kurtvd19

When I want wood to be smooth I use an automotive body filler meant to fill scratches in final or close to final sanding.  It adheres to wood w/o any problem.  Bondo Glazing and Spot Putty.  This isn't meant to fill massive dents, dips are voids - that's regular body filler Bondo.
I use an old credit card as a squeegee to force the filler into the wood grain - don't let it build up.  When cured I sand it and see how smooth it is.   If you want the part to look like metal or fiberglass multiple coats might be needed.
Some use Spackle wall hole filler the same way.

One observation: No matter how good the instructions, diagrams and photos may be, they are useless if you don't read them!

Thanks to all for the wonderful comments and taking the time to make them.  And thanks for the likes. 
 
 
Some Hull Paint
 
Weeks have flown by and yet I have little progress to report. But here is a brief update on the model.
 
Many of these boats were painted dark green above the water line and so my model will also be green. I began with a emerald green to which I incrementally added tiny amounts of real black until I had a sort of hunter/forest green. (I am always amazed how the slightest amount of black can totally overwhelm any color). I didn't want a green that leaned yellow, so I added a drop or three of purple because the color wheel tells me that it is the opposite of yellow. This gave me the base color I had in mind. The paint I'm using is inexpensive craft store acrylic and it has a sheen to it which will be gone by the end. The image below is over-exposed to better show the color.
 

 
 
After the paint thoroughly dried, I scrapped the surface with the edge of a razor blade. Also, I drilled a series of shallow holes into the strapping that protects the hull from the otter boards. This is meant to represent the flat head screws that hold the strapping in place.
 

 
 
Continuing with the weathering process, I went back and added brush swipes (here and there) of a darker value of the same green. I then washed the entire painted surface with a India ink/alcohol solution which visually softened the scrapped areas, lessened the contrast and dulled everything down. The alcohol in this wash makes this step a “one and done” application. It quickly softens the acrylic and any lingering or second brush strokes risks re-liquifying the paint and returning the surface back to a uniform color. Finally, I scrubbed it with brown pigment powder and then finger rubbed the entire surface. I also gave the hull strapping area some preliminary color, but more work needs to be done there once the otter boards get hung.
 

 
 
The name and home port was placed on the boat. I made up a locating template in CAD to assist in placing the letters.
 

 
 
Dry transfer lettering is applied. The stern looks like it could use a bit more wear.
 

 
 
This final image was taken with direct lighting pointing at the hull from a low angle in attempt to show what the weathering looks like. In normal viewing the effect is less pronounced.
 

 
 
Thanks for stopping by.  Stay well.
 
Gary
 
 

A must have book for modelers of riverboats is Allan Bates' The Western Rivers Steamboat Cyclopedium and for details of boilers and engines his Western Rivers Engineroom Cyclopedium is good to have.  Both are inexpensive and available used many places or new from the Howard Steamboat Museum in Jeffersonville, IN  http://www.howardsteamboatmuseum.org/
  Drawings 59 and 60 on pages 42 and 43 (respectively) show boilers from riverboats and the cross section - Drawing 60 shows the use of fire brick at the bottom of the boiler and the insulation on the top of the boiler.  Heat transmission through the fire brick would not endanger the wood hull.  Also, asbestos is noted as being used about 1900 on top of the boilers.  A mixture of cow manure, fire clay, flax or chopped hay and hair (probably horse) along with road scrapings free of stones.  Add water to the consistency of mortar and then applied to the top of the boilers. 
 
BTW I have permission from the author to use text and photos from his books.
 
I hope this helps.
 
Kurt
 

When I want wood to be smooth I use an automotive body filler meant to fill scratches in final or close to final sanding.  It adheres to wood w/o any problem.  Bondo Glazing and Spot Putty.  This isn't meant to fill massive dents, dips are voids - that's regular body filler Bondo.
I use an old credit card as a squeegee to force the filler into the wood grain - don't let it build up.  When cured I sand it and see how smooth it is.   If you want the part to look like metal or fiberglass multiple coats might be needed.
Some use Spackle wall hole filler the same way.

