Cathead

Cathead you are right about the hog chains.
 
I could have made them go through the deck, but I am not sure how it should look. I would need a top-down view or maybe look to see what others did.   I took the easy way and did not modify the kit there.  This discussion makes me want to do a do-over.  Do more research, which I like doing. I'll have to think about it.  I could use something like brass or music wire for the chain and put the end through the hurricane deck.  I wouldn't need to go further, you couldn't see it.  Very tempting idea.
 
In my reading about the race, one of the officers told Captain Cannon that he could loosen the chains to let the hull lay more level and that would add speed.  The chains were certainly attached to the hull.
 
I have read three books about the race and have a fourth on order. 
 
The Robert E Lee wasn't very different from other packets on the river. There were no plans that builders followed. Her parts were built by workers who knew how to make them from skill, training and experience.  She was somewhere around 9 1/2 feet deep in her hull.   She drew 6 to 7 feet of water depending on her load.  The Natchez was one foot shallower.
 
When I read about her building, the only "design" that is mentioned was of her hull.  She had 40-inch cylinders, which were bigger than most boats.  Other boats were longer and others were shorter.  She was a packet meaning she had a narrow boiler deck, built to carry 6,000 bales of cotton on the main deck, and in doing so, did not block the view from the boiler deck.
 
I have gotten this information from my current reading about the Lee. I could get citations if anyone wants them.
 
My guess is her hog chain system was just like any other steamboat of her type.
 
I decided to do a do-over and run the hog chain through the hurricane deck.  I will remove the stern eyelet, leaving the hole for that portion of the chain.  I'll need to leave the bow eyelet in place because the mast for the stage rigging is supported by a guy wire to it.  I'll just drill a hole there for the bow portion of the hog chain.
 
One thing I do is use Elmer's white glue to fix the rigging. It is water-soluble, so it is easy to undo. I used to use superglue, and the permanence made it difficult to do a do-over without breaking something.  White glue takes longer to set, but worth the waiting, I think.
 
This will solve one of my other problems. I did not like the knot of black threat tied to those eyelets.
 
I will use  music wire for the hog chain.  If I remember correctly, I saw a picture of the two ends of a hog chain tied together, there were one of these joints between each of the hog chain supports. (The supports also went down to the hull)
 
They were not joined by a turnbuckle, but rather like a join on a sailing ship.  Each end of the hog chain had an eye splice on it. The two eye splices had a lanyard with several turns holding them together.  My guess is this is where the hog chains were tightened or loosened. The hog chain looked like rope or wire rope, like on sailing ships of the 1860s. I can't remember where the picture is. If I find it, I will post it.
 
Thanks Cathead  for the inspiration. You are now officially a part of this build. Maybe I can come up with a badge of some sort for us.
.
 
 

Another modification I made was to add an extra eyelet to the hurricane deck to attach the end of the hog chain.
 
The instructions say to attach the hog chain end to the railing.  Here is where knowing something about riverboats like the Robert E Lee pays off.   Understanding what hogging is, and the method designed to deal with it, should tell you that attaching the end of a hog chain to the railing isn't very practical.  The hog chain was not attached to some eyelet on the hurricane deck, either.  It was attached to the frame of the boat, but the eyelet idea is a modeling license, a bit less ridiculous than expecting the railing to support that part of the boat.  The chain maintained an upward pressure, and the poles it attached to maintain a downward pressure.  The upward pressure would rip the railing off the deck.

Framing is complete. I opted to wait to install the transom and counter until after several courses of planking are finished as suggested in the instructions to avoid breaking. 

 
Getting the bow filler cut to follow the rabbit line wasn't as challenging as I feared and I like the end result.

 
There is and issue with frame E as shown below which is a bit over 2mm lower than the line between frames D and F.  I have a piece of limewood planking from my felucca build that is the right width and 2mm thick should work as a shim to build up this frame. My plan is to soak the piece, shape it to the frame and then glue it in place once dried. That extra piece should be sufficient for me to fair the frames in this area.
 

