Cathead

Vallejo makes a "Boxcar Red": https://micromark.com/products/vallejo-acrylic-airbrush-paint-boxcar-red-1oz?keyword=vallejo boxca

To be pedantic, she's a lake boat! Nice-looking kit though.

Nice to see you posting again! Great progress. I've heard of (and worn) coke-bottle glasses, but now I've seen coke-can heat shields!

Yeah, I'll reiterate that suggestion. (a) it's an Ohio River boat, perfect for your location. (b) it's just about the only accurate riverboat model out there (c) there are lots of good instructions and build logs available. I think you'll find it a really rewarding next-step project. Glad you had fun with this one!

Loving this discussion, and to chime in on the donkey/onions question, I thought it was a Shrek reference! (Onions have layers, donkeys have layers...)

Nice job, congratulations on completion!

That looks sooooo good.

To what extent does the weight of the machinery counter-balance the tower? It's placed at the other end of the barge in a natural setting to do so, in both Keith's plans and all the historic photos shown earlier. And as already said, some additional ballast would go a long way. As for overall tipsiness, yeah, I wouldn't want to be out on open water on a windy day on one of these, but presumably they were almost always tied up to something else stable (existing piles, tugs, etc.) while working and only moved under stable conditions. For example, I've watched modern barges doing bridge work hosting huge cranes that seem like the whole thing should just topple into the water, but between the barge being tied up solidly to something and the crane well-balanced, it works.

Yep, Jay's showing exactly what I had in mind.

That's beautiful, well done!

Always nice to see someone back at work on a dormant project. Hope you enjoy finishing up!

Yeah, Gary nailed it, explained it better than I did.

If the ground-up scenic foam is too coarse, you could also simply use the scenic grass powder also sold by the likes of Woodland Scenics. Real problem is that you only need a tiny amount of either product, so buying a whole bag is a waste. Your sawdust idea is a great way to get around that.

Keith, the one suggestion I might make is to make the color palate of the weathering more complex. Right now the deck especially is all tones of brown, at least to my eye, and has a hint of old stained furniture as opposed to a grimy deck. Some shades of grey or black might help balance that. Maybe also hints of rust around the metal fittings. You could even think about or map out where crew were likely to have walked and make those routes darker. This is the kind of thing where pastels excel.

I dunno, I've heard of lots of ships having more than one port, it's just the multiple starboards that get confusing... Great work, your weathering looks just right so far.

LOL, I thought you were getting all maudlin on me, as in "we're all approaching our final johnboat someday". Even if I wasn't shifting to railroading for a bit, I'd be taking a break from riverboats. I've built enough of them that finishing Peerless felt like a bit of a grind. My personality needs a really new challenge every now and then.

Keith, are you channeling Tennyson's Across the Bar? So I finally recognized something that was bugging me about my johnboat; it's too tall. It looks like a bathtub. So I cut it down by one whole strake and it looks a lot better. I also added interior ribs and muddied-up the exterior; there's no way any boat that's been in the Missouri River stays white. Here's the new outcome. And here are the three display options, each of which has a historical record: I'm leaning toward one of the two at the stern; upside down seems a little more practical for keeping water out but on its side shows more detail.

Mark, this year was the 19th iteration of the race, so it depends on when you left as to whether you ever had a chance to see it! Thanks for all the comments and such. I'll have a final johnboat to share with you all soon.

Congratulations on finishing! It was neat to see you having so much fun with this kit.

If you do, you're going to have to take a bandsaw to that model at, oh, about 30º...

All the kind comments are much appreciated. I haven't done anything with the johnboat yet, due to some serious time commitments lately (more on that in a moment). But I did transfer Peerless to her temporary home in my display case, next to Bertrand; since both are 1:87 scale it's a nice size comparison from a fairly "normal" Missouri River boat and the little Peerless. Arabia, on the shelf above, is actually about the size of Bertrand but is 1:64 so looks larger. The aforesaid time commitments relate to the Missouri River; we spent last week on the road with the Missouri River 340 race, an annual 340-mile cross-state paddle race on the river from Kansas City to St. Charles (near St. Louis). It's billed as the longest non-stop human-powered boat race in the world and takes incredible endurance to complete. Over 400 boats entered this year and a bit over 300 finished. We spent the week chasing the race across the state, acting as ground crew for a participating friend, and volunteering at various boat ramps where racers receive necessary support. We were also filming for a future video for our YouTube channel, a spectator's guide to following and watching the race. I spent a lot of time in the water helping boats land and launch, and offering encouragement to tired racers. If interested, you can read more about the race here. Since you're wondering, we've not done the race ourselves, though we have paddled stretches of the river on our own, but I'm working toward tackling it soon. This isn't strictly model-related but I get the most value out of projects that have a sense of history and place, and being involved with the modern Missouri River gives these steamboat models so much more context and value. So here's a few shots from the race week. A mass of paddlers shortly after race launch, coming along the Kansas City riverfront. This is a small fraction of total race participation. A major steamboat landing for the nascent city was maybe 1/2 mile upriver from here. A busy ramp servicing hundreds of boats in a few hours (replenishing food/water, answering questions, etc.) I'm in the mix somewhere in one of the bright safety vests. A nice sunset along the river, where we biked out to a more remote setting to watch and cheer on racers as dusk fell. Note the lone paddler near Mrs. Cathead; by this point in central Missouri the racing pack has spread out over many tens of miles, so paddlers are often alone for long stretches and appreciate a random cheer from the bank. Just another way to share the special place that is the Missouri River with you all. Upcoming weather is not conducive to outdoor photography (heat index well over 100ºF every day) so proper photo shoots will have to wait. Thanks for your patience!

Wait, the Lego Titanic doesn't come with an iceberg? Ripoff. Seriously, though, that looks loads of fun. Update looks great. Love the crisp railings and excellent tow knees. Great to have you back. As a Mac user myself, welcome aboard.

That is definitely a prototype just oozing charisma. It'll look great next to your barge. It'll be really fun to see how you adapt it for your needs!

Nice progress! Think of your pilot house as one of the details that makes the model distinctly yours. And the best advice for a hated task, like building stairs, is to just take it one step at a time.

Thomas, I don't seem to have any of the plans or instructions anymore. It was a long time ago, and I wasn't particularly pleased with the kit, so I likely recycled them as I had no intention of ever using them again. Sorry! I wonder if Corel would be willing to provide you with a set if you got in touch? Good luck.