Seeing that there aren't any posts in this category, allow me to start things off by giving everyone a look at the 1/96 scale Cottage Industries model of the USS Keokuk. The kit is priced at $160.00.

But first, a bit of history on this fine vessel. The USS Keokuk was a Civil War era Ironclad with two turrets. The biggest differance between the Keokuk, and later Ironclads is that the turrets on Keokuk did not rotate. Later Ironclads, such as the famous Monitor had revolving turrets that aided in aiming the guns. Keokuk's guns were on pivot mounts which allowed them to rotate inside the turret to either port, starboard, or forward  to fire.

Keokuk operated as part of the Southern Blockading Squadron stationed outside to entrance to Charleston (SC) harbor to enforce the Union Blockade of all Southern ports. She was heavily bombraded by Confederate guns at Fort Sumpter, then she retired with heavy damage. She sunk in shallow water the next day with no loss of life.

The Confederate defenders of Charleston, in need of additional artillarydevised a bold plan to dismount the guns from the sunken hulk, right from under the noses of the Yankee fleet. Upon salvage, both tubes were mounted in defence of the City. One tube survives today at the Waterfront Battery area.

The Kit:

Cast in high quality resin, the kit contains about 250 parts in resin, white metal and photo etched brass. All castings are of very high quality and have outstanding detail. The two piece hull, turrets, and stack are resin, While the long boats, guns and many other parts are cast in White Metal. Deck rails are photo etched brass. A period US flag is also included.

The kit features allow the builder to model the interior of the forward turret, and have all the nessesary parts to do so. All deck equipment such as bollards, cletes, and spar torpedo are also included.

This is a very nice kit, although a little pricey, it will build into a fine representation of the Keokuk. While no photos of the actual vessel exist today, the model scales well with comtemporary drawings, and has all the details shown in lithos of the day. Cottage Industries are makers of nicely detailed Civil War kits of many subjects, and I'm very happy Bill Blackman decided to offer the Keokuk in his line.

I have a few things going on the bench, but will be starting the build as soon as I can get the current stuff done. I'll post pictures of the build in progress to share with everyone. I'm looking forward to building a unique vessel with an intersting history to add to my Civil War collection.

Thanks for reading this. If anyone has any questions, just askl!! I'm only here to help!!