Cathead

Thanks to all for your comments, feedback and "likes".  It is so appreciated.
 
 
I do apply it to raw wood and yes it can get blotchy if I try to add too much color in one wash, especially on soft wood such as basswood.  Typically, I lay down one or two very diluted washes rather than one heavy wash and I don't mix the chalk/alcohol to a gain a paint-like solution.  It's mostly alcohol with a tad of chalk added in.  I dip my brush into clean alcohol and then pick up some of the powder that I scraped off the side of a chalk stick and brush it on.  If it's too much color, I wash on more clean alcohol to dilute and blend it.  When I'm doing a quantity of wood at once, I'll scrape the sides of the chalk directly on to the wood and then with a sopping 1/2" brush of straight alcohol, slop it all around.  But that is an on-bench process only - never on the model itself.  Play around with some scrap wood and you'll quickly see how easy, forgiving, controllable and versatile it is.  For deeper richer colors, the same process can be used with pigment powders but that is not as forgiving.  Thanks Paul.
 
 
Thanks for the tip on the ground glass.  I found a vendor that sells several grits in small quantities so I'm going to order some to take a look at it.  I'll report my findings.  I've only ever seen crushed/flaked ice used.  Thanks, Wefalck.
 
 
   
Jerome and Keith, thanks for your input and I agree - crushed ice and I think mostly flaked.  Especially today - what they used in 1943, not sure.
 
 
Good suggestion Jerome.  Thanks.  As mentioned above, I'll be looking at some ground glass and see how sparkly (or not) that is first.
 
@Keith Black  Thanks for the link on the snow/ice modeling, Keith.  I don't know if those products will work for me here, but I'll keep them in mind and add them into my info folder.  Night Shift is an amazing modeler!
 
@Paul Le Wol @Keith Black @Jim Lad @FlyingFish @TOM G @Glen McGuire  Thank you for your kind words on the work in progress. 
 
Stay well,  Gary

In the fisheries I'm familiar with ice for fish holding is flake ice. Block ice doesn't provide enough fish surface contact and crushed ice is too rough and dimples the skin/flesh of the fish. Flake ice is made at the processing plant and is normally provided free of charge to boats/skippers who fish for the processor. 

Greetings Fellow Modelers
 
Thanks to all for your fine comments, for the "likes" and to those watching quietly.
 
 
More Fish Hold Stuff
 
Continuing on with the fish hold, the next step was to build the back walls of the bunker partitioning.  In the drawing below, the hold is defined by the yellow cross-hatching and the back wall partitioning by the green lines.  The back walls are individual bunker partitions, but for this model I've simplified it as a single one-piece wall.  The blue dots are the vertical posts used to segment the hold into individual bunkers/pens.
 

 
 
To begin, I created a paper template of the area to be walled.
 

 
 
Planking was glued directly to the paper template.
 

 

 
 
Styrene channel was glued on at each post base location. The proper depth channel needed for this is not manufactured, but I found an “H” column that was close enough once modified.
 

 

 
 
The back wall pieces were then glued on.  A corner torn from a Post-it note makes a hands-free right-angle square.
 

 
 
At this point, I became aware of two errors that needed to be addressed.  First, the height of the perimeter partition walls, and the bulkhead end walls were too short.  This would allow a view through an open hatch to see above the walls.  It would be an extreme angle view to be certain, but a deck mock-up proved to me it was possible.  The second error is that the forward bulkhead end wall was placed 12 scale inches forward of where it should be. That's a problem because it interferes with the proper placement of the mast, which is unacceptable.  So, a second end wall was installed 12” aft of the first one.
 
In the image below the new (taller) end wall is on the right.  One would now expect that the two forward bunkers are 12” narrower than the other bunkers, but they are not.  The post spacing is correct from the aft bulkhead forward and only the forward wall was misplaced.  Indeed, I caught this error because the forward bunkers appeared to me a tad wider than the others.
 
