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Cathead

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  1. Cathead
    John, your comment reminded me of a Mark Twain quote about being in a steamboat pilot house, which I looked up to ensure I got it right. This refers to one of the big, fancy, Mississippi riverboats, but the concept applies to the Arabia as well.
  2. Cathead
    Nah, if I'd been that upset I'd have jammed a broken branch through the bow, installed some broken stacks and tangled rigging, buried it at an angle in brown-tinted epoxy, and called it a wreck model. Or given it the fate of the Saluda, which blew up near Lexington, MO with such force that the boat's safe landed on the river bluffs.
  3. Cathead
    Nicely put! It's impressive how much a few supportive comments can change one's perspective.
  4. Cathead
    So I made another big mistake. Afterward, I realized that it's become a pattern lately, I think because life has gotten really stressful and I was using modelling as an outlet but this also meant I wasn't focused on what I was doing. So I started laying out the forward part of the hurricane deck. Below, the starboard side is being glued down. Notice any problem? That's right, I forgot to measure and cut the hole for the chimney or even install the chimney. I also didn't fully color the underside with pastel, used too much glue (causing an ugly color smear underneath) and didn't hold the part over the heads (by the wheel) down long enough, so the glue expanded and peeled it back up. I was so upset when I discovered all this, but it's what happens when I'm not focused. I had to step away for a week and not look at the model. Gradually I was able to think through ways to deal with this. I carefully measured, drilled, cut, and sanded the chimney hole, which was nerve-wracking as the strucure is delicate and any breakage would be very difficult to repair. I sliced out and fixed the glue-warped part. I can't do anything about the color smear underneath, but at least it's hard to see from most angles. Here's the fixed deck, with clamps still holding down the repaired back part. Here I'm attaching more of the deck: Here's how I meant to do the starboard side, until I sat down for stress relief and got ahead of myself. Here, I've pre-measured and cut the hole so that the deck piece can just drop down on top of the already installed chimney, and made sure to fully color the underside. So now the whole hurricane deck is installed. Here are two views of the current status. It will be another few weeks before any updates as we'll be taking several short trips to Arkansas to help my in-laws with various things. I hope when that's over I can focus again and keep going. Next, I'll be applying the "tar paper" covering of this deck and painting it all black. Then it's railing time.
  5. Cathead
    When you glued these together, did you weight them down evenly? Pieces may seem to lie flat when dry-fit, but glue can cause the joint to warp a bit during drying. So, as Mark says, one option would be to try again and ensure that everything is weighted and/or clamped down nice and flat so that it dries that way. If this were a "regular" ship and the twist was minor, you might be able to get away with pulling the stem and stern back into line with other planking and framing. But the way these pieces stick out, and with the relative lack of support around them, I don't think that would work.
  6. Cathead
    John, a question, to my eye it seems that the planking above the opening differs on the port and starboard side. On the port side it curves down to meet the vertical piece on the outside, but on the starboard side there's a distinct flat zone between the curve and that outside piece. Am I seeing this wrong? Hate to pick nits, but I'm curious about this.
  7. Cathead
    Careful cutting and filing can achieve almost anything from a solid piece of wood, so have at it!
  8. Cathead
    Cool, looking forward to seeing more.
  9. Cathead
    Cool! As for the T-shape, I'd forgotten about that. Would be it easier to start over and manufacture a T-shaped keel using two different pieces of wood, rather than trying to cut the T-shape onto your solid piece? Another option, depending on the tools available to you, could be to carefully use a table saw set very low to "rout" the lower edges of your keel. Whether that's practical or safe depends on the size of the saw and workpiece. How does the T-shape transition to the wedge shape? I can't quite picture this. A wedge sounds like it could be carved/filed/sanded fairly easily, but I'm not sure about the connection.
  10. Cathead
    A bit more progress framing the hurricane deck: I also added the railings protecting the main staircase. If you look closely you can see another goof. I ran two of the longitudinal beams too close to where the chimneys had to be (they aren't installed permanently yet) and had to file a slot on the outboard sides of the chimneys to let them sit where they needed to be. It's going to be essentially invisible when the decking is in place, but it caused some temporary gnashing of teeth.
  11. Cathead
    You could try building your own miter box/jig out of scrap wood, something that would provide a flat, smooth surface that the whole razor saw blade can be held against as it cuts. That would also help with ensuring consistent cuts in different pieces.
