Saturday 25 August 2018

Onondaga Scratchbuild


I haven't done much today in terms of wargaming primarily due to feeling rough, as I'm on anti-biotics for a sinus infection, but also due to the other half deciding it would be a good day to sort out all the kid's stuff do a car boot sale tomorrow. However, I did put my mind to scratch building a 1/2400th scale model of the twin turret monitor USS Onondaga, which the French bought from the United Sates Navy after the Civil War.



I had intended to use a converted Tumbing Dice model for this but, having done the necessary cut and shut job it just didn't look right, especially in plan view as the hull shape was far too narrow. It looked more like a submarine that a monitor, despite having all the right bits in all the right places. I chucked it away and instead have used the metal sea base from a French Alma class ironclad, as it had almost identical dimensions and I had a spare model, even though the shape isn't quite right.


I have cut and sanded a hull from 1mm thick plastic card which took a lot longer than I expected, as the hull shaped hole in the base wasn't completely symmetrical and a bit lumpy. I can now start thinking about how to add the turrets, a funnel and other fiddly bits to the basic monitor deck. I will get on with this tomorrow. I think it's looking promising thus far but, in my experience, these sort of apparently simple little projects often go pear shaped when you least expect it! 

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