 
 
 
 

Boiler tank doors have been added along with what I call handles to the doors.
 

 
Steam bar, mud tray, and backward facing dials have been added.   At this point I am going to hold off on the safety valves.   What I would like to do is have them attached to a pipe that winds around and eventually connect to the smoke stacks.   The challenge here (or me anyway) will be to get three holes drilled in a 3/32" pipe and have it bend around to connect to the smoke stack.   I plan to create that bent pipe and if successful then attach the safety valves to the pipe.    That might be easier than first gluing the safety valves to the boilers and then try to bend the pipe to match the valves.   All that will come a little later, I need to get back to completing the hull painting.

 
But before I do that, I was looking ahead and it would seen there is a little issue with the foreword compartment diagram.   Either that of I am totally confused....
I know I am not going to explain this well, but I will give it a shot.   Please ask questions if I am unclear.
 
In the below diagram I am only talking about part 38P, but it applies to 38S also.
The written instructions are show below in italics.
 
Begin by gluing 3/32" square strips to parts 38P and 38S. Do this
over the full size plan shown on plan sheet 1. Note that the outboard
sides of 38P/S will be down during this step.
 
The questionable part of above is there it says "Note that the outboard sides of 38P/S will be down during this step."
Problem is, in the diagram below, it looks like it is showing  38P with the outboard side up.
 
To me in order to maintain the correct angles for 38P/S, they should be reversed.   That is piece 38P should be layed (outboard side down) on the diagram labeled "38S Full Size" and piece 38S should be layed (outboard side down) on the diagram labeled "38P Full Size".   
 
Brian and Cathead.....Am I correct or really confused at to what I am doing here?  
 

Nice progress John.  One of the great things about this kit is that it leaves plenty of options for upgrading the features on it. I also agree, Model Expo’s customer service is top notch. Every time I have gone to them with a broken, missing or misplaced part, they have been Johnny on the spot with a replacement. 
 
Keep up the great work!
 
-Brian

Don't sell yourself short, modifying/upgrading kits is a great way to model. Frankly, fixing kit mistakes takes just as much knowledge as scratchbuilding, in some ways more because you not only have to know WHAT to do from scratch, you have to recognize what NOT to do in terms of kit errors. 
 
For example, check out my Viking longship build; this was a fairly simplistic  kit that I did extensive research on and made major upgrades to in terms of accuracy and detail. I'm not sure it wouldn't have been easier to build one from scratch than to deal with all the kit's problems!
 
I think it's great that you cared enough to learn about what you were doing rather than just slapping something together that you didn't understand. 

Looks like Vicksburg is a good meet between place. It’s right at 300 miles from me as well. I love the nostalgia of the town, and you are correct, the battlefield and the Cairo are the main attractions. When I was there back in May, I had a lengthy conversation with the Cairo supervisor, he had mentioned that the Cairo exhibit is the main draw to the park and that if had been located closer to the park entrance, there would be hardly any traffic through the rest of the park. And I highly recommend Tony’s Seafood for lunch or dinner the next time you make it there. 
 
As for Norfolk, that would be quite the haul from Texas, but I might touch base with Ryland to see what it takes to get a model on exhibit in a maritime museum. 
 
That’s too funny Keith. It would take all of two days for the entire towns population of 800 people to see it and get bored with it. 😁 However, the 25 mile trip from my house would be better than the 300 miler to Vicksburg. 
 
-Brian

I just got a new Kindle book to read, “Black Lives on the Mississippi” by Thomas C Buchanan. 
 
it is about African Americans who lived and worked around and on the Mississippi River boats like the Robert E Lee.  Without them these boats may as well have been stuck in the mud and going no where. 

This is a fun model to build especially if you research river boats and add to your knowledge about them.  There are many knowledgeable river boat fans on this board. Read Cathead’s dedicated river boat log. 
 
