C.S.S. Tennessee - Mobile at Last!

There she is - C.S.S. Tennessee all set to take on the Union fleet in Mobile Bay

After a largely straightforward build - helped by the somewhat more measured approach I adopted rather than my usual ‘headlong, bull in a china shop’ technique - the Confederate ironclad the C.S.S. Tennessee is ready to join the rest of the collection. As ever the model is more ‘based upon’ rather than strictly accurate but I think she conveys the overall sense of menace that the original ship had. So, the hull is the wrong shape - as are the gun port covers - and she has the earlier pattern naval ensign as well as missing the deck cowl vents (also missing from the other models in the collection!)  but other than that she is good to go! 

‘Purely Representational’ a wise man once said….repeatedly!

As deployed on my hexed cloth

I really enjoyed this build, certainly more than I expected to given the shape of the casemate. She will make a powerful addition to the Confederate fleet and it means that I now have all the Rebel ships for Mobile Bay - the others being the C.S.S. Selma, the C.S.S. Morgan and the C.S.S. Gaines. I could probably rustle up sufficient Union ships for the battle although the ‘lashed together’ wooden vessels may require a little thought, not to mention the Confederate Fort Morgan. 

C.S.S. Tennessee in the van with the C.S.S. Selma following closely. In flanking positions are the C.S.S. Morgan and the C.S.S. Gaines

During the course of this build I have been thinking a lot about the ACW collection and what else is needed for it. The answer is of course, plenty! There are ships I want to model as well as some terrain pieces but in the short term I am thinking around half a dozen more models (three of which are already under construction) and a large fort will suffice. The other bits and pieces can be dropped in as and when the mood takes me. The important thing is that I now have a sufficient variety of models to fight just about anything from the war between the states. 

It is a great place to be in!