mbp521

Vaddoc, Thank you. No primer, I just used an ordinary rattle can of flat black. I then dry brushed the highlights with a gray acrylic and finally coated it it all with satin clear lacquer. I used the same technique on the paddle wheel and boilers. Seems to work fairly well. -Brian

Yves, I still sit here in amazement at the beauty And detail of this build. So sad to see it end. Can’t wait to see what hits the bench next. -Brian

Thank you Keith. I definitely agree, the aluminum tape technique works great for giving wooden parts a metal look and provides an easy way to simulate the rivets, especially after painting. I wish I would have used it on my Chaperone build, it would have given my stacks and boiler a more realistic look. Oh well, all part of the learning experience. -Brian

Bob, Thank you so much for the kind comments. I started building model ships back in my tweens, graduating to full rigged plastic models in my later teens. For a while I had abandoned ships altogether and moved over to planes (a direct result of serving in the Air Force). It was only until about seven years ago that I got into building the wood ship models. With each build comes new experiences and learning. I look at my first wood build HMB Endeavor, while proud of how it turned out, I still see many flaws and things that I should have, could have, done differently. But, it gives me something look back on and see how my skills have progressed. While I am not in nearly the same league as some of the builders on this site, I’m happy with my results so far. Along with this it’s helped me gain the confidence to tackle a scratch build like this. In the end though, it's not totally about the end result, but rather how much you enjoyed getting there. -Brian

Hello again everyone, Progress has been a little slow for this update, my focus has been on projects around the house trying to get many of the outside things taken care of while the weather is nice and before it gets cold. A couple of things that I did get accomplished were the cookstove and some of the lantern wiring. I am still shying away from the engines for some reason, mainly because I still haven't found enough photos of it to get a good representation of them. I had hoped that a friend of mine who was passing through Vicksburg a few days ago could have swung by and taken some pictures for me, but unfortunately the Cairo display and museum are still closed. So for now I'll work on other parts. So on to the update. Starting with the cookstove. This was just cobbled together with a few pieces of leftover wood sprues from a previous build (I throw away nothing). I then covered the whole thing in aluminum tape. The basic form of the stove. I then covered the box with aluminum tape and scribed the cook plates and top. I then added then added the fire doors, hinges and handles. Next I added additional features. Not sure what all these features are, they just added to detail. Finally added the chimney flue. Once the assembly was complete, I gave it a coat of flat black. Followed by a dry brushing of light gray paint for highlights and a final coat of clear satin lacquer. After the stove was completed, I started work on running the wiring for the lanterns. This is some time consuming work, soldering all the connection points. I plan to install about 20 LED's to light major features that will be visible. Some will be disguised as lanterns, others will just be hidden to light other features such as the paddle wheel and engines (if I ever get them built). The central connection point will be hidden under the boiler and I haven't quite figured out where I'm going to put the battery compartment and toggle switch. I still have time though to figure that part out. Well that's it for this round. I am going to continue with dressing in the wiring and getting them painted up as well as completing the smokestack for the stove. I think I'm also going to either get started with the cannon carriages or possibly the casemates. Haven't decided just yet. Until next time, thanks again for all of your encouraging comments and likes. -Brian

Such amazing details Daniel. Great work. -Brian

Eric, Sorry to hear of your woes both with the model and life. Here’s hoping that things get better on both fronts soon. 🥃 I do agree with your decision to go with individually planking the deck, personally I’ve never been a big fan of pre-scribed decks anyway. I do believe the results will be much more life-like and you’ll be more satisfied with the results. Although this type of boat is way out of my wheelhouse and I’m not real sure how the original ones were built, I do like your idea of building the oar locks. If you are going for more of personal preference and not authenticity, then go with what makes you happy. I think you have said before, this is not going in a museum, so as long as you can get the satisfaction of visitors viewing your work in awe, then go build it as you like. -Brian

Yves, Absolutely stunning build. You are a master of your craft. I have thoroughly enjoyed this build and look forward to your next endeavor. Also, your photos are nothing to balk at at all. They truly do your model justice. -Brian

