Cathead

Keith, great question, and you're correct. Here's the engine layout from way back in this build: Each wheel has its own engine, which could be controlled independently. For really sharp turns, one could even be reversed while the other stayed in forward, almost spinning the vessel in place. This was a major advantage of sidewheelers over sternwheelers. On the other hand, the paddlewheels were a lot more exposed on sidewheelers, so took more damage from debris (sternwheeler hulls were more likely to deflect debris before it reached the paddles). Sidewheels were also less effective at backing the vessels off sandbars (when stern wheels were reversed, they sent a strong wash of water under the hull, helping free it). For these and other reasons, sternwheelers became more common on upper rivers or anywhere the channel was narrow and/or shallow. So it's especially impressive that Arabia made it deep into Montana since its design wasn't optimal for those conditions.

Not familiar with this model, but I agree with harlequin, it'll help you set the planks properly and is good practice. There are planking tutorials here on MSW that can help guide you in figuring out how to do it properly.

Well, the boats are done; you can read about that journey at the separate build log. Suffice it to say I'll never buy those kits again, but I got a workable result that looks good enough on the Arabia. They're not quite an authentic Ohio River yawl, but they're closer than a bluff-bowed ship's boat or a two-ended whaleboat. Here's one installed with its tie-downs; the davits will be added soon. In order to letter the port wheel housing, I designed a stencil layout and had a friend's tech-savvy teenager make it on a 3D printer. This was a cool mini project and a fun way to involve someone else in the build. Here's the stencil taped on and ready for use: I did some tests first on scrap wood. My initial plan was to use paint, but I couldn't get it to look right, so tried colored pencils and loved the result. So here's the hand-colored final version with red letters and black shading: I think I could have made the lettering a bit larger, it looks too small on the final model although it seemed right during the design process. But I love the way the colored pencil gives an inherently weathered look. Finally, I settled on a stand design after some experiementation. I liked the idea of a sediment-filled base to look like the river bottom, but none of my attempts at sieving natural sediment produced something that looked right to my picky geologist's eye. So I went back to the basic wooden stand idea, based on the one Kurt used for his Chaperon, and came up with what I think is a nice result. This is a Eastern Red Cedar base with Walnut trim, all wood harvested and milled here on-farm. She's now screwed onto the base, awaiting the final details, mostly rigging the davits and grasshopper spars. Really getting close now.

Thanks, Mark. I should note that I could have improved them a bit more by using different wood (such as cutting the cap rails out of one sheet to avoid seams) but really wanted to stick with the kit supplies for review/guidance purposes. Someone could in theory buy this just for the frames and design, then use better wood throughout.

Pretty much all wooden models are held together with glue, even at much finer scales than this. Any treenails/rivets are just for appearances.

