Mike Dowling

They look absolutely brilliant, you should be well pleased along with being thrilled at not having to tie any more for a while !! Well done sir!

General progress view/update.
It has been 20 months since the keel was laid.
I have not kept a detail log of the build hours, however I reckon 850hrs would be a fair figure to put on the build so far.
 
Quiet a few other items I have made not "glued" on the deck yet.
- Windlass/Belfry
- Sheet Bits(4)
- Spar Gallows(2)
- Capstan
- Steering Wheel
- cannons(6) part built
 
I've taken Greg L's advice and slowly progressing along the deck, making all the items.
One big "fixing" session at the completion.
That will be a milestone - hoping that will be before April 2016, mark 2 years since I stared.
 
Dave R

Rigging continues but hopefully now that i have figured out the basics it won,t take much longer to finish it .As you will see from the pics only the ratlines on the foremast need doing but have thought on another idea for fixing the futtock shrouds etc and will go into more detail if it works ????
 

 

 

 
Have been distracted lately and could not resist Daniel Dusek christmas offer so bought a Santa Maria and a couple of longboats . I still intend to finish the Vic before i start another build but as the longboat is an add on to it i reckoned it would be a change from the rigging 
 

 
What you get for £3.00 
 

 

 
It,s  a kit on its own and so far everthing fits well . at this price scratch building would not make sense , but time will tell .

Well, she doesn't look hugely different than the last update, but some important progress has been made.The boilers are built and installed, as is the main staircase. I'm currently planking the boiler deck (the level above the boilers),and thinking/working ahead on the cabin area.
 

 
Some detail of the boilers & stairs, both scratchbuilt. No one knows exactly what Bertrand's boilers looked like (or anything above the main deck), but this two-boiler layout is what's presented in Petsche's reconstruction, and approved by multiple steamboat historians he consulted with, so it's good enough for me.
 
Wood is fed into the fireboxes at lower front, where a brick ash trough allows ash to be cleaned out and flushed away without setting the deck on fire. Note that the trough ends in a hole in the overhanging guards, where the ash can safely drop into the river. The brick is a strip of HO-scale brick paper normally used for modelling buildings. The fireboxes heat water in the two large boilers, which generate steam into the steam drum on top, which feeds through a single line back to the engines at the stern. The water for the boilers is drawn from the river using a "doctor" pump, seen just behind the boiler.
 
Boilers and such are made from styrene, painted black and weathered with pastels. I made a miscalculation somewhere and didn't leave enough room between the cargo area and the boiler, so the poor doctor pump is sandwiched in there without enough room. I made it pretty detailed for this scale, but it'll never really be seen. Oops.
 

 
Another view of boilers and stairs. I made the stairs by clamping two beams together, carefully measuring out each step's location, then cutting/filing the notches across both beams so they'd match. Then I mounted the beams on double-sided tape to hold them square, and glued on the steps. Worked like a charm. The boiler deck's edge looks rough, because I'm not going to bother finishing it until the whole deck is done and I can trim/sand it all together. Will need to do a bit of touch-up paintwork as well. This is actually true of the main deck as well, now that I look at the photo.
 

 
If you haven't been following ggrieco's steamboat Heroine, WHY NOT? It's brilliant and beautiful, far above anything I can manage. After enjoying his intricate recreation of a steamboat engine, I thought I'd re-post a better photo of my own engines, just to make the contrast clear. These styrene approximations work well enough for me, they get the idea across, but the Heroine is something special.
 
This photo also shows a mistake I made, which will be slightly tricky to fix. You can see how each engine is connected to the overhead steam line feeding from the boiler. Each one also has a separate exhaust stack that vents steam from each cycle. When I built the engines, I left these stacks cut off short, to make the assembly easier to install, reasoning I would install the vent stack later, before I planked in the boiler deck. It was, literally, not until I was reviewing this photo for posting that I realized I'd forgotten to go back and add the stacks before beginning deck planking, so the port-side engine is now buried. I'll have to very carefully measure/guess where that stack projects to and drill a small hole through the deck. The starboard one will  just get installed the way I meant to, before the decking gets that far.
 

