Cathead

Thanks for looking gentlemen.  I appreciate the likes and the comments.  
 
I've decided to live with the cannons as they are.  I did some further testing and still didn't like what I was getting as results.   Things were busy here and too late I realized I should have made several jigs as I decided (after some destructive testing) to use a thin epoxy that seemed to take forever to try.   I have 24 carriages assembled and pretty much cleaned up and parts for 5 more if I should royally mess some of the "good" ones up.  Now to convert the shop over to metal work as I need to blacken and install the fittings, do the rigging, and install.   Each gun will need 2 eyebolts on the carriage, 2 on the deck (for pulling the gun back from the port), and then 4 on the bulkhead at each port.  I'll be using Dafi's fine looking (and small) eyes and hooks for all this. My eyes are now crossed and I note that I've been mumbling to myself a lot the last day or two trying to get these finished.  Note that the two forward ports (1 on each side) will not be filled as these were "access ports" for lack of a better term.
 
Here's pics of the carriages in place for position and to run some checks.  Pierre is standing by for scale reference.  I'll pick the 10 best for the mid-ship area that's open and if any of the rest fail to met standards, I'll replace them with new ones.  Hopefully, in the next week or two, I'll also install all the furniture (oops.. need to make 2 "kitchens") and get rid of that blue tape.
 
 

 

 

 

 

Good morning everyone. Here's a quick update I managed to finish the carronade and also painted the pivot ring. It still needs the wood treenails but you can get an idea how nice it looks and fits to the carriage wheels. The carronade was blackened rather than painted which maintains that metallic look. Also I've started working on the cabin/deckhouse planking the in sides and working months top bits. Overall very pleased

There will be a second layer of planking, then the whole thing will be practically doused in filler and sanded to perfection.

 

Scharnhorst Issue 33

When it comes to planking there are two very different groups present in the ship model building community. There's the ones like me, that find an almost meditative quality in the work involved and then there's the second larger group of ship builders that absolutely DESPISE planking getting increasingly annoyed at doing the same task over and over again with hardly any progress seen, oh God, why won't it END?
 
To accomodate the second group, this kit has sporadic intermissions where we do something different to break up the planking work a bit. Here's the first one already.
 
With this issue we clad the area around the drive shafts with preformed ABS parts. Like the stern and bow, this area would be very very hard to build out of wood. We also extend the keel a bit with a wood strip we received a few issues ago.

this morning has been a bit jumpy for me.......did a couple online applications.   seeing as some changes are to be made with the wood I use,  I started right in with the edging around the main deck.   I have some .5 x 3 mm mahogany thin strip that proved to be more flexible,  than what they supplied to use.   it also matches the bottom better as far as color goes.




the main deck,  after masking the bottom,  was given a couple coats of semi gloss lacquer.   when fully cured,  the gloss factor will be minimal,  but will seal the deck.   not a real good picture,  but it'll show how sunny the room is   

the structures were given a couple coats of gloss lacquer.  I want more of a shine on them.

hard to tell in this light.......here's a batter one.....I hope   

.....moving right along........   what?????.....an errand........oh bother! 
 

I should apologize.....every time I turn around,  I'm eluding back to the Nordkap.  it was my first........I learned my basics on that vessel.......even bashing and scratch building.   I do look at her from time to time..I see what I preach.  some thing could have been done differently,  but in retrospect,  what I did then was right for the time  
 
as with other things I've don in the past........how many times have I stained anything,  since the Regina build?   I don't even think the log is here any more....fallout from the big crash.   all going well, until I went to restain the hull.   it wasn't even my model......Tom had sent the kit to me,  to build for him.   calling him to tell 'em the bad news.....I imagined him being upset....but he wasn't.  he even liked my simple solution of renaming the subject.......and so it was renamed after his wife.. ....called the Susan A.
    planking was going smoothly........the new clippers worked much better,  in trimming the excess planking along the edges.  the earlier photo showed.........
sanding along the edges,  which prompted me to only go in one direction with the sanding stick,  created some small nicks.   tiny shards of wood...a couple of them can be seen in the picture.   when I got back to the table,  I finished this structure......while I was working on it,  I cut up the rest of what I had stained,  and started to plank the other one.