Take your time and test fit, clean off flash and knock out pins, fill sink holes and joints,   paint everything. Make sub assemblies to paint parts together. Paint the rest before assembly. Get the best fit you can.  If you have warpage use hot water and clamps.
Have fun. I am having fun building this old kit.
 
Read the instructions for each step and understand them before attempting them. 
 
Any questions PM me.

One thing I did but didn't show is the modification of the lower part of the smokestacks.  I removed the lower ring around the bottom of the smokestacks and covered the area with white decal stripe material.
 
In pictures of the Robert E Lee and other boats, the lower portion of the stacks look white, as in this picture of the Lee coming into St Louis at the end of it's race with the Natchez.

I just noticed on  the 1/64" wood sheet (LC-24) there are three pieces with the name CHAPERON laser etched.   On all three pieces the name CHAPERON is missing the "N".   Not a big deal as I can somewhat easily add the missing "N", but since it is laser etched and all it would not look the same.   A quick note to Model Expo and a new part was quickly shipped out.   I really like that policy of Model Expo.
 

 
I am finally almost completed the hull.   Looks like I have one more final coat of paint to apply as there are still a few rough spots, but all and all, for a novice like myself, the hull is looking pretty good.
 

 

 
On the bottom you will notice I added two extra keep parts.    Even though I play to screw the hull to the frame I made earlier to work on, in the end I plan to mount the final ship on a glass shelf with no pedestals.   My other models in the glass case all just sit on the glass, so I figured this one would too.  Thus in order for the hull to lay flat on the glass, the two extra keels were required
O
 
All work on the boat is constantly monitored and supervised by a pair of watchful eyes.

While last last set of paint dries I have started playing with the boiler.  Note in the making of the main boiler frame I added some extra strips of wood inside just to give me a little extra gluing area.   Not really required and way overkill, but it sure makes gluing walls easy when you have a little more gluing surface
 

 

 

Here I also added two cross pieces, as the thin wood walls tended  bend in.   These keep the wall straight before the bottom was glued on.  

 

 

 
On the bottom of the boiler nails are to be use to simulate support feet for the boiler.   There are two problems here.  One is that the boiler walls are only 1/16" thick.   There is no way someone of my skill would be able to drive a nail into the side of a 1/16" piece of wood.   The other problem is that the supplied nails are too short.   The distance between the bottom of the boiler and the floor is only a little longer that the supplied nails.   Only solution I could figure out was to add a small wood strip on both sides of the boiler.   That way you have a much larger area to nail into and the distance between the boiler and the floor will be a little less - thus allowing more room to drive the nail into. 
 

 
Moving on to the smoke manifold, instructions call to start by gluing part 74 to 73.   From there you build the other parts (75,76,77) around them.   Problem I felt with that approach is that the most important part of the smoke manifold is part 75.  It must be perfectly flat to later on accept the smoke stack on top of it.    With all the weird angles involved with the smoke manifold, starting with 74 to 73 and building around them would make it pretty easy to end up with part 75 not flat.   Thus I started with gluing part 75 to 73, insured that was flat, and then build the other parts around them.
 

 

 
Thus the final smoke manifold.

 

 

 
 
Then after a little filler and paint,,,
 

 

 
One additional touch I wanted to add was the simulated top of the three boiler tanks as others have done.   It is a neat look.   Basically it involves cutting 3/16" strip off a 3/4" dowel rod.  Problem is, I do not have a table saw, but even if I did, I kind of like my fingers and not sure I wanted to take the challenge. 
 
Happily I had a close friend who has a table saw and not really in love with his fingers.   He took on the challenge.   For those interested, below are some pictures as to how we was able to complete this and keep all 10 fingers.
 
Get some very strong double sided tape.

Attach the tape to one side of a straight board

Peel off the protective coating 

 
Stick the 3/4" dowel rod to the tape.   
 

