River Queen by Daryl Hannant - Scale 1:36, Vic Smeed plans - Finished

[Daryl]

Hi folks

 

 

The following is the build log for what will end up as the "African Queen". I believe the plans of the River Queen that I am using are the closest plans to the "African Queen". The plan is to build a working steam engine so that the "Queen" can happily puff around in the water feature at the back of our home.

 

 

To start with, the following photo is of my work area. As you can see, it is very minimal and as this is my first real venture into model ship building, it may grow over time as I acquire new toys (tools) to play with. Don't be too concerned by the size of some of the saws as woodwork/cabinetry is my other hobby. I do get to make a lot of things larger than models. And, yes, I am an ex RAN communicator. (S)

 

 

 

The idea of building the "Queen" started with my wife telling me that we needed a boat for the large water feature. Naturally, I offered to buy a small plastic one but Kaye had other ideas. Please make me the "African Queen" she asked, so, I am.

 

 

In June '12, I purchased a set of Vic Smeeds plans and soon found out that the end result would be too big, so I had the original plans reduced in size by 66% by the local Office Works. I had them run off 6 copies so that I could cut out each section to help me when making the moulds as shown further on. This proved to be a good move.

 

 

 

In July '12, I then  found a nice piece of Huon Pine that someone had donated to the Men's Shed I attend and after making an offer to the committee, was ready to start. 

 

 

 

The next step was to make a jig to hold the "up-side-down" boat as it was built. I must admit I had a ball making this and it certainly saved me a lot of heart ache.

 

 

As mentioned previously, I then used cutouts from one of the copies of the plans to make the hull moulds and then attached them to the jig.

 

 

Now that the moulds were in place, I moved on to assembling the complete keel. This was made up of the following pieces which I hope I have named all correctly:

• Stern Post,
• Shaft Log,
• Hog,
• Elbow,
• Stem Post and
• Keel

 

 

On the 18th July '12, the keel was laid and work started on preparing and laying the planks.

 

 

To cut the planks, I used a large bandsaw at the Men's Shed. Not the ideal tool to cut pieces of Huon Pine 7mm x 1mm thick, but I finally got them cut. The next interesting part was working out how to bend the planks. In the end, it was quite simple. Pour some water into a plastic garbage bin, lay the bin on its side, place the required number of planks in the water with a weight on top to make sure they stay under the water. I warned you that I was new to all of this.  

 

 

On the 20th July '12, I started laying the planks.

 

 

From this point on, it was a slow process as detailed below.

 

1. Soften 2 more planks overnight,
2. Measure and mark where the next set of 2 planks sit on each mould,
3. Lay planks on mould and clip in place,
4. Let planks dry to shape overnight,
5. Adhere each plank to each mould as per determined locations (step 2),
6. Clip each plank in place,
7. Leave to set overnight,
8. Remove any excess glue that may have come out between planks and
9. Go back to Step 1.

The above steps were followed 10 more times and the following photos show how the boat grew with the final planks being completed on the 2nd October '12.

 

 

At this point, the hull was removed from the jig and I decided to take a rest from the Queen and went and built the Model Airways 1903 Wright Flyer, scale 1:16.

 

 

30th May '13.

 

I have only just returned to the Queen and this build will be updated with further details as I do it.

 

I look forward to your comments, suggestions, critique or whatever, as I really like what I am doing and believe I can only get better with the help of otheI have now commenced installing the Timbers (Ribs). The garbage bin I used to soak the planks has now been replaced by a yogurt container and I have purchased an Artesania Latina Plank Bender which certainly helps on small items such as these timbers. The process is the same as for the planks, but just a bit more difficult due to their size and the shape of the hull.

 

 

16th July '13.

 

Just back from checking out all the models in the Spanish Naval Museum in Madrid. They are great. My wife's sharp eye even found a beautifully carved catshead.

 

 

Something I will have to try on a future model. Now, back to the Queen

 

All the Timbers (Ribs) have now been fitted.

 

 

The Gunwale is fitted along with some lower decking to take the boiler at a later date.

 

 

And in go the Stringers.

 

.

The foredeck is now being fitted along with 4 supports to take the rear awning down the track.

 

 

27th July, '13

 

Double Bit bollards have now been installed in the stern and a Staghorn bollard and fairleads have been fitted in the bow.

 

 

And now the Queen must sit idle whilst I get into building the boiler and engine. The following two photos show her in the partially completed state.

 

 

Because of the small scale of The Queen, I have done a lot of looking around to find an engine and boiler that will fit. I found both on the following site: http://www.john-tom.com/index.html T

 

The Engine is No. 23 – Tiny

The Boiler is No. 26 - Live Steam Boiler and Engine. – I decided against building the engine that came with the boiler as I really like the Tiny.