Extra work caused by working carelessly.
 

 
 
Next, the four-sided posts for the bunker partitioning were made.  They are a five-piece styrene construction.
 

 
 
 
A construction jig is assembled. The styrene is modified “H” columns and strips from Evergreen.  Solvent cement keeps the posts from being inadvertently glued to the jig.
 

 
 
A channel is placed into the jig.
 

 
 
A flat strip is cemented on top of that. Two of these channel/flat piece assemblies are made for each post.
 

 
 
The center rectangular strip is added to one of the above assemblies.
 

 
 
Then both assemblies are cemented together.
 

 

 
 
The posts are glued onto the post bases.
 

 
 
One of the back walls is heightened, a channel extension is glued on, and a partition is installed.
 

 
 
The partitions are cut from blanks of edge-glued wood strips. A paper template of the partition is placed on the blank and the shape is cut free. They are stained with chalk and alcohol. I use alcohol to liquefy and apply the chalk because it penetrates the wood and evaporates off quickly leaving no time for the thin wood strips to warp.
 

 
 
I used “super thin” CA to glue these partitions in.  With the partition already in place, a drop of the CA at the top of the post races down the channel and glues most of the plank ends.  I have an extension tip on my bottle to help control the flow and I use the watery glue infrequently and cautiously.  I feel there should be a “skull and crossbones” on the bottle.  If you must use it, keep a can of fresh acetone at the ready.  A mishap will glue your fingers together instantly with the possibility of a trip to urgent care.  Am I exaggerating?  Not really.
 

 
 
The partitions are all in.  I'm considering partially filling a few of the bunkers with ice.  What do you folks think and what would make a convincing 1:48 ice?  It would have to be a non-soluble material.
 

 

 
 
I've installed 8 surface mount LEDs (one over each bunker) to light up the hold.  That seems like a lot, but they are small and their output will be adjustable.  Two wood strips holding four diodes each are assembled.  These LEDs are SMD 805 warm white and are attached to the strips with a clear (when dry) version of Gallery Glass.  For scale, the grid on the mat 1/2” (12.7mm)
 

 
 
Both strips attached over the bunkers.
 

 
 
Thanks for stopping by.
 
Be safe and stay well,
 
Gary
 
 

@mbp521 Tow knees, thank you! Driving me crazy to not have a proper name. Yes, they're definitely there to provide maximum stable contact with a tow.
 
@steamschooner The first time, I decided to ignore the roller chocks since I thought they'd be barely visible between the narrowly spaced tow knees; they're not always visible even in photos (for example, look at the second vertical one I showed above where they're covered by the tow knee bracing).
 
@LJP I tried something like that and got the wire as straight as I could before installing. I also mounted it on the model in such a way that I could put a fair amount of tension on each section as I glued it in. Doing this actually demonstrated the engineering integrity of the hog chain system because those angled posts took all the strain without flinching! The result is the best I could do with that I had on hand and I'm fine with it.
 
And to everyone else, I'm convinced of the need to pop the tow knees off and start over, but it'll be a few weeks due to schedule overload. I can easily hide any slight scarring from the removal with ropes or something. I'd say this will teach me a lesson not to get ahead of myself, but if this build shows anything, it's that I don't learn that lesson easily. This time I'll demonstrate the new assembly before gluing it to the model.
 
Also, to hold your interest during the next interlude, here are a couple recent views of the Missouri River just downstream of Rocheport, the upriver home port for Peerless. You're looking upriver in both shots, with Rocheport tucked into the bend at right. First one is from a bluff a couple hundred feet above the river, second one is nearby but riverside. Peerless would have traveled this stretch regularly. When these were taken the river was as high it's been in several years and you can see that the surface looks turbulent with woody debris in the water.
 

Yeah, glue marks wouldn't look natural. I thought you were talking about chipped paint and a scratch or two.

