| Built at Laird's shipyard in Birkenhead, the 220' long CSS Alabama was the most famous surface raider of
the American Civil War. She was capable of 10 knots on steam, 13 knots when using both
bark rig and steam. Her armament consisted of eight guns: a 110 pounder pivot gun forward,
an 8" smoothbore amidships and six broadside 32-pounders. Under Captain Raphael
Semmes she wrought havoc on Union shipping until she met her end in an epic 1864 battle
with the USS Kearsarge off Cherbourg. Modeling
ships of the American Civil War is a newfound interest for Jim Gordon. His CSS Alabama is largely an out-of-the-box effort
using the Throughbred Models 1/600 scale
metal kit. He did replace the masts with more in-scale brass representations and
added rigging, but otherwise Jim completed this beauty with his usual dispatch, taking
about 10 hours in total. Examine the photos and note the delicacy and artistic touch
characteristic of Jim's work. And also note that strange looking vessel next to the
Alabama. It's Jim's scratchbuilt 1/600th CSS Manassas
ironclad ram.
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