kurtvd19

Mike:
Donna promises that the quality will be the same.  There is a guy currently working with Donna who was working with Jim and is looking good for taking over the business. 
We ship modelers as a group were very important to her & Jim and it's it's still very important to her to maintain availability of the tools as well as the quality of the tools and she will be closely involved until she is sure the company is maintaining the high standards and then she plans to retire.

Mike:
Donna promises that the quality will be the same.  There is a guy currently working with Donna who was working with Jim and is looking good for taking over the business. 
We ship modelers as a group were very important to her & Jim and it's it's still very important to her to maintain availability of the tools as well as the quality of the tools and she will be closely involved until she is sure the company is maintaining the high standards and then she plans to retire.

The business will be able to produce and sell all their machines on or about January 1, 2026 according to Donna when I spoke to her on 10/9/2025.
Currently available:  4” carbide blades with 24 and 36 teeth available for immediate sale.
If you are sure you want a specific tool as soon as it is available send an email to the business email using the Contact Us link on the website https://www.byrnesmodelmachines.com
Donna reminded me that the Rope Walk Machine will no longer be produced but that they have most of the small accessories for its operation available.
Kurt 

Mike:
Donna promises that the quality will be the same.  There is a guy currently working with Donna who was working with Jim and is looking good for taking over the business. 
We ship modelers as a group were very important to her & Jim and it's it's still very important to her to maintain availability of the tools as well as the quality of the tools and she will be closely involved until she is sure the company is maintaining the high standards and then she plans to retire.

I had the opportunity to tour the M/V Mississippi when it was brand new - a magnificent boat!  I modeled a little truckable tow like the one shown.  It was 1/12 scale and we used it as a retrieval boat for our radio control meets.  Some didn't believe these little things could move barges around.
Kurt
 

Mike:
Donna promises that the quality will be the same.  There is a guy currently working with Donna who was working with Jim and is looking good for taking over the business. 
We ship modelers as a group were very important to her & Jim and it's it's still very important to her to maintain availability of the tools as well as the quality of the tools and she will be closely involved until she is sure the company is maintaining the high standards and then she plans to retire.

I had the opportunity to tour the M/V Mississippi when it was brand new - a magnificent boat!  I modeled a little truckable tow like the one shown.  It was 1/12 scale and we used it as a retrieval boat for our radio control meets.  Some didn't believe these little things could move barges around.
Kurt
 

Mike:
Donna promises that the quality will be the same.  There is a guy currently working with Donna who was working with Jim and is looking good for taking over the business. 
We ship modelers as a group were very important to her & Jim and it's it's still very important to her to maintain availability of the tools as well as the quality of the tools and she will be closely involved until she is sure the company is maintaining the high standards and then she plans to retire.

I had the opportunity to tour the M/V Mississippi when it was brand new - a magnificent boat!  I modeled a little truckable tow like the one shown.  It was 1/12 scale and we used it as a retrieval boat for our radio control meets.  Some didn't believe these little things could move barges around.
Kurt
 

Mike:
Donna promises that the quality will be the same.  There is a guy currently working with Donna who was working with Jim and is looking good for taking over the business. 
We ship modelers as a group were very important to her & Jim and it's it's still very important to her to maintain availability of the tools as well as the quality of the tools and she will be closely involved until she is sure the company is maintaining the high standards and then she plans to retire.

The business will be able to produce and sell all their machines on or about January 1, 2026 according to Donna when I spoke to her on 10/9/2025.
Currently available:  4” carbide blades with 24 and 36 teeth available for immediate sale.
If you are sure you want a specific tool as soon as it is available send an email to the business email using the Contact Us link on the website https://www.byrnesmodelmachines.com
Donna reminded me that the Rope Walk Machine will no longer be produced but that they have most of the small accessories for its operation available.
Kurt 

Consider using dilute white glue applied with a paint brush to tame the fuzz.

