bdgiantman2

Today we have great weather in Denver, so I happily brought out the scroll-saw and was able to do the rough cutout of first rib for Eagle. The Yellow Alaska Cedar is fun to cut on the scroll-saw. A picture of the rib by itself on a table, and another sitting in the building jig. It still is not fitting right in the space for it, I have more sanding to do to make it fit right.

Today we have great weather in Denver, so I happily brought out the scroll-saw and was able to do the rough cutout of first rib for Eagle. The Yellow Alaska Cedar is fun to cut on the scroll-saw. A picture of the rib by itself on a table, and another sitting in the building jig. It still is not fitting right in the space for it, I have more sanding to do to make it fit right.

Evening, 
Most of the day's chores are done. One last load of laundry spinning in the dryer and that should do it.
Football on the TV, full belly......figured Niagara could use an update.
 
I couldn't help but see what she looks like with a yard in place.
 

 
Things to come I suppose.
 

 
Anywho.....
 
I felt confident in securing the Topmast to the Main mast at this point.
With that in place I wanted to start with the Topmast shrouds and get those secure first.
 
 

 
A few things key off these shrouds being in place first.
I didn't install blocks directly into the shrouds themselves. I didn't see that part!!! 
To fix, I'll eventually strop some blocks and tie them directly to the shrouds themselves instead of weaving them into the shrouds like you're supposed to. 
 

 
Typically, As I work on the Foremast, the Main mast is being done at the same time. 
 

 
I'm going to rig as much as possible off the model.
Shrouds, stays, yards and the like.
All rope is from Syren. 
 

 
She's getting there.
 

 
Stay safe,
 
Tom E 
 
 

Today we have great weather in Denver, so I happily brought out the scroll-saw and was able to do the rough cutout of first rib for Eagle. The Yellow Alaska Cedar is fun to cut on the scroll-saw. A picture of the rib by itself on a table, and another sitting in the building jig. It still is not fitting right in the space for it, I have more sanding to do to make it fit right.

Today we have great weather in Denver, so I happily brought out the scroll-saw and was able to do the rough cutout of first rib for Eagle. The Yellow Alaska Cedar is fun to cut on the scroll-saw. A picture of the rib by itself on a table, and another sitting in the building jig. It still is not fitting right in the space for it, I have more sanding to do to make it fit right.

Hi Brian,
you have created a wonderful model with an interesting historical background. 
Also the detail design is unique and very high quality craftsmanship. 
Regardless, you are obviously very well organized in terms of your workspace. I also like that very much.

A raised bar is to be expected when a masterpiece is being created. I have no hopes of every being able to emulate Johann's work, I'm quite content to sit and watch as his masterpiece unfolds. 
 
 

advancements:

 

 

 

Possibly the American cousin to my Kiwi one🤔🤔
Thanks for the comment and thumbs up.

Great job on the stern. Sorry to hear that the same gremlin that is in my shop inhabits yours too!

Quality work, bothe the beams and ring bolts. It’s the small things that make for a great model like yours. 

Between working and doing a lot of research, I have been able to make small amounts of progress on Eagle's construction. Last night I finished the assembly of the first rib of the hull. Naturally, Frame X being the easiest to make. It came out looking rougher than I would like, but for the first rib I know it will be a learning experience. Already have realized two things: first of all, building each layer of ribbing individually (gluing the two halves together after all parts have been assembled together -- and I think Gene was mentioning about this in his own practicum 😧); and that I need to make cleaner cuts as well as tighter joints while gluing. Crazy cold weather hampering being able to bring the power saws outside to use on my small patio right now. Not sure I am wanting to use them indoors, especially over carpeted areas knowing that sawdust will be flying. I live in a condo community, on the second level of my building which is three stories tall. Appreciating all the likes and feedback.
 
Brian D

Between working and doing a lot of research, I have been able to make small amounts of progress on Eagle's construction. Last night I finished the assembly of the first rib of the hull. Naturally, Frame X being the easiest to make. It came out looking rougher than I would like, but for the first rib I know it will be a learning experience. Already have realized two things: first of all, building each layer of ribbing individually (gluing the two halves together after all parts have been assembled together -- and I think Gene was mentioning about this in his own practicum 😧); and that I need to make cleaner cuts as well as tighter joints while gluing. Crazy cold weather hampering being able to bring the power saws outside to use on my small patio right now. Not sure I am wanting to use them indoors, especially over carpeted areas knowing that sawdust will be flying. I live in a condo community, on the second level of my building which is three stories tall. Appreciating all the likes and feedback.
 
