Cathead

Len, check out this photo from the Arabia Steamboat Museum in Kansas City. If you zoom in on it, you'll see that the paddles (often called buckets despite being flat) are held to the spokes by U-shaped bolts. This was a common practice in earlier eras, I don't specifically know about Chaperon's later era. There was also sometimes a separate squareish plank over the paddle/bucket where the bolts went through, to provide extra strength. That is roughly what Mike did, but without the bolts (which are awfully fiddly to add at these scales). You could do it by making a jig and bending lots of wire; wouldn't need to drill through the paddles if you could simulate the nuts on the other side.

Great photo, Len, certainly shows that you're right and Chaperon was laid out the way you showed. I was going to suggest that the doors on the corners were to avoid having to squeeze between the chimneys to get in, since the front cabin wall is so close there, but as the staircase from the main deck goes right there, and there appear to be two doors right in front as well (judging from the photos on M-E's site), I don't know.

The suggestions from Dicas make a lot of sense to me. I've used one-side files to great effect before.

Len:
The Chaperon was built in 1884 at Chambersburg, OH as the J. C. Kerr and operated on the upper Ohio River until 1892 when it was sold to Capt. R. H. Williams - the photo of the cabin area shown yesterday is for another Chaperon - built in Clinton, IA - the upper windows (skylights) shown were not on the Chaperon in question.
 
But, the layout shown in the photo was probably close to what the Chaperon looked like in the forward area.  There are a tremendous amount of photos showing interiors of steamboats and while some were quite elaborate the Chaperon wasn't one to have lavish ornamentation and furnishings.
 
Kurt

Thanks so much JL, I get it !
 
My fingers are really sore after a LOT of filing !!
 
I really hope you guys think it makes a difference.
 
Now for those two strakes !!!

OK, here it goes, I hope it shows what I did.
 
Extra strake fairing at the bow
 

 
At the stern
 

 
From the inside ( there is no hole between the two last strakes, they are perfectly joined)
 

 
A general view.
 

 
Hope it helps
 
JL

The suggestions from Dicas make a lot of sense to me. I've used one-side files to great effect before.

The suggestions from Dicas make a lot of sense to me. I've used one-side files to great effect before.

I haven't posted progress because the foremast was just duplication of the mainmast yards, and I also took a week or so away to recharge. Having said that, I must be learning something from this process since the foremast went easier (altho the belay points were also more accessible, which helped.
Certainly doing the Morgan for my first truly rigged ship turned out to be a real challenge. Some bits don't bear real close inspection, some lines had to be spiced, etc. etc.
At any rate, the running rigging is now done except for the braces and placing rope coils. I expect that to take me a week or perhaps two. Then the Morgan goes into it's case in the living room while I build the whaleboats. Unless I add the cutting stage first.

Well, I thought of that too. Or, since the plans are actual size, just redo everything. But Somehow I managed to make a more or less decent job of the hull.
Before you enter into something drastic  I assure you that this is the kind of model where the hull as almost no importance, since you hardly look at it at hull level if you see what I mean.
I manage dto correct the front and rear strakes using a needle file with one side without teeth, putting that side against the hull and filing the strakes. It worked perfectly and I managed to get the strales back to the drawn line.
I think that in spite of your dispair, we are making a good job so far. Just go on and concentrate on the deck and bits. On this model, these are important and make the model.
JL 

Before anyone even suggests it I am not taking them all off and starting again !!!

I am so glad I put 'modified' in my title.
 
Apart from not being symmetrical, I also discovered far to late and just about when I had finished that all the strakes are a tiny fraction too long which meant that the lovely line I marked before starting to put them on as a guide line was a complete waste of time.
 
I have been scratching my head and trying to figure out a way of getting over this problem and I think the only solution is to reshape the edges of the strakes fore and aft. I may also take a wee bit off the prow of the keel which I don't think will be noticeable in the end.
 
I was trying so hard to get the strakes symmetrical on both sides of the hull I didn't really notice the mess I was making front and back. I also miraculously managed to do one side quite well and the other is horrific.
 
This is not going to be my finest hour nor my best model so my only redemption will be trying to make the best of a bad build. Maybe I should stick to making coaches!!
 
Whilst drying I thought you might like to see just how many clamps it is possible to use at any one time and also my rather awful front, back and bottom!!
 
Anyway fellow modellers, don't be too hard on me, believe me I have given myself quite enough of a hard time over this already.
 
 

Kurt would have the best idea of Chaperon's interior, however on earlier boats the "rooms" were actually quite narrow and small; much of the interior was taken up by a wider parlor, wide enough for dining tables and the like. So your proposed interior hallway would be quite a bit too narrow. But again I don't know how Chaperon was set up.

Hi,
    Another change,
    I have filled in the door apertures on the front radii of the boiler deck. i think building a door frame on the corners would be labor intensive and would use non standard timber, if there was such a thing back then! See the attached estimate of what I think the interior would/could look like.
The lobby is wider for easy access of multiple passengers and luggage.
I also assume there is an interior door for each room.
 
There's no intent to build interior walls but I did want to justify the deletion of the doors on the rads.
 
Len.
 

I was looking through my Power Point and thought I'd give a head's up to anyone who is likely to build this kit. (and at all interested, haha).
There is  a little bit of lettering missing on the CHAPERON stencil. Easy fix.
 
