Cathead

Your model is coming along nicely, very interesting. 
 
I am fascinated by the riverboats that were converted into gunboats.  As packets, the boats went in one direction on the rivers to the last stop and then went all the way back.  But as gunboats they had to be where the action was.   Yes the lower Mississippi river is wide but can you imagine turning around a floating football field sized boat in some of the smaller tributaries?  
 
Bob

The topsail - a long story
 
The topsail proved to be the most complicated sail to make so far. The concave foot of the sail was drawn free handed and the resulting glued seam shows it a bit. I added bowlines and reef tackles to the kits clew lines, sheets and braces. Lifts and tye were installed as per instructions. The strange parrel however was changed to double rows similar to those on Pegasus.
 
The topsail yard got some simple horses and was, as far as possible, prepared with the necessary lines.
 
The sail was bent to the topsail yard and hoisted - only to find that it was a bit too large. I had to lower the crossjack yard a few mm and to re-rig the sling , truss and the sheet and lift blocks in the process. The sail still looks a little large compared to the usual illustrations of schooners but for all that effort it needed to set up that piece of cloth, I want my skipper to really get some extra thrust out of it. The yards are braced to port a bit as explained above.
 
The reef tackles lead up through holes in the outer yard ends, through small blocks in a span at the mast head and are belayed on the foremost capping pin rail.
 
The bowlines presented a problem. One usual method was to lead them through the outer sheaves of a triple block on the jibboom end. My intention was to replace the kits single block with a treble one but several laborious attempts of my carpenter to make one failed spectacularly - mostly braking apart at the holes. Then the same carpenter reminded me of the  alternative method to set up topgallant stay and bowlines via a treble thimble strap and we decided to combine the single block with a double thimble strap for the bowlines. My excuse for this perhaps unorthodox mix is Marquardt's statement that no other rig was as individual as that of the schooner. Double bridles were applied to the sail and the bowlines led via my reliable wooden thimbles to my pin rail on the bowsprit step.  They will be definitely belayed only after setting up all the stay sails.
 
There is still some stowing of loose ends to do before starting on those stay sails.
 
 I've got the feeling that the effort and time to set up the topsail was about three times that of any fore and aft sail. If this compares to the prototypes, I see now another good reason to rather use fore and aft sails on smaller vessels with a relatively small crew or on modern yachts.
 

topsail
 

the sailmaker sets the last few stitches
 

topsail yard is ready
 
 

block and thimbles arrangement on the jibboom end
 

topsail hoisted
 
 

Pickles topsail may be a bit large

Thanks! I appreciate the feedback, especially given how beautifully yours turned out.

Well, my beloved Royals have won the baseball World Series, and I'm back to work on the Bertrand. 
 

 
The main deck structures are complete, and I've mostly finished framing up the boiler deck. This was surprisingly difficult, as there's no flat frame of reference (the main deck curves in every direction). Getting the support posts vertical in both directions was quite interesting. I've been very bad about taking "process" photos during this stage, so you'll just have to imagine things. The only consistently flat frame of reference is, oddly enough, the bottom of the hull. So I made a complicated jig of solid wood strips clamped to the hull, from which I could extend vertical squares, onto which I clamped cross-ways strips, to which I could clamp the vertical posts. Fiddly, but effective. I also made strong use of the eyeball; I'd rather a line of posts LOOK straight relative to each other, even if they're slightly out of line relative to true vertical.
 
Once the posts were in place, I began adding cross-pieces. Technically the boiler deck should have a slight bit of camber to it, but I decided that would be too difficult and would be barely visible at this scale, as most of the deck will be covered by the cabins. The more significant camber of the main deck shows up nicely, and is sufficient for my taste. Thus the deck is flat athwartships, but curves gently fore and aft to follow the rise of the main deck in both directions. 
 

 
I finished planking the main deck as far I as intend to; this extent will allow the model to look complete from a port 45-degree angle fore or aft, but still leaves plenty of internal view from the starboard side. It's a little rough in places, but will have to do. I'll put a crate or something over a few plank ends that stick up more than I'd like.
 

 
View from the open starboard side. I've also finished installing the hog chain braces; these angled posts support metal rods running fore-and-aft, with turnbuckles on them, which keep the long, narrow hull from sagging/hogging. I won't install the actual rods until near the end of the project, as they'll be in the way, but needed to do the braces now as they extend through multiple decks. They're intentionally a bit longer than necessary, so I can cut them off just as I like them once I finish the superstructure. 
 
Currently I'm building the boiler assembly, which sits just forward of the cargo shed on the main deck. I intentionally haven't installed the vertical support posts at the front of the boiler deck, to allow me to slide the boiler in there. Once it's in place, I'll finish that area and install the staircases (already built) just in front of the boilers.
 
