SMS Prinz Adalbert, 1865

[mdesaxe]

 

This image is a detail from an illustration in my copy of Das Buch von der Deutschen Flotte (Leipzig, 1884).

 

This is the start of my latest project: a model of the Royal Prussian Navy’s ironclad ram Prinz Adalbert. This warship was laid down at Bordeaux by Arman Frères as one of a pair named Cheops and Sphinx, supposedly for the Egyptian government but, in reality, for the Confederate States of America. When the French government discovered the ruse, it insisted that the two ships should be sold to established governments. Sphinx was sold to Denmark, which declined to accept it and sold it back to the Confederacy, which commissioned the ram as CSS Stonewall. Stonewall went to sea but conducted no operations before the Civil War ended. The ironclad was seized by the United States government, which in turn sold it to Japan.

 

The Kingdom of Prussia purchased Cheops, in part because it was on the brink of war with Denmark. The ironclad ram was commissioned as SMS Prinz Adalbert at the end of 1865 but took part in no operations during either of the subsequent wars with Austria or with France. It was only in active service until late 1871 because, like several of the ships built abroad for the Confederacy, it was high in price but low in quality of materials, and was scrapped in 1878.

 

I am building this model from a paper kit for CSS Stonewall that is digitally published by Heinkel Models. This kit is to 1:200 scale and my models are to 1:250 scale, so I have printed the supplied pdf pages at 80% to reduce them to my favoured scale. I also am building this as a waterline model, which I prefer, and Heinkel Models offer the option of either a full hull or a waterline version.

 

 

 

 

The basic framework is assembled. It looks like it will be an interesting challenge to shape the hull sides at the lower stern and upper bow, where there is much convexity. This project also is likely to take some time to complete because Prinz Adalbert had brig sails as commissioned and there will be large amounts of rigging. I have not built fully rigged vessels for a while so I will need to retrain my brain, my hands, and my eyes in the techniques required for this.

 

Thank you for looking.

 

Maurice

 

 

Edited November 13, 2020 by mdesaxe
Corrected Prussia's opponent from Denmark to Austria

[Bandsaw Steve]

Great subject. I am really getting to like ships of this era and they are very rarely modelled. 👍

[robgizlu]

That is really super 

Rob

[Courageous]

Great start Maurice.

 

Stuart

[mdesaxe]

Many thanks to all of you for looking and commenting.

 

As soon as I had assembled the framework I realised that I had not allowed for the fact that this ship model was going to be rigged as a sailing vessel. I had not opened holes in the deck for the masts, so I had to use a drill to make them at the correct angle (using a guide piece whose rake was taken from the sail plan). Drilling card or paper is not a good idea because the holes invariably are not clean circles, so I will have to make some cosmetic repairs to the deck.

 

In order to provide proper support for the masts when they are installed I inserted thick card doublers on either side of the model’s central spine to make sure the masts would not move when I was adding the rigging. I also cut away some of the framing in the bow immediately under the fo’c’sle to accommodate the forward firing gun fitted there. In retrospect, it would have been much easier to do all this before fitting the decks.

 

I now could add the hull side plates. Test fitting the provided parts revealed that they were very slightly too long, which actually was advantageous. I decided to divide each of the provided single hull side pieces in two, fit them starting at each extremity, and adjust the lengths approximately amidships for a tight fit.

 

 

Despite my initial concerns, I found that shaping the different curvatures at the bow was simply a matter of using my fingers to manipulate the card into the proper form.

 

The counter stern was another matter. The designer set up the shape for the side plating in a petal form. The basic concept was that the builder would join the edges of the petals and the result would be a proper form for the stern. The reality was much more complicated.

 

 

For a start, the shape to be made was not a series of flat planes but a continuous curve. This was relatively easy to form by using an appropriate tool (the end of a paintbrush handle in this instance) to press the requisite curvature into the paper by rubbing the tool over the card on top of a resilient pad of paper towels.