too bad I didn't try to make them uniform,  but the contrast of different planks boards is pretty neat.   every side need to have an altered plank......I didn't need to use the 3 mm plank,  but chose a given plank and fitted it in.   some it's hard to tell,  which I'm rather pleased about.   it had to happen......laying in wait,  looking for the right moment to spring the trap.   ......and in one fell swoop,  my attempt to touch up all the tiny nicks,  went very dark.


the stain even got on the edge molding....that had to be done as well.

planking over it isn't an option........neither is painting it.   the simplest solution is to change the direction slightly,  and do more in the way of painting,  than I wanted to.  I guess the admiral heard me,  'cuz when I went to get a drink {non alcoholic},  she went in and put it on the deck.   taking Gibbs out was added to the idle time.......when I got back to the table,  I looked at it,  keeping in mind her thoughts on it.


I had forgotten to remove the excess planking from inside the rear access holes for the paddle mechanism.   that was done,  making sure I stained the inside walls that likely will be seen.   little by little,  I was warming up to the changes I would have to make in my plans.

I like this room.  most of what I did this morning,  was done with no light.  it's well into the afternoon now....shadows were taking over,  lessening the ability to see.   time to resort to the crane lamp.

the other structure was in the process of being cleaned up.   of course,  the same results with those tiny nicks.   no matter,  the remedy has already been formulated..........on with the new direction   



next will be the four vents and all the doors.  ........and now for something completely different    painting the underside of the second level.

done in flat pale gray,  as with the underside of the main deck.   it's Billing's paint,  so I did it with a brush.   I hope to have more on her very soon   
 

thanks Bob....I'm hoping I can achieve what I'm going for    thanks for the good word!   
 
this morning was fairly productive.   around the deck,  the edges were trimmed and cleaned up.   the structures were put on the deck to see how they will look.   not that there will be much of an impact....they're as barren as a desert.



the deck was finished out the rest of the way,  and then a light sanding over the whole thing.   to richen it up again,  I went over it again with stain.


it needs to be banded before the seal coat is put down......I want to get started with the structures,  so I'll do it when I get to a point that requires some major dry time.  the structures are to be planked with thin strip,  that has been stained with Mahogany.  

this is red Mahogany stain,  kinds skeptical,  since it doesn't seem to have the red characteristic.  perhaps it will when the seal coat is applied.   I did find the parts list...in about three different languages.  at least now,  I can get a better idea of what wood to use.   I made the same choice as Hugh did,  putting the corner molding on the structures first.

I planked one wall already.......this made me wish I had gone the other way.   the increment was off,  leaving not enough space for the final plank.   again,  I fell back to the 3 mm planking,  staining up one {which came out very dark},  to fill the gap.    to make matters worse,  one side is a tad off,  so I had to taper the plank as well.

in this case,  instead of having all of them ending in the same place,  I will alter how each side is planked,  so it ends up in different places.  trimming this was the pits as well.......I need to go on an errand anyway.
    when I got back,  I was all smiles.......I bought a new pair of clippers.  not just any pair either......I found a two in one pair of clippers!

it has the convex on one end and the concave on the other end!  the convex side seems like it has less of an angle too.



they can also be use for trimming rigging....they are great for getting close enough to the knot,  so you won't leave the tell tail bit of thread.  so now I can trim the excess planking cleanly.    should have more for you soon   

thanks Piet and Mark........OH yea!     some of the strips are curved......if I was planking a sailing ship,  they would be perfect      good to find a way to use them up......I think they've aged long enough    time for other wood to take their place.
 
I've heard of that kit Ken........I've never done a solid hull model,  although I do have that PT boat by Marine Models tucked away in the closet. {boy,  when I start on that one,  it's gonna need all new wood!}
 
I finished planking the main deck last night.......after a few interruptions.  at one point,  I needed to go over to my son Kevin's house to help set up his new air compressor.   I still need to refine the stern and sand around the edges,  so the decorative strip can be glued on.   I had worked on the port side for a short time,  before I thought to snap the continuation picture.

 note that I have been drawing the butt staggers in where the structures lie,  so I won't lose my place with them.

before long,  the bow section was planked,  and proceeding aftward.  when laying the sections inside the structure lines,  I didn't bother cutting or calking,  but only did what would go beyond the confines.  when the bow had dried for a short time,  the port side was trimmed and sanded.  I really need to find the good pair of nail clippers....I have a habit of using them to cut brass rod,  and it does tend to dull them.

