Roger Pellett

Dravo’s Neville Island yard used much the same setup.  Of course, the width of the yard’s waterfront could a bottleneck in the mass production of these simple vessels as it restricted the number of launch ways that could be built.
 
To overcome this Dravo had a setup where barges and towboats moved across the yard sequentially until the completed vessel reached the launch ways.  I would assume that other River yards used the same system.
 
I always thought that I would have liked to work at Dravo’s shipyard, but instead they wanted me at their Pipe Fabrication Division.  In the end, I was lucky.  The shipyard closed in the late 1980’s but the Pipe Fabrication continued into the early 1990’s.  By that time I had a new job here in Duluth.  I did see the yard side launch a barge- Big Splash!
 
Roger

The famous Great Lakes Steamship Edmund Fitzgerald that was over 600ft in length was launched sideways.  So were the rest of the 600ft+  Great Lakes vessels built in the American yards in the 1950’s.
 
Drydocking a ship usually requires a “docking plan” prepared by a Naval Architect. This shows the arrangement of the supports in the dry dock.  The support structure can be checked by conventional surveying methods before the dock is flooded to receive the vessel.  Any irregularities in the dock floor can be allowed for at this time.
 
I’ll check my copy of the Iron Ship this PM but I believe that Great Britain was built in a specially built dry dock.
 
Roger

In areas with large tidal ranges there were special dry docks used for building ships.  
 
In 1940 Great Britain contracted with the now famous “7 Companies” that built Hoover Dam to build 60 badly needed, large for the time, merchant steamships in the USA.  Since American Yards were busy, the deal included building two new shipyards; one on San Francisco Bay and another on the East Coast in Maine.  Conditions in San Francisco Bay, including tidal range were such that conventional sloped launch ways were quickly constructed.
 
The large tidal range in Maine required construction of dry docks.  The need to blast these docks out of Maine’s granite delayed the construction of these East Coast  Ocean Class ships by several months.
 
Ships on the Great Lakes built prior to the 1000 footers were traditionally launched sideways.  The smaller Navy Combatants being built by Fincarii Marine in Wisconsin still are.  The 1000 footers were built in a dry dock.
 
Roger
 

The museum at Portsmouth, I believe it’s now called the Royal Navy Museum used to have a full sized realistic figure of Admiral Nelson in his full dress uniform.  It was arranged so you didn’t see it until you came around a corner.  It was quite startling.  He appeared to be much smaller than we usually visualize such heroic people.
 
Maybe a Lady Hamilton to keep him company? 😀
 
Roger

In areas with large tidal ranges there were special dry docks used for building ships.  
 
In 1940 Great Britain contracted with the now famous “7 Companies” that built Hoover Dam to build 60 badly needed, large for the time, merchant steamships in the USA.  Since American Yards were busy, the deal included building two new shipyards; one on San Francisco Bay and another on the East Coast in Maine.  Conditions in San Francisco Bay, including tidal range were such that conventional sloped launch ways were quickly constructed.
 
The large tidal range in Maine required construction of dry docks.  The need to blast these docks out of Maine’s granite delayed the construction of these East Coast  Ocean Class ships by several months.
 
Ships on the Great Lakes built prior to the 1000 footers were traditionally launched sideways.  The smaller Navy Combatants being built by Fincarii Marine in Wisconsin still are.  The 1000 footers were built in a dry dock.
 
Roger
 

In areas with large tidal ranges there were special dry docks used for building ships.  
 
In 1940 Great Britain contracted with the now famous “7 Companies” that built Hoover Dam to build 60 badly needed, large for the time, merchant steamships in the USA.  Since American Yards were busy, the deal included building two new shipyards; one on San Francisco Bay and another on the East Coast in Maine.  Conditions in San Francisco Bay, including tidal range were such that conventional sloped launch ways were quickly constructed.
 
The large tidal range in Maine required construction of dry docks.  The need to blast these docks out of Maine’s granite delayed the construction of these East Coast  Ocean Class ships by several months.
 
Ships on the Great Lakes built prior to the 1000 footers were traditionally launched sideways.  The smaller Navy Combatants being built by Fincarii Marine in Wisconsin still are.  The 1000 footers were built in a dry dock.
 