Peerless is looking good, Eric. And a very interesting discussion on the pusher bars/tow knees.  Great shots of the Missouri and I especially like the second photo with the crescent moon. 
 
Gary 

It's time for yet another scratchbuilt Missouri River steamboat! Peerless was a small, obscure vessel that operated on the lower Missouri River during the waning days of the steamboat era. Image from the State Historical Society of Missouri digital collections:

Built in 1893 at Hermann, Missouri, she seems to have handled small-scale trade that wasn't yet captured by the railroads. One reference states that she operated primarily between Rocheport (in central Missouri) and St. Louis, but she also apparently made some trips up several navigable tributaries flowing out of the Ozark Mountains to the south, such as the Gasconade and Osage. This region was rugged and resistant to road and rail development, so those rivers continued to act as a conduit for trade much longer than the main rivers, and various small steamboats took advantage of this. In addition, while a rail line had been completed along the south side of the Missouri River as far west as the state capitol Jefferson City around the Civil War era, no equivalent line had been built along the north side until one was begun the year of Peerless' construction, so there was still a certain call for river transport among towns on the north bank. Here's a map I developed of her operating region:

This project builds on my long-standing fascinating with Missouri River history, such as previous builds of Arabia, Bertrand, and other river vessels (follow links in my signature for build logs). The first two (shown below) are my favorites, though they're not directly comparable as Arabia (1:64) appears much bigger than Bertrand (1:87) due to scale; in reality they were very close in size.

Peerless was a smaller and later river steamer than either Arabia (1853-1856, 31'x181' hull) or Bertrand (1864-1865, 33'x161' hull), built in 1893 with a 21'x97' hull. She's a simpler design that still retains many essential features of what's generally called a Western River steamboat: shallow draft (hull only 3.5' deep below the deck), long & narrow hull, simple superstructure with a pilothouse at the highest point, machinery and cargo carried on the main deck (often just inches above the river), passenger cabins on the next deck up (confusingly called the boiler deck), and built on-site to local design.
 
Despite being a small and obscure vessel, there are quite a few photographs of Peerless, many of which show her in strikingly different configurations. The following images are from the wonderful collection of steamboat photography hosted by the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, Murphy Library.
 
Here she's hosting some kind of outing on the river, probably a good source of revenue:

Here she's somewhere along the Gasconade River; note the tall dolomite bluffs constraining the river, typical of the deep Ozarks. This is my favorite photo; so full of detail to study, and set in my favorite region:

Here she is with a barge of cotton and other cargo. Compared to the first & second photos, note the extension built onto her aft cabins, the added boiler deck railings, and the diamond-shaped windows or designs on the engine room walls:

Here are two shots from the bow; this is back to what I think of as the "original" configuration, without the additions seen above. I love what appears to be a railroad locomotive headlight mounted in front of the pilothouse (you can see this even better in the very first photo I posted).

Here's a hybrid form, with the fancy railings and diamond windows ,but no after cabin extensions, but also the locomotive headlight is back even though it wasn't present on the other shot showing these additions. She really looks like an excursion boat here (you can even see a sign reading "excursion) propped against the boiler), with fancy awnings and benches and no trace of cargo.

And here she is in 1903, partially sunk by ice along the levee at St. Charles, Missouri, the last port before St. Louis. This has some nice detail of the boiler and chimneys, capstan, and that locomotive headlight.
 

From what I can discern, she was apparently repaired, spent some time on the Illinois River, then moved down to Vicksburg MS for a long while. But that part of her history isn't my focus.
 
In future posts I'll start sharing more on how I'm developing the design for this model and so on. I'm excited to get this started!
 
 

Keith, fair question. We'll see what it looks like when I pop them off but my instinct is that there'll be two long thin glue scars where the base timbers were glued down that won't look quite natural. 

@mbp521 Tow knees, thank you! Driving me crazy to not have a proper name. Yes, they're definitely there to provide maximum stable contact with a tow.
 
