tazam0827 143 Posted March 11 Report Share Posted March 11 Hi Everyone, My next build is going to be the USS Adams, described as a "screw gunboat and the lead ship of the Adams class, a single screw, wooden-hull, bark-rigged steamer." My great great grandfather was a marine serving aboard the Adams from 1892 - 1894. He also served aboard two of her sister ships, the USS Enterprise and the USS Pensacola from 1890 - 1892. I was wondering if I could ask the help of some of the more knowledgeable modelers on this site. I've been able to scale the ship from the profile picture included here and other descriptions about her length, beam and draft. But I haven't been able to find out a lot more about her configuration. The other pictures I've included here are the USS Enterprise, so I'm using these to approximate the Adams. Some of my questions are as follows (and it's fine with me if you take a guess, I'm not a 100% stickler for historical accuracy) The armaments are listed as 1 X 11 inch (280mm) gun, 4 X 9 inch (230mm) guns, 1 X 60 pounder Parrott rifle. I assume the 4 X 9inch guns are similar to the 4 guns on the carriages fore and aft of the main mast. 1) Do you think the Parrott rifle and the 11 inch guns are pivot guns similar to the one pictured? 2) Where do you think they would be mounted? Considering the the ship has an open gun deck, would they fire them up and over the gunwales, or would they have to be on the forecastle and the quarter deck? 3) How far would the forecastle and the quarter deck extend? Should I assume the mizzen mast is on the quarterdeck and the fore mast is on the forecastle? It looks like the forecastle extends almost up to the smoke stack. 4) It appears that the helm is on the main deck, in front of the quarter deck? 4) Have any tips on modeling convincing smoke from a smokestack that will hold up over time? 5) I've searched the web, but does anyone have any clues as to where I might find more details about the layout of the ship, or this class of ship? If you have any opinions to share, I thank you in advance. DSiemens, Moab, Onni and 2 others 5 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Onni 1,406 Posted March 11 Report Share Posted March 11 Can't help much with your questions, except the second number4 in your list about smoke. I have used just cotton wool in the past, sprayed lightly with black and grey paint. This effect also stiffens the cotton wool so that it can be glued in place in the funnel and can look quite convincing. tazam0827, exwafoo and Chasseur 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DSiemens 1,810 Posted March 14 Report Share Posted March 14 There's some plans out there this might help. https://wikidocumentaries-demo.wmflabs.org/Q7867029?language=en JesseLee 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tazam0827 143 Posted March 14 Author Report Share Posted March 14 12 hours ago, DSiemens said: There's some plans out there this might help. https://wikidocumentaries-demo.wmflabs.org/Q7867029?language=en Thank you, very helpful. I had been on the site before but had not noticed the plans at the bottom. Most appreciated! DSiemens 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DSiemens 1,810 Posted March 15 Report Share Posted March 15 Apparently theres a book out there too but I'm not sure how hard it is to get a hold of. Its a great project. I've thought of doing a screw steamer as well My family came to the US on one called the Teutonia. Thought it might be fun to have the ship in a bottle with a copy of the log book where their names are recorded on the stand or in the bottle neck. Its fun to add a little family history to ship in bottle building. I look forward to seeing yours come together. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.