The business will be able to produce and sell all their machines on or about January 1, 2026 according to Donna when I spoke to her on 10/9/2025.
Currently available:  4” carbide blades with 24 and 36 teeth available for immediate sale.
If you are sure you want a specific tool as soon as it is available send an email to the business email using the Contact Us link on the website https://www.byrnesmodelmachines.com
Donna reminded me that the Rope Walk Machine will no longer be produced but that they have most of the small accessories for its operation available.
Kurt 

The business will be able to produce and sell all their machines on or about January 1, 2026 according to Donna when I spoke to her on 10/9/2025.
Currently available:  4” carbide blades with 24 and 36 teeth available for immediate sale.
If you are sure you want a specific tool as soon as it is available send an email to the business email using the Contact Us link on the website https://www.byrnesmodelmachines.com
Donna reminded me that the Rope Walk Machine will no longer be produced but that they have most of the small accessories for its operation available.
Kurt 

The business will be able to produce and sell all their machines on or about January 1, 2026 according to Donna when I spoke to her on 10/9/2025.
Currently available:  4” carbide blades with 24 and 36 teeth available for immediate sale.
If you are sure you want a specific tool as soon as it is available send an email to the business email using the Contact Us link on the website https://www.byrnesmodelmachines.com
Donna reminded me that the Rope Walk Machine will no longer be produced but that they have most of the small accessories for its operation available.
Kurt 

I did promise another update, so here's a small one, but with some definitive changes.
 
In these photos, you'll see the gun carriages are now fitted. As previously mentioned, these have tabs which fit into slots around the deck edges, meaning the guns will always be perfectly positioned. The only ports not slotted are the bow chasers as they are optional. Whilst the inner port exists as shown, they will be blanked off on the external surface, with an option to cut them out yourself. Port lids are included, should you wish to fit these. There are also 3 spare carts, so two can be used here, should you wish. You'd just need to remove the cart tabs. The guns are also fitted last, after the model is very much complete, otherwise.
 



 
 
I know a few people wanted to see these last photos. To be honest, I'm not great at figure painting, so I've done my best here. I used acrylics for the figures as I didn't have oils to suit. The table, chairs and music stand are mostly in oils, over a sand coloured acrylic paint.


 
Give me a couple more days and I'll do another update.

The business will be able to produce and sell all their machines on or about January 1, 2026 according to Donna when I spoke to her on 10/9/2025.
Currently available:  4” carbide blades with 24 and 36 teeth available for immediate sale.
If you are sure you want a specific tool as soon as it is available send an email to the business email using the Contact Us link on the website https://www.byrnesmodelmachines.com
Donna reminded me that the Rope Walk Machine will no longer be produced but that they have most of the small accessories for its operation available.
Kurt 

Great to see more progress! That tarp is going to look perfect.
 
I saw a fun river vessel (for me) along the Missouri this weekend that I thought might interest you and others. Let me know if this feels like a distraction instead and I'll remove the post.
 
This is the USGS vessel Gasconade, pushing a buoy tender barge used for maintaining navigational markers along the commercial nav channel. It's carrying both red and green marker buoys and a crane up front for setting them in place. It was heading upriver from its home port in St. Louis, presumably toward a work site. According to the Coast Guard, she covers the lower river from St Louis all the way to Sioux City, Iowa, so who knows how far she was headed toward her work site.

Greeting all, back with another update.
 
Not a lot of work done, but wanted to get something posted since it's been a couple of weeks.
 
Finished up work on the workboat. This was 3D printed along with the motor. I carved the gas tank out of a scrap piece of basswood, painted it up and used a pice of black wire for the fuel line.

 
Have to keep everything legal so I printed out the registration numbers and added them.

 
I added a couple of other details like a toolbox and grappling poles then mounted it in place. I'll go back in and add some ropes and a few more details.

 
Next, I rebuilt the aft navigation light mast for a few reasons.
      1. I didn't have the right color lights on it, red and clear were not correct.
      2. When I painted it originally I used the wrong reference photo, it was supposed to be white, not black.
      3. Lastly, I was not happy with the way the panels were lined up or the whole construction.
My second version I am much more happy with.

