Cathead

If you want to be realistic, I believe that the aftermost part of the cabin was often reserved as the ladies' parlor. The mens' "gambling parlor" would probably have been further forward, to keep their cigar smoke etc. from bothering the ladies. Of course, any given boat could do it however they liked.
 
I see you're watching Olympics too. They're slowing me down by distracting me, but helping by entertaining me while holding down fiddly glued bits. Glad to see you're making progress!

If you want to be realistic, I believe that the aftermost part of the cabin was often reserved as the ladies' parlor. The mens' "gambling parlor" would probably have been further forward, to keep their cigar smoke etc. from bothering the ladies. Of course, any given boat could do it however they liked.
 
I see you're watching Olympics too. They're slowing me down by distracting me, but helping by entertaining me while holding down fiddly glued bits. Glad to see you're making progress!

A few more recent photos related to my previous posting.
 
johnhoward

so, here is some further progress. finally finished planking and sanding out the windows and door frames of the second deck structure. at the moment it has only 1 coat of paint and is just sitting there. not glued down yet, hence its not really level in these pics, plus I reckon it will be a lot easier to place the windows and doors before its stuck in place. I need to put some fine filler between some of the planks, but I may also leave a few as I think it adds to the rustic character of the boat. also, I am brushing all the paint work to achieve a more realistic look for the period. the only medium I am spraying on this is the final clear matt coat as I finish each section.
 
when I get the windows and doors all in, complete with curtains, I want to see just how visible the interior of this structure will be from the outside when the third deck is also attached. if I can see fairly clearly inside this space I will install a floor and add carpet, dining tables, and a gambling area down aft. 
 
cheers
 
chris
 

The hull has been sanded and sealed. It still needs sanding again before final finishing. I have marked the waterline and am very surprised to see just how much of the boat would have been in the water.
 
I have also cut the tops off all the frames. I am very glad I was careful with the glue when I did the bulwarks. I just used the frames as a guide and avoided gluing them.They would have been a nightmare to get off otherwise. They were then smoothed flat level with the deck. The inside of the bulwarks then had to be covered with loads of little vertical strips before planking to give extra thickness. I have planked the lower deck and bulwark sides and I have what I think is called the poop deck to plank.
 
 
 
 

Hey everyone. So I decided to try to drill out the hole again and if i totally destroyed the piece then so be it.  To my suprise it worked just enough! 
Here is the mini mast assembled

next comes these 5 parts which was s challenge on the last one i did. 

then comes the black "radar panel" or whatever it is. All ready pre assembled a few months ago. I might have to touch up the paint as I dont use primer. 

Heres my way of securing the bell while glue drys. Im such a  Genius. 

and installed. Crooked bell but good enough right now. 

she does not approve of me doing this so sick.  Im going to stop now

Thanks, greenstone!
 
In a meanwhile, we had a bit of delay because of another project: this took a bit longer than expected - the manual is 400 steps long, but the result is amazing - pneumatic cylinders work, fantastic!

 
Back to ship modelling - we started fitting the deck. It was an exercise in an endless cycle of "sand a bit - try again - make some pencil marks - sand a bit more".
The deck is laser cut to separate planks that are tied together by a few tabs. They are probably supposed to be installed separately, but we decided to cut some corners and install the deck as a single piece. 
 

Daria had no problems sanding thin veneer, but I helped a bit every now and then - the process is too repetitive for a child. 
The glue-up was simple in the beginning, but turned into a nightmare quite soon - planks swelled because of the moisture in the glue, became wider and started to push each other out. I ended up cutting off some planks in the middle to leave the room for expansion. It was a mess and the glue dried to quick, so no photos. While I was loosing a battle against the glue and moisture and swelling planks - Daria decided to cheer me up and made a cute drawing of us working on a model  
 
 
That helped!
 
Resulting deck:
 
 
Fitting few parts around transom to close it off, I let her use the disk sander, which made her super happy - using some real adult tools, yay!

 
Then we did a bit of scraping:

 
A lot of sanding:

 
And - finally - finishing! Used some Danish oil. Might be a bit too shiny, but it is the easiest finish to apply and dries relatively quick:

 
Final result. Kind of blotchy, unfortunately. Maybe we should have sanded the deck more. 
The wood is not monotonous and have a bit different texture in different places. 
But it's good enough for the purpose!

