U.S.S. Monitor

Monitor embodied many first, with over 40 patentable inventions, the most important of which to the crew was likely the first flushing toilet installed below the waterline. While rotating gun platforms and armored gun enclosures were not new concepts, USS Monitor was the first time they would be combined and tested in actual combat. After several short cruises as sea trials around her building ways in Brooklyn, NY, she made her maiden voyage, mostly under tow by a tug on March 6th, 1862, headed for Norfolk, Virginia. She nearly sank in heavy weather along the way, yet arrived at Hampton Roads on the evening of March 8th, only to find that CSS Virginia has been amongst the wooden Union fleet that day, dealing heavy damage. The following morning, Virginia sailed forth to the attack once again, only to find Monitor between her and the rest of the fleet. After closing and dueling for several hours, the battle was considered mostly a draw, with neither ship doing much damage to the other.

USS Monitor would continue to serve through the rest of 1861, but never again engage in her true purpose of ship-to-ship combat. After undergoing refit and upgrades for problems encountered during her duel with Virginia, she deployed as part of the forces ascending the James River towards Richmond during the Peninsula Campaign. After the Battle of Drewry's Bluff, where she had limited results against shore fortifications, she was withdrawn to be sent further south. On December 31st, 1862, while under tow towards Beaufort, North Carolina, USS Monitor sank in a heavy storm. Over the years her wreck had several close encounters with the surface world, one of which saw her depth-charged during WWII as a supposed German submarine. She was discovered again, 111 years after her sinking, in August of 1973. In the 1990s, salvage began, and parts of the ship, including her turret, guns, prop, anchor, and other artifacts have been recovered, all of which are undergoing preservation at the Mariner's Museum in Newport News, VA.

This is an abbreviated history, as so much has already been written about USS Monitor. For those interested, I wrote a longer piece about her and Virginia several years ago HERE. 

The hull comes split into two main pieces, the armored deck and the lower hull. Alignment of the two parts is accomplished by the rudder well that protrudes from the lower hull and registers with the underside of the armored deck, aft. Up forward, the anchor well, which is a separate piece, provides the alignment and attachment point. Once those items are affixed, the hull sides are provided as six strips, three per side. The side pieces have a lip that rests on the lower hull and a beveled top edge that matches a beveled edge around the perimeter of the armored deck.

The hull sides have excellent bolt detail and scribed plating lines, while the hull bottom has nicely recessed plating detail. The main armored deck has extremely fine plating and bolt detail, which is as it should be to represent the actual ship's flush-head deck bolts. It's nice to see subtle detail when so many kit manufacturers are doing ship hulls that have such pronounced plating and reinforcement straps that they can double as cheese graters.

Most sources agree on a 171' length for Monitor. Overall length of the model's hull comes in at 10.2", which is exactly right for 1/200th scale. 

Of the two smaller frets, one has components that make up the cannon and post-refit stacks, (parts are included to show the stacks and pilot house both as at the Battle of Hampton Roads, or after her post-battle refit), along with other pieces to make up the rudder and prop assembly. The anchor well, gun port stoppers, and the interior turret overhead beam structure are also included.

The third sprue contains small parts, such as the pieces that make up the Dahlgren gun carriages, the anchor, boat davits, and various deck details, along with more components to make up the turret interior. It even appears there are tiny cannon balls on this sprue! 

Overall, detail is quite good. The sprue attachment points look a bit large on smaller items like the cannon halves, ramrods, and other thin pieces, so care will be required while cutting them free.

Overall the brass is sharply etched, and exhibits relief etching in a few places, such as the nameplate, and to depict fold lines like for the stacks and the turret ladder. Small items like the anchor chain and hand wheels for the gun carriages really stand out.

There are a couple of items shown in these views that aren't on the brass fret or styrene sprues, most noticeably the turret canopy and powder kegs for the turret interior. Those parts will be included as 3D printed items, that were not yet available when I received this kit.

Everything here looks great. I'm looking forward to building it, which I intend to start shortly, with an accompanying build log on this site's forums. I'm very interested in seeing how the hull goes together, and how invisible the seams are once the hull and turret sides are installed. I'm also very curious as to how the delicate deck detail looks under a coat of paint.. 

Armory doesn't have a price for the kit yet, as they're still sorting out the final pieces, instructions, and boxing. Once everything is ready, hopefully by May or June of this year, you can find the kit on their website, which you can visit at the link/logo to the right.

Highly recommended for American Civil War aficionados and ironclad junkies.