 

I will be building both exactly to the scale they show in the plans.

 

I am starting with the boiler as on the side, I am building a 15” (380mm) lathe which I will be using to make the engine. I found the plans on the following site: http://www.vintageprojects.com/machine-shop/lathe-modelling1.pdf.

 

I also found a terrific milling attachment plan on the following site: http://www.vintageprojects.com/machine-shop/lathe-milling-attach-plans.pdf

 

So, here we go with the boiler.

 

First up, I made the boiler body.

 

Next came the flue.

 

The boiler has three discs. One at the top which holds the filler and engine connection hose and one at the bottom. Both these form the water tank. The third one is one that I have invented to go at the very bottom of the boiler to attach it to he deck. This is replacing the Base plate in the plans as I have already installed a deck area for it.

Edited July 27, 2013 by Daryl

[mtaylor]

Daryl,

 

Since this a scratch build log, I've moved it to the proper place.    Looks very interesting.

[gjdale]

Nice start Daryl. I'll be following this one with interest.

[captainbob]

Daryl,

 

Ah, a real steamer.  I love 'em.  The hull has a nice shape, it should make a nice African Queen.

 

Bob

[Jim Lad]

Daryl,

 

That's one lucky steam launch, to be made from Huon Pine!

 

John

[Daryl]

Daryl,

 

Since this a scratch build log, I've moved it to the proper place.    Looks very interesting.

Thank you Mark.

 

I thought I had selected the right place but, then again. I will remember for the next one.

 

Daryl

[Daryl]

Daryl,

 

Since this a scratch build log, I've moved it to the proper place.    Looks very interesting.

Hi mark

 

Thank you for the assistance. I will keep that in mind when I do my next one.

 

Daryl

[Daryl]

Daryl,

 

Ah, a real steamer.  I love 'em.  The hull has a nice shape, it should make a nice African Queen.

 

Bob

Hi Bob

 

Glad you like it. We will be building a working steam engine for it. There are a couple of retired engineers at our Men's Shed who have shown interest in making one. That will test them as it is going to be a very small one.

 

Daryl

[Daryl]

Daryl,

 

That's one lucky steam launch, to be made from Huon Pine!

 

John

John

 

It certainly is. And I have some left over for another project some time in the distant future.

 

Daryl

[gjdale]

Hi Daryl,

 

Just wondering if you've got an update on this interesting project?

[Sailor1234567890]

Very interesting. I look forward to seeing more on the steam portion of the build. I think steam is one of the ways to generate power. Next to sails of course. 

[Daryl]

Folks

 

I am still building the Modeler's Lathe so I can build the steam engine. Once that is done, I will update with photos of the engine's progress.

 

Daryl

[Daryl]

Hi folks

 

It has been a long time since my last entry and a lot has happened since then. I have decided not to build the small lathe I previously mentioned, and the result of that is that I will not be building the steam engine for the Queen. I have therefore finished building the boat to a level that we are happy with and I have attached photos showing its progress. I guess that I am really a "kit" man and having seen some of the great ships in this forum that have been built from kits, I think I will stay doing that and over time, improve my skills in areas such as rope making, rigging and decking. Thank you to everyone who has been in touch.

 

Daryl

 

All Timbers (Ribs) fitted

 

 

Installation of Gunwale & Boiler deck

 

 

Gunwale & Boiler deck fitted

 

 

Stringers fitted

 

 

Foredeck & awning supports fitted

 

 

Double-bit bollards fitted in stern

 

 

Staghorn bollard & Fairleads fitted in the bow

 

 

Awning frame installed

 

 

Awning installed

 

 

And thre she is in all her glory. My apologies to those who were looking forward to vision of her puffing around the water feature. You never know, it may get resurrected some time in the future. I have not installed the aft decing just in case. 

 

 

[gjdale]

Nicely done Daryl. I hope you get the urge to fit a boiler at some stage - even if it is a static display only.

[geoff]

Talking of Vic Smeed ,my(only)! claim to fame is a picture of my 48" model of the last Lowestoft wooden steam drifter "Formidible LT100".This is on the front cover of Vic's book "Introducing Radio Control Model Boats" published in 1994. I did quite well with her in scale steering comps. Happy days!

[Bedford]

I'm with Jim Lad, Huon pine! you're a lucky man, I would love to get my hands on a good piece of that. Perfect for a boat too.

[Daryl]

Hi folks

 

I was surprised as to just how much Huon pine is up for sale in Tasmania. There are timber yards that only sell Huon pine. It is still expensive though but well worth it. I am making a small box out of huon pine to hold my micrometers. I am hoping my dovetailing does not ruin the look of the timber.

 

Daryl