CSS Virginia help needed

[Kevin Martin]

I'm new to the group, having found my way here looking for information on the CSS Virginia. More directly from a beautiful 3D rendering by member Andy Hall. I am in the process of scratch building the Virginia in 1/96 scale and have a question. Maybe a couple more. I see differing impressions of the deck of the casement. I have seen open grills or grating. I have seen wooden plank decking being featured. Any ideas on what exactly kept the crew from falling onto the gun deck below? Was the hull copper plated? What's the consensus on the after end of the ship in so far as having a matching raised deck like the forward bow section that split the waves. I thank Andy Hall for the rendering he's made. They are serving as a guide during my build. Thanks for any help folks!

 

[rebelatsea]

I'm new to the group, having found my way here looking for information on the CSS Virginia. More directly from a beautiful 3D rendering by member Andy Hall. I am in the process of scratch building the Virginia in 1/96 scale and have a question. Maybe a couple more. I see differing impressions of the deck of the casement. I have seen open grills or grating. I have seen wooden plank decking being featured. Any ideas on what exactly kept the crew from falling onto the gun deck below? Was the hull copper plated? What's the consensus on the after end of the ship in so far as having a matching raised deck like the forward bow section that split the waves. I thank Andy Hall for the rendering he's made. They are serving as a guide during my build. Thanks for any help folks!

Hello,
If you are depicting the ship as completed ,the top of he casemate was a grating, planked over subsequent to the battle.
Her hull was coppered, The fantail had an iron sheet over the rudder head, and was just level with the surface.

 

[Frederick14Va]

If your referring to the top of the gun deck, it utilized iron grating... allowed ventilation... light...and prevented shells/fragments from entering the casemate..

 

[Mark F. Jenkins]

Welcome, Kevin!

rebelatsea is our resident engineer and draftsman, so he's one of the ones to listen to attentively; I'm sure Andy will chime in as well.

From my understanding, there was no corresponding breakwater aft of the casemate, but as noted there was a protective structure attached over the stern. There are several opinions regarding if the forward breakwater was planked over or left "hollow;" I'm not aware of a consensus on that, but I wouldn't want to be standing on the forward deck when the ship was underway if it was not planked over...

 

[chellers]

Welcome to CivilWarTalk.

 

[Kevin Martin]

Welcome to CivilWarTalk.

Thank you! For the past three years I have been heavy into building the iron clads. I work only in 1/96 scale and have pretty much gone through the very nice Cottage Industries Models lineup of mixed media resin/metal/wood kits. I have recently pushed my abilities to scratch building the more obscure craft of the Civil War. I know the Virginia is anything but obscure. But there isn't a kit of the model in 1/96 scale. It's being built as I place finishing touches on a USS Cairo I started a couple months ago. I can not appreciate more the help I can get from the many talented, and wise members of this group. My plan is to run through all of Andy Hall's 3D renderings and build each one in scale. His work is the goal I strive for to achieve as a finished product.

 

[AndyHall]

Kevin, thanks for the kind words. I do appreciate them.

My Virginia model was done 2-3 years ago, based on commercially-available drawings from the Mariners Museum. I had some additional guidance (e.g., the white paint on the gunport frames) from Anna Holloway from the museum.

Since then, I have found Carl Park's Ironclad Down, which goes into exhaustive analysis (some of it conjectural) on the design and (re-)construction of the ship. I believe that book is probably essential for anyone modeling the ship, either a physical model or a digital one. I haven't compared my model point-by-point with Park's work, but I really should do that some one of these days.

Please accept my apologies for not replying in more detail now, but I have to run and will respond more completely later this weekend.

And welcome from Wet Texas!

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[Kevin Martin]

Hello,
If you are depicting the ship as completed ,the top of he casemate was a grating, planked over subsequent to the battle.
Her hull was coppered, The fantail had an iron sheet over the rudder head, and was just level with the surface.

So one of the preparations before engaging in a battle was to place down wood planking over the grated casement top? My first thought now is where would they have stored all that lumber? Opens up the possibilities to deck boxes for storage? Fascinating!
I've seen a computer generated rendering of the Virgina after the battle where the stack is peppered with holes and the starboard life boat is shattered in two and hanging from the davits. I do build my models with a "used" appearance to them. This idea intrigues me, but if that damage is fictional, I'll pass.

 

[CMWinkler]

Welcome

 

[Kevin Martin]

Kevin, thanks for the kind words. I do appreciate them.