  12. Cathead
    Paul, I highly recommend this thread (started in 2013 and still going) where people post photos of their workstations and otherwise discuss the topic. My workspace is a ~3'x4' table in a corner of my small living room, which has been sufficient for all my various models. I have a few power tools in the garage that I use occasionally for certain things, but the vast majority of my actual modelling happens at that table, using simple hand tools. I think the best thing I've done is to develop an organizational system that lets me store a lot of stuff in a small space and find it easily. This includes a vertical wood-strip holder (made of PVC lengths glued together), a similar unit for tools that's mounted on a simple turntable, and a plastic storage unit with lots of little boxes for all sorts of small parts. Most folks would likely agree that a good source of light is key. Ventilation can also be important, as even raw sawdust can be pretty irritating and even dangerous, much less paint fumes or dust with paint/glue in it. If I'm doing more than light, raw wood sanding, I take it to the garage or outdoors and/or wear a mask. I also make a point of emphasizing benign materials like wood glue and water-based paints, as those are less toxic and irritating, especially given my living room location. Have fun getting started!
  13. Cathead
    So that was strange. I wrote a whole update post, which was then eaten when I tried to post it by some Firewall Error. But when I went back and did a test post it went through. So here's a shorter version because I don't feel like rewriting it all. Bending beams for the forward part of the hurricane deck: Connected together and installed on the model, using pins at the back: Adding vertical supports and testing the heat shields that keep the chimneys from burning passengers or setting the boat on fire; these are made from scrap PVC: Heat shields painted and vertical posts all complete: View from the bow: If you look closely, you may be able to tell that this structure is a bit out of alignment; the forward curve is closer to the port side than the starboard. It's fairly obvious from some angles and not at all from others. Redoing would mean starting over on this entire structure and I'm not up for that, so I'm going to do my best to hide it. The finished model will have enough detail and complexity that I think it'll be pretty easy to overlook. This is why I'm not a professional (among other reasons). Happy (soon) New Year to all of you.
  14. Cathead
    Cut one side, trace it onto the other, then cut the other with a bit to spare so that you can file/sand it to its final configuration. Practice on some spare material to get the idea and figure out any details that might not be obvious.
  15. Cathead
    Kris, looks like your photo didn't load properly. Can you try again? As for your previous question, depends on what tasks you consider easy. A single-piece keel will be stronger and potentially easier than ensuring that five different pieces are all glued together straight, but it may also be harder to cut out properly. If you screw up on a smaller piece it's easier to redo. The multi-part keel is more authentic, but whether you care about that is your call.
  16. Cathead
    Brian, short answer, we do the logging ourselves and hire in a portable bandsaw mill for the initial milling. It can handle logs up to 20' long. I have a rough cut list for what I want. The milled pieces are stacked on a concrete pad in our open pole barn to cure. After than they can be shaped just like any lumber using normal tools (table/circular/hand saw). Over the years I've built multiple outbuildings and varius home furniture with 100% on-farm cedar and sold a fair amount of custom-milled lumber to other people for things like barn siding, porches, garden sheds/beds, etc. The strips shown above were milled on the Byrnes saw from a tiny piece of scrap (roughly 3/4" x 2" x 6"). I used the Byrnes to smooth both thin edges, then cut thin veneer sheets from the 3/4" edge, then stacked them and cut them into thinner planking strips. Took just a few minutes. Small-scale work really doesn't take much wood compared to the scale I'm used to working in; I have a lifetime of model-scale cedar just in the scrap piles I haven't burned yet. We normally use cedar scrap as spring firewood for boiling down maple syrup as it burns hot and fast but isn't ideal for indoor firewood due to its high resin content. Druxey, thanks! Looking forward to it.
  17. Cathead
    Another Christmas arrival: Thanks to all who answered my recent questions in this thread. Given that I do a lot of timber management on my mostly wooded 40 acres already, and have stacks of maple, cherry, cedar, and other woods curing in my barn, I'm really excited to start making more fine-scale materials with this saw. Here's a few Eastern Red Cedar strips I milled up just to make sure the saw was functioning properly after shipping: It's so pretty, I'm curious to try modeling something with it.