reaching the stern,  I had to get a little creative on this side.   the planking didn't align as well,  as they did on the starboard side.  the slots will need to be trimmed a lot more on the port side.   a small piece of the 3 mm was fitted within the extension,  and an even narrower piece needed to be fitted along the inside edge.  I didn't have any blonde strip,  so I used some Annegre strip I have on hand.  the color being a bit off,  it was sanded and then stained over,  which made it blend in.   the paddle wheel brackets will cover it though,  so it may not be seen.

the 3 mm that was patched along the fore section of the starboard side was trimmed and sanded,  and some of the port side edge too.  not much has been done with the port stern....I'll leave that for tomorrow.   sanding and clear coating will be done then as well.   the waste you see is what there is in total.......out of all the strips I stained,  I'm left with the equivalent of 2 strips.   I'll see what I can get done today   
   

Good question. Yes, sidewheelers generally had one center rudder, because their hulls were more ship-like (tapering at the stern) so water flowed properly past a single rudder; they were also more maneuverable due to the ability to  back each engine separately. Sternwheelers commonly had two to four rudders, often linked into a single system. My understanding is that their more barge-like square sterns didn't funnel water past rudders as efficiently, so they needed more rudders spaced across the stern to compensate. For example, here are the rudders on my model of Bertrand:
 

These were built in two paired assemblies; the inner two were connected to the actual steering gear, and the outer two were slaved to their partners. Also note that each rudder fits into an extension that runs forward into the curve of the hull; my understanding is that this helped direct water properly onto each rudder. The hull was shaped this way on sternwheelers (wide and square like a barge rather than tapered like a ship) because that design provided the extra buoyancy needed to support the massive, heavy sternwheel.
 
In comparison, here is the salvaged stern of the Arabia:
 

Note how the hull naturally tapers to the single rudder, which it can do because the wheels and engines are placed much more forward on a sidewheeler, so the stern can be shaped "normally", allowing for more efficient water flow to the rudder.
 
If this still isn't clear, I can try to take comparative photos of the two models to better illustrate the difference.

Watching the winter Olympics has both slowed and helped my work. Slowed, because it's been an evening time sink watching so many events I enjoy. Helped, because I moved into the final parts of hull planking that required more careful shaping and manual gluing, so it gave me something to do while messing with individual planks.
 
I've been planking from the outside in, and once I got too near the centerline, my normal binder-clip clamps (black, below) wouldn't fit anymore. So I started using reversed and halved clothespins instead, whose angled shapes work quite well as wedges (also below). Their clamping parts aren't doing anything, but wedging them into the narrow gaps between plank and the center bulkhead worked really well, at least for straight areas. For curved areas, I mostly did this manually and watched Olympics. But I was really pleased with this method.
 

Then I made a frustrating mistake, managing to snap off a big chunk of the curve bow guard extension. It actually wasn't hard to repair, I just cut away most of the bow's curve on both sides, and bend and inserted a new piece that fully swept around that curve. It's not quite as nice as the original because the new joint was harder to hide, but when the model is finished it won't really show. I was still very annoyed with myself because I've been so careful in handling.
 

So here's the planked hull. Note that in this photo I've begun inserting the extra guard timbers at the stern, but not yet at the bow, to bring them up to the right density. If I had decided to plank over the underside of the guards, I wouldn't have needed to do this, so hadn't until the decision was made. But there's abundant evidence that leaving the guards open underneath is the right approach, so in go the rest of the guards.
 

 
As you may be able to tell above, I also used some wood filler to match a few less-than-ideal gaps in planking, mostly in the complicated stern area. Above, I've applied it to the starboard (lower) side but not yet the port (upper side), and haven't yet sanded it down. Below is a closer look at the stern, with one side filled and one side not. In this photo, it has been sanded. It's definitely smoother now but the planking lines still show through. I'm pleased with how this came out overall, though I did struggles to get the run of planking right and could probably have done it better. Those odd extensions at the very stern are on the real thing, I'll come back to that soon when I show the building of the rudder.
 