Greeting everyone, Small update this week. I managed to get the paddle wheel and pillow blocks completed this week. Here is the wheel assembly painted. Buckets cut, sanded drilled and stained. I used a mixture of Ipswich Pine and Golden Oak stains for these. I wanted something that would contrast the black ironwork of the wheel assembly, yet not blend in with the rest of the surrounding wood. First bucket going in. More buckets being installed. I threw together a little jig to hold the assembly while I worked on it. This jig made it a little easier to rotate the wheel, and by inserting a scrap piece of wood between the spokes, kept it from rotating it while I was installing the buckets. All of the buckets installed and assembly temp installed in the wheel housing. Finally the strings holding the buckets have been trimmed up, a little dry brushing with some light gray to highlight the details of the rivets and a final coat of clear satin and the wheel assembly installed in place. Then it was on to the assembly of the pillow blocks. This part was a piece of cake compared to the paddle wheel. Pillow block installed. Here is the wheel assembly sitting in the pillow blocks. I still need to make the pillow block caps, I'll have to hunt around for some pieces of brass or aluminum for this part. Something that is the correct width and thickness and will also bend around the shaft, but I'm sure I can come up with something. I tried to research on how the buckets were attached to the wheel spokes but couldn't find a whole lot on it. Apparently iron paddle wheels were not the standard back in these days or my search methods were just not up to par. At first I was going to make some simulated iron stirrups to attach them with, but I wasn't sure if this was correct or not. So I went with my gut, and off of the reasoning that the builders of the St. Louis model may have used for theirs in that tying the buckets to the spokes made for ease of quickly changing damaged boards. After all, these were war vessels and I'm sure they took their fair share of damage and in the heat of battle they could not afford to be sitting in the open while maintenance was performed. That and a portion of the paddle wheels on these boats was not protected by the armor plating and could be susceptibly to a fair amount of damage during periods of heavy gun and cannon fire. Just my thoughts, and since there isn't a significant amount of documentation on these, I took my "builders liberties" with it. Also, I think the group building the St. Louis know what they are doing, so I'm going to go with their expertise. That's all for this update. I think I am going try and revisit the engines this week and see what I can come up with. First go-round just didn't come out right. Hopefully this time will be better. Wish me luck. As always, thanks for looking and all the likes and kind comments. -Brian

Eric, Nice job on the figurehead, that’s one of the skills that I have not attempted yet is carving. Not sure that if I gave it a shot that it would resemble a dragon at all, probably look more like a worm. I’m with Louie on the eye. Protruding would most likely have a better effect. -Brian

Roger, Winchester has some truly beautiful weapons. One of the guys I hunt in Wyoming with uses a true Winchester 1894 38-55 black powder cartridge and is deadly accurate with it. I am more of a traditional cap and ball black powder person. I have way too many hobbies to start reloading. Not to mention the Admiral would blow a gasket if I picked up another one. Funny you mention flying saucers at Devils Tower. I was 10 years old when I first saw Close Encounters and wanted to see Devils Tower every since then. Sad that it took over forty years to cross that bucket list item off. Hopefully you can get to Cody soon, it’s well worth the trip. Gary, Thanks for the kind words. The paddle wheel had definitely been a challenge. Totally different take on the traditional packet steamer paddle wheel. -Brian

Keith, Thank you for the kind words. You are so right about that being some of the best scenery (minus the smoke of course). I was a little disappointed that we didn’t make it to Yellowstone, but I’ll definitely hit it on my next trip up there. Nice to have friends up there to go visit every so often. We spent most of our trip in Cody, WY where, if you are a gun enthusiast like I am, they have one of the best collections in the world. The Buffalo Bill Center of the West has over 7000 guns dating from the 2000’s back to the invention of gun powder. They actually have the entire Winchester collection from every model they ever made, experimental and production, to ones the Winchester family collected and traded for. We spent about five hours perusing just the gun section alone. The museum also includes other exhibits from the natural history of Wyoming and Yellowstone to artifacts from Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. Truly a must see if anyone is ever in Cody, WY. You may have to set aside a couple of days to see the whole thing, that’s why your admission ticket is good for two days. I would also suggest the exclusive tour of the gun museum, the cost is quite a bit more than general admission, but they take you to the vault where you get to handle some rare guns that are not on display (with white gloves of course). Truly an experience. This was just one of the rooms in the museum. Each of the pull outs has rifles and all of the drawers below have hand guns. -Brian

