After seeing our own private model of the Confederate Iron Clad CSS SAVANNAH on our website (see here), we were contacted by a couple from just outside of Georgia, USA. Janice had a great interest in the vessel as her Great-Grand-Father had served in the SAVANNAH as a Confederate Marine Corporal, when stationed in Atlanta in 1862-63 during the American Civil War. They thought it would be great to have a model of his ship.
We got the go ahead to build the new model, and after a bit of research we got started on a 1:72 scale model of her. We had noticed many small differences from the original model that we constructed so built these into the new model. They included a ram type bow, taller stack and a centre rail used to hold up the centre of a marquee over the superstructure to provide shelter for the crew during the hot summer nights. Below decks there was very little room for accomoodation so most slept on the upper deck to escape the heat and smell.
The model arrived pretty well intact, but required a small amount of repair work on one of the boats which had broken loose during shipping. Jim was able to carry out the necessary repairs and the model took pride of place in their lounge room. She has also been shown around their family as well as to the “Sons and Daughters of the Confederacy” Association to which they are proud members.
