Reviewed April 2017
by Sean Hert
| The Confederate gunboat CSS Chattahoochee
was built in Saffold, Georgia near the Florida line. Chattahoochee was
an active defender of the Apalachicola, Chattahoochee and Flint River system.
The ship was raising steam on the Apalachicola River during an unusual
May hurricane in 1863 when she sank in a tragic accident. A faulty gauge
caused the accident, in which the gunboat's crew released water into a
super-heated boiler. The resulting steam explosion scalded 16 men to death
in an instant and severely burned several other men. Afraid that the ship's
magazines might explode, her crew sank her to deck level in the muddy river.
Taken to Columbus and repaired, the CSS Chattahoochee was started downstream
by her crew as Union troops attacked the city in 1865. They made it a few
miles but ultimately abandoned their ship after setting her afire themselves
and the gunboat burned to the waterline and sank to the bottom of the Chattahoochee
River. Her stern section was raised during the 1960s and is now on display
in the National Civil War Naval Museum. After the end of the civil war,
Chattahoochee served as Susquehanna and flagship of the North Atlantic
Squadron. She was decommissioned at the New York Navy Yard on January 14,
1868 and sold for scrap in 1883.
General characteristics
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| HULL | ||||||||||||||||
| The hull on this kit is cast full-hull style with keel
and sternpost molded into the hull. The hull, particularly from the waterline
to the keel, exhibits some artifacts from the master and casting process,
most of which will clean up quick and easily with some light filler and
sanding.
The main deck is molded with rows for the deck planking, but it is up to the builder to add staggered plank ends in each row. The deck's molded on details, like the gun pivots, hatches and mast collars are not true to the centerline; however, I am not familiar with Confederate construction methods of the time to know if this is accurate to prototype. |
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| RESIN DETAILS | ||||||||||||||||
| There are seven sprues of resin parts in this kit, with
a few small sprues with bitts and mast tops. There is a funnel with a hollowed
out appearance, along with the channels where the sprues of rigged deadeyes
for the photoetched shrouds and ratlines will attach.
The molded cannon are all attached muzzle first to the sprues, so each one will need to be carefully drilled. |
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| WOOD FITTINGS | ||||||||||||||||
| Flagship also includes scale anchor chain, plastic strip
and dowel, and scale Mahogany dowels for the masts and yardarms.
NOTE: as shown in the instructions below, you will need to taper your wood masts for true sale appearance. |
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| PHOTO ETCH | ||||||||||||||||
| The photoetch fret includes a variety of parts, with the shroud/ratline combos and the gun carriage block and tackles taking up the bulk of the fret. Also included are hatch covers, the ship's wheel/tiller and details for the boats. | ||||||||||||||||
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| DECALS | ||||||||||||||||
| A simple Confederate flag decal is supplied in paper. Flagship recommends sandwiching a layer of aluminum foil to simulate movement in the wind. |  |
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| INSTRUCTIONS | ||||||||||||||||
The instructions are two pages, with assembly notes. They
show plan and elevation views with plenty of notes to show where everything
goes. The rigging details are well illustrated as well.
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| CONCLUSIONS | ||||||||||||||||
While Chattahoochee isn't a complex kit, if you are using to warships of the dreadnought era forward, stepping and rigging the masts may prove to be an unusual challenge. Building this kit will require some knowledge of working with resin kits; a modeler unfamiliar with the techniques required is encouraged to check out Flagship's CD's listed below. This is kit #FM19209 CSS Chattahoochee Confederate Gunboat lists for $150.00, available direct from Flagship Models via the online ordering system. If you have never worked with a multimedia kit then check out Flagship's 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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