My Virginia model was done 2-3 years ago, based on commercially-available drawings from the Mariners Museum. I had some additional guidance (e.g., the white paint on the gunport frames) from Anna Holloway from the museum.

Since then, I have found Carl Park's Ironclad Down, which goes into exhaustive analysis (some of it conjectural) on the design and (re-)construction of the ship. I believe that book is probably essential for anyone modeling the ship, either a physical model or a digital one. I haven't compared my model point-by-point with Park's work, but I really should do that some one of these days.

Please accept my apologies for not replying in more detail now, but I have to run and will respond more completely later this weekend.

And welcome from Wet Texas!

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Thanks so much Andy! I look forward to learning from you and as well as the other members.

 

[AndyHall]

So one of the preparations before engaging in a battle was to place down wood planking over the grated casement top? My first thought now is where would they have stored all that lumber? Opens up the possibilities to deck boxes for storage? Fascinating!

I believe John meant that the gratings were planked over as a modification to the ship after the fights of March 8 and 9, 1862.

More generally, on-board storage wasn't an issue because most Confederate ironclads, Virginia included, operated in their home waters and spent most of their time at anchor or alongside a wharf -- they didn't need to be as self-sufficient as the blockaders offshore.

I've seen a computer generated rendering of the Virgina after the battle where the stack is peppered with holes and the starboard life boat is shattered in two and hanging from the davits. I do build my models with a "used" appearance to them. This idea intrigues me, but if that damage is fictional, I'll pass.

Not fictional. Most everything topside that wasn't armored was wrecked. The damage to the funnel was significant, because it decreased the draft of the furnaces, which in turn generated less steam -- a real problem on a ship that was under-powered to start with.

 

[James N.]

Thank you! For the past three years I have been heavy into building the iron clads. I work only in 1/96 scale and have pretty much gone through the very nice Cottage Industries Models lineup of mixed media resin/metal/wood kits. I have recently pushed my abilities to scratch building the more obscure craft of the Civil War. I know the Virginia is anything but obscure. But there isn't a kit of the model in 1/96 scale. It's being built as I place finishing touches on a USS Cairo I started a couple months ago. I can not appreciate more the help I can get from the many talented, and wise members of this group. My plan is to run through all of Andy Hall's 3D renderings and build each one in scale. His work is the goal I strive for to achieve as a finished product.

We'd love to see photos of your work - welcome to the forums!

 

[Deleted member 8452]

Hello from Virginia/North Carolina Border

http://www.building-model-boats.com/css-virginia-model.html

 

[Kevin Martin]

We'd love to see photos of your work - welcome to the forums!

Hello from Virginia/North Carolina Border

http://www.building-model-boats.com/css-virginia-model.html

Hey thanks for that! That was where I bought my plans for the Virginia.

 

[bixby272]

welcome from the coal region of pa.

 

[28thNewYork]

Greetings and welcome from Atlanta.

 

[rebelatsea]

I believe John meant that the gratings were planked over as a modification to the ship after the fights of March 8 and 9, 1862.

More generally, on-board storage wasn't an issue because most Confederate ironclads, Virginia included, operated in their home waters and spent most of their time at anchor or alongside a wharf -- they didn't need to be as self-sufficient as the blockaders offshore.



Not fictional. Most everything topside that wasn't armored was wrecked. The damage to the funnel was significant, because it decreased the draft of the furnaces, which in turn generated less steam -- a real problem on a ship that was under-powered to start with.

Now that would be different ,and very interesting, to see a depiction of Virginia as she was on the evening after the engagement. I don't think I've ever seen one.

 

[rebelatsea]

Welcome, Kevin!

rebelatsea is our resident engineer and draftsman, so he's one of the ones to listen to attentively; I'm sure Andy will chime in as well.

From my understanding, there was no corresponding breakwater aft of the casemate, but as noted there was a protective structure attached over the stern. There are several opinions regarding if the forward breakwater was planked over or left "hollow;" I'm not aware of a consensus on that, but I wouldn't want to be standing on the forward deck when the ship was underway if it was not planked over...

Mark, Thanks a lot , my engineering is in Railroads and I'm a self taught draftsman !
I believe the bulwark was intended to be planked in, but as far as I know it never was. The bulwark was about 2 -2.5ft high.

 

[James N.]

Now that would be different ,and very interesting, to see a depiction of Virginia as she was on the evening after the engagement. I don't think I've ever seen one.

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I don't suppose either of these would count?

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[Mark F. Jenkins]

I can't even begin to imagine what it would have been like to have been there at the filming, incomplete though the Virginia set was... amazing. Great photos.