Cathead

You have a great eye. This is what happens to a first time "scratch builder" who deviates from the plan. I built the big double doors and side windows in the front of the cabin and then went to put the stacks through and found that they would only be a foot away from the cabin structure. So I figured that since I wasn't going to light the boiler up I could move the stack where I I had clearance. 
However I didn't make the mistake I made on my "Mississippi Riverboat" which you picked up The rear stairs have the same pitch. 
In all seriousness Thanks for the comment that is what makes this fun.

Well, that's better than using Elm stain and naming your oldest son Minwax. He'd never forgive you.
 
Model looks great so far.

Well, that's better than using Elm stain and naming your oldest son Minwax. He'd never forgive you.
 
Model looks great so far.

Well, that's better than using Elm stain and naming your oldest son Minwax. He'd never forgive you.
 
Model looks great so far.

I already made some extensive changes to the coal bunkers that made sense to me at the time. This was my thinking.
 
The canon needed to be cleared for a gun crew, I really don't know how many guys are considered normal for manning a single canon but I assumed 3 to 4 guys should have clear access. That said, I removed the flagpole, I am thinking of mounting that on the outside, around mid ship so the crew could use the pole and guy ropes for steadying them selves. Not fullydecided on that yet.
 
I removed the front compartment altogether to increase space around the canon also, with the domplex curvature there is very little space lost to store coal, also scooping it out would be difficult.
 
After thinking about this for some time I applied a little bit of a novel opening just for the front 2 compartments on each side. I think this will allow good access to the coal and the stokers can keep their head down.
 
Looks cool on the model, would love to get your opinion on this. Take a look at the pic and I hope you stay on board Kurt, I enjoy your input.
 
You will see I only intend showing one bunker lid open, the hinges will be mounted on the front face of cours so the front lid swings forward and the second lid swings rearward. I still have to add one grab slot to the lid. Finally the strip  scribed is intended to mount the hinges for #2 opening.
 
btw, I flipped these parts over and redid the lid openings on the flip side so I can easily go back to stock if this does not pan out.
 
 
 

Regarding the hinging of the coal bunkers - the photo attached shows some lids opened.  Note that if the hinges were not placed as they were - per the kit - they would block access for loading from a dock.  As they are positioned they act as a backstop for shoveling the coal aboard.  Not much room to shovel coal from the bunkers to the boiler regardless.
Kurt

I decided to not add planking to the upper frt and rear deck but I was not happy with the lightly scribed lines that are depicted on the model, so I decided to have a go at scoring them in. Hereis how I went about it.
 
First I marked up the current plank pattern on the reverse side of the rear deck by extending the plank lines onto the blank with a pencil so I could easily and accurately scribe them back on the reverse side.

 
 
Deck flipped and pencilled in, so, if I screw up the scoring I still have a good deck to work with.

 
 
Next I made a form to add a radius to the rear edge, purely cosmetics

 
Then with the finest tip I have for the dremel, 2 coats of Minwax, (still to be sanded and reapplied):
 
 

 
I ended up with this.
 

 
I think it looks ok with this large scale 1/2' but would not attempt on a smaller scale. I' post a final pic when it's sanded and finished.
 

PB1 is coming together, I have cut off the coal bunker to end at #5 bulkhead. With the double curvature of the hull in this area there was very little volume to store anything, also I think it would have been difficult to get your shovel in there. So, with that space now opened up manning the gun and stoking the coals should be more manageable. The stain I went with is Royal Walnut. I have not decided whether to stain or paint the coal bunkers yet.
 
Thanks for following.
 
Len
 
 

Just wrapped up a bit of bashing to fit the modified decks. The bulkheads, 5 & 12,  were planked with 1/16" thk planks so I had to trim the same off both ends of the lower deck, also removed some cutouts on the bulkheads so that the second layer I added to the deck will hide the sweeps that are evident on the kit.
I've attached a couple of pics showing what needed to be done on the bulkheads. Dropped them back into the blank so change could easily be compared.
I should be gluing them in tomorrow.
 
 

I have the rear deck and seats sanded and positioned in place but not glued, I am tempted to stain and matt urethane the inside of the boat and go with a painted exterior.
 
Can anyone tell me the material of the coal bunkers please?
 
A couple of pics showing latest status.
 
Len
 
 

Haha, enjoyed a rainy day all day today, not stopped, we were unable to work on the backup camera so I had no choice but do some modelling, took one for the team, as they say.
 
I'm already loving this build, I have the keel completed, it appears to be square and bang on, very straight forward.
I did have some considerable help from my new power tool, the cordless Dremel 8050, a great buy really made light work of fairing the bulkheads, I'll just have to finish them off when I have all the bulkheads positioned and supported.
Interestingly, the instructions suggest finishing some parts prior to assembling, I'm all for swapping about so I took a look at bulkhead # 4 and added a couple of doors for stowage access, quite pleased with how that came out, the first modification complete, I'm sure there will be many more.
 
Just a note, I personally enjoy making mods purely for the pleasure and lengthening the build process, please don't take that as a reflection of the model, the model is a dandy.
 
I have a few changes lined up that I want to include, about the only rule I apply to myself is that it has to be a upgrade, performance improvement or practicality of build, (at least in my mind).
 
To date the changes planned are;
1 Hide the vertical portion of the keel that is exposed on bukheads 4, 12, 16. This is completed on #4, I'll put a pic up. This will require some trim changes to the decks but that's ok.
 