Brian D

Between working and doing a lot of research, I have been able to make small amounts of progress on Eagle's construction. Last night I finished the assembly of the first rib of the hull. Naturally, Frame X being the easiest to make. It came out looking rougher than I would like, but for the first rib I know it will be a learning experience. Already have realized two things: first of all, building each layer of ribbing individually (gluing the two halves together after all parts have been assembled together -- and I think Gene was mentioning about this in his own practicum 😧); and that I need to make cleaner cuts as well as tighter joints while gluing. Crazy cold weather hampering being able to bring the power saws outside to use on my small patio right now. Not sure I am wanting to use them indoors, especially over carpeted areas knowing that sawdust will be flying. I live in a condo community, on the second level of my building which is three stories tall. Appreciating all the likes and feedback.
 
Brian D

That low relief carved work is superb. Well done!

The printed model of Snowberry is looking great, Yves. You are doing a good job on this ship. I have to admit that I am somewhat disappointed that a model of this size isn't showing some kind of actual engine, since she was most likely diesel powered.  I have seen truck engines in larger scales but these will be too modern. Would be cool though if you were able to show some of those vent doors open over the engine department open like in that last photo you have in Post 254. Keep up this great model.
 
Brian D. 

Hi Glenn,
 
Like most of us, I have been through several iterations of this molding thing over the years, but I have now standardised on a method similar to giampieroricci using old hacksaw blades.  However, you need to heat them to red heat first or you blunt all your tools.  I use my mill with a Dremel disc to cut them as it is precise and reproducible. Unfortunately, I can't find any good photos as I throw them away after use.  I'll search about if you are interested.
 
John

You  must be a glutton for punishment Ben, having both Pegasus and Winnie on the go at the same time! Either that or you have waaaay too much time on your hands! 😀

The printed model of Snowberry is looking great, Yves. You are doing a good job on this ship. I have to admit that I am somewhat disappointed that a model of this size isn't showing some kind of actual engine, since she was most likely diesel powered.  I have seen truck engines in larger scales but these will be too modern. Would be cool though if you were able to show some of those vent doors open over the engine department open like in that last photo you have in Post 254. Keep up this great model.
 
Brian D. 

The printed model of Snowberry is looking great, Yves. You are doing a good job on this ship. I have to admit that I am somewhat disappointed that a model of this size isn't showing some kind of actual engine, since she was most likely diesel powered.  I have seen truck engines in larger scales but these will be too modern. Would be cool though if you were able to show some of those vent doors open over the engine department open like in that last photo you have in Post 254. Keep up this great model.
 
Brian D. 

I actually had been considering the same idea in my head for a while now, and with all the lessons I am learning from Toni and Mr. Passaro, this is going to be very fun to watch. Keep up your progress on that model.
 
Brian D

If you need help finishing off the bottle, post a notice.  I'm sure there will be volunteers.   LOL
 
I like the idea of the sled for the base to hold the bottle.  

Happy Holidays everyone,
 
I wanted to get one more update in before the new year, so here goes.
 
Picking up where I left off on the last post. I finished up on the roof beams.

 

 
 
From there I built up the forward skylight.

 
Here is the basic frame.

 
With the remainder of the frames and the mesh installed.

 
Temp installed on the Hurricane Deck.

 
And finally all painted and temp installed.

 
Once the skylight was completed I started finishing up the rudders. The will not be mounted until I am almost done with the build. Knowing my luck I'll knock them off while moving this beast around and spend a couple of days sulking about it.
 
I started by making the tillers from strips of aluminum, the same material that I made the paddle wheel from, and brass rods.

 
Then I shaped the pintles and soldered the pins in place.

 
Next I installed the tiller on the starboard rudder to get the correct tiller arc. The arc was then drawn on the deck for the metal pieces that define the arc. Forgive my lack of knowledge of these parts, I did a little research on them, but couldn't seem to come up with a name for them.

 
Both tillers constructed and in place.

 
I then set the pintles aside for painting since they will not be needed until I place the rudders and then installed the metal tiller arc guides.

 
And the rudders are all done. They will now be put aside with the pintles for installation later.

 
Next up was construction of the paddle wheel house. I kept this build as simple as possible since the insides would not be seen at all. Just a basic piece of 1/4" poplar cut to follow the paddle wheel arc, a few scrap pieces to hold the width of the wheel house (the will be removed once the top pieces have been added) and then decking planks.

 

 
I added some thin basswood veneer strips to the sides to simulate the shiplap boards that were used for the walls.

 
Here it is temp installed in place to see how it looks and to make sure that I got my measurements right where everything lines up.

 
I think it will work.

 
 
Then it was time to move on to closing this thing up by adding the deck planks on the Hurricane Deck.

 
I wanted to make sure that the LED's that I had installed didn't bleed through the deck planks. This is the reason for the lights being on. For those areas that did tend to show through the boards, I took small pieces of aluminum tape and stuck them across the beams over each light to block it out. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of these.

 

 
All decking in place.

 
 
After the decking was installed I started work on the hammock racks. I needed to make sure that I got these properly scaled so I scaled me down a sailor from the original picture of the Cairo. I estimated him to be about 5' 10" (according my readings the average height of sailors in the 19th century) which placed him at about 3.7cm in 1:48 scale. This gave me a decent guide to go off of to get the height of the hammock rack walls. 