Next up I mounted all the stanchions that run along the sides that support the safety ropes. I have not glued the in place yet, I'm holding off until I make sure there are no other features that I want to add. Don't want to risk knocking them off, the bases are extremely fragile. I'll get the brass eyebolts painted up shortly so they be ready for glue and ropes.

 
 
I also started working on the boom guys. These will be constructed off the model and then put in place. I started with some unused photo-etched turnbuckles that I had from my Chaperon build. I glued these to a piece of 1mm styrene rod and will build up mounting braces for the tops and bottoms. I haven't gotten that far yet, so more to come on these.


 
Last up, I started work on some additional deck features. These are just some pieces that I cut out on the laser tool a while back, just playing around with it. I glued these together in no particular order and will cover them with a tarp just to put more on the deck.

To simulate the tarp, I just took some tissue paper and watered down clear Elmers to shape it. Once dried, I get it painted up and weathered.

 
That's it for this update, more to come soon.
 
Thanks for continuing to follow along and all the likes and comments.
 
-Brian

The business will be able to produce and sell all their machines on or about January 1, 2026 according to Donna when I spoke to her on 10/9/2025.
Currently available:  4” carbide blades with 24 and 36 teeth available for immediate sale.
If you are sure you want a specific tool as soon as it is available send an email to the business email using the Contact Us link on the website https://www.byrnesmodelmachines.com
Donna reminded me that the Rope Walk Machine will no longer be produced but that they have most of the small accessories for its operation available.
Kurt 

The business will be able to produce and sell all their machines on or about January 1, 2026 according to Donna when I spoke to her on 10/9/2025.
Currently available:  4” carbide blades with 24 and 36 teeth available for immediate sale.
If you are sure you want a specific tool as soon as it is available send an email to the business email using the Contact Us link on the website https://www.byrnesmodelmachines.com
Donna reminded me that the Rope Walk Machine will no longer be produced but that they have most of the small accessories for its operation available.
Kurt 

The business will be able to produce and sell all their machines on or about January 1, 2026 according to Donna when I spoke to her on 10/9/2025.
Currently available:  4” carbide blades with 24 and 36 teeth available for immediate sale.
If you are sure you want a specific tool as soon as it is available send an email to the business email using the Contact Us link on the website https://www.byrnesmodelmachines.com
Donna reminded me that the Rope Walk Machine will no longer be produced but that they have most of the small accessories for its operation available.
Kurt 

The business will be able to produce and sell all their machines on or about January 1, 2026 according to Donna when I spoke to her on 10/9/2025.
Currently available:  4” carbide blades with 24 and 36 teeth available for immediate sale.
If you are sure you want a specific tool as soon as it is available send an email to the business email using the Contact Us link on the website https://www.byrnesmodelmachines.com
Donna reminded me that the Rope Walk Machine will no longer be produced but that they have most of the small accessories for its operation available.
Kurt 

The business will be able to produce and sell all their machines on or about January 1, 2026 according to Donna when I spoke to her on 10/9/2025.
Currently available:  4” carbide blades with 24 and 36 teeth available for immediate sale.
If you are sure you want a specific tool as soon as it is available send an email to the business email using the Contact Us link on the website https://www.byrnesmodelmachines.com
Donna reminded me that the Rope Walk Machine will no longer be produced but that they have most of the small accessories for its operation available.
Kurt 

The business will be able to produce and sell all their machines on or about January 1, 2026 according to Donna when I spoke to her on 10/9/2025.
Currently available:  4” carbide blades with 24 and 36 teeth available for immediate sale.
If you are sure you want a specific tool as soon as it is available send an email to the business email using the Contact Us link on the website https://www.byrnesmodelmachines.com
Donna reminded me that the Rope Walk Machine will no longer be produced but that they have most of the small accessories for its operation available.
Kurt