vossy

PVC pipe is great for our hobby. I use a length about 1200mm long capped at one end with plumbers resin and glue. I fill it with water and soak planks prior to bending. The uncapped end has another non glued cap on it to stop the planks popping out before they are soaked. I have used this for about 12 years and it has never leaked.
 
Cheers
 
Chris
 

Chris:
 
This summer I built a 30-year old model of the Portland, a paddle wheel steamer.  We have toted that thing around for all these years and I finally got into the mood to build model ships again.  I'm going to report on that build, then I'll start reporting on my new project, the Mantua Sergal model of the Cutty Sark.  
 
TOM

What are you building Tom?
 
Cheers
 
Chris
 

Same way you started this forum.  Go to the appropriate forum - KITS or SCRATCH -  on the main page, click on the forum title, In the next screen, click the Green "Start a New Topic" button in upper right and go.

Don't feel bad Tom, you are  2 years younger than me.  Glad I could help .

[NOTE:  for some reason the pics below were saved in reverse order.  Just a note because I reference them below in the order I uploaded them -- but they are shown in reverse order]
 
One of the issues with this kit is the way the instructions are laid out, and how things are sequenced in them.  There is basically a section of the instructions that references the picture book, and then another section that references the plan sheets -- and they overlap!  So it's necessary to be careful to look ahead in two instruction sections plus the relevant plan sheets and the picture book, to avoid making a mistake in the step at hand.
 
Case in point is the small deck shown here, which I planked a few days ago (picture in an earlier post).  Now the instructions have me adding a very thin cabin structure, and what wasn't clear to me is what color it needed to be on the sides.  If I just went by the instructions, I'd glue the bare wood, and then discover later on how to paint and decorate it -- or whether it should be painted at all.  The pictures in both books (there is one that shows deck fittings, but not ALL of the decks) don't show it clearly, and if you had to guess from those you'd say that maybe you leave it bare wood.  But of course that couldn't be the way the real ship was built.  So after searching several times through the instructions and plans I found a section much further on that talks about mounting this cabin structure on the deck and painting it white.  The instructions actually read in that sequence, but you'd figure that a modeler would paint first.  The tricky thing is that the cabin is so thin that it would be really hard to keep paint off the side of the deck, or you'd have to mask. 
 
So once I figured that out, I decided to paint first and then glue on, which still requires careful cutting of the wood pieces and fitting them (using clips to hold in place) before painting and then gluing.  The pics below show the loose pieces cut and painted, drying, then a side shot of the cabin structure, and then what the cabin structure will look like on the main deck (although there are PE decorations to go on it).
 
Good result, but a note that this kit requires more cross-referencing and reading ahead than other kits I've built.
 
Regards,
David

Bow bulkheads and fittings installed.  The PE brass will ultimately be painted white.
 
Regards,
David

at the moment......the camera is 'feeding'.   I got the pictures out beforehand,  so I can show you the new additions.  the aft railings got the cap rail added to it.   in a way,  this worked out,  because of the slight curvature of the deck.  if the cap rails were on, it may have been harder to get the railings to bend as much as I needed them to.

the windows were added at this point........the port side railings were also added at this point

the cap rails for this side.........and the windows



I used the tinted cello that I have on hand......with the upper deck open,  you can see into the cabins pretty good.  once closed off though,  the view might be a lot less.   it will be a bit harder to add the windows to the fore and aft ends,  due to the curves.   the smoke stacks are dry now.....I'm letting them set a bit longer.

I done some work to the stairs.....   hand rails are on.  I'm still plugg'in away  

that piece comes from the one on the left.........I cut it off trying to fit it in place.  more updates soon   

All 4 funnels built.  They will be painted later on.  The lines you see are showing through wood filler, so they should disappear with paint.
 
Regards,
David

Always a treat to have more Riverboat fans here!
 
Cheers
 
Chris
 

Hi, Just joined.
62 years old, live in Southern Indiana. Built models for many years when I was younger, but I've been away from the hobby for a long time.
I never built ship models before, but I have always loved ships, aircraft, anything mechanical. Air Force veteran (aircraft mechanic), recently retired from GE Aviation, where I taught jet engine mechanics. I am a deacon in the Episcopal Church and since retiring I have been serving as a chaplain for the Seamen's Church Institute. In that capacity I have been working with the towboat crews along the Ohio River. So, I am especially interested in riverboats. The skill level shown here has been awesome, I hope you can put up with an older beginner as I try to build some acceptable models.
 

I've been tinkering with her here and there.........ideas are spread all over the table.   I hardly have room to do anything with the Progress.......it's like I need another table {like a hole in the head}.  I started to assemble the benches.......there are only three in the kit.

as can be seen,  I've also been working on the smoke stacks.  the holes are drilled for the decoration that separates them.