I think things will go rapidly for a little while, now. Install the boilers, connect them to the engines with steam lines, plank in the entire boiler deck, and then move on to building the cabin area. I still have to decide whether to order a bunch of styrene windows and doors, or try to make my own out of strip wood. The former would be far faster and more consistently detailed, but more expensive and hard to make look just like the surrounding wood. The latter would take a long time, but be a lot cheaper and fit in better if I can make them realistically enough. I'll decide once the next deck is done.
 
I'm holding out hope of reaching my goal to complete this model by the end of the year. Luckily the approach of winter means nice long evenings for quiet model work. She's certainly starting to look something like a steamboat. In the meantime, here's a fine Ozark fiddler playing "Jefferson City", one of Bertrand's ports of call on her way upriver.
 

 
 

Thanks! I appreciate the feedback, especially given how beautifully yours turned out.

Thanks Kurt, Steven, Andy and John,
 
John, great idea!  This is how I'll handle the rest of the wheels.  I think I will leave the base cutaway on the port side to see the entire wheel but the starboard paddlewheel on the first model and the flywheel and starboard paddlewheel on the second model will all be recessed like this.  Thanks for the photos.  Do you mind if I ask if you textured or painted the waters surface?
 
Kurt, I'm attaching a couple of photos of my first sectioned diorama to show the extent of the wreck.  I'm also including some photos of the original paddlewheel assembly and associated bearing to show how badly the shaft was moving around in the bearing.  I don't know how they trusted this to hold together!
 
Thanks again for your comments and ideas.
 
Glenn
 
 
My first diorama of the Heroines remains.  At this time the forward half of the vessel hadn't been excavated yet.

 
Close-up of the clutch mechanism.  I will be modeling this next.

 
 
Port paddlewheel before conservation.

 
Outboard port paddlewheel bearing.  Oddly, instead of having bronze sleeves, this was the only bearing cast entirely of iron without a separate bronze lining.  You can even see the part line where the iron should end and the bronze should start.  The shaft also wore away the after edge of the bearing surface.  The shaft must have moved in the bearing with any change of momentum or force on the shaft.  With over a ton of wood and metal bouncing around it must have made for a bouncy ride.

 
Associated bearing cap showing wear to aft side and matching wear on shaft.  All the caps were cast with a grease cup on  top.  This cap was the only one that wasn't bored with a hole in the bottom of the cap.  It appears that they felt no need to grease this bearing.

Thanks! I appreciate the feedback, especially given how beautifully yours turned out.

That looks better.  Also, don't worry about the roughness of how the planking looks.  Once you do the final sanding after you're done planking, it'll look a lot cleaner.
 
Erik

Sometimes mood is everything. By Friday evening, I was feeling a tad frustrated, having struggled over and over to get my planking right. I'd decided to do things properly, so carefully removed my first attempt, re-faired the frames, and started over. The first plank went on fine again, but I just wasn't getting the hang of bending the planks in three dimensions, and things kept either buckling or not lining up. Finally I just went to bed.
 
This morning, I took a deep breath and started anew, changing focus to the garboard planks and the next strake up. These allowed me to practice solely edge-bending a plank, and I started to get the hang of it a bit, so went back to work on the sub-sheer strakes again. I was having fun and feeling good again, and something finally clicked, at least a little.
 
I also realized after some experimentation, that I may have over-faired one of the forward bulkheads. Gluing in a little filler strip and filing it to shape definitely helped with forming the planks properly. A fresh approach let me see that, whereas the night before I was just bulling ahead with blinders on.
 
The results, as of this afternoon, are definitely below the standard of the best builders here, but I think are satisfactory for me. There are still some odd gouges, dents, and humps in a few places, but I think these will fade with sanding, painting, and the overall completion of the model. They show up well in the harsh light and shadows of close-up photography, but won't be as obvious in the general display conditions of the finished model. I think.
 
Bow view, with the sheer strake now set lower. I gave the planks a quick, rough sanding but there's more work to be done.

 
Side view. I think I've gotten the hang of edge-bending planks around the garboard strake. It's too bad this part will be painted, while the upper bow will be stained, because things look better down here.

 
Bottom view. Not sure if it shows, but I've been using a tick strip to lay out the course of the remaining planks.

 
Edge-bending planks. It's taken some practice to get this right, especially without denting the soft planks too badly. I used the edge of my cutting map, as the rough surface gives the clamps more purchase. I've learned to turn any such plank upside down, so any clamp marks are on the inside where they won't be as visible.
 
