Cathead

Glen, 'chuffed' means pleased. You can be mildly chuffed or extremely chuffed. I think they were near the top end of the scale. One asked me if it would be possible to get his yacht model repaired, others were very interested in the idea of selling the models to the public - lots of people come here from Melbourne and have a nice trip in the lake in the paddlewheeler. What nicer than to then buy a model of the boat? 
 
Roger, I agree about the cost factor. The wood is donated - we have far more than we know what to do with, and the machinery to cut it to size. I'm hoping I can figure out a jig to make mass production easier.
 
Oh, and 13 is just the start!
 
Steven

I believe that everything being hand made should also be a selling feature. In this case it’s also cheaper as it  appears that you are donating time and materials.  Printing materials and labor would be out of pocket costs.
 
I join others in lifting my virtural hat to you!  Building 13 of the same model !
 
Roger

Thanks for the likes and comments everybody. I got into preparing multiple 1:50 hulls today - I think I have about 13 made so far. But I only have half a dozen "verandahs" and awnings so far, so I've got some catching up to do.
 
Also working on the sort of roll-top desk thingy (see photo No. 3 in post #18 above) for the big model - it supports the wheel on the full-sized vessel, but I'm only doing the wheel for the big one. I have a cunning plan for how to make it. It remains to be seen whether it will work.
 
Pat, 3D printing would certainly save time and effort, but as I have absolutely no experience or equipment I expect I'll just build up the seats and gates with strips of wood (and they're free!)
 
Steven

Looks good to me!

I was invited to take the almost-complete 1:50 model along to the meeting of the Golden City Paddle Steamer Museum Society (the group of volunteers who own and run the Golden City) so they could have a look at it.
 
They were all very chuffed with it, thought it was brilliant, loved the idea of selling 1:50 models to visitors as a fundraiser. And wanted to know if the big (1:25) model would be ready to display in time for the "season" (they only run the full-sized one on the lake from October to April due to Australia being upside down and having winter in June.) I wasn't able to give a definite undertaking because of uncertainties in what problems might arise in building the big one, but just between you and me I think it's quite possible.
 
They even have a big glass display case (museum-sized) which they recently acquired and in which they plan to display it.
 
All rather positive. Now I actually have to deliver the goods!
 
Steven

Neat examples, wefalck! Steamboat ferries were fairly common on the Missouri River for a period of time, before bridges were finally built. But in winter they couldn't operate, so in some cases where the river froze solid enough, tracks were laid directly across the river ice, as in these examples from North Dakota:
 
1879 photo (University of Washington libraries)
 

 
1879 wood-cut print (North Dakota Heritage Center). Notice the steamboat drawn up on the bank for winter.

Interesting shot. That's some kind of "reacher" car to pull cars from the ferry without getting the engine onto the ferry. Next car is a baggage mail combine. Then two or three coaches, maybe unairconditioned, since there are no extensions off the clerestory roof. next to last car could be a food service car aka diner. Last car is first class, since it does show airconditioning ducts. And the shot is probably mid 30s or later, since that was when Pullman first installed airconditioning systems into passenger cars. I'm another model railroader who wanders into other aspects of modeling.

Sorry for lack of progress, haven't touched the model since my last update. But I did have a pretty cool model-viewing experience recently, getting to see a fantastic scratchbuilt Missouri River rail ferry from ~1870 at a model railroad convention. I wrote a full post about it in the Steamboats and Other Rivercraft General Discussion thread so as not to clog up this one, but here's a teaser image to encourage you to go over there and check the whole thing out. This is at the same scale as my Peerless (1:87).
 

 
Hoping to get back to Peerless soon, but other commitments have had to take priority lately. Thanks for your patience!

I was a model railroader long before I discovered wooden ship building, and once I did, railroad modeling went dormant, but it's quietly stirring again like a quiescent volcano muttering its way back to life.

I was a model railroader long before I discovered wooden ship building, and once I did, railroad modeling went dormant, but it's quietly stirring again like a quiescent volcano muttering its way back to life.

Sorry for lack of progress, haven't touched the model since my last update. But I did have a pretty cool model-viewing experience recently, getting to see a fantastic scratchbuilt Missouri River rail ferry from ~1870 at a model railroad convention. I wrote a full post about it in the Steamboats and Other Rivercraft General Discussion thread so as not to clog up this one, but here's a teaser image to encourage you to go over there and check the whole thing out. This is at the same scale as my Peerless (1:87).
 

