/Choctaw-WIP-(097).jpg) |
The vessel had 3 wooden masts on its main deck, building them was just
as easy. With the right dimensions and a few photos of similar masts
I was able to add a few details to them; altogether it took me less
than a day to build all 3 of them. |
![Choctaw-WIP-(011)](thumbnails/Choctaw-WIP-(011).jpg) |
Next in line were 2 capstans, one for the Forecastle and
one for the Back. Once again the desire to buy a set of 3D printed parts
via Shapeways was present but since I needed only 2 of them the decision
was instant.
a few parts made from plastic sheet in combination with some wooden
parts and perhaps 2 hours and they were made. |
![Choctaw-WIP-(010)](thumbnails/Choctaw-WIP-(010).jpg) |
![Choctaw-WIP-(038)](thumbnails/Choctaw-WIP-(038).jpg) |
The next time is not that much of a detail but already a part of the
ship’s superstructure, if it could be called that. Amidst those 2 towering
smokestacks and even larger wheelhouses was the oddly shaped steering house
sitting atop of a rounded structure. This needed to be built as well. After
constructing the cone shaped base for this structure I made it and the
steering house from plastic sheet. |
![Choctaw-WIP-(057)](thumbnails/Choctaw-WIP-(057).jpg) |
After all these smaller parts were done I decided it was time to start
the work on the hull itself. Building this item was even easier and faster
than everything I had done so far.
The actual hull of theses river ironclads was a pretty simple shape.
Choctaw, like all these river ironclads had a flat bottom hull with
a rather shallow draft, otherwise these ships would have been unable to
operate along these rivers.
Thanks to that, building a model hull is an easy job. Even more because
I had planned to build this model as a waterline model .
|
![Choctaw-WIP-(062)](thumbnails/Choctaw-WIP-(062).jpg) |
Building the hull was a job of less than 5 hours.
When finished the forward and stern section were planked and I started
to build the superstructure along the midship section. While the midship
structure was easy to build, the forward casemate turned out to be a different
story.
I made several attempts until I achieved the proper method to build this
part. An internal structure from wooden beams was made including 2 different
levels stairs and everything else to which the already finished armament
could be attached. |
Installing that armament inside this casemate turned out to be quite
an effort. In my ambition to create a rather good and accurate looking
internal structure I did perhaps a bit more than necessary.
Those wooden beams were so close together it proved almost impossible
to get those guns inside at their appropriate places. After several attempts
I finally succeeded but it did cost me quite a few nerves.!
Additional to those guns a lot of tiny details went into the forward
casemate, needless to say that you will not be able to see any of them
even though I decided to make 2 section on opposite sides removable,
so that I’m able to prove at least a bit that I installed the entire
interior. |
![Choctaw-WIP-(078)](thumbnails/Choctaw-WIP-(078).jpg) |
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The forward mast which I have made much earlier could be installed
too as well as a few more details on the outside Amidships the davits were
installed, the boats will have to wait until the ship is finally colored.
Next in line was the midship casemate with its 2x 24pdr Howitzers. These
were the smallest guns aboard and could fire through 2 different gun ports,
either along the broadside or in case of being boarded by some unfriendly
intruders directly to the front. In this case they used canister shots
which kept the damage to the own ship relatively low but played havoc with
any personnel in front of the business end of these 2 smoothbore guns.
As I always like to say: during the good old times the people had a much
closer relation, because their weapons didn’t reach that far.
As can be seen on some photos I put those huge smokestacks, some skylights
and a small cabin in their places just to see how this was going to look.
|
![Choctaw-WIP-(120)](thumbnails/Choctaw-WIP-(120).jpg) |
Meanwhile a few more weeks have gone by .... Finally I
had been able to build the very last portion of the superstructure on this
vessel, those wheelhouses and the cabin-like structure in between them.
Even though this part looks real simple, it turned out to be quite an
effort. Because of all those different angles and shapes, building this
part was in fact rather complicated and took several more hours than anticipated.
But finally they were finished and the result looks quite good to me. And
now the real fun begins. Details, details, nothing but details and just
to get used to it I started with the hardest, I mean most time consuming
part of this: Rivets, each and every iron plate needs at least 2 if not
4 of them and there are lots of them, a whole bucket full, so for the next
few weeks I expected nothing but punching tiny 1mm rivets from 0,3mm
thick styrene foil and then as if there wouldn’t be anything more entertaining
to do, glue them one by one into their appropriate place. Oh wait a second,
to do so you’ll have to pick them up, every single one of them with the
help of some very pointy stick or some tweezers and put them to that place
without losing them
If I only had known at this time!