Does anyone see further faults or problems, other than those I've already pointed out (a few humps and nicks in the planks, for example)?
 
I'm looking forward to filling this in, now that I'm finally understanding more about how to do it. I wanted this kit to teach me more, and it sure is!

Hi Glenn,
 
Been following your build from the beginning. Here's an idea I came up with for my water line hull
C.R.Lamb stern wheeler. As I wanted to picture her afloat in a water diorama this worked out
great. Most viewers don't realize what I did.
 
John 

Glen:
Post a photo or two of the wreck model - that shows the condition as found pretty darn good. 
Kurt

Sometimes mood is everything. By Friday evening, I was feeling a tad frustrated, having struggled over and over to get my planking right. I'd decided to do things properly, so carefully removed my first attempt, re-faired the frames, and started over. The first plank went on fine again, but I just wasn't getting the hang of bending the planks in three dimensions, and things kept either buckling or not lining up. Finally I just went to bed.
 
This morning, I took a deep breath and started anew, changing focus to the garboard planks and the next strake up. These allowed me to practice solely edge-bending a plank, and I started to get the hang of it a bit, so went back to work on the sub-sheer strakes again. I was having fun and feeling good again, and something finally clicked, at least a little.
 
I also realized after some experimentation, that I may have over-faired one of the forward bulkheads. Gluing in a little filler strip and filing it to shape definitely helped with forming the planks properly. A fresh approach let me see that, whereas the night before I was just bulling ahead with blinders on.
 
The results, as of this afternoon, are definitely below the standard of the best builders here, but I think are satisfactory for me. There are still some odd gouges, dents, and humps in a few places, but I think these will fade with sanding, painting, and the overall completion of the model. They show up well in the harsh light and shadows of close-up photography, but won't be as obvious in the general display conditions of the finished model. I think.
 
Bow view, with the sheer strake now set lower. I gave the planks a quick, rough sanding but there's more work to be done.

 
Side view. I think I've gotten the hang of edge-bending planks around the garboard strake. It's too bad this part will be painted, while the upper bow will be stained, because things look better down here.

 
Bottom view. Not sure if it shows, but I've been using a tick strip to lay out the course of the remaining planks.

 
Edge-bending planks. It's taken some practice to get this right, especially without denting the soft planks too badly. I used the edge of my cutting map, as the rough surface gives the clamps more purchase. I've learned to turn any such plank upside down, so any clamp marks are on the inside where they won't be as visible.
 
Does anyone see further faults or problems, other than those I've already pointed out (a few humps and nicks in the planks, for example)?
 
I'm looking forward to filling this in, now that I'm finally understanding more about how to do it. I wanted this kit to teach me more, and it sure is!

Sometimes mood is everything. By Friday evening, I was feeling a tad frustrated, having struggled over and over to get my planking right. I'd decided to do things properly, so carefully removed my first attempt, re-faired the frames, and started over. The first plank went on fine again, but I just wasn't getting the hang of bending the planks in three dimensions, and things kept either buckling or not lining up. Finally I just went to bed.
 
This morning, I took a deep breath and started anew, changing focus to the garboard planks and the next strake up. These allowed me to practice solely edge-bending a plank, and I started to get the hang of it a bit, so went back to work on the sub-sheer strakes again. I was having fun and feeling good again, and something finally clicked, at least a little.
 
I also realized after some experimentation, that I may have over-faired one of the forward bulkheads. Gluing in a little filler strip and filing it to shape definitely helped with forming the planks properly. A fresh approach let me see that, whereas the night before I was just bulling ahead with blinders on.
 
The results, as of this afternoon, are definitely below the standard of the best builders here, but I think are satisfactory for me. There are still some odd gouges, dents, and humps in a few places, but I think these will fade with sanding, painting, and the overall completion of the model. They show up well in the harsh light and shadows of close-up photography, but won't be as obvious in the general display conditions of the finished model. I think.
 
Bow view, with the sheer strake now set lower. I gave the planks a quick, rough sanding but there's more work to be done.

 
Side view. I think I've gotten the hang of edge-bending planks around the garboard strake. It's too bad this part will be painted, while the upper bow will be stained, because things look better down here.

 
Bottom view. Not sure if it shows, but I've been using a tick strip to lay out the course of the remaining planks.

 
Edge-bending planks. It's taken some practice to get this right, especially without denting the soft planks too badly. I used the edge of my cutting map, as the rough surface gives the clamps more purchase. I've learned to turn any such plank upside down, so any clamp marks are on the inside where they won't be as visible.
 
Does anyone see further faults or problems, other than those I've already pointed out (a few humps and nicks in the planks, for example)?
 