 
Hoping to get back to Peerless soon, but other commitments have had to take priority lately. Thanks for your patience!

I was a model railroader long before I discovered wooden ship building, and once I did, railroad modeling went dormant, but it's quietly stirring again like a quiescent volcano muttering its way back to life.

I was a model railroader long before I discovered wooden ship building, and once I did, railroad modeling went dormant, but it's quietly stirring again like a quiescent volcano muttering its way back to life.

Time for a big dump of progress photos!
 
I completely failed to take photos of building the roof for the pilot house and cabin, but it wasn't complicated. I just cut a thin sheet of wood to the shape I wanted, spread glue on the "rafters", and secured everything with rubber bands.
 
The photo story picks up again as I applied the simulated canvas. I used the same method as I did on Arabia: strips of masking tape held down with a thin layer of wood glue. When that's dried overnight, I trim the edges and paint it. It's held up perfectly on that last model, I really like the texture, and it's more forgiving to work with than tissue paper or silkspan or other options. Plus it's dirt cheap. Here's a sequence showing the progression of slightly overlapping layers on the gently arching cabin roof:



And the same for the pilot house:
 


I'll use some pastels to weather this a little, dull it down, and give it some subtle variation in tone.
 
In the meantime I worked on laying out the support posts for the hog chains, which needed to be carefully situated to run just along the outside edge of the cabin roof. So I marked the final location of the cabin and carefully laid out where I wanted the posts to go through the boiler deck. Then I drilled a series of small holes and used a sharp knife tip and then small files to make the final shape:
 

I then made a simple jig for the angle I wanted the posts to sit at, and used this to set them up. Here they've already been cut and painted. The black tips are meant to represent the iron caps that actually held the hog chains onto the wooden posts.

And here are a few shots of the fore and aft hog chain posts resting in place (not yet glued); you'll notice I temporarily removed the chimneys to avoid any possible damage as I worked on all this:
 



I also built the assembly that goes over the stern, which I'd left off until now since it rises above the boiler deck and I didn't want to bump or snap it while doing earlier work on the deck.
 


Finally it was time to start attaching things for good. Here I've glued down the cabin and pilot house (big step!):
 

And while that was drying I got started laying down the "canvas" on the boiler deck, working up to the aft part of the cabin. I'll let this all dry completely before proceeding up either side of the cabin.
 

A close look will also show that I built and attached the little L-shaped guard wall around the staircase up to the boiler deck.
 
Once all the boiler deck canvas is laid, I'll (re)cut the hog chain post holes, paint it carefully (trying to avoid the cabin walls), then attach the stern piece. At that point the model will really be coming together though a lot of detail work remains to be done (not to mention the paddle wheel, which I'm dreading).
 
Thanks for reading (or at least skimming) through that big dump of updates!

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!

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!

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!

I’ve always loved model railroading, I just never had the time or funds to really enjoy its offerings early on. Now I have way too many other hobbies to get into and still not enough time, so I live vicariously through those that do. Thanks for posting your article Eric, those are some beautiful models. 

My great-grandfather worked for Missouri Pacific way back when. He was In charge of loading and unloading the rail cars from the ferry that went between Baton Rouge and Port Allen, La. before the Huey P. Long/O.K. Allen bridge was built in 1937.
 
This is a picture that I have hanging in my house of his train and ferry. I wish I could find more information on it and other pictures, it would truly make an interesting build one day. 

 
-Brian

I was a model railroader long before I discovered wooden ship building, and once I did, railroad modeling went dormant, but it's quietly stirring again like a quiescent volcano muttering its way back to life.

I was a model railroader long before I discovered wooden ship building, and once I did, railroad modeling went dormant, but it's quietly stirring again like a quiescent volcano muttering its way back to life.

Sorry for lack of progress, haven't touched the model since my last update. But I did have a pretty cool model-viewing experience recently, getting to see a fantastic scratchbuilt Missouri River rail ferry from ~1870 at a model railroad convention. I wrote a full post about it in the Steamboats and Other Rivercraft General Discussion thread so as not to clog up this one, but here's a teaser image to encourage you to go over there and check the whole thing out. This is at the same scale as my Peerless (1:87).
 

