With the current reissue of the classic Pyro Harriet Lane, it got me thinking about some of the ships the Confederacy used to run the Union blockade during the American Civil War. Some of these were exceedingly beautiful with long, low, flowing lines and elegant side wheels. I remember seeing an absolutely striking model of one in the Mariner’s Museum in Newport News; I can’t remember its name, possibly the “Dare”.
Of course none of these have ever been released in injection molded plastic, but does anyone know if they were as wood or resin kits?
It is even difficult finding plans for these ships online. Since it seems most of them were built in Scotland, I am wondering if there is a museum there that might have some sort of blueprint service.
I am getting an itch to build one of these beauties.
Tory
Some were done in resin (with wood masts & yards) by Lone Star Models. LSM sold their kit masters to Flagship and they are being selectively updated and re-released.
I recently held an old original LSM blockade runner kit at a model show, it was rather crude. Masts were dowels, not tapered. White metal fittings & furniture, details soft. Come prepared with a second set of references as the “instruction” sheet was largely useless. Needless to say I passed on the purchase
Thanks for the response Ed. What scale was the LSM kit and which ship was the subject modeled? I am no stranger to crude model kits, resin or otherwise.
Tory
You might want to check out Cottage Industries. They do a number of Civil War vessels, many in resin. I am not sure that they have any of the type you are looking for, but they do have some fantastic ironclads such as the Monitor, etc.
Thanks Arnie, while nice kits they aren’t exactly what I am looking for. Mostly ironclads and early subs. But I bookmoarked the page for future reference!
Tory
Have you looked at Flagship Models:
http://www.flagshipmodels.com/zencart/index.php?main_page=index
They feature mostly iron-clads, but do have some blockade runners in resin.
Gene Beaird,
Pearland, Texas
I did and they do have a lot of Civil War subjects, but i didn’t see any blockade runners. Thanks for the response!
Tory
The old LSM kit which I saw was the Chatahoochee.
Rajens Kit List shows that LSM also did an Atalanta (not Atlanta) with a vacuformed hull. All of the old LSM kits were 1:192 scale (1/16 to inch).
Plans may be hard to find online, but there are a couple of really nice vendors for plans (and the catalogs are online). One was the Dromedary, the other I cannot remember his name. But I believe both lines are now handled by the same business- I think it is Loyalhanna something- forget the rest of the company name.
Thanks Ed, I checked around and these are no longer available unless they turn up at a model show or on eBay. I did find some plans on eBay for the Fergus/Dare but they don’t specify scale or if they have any hull sections.
www.ebay.com/…/201092659736
Do you think these would be useful?
Don,
I think you mean this vendor: http://www.loyalhannadockyard.com/
Mike
OMG what an awful website! I couldn’t fins anything I was looking for there. I’m sure they probably have what I want, but I don’t have the hours required to navigate through all that to find it! But thanks anyway Mike!
Tory
Yeah, not really user friendly [:|]. This page on their site might be of some interest: http://www.taubmansonline.com/
Mike
This is a tough subject. I too remember a blokade runner at the Mariners Museum, but little else other than her VERY narrow beam. The problem in finding plans for them were that historically many were modified merchant ships, (or captured like the Lane…).
The others that were purpose built were made over in France and England. You may want to pick up a copy of “The Last Flag Down” which is a book about the last Confederate raiding ship to fly the southern flag. It had some mention of other raiders and famous Confederate ships.
According to the Round Two site the old Pyro 1/125th blockade runner kit is being re-released under the Lindberg name… The kit dates back to the fifties but all the large parts are there and with some after market parts it might be made into a presentable model.