Roger
 

What a great project!
 I too grew up reading Paddle to the Sea.  I loved the book.  35 years ago I was fortunate to be given the opportunity to move from the Ohio Valley to accept a new job in the Great Lakes region and I accepted it in a heartbeat.  I can just barely see a tiny sliver of Lake Superior from a window on the second story of my house.  I also made sure that my children grew up with the book too.
Did you know that there is a Paddle to the Sea movie too?  Here in Duluth the Army Corps of Engineers runs a nice museum dealing with Lake Superior.  During the summer tourist season they show movies about the lakes in a conference room.  Visiting with my two kids and my granddaughters the announcement came over the speaker that there had been a special request from a family visiting to show Paddle to the Sea.  My daughter had made the request.  The movie while beautifully filmed cannot reproduce the 1940's picture of the industrial lakes that Holling does with his book.
 
Roger 

Model is finally finished, a friend photographer made real good pictures so when I got them I will post.
 
 

Nils, thanks for that. I had forgotten about the 'Padua', but she is in many ways a similar ship.
 
Jerome, this restoration is a little different to most, as we want the model to accurately represent the ship at a particular period in her history. While we are keeping as much of the original work as possible, some has to go in the interests of accuracy for a museum model.
 
John

A while ago, I bought  a set of broaches on Amazon, Made and shipped from England.  They are triangular files without teeth. The smallest is about 1/32” and the largest 1/8”.  They would work for truing up your holes.  They would be less aggressive than than files.
 
 Roger

Allan,  Thanks!
 
I’ve been to the New York Yacht Club’s Model Room.  SNAME (The Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers) has their annual meeting every fall.  I’ve never been a SNAME member but the University of Michigan’s Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering Department always has an event for their alumni during the week that SNAME meets.  One year SNAME was meeting in New York and Michigan had their event in the model room.  I used that opportunity to make a sales call nearby and drove into the city.  As can be imagined, it’s a fabulous collection.
 
Roger

While the flame treatment might work, a ship model with all of the flammable stuff on board, wood glue paint, etc is a fire just waiting to happen.  You could be left with a pile of ashes or worse.
 
Re rig it!
 
Roger

While the flame treatment might work, a ship model with all of the flammable stuff on board, wood glue paint, etc is a fire just waiting to happen.  You could be left with a pile of ashes or worse.
 
Re rig it!
 
Roger

While the flame treatment might work, a ship model with all of the flammable stuff on board, wood glue paint, etc is a fire just waiting to happen.  You could be left with a pile of ashes or worse.
 
Re rig it!
 
Roger

While the flame treatment might work, a ship model with all of the flammable stuff on board, wood glue paint, etc is a fire just waiting to happen.  You could be left with a pile of ashes or worse.
 
Re rig it!
 
Roger

Just a small amount of progress to report. May is not cooperating in terms of free time to work on models. 
 
I added the longitudinal hog chains based on some blurry historical image details and logical assumptions about their natural location. I used thin wire, which I couldn't get perfectly straight, but it's another quirk that the camera captures but the eye doesn't really see.



Then I got to work on the...not quite sure what to call them, but the timber frames on the bow used to push tows. You can see them pretty clearly here:
 

This is where I found I hadn't thought ahead enough. Those are pretty widely spaced across the bow, which means the bow has very little curvature. When I went to install mine after making them, I found that my bow curves away more sharply than I thought when I first laid it out, so now if I placed them that far apart their fronts fell well behind the bow and wouldn't be able to push anything. 
 
So I had the choice of either placing them accurately far apart, but too far back from the point of the bow, or too close together, but accurately forward enough to extend just beyond the bow. For better or worse, I chose the latter, though now I'm wondering if it was the wrong decision because they're more noticeably "wrong" compared to the original photos than if they were properly spaced but a bit too far back. Anyway, see what you think (compare to same photo angle in background):

Another view, with comparable angle in background and separate photo below:
 


Changing them would mean popping them off the deck and hopefully not leaving too much glue stain; I could always cover those with a few random timbers or something. Thoughts?
 
In the above photos, you'll also notice I built a version of the capstan that sits just behind those whatever-they're-called braces.
 
Finally, I added the two thick diagonal braces that lead aft from the chimneys to the pilot house:

 
I think I'm getting close to done with the basic details. There are some more thin guy wires supporting the chimneys, though they're very hard to see in the historical photos. I need to figure out where I'm going to get that big locomotive headlight that's so prominent on the front edge of the boiler deck.
 
The biggest single project remaining is the paddlewheel, which I'm going to need some quiet focused time to concentrate on designing. Not going to happen in the next week, that's for sure. But I started this log on June 17, 2023, and there's an outside chance I'll have her done one year later. Thanks for sticking with me!