 
And here she is with all the guard timbers installed, right side up with my machinery templates laid out for reference. If you look closely at the starboard wheel area, you'll see a little vertical wooden thing that doesn't resolve well in the photo. That's my rough person for scale, he's about 5'8", shorter than me but about right for the period. The wheel is in about the right vertical place and orientation. The plain white rectangle represents the boilers.
 

So that's where Arabia stands post-Olympics. Next up, I need to cut way too many short strips of hull planking to fill in the last strake between all the guard timbers, then do any final hull finishing necessary. I'll paint the hull next before proceeding to planking the deck, and also will finish the rudder, though I probably won't install it until the very end to keep if from being knocked off. Then, finally, I'll move toward deck planking.
 
Thanks as always for following along. Hopefully this starts to get more interesting soon as we turn her right side up and the machinery and superstructure get underway.
 
 

It's amazing how obsessed people get with cheapness at the expense of all rationality. Sorry you have to deal with that crap. Try to keep in mind that you don't hear from all the people who do respect your work and think your prices are fair; it's just not in the human nature to send random emails or phone calls saying "attaboy" even when it's deserved. When's the last time any of us took the time to write/call a restaurant we really enjoyed, even though we'd be far more likely to write/call to complain about a problem?

Thanks for letting us know - another sad loss to the maritime, and in particular the ship modelling world.
 
Pat

Thanks for sharing this, Kurt. I appreciated the change to read about Mr. Hensley, his life, and his models.
 
I've never been to this library, but it sounds a very worthwhile visit. We've been trying to find time to take an overnight trip to St. Louis, so this will certainly add to the list.

Of course, Mike! You're already a steamboat veteran given your excellent Chaperon.

At the rate you people are starting build logs for this kit, I'm about ready to figure out how to design and offer another riverboat kit to give more options given the apparent interest.

At the rate you people are starting build logs for this kit, I'm about ready to figure out how to design and offer another riverboat kit to give more options given the apparent interest.

I dunno, Mark, buy a cheap tablet, prop it up, and set the display to rotate...

Of course, Mike! You're already a steamboat veteran given your excellent Chaperon.

Thanks for sharing this, Kurt. I appreciated the change to read about Mr. Hensley, his life, and his models.
 
I've never been to this library, but it sounds a very worthwhile visit. We've been trying to find time to take an overnight trip to St. Louis, so this will certainly add to the list.

Thanks for sharing this, Kurt. I appreciated the change to read about Mr. Hensley, his life, and his models.
 
I've never been to this library, but it sounds a very worthwhile visit. We've been trying to find time to take an overnight trip to St. Louis, so this will certainly add to the list.

At the rate you people are starting build logs for this kit, I'm about ready to figure out how to design and offer another riverboat kit to give more options given the apparent interest.

Noted riverboat modeler Glenn Hensley - 1919-2018 – passed away recently and was buried with full military honors on February 16 at Jefferson Barracks, MO.  Glenn was a WWII Combat Photographer in the China-Burma-India Theater of Operations.
Several of Glenn’s riverboat models are exhibited at the University of Missouri-St. Louis' Mercantile Library.  His models also reside in the Smithsonian Institution and Mystic Seaport Museum.

It was reported by the St. Louis Admirals R/C Model Boat Club Commodore Jane Benefield, that Glenn was laid to rest down by the river under the shade of trees.
Glenn had been a member of the St. Louis Admirals R/C Model Boat Club for many years but had not been active for several years.
I had the opportunity to get to know Glenn back in the 80's and to see his models prior to their going into the Mercantile Library and after they were moved there into very nice settings.  If you are in St. Louis and interested in riverboats the Mercantile Library has many models as well as extensive research materials on just about everything you might want to know about riverboats. 
Kurt

I dunno, Mark, buy a cheap tablet, prop it up, and set the display to rotate...

At the rate you people are starting build logs for this kit, I'm about ready to figure out how to design and offer another riverboat kit to give more options given the apparent interest.

Hey, don't forget Bluejacket has a 1/192 scale USS Cairo, an American Civil War Brown Water Navy gunboat. Much more warlike, but a center paddlewheel boat. It's solid wood hull with brass and Britannia metal detail parts.

At the rate you people are starting build logs for this kit, I'm about ready to figure out how to design and offer another riverboat kit to give more options given the apparent interest.