 
As I started building these, I kept going back to the old pictures of the City Class boats for reference. From the numerous pictures that are out there it is hard to tell which would be correct since over their short lifespan there were so many modifications done to them. Some pictures of the different boats show the hammock rack walls at different heights, some show them completely removed and others match the same makeup of Cairo. The one thing that I could not make out is what their construction was on Cairo itself. From what I can determine is that the outboard walls were made from planks with a top rail, but it is hard to tell how the insides were built. The other thing that I was having trouble determining was the presence of an opening between the ships boats to allow access to them. Since this part was going to require a little more research, I decided t place the hammock racks on hold for a while.
 
While I pondered my hammock rack quandary, I decided to move on to the pilot house interior features. 
 
The ships wheel was another item that was either lost during the salvage, or had rotted away over time, so what it looked like will be really hard to tell. I just used my builders liberties to make up my own version.
 
I started out by cutting two basswood rings and a small spool for the hub.

 
I cut slots in the rings for the spokes to go through and then glued the two pieces together.

 
Next I added the spokes. These were just made from brass wire I had leftover from the hog chains.

 
Then I used some more of my decorative toothpicks to make the handles.

 
The wheel was then glued to the hubs.

 
I also made up a simple speaking tube from brass wire and a small piece of copper sheet.

 
Then finished up the ships wheel with the bell stand and temp installed on the deck. I'll get these painted up and installed once I have the rest of the deck furniture in place. They'll go in, along with the tiller rope, just before I mount the pilot house. I am trying to decide what other details I want to add to this area. Since there are no details of the pilot houses, I'm not real sure of what to add. I had though about just using a standard steamboat setup with a bridle, foot controls and other features, but I am still not sure how far to take the details. I still have time to think on it though.

 
 
Next it was on to the chimneys. These I made from 3/4" rigid copper pipe and aluminum tape to simulate the rivets.
 
The pipe was cut to just under 7" to allow for the proper height above deck and the remainder to sit on top of the flume just below the Hurricane Deck surface.

 
I then added the horizontal rivets to simulate the individual joints. I estimated these to be about 4.5' for each section to give the chimney height of 27.5'. Per the picture of the Cairo, there looks to be a ring at the top of the stack that would most likely add some rigidity to the end. I simulated this with a thin piece of heat shrink tubing.

 
The lower heat shields were made from some thin walled 3/4" pvc pipe and then added at the bottom of the stacks.

 
The vertical rivets were added.

 
The rain cap I made from copper sheets. I first made the templates from cardstock, then glued these to the copper sheet and cut them out.

 
Then they were shaped around the stacks and then glued into place.

 
Finally everything painted up and temp installed. I will eventually paint these up with my gray paint, I just wanted to get a good basecoat with an enamel paint to adhere to the copper a little better.

 
Finally, while I played around some more with the weathering, I decided to install one of the upper gun port doors. I am not quite ready to install all of these, I just got impatient and wanted to see how they were going to look.

 
And some additional weathering pictures.

 

 

 

 
Before I go, I wanted to share one of my Christmas presents from the Admiral. I'm guessing that she felt sorry for me since I have not been able to get my shipyard built out in the barn for the past two years. I have been tying up one of the spare bedrooms (which also doubles as my work from home office thanks to COVID) and have never really gotten things organized the way that I would like to. I found these little gems on one of the Facebook groups that I am a member of, so the Admiral said to go ahead and get what I needed to help organize my workbench a little.
 
These desktop organizers from HobbyZone USA (they also have a dealer in Poland for our European builders) were a great addition to help organize my parts and tools. The polish website actually has a designer site where you can place the modules into whatever configuration you want and gives you a parts list. If you are in the US, you can then take that parts list over to the USA site and add the pieces to your cart from there. They can get a bit pricey (especially the shipping), depending on the modules you get, but imho they are money well spent. The only downside to them (if you want to call it that) is that you have to assemble them, but It's like building a side project.
 
So the for the past few days I have been converting this:

 
into this:

 
I am not done with these yet, there are still several modules that I want to get, but it's a good start, It also gave me a good excuse to clean up my workbench.
 
Well that is all I have for now. Thank you all for stopping by, the likes and the kind comments. Everyone have a safe and Happy New Year and we'll see you next time.
 
-Brian

Your friezes look great to me on your model. Keep up the great work.
 
Brian D

Working out deck cannons for the moment, a lot of repeating elements.
Thought about rigging the lines on the Cannons, but soon changed my mind on that for the moment....kind of in limbo for the moment as I think about the carriages and if I am going to be sorry if I take the wrong turn here.
 
Anyway a shot down the deck with a bunch of not quite completed guns. Also added some pics of the officers looking at the maps and cooling their heels, so to speak, These guys are complete and in place for better or worse. I am going to add haircaps to the two bald ones on the map table