Thanks, Roger!
 
John

I’ve restored a number of ship models over the past 27 years and can honestly say you never know what the original builders intent was, you can only guess that what you are about to do is in line with there thoughts.
And with a bit of luck what you add to the model will not be noticeable to the average viewer.
You will find something’s are not able to be fixed or adjusted.
You just have to live with it and not fall in love with the restoration.
once it’s completed everything will be fine.
 

Hi Everyone,  Almost done!  Painted the blue trim/triangles on his sleeves, and some more colors on the hull...... now only the final black paint on the hull and the white feather in his hair remains.
 

 

It’s important to distinguish the difference between a build ways and a drydock. A build way is typically sloped to the water’s edge, and while the ship is built, it doesn’t actually rest on the slipway until just before launching.
 
A drydock is constructed below the level of the water, and does have a flat bottom. It might have some sloped drainage towards the centerline, or to wherever the drain valves are located. Where pumps are not available, drydocks can make use of natural topography to fill and empty. For example, by locating the dock some ways up a river, after closing the gate, the water can be drained to sea level (helps also to do the draining when the sea is at low tide). There is a drydock in Port Weller, Ontario, that is located above the first lock in the Welland canal. It doesn’t use pumps at all. The water is allowed to drain down the 40’ drop into Lake Ontario. 
 
Things haven’t changed too drastically over time so some pre-modern ship launching techniques are similar. Prior to  launching, the slipways (usually a pair of flat beams laid astride the keel (you can see these in the picture of the shipyard model you posted), are well greased with tallow or other lubricants. A pair of special launch cradles are constructed fore and aft. These cradles will bear the weight and balance of the ship when it comes time for the launching. These will slide down the slipway, but are held static by a series of chocks and braces. Once the launch cradles are built and braced in position, the ship is then slowly lowered from its build staging (usually by knocking out the keel blocks) onto to the launch cradles. Any remaining staging is removed, and when the time comes for launching, the chocks are knocked out and the cradles (with the ship) slide down the ways into the water. Typically hawsers or anchor cables are used to arrest the movement of the ship once waterborne.
 
Hope that helps.
 
Andy

I haven’t painted any 54mm for over a year but recently became interested in doing so between work on my current ship modeling project.  Like the kit ship my figure stash has too many figures representing different interests when I bought them.  My first step is to finish my collection of American Civil War figures starting with the last of several mounted Union Cavalry Men.  My objective is to improve my technique before moving onto more difficult subjects. I have outfitted myself with a wet palette, mechanical paint mixer, and fingernail striping brushes should arrive soon.
 
My first subject is the Cavalry horse.  I became interested in trying the technique of “pre-shading” via posts on building a Titanic model here on MSW.  The idea seems to shade selected primed areas with a dark color and then paint over with tin coats of a lighter color.  The horse has large enough areas to allow airbrushing.  Using it on figures might not work.
 
Roger

A while ago, I bought  a set of broaches on Amazon, Made and shipped from England.  They are triangular files without teeth. The smallest is about 1/32” and the largest 1/8”.  They would work for truing up your holes.  They would be less aggressive than than files.
 
 Roger

I haven’t painted any 54mm for over a year but recently became interested in doing so between work on my current ship modeling project.  Like the kit ship my figure stash has too many figures representing different interests when I bought them.  My first step is to finish my collection of American Civil War figures starting with the last of several mounted Union Cavalry Men.  My objective is to improve my technique before moving onto more difficult subjects. I have outfitted myself with a wet palette, mechanical paint mixer, and fingernail striping brushes should arrive soon.
 
My first subject is the Cavalry horse.  I became interested in trying the technique of “pre-shading” via posts on building a Titanic model here on MSW.  The idea seems to shade selected primed areas with a dark color and then paint over with tin coats of a lighter color.  The horse has large enough areas to allow airbrushing.  Using it on figures might not work.
 
Roger

Allan,  Thanks!
 
I’ve been to the New York Yacht Club’s Model Room.  SNAME (The Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers) has their annual meeting every fall.  I’ve never been a SNAME member but the University of Michigan’s Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering Department always has an event for their alumni during the week that SNAME meets.  One year SNAME was meeting in New York and Michigan had their event in the model room.  I used that opportunity to make a sales call nearby and drove into the city.  As can be imagined, it’s a fabulous collection.
 
Roger