 

 

 

The real complication was joining the edges; the card is only about 0.015mm thick, which is a very marginal joining surface. Fortunately, I have done this before, so I knew a good solution. One cannot simply add tabs or something like that because the tolerances are too small. What I did was to use joining strips of tracing paper (which has effectively negligible thickness) to reinforce the juncture of the petals.

 

 

 

 

I should point out that it is critical to apply the glue to the card, not the tracing paper, and give each connection time to dry before moving on to the next. The final parts of the process were to again use the end of the paintbrush handle to refine the inside of the finished piece and to burnish the exterior over an appropriate former (the end of one of my wife’s wooden cooking spoons, on this occasion).

 

 

 

 

 

 

As planned, I fitted the sides starting at the extremities to make sure they fitted well and adjusted their conjunction amidships—a simple process because the sides are virtually flat there. I should indicate that the finished model will look tidier than this—I will use a fine pointed watercolour brush pen of a suitable shade to eliminate the starkness of the joints and I may well try out an idea a fellow paper model maker has suggested of coating the counter with acrylic floor polish (to stiffen it) and then very lightly sanding over the edges to smooth them (I would eliminate the glossy finish later because I always give my paper models a final coat of lacquer flat varnish to preserve them from both moisture and the detrimental effects of sunlight).

 

Thank you again for following this process, and for your appreciation of it so far.

 

Maurice

[mdesaxe]

Once again I must thank you for your support so far.

 

I find it interesting that warships of this era quite often exhibited a combination of old and new features. Prinz Adalbert is a good example. The ship has steam power, twin screws and rudders, a ram, just a few heavy guns, and armour. It also has a full brig rig and the high thick bulwarks characteristic of sailing warships just a few years earlier.

 

 

The kit as published by Heinkel Models does not portray the thick bulwarks. Correcting this was simple—I added thick card inside the bulwarks to move the supplied inner faces inboard. You may notice that the thick bulwarks do not run the full length of the ship’s waist. The two thin sections visible on each side are the sheet iron sections that could drop down outboard so that the guns in the fixed turret (located at the big white circle) could fire on the broadside.

 

 

The bulwarks feature another holdover from sailing warships. The upper part of the entire section from the fo’c’sle to the entry port on each side was configured for hammock stowage. I have added the outer face and will fit stowed hammocks later using Evergreen corrugated siding material as I did for my model of the Russian monitor Uragan.

 

This project will stall for a little while. I have a consulting job’s paperwork to complete this week and I am waiting for an urgent resupply of Albion Alloys to arrive.

 

Thank you again for looking.

 

Maurice

[Bandsaw Steve]

I agree that the ‘transitional’ nature of these ships - halfway between steam and sail and halfway

between ‘ ship of the line’ and ‘ battleship’ make these interesting and appealing subjects.

[mdesaxe]

Thank you all for your continued interest in this rather obscure project.

 

Having completed my consulting project a few days early, I decided to celebrate by sharing over dinner a nice bottle of 2012 Côtes du Rhône with my wife and spending today working on Prinz Adalbert.

 

 

First, I finished detailing the hull exterior by adding a ‘rub rail’ around the deck edges of the fo’c’sle and poop, making up the hawse holes and their stoppers (I still have to add the lanyards that controlled these but that will happen much closer to the completion of the model), attaching the gunport lids, and fitting the rather prominent down pipes for the heads.

 

 

 

 

I then added the stowed hammocks along the tops of the bulwarks, using Evergreen’s 1mm pitch metal siding material. After that I started making up and adding the deck furniture. Most of the larger features are now in place, including the pipes leading to the chain locker and the anchor chain cables themselves. I also added all the coaling scuttles from punched card pieces.

 

As usual, the photographs highlight the places I need to tidy!

 

I should be able to make more progress this week with scratch building and fitting the smaller details like pin rails and kevels in particular. These need to go onto the model before I make up and attach the remaining large parts (funnel, ventilators, the big fixed turret) so that I have easier access for installing them.

 

Thanks to all for your support and nice comments.