Thanks everyone for your replies and for the "Likes".  Progress continues at a snails pace on my Longboat.  I have completed all of the shaping of the mast, boom, gaff and bowsprit and finished painting them and applying WOP on the wood surfaces.  I stepped the mast (temporarily) and I am ready to start the rigging. Here are some pictures of the status of the model that I shared with my Club members on Zoom this past Saturday:
 

 

Wasn't really happy with the number of strips having to get cut down to 22. The largest Kitamaebune, which this model represents, had 24. In fact, you could generally tell the cargo capacity of a transport by how many of these panels make up the ship's sail. So, I went back and I prepped and cut a new piece of sail material.
 
But, then I thought I might do better if I experiment a bit with the sail on the Tonegawa cargo boat that I posted about a little while back. It's the same scale, and the sails would have been made the same way, but with only 9 shorter sail panels instead of 24 long panels of the Kitamaebune. 
 
One thing about these Japanese sails because of the way the individual panels are sheeted, they have a very distinct, ruffled look. So, I decided to focus on that this time. 
 
I basically cut the strips to length, bent them around a small dowel, then glued them together at a slight angle, forming a kind of v-shaped valley between adjacent panels. I also cut the top and bottom edges of each panel to impart a slight curve, to give a sense of the panel hanging down of its own weight. 
 

 
It's not bad, but it doesn't billow the way the real sail should. As you can see below, they hang straight down. At the bottom of the sail, the edges tend to curve forward just a little. I'm working on ways to solve this issue now. But, I do like the way each panel billows just slightly. Next step is for the whole thing to look more natural.
 

 
The sheets will tie off to a heavy rope that runs across the hull. Note the jumble of simulated rice bales. I'm not sure what to do with these, now that I'm working on a sail. These ships would only need to mount the sail if they are heading up river. Upriver basically means away from the big city toward the farm lands. In that direction, they would not be carrying rice bales. If I want the rice bales, the mast would most likely be lowered as the sail wouldn't be necessary. But, realistically, if I have any rice bales at all, it would probably be full, having loaded up at one location and sailing down to unload them at a dock in old Edo. But, for a representative model, some bales would look nice and so would the sail. So, I'm figuring I'll stack some in the hold in a manner than balances out the load a bit.
 
So, the next step is to try to create a sail that billows a little AND has ruffles.
 
My first and simplest attempt doesn't look too good. I tried treating the sail material again with Terial Magic. The stuff that stiffens the sail material nicely. But, I'm not done with this yet. I got a little more billow out of it, but the sail now needs some touch ups to even out the surface.
 

 
Behind the model here, you can see one of the books I located on these boats. It's called Takasebune Monagatari or the Takasebune Story. On the cover, you can see a photo showing an example of how the sail looked in operation.
 
Of course, after I get this all figured out, I still need to apply what I learned to the Kitamaebune model. 
 
Clare
 
 

When I want wood to be smooth I use an automotive body filler meant to fill scratches in final or close to final sanding.  It adheres to wood w/o any problem.  Bondo Glazing and Spot Putty.  This isn't meant to fill massive dents, dips are voids - that's regular body filler Bondo.
I use an old credit card as a squeegee to force the filler into the wood grain - don't let it build up.  When cured I sand it and see how smooth it is.   If you want the part to look like metal or fiberglass multiple coats might be needed.
Some use Spackle wall hole filler the same way.

When I want wood to be smooth I use an automotive body filler meant to fill scratches in final or close to final sanding.  It adheres to wood w/o any problem.  Bondo Glazing and Spot Putty.  This isn't meant to fill massive dents, dips are voids - that's regular body filler Bondo.
I use an old credit card as a squeegee to force the filler into the wood grain - don't let it build up.  When cured I sand it and see how smooth it is.   If you want the part to look like metal or fiberglass multiple coats might be needed.
Some use Spackle wall hole filler the same way.

Kevin:
Check out this video - he makes it look simple - but I can attest that you can't go wrong if you follow his advice and techniques.  Paul is a MSW member.
 
