CSS Alabama plastic model build 2018-2019 (Revell 1/96)

Ha!!! Reminds me of the 1959 motion picture "Operation Petticoat" that starred Cary Grant. That submarine was painted pink. "The Wackiest Ship in the Army" was another good one, but didn't feature a strangely colored vessel. But the Hollywood comedy element was still present. I think Jack Lemon and Ricky Nelson starred in that one.
 
Rebel I appreciate the data, your help is greatly appreciated and needed from your historical expertise. Didn't know that about the Canaries, very interesting.
Once Admiral Fisher took over, Admiralty Orders & Regulations about colours and uniforms became much stricter in the "grey" era, and remain so today.
 
I have basically finished the boom extensions for the fore and main masts. I will have to add the blocks and tackle when some other parts come in from Syren. ( Thought I had all the blocks I needed ) I am in the process of adding the mizen mast and making sure all the heights are as close as possible utilizing the BJ plans and this 1/96 scale model. I will temporary mount all the masts for a final measurement and will be working on the main mast parts and assembly next with the 4 sail spars. I'll post some images of work progressing, won't be working on the ratlines till probably next week as the heights of the masts and size of the sail spars with extensions will be concentrated on now along with painting scheme of course.

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Here's a nice image of a sailing ship utilizing the extension booms for the fore mast as an example for them being utilized in real life. Still contemplating on full sails for this model as it changes the time completion and work loads, she would look beautiful with the boom extensions and added boom sails which also adds to the case size and mounting board size. I will have to scratch build the spar extensions mounting parts along with changing the rigging for the full sails if I decide to go with them, doing research on this possible addition and it's so far looks like a real challenge to add them along with a couple more months added to the build. Be considering the full sails seriously over the next month and any suggestions is welcomed along with opinion's.

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Some more progress images of painting the finished yards and mast pieces along with a closeup on the swinging boom setup for future rigging, which I will have to tie a small single square knot to run the line up to the proper place on the yards, I had used white rope for the swinging booms as to accent the rigging which so far from my research no one whom has built the CSS Alabama has added to their model representation and I feel it does add a sense of detail that is needed for proper historical representation. One point on this representation I will add different colors for the rigging to enhance the detailing as this is so very fragile. Tremendous amount of research and thought has gone into the sequence and application of installing all the details. This rascal has turned into a real challenge for a plastic kit.

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Nice painting representation of Her in full sails for ya'll to enjoy also. Notice the white hulls of the other smaller boats. Mine will also present this detail for better contrast with this historical representation build.

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Tut11
 
Does Semmes mention the use of the extension booms? I've never seen that artwork above of the Alabama. It's a really nice rendition...
 
Does Semmes mention the use of the extension booms? I've never seen that artwork above of the Alabama. It's a really nice rendition...

Semmes doesn't mention them directly as far as I know, some of our Naval historians could answer this better.

The ship CSS Alabama did have them per historical records from the England ship yard build for this type of ship. This was a very advanced ship for it's time and just a few of them were built. "BlueJacket" did extensive research for their model and it is the most complete and historical representation out there.

I will tell you that the Revell model is very fragile being from the 70's, the plastic on my kit is almost cracking. I have sealed it and painted multiple coats of paint for the main hull and some of the supplied parts just broke in my hands. So scratch building wooden yards and masts are a must for rigging strength. One she's completed will quickly go under glass and seal it off ASAP so to preserve her for many years.
 
Wow, your kit was from the '70's? IIRC mine was a re-issue from the early 90's. Bummer about the plastic being so brittle over the years. The old polystyrene gets that way. I can't remember when Revell originally released both the Alabama and the Kearsarge kits in 1/96th scale, it may have been in the 60's during the CW Centennial days. You could get a "Johnny Reb Cannon" back then too. Me and my brother had one.
 
Another update as I work on the foot ropes for the yards. Trying to keep in scale and also accent them a little, they are turning out fairly well. I'm going to have to order some yard mounting parts from Bluejacket for mounting them securely to the masts.

Associated parts needed for them:

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A few of images of work in progress:

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I have one set done, and feel with the scale it's close to proper size for the foot ropes. Have another set to complete and should be done by today as these are taking longer than anticipated. The block and tackle will have to be added to the yards also then when the parts come in from Blue Jacket I'll assemble each mast along with added rigging so final tie down rigging from each mast will go simpler.
 
Wow, your kit was from the '70's? IIRC mine was a re-issue from the early 90's. Bummer about the plastic being so brittle over the years. The old polystyrene gets that way. I can't remember when Revell originally released both the Alabama and the Kearsarge kits in 1/96th scale, it may have been in the 60's during the CW Centennial days. You could get a "Johnny Reb Cannon" back then too. Me and my brother had one.

JP, I think both kits were released in the 60's for the first run of them. The "Johnny reb cannon" sounds interesting. I'll see if I can hunt one of those down.
 
Step by step. It is coming along well. Do you have plans for a display box? I'm thinking of making plexiglass ones for mine.
 
Step by step. It is coming along well. Do you have plans for a display box? I'm thinking of making plexiglass ones for mine.
I'll be putting it on a 3/4" white board and then building a custom glass case for it. Size depends on full sails or not.
 
You have the main masts angled just right, wish I'd done that but had no idea back then......looks like the hull is placed in some type of foam so you can work on it. Does the screw (propeller) go in later??
 
You have the main masts angled just right, wish I'd done that but had no idea back then......looks like the hull is placed in some type of foam so you can work on it. Does the screw (propeller) go in later??
Yep the screw will be one of the last parts I put on. The foam is my dry dock. :D
 
I can't post the USS Kearsarge files as they are copyrighted.
 
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