Lindberg Monitor & Merrimac 1/245 & Pyro Monitor

Modeling Subjects Ships
21

Gene,

I just measured my Monitor. It is 8" in length and the turret center sits at precisely the 4" point. The fore and aft leading edges of the turret sit at 3.5 inches from the ends. The turret on the model is dead center. I do not doubt your information, but there was apparently one model of the Monitor that is dimensionally accurate. I am not sure that the Virginia and the Monitor are in scale with each other, but I could be wrong. I do know that the Virginia’s port side is incorrect in that there is no offset of the gun ports when compared with the starboard side. The stern platform is also incorrectly shaped.

That said, I will look at these models again and rebuild them to my standards today.

Bill

22

Bill, I am taking Jims part & am not near smart enough to do that. There weretwo different Lindberg kits of the Monitor & Merrimac. The first was the 1/210 Monitor with the offset Turret & a 1/300 Merrimac. This was the kit same as Pyro & Life Like with offset turrets. The second kit was the one we both have with 1/245 scale on both ships. This Monitor has a correct placed turret.

I think Jim would be proud of me with that explanation. I didn’t think I would write this because I just took my first old age fall on our porch.I did take 3 others, one tripped on the fat cat, 2 standing on one leg trying to clip toenails & 3 stepped on a rock step that fell away. All landed on my butt & this one too.90 years old looks like a real blast.

Gene

23

Gene,

I hope the you and Mary Ann are okay after your falls! Be careful!

As I’ve said, I wish that Lindberg had paid greater attention to their “Merrimack” model. The port side is woefully incorrect with their gun placements. That stern platform is easily corrected. Otherwise, it is okay, but that port side needs a lot of work. Maybe the Flagship Models 1/192 kit is better; at $150.00 it had better be!

Bill

24

Hi Gene!

Still progressing on the Wire wheels for the car I got from you. It’s still challenging , But, calms me down. What I always wished was that somebody would’ve done the Monitor and the Virginia in the same scale before now. Point of fact, my Uncles ( All six of them) owned Tuna Boats like the Life-Like/Pyro/Lindberg model, they brought out.

I gravitated to many Pyro kits just because of the uniqueness. After all they were all over the board. The BEST one and one I still remember, Well Two, were the Gertrude Thebaud( Fore and Aft rigged Fish Schooner) and the SkipJack.

The Skipjack was simple and clean. Kind gave you the feel of a One Hander for Oyster Fishing. Very neat Model. At that time neither one had Plastic sails either! On hand but off side is my Paper Model of the Cairo. Very Interesting!

25

Hi Doc, I always enjoy hearing from you. Glad you kept going on that Model A… My first car in 1946 was a 1930 Model A coupe. I think I paid $125 fo/r it. It was in great shape & I ran all over in it. My second in 48 was a 1936 Ford Coupe. I spent a year redoing it from stem to stern & then drove it to Florida before I joined the Air Force.

I remember the Gertrude Thebaud & Skipjack kits. I am working on another bigger 1/144 Monitor that nno, Jim, gave me. They are rare, but I am really detail.ing it. Full Turret detail inside & I made a lot of details on it.

Lets see what you are building. I will be 90 in a month & still love building models, it has been 80 years since I started.

Take care, Gene

26

Gene,

$125.00? That is exactly how much I paid for my first car, a 1964 convertible Corvair Monza with 3-speed manual transmission. The convertible to leaked every time it rained on every seat but the driver’s. I miss that car! However, I have never seen a kit for it.

Bill

27

Bill;

I owned a Convertible Corvair too. Mine never leaked either water or rain. But the wind whistle around the winndows was aggravating. Mine was a 65 Corsa! Other than the Noise thing the best Darned G.M car outside of Pontiac Ventura and Cadillac coupe de-Ville my dad left me. Put enough miles on it that instead of rebuilding the engine the garage scrapped it!

28

Well; Gene:

By the grace of God I hit 77. The ticker is just puttin along. Gotta take it slower. I have to get a turorial on my New Camera and then get some pics up to Flikr. Then You’ll hopefully see what I am up too.

Remember,when I was stationed in San Diego I had a Ford Model " A " convertible? had window frames around the doors. Metal Mesh floors too! 50$ and complete except for tires. Took me two months to find some. Just before the Provost Marshal was going to sieze and junk it for not moving!

I think it was called a Cabriolet? Wifey made a new top for it! Then the best car I ever owned came into my life. A Ford! A Skyline Convertible, that lasted all of a week!

