Canute

Those pre-dreads seem to grow on you/us. Very nice work.

Those pre-dreads seem to grow on you/us. Very nice work.

Those pre-dreads seem to grow on you/us. Very nice work.

Those pre-dreads seem to grow on you/us. Very nice work.

Thank you guys for your kind and informative comments and the likes. I appreciate your support so very much.
 
 
  The first time i saw the photos of this push boat I was smitten with the ugly, dirty, quirkiness of her but I had serious reservations when I started the build not knowing if I was going to be capable of doing her justice. It's only been in this last week that I've really warmed to the build as the work has finally developed a rhythm and flow and now I'm having a ton of fun, let the devil take the hind quarter. 
 
 
 First off, I want to apologize for the following photos.......bad camera day.    
 
 The steel plate is painted but not yet glued down. I looked at beads and a whole slew of other options for lightbulbs but nothing worked as well as the belaying pins. I did try filing  and sanding the shape from egg to ball, they're now acceptable.  
 
 I added coal to the coal crib and the auto stoker's conveyer belt. Coal has a slight gleam to it so I lightly patted poly on top of the coal to give it just a hint of shine. I also got the conveyer belt tail rigged through the blocks. 

 
 
 The stern maintenance hatch is made and glued in place.

 
 The coal crib and stoker are glued to the steel plate but the boiler is not yet glued to the plate as I have more work to do on it which is next on the list. 
 
 Thank you for following along and being part of the journey.
 
    Keith 

I should have added that the hogging problem was exacerbated by most riverboat hulls being built quite lightly, very different from your typical maritime wooden hull. A classic ocean-going hull was built super-strong, of heavy oak with very dense framing and lots of cross-bracing. These hulls were essentially rigid and didn't need additional trussing beyond the hull itself. But that's because they were deep-water vessels. 
 
Classic North American riverboats operated on shallow rivers and in an economic context that required them to be cheaply built, including that fact that their service lives were far shorter than that of a typical maritime vessel. So their framing was much farther apart and built of smaller timbers, their hull sheathing was light and thin, and they couldn't afford much cross-bracing without making the draft too deep. Plus, their hulls had to be flexible because they were highly prone to hitting bottom, where a rigid hull would break. So all of this meant the hulls were lightweight and needed the extra trussing of hog chain systems to keep them in line.
 
Keith's vessel is operating on a reservoir but clearly derives its lines and design from classic North American riverboat design, with a shallow blocky hull made of wood that would require trussing to remain stable.

Eric, thank you for sharing your insights.

Yes, in square(ish) hulled riverboats, hogging is defined by the bow and stern sagging relative to the center. That's why it became called hogging, because it resembled the arched back of a hog in an era when everyone knew what a hog looked like. It's less an issue of hull shape than of uneven loading on the hull. This was accentuated in traditional sternwheelers by having the heavy wheel hanging off the far end of the stern while the boilers and engines were up near the forward end. So these vessels needed a robust set of hog chains (actually iron rods despite the name) running longitudinally. In sidewheelers it became especially necessary to use transverse hog chains because the heavy sidewheels hanging off the side would otherwise crack the hull down the middle. Hog chains were an absolutely necessary and extremely distinctive feature of standard North American riverboats until steel hulls came along.
 
In a perfectly rectangular and evenly loaded barge, you wouldn't need hog chains, but weight wasn't distributed evenly in powered riverboats.
 
Early railroad cars had the opposite situation, supported at the ends (by the trucks) and peak loading in the center. But the engineering solution was pretty much the same, because either way trusses help distribute loading across a span.
 
Keith's vessel is smaller than traditional riverboats, and also has a lighter wheel given newer metal technology, while the machinery is more amidships than on a "typical" vessel, but presumably the principle remains. Any wooden hull is subject to hogging and the weight distribution on his vessel is still uneven. And I agree that his photo shows a basic version of a longitudinal hog chain.

Thank you very much OC. Yep, the display space is filling up. I haven’t found a spot for Sargon yet either.
alan

Thank you very much Mike. I’m learning my way around the Tribals. 
alan

I agree, Jeff. 👍
And I'll continue working on the Mikasa a bit soon.😉

I will work on Phoenix until I can no longer resist the urge to build another card model. I have some ideas about what project to do next, but I can never be 100% certain until I actually start cutting.