 

Maurice

Edited November 5, 2020 by mdesaxe
changed spelling of 'cavel' to English convention

[GrzeM]

Great! BTW, the hull looks like ancient Greek trireme!

[mdesaxe]

Thank you again for your expressions of interest in this construction process.

 

 

 

I have now added the six bollards, ten kevels, four pin rails on the bulwarks and the pin rails at the foot of each mast. I had either photographs or scale drawings to determine the sizes and locations of all of these items except for the pin rails on the bulwarks. I had to refer to information for contemporary US Navy steam vessels with sail rigs to extrapolate the size and locations of those rails, so they are my best guess.

 

 

The bollards were paper items from the kit, rolled into tubes and capped with punched discs. The rest were made from brass rod and strip of various sizes. Since I am concerned about any potential strain on the kevels and the pin rails at the feet of the masts when I rig the model, I made holes to accommodate the extended lower ends of these fittings and fixed them using epoxy glue. This was not practicable for the pin rails on the bulwarks so I will have to keep that in mind as I proceed with rigging.

 

Apart from the bollards, all these fittings highlight how Prinz Adalbert was as much a sailing vessel as a steam ship, since none of them would be really necessary otherwise.

 

I really appreciate the continued support I receive from members for this project so thank you all again.

 

Maurice

[mdesaxe]

Thank you very much for all the comments and likes.

 

 

 

I have made further progress on building Prinz Adalbert. Forward on the main deck I have installed the funnel and its associated steam pipes. These were built the usual way by rolling the parts around suitable mandrels. I used tracing paper to make a tab when joining the funnel seam. The steam pipes I rolled around brass rod and left most of it inside to give me a peg at the bottom that fitted into a hole in the casing. Their support brackets are a single piece of fine brass wire passed through the funnel from side to side.

 

 

 

Towards the stern I installed the circular fixed turret. I opened up two of the gun ports and fitted the two guns that armed the turret. There are eight ports around the turret but, even though the guns could be moved to fire through any of them, their field of fire was very limited.

 

 

I have several details yet to add to the turret: a skylight and ventilator on the roof, lids for the two open gun ports, ladders to access the roof (which also served as the command bridge), and a railing around its periphery. Nevertheless, today’s work represents substantial progress.

 

The support from members via likes and comments make this project even more satisfying. Thank you all.

 

Maurice

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday Maurice, I've never heard of a fixed turret before. To me it seems more like a circular block-house, with its eight ports for two guns. Did the guns have to be manhandled to the desired port or were they on a revolving platform within the turret? My guess would be the first option, with the opposed guns in your second-last photo. Regards, Jeff.

[mdesaxe]

The word ‘turret’ to describe armoured protection for heavy guns on warships derived from its usage in fortification architecture, especially castles whose turrets certainly did not revolve. There actually were quite a few early ironclads with fixed turrets, probably usually adopted to save the weight for the revolving mechanism. The Swedes, for example, built a series of ten small monitors with fixed turrets (three prototypes and seven class ships-although the last of these was rather different from its fellows) all designed by John Ericsson (the inventor of the monitor) and his protégé John Christian d’Ailly. There were others ordered by lesser navies, including the Ottoman Empire. By the 1870s, though, designers tended to refer to these fixed defences not as turrets but as box batteries or something similar, reserving the word ‘turret’ for rotating units.

 

The carriages for the two guns in Prinz Adalbert’s fixed turret (and the gun in the fo’c’sle) could be moved from gun port to gun port on a system of tracks using handspikes, tackles, and brute force. This arrangement was very common at the time and could be seen on many warships of various types, most often for guns that were intended to provide gunfire ahead or astern off the broadside. It was not exactly speedy and it could be dangerous for the crews in heavy weather.

 

On my model I elected to set up the guns that way to illustrate some of the options available. In reality, when Prinz Adalbert was not in action the guns would be housed and the ports closed (the gun port in the bow , however, did not have a lid, so it always was open to the elements).

 

Thank you again for taking an interest in this rather obscure project.