….oh the joy of being a model-ship-builder!
It took me quite some month to build all this and the work on those
smaller details seemed to take no end, so week after week I spent working
on those rivet covered iron plates and the more I added the better it looked, |
Now then, the rivets looked great....
The only problem was, it was wrong, totally and utterly wrong. What
was it that I said about the joy of model building? I found out the hard
way that knowledge can be a curse.
I came across a guy who was not only building the same model as I, turned
out he was working for the Museum of the US Navy and due to that he had
access to some really important information,
among them several high quality photos and plans of the real thing.
One look at these and I knew instantly I was in deep trouble! The midship
section and the forward casemate of my model, in other words almost everything
I had built this far, was completely wrong. One of those photos showed
clearly that the upper section of the midship section as well as the forward
casemate were curved, something I completely missed, and those rivets,
well they simply did not exist, not a single one. Now try to imagine my
feelings after putting hundreds of those rivets on my model and being so
damn proud it because they looked so cool!
I spend the next few days trying to figure out if I should place the
whole model into the next dumpster, drop the whole idea altogether, or
repair it or completely restart it again.
Now the dumpster was out of question after the first shock had settled,
starting again was no option as well, so repair it was!
And just to make sure, it never sounded easy and it sure wasn’t. Removing
some parts was no problem at all, but all those beautiful details I had
already added to the model did not survive this kind of reconstruction.
|
![Choctaw-WIP-(168)](thumbnails/Choctaw-WIP-(168).jpg) |
No matter what I tried, most of them went into the scrapheap;
what a waste of efforts since I had to build them all once again but by
far the biggest frustration about this whole matter was the fact....,
that I had this particular photo already in my possession but I just
simply ignored it and relied too much on those damned plans which
all 4 different one turned out to be simply wrong.
What I actually learned from this mishap is simply: never trust plans!!
even so-called ' original ' plans have been drawn by humans, you’ll
never know if these plans were actually used for construction but if you
got a photo, it tells the truth
|
Since I already knew what I had to do during this phase of the build,
progress came fast and only the sheer amount of work involved took so much
time. In the end I spent over 6 month just to fix what I had made wrong
in my first attempt. Finally all the details were in their places and I
could start the coloring. Since there are no color photos of these ships
anywhere I had to rely on what books and experts said. According to these
sources theses hips were painted in some kind of grey-blueish color and
since I had one picture of a painting made by a famous artist which looked
exactly that way, I decided to take this route. But I also wanted to show
this ship how it looked while in use, a clean and immaculate ship was out
of question. These ships were coal fired, which means they had to re-coal
every few weeks if not days. Due to the shallow draft these ships simply
could not transport many tons of coal so as a result they had to resupply
quite often. |
![Choctaw-WIP-(213)](thumbnails/Choctaw-WIP-(213).jpg) |
This is a work most people today would simply refuse to
do, shovelling a few tons of coal from a barge into the open hatches of
that ship was an “All Hands” job , and even you started to rinse and swab
the deck afterwards with lots of water there will always remain a lot of
stain and this coal dust will certainly cover the entire ship.
And when those towering smokestacks start belching thick black clouds
of smoke the result is quite the same. With this in mind I started the
weathering process which of course included rust as some rotten wooden
structures too.
The entire process of coloring and weathering the entire ship was done
over a period of almost 4 weeks.
Layer after layer were added to recreate a look which simply showed
that this ship was extensively used.
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Building the diorama was pure fun; the only problem here was the large
tree.
It took me 4 attempts to build until I had the right size and shape
but as I said, with this little problem solved the rest was pure fun. The
ground work was made with some Styrofoam covered with toilet paper and
wallpaper glue.
When dry everything was coloured and once again covered with appropriate
material to simulate various forms of vegetation, mostly this stuff came
from HO railroad department. |
![Choctaw-WIP-(277)](thumbnails/Choctaw-WIP-(277).jpg) |
All trees were made the same way, by bundling several steel
wires, twisting and bending them just the way I want to be, then covering
them completely with structural medium gel followed by some colour when
dry.
The final act is to add foliage which came from various sources. The figures
came from several suppliers; I had started to collect them the day I had
started to build the ship.
At the end I had about 75 figures plus some animals on the entire diorama
just enough to make the whole thing come alive.
The water was made by using 2 components resin which was poured in several
layers each individually colored to give a bit more depths to the water.
The whole diorama took me a bit longer than 1 year to build and once again
I can say despite the entire problem’s I encountered it was a whole lot
of fun. |
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