1/245 CSS Virginia and USS Monitor build (part 1)

This 60 year old kit has been one I've wanted to build for years. I finally found one at my local hobby shop and purchased it instantly. Today, I simply build the kits as painting and the base for them will be done in part 2. Enjoy the video.

0:00 introduction
0:28 Monitor
2:23 Virginia

[Hibernicus]

I had one of these when I was a kid, which I bought at the gift shop at Fort Monroe, just a few hundred yards from where the Battle of Hampton Roads was fought.

[christophersnyder]

I hope you had a great thanksgiving.
Your talents are ever so increasing, as well as your intelectual prowess.
I forgot to mention, great looking Tone, the last of the Japanese heavy cruisers.
I just downloaded this PDF file of instructions of a paper Yamato.
Take care, and all the best.

[Red-rlxx]

Cool! I've got that same kit! Built it a couple of years or so ago. Turned out nice.

[HarborLockRoad]

I build my models of thin cardboard sheet, my local tax collector is a former navy man, and the monitor and edmund fitzgerald got me out of some excise tax problems! 😁

[ronandanne]

This is great! The kit is in my stash. Nice to see what you did with it and your modifications, which I think are big improvements. Looking forward to seeing the next part in the series. I'm working on a Lindberg kit now, Admiral Dewey's flagship USS Olympia. The paintwork is very challenging.

[The_Modeling_Underdog]

Great job on updating those kits, Crosser.

If I may add something, Extra Thin cement is great for removing the burrs left over when drilling on a plastic surface. Just remove as much as possible with wet sanding and then paint the burr with Extra Thin. It'll melt the plastic and smooth the surface.

Keep us posted on how they come out.

Cheers.

[johnpotter]

As a part of my bucket list-fulfillment project, dating back to around 1960, I visited the Newport News Mariner's Museum, a large part of which is dedicated to The Monitor and The Virginia. This is where the salvaged Monitor turret, engine, propellor and hundreds of artifacts are in various states of preservation. I had built my own 3' model of The Monitor in 8th-grade metals shop. I thoroughly enjoyed the tour, including a scale exhibit of the front portion of the Virginia casemate and a large interior space with a duplicate of the turret, as salvaged, and another full-size model of the 1862 version. There is also a full-size Monitor replica out of doors to get views of the hull, the raft and the turret. I had never been able to appreciate how small the ship was. The admission fee is only $1.00, and the exhibits include ship models and detailed narratives of the development of the ironclad. I recommend the visit to everyone, an hour's drive from the Richmond Airport.

[jofreddy]

you're gonna have a whole fleet of monitors when your done thats awesome

[abyssminiaturestudios]

Very nice, have done this kit before, interested to see how your Virginia turns out

[pandaphil]

Looks good so far! I've been working on this it myself and appreciate some of the detailing tips.

Any idea what the row of masts running down the center of the Virginia's deck were?

[tylerlawrence]

Cool. On a separate note I think the CSS Albemarle was a better ship than Virginia.