Beautiful

These little Model Shipways lifeboat kits have serious problems but you can get a decent result if you ignore various parts of the instructions. Here are my suggestions, having built a couple of these. I STRONGLY advise not trying these kits if you’re new to model building or planking; you need to have some idea what you’re doing before tackling these, even with the suggestions below. Frankly, I advise not buying these at all, but you can get a usable result if you insist or are already stuck with one you bought unawares. Suggestions for building these kits, organized by the step numbers given in the kit instructions: 1. Step 1: Assembling the keel a. Don’t bother gluing 1/16” square stock to the keel. It’s not necessary to hold the garboard plank in place and just creates more work trying to sand/file into the curve of the hull. It also gets in the way of laying a nice internal floor later on. b. Similarly, don’t bother bending and gluing this square stock up the curve of the bow. It’s really hard to do and isn’t necessary. Your planks will attach to the bow just fine with sufficient glue; since the internal part of the bow isn’t open to view here, it doesn’t matter if you use excess glue to achieve this and it’s a lot easier than trying to form this piece. c. Thus, Step 1 is just to glue the bow and transom formers to the keel. 2. Step 2: Applying the main ribs a. Don’t bother using rib former #1 unless you really want a bluff-bowed boat. It makes a much sharper curve toward the bow that’s really hard to plank; leaving it out gives you a sharper bow but a much easier planking task. If you want a bluff-bowed boat, try the Master Korabel kits instead as they seem to be of better quality. b. Don’t make the ribs from the 1/16” square stock. Not only is it too thick to bend easily (and will likely crimp into ugly shapes), it’s too large for scale and looks terrible. Just use single pieces of the thinner planking stock; this will take the bend easily and is strong enough to support the planking. c. To help form the curve more smoothly, soak these strips in water, then bend them around a dowel of similar diameter, holding them in place with clamps. Once they dry, they’ll be a lot easier to place into the rib formers, and won’t crimp as easily. This also gives you more consistent curves. d. The planking strips (and the suggested square strips) are thicker than the formers. When you glue the ribs in place on these formers, make sure one side is flush with the former surface (rather than centering them on the former). e. After the glue has dried, use sandpaper or a sharp knife to trim the ribs to the same thickness as the formers. This will create a more accurate width for the ribs and they’ll still be sufficient to support the planking.’ 3. Step 3: Creating the building jig a. Don’t attach the rib formers to the build board unless you carefully mark their exact location based on the notches in the keel. Do NOT follow the instructions in gluing the formers 1” apart on the board, this doesn’t match the boat dimensions! I just glued the ribs into the keel freehand, using my eye and a square to get them straight. Once these were dried, I flipped the assembly over and glued it to the board, adding bracing afterward. In other words, do this in the exact reverse order the instructions suggest (ribs to keel, formers to board, braces to board). I also added braces around the stem and stern, which were very useful for added stability during later sanding work. 4. Step 4: Assembling the hull frame a. I did not glue any 1/16” square strips to the ribs as suggested. These are too thick to bend easily and don’t look realistic anyway. They’re completely unnecessary. I did fair the bow and transom formers, but the thinner ribs need barely any fairing. 5. Step 5: Planking the hull a. Do plank the transom first as suggested, which allows you to ensure that its outside can be sanded fair with the former and accept the planking. The instructions are completely nonsense in stating that planking will require 22 strakes; my boats required 6 strips per side. This may be an artifact of the same instructions being used for lots of different size kits (like the 1” former spacing). b. Do not start planking at the sheer line as suggested in the instructions; this will make life much harder as you try to fit planks into ever-narrow spaces as you go down. Instead, start with the garboard and work your way up. Do start tapering planks at the bow right away so you achieve a reasonable level line of planking as you go; if you don’t, you’ll get Viking-style planking curving up way too much at the bow. You shouldn’t need any stealers if you pay attention. c. Stop planking with one or two strakes to go. It gets very hard to clamp planks at this point because the build board gets in the way. Instead, remove the boat from the board at this point by cutting the ribs right where they enter the formers. The boat will be strong enough to hold its shape and accept the last few strakes, and using clamps from the open top of the boat is way easier. 6. Step 6: Separating the hull. This is mooted by my suggestion in 5c; remove the boat BEFORE planking is completed. 7. Step 7: Filling in ribs a. Make extra ribs the same way you did the original ribs, by bending soaked planking strips (NOT 1/16” square stock) around a dowel and letting dry. Then they’ll be really easy to insert into the hull and cut to length. Like the original ribs, cut or sand these down to a more realistic width. 8. Steps 8, 9, & 10: Mounting the seats and bow platform a. Instead of running a consistent strake all the way around the inside of the hull to support the seats, I just inserted short supports between ribs where the seats and other platforms needed to go. A lot easier and looks fine. b. The bow platform can be installed however you want; at this point the boat is solid and you can adapt the internal details to be whatever you desire. 9. Steps 11 & 12. Mounting the railing and rudder, finishing touches a. I made the railing in the opposite order as the instructions; starting from the bow and working after. I held each ¼” strip against the hull, drew the outside curve with a pencil, then hand-cut the rails. Like the previous steps, all this is discretionary and can be done lots of different ways. I shaped the rails off the model as I wanted to paint/stain them before installation, whereas gluing the strips on first and then carving them is both harder (in my opinion) and makes it more difficult to apply a different color than the main hull later on. b. Otherwise, all finishing touches are builder’s discretion. You’re past the hard part, do what you like. This post is now linked from the updated first post of this thread, along with a few pictures. Hope this is helpful to someone in future.