 
Then run it though the table saw - cutting 3/16" off the dowel rod.  Again,,,, this tape has to be strong.  We are not talking scotch tape here.
 

 
From there, cut the cutoff piece into 3 - 5 3/4" pieces.   Below shows the pieces attached to the boiler.
 
In front of the boiler doors is documented as ash pan, but the instructions only show a flat surface.   In order to keep the ashes from spilling out onto the floor, I added some little walls around the ash pan.
 
 

 
After a little paint, I see the extra piece of wood attached to the bottom of the boiler (with the feet attached) is coming loose.    I just now noticed that.   That probably happened when I was adjusting the nails to be all the same length.   Nothing a little more glue can't handle.
 

 

 
Now I just need to add the smoke manifold, boiler doors, steam gages, and safety values that this should be ready to go.    It will be awhile before the ship is ready for the boiler, but I wanted to get this little side project going while I was working on the hull. 
 

One more update: I finally made the trip down to the Missouri River for a photo shoot along Arabia's natural habitat. I had hoped to do this close to her actual sinking date of September 5, 1856, but this is only a few weeks off so conditions look pretty similar. I shot this at Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area, about 135 road miles downstream of her sinking location near Parkville, MO (just upriver from what is now downtown Kansas City); she would have passed this location many times in her service along the river.
 
First, a reminder of the iconic painting used by the museum:
 

 
And here are my two best attempts to recreate the setting and angle (try to ignore the stand):
 

 

 
A few other shots at different angles:
 

 

 
Me with the model:
 

 
And for fun, a black and white shot as a what-if (she was never photographed, or at least no known photograph survives):
 

 
The river itself looks very different than it would have in her time. Back then it would have been a broad, shallow, multi-channelled river full of sand bars and tree snags, carrying a lot of sediment and generally brown, always shifting across its mile-wide floodplain between bluffs several hundred feet tall. Now, it's been channelized for navigation into a single narrow deep channel that never moves, flows a lot faster, and carries far less sediment due to upstream dams. But the shape of the landscape hasn't changed much and she certainly saw that small bluff in the background. There are much larger and more dramatic bluffs in this stretch, but none that can easily be accessed for a photo shoot in this context. But I hope this gives at least a slight idea of how she might have looked churning her way up and downstream in service before finally hitting that snag in 1856,

Don't sell yourself short, modifying/upgrading kits is a great way to model. Frankly, fixing kit mistakes takes just as much knowledge as scratchbuilding, in some ways more because you not only have to know WHAT to do from scratch, you have to recognize what NOT to do in terms of kit errors. 
 
For example, check out my Viking longship build; this was a fairly simplistic  kit that I did extensive research on and made major upgrades to in terms of accuracy and detail. I'm not sure it wouldn't have been easier to build one from scratch than to deal with all the kit's problems!
 
I think it's great that you cared enough to learn about what you were doing rather than just slapping something together that you didn't understand. 

You deserve positive feedback on this one. Your work reminds me of a little book by Les Wilkins I read decades ago. This publication grabbed my interest in plastic ship modeling. The author was doing what you are doing here, detailing and updating old plastic model ships. A great little publication that I believe has been out of print for a long time.
 
 

Thank you Don for the kind words. As of right now I don't have any plans to show it and to be honest I haven't really checked to see if there are any shows locally. I'm kind of stuck between two major metropolitan areas that I think would host any kind of model show, DFW & OKC, which are both 80-120 miles away. If I could find one a little closer, I might consider entering it. My dream would be for it to be shown in the Cairo museum. But that will probably remain just that, a dream.
 
Keith, now there is a good idea. I could place a binder next to the boat display with some of the interior pictures in it. I am proud of the way my boiler and engines came out, but so far my favorite piece has to be the paddlewheel. This was one of the hardest parts of the build, covering that piece up. When I get to building the display case, I am going to mount the boat up on pedestals high enough to place a mirror under the hull so you can see the paddlewheel. I even put lights in the wheel house to make sure it could be seen.