@steamschooner The first time, I decided to ignore the roller chocks since I thought they'd be barely visible between the narrowly spaced tow knees; they're not always visible even in photos (for example, look at the second vertical one I showed above where they're covered by the tow knee bracing).
 
@LJP I tried something like that and got the wire as straight as I could before installing. I also mounted it on the model in such a way that I could put a fair amount of tension on each section as I glued it in. Doing this actually demonstrated the engineering integrity of the hog chain system because those angled posts took all the strain without flinching! The result is the best I could do with that I had on hand and I'm fine with it.
 
And to everyone else, I'm convinced of the need to pop the tow knees off and start over, but it'll be a few weeks due to schedule overload. I can easily hide any slight scarring from the removal with ropes or something. I'd say this will teach me a lesson not to get ahead of myself, but if this build shows anything, it's that I don't learn that lesson easily. This time I'll demonstrate the new assembly before gluing it to the model.
 
Also, to hold your interest during the next interlude, here are a couple recent views of the Missouri River just downstream of Rocheport, the upriver home port for Peerless. You're looking upriver in both shots, with Rocheport tucked into the bend at right. First one is from a bluff a couple hundred feet above the river, second one is nearby but riverside. Peerless would have traveled this stretch regularly. When these were taken the river was as high it's been in several years and you can see that the surface looks turbulent with woody debris in the water.
 

Glenn,  Thanks for the compliments.  I think it's just the angle of the photos for the pin rails.  They're made/shaped exactly to size from the plans.
 
Erik

Thanks for the kind words and likes.  When photographing a couple weeks of work it doesn't really look like I made much progress!  I attached the rest of the cleats to the bulwarks, drilled all the holes for the cannon eyebolts, formed the 60 or so eyebolts needed, and then made and attached the side pin rails.  When attaching the eyebolts, I only glued in the top ones, and left the lower ones off.  I made a jig out of styrene to get the holes in the bulwarks consistent.  And being a perfectionist, the forming of the eyebolts themselves wound up taking some time.
 
I had a question regarding the inboard bulwark ladders for you Cheerful builders.  The instructions say, "You will find the template on the plans to cut the sides for the ladder.  But just to make life easier, print the next page as all of the elements are provided".  None of the 3 plan sheets have a template for the sides of the ladder.  And I'm not sure what the print the next page reference means.  There are no plans for the ladders in the written instructions either.  Does anyone happen to have a plan that shows the side shape of the ladder?  I guess I can make a good guess based on photos of the ladder pieces shown in Chuck's instructions, but it would be a little easier if I had a template to reference/print.
 
While still working on the Cheerful almost daily, my progress has slowed down a fair amount.  With the warmer weather and longer days, there's lots to do outside, so the path forward on the build will be a bit slower while I enjoy the summer.
 
Erik

Oh, I don't know. If Woolies was gone, Coles would effectively have a monopoly. But I'm sure they wouldn't take advantage if that to hike the prices up . . . (irony).
 
Back to the subject at hand. A-a-a-and - IT WORKED!

In the event, I used a coping saw to cut it off instead of a fretsaw. It seemed like a better tool for the job. Very much heart in mouth, with the lathe at the slowest speed and gently pressing with the saw as the work rotated.
 
But - voila! Success! (very pleased - I'd been very worried that sawing the wheel off the base would destroy it, but it's turned out just as I'd hoped.)
 
Steven
 

Pat, I may end up using a wider bladed saw. Depends what's available. But I also need very fine teeth if I don't want to destroy the thing.
 
I'm using toothpicks for the posts that support the awning - at least for the smaller model - and they work well. For the larger one, bamboo skewers or something similar.
 
Andrew, the NAAFI is of course famous from the Highly Esteemed Goon Show.
 
But with the motorised paddles and pool  I really think you're asking a bit more than I had in mind . . . 
 