....which leads to the railings in question.   I think they are too high.........shouldn't be a huge deal,  since other aspects of this model are out of scale,  but it is.

fitting them to the model........this is quite evident.

this is only part of the whole idea.   there is more to them......idea in progress      the decoration that separates the smoke stacks needed a real good cleaning up.......quite a bit of flash.  after all the mold lines were filed off,  it got a coat of gold paint.

the smoke stacks were taken to the booth and given a coat of flat black.   I used a spray can.....the paint was really thin.   with the stacks set up this way,  a few runs developed,  so I trimmed the runs off with a razor blade,  sanded them,  and gave them another coat.   I drilled holes in the base and fitted small diameter dowels in them,  setting them up in a different way to dry.

not liking how the railings were going,  excess wood was cut off the posts,  making them look a bit better.

a cap will be added to the railings before they are cemented in place....but before I reveal how I didn't listen to myself........here is the progress report on the stairs.  I know your all anxious to find out.   not that great,  I'm afraid........the first one still fits odd,  and the other side is looking to follow the same trend.   the outer banister broke in just about the same amount of places,  forcing me to cobble it together...........still the same bunching near the top of the staircase.   sad but true........I like Brian's outcome a lot better..........................I will still try,  but don't be surprised if I do an about face   


now I was told that it was the worker's day off..........but I caught one of them hang'in around.  very kind of 'em to let me take his picture  

.....and now to show you that I don't even follow my own directions .........I cemented the starboard side railing in place without doing the cap rail first!

looks a lot better though,  than my first vision of them.    I need to make a pair for the fore end of the boat.  more on her soon   

Hey Pop, I should have some more updates on the weekend or maybe Monday Aussie time. You are doing a great job on this model, and indeed your paddle wheel does look fantastic!
 
Cheers
 
Chris
 

I had a fight with a carving knife and a leg of lamb! Nearly cut my thumb off! Its why I haven't updated for a while. Should be good to go again pretty soon though. You keep up the good work.
 
Cheers
 
Chris
 

Hey Pop, I should have some more updates on the weekend or maybe Monday Aussie time. You are doing a great job on this model, and indeed your paddle wheel does look fantastic!
 
Cheers
 
Chris
 

Hey Pop, I should have some more updates on the weekend or maybe Monday Aussie time. You are doing a great job on this model, and indeed your paddle wheel does look fantastic!
 
Cheers
 
Chris
 

Looking really nice David. When is hull painting time?
 
Cheers
 
Chris
 

Hey Pop, I should have some more updates on the weekend or maybe Monday Aussie time. You are doing a great job on this model, and indeed your paddle wheel does look fantastic!
 
Cheers
 
Chris
 

Hey Pop, I should have some more updates on the weekend or maybe Monday Aussie time. You are doing a great job on this model, and indeed your paddle wheel does look fantastic!
 
Cheers
 
Chris
 

I've added the top deck now on top of the cabins.  A couple of notes.
 
Inexplicably, the instructions say to mount the deck on the ship before planking, which would just make everything harder in terms of trimming at the edges and for the ladder holes.
 
This is the first large deck that will actually be visible, so while I just used full-length planks on the earlier ones, on this one I decided to add some staggered planking.  But the center of the deck is covered, so I measured that (Picture 1) and then used full length in the center, moving to 40mm staggered on the outer edges.  (Pics 2 & 3).  The uneven parts near the center actually won't show because I erred on the conservative side for the center area -- it took me some time to figure out how best to do this.  I started with 40mm pre-cut pieces, which didn't work very well.  I then changed to gluing on full length planks and scoring them against measured lines, which worked better.
 
Pic 4 is the full model so far.
 
Regards,
David

I had a fight with a carving knife and a leg of lamb! Nearly cut my thumb off! Its why I haven't updated for a while. Should be good to go again pretty soon though. You keep up the good work.
 
Cheers
 
Chris
 

I did the same thing about 20 years ago when a hobby shop that I frequently visited in Door County was going out of business.  I guess that I spent close to a grand there when we luckily happened be vacationing up there and found the owner in the process of a clearance sale.  I picked up six wooden sailing ship model kits.  I bought every hand tool, clamp, piece of literature that he had left, and his whole remaining stock of paint.  I even bought his entire stock of milled basswood including the display case. (That I recently modified for my handicap accessible model shop.)  Boy, was he happy to see me come in!  I bought so much stuff that we had trouble packing the car to go back home.

I just caught up with/found this build thread and began looking through your latest progress photos. All I can say is wow...beautiful! 
Now I'll be going back to look through the entire thread. She's a beauty, Dennis.
 
My wife and I stayed a few days at the Rising Star casino in Indiana. Their casino is built upon one of these riverboats. Your model reminds me of our stay there. By the way, they had a gorgeous model of the Rising Star casino boat in their showcase. I thought I had taken photos of the model, but can't see to put my hands on it at this time.

Really nice update Pop. Hoping to get back to mine again soon once my hand has healed. With the door knobs, I find simple things like dressmakers pins are more to scale, or even old, bent used planking nails. That's what I used for my paddle wheel fake nails on my build.
 
Cheers
 
Chris
 

I had a fight with a carving knife and a leg of lamb! Nearly cut my thumb off! Its why I haven't updated for a while. Should be good to go again pretty soon though. You keep up the good work.
 
Cheers
 
Chris