 
 
 

I have already actually built the model pictured above......but I just built it in my head. Every step....by step.  I know exactly what the pieces will look like and how all of that trim and molding will be added, etc.  Its not very difficult at all.  The hardest part of that project is convincing ANY one of the folks who can get the lines off the original contemporary models to do so.  Any one of the three contemporary models will do. Or to even share the findings some of them already have.  Its the toughest thing I have ever had to try and do.  Its like these folks in that part of the world think they are keeping a secret cure for cancer or something.  They are just very hesitant to share primary and secondary source information.  Its very off-putting.  I have never had this experience with any other museum, author or knowledgeable historian or scholar on the subject.   I could get state secrets easier than it has been trying to get info on this boeier.  It may be the thing that kills this project before it has a chance of getting out of my head and onto the workbench.  Its probably why no really good kits or projects exists for these boats.  Everything is "need to know" and "I am not sure I want to share" type of stuff.  Its very unfortunate.
 
And I am actually willing to pay for the info....if they wait too long I am sure some other not-so-ethical group will try and find a way to steal it though.  So hopefully they wont hold out too much longer.

likewise........I hope you get better soon  

Chris:
 
So sorry to hear about your health issues -- here's hoping that all will be figured out and you'll be on the mend quickly.
 
Regards,
David

really like the card dave! I must apologize to all who follow this build for the slow progress. unfortunately I have been having some health issues of late so the build has had to take a bit of a back seat. hopefully after the barrage of tests and scans I have had this past week or so, some bright doctor may finally be able to work out what the eff is wrong with me and get me back to the boatyard!
 
chris
 

Numbered Collectors Series with Authenticity papers signed by Chuck.   And the price of poker just went up. Just kidding.

That Echo Cross section and how it is presented is exactly how I plan on presenting the Pegasus kit.  Literally the same.  One side planked and one side open framed.....Its beautiful.  
 

 
Chuck

We have again temporarily removed the Hurricane deck and are cleaning up numerous details on the gun deck such as the stern bulwark rail, the Captain's Quarters, coal bunker door with sacked coal, the paddlewhee, axle pillow-block supports and framing of gun deck access hatches in preparation for gun deck planking and eventual reinstallation of the Hurricane Deck. We have also started installation of the 17 paddleboards (Buckets) on the paddlewheel and fabrication of the 2 main steam engines which will be shown in future photos.
 
johnhoward

Thank you Slainte! I'm going to keep what you said in mind next time I need aluminum paint. I'm just going to leave it how it is at this point. 
  I put the stairs and the rest of the railings on. So basically its almost done.  I can almost install it onto the Bismarck. 

all thats left is the ships bell.  Then It can atleast be put onto the ship. I just wish the bell was brass instead of aluminium. I'm debating  whether or not to paint it like I painted the props under the ship. 

so bell, install onto ship then I will deal with the range finder. 

Smart move. You'd hate to have to dismantle any work you did while you were ill. As many others have said, there is no time limit to complete a build. You're doing great. Keep it up to your standards. And get rest and drink lots of fluids.  This flu season is one of the nastier ones. 

The guns and the railings are in. Actually I have 2 railings left to glue but I feel like caca so I stopped for now. 

I dunno........looks pretty good to me      if you have any small gaps you want to get rid of.....here's something easy to do.   I lightly rub white glue into the gap and wipe off the excess.   them I sand over it.......it will push sawdust into the gap and mix with the glue.   instant filler   

Well here it is folks warts and all ! Finally covered although I must give up my dream of exhibiting in a museum !!!
 
The clinkering looks worse than it is in the photos I promise. I have to cover the false keel at the bow and stern and will then give it all a proper sanding and a coat of sealer. I think it will look OK then.
 
 

As Roger says, on regular river steamers ashes etc. were just dumped overboard. Some actually had a brick-lined trough leading from the boilers across the deck to a hole in the guards, so the ashes could just be (swept or washed, not sure which) right down that chute and into the river. Here's an example from my model of Bertrand, which was clearly shown in the archeological drawings:
 

I still can't quite wrap my head around the internal geometry of Cairo, so I don't know if this is at all relevant.
 
This is such an interesting discussion. By the way,  John, I will be in St. Louis for a few days in early February for a conference. Is your project open to the public?

