USS Monitor

[Mr Misty]

[pid][/pid] 153B

So in my USS Constitution post I mentioned I had a couple of new MOCs. When I was working on the Constitution I decided to let the ship MOC index inspire me and while I was looking through it I noticed a topic that didn't have any ships listed, Monitors. I thought it over and decided to look through the net for some USS Monitor pics and my mind instantly came up with a few interesting ideas and construction methods. I started construction while I was still in the middle of building the Constitution and finished right around the same time. Here's the USS Monitor

I used 4x6 modified tiles with studs to mimic the iron plates that make up the Monitor, here's her bow with the Navy Jack.

The stern where you can see the twin uptakes that made up the smoke stack

A shot from above, she was really simplistic in design for such a revolutionary ship. I found several versions of the ship online with railings, smoke stacks, lifeboats and a circular awning above the turret, I went with the simple version as she would have looked in her famous battle with the CSS Virginia AKA the Merrimack.

A bow on shot

Another for the stern

Lastly the underside of her stern, the rudder and prop are slightly visible here. The rudder is non working but I added power functions to the prop and turret so I can play with her when I feel like it

Hope you all like her, she's another source of pride for me.

[Hobbythom]

Wow, the riveted, ironclad effect from the 4x6 plates works really well! Great model.

[LEGO Guy Bri]

Very well done Mr. Misty. I too like the rivet effect you created and the over all look of the ship

[Mr Misty]

I forget what gave me the idea to use the 4 x 6 tiles for rivited plates but it was a real eureka moment when it hit me. I'm hoping to use the same technique if I ever build a Lego Titanic.

[dr_spock]

Mr Misty, it appears that your photos on Brickshelf has stopped working or they got corrupted.

I can see the thumbnails http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=533232 Clicking on the thumbnails and no bigger picture displayed.

[Mr Misty]

Just re-uploaded them, hope that fixes it.

[Admiral Croissant]

Another great MOC! Nice addition for the index.

It's a rather simple design indeed, but it's still a challenge to make it look real good.

I love the use of the modified tiles with studs here and it's also nice that you gave this "simple" looking ship some more detail below the waterline.

By the way, do you know the wreck of USS Cairo? This ironclad has been salvaged and is now a museum ship in a remarkable good condition. Not exactly the same as the Monitor, but stil nice to have a look.

[Mr Misty]

Thanks for the compliments. Like I said when the modified tile idea hit me it was like a bomb went off in my head, at that point I knew I would be building her. Lego digital designer came in handy when I started exparamenting with the construction method and it helped because I didn't have to wait for parts I didn't own yet.

I actually had run across the USS Cairo when I was looking up pictures of the Monitor, part of the reason for her remarkable state of preservation was that she was burried in silt by the river currents after sinking, I've heard it said that when anything sinks to the bottom of the sea, a lake or a river that it will last forever if it gets burried but if it sits on the sea bed in the open it will deteriorate over time.

She was in a sad state for a while. After they salvaged her she was placed out in the elements with no protection, she was even vandalized a few times before they were able to raise enough money to protect her properly. She's a little more reminisent of the CSS Virginia as she's wooden hulled ship that was modified to be an ironclad but she's still an amazing piece of history and we're lucky she survives.

[Dread Pirate Wesley]

This is great! I've always wanted to build an ironclad and you've done a superb job here. Just to be clear the turret rotates with the use of PF? That's also very clever, I'd like to see the inside of the turret if you have any pictures of that. Again good job

Dread Pirate Wesley

[Mr Misty]

I didn't take any shots of the inside of the turret, I will the next time I take it down to dust or play with it though, it's full of structure to keep it in place. The turret is connected to the pf motor via a long axle that runs up to the roof and connects it to the rest of the ship, the motor itself is mounted in the hull so it points straight up. I wish I was better with technic stuff so I could make the guns pop in and out of the turret, as she sits now she's slightly inacurate in that the real Minitor only ever exposed 1 gun at a time, while it was being fired the other would be enclosed behind an armored shutter so it could be reloaded safely. Doing all that might make the turret to heavy or force me to modify the way it's connected to the motor which might weaken it and would leave me with the problem of how to connect the roof.

The prop has a seperate pf motor so I can use both controls on the remote. The prop spins at a good speed but the turret looks crazy when I turn it all the way up. The battery box is mounted in the bow under the deck with the pilot house which is removable to access it.

I tried mounting the rf receiver in the pilot house but the reception didn't work so good. I solved the problem by making it stick out of the deck, you can probably make it out best in the shot of the ship from above, just forward of the turret.

[Capt. Stabbin]

This is just great! I love Civil War history! I think you have captured the look of this ironclad beautifuly! A few more deck details would be nice, but that is a minor complaint......

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