Ship Happens, Part IX 1/600 USS Susquehanna; or making the Bambu earn its keep Part II

 

        A little while ago R.U.P. brought his ACW naval rules over for a test-run. We used my 1/600 models and had a most enjoyable evening. This, of course, got me thinking about adding to my collection of ACW ships. Checking online for the prices of metal models nearly caused an aneurysm.  I retreated into the idea of scratchbuilding some models when the thought occurred to me that I own a 3d printer and there might be some STLs floating about on the internet that I could put to use.

        Lo and behold! There are more than a few. One particularly generous fellow that goes by the moniker R_A_T_ offers sets of Union or Confederate ships free of charge. I downloaded several of his designs and set to work printing them in 1/600 scale. In about six hours I had more models than I can paint this week but I decided to give the Susquehanna a try. I replaced the bowsprit with a bit of wire but all the rest is 3d printed. I rather like the result.