The second boat is done, I think it came out equally nicely. The kits provide so much extra wood that I was able to complete both boats using materials only from the first kit, except the actual laser-cut keels and formers. Here's a quick slideshow of the second boat's development. Next I'll post a list of suggestions for tackling these kits (improving on the very poor instructions). Laying the first planks. I left out rib former #1 (nearest the bow) as this is really wide and creates a sharp, bluff bow that's difficult to plank. I wanted a sharper bow anyway. For the ribs, I didn't even try using the 1/16" square stock as it's way too thick for easy use or accurate appearance. Instead, I used the much thinner planking stock and cut its width down to something more realistic. Looks much better and didn't crimp nearly as badly as in boat #1. Someone suggested laminating several strips, but I didn't need to, one held up just fine. Planking continued, showing my clamping methods. I didn't soak any of the planks for this boat, as I found it wasn't necessary with the improved bow shape. Instead, I shaped each plank to fit, then marked its exact location on the central three ribs. I glued each one to those ribs, then once that was dry glued the bow and stern portions with their bends. The original gluing held the plank in place and the strips are thin enough to accept even the near-90° bends I gave them, with slow application. Here you can see the bow portion sticking out, waiting to be glued and clamped once the rest is dry. This worked great and saved a ton of time. I didn't try to finish planking the hull while attached the build board as there's no place to apply clamps once the planking gets close to the board. Rather, I cut the boat off early and finished the planking on the loose model. Below is the boat cut loose without its last strake. I think you could cut it off with the last two strakes missing and be fine. This also shows the extra ribs fit into the open hull, which I made by cutting planking strips into narrower pieces that look better. Fully planked hull with floor added and braces for the seats. Three views of the finished boats. They look pretty similar, but #2 took half the time as #1 due to some of my changed methods, and I think looks better with thinner and less deformed ribs: Next post will share a detailed set of suggestions for working on this.

There are model drill sets out there that go down to .3 mm, like this one from Model Expo. It's listed as backorder right now but they have many different sets you could explore and there are likely other sources for such sets.

Nice touch adding pins, I do the same thing on many delicate details. Has saved an errant bump from being a larger problem more than once.

Out of my experience, sorry.

Small boats like that can be built with slow-cure glue, I'm finishing two 3" long boats from Model Shipways kits right now.

Nice cradle. You might consider lining it with strips of felt or similar soft cloth to help cushion the model and prevent any scratching.

Just ran across this, feeling bad I wasn't in from the beginning. I learned a lot from building this kit's little sister and it's neat to see what a nice and careful job you're doing with the bigger version.

Glad you got the instructions sorted out. Reading through this thread, I was ready to offer assistance as I can read Russian (though far from fluent), but seems that won't be necessary. Also, Master Korabel is active on MSW, through this account, so you can contact them directly through a private message within the site. They also have an active news thread that may be of interest. Looking forward to how this build progresses.

Looks like a good plan.

The first boat is finished. With the hull done, the rest was pretty straightforward. I sanded the outside to a reasonable finish, though the planks are too thin to completely remove the clinker-like artifacts, and painted it white. Inside, I added more ribs (also using the planking shears for a consistent, if not attractive, appearancew). I used the thin planking strips for this, as the 1/16" square stock is way too thick to look realistic and got crimped down to the narrower thickness during bending anyway. I then laid a new floor of three planks to hide the ugly braces they tell you to add along the keel for planking (unnecessary in my opinion), then added various seats and details. I then carved rails from the wider stock supplied in the kit. Internal coloration used careful washes of thinned paint and/or dry rubbed pastels. Final details involved making oarlocks and something for the boat to sit on. I didn't add the rudder or make oars as I'm going to say these were stored out of the weather. See four photos below of the finished boat, including one of its intended final location: So that's done. But don't change the channel just yet! Coming up next, I build boat #2 using the various lessons I learned from boat #1, to see if I can get a better result and a smoother set of instructions for others. I've already identified several improvements that are working well as I get started on this. When it's done, I'll write up a concise and comprehensive set of suggestions for anyone who decides to tackle one of these despite the warnings.

Cool. I was actually planning to try a demonstration tonight with a few photos, but sounds like you've figured it out. Looking forward to seeing the result.

Yes, that's exactly right. Mark your baseboard carefully from the plans and erect the bulkheads. I'd suggest glueing one support strip, then the bulkhead, then the other support strip (rather than both first and inserting the bulkhead afterward). That will ensure the tightest fit. I'd also include some blocks between each bulkhead to ensure they're solid and can't bend or move. As for cutting the bulkheads, cut them slightly outside the lines and sand them down. Test out my initial suggestion for the "wings"; scoring and chiseling should get you there with care. Just try it on a scrap piece first to get the hang of it and figure out what method works best for you.

OK, I may have misunderstood your intentions. Are you planning to build the hull the "authentic" way, with the planks joined to one another as a hollow shell and only adding any frames afterward? In that case, I assume you meant "bulkheads" to refer to whatever formers you're laying the planks over (but not gluing them to), is that correct? I may have been mistaken in assuming you meant "bulkheads" as the internal frames that support the planking in the final vessel, as installing those first is the easier (if less authentic) way to get the same result. If that's the case, assuming you're referring to this photo from your link above, the spacing and shape of the bulkheads would come from your plans. A good set of plans ought to have a series of cross-sections drawn at various defined points along the keel that you can use as templates for the shape of the hull. Actually assembling such a framework would be easy using glue (doesn't have to be nailed) as it isn't part of the model. You could also try carving a solid hull model out of something soft like balsa, again based on your plans, and using that as a base to form the hull planking around. That would have less assembly fuss, though it would take longer to be sure you got the shape you wanted. Making such a solid hull model (usually a half hull) was a very common way for shipwrights to plan out a full-scale vessel during the age of sail, though as far as I know that practice wasn't used by Viking shipwrights.

