by Phillip Gore
1/96 CSS Alabama (Revell Germany)
The CSS Alabama was a Civil War Confederate commerce raider, built by England and manned by Confederate sailors. From 1862 to 1864 the Alabama was able to destroy or capture 57 merchant ships (and 1 warship) before being sunk by the USS Kearsage on June 19, 1864. I built this kit in 2000. It was built straight from the box and I pretty much followed the kit's instructions concerning painting.
This was the first sailing ship I built, and found the rigging more challenging that I thought it would be. Although it is a beautiful kit, a great deal of sanding and parts clean up was required due to the kit's age. I have also read the accuracy of the model is questionable. Based on Andrew Bowcock's 2002 book Anatomy of a Confederate Raider, just about everything on the deck was painted black (lifeboats, cannons, etc.) instead of the colors given in the kit instructions.