Bill,
 
Thanks for checking in. The build log is titled "Ranger" because that's the name of the kit, making it easier for other builders to find it; I know there was no such real vessel. I always intended this to be a fictional "representative" build, and if you look closely you'll see I named her "Ocracoke", on the alternate-timeline assumption that she was stationed near my favorite part of the US coastline.
 
As for the Coast Guard drawing, I had hoped it was accurate coming as it did from a USCG historian, but I knew I wasn't going to get all the details right anyway given how screwy the original kit was and my overall lack of sufficient knowledge. I read a few books on the history of pilot schooners and revenue cutters and did my best to capture the essence of these fascinating craft. Luckily for me, here in the rural Midwest, there are very few people who can or will notice my mistakes!

The model is done. I made some executive decisions about the standing rigging and just worked through them. I didn't take any photos during the rest of the work, partly because I was ready to be done with this project and just wanted to keep working without setting up special photo sessions, and partly because I didn't think I was doing anything that hadn't been documented a number of times before. For example, I did the ratlines and deadeyes by making a wire spacer for the deadeyes and tying the ratlines using a lined wooden guide, but those approaches have been better described by others.
 
Also, as some of you may have read in the news, it's been extraordinarily wet here in Missouri with devastating rain and flooding, and that's meant very poor photography conditions (dark indoors and wet outdoors). The model has been done for a week, but I finally found time and conditions to take some photos outdoors. I used a blue background to try and emphasize the reddish colors in the model; the white background I tried first washed out the colors too much.
 

Example of the standing rigging. I settled on two sets of shrouds and topmast stays per mast per side. I think they came out ok. You can also see the sweeps lashed to their stanchions and the safety lines, or whatever they were called in the early 1800s. I need to repaint the nailheads holding the channels in, I rubbed the original paint off handling the model.
 

Examples of ratlines and shrouds. I carved and painted a small spacer for each set of shrouds and inserted it about a man's height from the tops. This seems to produce a sensible pattern to the ratlines. I tied the latter using an overhand knot, which I realize is less accurate than a knot that turns each end inward (as opposed to outward) but I spent a whole evening trying to master the "right" approach and couldn't. Few viewers around here will recognize that the tips of the ratlines shouldn't be outside the stays. Otherwise I think they turned out ok.
 

I made a flag by laying out back-to-back flags on the computer and printing them on the same bond paper as the sails. I then brushed wood glue on the backside and folded them over. The effect has a nice, rough, cloth-like look that's far better than shiny plastic and holds its shape better than cloth (just like the sails). I rejected the flag from the kit not only because it was shiny, but because based on my research its design had never been used in US history (wrong number and pattern of stars). I chose a 24-star flag, which was used from 1822-1836, about the right time period for this post-War-of-1812 revenue cutter. It also happens to be the flag that represents my state of Missouri (the 24th state), a nice touch.
 

As the last step, I made a base from a chunk of Black Walnut harvested on our farm, which I chain-saw milled to rough size and then cut down using a table saw and router. The pedestals are from Model Expo. I also made a nameplate for the stern, again designed on computer and printed on bond paper, then glued to the stern. A bit of ink rubbed off in this process, but I think it just looks nicely scuffed and weathered. The name has a specific meaning for me. Many of the revenue cutters from this period were named for their region of intended service; for example the Louisiana and Alabama, the closest prototypes to this vessel, served in the Gulf of Mexico. My family has a long, multi-general history of visiting North Carolina's Outer Banks, a fascinating set of thin, sandy barrier islands that have been the scene for many important bits of American naval history, including a great deal of smuggling and piracy. It's one of my favorite pieces of coastline in the world. Thus, I named this vessel Ocracoke after the most significant harbor in the Outer Banks, a town with many fond memories and associations to me. I don't think any such cutter was ever based there, but in the fictional world of this model, there most certainly was.
 
With those steps completed, I declared the model done. I have mixed feelings about this project. I found the kit very frustrating, with terrible instructions and mediocre quality materials. Yet I also learned a great deal from working through those problems, and am really very happy with how the model turned out. It has lots of small errors or problems that an expert or contest judge would instantly notice, but I also think it came together in a very aesthetically pleasing way, and I can justify/explain every bit of rigging and equipment on it whether or not it's strictly prototypical (for example, I made sure the flag hoist would really work). So here are a few completed photos. I'm not entirely happy with the color balance, but do like how the blue background sets off the model.
 