I'm looking forward to filling this in, now that I'm finally understanding more about how to do it. I wanted this kit to teach me more, and it sure is!

Sometimes mood is everything. By Friday evening, I was feeling a tad frustrated, having struggled over and over to get my planking right. I'd decided to do things properly, so carefully removed my first attempt, re-faired the frames, and started over. The first plank went on fine again, but I just wasn't getting the hang of bending the planks in three dimensions, and things kept either buckling or not lining up. Finally I just went to bed.
 
This morning, I took a deep breath and started anew, changing focus to the garboard planks and the next strake up. These allowed me to practice solely edge-bending a plank, and I started to get the hang of it a bit, so went back to work on the sub-sheer strakes again. I was having fun and feeling good again, and something finally clicked, at least a little.
 
I also realized after some experimentation, that I may have over-faired one of the forward bulkheads. Gluing in a little filler strip and filing it to shape definitely helped with forming the planks properly. A fresh approach let me see that, whereas the night before I was just bulling ahead with blinders on.
 
The results, as of this afternoon, are definitely below the standard of the best builders here, but I think are satisfactory for me. There are still some odd gouges, dents, and humps in a few places, but I think these will fade with sanding, painting, and the overall completion of the model. They show up well in the harsh light and shadows of close-up photography, but won't be as obvious in the general display conditions of the finished model. I think.
 
Bow view, with the sheer strake now set lower. I gave the planks a quick, rough sanding but there's more work to be done.

 
Side view. I think I've gotten the hang of edge-bending planks around the garboard strake. It's too bad this part will be painted, while the upper bow will be stained, because things look better down here.

 
Bottom view. Not sure if it shows, but I've been using a tick strip to lay out the course of the remaining planks.

 
Edge-bending planks. It's taken some practice to get this right, especially without denting the soft planks too badly. I used the edge of my cutting map, as the rough surface gives the clamps more purchase. I've learned to turn any such plank upside down, so any clamp marks are on the inside where they won't be as visible.
 
Does anyone see further faults or problems, other than those I've already pointed out (a few humps and nicks in the planks, for example)?
 
I'm looking forward to filling this in, now that I'm finally understanding more about how to do it. I wanted this kit to teach me more, and it sure is!

Thanks Cathead, druxey and Jack,
 
The damage lets me off the hook for keeping everything lined up exactly. It all comes down to how much slop I should represent. Not enough and I don't represent the remains well, too much an the structures look unattractive or poorly modeled. I'm afraid that if I represent the remains in the condition they were actually in, no one would believe it.
 
 
Glenn

Sometimes mood is everything. By Friday evening, I was feeling a tad frustrated, having struggled over and over to get my planking right. I'd decided to do things properly, so carefully removed my first attempt, re-faired the frames, and started over. The first plank went on fine again, but I just wasn't getting the hang of bending the planks in three dimensions, and things kept either buckling or not lining up. Finally I just went to bed.
 
This morning, I took a deep breath and started anew, changing focus to the garboard planks and the next strake up. These allowed me to practice solely edge-bending a plank, and I started to get the hang of it a bit, so went back to work on the sub-sheer strakes again. I was having fun and feeling good again, and something finally clicked, at least a little.
 
I also realized after some experimentation, that I may have over-faired one of the forward bulkheads. Gluing in a little filler strip and filing it to shape definitely helped with forming the planks properly. A fresh approach let me see that, whereas the night before I was just bulling ahead with blinders on.
 
The results, as of this afternoon, are definitely below the standard of the best builders here, but I think are satisfactory for me. There are still some odd gouges, dents, and humps in a few places, but I think these will fade with sanding, painting, and the overall completion of the model. They show up well in the harsh light and shadows of close-up photography, but won't be as obvious in the general display conditions of the finished model. I think.
 
Bow view, with the sheer strake now set lower. I gave the planks a quick, rough sanding but there's more work to be done.

 
Side view. I think I've gotten the hang of edge-bending planks around the garboard strake. It's too bad this part will be painted, while the upper bow will be stained, because things look better down here.

 
Bottom view. Not sure if it shows, but I've been using a tick strip to lay out the course of the remaining planks.

 
Edge-bending planks. It's taken some practice to get this right, especially without denting the soft planks too badly. I used the edge of my cutting map, as the rough surface gives the clamps more purchase. I've learned to turn any such plank upside down, so any clamp marks are on the inside where they won't be as visible.
 
Does anyone see further faults or problems, other than those I've already pointed out (a few humps and nicks in the planks, for example)?
 
I'm looking forward to filling this in, now that I'm finally understanding more about how to do it. I wanted this kit to teach me more, and it sure is!