Steven

Hi Steven, a couple of thoughts.  If t is not too late, I would avoid a fret saw as the blade is very flexible and may wander while cutting?  I would look at a high tooth count fine stiff backed saw such as a small 'gentleman's' dovetail saw.  I bought one years ago and it has proven very reliable for this purpose. The following is a Zona version (I think Hobby Tools Australia have this brand).
 

 
The second is more of an alternative idea for your wheel spokes. - that is unless the real wheel has straight spokes anyway.  I have had previous success using tooth picks - the ones with the fancy ends like the cocktail ones.  I simply cut off the outer nub and round the new end a bit, then cut to length.  They look reasonably good when stained.  Your current one looks good, simply offering an alternative for future versions if interested.  These ones are available from Woolworths.
 

 
 
cheers
 
Pat

And here's the ship's wheel; just waiting for the glue to dry and I can cut it off its base. Should happen on Monday. Wish me luck!



Steven

Here are 13 hulls, awnings and 'verandahs' (promenade decks?). And the thing with all the clamps on it is the promenade deck for the big model - I'm gradually adding planks; one or two each day.

Plus the deck fittings for the wheel and what I think is storage. And the wheel itself under construction. I cheated with this. I asked a fellow Men's Shedder to turn it on the lathe because I don't have the skills. You can see the little holes in the sides for the handles. Once they're in place I'll slice it off its substructure and we should have a wheel instead of a cylinder.


Steven

Thank you to all for the comments, likes and for following along.
 
 Quick update.
 
 The main's channel shrouds are done. The little 3mm deadeyes (far left) are crazy small to lace and attach. I'm glad there are only two per mast.   
 
 Other than weaving the main's channel shroud ratlines and attaching the main yard with both lifts and braces, from the main mast aft all the rigging is done. 

 
 Thank you again to all of you for your thoughtfulness.
 
  Keith

Our old cat Amelia who passed away four years ago could have cared less about the Tennessee. I never worried about her doing anything untoward. Now, our new cat Emma (Emilia), I wouldn't trust that knot headed cat for a second. She is NOT allowed in the shipyard.   

Thank you, mcb. The main and fore channel shrouds are the remaining ratlines. I'm kinda looking forward to that surprisingly enough.  

Thank you, Keith I've thought about corrective eye surgery but if the chances of complications are one in a zillion, guess who the unlucky winner would be?  

Thank you, Brian. I feel duty bound to share warts and all with my MSW family. 

Thank you, Rick. You're correct, my earlier mistakes are mostly forgotten but these new ones bug the snot out of me. 

Thank you, brother Tom. I got the shaky hand syndrome also, another reason to sally forth. It's a real challenge to reach into the midst of the center rigging with a tiny drop of CA to fix a shroud knot. I almost get dizzy watching the end of the needle. 

Johnny, in the photos of the Tennessee the deadeyes are dead straight and of course I was/am trying to replicate that. Thank you for the reassurance.
 
"Good point, as I hadn't noticed the deadeye until it was pointed out and I looked again closely ('Just ordered new glasses because my prescription changed, but it will take 1 - 2 weeks to get them).  'Guess Keith and I share a couple traits, since on a Pennsylvania long rifle I made (and was showing to some new friends recently) - I kept pointing all the things I 'did wrong' (mostly small details).  A man with some expertise in antique firearms said to forget real or imagined 'faults' - he thought it was beautifully done ... as is Keith's U.S.S. Tennessee !"
 
 Thank you, Johnny.  

Thanks for the Maggie update Keith! Continued thoughts and prayers going out while she recovers. 
 
From what I can see, everything is still on its way to being perfect. As with what Snug and Mark said, I doubt that any of the deadeyes would have been perfectly aligned and even zooming in on the picture you can barely tell the ropes are threaded through the same hole. I had took pretty hard to see it, and since that will be the wall side, we’ll just keep that minor error between you and those of us here on MSW. 😁
 
-Brian