Third question: Model railroad suppliers often have a lot of detail parts for scratchbuilders. I've seen tiny rivet castings even at 1:87 and maybe they exist at larger scales like 1:48. So if you can find a size that's close, buy a ton. Cheaper version, get a square rod of styrene or brass, blacken it, then cut off thin slices that will look like square nailheads or rivet plates. If you want to try to mimic hammered-over nails, model railroad rail spikes might actually work, as these have an L-shaped head that could look right once they're inserted into a plank.

First question: for the straight portion of the keel, you could try carefully running it along a table saw set to just the right depth, then rotating 90 degrees and doing it again. You'd then finish with hand tools. If that's not possible, I'd say use a very sharp knife and a straightedge to progressively carve the notch ouf of the keel. For example, if you need to remove 1/8" of material, use the knife to scribe 1/32" down, then remove material (using that cut as a guide) with the same knife or a chisel. Repeat until the desired depth is reached. For the curved portions, maybe make a template for the curve you need to cut, and use that to guide the knife as you scribe. The easier approach would certainly be to laminate the right keel shape out of multiple pieces, but I think you already rejected that. Second question: You might be best off mounting the keel upright on a build board, then installing the bulkheads. This way you can use metal squares to hold each bulkhead in true (aligned with the board and the keel) while the glue dries. No need for fancy framing. Once they're all in, you'll have an easier time figuring out the right jig for flipping it over and planking. Many of the bulkheads should follow a flat, continous surface in the middle of the ship, so it shouldn't be hard to set up once you've got them attached to the keel. As for nailing together any such jig, just use glue instead. Lets you adjust it until you're happy, then holds well once you leave it alone. If this doesn't make sense, say so and I'll try to make drawings of what I mean.

Forgot to respond to others: Brian, the idea of using thinner strips for the ribs is something I plan to try in the next boat. I hadn't thought of laminating them, that's a good idea, I just thought I would see how using one would work. Your idea would be stronger. Mark, it's funny you mention a curling iron, I actually have one and completely forgot about it. That would have been smart.

Planking is complete. It actually wasn't as bad as I feared, once I had the frames set up. Just very delicate and needing a lot of patience. Garboard plank: I soaked each plank in water for a few minutes, clamped it until dry, then glued it in place. Clamps mostly worked, but for some curves I needed to use fingers and patience. I made one mistake, getting carried away with the bow planking and not starting to taper each one. I've been doing a lot of reading on Scandavian ship-building and let that style get into my head. So this started developing a noticeably Viking prow that had to be nipped in the bud. I did this by notching one plank into the next one down, then running another over it with a full taper to a point. This isn't very authentic, but it was an effective fix to get the upper planks parallel with the sheer line. As the outside will be painted, and this is only 3" long and will be a detail on a much larger model, I think it's ok. I'll do a better job on the other one. The notch: And the fix: All but the last plank installed: Taking the hull off the formers was easy, I just used a pair of nippers to cut through each rib, as expected by the instructions and kit design. The last few photos show the hull with the final strake installed, ready for further refining and detailing. It's definitely rough, but it's only 3" long and made of soft and crappy materials. I'm pretty pleased. With some careful sanding and proper detailing, this will actually serve pretty nicely. The worst part is those awful oversized and crimped ribs, but I'm going to try to hide them under benches and use smaller stock to fill in the gaps. I think I was absolutely right to leave off former #1, as this led to a much narrow run of the bow and much easier planking. It also looks more like the kind of boat I'm going for than the very bluff-bowed kit design that would likely have been much harder to bend planks around. I'm going to develop a series of tips for people building this model, and that's one of them. Next I'll detail and finish this, then attempt kit #2 with the knowledge I've gained and see if I can do a better job. Thanks for reading!

Welcome from a central Missouri Royals fan! I also got started with plastic and balsa growing up, and discovered wooden building as an adult. I hope you'll like it as much as I do. I agree that a build log is a great idea. It seems daunting at first to keep up with photos and updates, but I find it actually encourages me to keep working (and to pay attention), while it lets others follow along. Let us know here if/when you've posted it.