Roger Pellett

JKC27- Close but no Cigar! The only other American Straight Decked Great Lakes vessel that I know of is Interlake’s John Sherwin and I’m not sure that she qualifies. She is in long term layup at Sturgeon Bay, WI or Detour, MI depending on which website you believe. She hasn’t sailed for over 30 years. Interlake planned a number of years ago to convert her to diesel and self unloading but dropped the project due to a blip in the steel market. It would seem that they chose to invest in a new vessel instead. Roger

Hi Dave, Good to hear from you. No news about the Meteor either good or bad. My last real connection with them was my book launch reception where I was pleased to meet you. Sarah left shortly thereafter. I ran into her recently at the grocery store and she seems to be as mystified as I am about management of the ship. I am hoping that Gales of November Conference will happen this year. It was cancelled the past two years. I have a tub of whaleback information in the basement used to write the book. One of these days I’ll drop it off at the museum. Roger

Keep in mind too that CA glues (Superglue) have nasty fumes that can cause an allergic reaction. Personal experience! Roger

The Wikipedia article does not mention it but last summer she was dry docked for several months her bottom was blast cleaned and she received a new coat of paint. This sort of work is not cheap and it was hoped that this signaled a return to service. Unfortunately, early this summer she was still at Fraser’s. She has two strikes against her. She is not a self unloader and she is steam powered. This means that she is expensive to operate and not able to serve small ports that don’t have shore side unloading capacity. The next time that I cross the bridge to Superior, I’ll provide a status report. Roger

Well Done !!!

I just noticed the Keel Condenser in the last photo. Every time that I look at these boats I see something new. Roger

Chris, You probably already know this but 1:32 equates to the common 54mm military figure modeling scale. The figures in the group with the peg leg cook would make particularly nice stand alone military models. Any thought of producing them in this scale? Roger

Brian, I looked up the Wheeling Suspension Bridge this AM. It was completed in the early 1850’s. The designer and builder was not Eades but Charles Ellet another Mississippi River Civil War name. Washington Roebling who manufactured wire rope also submitted a bid. The bridge, which is listed as a National Historic Landmark, still exists although it is restricted to pedestrian use until the West Virginia DOT figures out a way to keep idiots from exceeding the 2 ton weight limit. It is the oldest vehicular suspension bridge in the World. The point to this as it relates to your model is that wire rope was a developed technology by the Civil War. I agree that a rigid link between the two rudders is appropriate. I would however include a turnbuckle, like the ones used in hogging chains to allow the rudders to be adjusted relative to each other. Roger

Brian, I think that the best that you can do is answer several questions then make an Executive decision. First; what was technology was available at the time and here, I’d like to suggest an unusual source. Many years ago, historian David McCullough wrote a book called The Great Bridge that describes the building of the Brooklyn Bridge. The book includes a great deal of discussion about the manufacture of wire bridge cables. Eades, who was involved in building the boats was also a bridge builder. I believe that he build a suspension bridge at Wheeling WVA that predated the Civil War. Second; She may have cannons but she’s still a river boat. What was used for commercial river boats? Remember, the term “chain” may not mean what you think it does. The rod and turnbuckle combinations used to prevent hogging in river boat hulls were also called chains.

Had time today to look at my David Mac Gregor books for info on Thermopylae; results: Merchant Sailing Ships 1850- 1875 Two references to Thermopylae but no drawings. Says that builders drawing (hull lines) does exist. Fast Sailing Ships- Their Design and Construction 1775-1875 Includes: Hull Lines Drawing , Reconstructed Deck layout, Sail Plan The Book also includes several pages of text about the ship I believe that the people who manage the SS Great Britain in Bristol own David MacGregor’s Drawings and sell copies. Roger

Very nice! Deserves careful study in my favorite chair after dinner this evening. Roger

Most cities of any size in the US have branches of national industrial supply houses. Names like McMaster Carr and Grangier come to mind. You might try places like these. I personally use the eyeball system for selecting drill bits smaller than #60. If it looks like the right size it’s OK. .001in is an order of magnitude smaller than my working tolerances! Roger

Looking forward to following this!

Allen, Have you considered square cross section brass wire? It might be possible using a miniature table saw to cut slots in a block of wood to make a form. The window grids would then be fabricated by soldering the brass wire joints. To avoid big blobs of solder very small diameter solder is available. I just bought some .015in diameter solder. Roger

Great job! Does she get float planes?

