chborgm

Sorry about the scale question. I just saw it in the title.

What scale is this build? Also what is the diameter of the paddel wheel? 

Wow

the shipment came through Europe,London, New York, Miami, to Palm Beach Gardens

Well I got the kit last night. UPS came at 8:00PM. I had ordered it from Model Ship Building College in Australia. (it was little lower cost) According to the internet tracking it made 27 transfer on it's way here. 

I am not going to unpack it any further than that. I'll do it as I need the parts

I do not intend to finish it like the pictures in the box. I am going to paint the hull flat white, and tone down the finish everywhere. 

Also I intend to put lights in it like the model of the "Portland" that I just finished. 

So follow along and see how it turns out.

I am just following along, But want to thank you for the reference to John Fryant's as a source. I love paddle wheelers, and as soon as I finish the kit I am about to start I am going to try the "from scratch' approach

Clarence

I'm going to buy some decal paper and try a few thing out.

I have not made any decals, but to get the lettering curved correctly. I would use Microsoft Publisher :  "Word Art" feature  lets you put a word on sentence into any shape you want. and then prints this o decal paper. The real problem might come with exsteamally conpound surfaces. In that case you may have to put one letter at a time. I would think that if you can lay a piece of paper on the surface the Word Wrt thing coud do.

As a paddle wheel enthusiast I really appreciate the in depth discussion. I am about to start the Mantua Mississippi Riverboat just waiting for the kit. This kind of info will help in the finish I use. I really don't want to do it like the kit pictures. It looks to "sanitary" .  

what was the basic material

I am building a stern wheeler and would like to get the weathered look on the deck which will be planked in Mahogany. Can you give a little more detail on what you did. I also could do them in basswood. 

After a "Google can find anything" search I found the decal paper is everywhere and really not to costly. The cheapest I found on Amazon

Somewhere down the line I'll give it a try.

Thanks for all the responses. I don't have a current problem, just looking ahead.

Some time ago I saw a reference to using Mircosoft Word for making lettering for the model. I know Word, but how do you get this on the model?

I am still very much interested if anyone has built this kit. I have just ordered it, and will do a forum on it when it arrives. I guess I am a little hung up on steam paddle wheelers. I built the Chaperon (MSW), and the Portland (Bluejacket), so this one is next on the list. So when I get the kit follow along.  

Has any one built the Mantua Mississippi Paddle wheel steamboat

C H Borgmeyer

there is also a you tube pictures on this model

I am not that familiar with the old kit other than the railings are net on the older version and photo etched brass on the newer one. I would talk to Nic at Bluejacket to get better comments on that.

Someone once mentioned that you had to be a miniature carpenter to build a steamship model.

that may be close because of all the wood work.

As I noted up front in the log because of scale I used the smallest wood available, and eliminated some strips which I felt were to big, scalewise, for the location.

I did relearn that with these lazer cut models you have to be as precise as possible when fitting the pieces together. If not errors can be carried forward to cause problems where you don't want them

The kit is not hard to build. I made it a little harder by putting lights in it but I am glad that I did

If you build it stay in touch

Clarence 

Well it's done. I have placed it on a temp stand for pictures

Some later views. All I have left to do is the Port forward section. Hope to finish by year end.

What about the mini nailer that model expo has

http://www.modelexpo-online.com/product.asp?ITEMNO=MS109

I just laid things together to see how it looks

I put some mini incandescent bulbs in the pilot house to tone down the brightness

I have the nav lights on, bur I'll wait to get the masts up to turn them on.

at one time I did a lot of computer related work at home, and I separated my work on two computers.Since I never throw anything away I keep two machines really only using one.

Adding lights to the ship has complicated construction. The wires always seem to get in the way. I don't think I would do it again.

Have the Saloon deck enclosed. Still need to put up the stern supports, add the stairs, the rub strips and some touch up. 

The two Plesxiglass cases shown below are light with 12v strip lights. I intend to do the same for the Portland, but may follow your use of a wood base and brass columns to support the ship. That way I could hide the wires untill they left the case.

The led is 5mm with resistor.

Clarence