 
And a final overhead photo. You can follow the steam line under the boiler deck to see where I'll have to drill a vent stack hole. The decking has progressed since I took this photo, I'm now about halfway across.
 
I've also been working ahead on the cabin structure. I bent to peer pressure and began making my own doors & such, which I hope you'll like. Photos of those will come when I'm further along. The cabin presents its own challenges of construction, as the boiler deck has a sheer fore and aft which mean I can't just build the cabin square on the workbench and plop it down; it has to conform to the deck. I have an idea how to do this without going crazy, and will share the results when it succeeds (or fails). Meanwhile I've been staining more deck beams to stay ahead of the slow-but-steady progress on that front.
 
For today's music, I present Marmaduke's Hornpipe, the "fiddle anthem of Missouri", named for Confederate officer John Marmaduke, who grew up along the Missouri River not far from my farm.
 

 

I have no idea why a modeler would do that, but then many people build stuff into the lower decks that will never again see the light of day either!
 
My understanding of worming is that it was done to fill in the ****-lines of the large ropes that were to be served, making them a more 'round' shape prior to the parceling and serving.  I personally wouldn't do worming or parceling of a rope I was going to serve on a model, because I agree with you on the 'why?' on that.
 
If you have documentation that it was don on the Victory this way, then I've learned something new today.  I'm still quite new to the hobby, so I have a great deal to learn, which is why I asked the question in the first place, as my understanding of worming was that it would never actually be visible.
 
Thanks for your response, take care, and keep on keeping on!

To your credit Boyd, I think the process and methods you're using are serving you well, and the end results are there to show for it.   Novice? H*ll you say! 

My limited experience of Masonia is that it changes shade when looked at from different angles ,i,m not sure if yours is the same . But i have to agree it would be a shame to cover such a great planking job ,as always it,s your call ???

Very nice Ian, looks great. Are there still thoughts of coppering?? I think that is one planking job that should be shown off!!!

Thanks for the kind words Heinz, ZyXuz and David and the likes Dimitris, Ken, Arthur, Mort, Shihawk and others. Very much appreciated. I finished up the starboard side. Last plank installation below .
​
Tomorrow I am going to cut the excess at the sternpost, fix a couple little issues, give it a sanding and then I'll be back.
 
Best, Ian
 

Going slow ( no rush) but started my spars, now the lathe can really be used, saving me a lot of time and effort. Still have the canons to rig, surprise, surprise. One day I may shock myself and probably anyone whom reads my posts and actually rig them.

I'm closing in on my starboard side second planking, at least from the middle gundeck down. We'll have to see whether a good sanding can improve the looks of this so-called "walnut" planking. But anyway, I think after the 481st plank I'm beginning to get the hang of it.
Best, Ian
 

Thanks for that. Your twisted lanyards post was interesting but I found with the bottom deadeyes fixed and making sure the shrouds were not twisted I did OK. It was getting them level that gave me a headache ! Anyway, I knew you would enjoy the rigging (!!!!!), I shall be glad to see the back of it for a while.

I am sorry if some of these are on their sides, you will just have to lie down to enjoy them !!

Hello folks',
No I have not been idle all summer but very slowly progressing with the OcCre version of the Santisima Trinidad cross section. I didn't start a build log so none of you will have been able to follow my progress. Part of my reason for this is that there is already a wonderful build log on this kit on msw already and it seemed silly just to duplicate everything.
 
It will not be a surprise to you that I am an OcCre kit fan and the quality of this kit was up to their usual standards. I can't complain about them, only my own mistakes and 'shortcuts'!!! although I have to say their instructions were not as good as other kits they make.
 
The reason I wanted to build this one was to practice and try to improve my rigging skills which I feel I have. My shrouds and deadeyes especially were much better than I had done before and most of the rigging I am pleased with. I know for the keen eyed that I did make one bilateral mistake and belayed a couple of ropes to the wrong places. By the time I noticed it was already too late to undo so I will live with it.
 
