Author Topic: S.P.S. Caiman Went  (Read 8288 times)

Offline Dr. YoKai

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S.P.S. Caiman Went
« on: March 08, 2015, 03:30:27 AM »
The USS Alligator is one of the more obscure chapters in American Naval History - I've seen at least three different interpretaions of its appearance ( two in the same text ) but most seem to agree that it had these
odd paddle/oars. Like the CSS Hunley, the Alligator relied on human muscle, and is supposed to have seen some
abortive action on the James river. Never one to let a good hull go to waste, the Left Reverend U. U. Willmanarth of the Science Pirate Syndicate employed his Deeper One allies* to raise an refit the wreck.
More details as I make them up.  Below, the progress of the past week.



* Everyone knows of H.P. Lovecraft's 'Deep Ones' - Malevolent New England Fish men - the Deeper Ones were of a bit more laid back and philosophical bent.

Old Lone Star kits were very much first generation resin kits -open faced casting, and a bit of bubbles. Sanding the mating surfaces flush occupied a good day and change.





Things went together fairly well, and yesterday saw the paddles attached. The original posts suffered teh most from incomplete and bubble damaged casting, so I sawed them away and replaced them with evergreen rod of
appropraite diameter.


Offline Kerick

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Re: S.P.S. Caiman Went
« Reply #1 on: March 08, 2015, 03:52:06 AM »
That looks like the steampunk product of a bad inventor! WOW. You are making a silk purse out of sow's ear on this one. I admire your courage and perseverance.

Offline Old Wombat

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Re: S.P.S. Caiman Went
« Reply #2 on: March 10, 2015, 09:58:56 AM »
Well, that looks sufficiently off-beat, Doc! ;)

I'm assuming those paddles are supposed to rotate around the axle posts, or wave up-&-down, in either case a little paddle resizing may be in order to allow that to happen (or have the even-numbered paddles on extended posts, so they sit clear of the odd-numbered paddles).

More steampunk goodness from the crazed Doctor! 8)
"This is the Captain. We have a little problem with our engine sequence, so we may experience some slight turbulence and, ah, explode."

Offline Buzzbomb

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Re: S.P.S. Caiman Went
« Reply #3 on: March 10, 2015, 10:09:46 AM »
Craig.. that is terrific.
You are right about obscure.

Always gotta love that bubble-O-bill early resin, but that came up a treat

Offline Kerick

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Re: S.P.S. Caiman Went
« Reply #4 on: March 10, 2015, 10:35:12 AM »
OK, I had to look this up and see if it was real. This thing did actually exist. Seems the engineering was not quite right.

Offline Dr. YoKai

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Re: S.P.S. Caiman Went
« Reply #5 on: March 16, 2015, 07:42:50 AM »
 Its getting there - I flipped half the paddles ( accuracy has pretty much left the building at this point ) and it
 does look a shade more plausible. So naturally I had to go a bit further overboard ;) Since it had always looked
 more eurypterian than crocidilian, I decided it might not look bad with a paddle tail and claws.







Offline LemonJello

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Re: S.P.S. Caiman Went
« Reply #6 on: March 16, 2015, 07:48:47 AM »
Very interesting.  I'm impressed with how much better it looks with your latest modifications. 

Offline jcf

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Re: S.P.S. Caiman Went
« Reply #7 on: March 16, 2015, 09:48:20 AM »
Looks suitably crazy.  ;D

The real Alligator was rebuilt with a propeller at the stern in place of the oars during the winter of 1862 - 63, which BTW were
self-feathering; hinged in the middle, they would fold shut on the upstroke and open flat on the downstroke.

Mike's kit was clearly based on a drawing that appeared in a history magazine in the late '70s or early '80s
(I don't recall exactly although I did see it at the time published, and I still have a copy of the drawing
somewhere), that drawing does not match the surviving drawings by the sub designer Brutus de Villeroi.

http://www.navyandmarine.org/alligator/schematics.htm

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Offline Antonio Sobral

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Re: S.P.S. Caiman Went
« Reply #8 on: March 18, 2015, 04:50:52 PM »
Great modifications! Love it!

Way better than the "original" :)

Are you thinking about some sort of diorama/vignette?

Offline Old Wombat

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Re: S.P.S. Caiman Went
« Reply #9 on: March 23, 2015, 10:03:55 PM »
 ;D 8) :)
"This is the Captain. We have a little problem with our engine sequence, so we may experience some slight turbulence and, ah, explode."

Offline Buzzbomb

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Re: S.P.S. Caiman Went
« Reply #10 on: March 25, 2015, 05:15:26 AM »
Wow that is a turn around.
That looks terrific.
Great mods

Offline Dr. YoKai

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Re: S.P.S. Caiman Went
« Reply #11 on: March 30, 2015, 07:55:09 AM »
Thanks, Chums! ;) Progress - I've added the paddle guards ( as depicted in the instruction sheet. they give the
 boat a dash of Flash ( Gordon ), but in the interests of Punk, I gave them ribbing.


And after primer overall. Still open to suggestions on a paint scheme. GB ends before the next weekend, no? Any chance of a slight extention?


Offline Dr. YoKai

  • Was in High School when mastadons roamed the plains...
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Re: S.P.S. Caiman Went
« Reply #12 on: April 13, 2015, 06:43:32 AM »
And Finished. I added a bit of weathering, and some barrels of powder ( to be placed by the claws ) for
ordnance. Thanks for looking.




« Last Edit: April 15, 2015, 10:33:10 AM by Dr. YoKai »

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Re: S.P.S. Caiman Went
« Reply #13 on: April 14, 2015, 02:11:48 AM »
Nice.
All hail the God of Frustration!!!

You can't outrun Death forever.
But you can make the Bastard work for it.

Offline Frank3k

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Re: S.P.S. Caiman Went
« Reply #14 on: April 14, 2015, 02:46:56 AM »
I love the color scheme and the weathering!

Offline Old Wombat

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Re: S.P.S. Caiman Went
« Reply #15 on: April 14, 2015, 11:32:45 PM »
Very, very cool! 8)

I can see the superstitious square-rigger sailors running straight over the opposite side trying to get away from it, & tales of great monsters from the deep with glowing eyes & gaping mouths bringing destruction with breaths fire being told by the survivors.
"This is the Captain. We have a little problem with our engine sequence, so we may experience some slight turbulence and, ah, explode."

Offline Dr. YoKai

  • Was in High School when mastadons roamed the plains...
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Re: S.P.S. Caiman Went
« Reply #16 on: April 15, 2015, 10:36:20 AM »
 Colleagues, thank you all - and apologies for my rudeness - I never addressed Antonio's question.

 Although I'm calling it finshed for the purposes of the GB, I did get an idea for a diorama involving the
 old base from the Comet Nautilus kit. We'll see what happens.

Offline Weaver

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Re: S.P.S. Caiman Went
« Reply #17 on: April 15, 2015, 11:46:43 AM »
That's outstanding: well done!  :)
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