2 Flagpole has to go or be moved, I can't see a crew dodging that when they are firing that canon to preserve their lives.
 
3 Rearrange the transmission/engine installation to make more room for the crew, not sure if this is even feasible yet, but I hope it is. Could make things look very interesting in the plan view.
 
4 I will hide most if not all the bulkhead sections that come through the deck, I think a combination of grinding a bit off the bulkheads coupled with an additional layer of planks on top of the one piece deck should do it.
 
5 Coal bunkers look difficult to access, I would like to have an alternate approach to the hinges locations, but no plans established yet.
 
More to come, if you have any revelations that I should consider I would be eternally grateful to know them. Supper time then it's off to sort those Rebs out.
 
Len..... Opps, nearly forgot the pic.
 

#4 bulkhead, note the hidden keel slot.
 

Howdy all,
 
I had noticed this before, but the rudder and the hull were solid plastic.   The more I looked at it, the more it bothered me.  So, I took a drill and drilled all the holes between the hull and the rudder, and then cleaned it out with an Xacto knife.  Small detail, but I think it looks much nicer than just painting it black, and creating an "illusion" on the gap.  Anyway, OCD won the day, and I feel better now.  Plus, thanks to Gregory for turning me on to JTilley's Bounty (which is a masterpiece, BTW), I will try his copper sheathing layout on the opposite side of the boat.  Lord God, please grant me the patience......
 
Ciao for now

Sorry it has taken me so long to post anything and am not sure how this new system works

Thanks Nils, Yves and Keith,
I referred to the aluminum as foil.  Really it is an Aluminum tape used to tape the duct work in heating systems. Sorry about that.
 
Bob

Hi All,
I have to move away from research for a while to build a little more.  Or I will know everything there is to know about the Mariefred and never build her.  The Mariefred is a very early (1903) steel boat.  So like Nils (Mirabell61), I had to plate her, rivets and all.  Maybe I shouldn’t say so but it was a lot easier that I thought it would be.  The main problem is finding the right foil for the job.  Most of what I found at the hardware store was too thin and doesn’t look right.  There were four or five brands where us non-professionals find what we want.  But walking down to the end of the store where the contractors go, I found the heaver foil that is needed.  I found an old clock gear that I made into a ponce wheel and with just a little practice . . . here’s the results.   I’ll accept it as a first try.  Now paint and on to the rest of the boat.
 
Bob

I'll happily repeat the accolades. Well done on a unique model.

Howdy all,
 
Well, I did decide to copper the bottom.  First, I went to the LHS and got some nice Vallejo blue and yellow.  I never prime (something that I really need to start doing) so it took 6 coats to get the color somewhat uniform.  After the LHS, I headed over to Hobby Lobby and bought some of the copper tape that stained-glass window folks use.  And, it went on like a dream.  Now, I tried to make it look accurate, but I mostly used strips and then scored it with a tweezers (made the size the same, and did the job twice as fast.  I used strips because I didn't want to cut each individual plate. I like the effect. 
 
Ciao for now

Len, thank you for saying so. I appreciate everyone's interest and support. It's getting close. Four more rope coils to go!
Steve

Hi,  last few pics, hope you like em.
 
 
 
 

Hi Popeye
 
Yes, it is. But I`ve been working on my 3D Program to get the first Gun barrel ready for printing, the parrot gun is done.

Not sure what kind of filament I will use for the barrels, but tending to Black PETG or ABS. Time will show, when the printer is built, maybe in about 4 to 5 weeks.
 
Regards
Gerhard
 
 
 

Hi Johnhoward
 
Would be great to see what changes are to make for an accurate model. The guns and their carriages are important to me, but the most of "invisible" interior parts are not so important for a floating model. This will be more important for a showcase ship. I need most of the inner space for the engine and the RC-Stuff. As far as I am at the moment, I still can do some slight changes, as long as it is for the casemate, and the rudder/steering unit. The paddlewheel should too be as close as possible to the original thing for its visibility. I have signed in for your St.Louis building report, so I will not miss anything from that!
 
Hi to all interested too.
Some progress made this days, small portions for the floor are done. But still a long way to go!

 

All the cutouts in the frames will be done when the deck is finished and all the "boxes" for the engine and RC components are set in.
 
Best regards, thank you all for your interest
Gerhard

I agree, stowed makes the most sense for your presentation.

Interesting that the two initial sets of artwork depict masts, but the last one doesn't. The latter seems more likely to me; it also seems more realistic in terms of the overall layout of the vessel (such as placements of chimneys and boilers relative to the paddlewheels).

I'll happily repeat the accolades. Well done on a unique model.

Just think I need to make a brief update.... there isn't any.  I am grateful for the comments, the encouragement, the corrections, and the "push" to do better.
 
 After being down with a particular nasty bit of flu, i'm staring at the beast and realize I really really need new glasses.  So.... on hold for a bit.   I was going to cut a test cannon carriage but when I realized how tiny it is, I'd best wait.
 
So, in the meantime, I'm fiddling with the drawings, sorting out the next steps, and waiting on a lumber delivery.  It seems my maple went into full warp mode over the last year... <sigh>  Plus I discovered no wood of the right size for the gun carriages. 
 
I don't think I'll change my ways at this point.  Still learning so do-overs are part of life.