Hello again everyone, It has been a while since my last update, but I have finally returned from my hunting trip and vacation. Needless to say it was well needed and I saw some of the more beautiful parts of this country that have been on my list for a long time. Unfortunately, the wildfires that have been plaguing California, Oregon and Washington halted my trip to Yellowstone. The smoke was so bad that the air quality and visibility would not have made for a very fun trip, so I'll hit it next time. I did se a couple of other fascinating places though, as you can tell by the pictures the smoke was even bad in eastern Wyoming and South Dakota. Devils Tower was a little cloudy, but you can tell from the haze that the smoke was still a factor. Mount Rushmore was just a smoky haze, but at least it was visible to. The farther west you traveled the worse it got. Even North Texas had a smoky haze to it when I got home. I do have to give an immense amount of credit and praise to the firefighters working their tails off and putting their lives on the line containing the wildfires to protect as much as they can. We'll enough of that, on to my update. While most of the past week was spent playing catch up at work, I managed a little work on my paddle wheel. Having assembled the remaining three wheels, it was time to start building up the hubs. To simulate the hubs I used a couple of different size flat washers, stacked on top of each other to give them some depth. I used a piece of brass tubing filed to an edge to help center the washers around the paddle wheel shaft. Once the glue had dried I had eight perfectly spaced washer "Hubs" . Next I placed each of the wheels in the assembly jig and with the sharpened brass tubing installed the washers on the wheel assembly. Once that was done they were all ready to install on the paddle wheel shaft. I used the same brass tubing cut into 1" pieces as spacers for the wheels assembly and notched out a few scrap pieces of wood to keep the outer edges of the wheels spaced evenly. Wheels installed on the paddle wheel shaft. Outer spacers installed. And everything held neatly in place with rubber bands. Then it was on to one of the more complex assemblies that I have done so far on this build. Installing all of the cross bracing between the wheel assemblies. My first attempt was to use 24 gauge wire for the bracing, but I couldn't get the wire to bend one way and then the other and still remain straight. Given the tight quarters between the wheels, it was next to impossible to work the wire back into shape. So I decided to use .20 black rigging thread instead. I managed to weave the tread between the wheels, applied a dab of CA on one end, let that dry, then pulled it tight and placed a dab of CA on the other end to hold it in place. Once the CA had dried, I brushed the entire string down with a coat of CA to stiffen in up and the end result came out looking a little bit like hammered iron. Couldn't have asked for a better result. While the CA was drying on my cross braces, I went ahead and cut out my buckets and sanded them to length. Taking some tips from the St. Louis build, they have four buckets that are double the thickness as the others and spaced every other spoke for the counterbalance of the cranks. These will be installed on the opposite side of the cranks to keep the paddle wheel properly balanced. I am going to have to do a little research on how the buckets were attached to the wheel arms though. Normally they would be nailed in place, but since these wheels are iron, I don't think that was the way these were mounted. On the St. Louis build, it looks as though they tied the buckets in place, but I'm not sure if that was just temporary or if that was how they were actually done. I'll do a little digging to see if I can come up with how they were fastened. Anyhow, that is where I am for now. This week I will work on trimming up the cross bracing string, cleaning things up a little bit on the paddle wheel assembly and getting the whole thing painted. As always, thanks for for looking and all the comments and likes. -Brian

Eric, Finally catching up on your build. It’s looking like you are overcoming the hull obstacles very nicely. It won’t be long before you can put that part behind you and move on to hopefully less frustrating construction. Love the figures. Your choice of colors is very realistic. I wouldn’t worry too much with the scale difference, from here it looks as though Sihtric is somewhat crouched in a stalking position so he would appear a little shorter than Ragnar who looks to be posed ready to launch his spear. -Brian

Very tedious work, but she’s looking great. Love the chisel jig as well, perfect way to keep an even edge. Pretty ingenious. -Brian

