palmerit

I've been following some of Olha Batchvarov's videos ()https://www.youtube.com/c/OlhaBatchvarov/videos. She's been doing a group build on the Midwest Models Lobster Smack for a while that should wrap up in a week or two - I had just completed the Model Shipways Lobster Smack and was not interested in building another one of those to follow along. Next weekend (Sat May 10), she is starting a new group build on the Gunboat Philadelphia by Model Shipways. I wasn't sure if I wanted to follow along on this build since I had so many other models in my stash and that I was trying to work on, but I was able to get a copy of the Philadelphia for over 50% off the usual price and decided to jump on this group build. It's a different style of model from anything else I've built or have in my stash. And the instructions are also quite different from any model I've worked on so far. The instruction book is text heavy with almost no illustrations. Instead, there are lots of large paper plans that include build instructions as well as the usual kinds of things that are on plans. I'm going to try to follow along fairly closely to what Olha does and at the pace of her group build. She said she expects this group build to take at least 6-8 months. I'm sure I'll fall behind a few weeks from time to time because of travel, vacation, and work, but I don't plan to go ahead of her in the instructions. Ships in Scale apparently had a multi-part series on the Model Shipways Philadelphia back around 2014. I've been thinking about buying the back issues from the NRG web site: https://thenrgstore.org/collections/ships-in-scale

Finished the frame. Will be adding the sides, bottom, and deck in the next steps. No planking on this model. This kit is quite different from others I’ve worked on.

@Cathead also has posts on their research:

We stumbled on the Arabia Steamboat Museum in Kansas City this weekend. It’s currently in the City Market downtown but will have to close down and relocate in Nov 2026. I talked with the son of one of the guys who found it. They were originally on a treasure hunt and planned to sell whatever they found but instead taught themselves how to restore the artifacts. They said it’ll be another 15 years before they restore everything they found. They said if they can secure funding they hope to uncover the Malta, another of the hundreds on steamboats that sunk along the Missouri. The Arabia is from the settlement era from the 1850s and was filled with items destined for mercantile shops. The Malta is from the fur trapper era. There is on scratch build of the Arabia built by @Cathead I’ve posted just a few of the photos. After seeing a gift shop on ground level with Beanie babies and sadly not a single book on steamboats or the steamboat era, our expectations were low. But it was pretty cool. Outside the KC Lyric Opera, which was why we were in KC, there isn’t a ton to do (some great restaurants). If you’re in KC, make a trip to the Arabia. (And grab a sandwich at Pigwich).

I'm planning to get back to the rigging on my Sherbourne soon. I'm curious whether it would be appropriate or inappropriate to serve the shrouds. The instructions don't call for that given that this is a novice model. But I don't even know if it would be appropriate to do so. Are shrouds always served? I tried poking around on other Sherbourne builds and didn't see whether anyone served their shrouds, but then again that could be because this is built by novices, or because it would be silly to even do that on the Sherbourne.

I saw this because I just discovered that the NRG sells the old issue of this magazine on a thumb drive: https://thenrgstore.org/collections/ships-in-scale/products/ships-in-scale-the-complete-collection-1983-2018 I wonder if the NRG or ships-in-scale might consider listing tables of contents for the old issues. I read that there was a series of articles on the MS Philadelphia - I was planning to follow along on Olga's build starting next week. Before spending $99 on the back issues to get one set of articles it'd be great to know what's all in those back issues.

There isn’t much to glue the battens to, just some tiny notches in the frame pieces. Lots of clamps and this is a case where rubber bands are especially useful.

I’ve got a bunch of touching up to do but the hull painting is getting closer to being complete. After touching up I’ll add a few coats of matte varnish, let it dry for a couple days and the wrap the hull up to prevent it from getting dinged and scratched.

Adding more of the framing.

Tried out some reds for the bottom of the hull. I think I’m going to go with 1/2 Vallejo Model Air Red 71.102 and 1/2 Vallejo Model Air German Red Briwn 71.271. The instructions use a PlastiKote Red Primer. Trying to approximate a red oxide color.

I grew up outside of Buffalo and went over to the Niagara Falls, Ontario store when I was up there in the winter. Thankfully, they didn’t have a lot of their miniature tools in stock.

