Cathead

Honestly I'd considering getting some cookbooks from a library if you can. Online recipes have gone down the tubes, full of unnecessary padding and online search no longer rewards quality. 

So glad to hear of continued progress!

I agree, having a pleasant workspace that you want to spend time in is an under-appreciated aspect of modeling (or regular work, for that matter).

One of the things I love and occasionally fear about this hobby is the opportunity for constant learning. It can be both maddening and rewarding to recognize a need or desire to improve on something one's already done! You're doing a great job of keeping this balance in stride and your work looks great!

Well, I said I'd work on either the hog chains or the main cabin, and for once I stuck to the plan.

Building the rest of the cabin was mercifully straightforward, to the point that I didn't take many in-progress shots. I used some sheets of board-and-batten wood left over from past model railroad projects to lay out the walls, and scavenged close-enough windows from my scrap box. Here are the walls well underway, showing the bracing in the back and the carefully cut-and-fit holes for inserting the windows:

I painted everything white, then glassed in the windows the same way as the pilot house (CA plus scrap clear packaging), then added shades using some old sailcloth material from a past ship kit. When that was done, I assembled the structure using my magnetic squaring jig:

And here's the result:

Here's the cabin test-fit on the rest of the model, with relevant photos in the background:

It's been stressful around here lately and I needed a simple project that didn't require too much thought. This fit the bill perfectly. Doing the roof should be easy, too. Then I'll mark its location carefully and start laying out the hog chain braces.

Thanks as always for following along and giving feedback, whether through likes or comments. You all keep me going!

Everything looks great!

Bienvenido a MSW! I spent a fair amount of time in Chile in 2018 and wrote up a thread on all my maritime explorations. Nothing you probably don't already know but you might enjoy seeing an outsider's perspective.

The best advice I can give is to start with something simple and build your skills from there. If you get in over your head it can do more harm than good. The complex dream models will still be there when you're ready for them.

Sorry for the slow response, I'm catching up on MSW after a busy stretch. You've done such a nice job with this kit, I hope you enjoy displaying it for many years to come. Thanks for sharing the journey with us!

On 3/12/2024 at 9:00 AM, brunnels said:

Deep sea sounding wench.  Does anyone know if they stored the rope on the wench, or just attached it when in use?  Instructions don't show any rope on the wench, and its hard to find any images of deep sea wenches of the period.  I think it would look good with some rope wrapped around the drum.

Your work looks lovely, but I feel obliged to point out that it's "winch", not "wench". The latter has a very different meaning that makes the above paragraph unintentionally hilarious (especially the deep sea line)!

Wefalck, I don't have any kind of lathe. In theory I know what you mean, but I wasn't up for trying the old electric drill lathe trick, at least not until all other options had been exhausted.

As it turned out, Brian's method of using cardstock worked like a charm. Much better than the styrene I was trying to use, which didn't want to bend properly and was too thick (the joint stood out like a sore thumb). First I figured out what outside radius I wanted and looked for something to use as a pattern. Turns out a spool of cheap rigging thread from a former kit was perfect. So I traced that outline onto some paper, then traced the inner outline around the right size of brass tubing. This is a basic index card.

Notice that I was sneaky here and folded the stock over to get two comparable discs. Some previous experimentation had convinced me that one layer wasn't stiff enough. So I used the kindergarten trick and cut two out together, making their boundaries more consistent than trying to cut them out separately.

I could have glued the two halves together before cutting, but intentionally didn't. I thought that would make the overlapping joint too thick (more noticeable) and also make the stock stiffer and harder to bend (why the styrene wasn't working). So I spread some glue on one end of the ring, then formed it around the brass tube until I had the angle I wanted:

When both were independently glued up, I smeared glue on one whole surface and sandwiched them together. This worked great, giving me a stiffer final result with the appearance of a single layer (finer joint). I then painted them with thick black paint, which when dry stiffened them even further.

And here they are test-fit on the model. Much better than anything I'd tried before. Lots of internet points for Brian! Any card modelers reading this are shaking their heads and thinking "we could have told you that!".

Thanks for the advice! Even when I don't take it or go a different way, it makes me think and helps me learn. Next I need to start laying out the rest of the main cabin, and/or laying out the support posts for the hog chains. We'll see what I feel like doing when I next have time to work on this. 

Another option is to look for a kit that has pre-spiled planks (usually laser cut). I believe Dusek does this for some models, and I saw a lot of praise for Master Korabel kits well but I'm not sure it's easy to get their kits these days as the maker is Russian.

Wefalck, thanks, I'd figured that out in theory but was struggling with putting it into practice. I'll definitely try Brian's method with card stock. I'd tried thin styrene but it didn't cut or fold cleanly enough. And thanks for the pictures, I'm also very visual.

So here's what the new stacks look like. Still not attached permanently so don't worry about their exact orientation.

I still have to figure out how to make the little rain shields (I assume that's what they are) that sit between the chimneys and the broader heat shields; you can see them clearly in this image:

I've tried a few things and none have looked good.

On to the pilot house. Here's a bit more progress, showing the ubiquitous wood stove in the corner, and the back wall added.

This had an unusual window pattern that you can see here:

And some rafters added:

Better late than never, I added some hardware to the bottom of the hull so the model could be bolted down to a base if desired. I should have done this much sooner, and now was the last chance while I could reasonably work on it upside down (before more delicate structures were added).

That's all for now, but it's progress. Thanks so much for sticking with me!

Yes, I also found the need to adjust a few. It's likely that'll occur in any kit, so it ends up being part of the learning experience. Nice work so far!

On 1/27/2024 at 7:51 AM, dunnock said:

because as Toni says, he forgot to cut deeper notches.