I think it is a strange thing to do in some ways - a cross section - and I wouldn't do another one because for all the effort involved it never was going to look complete in a way. I wouldn't even dream of doing the whole ship which OcCre also do as not only is it huge but I think I would lose patience with it quite fast.
 
Anyway, I will post some pictures of my efforts for you all to see and love or hate as you wish.
 
My next project is going to be my second stage coach which I know is not of interest on this site but, fear not, I shall be watching you !!!
 
I am thinking of doing the RMS Titanic afterwards !!!!!!!! Watch this space !
 

I am sorry if some of these are on their sides, you will just have to lie down to enjoy them !!

Captain Al,
 
Thank you for posting this thread. The process is much clearer to me now, thanks to the many fine responses.

Nice surprise to see you've completed another build and done a smashing good job of it.  Yes, your rigging looks superb.  I particularly checked out the deadeyes and chain plates as those are the parts I've been working on lately.  Very nice.  Looks like you've learned your lessons well.  Lots of good interior detail in there which I know you love.  So its back to stage coaches now?  I think you're quite smart to mix up the builds when you get the urge.

If it is any help at all I found that waxing the lanyard thread helps and then just run the shrouds between finger and thumb before you start 'lacing' the ratlines and then keep the deadeye facing whichever way it choses. It worked for me.

If it is any help at all I found that waxing the lanyard thread helps and then just run the shrouds between finger and thumb before you start 'lacing' the ratlines and then keep the deadeye facing whichever way it choses. It worked for me.

I am sorry if some of these are on their sides, you will just have to lie down to enjoy them !!

I am sorry if some of these are on their sides, you will just have to lie down to enjoy them !!

I see so many complicated, messy, and/or time consuming methods for caulking on this and other ship-building forums, yet the method suggested by Chuck and others that I used worked extremely well and doesn't require leaving gaps or mixing stuff etc.
 
#3b pencil blacken one edge, and one end of each plank before placing it.  Use wood glue to affix as normal, lightly sand when complete and then seal with your finish of choice (I used min-wax poly).
 

Looks much better.  Final suggestion, if you lock the lower deadeyes in place, you can tighten up the lanyards (remember, on the real ship they are quite tight to hold the mast steady from side to side) which should pull the upper deadeye in line fairly well now that the lanyards are run correctly so that they won't be trying to force a twist.

Hello folks',
No I have not been idle all summer but very slowly progressing with the OcCre version of the Santisima Trinidad cross section. I didn't start a build log so none of you will have been able to follow my progress. Part of my reason for this is that there is already a wonderful build log on this kit on msw already and it seemed silly just to duplicate everything.
 
It will not be a surprise to you that I am an OcCre kit fan and the quality of this kit was up to their usual standards. I can't complain about them, only my own mistakes and 'shortcuts'!!! although I have to say their instructions were not as good as other kits they make.
 
The reason I wanted to build this one was to practice and try to improve my rigging skills which I feel I have. My shrouds and deadeyes especially were much better than I had done before and most of the rigging I am pleased with. I know for the keen eyed that I did make one bilateral mistake and belayed a couple of ropes to the wrong places. By the time I noticed it was already too late to undo so I will live with it.
 
I think it is a strange thing to do in some ways - a cross section - and I wouldn't do another one because for all the effort involved it never was going to look complete in a way. I wouldn't even dream of doing the whole ship which OcCre also do as not only is it huge but I think I would lose patience with it quite fast.
 
Anyway, I will post some pictures of my efforts for you all to see and love or hate as you wish.
 
My next project is going to be my second stage coach which I know is not of interest on this site but, fear not, I shall be watching you !!!
 
I am thinking of doing the RMS Titanic afterwards !!!!!!!! Watch this space !
 

I too built a couple of models with printed lines rather then laser cut. The kits were from the 50's and 60's. I used a coping saw and though a bit time consuming, once I got pretty good with it, the result was quite good.
 
mike