 

Maurice

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday Maurice, thanks for the info. I knew of turrets in castles but never connected them with warship design of that era, first half of the 20th century being my forte. But what you've said makes sense from the development point of view. And I guess moving those guns around in heavy weather would have been difficult. Thanks again. Regards, Jeff.

[mdesaxe]

I really appreciate the continued support.

 

Progress has been slower than I had hoped, partially because of other pressing obligations and partially because making up parts has sometimes been frustrating.

 

 

 

It was surprisingly easy to add the finer details (skylight, gun port lids, ventilator) to the fixed turret, although there was some excitement assembling the turret top ventilator, which is a single piece a little less than 5mm high.

 

 

The ventilators forward of the funnel proved to be a different matter. I made up the tall slender ventilator first, reasoning that it would be the most difficult to make because it was the smallest. To my delight, it too was not too difficult.

 

 

The two large ventilators just forward of the funnel were an entirely different matter. Heinkel’s design for all these ventilators is rather unusual and, in this instance, came close to defeating me. The two items you see installed on the model are the survivors of no less than six attempts to make these two ventilators. The only positive aspect of the entire process was that it demonstrated once again one of the advantages of modelling in paper or card; when I ruined one assembly I could simply print another copy and try again.

 

You may notice I have installed one of the ladders leading up to the foredeck. This is a laser-cut item that was rather delicate to put together. There were two ready to put in place at one point but the other flew out of my tweezers on to the floor, where I promptly stepped on it when I went to pick it up. I decided then that I should take a break, drink a glass of wine, and calm down before resuming this project tomorrow.

 

Thank you again for all your encouraging support.

 

Maurice

[mdesaxe]

I’m grateful to notice people following this project.

 

I think that the break and the wine worked! Today was much calmer and more productive.

 

 

 

 

 

I first assembled and installed five more ladders from laser cut paper: the other one leading up to the foredeck, two accessing the turret top, and two leading to the poop deck.

 

 

I then rolled the bowsprit and made the two box-section catheads. After fitting the chocks for these parts I installed them on the foredeck.

 

 

 

With the bowsprit and catheads in place I was in a position to fit the railings around the foredeck, a task that essentially completed that part of the model. I also shaped and fitted the railings around the turret top, which completed that area of the model, too. The railings are from laser-cut paper.

 

 

I also added the funnel stays from very fine copper wires. The final details I completed today were the accommodation ladders which again are from laser-cut pare and installed in their stowed position just forward of the entry port against the bulwarks on each side.

 

I still need to add the double steering wheel on the poop and railings around that deck, but I think I will postpone working on the poop until I have completed most of the masting and rigging because I fear parts there could be damaged in the process.

 

I really appreciate your support for this project. Thank you.

 

Maurice

 

[beefy66]

Just been reading through and catching up with this build looks very interesting  

 

beefy

[Courageous]

Fantastic work Maurice. 

 

Stuart

[mdesaxe]

Thank you all again for your encouraging comments and likes.

 

Today I began work on the model’s spars. This brig’s fore and main masts were identical, which was quite common during this period of sailing warships. Prinz Adalbert’s spars were an interesting combination of new and old technologies. The lower masts were iron tubes, the topmasts and yards were wooden.

 

 

I used Heinkel Models’ parts for the masts, but I wrapped the paper pieces around brass cores for strength. The tops and mast caps were the kit's parts laminated to thick card which I hardened with CA glue and then painted (something I was going to have to do because of the raw edges).

 

I really hate the way my phone’s lens makes it seem that the masts diverge – their rakes are in reality identical and parallel to that of the funnel!

 

 

I tried to use the parts supplied to make the two gaffs but, after several attempts, I failed to make satisfactory tapered spars using them. Instead I made new gaffs from brass rod.

 

 

I had already decided that my model would have furled sails. I am using the Heinkel Models sails printed out on tracing paper. I first coated them with an approximately 50-50 mixture of white glue and water. After they were dry, I cut them out. For these gaff sails I cut off half of the sail measuring from the luff (the edge against the mast). After wetting the sails slightly (which makes them malleable) I furled them parallel with the mast using tweezers to do the work. After letting them dry again I glued them to the masts and the gaffs.