For what it's worth, Toni is a woman.

All right, you lot got your way! I went to the hardware store and got some brass tubing to play with. Here's the resulting second draft of the chimneys. I scored them using a razor saw to simulate the joints. I shaved/sanded a wooden plug to fit tightly in the bottom of each so they'd sit and attach properly. Don't judge their exact angle, they're just sitting there as a test-fit.

I also moved forward on the pilot house; here's its current status. I used some clear plastic and CA formulated not to craze plastic. Not entirely happy with the outcome but it's too late now. Guess it looks like old glass. It'll certainly blend into the background of the finished model.

Sharp eyes will notice that I simulated the gap into which the lower half of the wheel vanishes by just putting down a thin dark piece of wood. It'll be barely visible in the finished pilot house and I didn't think building in the full gap and wheel was worth it. I still need to weather the steps to match the pilot house floor.

Next up I need to decide whether to try blackening the brass, or painting it with primer and then black paint. Also whether to try roughing it up with fine sandpaper or leaving it smooth. Will do some test pieces since there's tubing left over.

Thanks for pushing me to improve my work!

You're not the only one, I did a bunch of things differently, too. Diverging from the instructions is part of model-building!

Just a quick note on fires, I'm in winter on the opposite side of the world, but we're under what the US calls "Red Flag Warnings" today and probably tomorrow, with near-record high temperatures, gusty winds, and a long-running drought parching fuels. Ironically, there's also been a lot of prescribed burning in the area lately, taking advantage of more benign but conducive fire conditions (my wife spent all Saturday working a big one). 

Back on topic, I'm very much looking forward to seeing how you apply your typical artistry to the silk span.

Good grief! With attention to detail like that, you can be my accountant any time! As an Earth scientist, I'm glad NCAR is in such good hands.

Thanks so much for finding the time to keep us updated in what's an overwhelming period. We're all here pulling for you both. 

Lots of input to consider here, thank you! One note, Roger, great idea, but there isn't any natural mica within probably 800 miles of here!

John, good feedback. I think my pilot house is more open and the panes wider, so the plastic would show more. Maybe I'll mock up an example and show photos both ways so we can all judge the options more accurately.

I love the extra few details added into the case...really provides more context for the viewer. Nicely done!

What a terrifying ordeal for you both. So grateful to hear there's a positive outcome on the horizon. I've always been appreciative of your kind support and interest in my builds and will absolutely be keeping you both in my thoughts.

Here are some cheery spring flowers from my collection, as a reminder of new hope on the horizon even in darker times. Please let us know if there's anything we as a community can do.

It's clear by now that this project is morphing far away from my original goal of building it mostly with on-farm wood. I keep realizing (a) how much more time-intensive that is, (b) that I don't quite have the setup or skill to mill all the tiny 1:87 scale lumber I'd need, and (c) that I have enough material in my scrap box to build this without any additional cost. I've yet to buy anything for this model and I think I'll make it to the end like that. I've also come to realize that the on-farm wood approach just doesn't fit my goal for this model to be something that looks right in a model railroad setting. If I want to do an all on-farm wood model, it should be a more artistic model that really shows off that wood rather than hiding it under paint and other details. Sorry to anyone who's disappointed after the initial promise.

Anyway, I've been moving forward on the pilot house and chimneys. The idea here is to get all the upper superstructure built so I can lay out the covering of the boiler deck to match. I have a big scrap box of model railroad scratch-building supplies (doors, windows, ladders, piping, etc.) so I just drew from those materials to make a reasonable match with the original Peerless photos. So here are some shots of the pilot house underway, using those pieces plus some scrap scribed wood sheets and other scrap wood. So far so good. 

An interesting question here is what to do about glass in these windows. In most model settings you could just glue a piece of clear plastic behind the window, but that would look awful here where you can clearly see into the interior from multiple angles. My leaning right now is just to leave the windows un-glassed; whether or not it's right, I think the eye will see it as more natural than a clearly wrong attempt at glass. In other words, the viewer's eye is less likely to notice the absence of an accurate detail than the presence of a distractingly wrong detail. Thoughts?

I've also been playing with the chimneys. I have both dowels and styrene tubes on hand, but I'd rather use dowels for the main stack as they're more solid and easier to anchor to the model. But I need to simulate the subtle bands around the chimney, and some form of empty opening at the top. So here's the approach I came up with, using thin rings cut from a slightly wider styrene tube:

For the top, I cut a longer section of tubing, then sanded the lower edge to blend back into the stack. It's not exactly like the real Peerless but I think it looks nice and is a practical and easy way to do cap the chimneys, and many steamers did have flared chimneys like this.

And here's a loose test-fit on the model. You can see I also carved and sanded some maple blocks to roughly represent the base of the chimneys where they come through the heat shields on the boiler deck. As above, I couldn't get these to match the original photos perfectly, but they evoke the essence of the right idea, which I'm fine with.

When I'm satisfied with these, I'll prime and paint them just like the boilers, and I think they'll bend nicely into a coherent whole that looks right.

Here are two other ideas for threading lines through tiny holes. This is often a problem because even tiny threads can come loose and catch on the block. So you want to make the business end of the line as sharp and tight as possible. You can try wetting the tip with your mouth or water, which helps pack the threads in. Or you can use a tiny dab of glue on the end of the line, which you can then shave into a sharp point with a knife.

Otherwise you can get a needle or a threading tool from a variety of sources, whether model shops, craft shops, or even fly-tying suppliers.

Just saw this mentioned in your other log. What a cool project! I'm all in. The deck far overhanging the hull was a standard design feature on American paddle steamers, too.