Vaddoc/Don, Thank you both for the kind comments. Vaddoc, these boat were actually fairly sturdy for being built on a short schedule and a shoestring budget. Their flat bottoms, triple keels and heavy framing helped support their heavy armor. Thankfully they only had the western rivers to contend with and not the seas, so they weren't tossed around that much, just swift river currents and enemy bombardments. Time again for a brief update. While I still contemplate work on my engines, I started working on the paddle wheel frames. I was having a difficult time deciding on what types of material to use for them. At first I wanted to use brass strips for them, but I was having a hard time finding strips of the right size and length. The thickness and width weren't as difficult as trying to find strips longer than 12". While walking around the house looking for ideas, I happened upon the Admiral's sewing supplies. In her spare time she makes face masks for the elderly and donates them to local retirement communities. While I was looking at her her supplies, I discovered the aluminum wire that she uses for the nose pieces in these face masks. This had the correct dimensions that I needed so I borrowed some from her. I did order more to replace hers though, so hopefully she won't be too upset with me. I then made a couple of simple jigs to wrap the wire in to get the proper sizes for the inner and outer frames. I started with alternating the spokes, bending them around the rings as I worked my way outward. For the center hubs I found some 1" brass discs and drilled out the centers for the axle. All of the spokes and rings were held in place with 5 minute epoxy at the cross points. A second disc was placed over the top of the spoke ends and epoxied into place. I again simulated the rivets on the hubs with aluminum tape and my ponce wheel. Once the pieces were dry they were removed from the jig and the ends of the spokes trimmed off and filed down. Next step is to drill all of the rivet holes and fill them in with brass nails. That and three more wheels to go. Slow progress, but I'll get there. Also this week I received my lanterns from Shapeways and decided to throw one together to get an idea of how it was going to look. Lanterns on the sprues. The three part that will make up the lanterns. Globe, reflector/base, and micro LED. The three pieces together. ...and lit up. Painted up the bases. Finally one mounted into place. I think I nailed it. I may take a small disc of aluminum tape and put it on the reflector to give it a little better look, I just need to find my hole punch to do this. Things will slow down for the next couple of weeks, I'm off to Wyoming this weekend for a much needed vacation. Going to attempt to decrease the Antelope population by a few and while I'm up there I'm going to knock off another bucket list item and visit Yellowstone NP. Thanks everyone for looking and all the kind comments. -Brian

Yves, Difficult decision indeed. You could place one on the sub itself and the other as it’s own static display since they are both beautifully crafted. -Brian

Nice job on the painting Eric. Looks very realistic. Great use of colors and shading. -Brian

John, Thanks for the info. From the pictures they had the look of hammered iron, only the aluminum color was throwing me off. Good idea though to keep the shapes uniform. -Brian

That is great news. A model well deserving of being on the calendar. Congrats on being chosen Eric. -Brian

Nice little motivational gift. Happy Birthday Eric. -Brian

Eric, Sorry for all your troubles with this build so far. I’ve had major issues with other builds in the past, but nothing on this scale. Unfortunately this boat is way out of my wheelhouse to offer up any good suggestions as to how to remedy the situation. One would think that with the way the frames were notched to accept each plank that it would work as a bend and overlap guide as the planking progresses. Obviously this is not the case, and to me seems to be an engineering flaw in the design. Without having the instructions in front of me it makes it difficult even attempt to understand how things fit together, but from your pictures it looks as though if plank 23 (I think) were wider toward the stern instead of tapering under 22 and 24, things would fit together a little better. Again this is just an assumption on my part going off of the pictures. However, not to make light of your struggles too much, you could take the Viking approach to this and beat the planks into submission. Hopefully things will sort themselves out and you’ll soon have a hull to be proud of. -Brian

Hello again everyone, Work has begun on the boiler room walls this go round. So I finally decided that in order to show the interior of this model, I am going to leave one side partially open and complete the exterior of the other. In order to show some of the details I will also be installing LED lighting hidden behind lanterns and such. I took some ideas from the St. Louis build on how the boiler room walls were constructed. Since none of these walls survived the salvage and the plans are pretty vague on the true construction, builders liberties were taken in my interpretation of them. I installed louvered windows around the boiler walls, under the assumption that these were used for cooling and warming purposes. Air flow from the forward gun ports and funnels mounted on top pf the Hurricane deck was forced down to the gun deck, through the louvers and up through the skylights. Again, this is just my assumption as to how this worked, and I could totally be off base with this. Rough sketched plans of the fore and aft walls used as a template for the louvers. Bottom framework of the walls. Construction of the windows. Forward and aft wall in place. Construction of the starboard windows. Starboard windows in place. Coat of white paint and the boilers set in place to get a view of what it will all look like. Not much else was done. I have been dividing my time with other projects around the house, trying to take advantage of a few cooler days. I have some micro LED's and 3-D printed lanterns on order for the lighting, hope fully those will be in some time this week and I can get started on the lighting and wiring. That's all for now. Enjoy, and thanks for the kind comments and likes. -Brian

Such precision work. Simply amazing. -Brian

Eric, This project definitely looks like a learning experience. I do believe though that your perseverance will pay off in the end. Just keep smiling and plank on, you’ll get there. -Brian