To thine own self be true… I appreciate that. ☺️ Can’t wait to see what’s next! 

Excellent decision !!! Too many projects to justify loosing sleep with a single one.
 
Yves

I have come to a decision.
 
Here is the hull thus far:

 
I know that some of you will think that this looks great so far, but when I look at it, what I see are nearly a dozen construction errors and fit issues. My latest flub was adding the roof over the sun deck without first adding the benches that go beneath it. I tried adding one afterward, but without success. I could simply choose to omit those benches, but that would be just another glaring shortcoming added to a lengthening list of shortcomings. In the final analysis, the first modeler one has to please is himself. Since each problematic step of the construction shrinks the remaining will to push on, I have decided to suspend this build -- I have too many other projects awaiting my attention, so I can't justify more frustration with this one.
 
So, this model will take its place on the Shelf of Shame, where it will remain mostly invisible due to its small size. In the meantime, I have decided to return to work on Phoenix. See ya there!
 

I could not agree more!

Excellent work Phil  - its Amazing  how this has developed  into a  build of beauty.
 
OC.

Beautiful work Phil. The rigging is so neat and it really makes the ship look alive. It’s going to look spectacular when the running rigging is done.
Congratulations 
alan

I’ve been busy on this today!
 
The winches are finished:

And installed:

The gaff and cranes are made and installed:


Here is a side on shot:

I’m going to install the ship’s boats cradles and make the yards next.
 
After that it will be time for the running rigging while I can still reach everything.
 
Then I’ll make the ship’s boats.
 
Lastly, I’ll make all of the outer deck and hull fittings before adding the flags.

It is hard to believe that this is 1/200 scale. It looks so realistic and perfect.
 
Yves

Ahoy, landlubbers.
After a short creative break, I’d like to return with a mini update.
I’ve pushed the pinnaces back again because I first have to take care of the funnel’s shrouds.
I’ve given this a few thoughts. Rope tensioners definitely need to be installed; anything else would be illogical.
How can I best do this without too much effort?
Here’s my solution:
First, I cut stanchions into small pieces. The green arrow points to pre-cut stanchions in a scale of 1:200. I want to use them as rope tensioners. The yellow arrow shows some in a scale of 1:350. They’ll serve as eyelets on the funnel.
 

 
First, the rigging twine was attached to the eyelet and glued into the lower hole of the funnel. It’s working very well so far.
It’s important for me to always use enough twine. This simplifies the whole knotting and threading process. Being cheap isn’t cool here.
 

 
Then I thread the yarn through the two holes in the cut-off railing support.
 

 
The yarn is passed through the deck eye and the second rope tensioner is put into position.
 

 
The first piece of rigging on the funnel is finished. Painted with aluminum paint, the thread running along the outside of the rope tensioner is almost invisible.
 

 
I’m happy with that and can now focus on the next pardunes.

Looks like another great one!  Looking forward to following along Alan - you do great work!
 
By the way, love the Black Cat aftermarket you are using.  I've picked up a few of their items for future projects myself.

Thanks OC, the Black Cat parts are tiny but so much better looking than the kit version or the PE ones. They mostly have 1/350 stuff but I did get the 1/700 Oerlikon, Carley rafts and 4.7 inch guns as well as the quad 50 cals.
alan

So love the look of those Black Cat  parts  - so makes such a difference.
 
OC.

Progressing along the groove made by Zulu but changing the order of building around to reflect lessons learnt (or maybe not) from the earlier two builds.
I made up the brass tripod foremast and installed it earlier this time. It was much easier to position but now I realize it’s going to interesting to place the forward funnel. Hopefully I can do it without banging the mast. Boats and Carley rafts are in progress now.

i need to straighten the main mast which got touched while I was fiddling with the foremast. You can’t win sometimes.
I was trying to work up the enthusiasm to attempt the PE quad 50 cals when the post lady brought a small box from France. A handful of Black Cat resin accessories including quad 50 cals. Amazingly tiny, they suggest the PE ones are over scale. The resin is quite flexible so cutting the guns off the supports was not too hair raising just tiny.
They have been painted and added and look very nice- if you have good eyesight or magnifiers.

Still a bit to do but it’s coming together. I’ll add the funnels and give the ship a black oil wash before starting the railings.
 Thanks for looking in, the likes and comments.
alan