The first two strakes are done; I felt they went on smoothly and looked good.
 

 
Then I discovered that I'd made a significant mistake. Despite obsessively rereading various build logs and the instructions, I did something wrong. Can you tell what it is?
 

 
That's right, I was supposed to leave a gap above the sheer strake, at the stem, to allow for the cap rail to fit. Now that I see it, it's obvious in many other logs, on the plans, and in the instruction photos. I have the rest of the strake set out just right, a bit below the tops of the bulkheads, but without thinking I ran the sheer strake all the way up the stem to the end of the rabbet. It's supposed to look like this.
 
I'm not the first to do this. Stuntflyer did the same thing, and in fact I discovered my error by reading his log, which I apparently hadn't before. I got to that point, and my stomach lurched. However, the ensuing discussion makes it clear that it's a reasonable fudge to just sand down the sheer strake to create that notch/platform for the cap rail, as Stuntflyer did here. His model came out beautifully.
 
So that's what I'm going to do, unless anyone has advice to the contrary? Does the rest of the planking look correct, or are there other concerns that would suggest I should take these two off and start over before I'm in too deep?

Spreaders really are a tedious thing to model. I didn't enjoy that part of the Bertrand.
 
Really nice modelling of the damage. When do you shove a big piece of kindling through the bow to simulate the fatal snag?

Sometimes mood is everything. By Friday evening, I was feeling a tad frustrated, having struggled over and over to get my planking right. I'd decided to do things properly, so carefully removed my first attempt, re-faired the frames, and started over. The first plank went on fine again, but I just wasn't getting the hang of bending the planks in three dimensions, and things kept either buckling or not lining up. Finally I just went to bed.
 
This morning, I took a deep breath and started anew, changing focus to the garboard planks and the next strake up. These allowed me to practice solely edge-bending a plank, and I started to get the hang of it a bit, so went back to work on the sub-sheer strakes again. I was having fun and feeling good again, and something finally clicked, at least a little.
 
I also realized after some experimentation, that I may have over-faired one of the forward bulkheads. Gluing in a little filler strip and filing it to shape definitely helped with forming the planks properly. A fresh approach let me see that, whereas the night before I was just bulling ahead with blinders on.
 
The results, as of this afternoon, are definitely below the standard of the best builders here, but I think are satisfactory for me. There are still some odd gouges, dents, and humps in a few places, but I think these will fade with sanding, painting, and the overall completion of the model. They show up well in the harsh light and shadows of close-up photography, but won't be as obvious in the general display conditions of the finished model. I think.
 
Bow view, with the sheer strake now set lower. I gave the planks a quick, rough sanding but there's more work to be done.

 
Side view. I think I've gotten the hang of edge-bending planks around the garboard strake. It's too bad this part will be painted, while the upper bow will be stained, because things look better down here.

 
Bottom view. Not sure if it shows, but I've been using a tick strip to lay out the course of the remaining planks.

 
Edge-bending planks. It's taken some practice to get this right, especially without denting the soft planks too badly. I used the edge of my cutting map, as the rough surface gives the clamps more purchase. I've learned to turn any such plank upside down, so any clamp marks are on the inside where they won't be as visible.
 
Does anyone see further faults or problems, other than those I've already pointed out (a few humps and nicks in the planks, for example)?
 
I'm looking forward to filling this in, now that I'm finally understanding more about how to do it. I wanted this kit to teach me more, and it sure is!

Spreaders really are a tedious thing to model. I didn't enjoy that part of the Bertrand.
 
Really nice modelling of the damage. When do you shove a big piece of kindling through the bow to simulate the fatal snag?

Spreaders really are a tedious thing to model. I didn't enjoy that part of the Bertrand.
 
Really nice modelling of the damage. When do you shove a big piece of kindling through the bow to simulate the fatal snag?

Spreaders really are a tedious thing to model. I didn't enjoy that part of the Bertrand.
 
Really nice modelling of the damage. When do you shove a big piece of kindling through the bow to simulate the fatal snag?

Spreaders really are a tedious thing to model. I didn't enjoy that part of the Bertrand.
 
Really nice modelling of the damage. When do you shove a big piece of kindling through the bow to simulate the fatal snag?

Spreaders really are a tedious thing to model. I didn't enjoy that part of the Bertrand.
 
Really nice modelling of the damage. When do you shove a big piece of kindling through the bow to simulate the fatal snag?

Spreaders really are a tedious thing to model. I didn't enjoy that part of the Bertrand.
 
Really nice modelling of the damage. When do you shove a big piece of kindling through the bow to simulate the fatal snag?