 
Hoping to get back to Peerless soon, but other commitments have had to take priority lately. Thanks for your patience!

I thought/hoped you'd enjoy that little snippet of our history. It's neat the Tennessee got to be a part of it no matter she was in essence a troop transport ship. 

A bit of USS Tennessee and Marine Corp history. The Tennessee transported a battalion of US Marines to Aspinwall, Panama landing on 12 April, 1885.
 
 This is the only time the USS Tennessee saw action (to my knowledge) in her career. The Aspinwall Marine deployment was the first time in history that a brigade of US Marines was organized. 
 
 The Tennessee would be sold for scrap little over a year later on 15 September, 1886. 
 
https://www.usmcu.edu/Portals/218/US Marines in Battle Guantanamo Bay.pdf
 
The insert below taken from the above link starting page 2.
 
 
On 2 April 1885, the eighth Commandant of the Marine Corps, Colonel Charles Grymes McCawley, received orders to organize a battalion of Marines and to embark them for Aspinwall, Panama. A battalion of 234 Marines was quickly organized under the command of then-major Charles Heywood by drawing available personnel from the Marine Barracks at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, as well as Brooklyn, Philadelphia, and Washington,
 
4 At the time, the commandancy was filled by a colonel; the rank was raised to brigadier general in 1899 and to major general in 1902. Col Heywood served as Commandant from 1891 to 1903.
 
DC. The battalion also included company commander Captain Robert W. Huntington and First Lieutenant George F. Elliott (fu- ture 10th Commandant), who both would play critical roles in the Guantánamo Bay landings 13 years later. Navy Command- er Bowman H. McCalla (also a future key player at Guantána- mo Bay) was selected to be the naval force commander for the Panama expedition under the overall command of Rear Admiral James E. Jouett.
On 3 April 1885, the Navy Department telegraphed the commander of the North Atlantic Squadron, Rear Admiral Jouett, assigning him overall command of the mission. Admiral Jouett’s instructions were very straightforward. He was authorized to use a naval expeditionary force for the sole purpose of protecting American lives and property and to ensure free and uninterrupted transit across the isthmus. He was cautioned to use great discretion in his actions and in no way to interfere with the sovereign acts of the government of Colombia or to take part in any of the political or social events.
The expeditionary force, with Heywood’s battalion as the main landing force, sailed from New York on 3 April 1885, landing Heywood’s Marines in Aspinwall, on 12 April. Ultimately, three Marine battalions would be formed and deployed to Panama. They would be nominally consolidated into a brigade under the command of Major Heywood and operate ashore for the better part of a month, restoring and maintaining order until sufficient Colombian troops arrived between 30 April and 5 May to take control. This was the first time a United States Marine brigade had ever been organized.5 Commander McCalla would arrive on 15 April and make the decision to come ashore to take personal control of the operation, which would ultimately lead to conflict between the Navy and the Marine Corps in the post- operation environment.
The formation of this provisional Marine brigade caused the Corps to reduce its Atlantic coast shore installations by more than half. To make matters worse, at this time there was no Marine battalion or regimental organizational structure. The efforts to form larger tactical organizations such as this where none currently existed were naturally very ad hoc evolutions, leading to an environment characterized by improvisation and discovery learning. One of the more interesting outcomes of this successful employment of naval forces in response to a crisis was not so much its impacts on world events as was its impact internally on Service and individual professional opinions and theories being discussed in the naval Service. A hot topic at the time was the
 
5 Robert Debs Heinl, Soldiers of the Sea: The United States Marine Corps, 1775–1962 (Baltimore, MD: Nautical and Aviation Publishing Co. of America, 1991), 93.
 2 RAdm Jouett’s flagship, the USS Tennessee (1865). Originally USS Madawaska, the ship’s name was changed to Tennessee on 15 May 1869.
Naval History and Heritage Command, NH46920
RAdm James E. Jouett, commander of the North Atlantic Squadron. Selected as the overall commander for the Panama intervention, Jouett assigned oversight of operations ashore to Cdr B. H. McCalla.
Naval History and Heritage Command
 