Kurt
 

Here is the link by doing a simple search as Ben suggested - first item in the list;  https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323691614_A_Forensic_Investigation_Of_The_Breakup_And_Sinking_Of_The_Great_Lakes_Iron_Ore_Carrier_Edmund_Fitzgerald_November_10th_1975_Using_Modern_Naval_Architecture_Tools_And_Techniques
 
I will be reading the paper later and it will be added to my Fitz documentation.  Thanks, Ben.
 
I too purchased a 1/700 Fitz kit from Iron shipwright and it was not up to my standards but I have other kits by them and they are super.  The USS Panay is one of the best resin kits I have ever seen and I have several of their tugs and they are great too. 
 
The story of my Fitz was that the hull had a warp to it and I talked with one of the two owners at IS who suggested I heat the hull in a microwave for 1 minute and see if it was warm, but also said that it might take 2 or 3 times, and to then set it onto a flat surface and to apply some pressure to force the warp out of the hull.  I put it into the microwave for 1 minute and went to change a record on the turntable and half way to the turntable I heard a very large bang.  Enough that I ducked thinking somebody had let loose with a 9mm.  I ran to the kitchen to smell a horrendous stench coming from the microwave and I had the good sense to not open the door.  Unplugged it and took it outside.  When I opened the door the hull was in several pieces and through the longitudinal center of the hull pieces it looked like strawberry jelly that was starting to harden.
 
Needless to say I contacted IS again and the reaction was - "that shouldn't have happened".  They sent a new hull but it had the same warp to a much lesser extent and I sold it to a club member who said he would tackle it.  Later talking with IS they speculated that for some reason the resin mix must have been improperly measured or contaminated and that the resin had not cured in the center of the piece and the microwave caused it to boil.
 
Kurt

Unless the motor is classed for use in a spray booth with combustible vapors (NEC Class 1 Division 1) you are just asking for trouble.  Using a house fan in place of a properly classed exhaust fan is an accident waiting to happen.  It's not IF a fire will occur but WHEN.
Water based acrylics are the only safe paint to use in a spray booth not using the proper type of fan.  No amount of filtration in front of the motor makes this safe - filters only trap particulate matter not the dangerous fumes.  The rate you mention is the lower and upper combustible limits of a combustible or flammable liquid - the % of combustible vapors to air mix. 
Good luck.

I agree with Grant - buy what you know you will use and then add colors as the need arises.

Unless the motor is classed for use in a spray booth with combustible vapors (NEC Class 1 Division 1) you are just asking for trouble.  Using a house fan in place of a properly classed exhaust fan is an accident waiting to happen.  It's not IF a fire will occur but WHEN.
Water based acrylics are the only safe paint to use in a spray booth not using the proper type of fan.  No amount of filtration in front of the motor makes this safe - filters only trap particulate matter not the dangerous fumes.  The rate you mention is the lower and upper combustible limits of a combustible or flammable liquid - the % of combustible vapors to air mix. 
Good luck.

These are the links to the models featured in the calendar.  Bob's fishing pink and Gus' Sussex  are unpublished.  The other models can be found in various issues of the Nautical Research Journal.

Unless the motor is classed for use in a spray booth with combustible vapors (NEC Class 1 Division 1) you are just asking for trouble.  Using a house fan in place of a properly classed exhaust fan is an accident waiting to happen.  It's not IF a fire will occur but WHEN.
Water based acrylics are the only safe paint to use in a spray booth not using the proper type of fan.  No amount of filtration in front of the motor makes this safe - filters only trap particulate matter not the dangerous fumes.  The rate you mention is the lower and upper combustible limits of a combustible or flammable liquid - the % of combustible vapors to air mix. 
Good luck.

Unless the motor is classed for use in a spray booth with combustible vapors (NEC Class 1 Division 1) you are just asking for trouble.  Using a house fan in place of a properly classed exhaust fan is an accident waiting to happen.  It's not IF a fire will occur but WHEN.
Water based acrylics are the only safe paint to use in a spray booth not using the proper type of fan.  No amount of filtration in front of the motor makes this safe - filters only trap particulate matter not the dangerous fumes.  The rate you mention is the lower and upper combustible limits of a combustible or flammable liquid - the % of combustible vapors to air mix. 
Good luck.