  18. Cathead
    Got the stern half of the hurricane deck glued down: Edges need some trimming but I'll do that all at once when the whole deck is installed. The larger news is the arrival of a new tool in the Cathead workshop: That's a Byrnes table saw on the workbench. Technically a Christmas present, but I wanted to make sure all was in order. I did one quick milling of some Eastern Red Cedar scrap I had lying around, making thin planking-scale pieces and veneer strips. It's really pretty in person: I hope I never have to buy model wood again. Living on 40 acres of mostly woodland with an orchard mixed in, I have lots of fun self-harvested stuff to play with, and this will let me mill up quite a bit of stock from my scrapbox. Reusing things and avoiding waste is a big deal for me, so I'm very excited for this development. A Missouri River craft of some sort built with all Missouri wood sounds like a really fun and unique project once Arabia is done. Happy Holidays to all of you. Our big celebration is a solstice party this weekend for a variety of rural friends and neighbors, featuring homemade mead and some good traditional fiddle-tune jamming.
  19. Cathead
    Lovely details. Sorry to hear of the upcoming delay but sounds like it's in a good cause.
  20. Cathead
    Although all the advice given here is good and well-meaning, it's also the case that the value of a build lies ultimately with the builder. We're not all shooting for pure presentation or accuracy; most builds are about the process as much as the product. So I think it's pretty cool that you're taking on (and sharing) this project as a personal journey. Case in point, I built a simple Maine lobster boat for my mother's 70th birthday as she's loved coastal Maine for a long time. She didn't care one bit that it wasn't museum quality, I loved building it for her and she has it proudly displayed in a little Maine shrine in her home with an Acadia poster behind it. So I hope this project serves you well for the purposes you desire. And if you learn some things about ship modelling from the experience (and the advice), all the better.
  21. Cathead
    Interesting project, Kris. I'm of partial Norwegian descent myself, from a grandfather who was very proud of his heritage (and claimed direct lineage to Erik the Red, though who doesn't?). A proper Viking ship is on my wish list as well and I'll be interested to see how your project goes. I, too, am a "learn it yourself as you go" kind of person and have the mistakes to prove it, so wish you success on this difficult but fascinating choice of build. For what it's worth, MSW has a lot of good tutorial articles in the help section that may answer many of your questions regarding specific aspects of ship modelling.
  22. Cathead
    Very neat project, I'm looking forward to learning from your planking as I've never done clinker before.
  23. Cathead
    Still plugging away. I filled in the tops of the wheel housings and painted both assemblies: I started building the frames that will support the hurricane deck out over the stern (the roof of the boiler deck). You can see the beginnings of these in the above photos. These will be really delicate, so I gave some thought to how to make them stronger and easier to assemble. The plan I came up with was to insert small pins into many of the joints, using a small drill bit and leftover brass nails from a kit. Above you can see one such joint, with the pin sticking out at upper right and another pin ready for another joint at upper left. I bent a beam in a full 180° curve to form the deck's stern contour, and attached a central supporting beam: Here's that beam installed on the model. Each end fits into a pin in the already-installed framing (see next photo down), with a pin into the deck beneath the stern-most support: More framing. This is now ready for the hurricane deck to go on. I also built the rear staircases between the two decks, using basically the same method I did for the pilot house stairs. These aren't glued in yet, just set in place for appearances. Another view of the hurricane deck framing and stairs: You may notice that I included a bit of an upward curve here toward the stern. I think this adds some style and is similar to other boats of the era. Finally, I started cutting thin sheets of wood to form the base of the hurricane deck. As this will be fully covered in simulated tarpaper (like the pilot house and Texas structures), there was no need to plank it. These aren't attached, just set in place to test the fit. I think I'll use pastels to lightly color the open bottoms of these rather than waste paint (and risk curling the thin sheets). That's where the model stands. Current plan is to work my way forward from here. I started at the stern as I expected it to be simpler, the forward framing will be more complex, so now I have a better idea of the mechanics I want to use. At times this project feels like it'll never end, then I get moments where it seems like it's racing along. Thanks for reading!
  24. Cathead
    Mine is on its way. Now I just have to make space for it.
  25. Cathead
    Cog, that's strange. I've run into similar problems every now and then on random websites, where I'll get a notice about security configurations being incorrect so the browser blocks it. My memory says it's usually major government sites (like NASA or NOAA in the US), so I suppose that fits for the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. I've found that using a different browser solves the problem, don't know why it happens in the first place. No idea why Missouri would have it in for the Dutch otherwise. Belgium, maybe, after InBev bought Budweiser, but we don't have any beef with the Netherlands that I'm aware of.

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