Thank you to everyone/anyone who's followed this somewhat disjointed build log. I've appreciated your interest and support. I've already started planning my next project, another scratchbuilt Missouri River steamboat, and will be building a Maine lobster boat for my mother to keep my hands busy during the extensive design period for the former.
 

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?

The model is done. I made some executive decisions about the standing rigging and just worked through them. I didn't take any photos during the rest of the work, partly because I was ready to be done with this project and just wanted to keep working without setting up special photo sessions, and partly because I didn't think I was doing anything that hadn't been documented a number of times before. For example, I did the ratlines and deadeyes by making a wire spacer for the deadeyes and tying the ratlines using a lined wooden guide, but those approaches have been better described by others.
 
Also, as some of you may have read in the news, it's been extraordinarily wet here in Missouri with devastating rain and flooding, and that's meant very poor photography conditions (dark indoors and wet outdoors). The model has been done for a week, but I finally found time and conditions to take some photos outdoors. I used a blue background to try and emphasize the reddish colors in the model; the white background I tried first washed out the colors too much.
 

Example of the standing rigging. I settled on two sets of shrouds and topmast stays per mast per side. I think they came out ok. You can also see the sweeps lashed to their stanchions and the safety lines, or whatever they were called in the early 1800s. I need to repaint the nailheads holding the channels in, I rubbed the original paint off handling the model.
 

Examples of ratlines and shrouds. I carved and painted a small spacer for each set of shrouds and inserted it about a man's height from the tops. This seems to produce a sensible pattern to the ratlines. I tied the latter using an overhand knot, which I realize is less accurate than a knot that turns each end inward (as opposed to outward) but I spent a whole evening trying to master the "right" approach and couldn't. Few viewers around here will recognize that the tips of the ratlines shouldn't be outside the stays. Otherwise I think they turned out ok.
 

I made a flag by laying out back-to-back flags on the computer and printing them on the same bond paper as the sails. I then brushed wood glue on the backside and folded them over. The effect has a nice, rough, cloth-like look that's far better than shiny plastic and holds its shape better than cloth (just like the sails). I rejected the flag from the kit not only because it was shiny, but because based on my research its design had never been used in US history (wrong number and pattern of stars). I chose a 24-star flag, which was used from 1822-1836, about the right time period for this post-War-of-1812 revenue cutter. It also happens to be the flag that represents my state of Missouri (the 24th state), a nice touch.
 

As the last step, I made a base from a chunk of Black Walnut harvested on our farm, which I chain-saw milled to rough size and then cut down using a table saw and router. The pedestals are from Model Expo. I also made a nameplate for the stern, again designed on computer and printed on bond paper, then glued to the stern. A bit of ink rubbed off in this process, but I think it just looks nicely scuffed and weathered. The name has a specific meaning for me. Many of the revenue cutters from this period were named for their region of intended service; for example the Louisiana and Alabama, the closest prototypes to this vessel, served in the Gulf of Mexico. My family has a long, multi-general history of visiting North Carolina's Outer Banks, a fascinating set of thin, sandy barrier islands that have been the scene for many important bits of American naval history, including a great deal of smuggling and piracy. It's one of my favorite pieces of coastline in the world. Thus, I named this vessel Ocracoke after the most significant harbor in the Outer Banks, a town with many fond memories and associations to me. I don't think any such cutter was ever based there, but in the fictional world of this model, there most certainly was.
 
With those steps completed, I declared the model done. I have mixed feelings about this project. I found the kit very frustrating, with terrible instructions and mediocre quality materials. Yet I also learned a great deal from working through those problems, and am really very happy with how the model turned out. It has lots of small errors or problems that an expert or contest judge would instantly notice, but I also think it came together in a very aesthetically pleasing way, and I can justify/explain every bit of rigging and equipment on it whether or not it's strictly prototypical (for example, I made sure the flag hoist would really work). So here are a few completed photos. I'm not entirely happy with the color balance, but do like how the blue background sets off the model.
 

Thank you to everyone/anyone who's followed this somewhat disjointed build log. I've appreciated your interest and support. I've already started planning my next project, another scratchbuilt Missouri River steamboat, and will be building a Maine lobster boat for my mother to keep my hands busy during the extensive design period for the former.