Ramus Rocket Ram 1/144

[jcf]

The Rocket Ram was conceived as an unmanned coast defense anti-ship weapon with the dimensions
120' X 20' X 7' made of 1" boiler plate, weight of 140 tons and 175 tons of rocket propulsion force,
rockets would fire for 30 seconds with the Ram covering a distance of over two miles with a terminal
speed of 500-700 feet per second.
His hope was that it would so terrible a weapon "... the power of which is illimitable. It will
sweep away all existing navies, and will, I trust, render war at sea no longer possible."

Model to be in 1/144 scale.
Plans below, side-view created by tracing over the above drawing with a vector program, plan view
generated from side-view, details of side-view and entire plan-view based on best guesses.
It will be black and rivetty.

[jcf]

Some work done.


Pattern attached with spray adhesive to one of the pieces of plastic card, second piece was laminated
to the first again with spray adhesive. The shape was then cutout on the bandsaw and cleaned up with
knife, files and sanding blocks. Completed side plates were then separated. Doing it this way ensures
that the two pieces with be the same.


Completed parts, main side-plates and aft hull plates, they were done the same way, except with four
layers of plastic.


Aft side-plate pieces, two per side, laminated together with Tamiya cement. They will have their upper
and leading edges rounded off before being attached to the full-length side-plates.

A sheet of resin rivet "decals" from Archer Fine Transfers is on its way from North Carolina.

All for now, cheers.

[jcf]

Update.
Basic parts all glued together, sanded flush, few gaps puttied, steps and rounded areas refined.
The upper edges were roughed-in using a Dremel router table and round-over bit.
Still have to make the rear plate/rocket nozzle area.
Having to do some thinking about it, as Ramus's proposed "175 tons of thrust" is approximately
1,556,878 Newtons, more than the thrust of the current Atlas V SRB at 1,270,000, and not much
below the Soviet NK-33A at 1,638,000.

In other words, way beyond anything available in 1875. I'm thinking a cluster of large powder
rockets as the nozzles would be simple. They'll be rubber enhanced rockets, of course, ~65
odd years ahead of time for that composition, and way ahead of time in terms of output.
 

My Archer resin rivet decals finally arrived.  They've been in transit since the 14th, they came
out to Seattle, and then, for some reason the USPS sent them back to North Carolina.

[NARSES2]

Yet another really interesting project you've unearthed Jon  Also very nice precision cutting work 

I suppose given cannon ranges in 1875 it would have been a practical weapon, but a few years afterwards ? Need to check cannon/gun range improvements purely from an interest point of view. Thanks for the spark 

[Rheged]

Fascinating (and extremely pointy!!)

[zenrat]

Fascinating.

[Crackingjob]

I like this very much.....almost sci fi yet real...the nearest was the torpedo ram vessel https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torpedo_ram

[jcf]

Some delay because of various family etc. issues.    
Construction done, ready for primer, which will be polished and then rivet decals will
be applied.



Photo of rear-end, not really clear with the phone, oh well, the fin is actually square to the hull, phone
camera makes it look crooked. 

[PR19_Kit]

That's one of the very few models I've seen that could give you some SERIOUS injury. Whatever you do Jon, DON'T drop it on your foot! 

[jcf]

Yet another really interesting project you've unearthed Jon  Also very nice precision cutting work 

I suppose given cannon ranges in 1875 it would have been a practical weapon, but a few years afterwards ? Need to check cannon/gun range improvements purely from an interest point of view. Thanks for the spark 

They'd have to hit it before it was fired/launched, as once under way it would probably be impossible
to hit with even the guns of WWI ships.

[jcf]

That's one of the very few models I've seen that could give you some SERIOUS injury. Whatever you do Jon, DON'T drop it on your foot! 

[NARSES2]

Yet another really interesting project you've unearthed Jon  Also very nice precision cutting work 

I suppose given cannon ranges in 1875 it would have been a practical weapon, but a few years afterwards ? Need to check cannon/gun range improvements purely from an interest point of view. Thanks for the spark 

They'd have to hit it before it was fired/launched, as once under way it would probably be impossible
to hit with even the guns of WWI ships.

Your'e probably right. You'd need a quick firing AAA type gun. A spray and hope weapon ?