If you want to upgrade your drilling equipment and at the same time not upset your wife by spending too much $$$ I would not spend $200-$500 on any drilling equipment powered by a rotary tool; Dremel or otherwise. My first choice would be buying a used drill press as Bob suggests- Estate sales, Craig’s List, etc. I bought a new drill press in 1972. It is a Toolcraft made in Chicopee, Mass; all cast and machined cast iron. The only plastic is the knob on the quill handle. It is the tool used most often in my workshop and after 50 years it still runs great. The 3/8in capacity chuck will hold virtually any drill bit that I need to use. Bits smaller than 3/32in are best chucked in a pin vice that is then mounted in the main chuck. I realize that you might not want to bargain hunt for a used tool or be faced with the need to restore it. In that case I would not dismiss the “no name” drill presses sold by big box home improvement stores or Harbor Freight. These sell for a fraction of what you plan to spend to upgrade your Dremel and you will be getting a much more capable tool, even though it will probably be made in China and might not last 50 years. I would avoid tools with electronic speed control in favor of the much more reliable belt and stepped pulley drive. If you have problems with drill bits skating across the surface when drilling brass are you first center punching the hole? A center punch is easily ground from any cylindrical piece of steel. Even a nail can be used with the point properly ground. Lathe and milling machine? Start saving for a Sherline! Roger

Theosidus, In reading your excellent comments posted last Friday, I understood that you were criticizing OcCre’s Kit, not James’s review. You express yourself well in English. Your comments were valid and have every right to make them. You are correct. Without having access to a lines drawing for the vessel how can even a skilled model builder produce the templates to correct the bow. It makes one wonder if OcCre used an accurate lines drawing to produce the kit. Roger

Wonderful work as usual Valerie! The boats are interesting. At least in the 1900 US Navy boats were considered standardized “equipment” instead of part of the ship itself. Boats were stored in the various navy yards and issued to ships as needed. I believe that this was true of the British RN too. Although Varyag was built by an American shipbuilder, these boats are completely different, both in hull form and arrangement from US Navy boats of the same period. They are similar but not the same as the enclosed RN steam pinnacles. I wonder if they were issued to the ship once she arrived in Russia. Roger

By buying a kit one avoids extensive research. Supposedly the kit designers have already done this. Model builders who are not privy to comments on the forum are likely to buy the kit in the belief that by assembling the parts in accordance with the instructions they will end up with an accurate model. Such is not the case here. That is why I consider the misshapen stem to be a fatal error. Roger

Nice project. Our Community Sailing Association uses Optimists for sailing lessons here in the Duluth, MN/ Superior,WI harbor. I personally have never tried to fit myself into one but they look like they would be fun to sail. Roger

These European POB kits have been around for over half a century. One would think that by this time the kit manufacturers would understand that the basis for a good model is an accurately shaped hull. A bulbous stem not matching the vessel’s original hull lines is a fatal error. Roger

It seems that everything that we buy comes from China too!😁 At least you’re closer to the source. One of the first things that you need in your ship modeling tool kit is a set of small drills and a fixture to hold them. Here in the US, these are called Wire Sized Drills and are designated by numbers; #80 being the smallest. Similar sized metric drills are also available in fractional millimeter sizes. Drills are made from either steel or carbide. I would avoid the carbide as they are very brittle and not necessary for drilling wood. Look for drills offered as HSS (high speed steel). To hold the drills you need a Pin Vice. These come in sets and are fitted with interchangeable Collets. Each collet fits a small range of drill sizes. The pin Vice is turned by hand. It is possible to use a powered rotary tool to hold the drills, provided that you have the correct sized collet and the rotary tool can be turned at low speed. The high RPMs that rotary tools turn for polishing and grinding are too fast for drilling. Roger

If you are willing to scratch build a model or to kit bash a plastic kit how about one of the several Vietnam river craft based on a LSM landing craft hull? Plastic 1:32 scale LSM kits are available. Maybe a monitor or a Zippo? I have also seen kits (Dumas?) for the Ashville Class Gunboats that served offshore in Vietnam. To my mind these were good looking warships. See also under scratch building logs, posts for building a Vietnam era US Navy MSB minesweeping boat. Roger

Fence posts- I don’t remember.

When I was growing up we had a farm where my father bred Aberdeen Angus cattle. The farm was in tough shape when he bought it and over time we replaced all of the fences. Woven wire mesh topped with two strands of barbed wire kept the cattle where they belonged. Roger