 
-Brian

Mr. Bean, Keith, Pat, Steven, thank you all for the great comments. They truly mean a lot.
 
Keith, like you said, there are a lot of hidden details, and it's almost a shame that I covered them up. Thank goodness I have this build log to go back and look at some of them. When I started this build, I didn't really have a clear picture as to what I was going to do other than build the boat from the plans that I found on the NPS website. As I went along, the more conversations I had with fellow shipbuilders and the more research I did on the subject, helped provide me with the inspiration to do more. It seems like every time I look at the old photos of the City-Class boats, or read something else about them, I find an interesting new detail about them that I want to add. The only problem with this, that I can see, is when do I stop? I want to make the model as historically accurate as possible so I'll need to draw the line somewhere but it is just so much fun adding each piece to the build. Guess I'll cross that bridge when I get there, but until then I'll just keep on keeping on.
 
-Brian

Don't sell yourself short, modifying/upgrading kits is a great way to model. Frankly, fixing kit mistakes takes just as much knowledge as scratchbuilding, in some ways more because you not only have to know WHAT to do from scratch, you have to recognize what NOT to do in terms of kit errors. 
 
For example, check out my Viking longship build; this was a fairly simplistic  kit that I did extensive research on and made major upgrades to in terms of accuracy and detail. I'm not sure it wouldn't have been easier to build one from scratch than to deal with all the kit's problems!
 
I think it's great that you cared enough to learn about what you were doing rather than just slapping something together that you didn't understand. 

Building up the stages' rigging.  I am using Amati rigging thread and plastic strip. I added small eyelets to the sides of the stages.

Don't sell yourself short, modifying/upgrading kits is a great way to model. Frankly, fixing kit mistakes takes just as much knowledge as scratchbuilding, in some ways more because you not only have to know WHAT to do from scratch, you have to recognize what NOT to do in terms of kit errors. 
 
For example, check out my Viking longship build; this was a fairly simplistic  kit that I did extensive research on and made major upgrades to in terms of accuracy and detail. I'm not sure it wouldn't have been easier to build one from scratch than to deal with all the kit's problems!
 
I think it's great that you cared enough to learn about what you were doing rather than just slapping something together that you didn't understand. 

Another good build day and its starting to look like a hull. My efforts yesterday to trace the frame outlines for cut lines on the back of the frame sheet paid dividends. Frames E through 4 and spacers installed, bearding line drawn, and the shallow slope sanded into the deadwood.
 
 

The flags were mounted to the flag staffs by drilling holes in the staff to take the line that the flag is glued to.
 
These string parts are the lines that will be used to rig the stages.  The spot of glue represents a block.

Railing materials arrived today. Yeah! Micro Carpentry may continue without interruption. 🤪 
 

Cheers 🍻 

Thanks! Hope you enjoy it, the project was fascinating and fun. You'll probably enjoy the video lecture linked toward the end of this log, too, though it won't apply directly to your Robert E. Lee project as it focuses on the somewhat different Missouri River boats. Best wishes for surgery recovery, I've been there and it's no fun.
 
This project actually wrapped up a couple years ago, though it doesn't seem like it. Since then I've completed a few others, including a Viking longship and several NRG learning projects (see links in my signature) but I haven't taken on anything in a while due to a complicated situation including wrist injury/surgery, extensive other commitments in my non-modeling life, and the temporary loss of my workshop to (currently delayed) remodeling projects. If/when I get back to building, I'm considering scratchbuilding the JR Wells, a neat little steamboat that operated on Missouri's Osage River; some photos and info are available here.

Brian, fantastic and I do mean fantastic work! The bell and flag locker are super nice and the padlocks are ingenious. 

Superb work. The profusion and quality of detail is extraordinary.