Len

First off, you're doing an incredible job. I seem to remember wondering why no rat lines. I still am not sure exactly why not. There was discussion about the possibility of rope chairs like this....
 

 
There wasn't much room for living quarters so I'd be inclined to think that the rigging would accommodate a smaller crew.

After several weeks of work, the mainsail is rigged, and I have a confusing question about the standing rigging. First, the good stuff.
 

 
Here's how she looks overall. I'm quite happy with my paper sail-making methods; the color and texture really seem to fit into the all-wood appearance. All the running rigging for the mainsail is in place, though no knots are glued down yet. I want the option to tighten and adjust for a little while longer, so there are lots of loose ends and a few lines look baggy. As I intend to display the port side, I'm planning to have both the main and fore sails trimmed to starboard, with the forecourse and foretopsail (the two square sails on the foremast) trimmed to starboard as well, as if she were on a broad reach. Here's a few closeup photos:
 



 
I should have been taking progress photos this whole time, but haven't. I don't know if there's really anything to be learned from all this; the rigging is just a matter of thinking through steps carefully. The plans' rigging diagrams are good to follow once you understand their format, but their order of operations is terrible. Any given mast or sail's rigging is spread over multiple pages, and often something you'll want to do first is three pages later. I've spent so much time obsessively rereading the rigging plans to make sure I don't forget anything I'll regret later. So far, so good.
 
My plan is to continue working from the inside-out: make and rig the foresail next, then the standing rigging on both masts, then the forecourse and foretopsail.
 
Now for the question: looking ahead to the standing rigging, the plan of this model confuses me. It only calls for one lateral stay per mast, each leading down to a single set of deadeyes on a channel. Then there are two smaller lines that lead from the masthead, pass through the two arms of the crosstrees, and connect to blocks either on deck or on the channel. I can't understand this; here's a visual diagram that I hope makes sense:
 

 
In this rigging setup, there can be no ratlines because there's only one stay. How would sailors get up to the crosstrees to handle the upper sails, effect repairs, or do anything else? And what's the point of the other two lines, which aren't listed as stays but don't do anything else? I've looked at a variety of images and plans for topsail schooners like this, and most show two stays and deadeyes on the foremast with ratlines, but even they only show one stay and deadeyes on the mainmast, which I don't understand. And none show the other two random lines.
 
This is definitely an accurate rendition of the kit plans, but I don't understand how or why this would work in real life. I like to understand what I'm doing when I model, so I hope someone can either explain this to me, or offer advice for a more realistic setup. It seems to me that there should be two sets of deadeyes on each channel, with stays running up to the top of the lower mast at the crosstrees, so that each mast could have ratlines rigged. Anyone?

Got a bit of detail work sorted out over the weekend.  I spent almost an entire day finishing up the Starboard side deadeyes and strops, etc.  Then I went through and touched up every strop, deadeye and eyebolt that needed to be blackened a bit.
 
    I went back through mine and Augie's notes to finish off some of the other details that needed to be attended to, such as Zeus' trident on the Transom and remounting the rudder and chains.
 

 
      Finally, I started to concentrate on the masts. I couldn't actually find the 13mm dowels that were supposed to be used for the fore and main masts, so I had to go track some down from my local hobby store.  I had a handful of cleats left over from another project, so it gave me a chance to use my snazzy new airbrush.  Worked pretty well, except they all needed to be taped down - after my first attempt at 'airbrushing' blew them all off the counter and had me on my hands and knees picking cleats up off the floor.  
     The color was a combination of Vallejo Airbrush colors light brown and yellow ochre.
 

 
      In order to get the cleats properly spaced, I used a thin strip of masking tape to measure the exact diameter of the dowel (after I did a little smoothing/sanding). I laid that strip onto my ruler, then equally divided it by the number of cleats needed. I then reapplied the tape to the mast, drilled the holes appropriately, and mounted the cleats.
 


 
     Finally, instead of using cardstock to simulate the mast rings as indicated in the plans, I decided to try and use the extra laster cut mast bases. Since there were only two left and I needed four - that meant splitting them in half. A delicate process to be sure!
 

 
  But, I was ultimately successful. They weren't perfectly even, but even enough to sand down and get close.  Obviously they stuck out way to far, so I then sanded them down to make them even with the wrapped line. 
 

 
  After the usual coats of pre-stain and Natural stain, they turned out pretty well.

Len, that's not attached yet, right? Because it appears to be on backward at the moment. I really hope I haven't just ruined your day. It looks very nice otherwise!

Len, that's not attached yet, right? Because it appears to be on backward at the moment. I really hope I haven't just ruined your day. It looks very nice otherwise!

No phone. I'm a holdout.

Dee Dee, I have photos I took while exploring the Yukon back in the late '90s, of several wrecks along the upper river. I climbed in, on, and around them and took some photos. Unfortunately they're print images and I don't have a scanner. Maybe I can try taking some new photos of the old photos! The climate up there has preserved the wood quite well, even though the boats themselves have mostly collapsed into piles of wood.The hulls were still solid enough to clamber into.

Bob, just imagine it before the poor river was mostly dammed up and had lots of the debris filtered out of her!
 
Deperdussion, those are pretty unique, thanks for sharing. Where are those images from?

No phone. I'm a holdout.

I live on the Mississippi River and with the stuff I have seen floating by, particularly in the spring, you definitely would not want to get hit broadside (or any other side) while tied up on the shore, anchored or not.
 
Bob