 

Thank you again for your kind support.

 

Maurice

[Courageous]

Looking fantastic Maurice. I shouldn't worry about the picture distortion, all lens, including camera lenses suffer from this distortion to varying degrees.

 

Stuart

[mdesaxe]

Many thank again for your encouraging comments and likes.

 

I started on what will be the very long process of rigging Prinz Adalbert.

 

First, I mounted the model on a temporary base because the extreme tumblehome of the sides was making it difficult to handle without damaging the top hamper.

 

The channels came from the kit—I used brass wire pins plus glue to make sure they were fastened strongly.

 

 

Next I added all the stays for the foremast. The fore stay is 0.3mm Albion Alloys brass, the topmast and topgallant stays are 0.2mm brass from the same source. The chain bobstay is photoetched brass from Aber that I found I had in stock. I added the furled jib in a similar way to the two gaff sails. I am not depicting a ‘harbour stow’ of the sails because I am planning to show Prinz Adalbert entering port under steam power having arrived under sail, so the sails are simply furled.

 

 

I began making the shrouds. These are the starboard lower shrouds from 0.2mm Albion Alloys brass with 0.1mm nickel silver ratlines, all held together with minimal amounts of solder for the outermost intersections and CA for the others. This is an adaptation inspire by the method @patmaquette used on his model of the original Ark Royal.

 

Thank you all again for your interest and support.

 

Maurice

[mdesaxe]

Thank you very much for all the comments and likes.

 

Soldering the outer shrouds was not a success! My main concern was to avoid distortion due to vertical expansion along the shrouds and I succeeded in that but, when I separated the shrouds from the jig, they curled into  vertical semi-tubes and I could not make them flat.

 

 

Accordingly, I started from the beginning but used CA only. This worked very well and I only had two ratlines loosen while cleaning up the pieces (which was simple to correct). Now I can assemble with confidence the lower shrouds for the port side and all four sets of shrouds for the topmasts. I just have to steel myself for the next phase which is making and fitting almost ninety deadeyes and their lanyards, a prospect I find almost as exciting as @Ex-FAAWAFU’s project fitting scuttles to his Ark Royal model.

 

 

In the meantime, today saw the installation of the stays for the mainmast: mainstay, main topmast stay, and main topgallant stay. Prinz Adalbert’s mainstay and main topmast were doubled because they had to fit on either side of the funnel. The model’s stays once again are Albion Alloys 0.3mm and 0.2mm brass rod. The only remaining standing rigging task is fitting the backstays but that must wait until I have the shrouds in place.

 

I also fitted the peak halliards for the two gaffs. Since these are standing gaffs, there was no need to fit throat halliards.

 

Your continued support is very much appreciated.

 

Maurice

[patmaquette]

Hello Maurice,

I've just discovered your thread on the build of this ship. That is lovely, fine work. I have never worked with paper & card so it is interesting to see what can be done.

I'll follow along with your build if I may,

 

Best regards,

Pat

[robgizlu]

Fantastic result with the ratlines and the sails turned out really well

Absolutely fascinating to see this unfold

I'm entranced 

Rob

[mdesaxe]

Thank you very much indeed for all your encouraging comments and likes.

 

 

 

I have assembled all the shroud ‘gangs’ (I think that is the correct terminology). I came up with a way to represent the deadeyes and their lanyards using punched card discs and short lengths of the 0.2mm rod. It is not totally accurate but it gives a reasonable impression—and it only requires six pieces for each pair of deadeyes and their lanyards compared to ten for my original plan. Even so, it is quite time-consuming, especially as I prefer not to work in a mass-production mode because it is so monotonous I risk making mistakes.

 

 

 

I have added the deadeyes to all the upper shrouds and fitted them—twenty-four deadeyes down! I am rather pleased with the effect—what do you think?

 

Thank you again for your ongoing support.

 

Maurice