Seems a driver for Dominion Freight didn’t like Ford Convertibles in front of him. Pushed me through the intersection of West and Sepulveda, They figure he was going 50 when he couldn’t stop. I was at the light on my way to report for the day! Got to ride in the Front of a CHP cruiser!

29

Tanker,

I traded mine even up for a 1965 Chrysler Newport with hard top, V-8 engine, and tail fins. The week after the trade, the young man I traded with wrapped the Corvair around a telephone pole. Luckily, he escaped uninjured. I drove my Newport for years afterwards!

Bill

30

Hi;

You know I think the 63 Newport 2dr,HT was one of the prettiest.

31

The Newport was a pretty line of cars.

32

I bought a 2005 Subaru Outback new & I drove it for 15 years & the only thing i did to it was 2 rear wheel bearings & 2 CV joints. I don’t count oil & brakes & tires. I never drove a car over 2 or 3 years & I had 3 other Subarus that were the same. I sold my 2005 to my son & moved up to a low mileage 2012. It has been perfect too. I figured at 90 I don’t need a new car.

I need the 4 wheel drive where I llive on the side of a mountain. My 2005 was still erfect & everything worked & it got 23 mpg city & 32 Hwy. My new one is a little better gas wise.

My new Monitor is really going great Bill & I wll get pictures & maybe a new WIP on it because the bigger one does take detail well. You would like to detail this one. I got most everything in it.

Here are a few early shots. It is 1/144 & nino ,Jim, gave it to me. You guys keep an old man happy. I still have a Victory to finish.

33

Hey !

You got Blocks of wood in there? Trying to make it unsinkable? LOL! LOL! I Know,it’s so you can attach the base to it!

34

Gene, That is some great progress on this old kit.

This Battle Axe version of the Monitor is most definetly a “Craftsman” kit.

The turret is realy looking good compared to the original part. As you have seen, you can easily put enough time and parts into the Turret to effectivly make it a seperate model.

Wood: Good idea. Ya don’t want it to sink like the original, especially after you put all this work into it. You know me with my Grandkids and their curiosity. When I build mine I will add ballast till it sits a scale 18 inches high in the sink. The only drawback to all that ballast is if my weighted model get dropped, I bet it won’t bounce.

Wish I still had a Cat. My last one could find any little thing on the floor or in the rug. Since I started modeling again I am short a bunch of 20mm guns, mast sections, and PE. (Although, when I was in Grade school, a Cat is how little parts got on the floor in the first place…)

Jim.

35

Jim,

My cat likes to scatter my model parts. She does the same with my wife’s jigsaw puzzle pieces. Where’s your old cat?

Bill

36

Bill, Our last Kitty passed away several years back.

I have had cats my whole life. My recollections of parts as play things stems mostly from the 60’s. It was fun to watch’em play and it was impossible to stop; Cats are too fast. Back then I built models over a tiled floor. My dad would sweep up the floor and I would go through the dust pan for any plastic.

About 10 years ago we inherited a Lab, compliments of my Youngest daughter who could not keep him at college. So we had a Kitty and a “Puppy”. Fortunately Molly(C) and Charlie(D) got along great. Slept together, Played together, Stole food from each other…Great Times.

Our Dog is now 90+lbs. He is mostly very safe with Models but he is also pretty big so when he wags his tail near a table it leaves the same destructive swath as a cat, but all at once.

But I digress…

Gene has done it again. He is fast approaching 90 and still loves the smell of “modeling” in the morning. I give him a few ideas and tips based on plans and official records and he overwhelms my suggestions with ingenuity and perfection.

Gene, Thank You for complimenting me in so many of your Posts. You are a true inspiration.

So, is this your Third Monitor or Fourth? ( Pretty sure it’s the Fourth!)

It is a fun ship to build. So many interesting differences between the Battle version, Cruising version, Re-fitted version and AS Sunk. Building it brings out the History of the time. A great way to discover and learn from the past. And, as appropriately stated, (and I quote…) “is an excuse to buy books”.(Thanks GM. Best “signature” ever.)

Nino

P.S. This latest Post by Gene, of his USS Monitor model, is the Battle Axe 1/144 kit. It is truely a “Craftsman” kit in that most everything needs some attention. It was based on some “early” drawings so there are location issues on some of the deck details. The kit was a Short Run issue too so not many of these OOP kits can be found anymore.

P.S. Anyone planning on building the newest plastic USS Monitor kit, Micro-Mir’s 1/144 Monitor, may want to PM or email me as I have some insight on correcting and building it.