I ended up buying the Starrett set of four pin vises from Lee Valley. I only had a need to use one of them once so far but it was night and day compared to the cheap pin vise I had to use before. It locked down tight and the drill bit did not shift. I'll report back if they don't live up to the price tag. I was getting frustrated with my old one and losing that frustration is worth it for me so far. Sadly, I ended up browsing while on the Lee Valley website and some uncontrollable compulsion led me to buy this mini workbench and mini workbench accessory set: https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/shop/tools/hand-tools/miniature-tools/113770-veritas-miniature-worksurface https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/shop/tools/hand-tools/miniature-tools/113771-veritas-miniature-workbench-accessories-set I'll do a different post if it turns out useful.

Shaping the battens along the keel and side. This boat has fairly straight bottom and sides (not planks). It’s flat bottomed and fairly boxy. These battens provide the structure the hold the sides. The instructions say to just glue part and then bend using windex. I instead soaked in hot water for a bit. I just have them clamped in place to dry. I’ll glue them in place after they’ve dried to their shape. I’ll need to still add sheer battens along the stop. The two I installed are what the bottom pieces of the boat are glued to. The sheer battens (and chine batten) are what the sides are glued to. Very different construction from anything I’ve built so far.

Thanks for the clarification. The NPS site said "The last of her kind ..." Does "San Francisco Bay" scow schooner just refer to where they plied their trade or did it also refer to the class of boat (style, size, function).

Here's the link to the Alma, which is apparently the last survivor of this class of boats: https://www.nps.gov/safr/learn/historyculture/alma.htm https://www.nps.gov/media/photo/gallery.htm?id=3D3F9A47-D4DE-3CE6-089EB6E5DB6376B6

Winchelsea and other Syren ships are on my future list. And really they are. But I have a growing collection of models I bought that are sitting on my shelves. I've found doing smaller models with fewer repetitive steps has given me some good experience with different kinds of modeling steps. And since each model is not as expensive or as involved as something like the Winchelsea, if I made a mistake I can just trash the model or use the fix as a learning experience and then move to the next model. For example, I did the NRG Half Hull, which was a great experience, and it has a secondary home now on the top shelf of a book shelf in my office as opposed to the "place of honor" my other models are living in because it didn't turn out as nice as I had hoped. My learning experiences are clearly visible. Only the final models I really like are going to be centerpieces in our home. I find that the smaller models give me a chance to try different things since there is still so much I'm learning. I did my first deck planking on the Scow Schooner I'm working on. Some aspects of it I liked, others I didn't. But I learned something. I might have been more upset with the outcome if it was the deck of a ship that cost me lots of money and 1/2 year or more to get to the deck planking step and I screwed something up. But I have seen some people have successfully tackled a larger model and loved it soon into building these kits.

The 1:1 plans only show side view, top view, and sail. I’ll study some more. Perspective drawings show the holes so I could approximate but I don’t want to end up getting them in the wrong position if they need to be more precisely placed.

Leveling the ship to draw the waterline.

Bending the rail. The instructions called for soaking the wood overnight in an ammonia/water solution. I just soaked them for an hour in water I got boiling and poured onto a cake pan. I laid the plans on a double layer of cork board, put Saran Wrap over top, and pinned to the shape on the plans. I’ll let them dry at least overnight.

Finished deck, stained with Minwax “Colonial Maple”.

I used Super Phatic glue, which cures fairly quickly compared to PVA but not as quickly as CA. It let me set the pieces and then adjust a bit before the glue cures fully. Hoping I got them aligned reasonably well. Definitely letting them dry overnight before continuing to the next steps.

The last pieces of the hull bulkheads are pretty challenging to attach. The point where they attach has just a tiny notch. No obvious way to make them aligned properly.

I found that someone scratch built a scow schooner - not a build log, but there are some photos I can reference:

I’m kind of stumped. The instructions say to drill through the indents of F-2. Don’t know what an “indent” is and there’s no mark showing where to drill. Says to do the same for F-7 and in this case there are two plus marks on either side. The illustration shows two holes but they are closer to the middle than the marks. Argh. Maybe I’ll wait until later in the build to figure out where the holes should none and drill them then.

Right. Thanks for that. Forgot to add it to the list. I do have Minwax "Pre-stain Wood Conditioner" that I put in before adding the Minwax stain. I think they say to stain within 1-2 hours of putting on the Pre-stain.