It appears that the roof covering is tar paper.  The Texas decks roof shows port to starboard seams.  I simulated tar paper on my Chaperon model using Silk Span strips, glued in place using Artist's Acrylic Matte Medium (AAMM).  The AAMM was brushed onto the back of the strip then the strip was laid down onto the surface, overlapping the previous strip by a scale 6 - 8 inches.  The entire roof area was done this way and then the surface was painted with a weathered flat black.  I used some of the AAMM, after the painting of the tar paper, along the seams to make it look like tar had been applied as a repair to hold down an edge.  These decks as you can see from the Shorpy photo were not used by the passengers.  I have seen photos of planks laid over the tar paper to protect it from foot traffic.
 
Caulked decks are not always as water tight as one might assume.  These boats were not always maintained to the high standards associated with passenger traffic as we know it today.  The use of tar paper or maybe canvass laid down with tar would go far towards making the roofs shed water - more so than a caulked deck.  Remember these boats were very flexible and caulking wouldn't last long.  During the 2006 NRG Conference in San Diego the vendors were inundated with rain coming through the caulking of the main deck of the San Diego Museum's Star of India and I am pretty sure this ship had better maintenance than the typical riverboat.
 
The buckets in the racks are fire buckets that are immediately adjacent to water barrels.  Sparks from the stacks on the roof could get a real fire going.  The buckets were kept handy hanging on the racks so they would always be accessible and in the same place.  Most fire buckets were also made with domed bottoms so that the buckets would not sit flat and would also hold a bit more water than a flat bottom.  The rounded bottom made sure they were not removed by a crew member to use for another purpose so they were assured of being available when needed.  This was true of all fire buckets not just those on riverboats.
 
Kurt

It appears that the roof covering is tar paper.  The Texas decks roof shows port to starboard seams.  I simulated tar paper on my Chaperon model using Silk Span strips, glued in place using Artist's Acrylic Matte Medium (AAMM).  The AAMM was brushed onto the back of the strip then the strip was laid down onto the surface, overlapping the previous strip by a scale 6 - 8 inches.  The entire roof area was done this way and then the surface was painted with a weathered flat black.  I used some of the AAMM, after the painting of the tar paper, along the seams to make it look like tar had been applied as a repair to hold down an edge.  These decks as you can see from the Shorpy photo were not used by the passengers.  I have seen photos of planks laid over the tar paper to protect it from foot traffic.
 
Caulked decks are not always as water tight as one might assume.  These boats were not always maintained to the high standards associated with passenger traffic as we know it today.  The use of tar paper or maybe canvass laid down with tar would go far towards making the roofs shed water - more so than a caulked deck.  Remember these boats were very flexible and caulking wouldn't last long.  During the 2006 NRG Conference in San Diego the vendors were inundated with rain coming through the caulking of the main deck of the San Diego Museum's Star of India and I am pretty sure this ship had better maintenance than the typical riverboat.
 
The buckets in the racks are fire buckets that are immediately adjacent to water barrels.  Sparks from the stacks on the roof could get a real fire going.  The buckets were kept handy hanging on the racks so they would always be accessible and in the same place.  Most fire buckets were also made with domed bottoms so that the buckets would not sit flat and would also hold a bit more water than a flat bottom.  The rounded bottom made sure they were not removed by a crew member to use for another purpose so they were assured of being available when needed.  This was true of all fire buckets not just those on riverboats.
 
Kurt

One tip on using the tilt table.  If the saw is kept level using the tilt table is a bit awkward.  Use a couple of wedges under the saw so the tilt table is level with the bench top and it does away with the awkward working on the tilt table and the tendency for gravity to work against holding the wood against the uphill fence.

That's what I thought and at the premium price I was paying for outside GB I decided to drop it. 

I agree with Grant - buy what you know you will use and then add colors as the need arises.

I agree with Grant - buy what you know you will use and then add colors as the need arises.

I agree with Grant - buy what you know you will use and then add colors as the need arises.

I agree with Grant - buy what you know you will use and then add colors as the need arises.