Bill Cook
Janesville, Wisconsin
The CSS Teaser was originally a tug purchased by Virginia that became part of the Confederate navy during the U.S. Civil War. It served as a recon-balloon transport and is credited as an early aircraft carrier. Bill built it using the hull, cannon, and lifeboat from a Flagship Models 1/192 scale kit, but scratchbuilt the wooden deck and deck furniture. The cannon carriages were constructed from plastic and wire, and the smoke funnel is aluminum tubing. Bill fabricated the hot-air balloon from a ping pong ball, a caulking tube nozzle, and piano wire.