role of the Marine Corps and its future utility as a naval landing force in expeditionary operations versus the use of Marines in ships detachments.
Commander McCalla issued a detailed after action report on the isthmus operations to the secretary of the Navy. In this report McCalla praised the Marines for their efficiency and dis- cipline but was very critical of their tactics and proficiency with artillery and machine guns. He even went so far as to critique the current rifle manual and manual of arms and to make recom- mended changes to the existing manuals.6 Needless to say, detailed criticisms of Marine ground operations by a naval officer did not sit well with Marine Corps leadership.
Most significantly, McCalla took direct aim at the primary Marine mission of guarding naval installations when he concluded that too much time on barracks duty came at the expense of professional education of Marine officers and meaningful training of Marine units to prepare them for expeditionary operations. Commander McCalla recommended annual summer maneuvers with Marines in conjunction with the fleet and U.S. Army to develop the tactics and techniques and organizational structure needed for major landing operations. He also advocated the Navy purchase transports specifically designed to carry Marine brigades.7 Although McCalla’s report actually advocated the development of the Marine Corps as a true expeditionary arm of the fleet, that salient point was lost in what was viewed by Marine leadership as a direct refutation on the currently accepted core missions of the Marine Corps.
 
6 “Report of Commander McCalla upon the Naval Expedition to the Isthmus of Panama, April 1885,” Annual Report of the Navy Department, Bureau of Navi- gation, 1885, Archives Branch, Marine Corps History Division, Quantico, VA, 61. 7 “Report of Commander McCalla upon the Naval Expedition to the Isthmus of Panama, April 1885,” 67.
Lead elements of the Marine battalion landing at Aspinwall, Panama, 1885. Naval History and Heritage Command
  An armed railroad car used by Marines to provide security for rail traffic across the Isthmus of Panama in 1885.
Naval History and Heritage Command
3
 
McCalla’s recommendations struck directly at the dilemma the Marine Corps faced throughout the latter half of the nineteenth century. The Marine Corps was a force with very limited resources that allowed them to perform their current mission, but with little hope of adding new structure and resources to take on new missions. Colonel Commandant McCawley strongly rebutted Commander McCalla’s conclusions and recommendations and defended the status quo, describing the missions of the Marine Corps in the traditional terms of ships detachments and guard duty at the Navy yards. He made no reference to the possibility of future expeditionary roles for the Corps.8
In retrospect, the 1885 Panama operation provided a telling preview of the employment of Marines at Guantánamo Bay in the Spanish-American War 13 years later, with McCalla as the na- val force commander, Heywood as Commandant of the Marine Corps, Huntington as commander of the Marine landing force, and Elliott as a company commander in the operation’s decisive engagement.
The issues raised in Commander McCalla’s report were illustrative of the professional and institutional split between the leadership of the Marine Corps and an influential Navy reform element led by Captain Alfred Mahan and Lieutenant William F. Fullam. The transformation of the Navy from a predominantly coastal defense force to an instrument of power projection and sea control in the 1880s and 1890s brought forth significant implications for the current and potential future missions of the Corps. This period was characterized by intense professional debate on the future structure and missions of both elements of the naval Service. The Navy reformers had become a dominant driving force in determining the future of the Navy and the Corps.
 
 
 The below two photos show the Marine landing parties going ashore in ship's boats from the Tennessee. Of note in both photos is a steam launch towing two ship's boats. These are the only images of this steam launch recorded. In none of the other photos of the Tennessee is this steam launch shown hanging in the port side davits. You can see that the launch was meant to hang on the port side because of the access cutout in the launches tarp cover.
 
 Was this historic mission the first time a steam launch was made available to the USS Tennessee?
 
 Is it safe to assume that the Tennessee's two gatling guns were made available to the deployed Marines?  
 

 

 
 

Ah.. "Adapt, Improvise, Overcome" possibly goes back to that, Keith.  Thanks for posting that obscure bit of Marine history.
 
As for the Gatling Guns being made available, good question since were so many inter-rivalry politics were apparent.   I'm thinking it was very possible at that point in time due to local decision making and not something from DC Headquarters.

Thank you, Mark
 
 
 Thank you, Phil
 
 I spent a large part of yesterday at the worktable. I spent way too much time for what I got accomplished due to having to reteach myself all the 1:120 tricks necessary to get the shrouds done. At the end of the day I had a whopping two shrouds in place and started on the third. Be it ever so small, it is progress.