mbp521

Tim, Beautiful work as always. Well worth the wait. Out of curiosity, what materials did you guys use for the hammock stanchions? -Brian

Tim, what a cruel tease. 😜 It’s all good though. I think we’ve all been there at one time or another. Can’t let that computer get the best of you. Patiently standing by. -Brian

Thanks for the info Roger. I just finished “Grant Wins the War: Decision at Vicksburg “. Fantastic read. The first chapter was primarily on the northern gunboats and most of those were the City Class “Pook Turtles “. I’ll definitely add that to my list of books to get. I’m loving my renewed interest in the American Civil War. Certainly more appreciative of it now than I was in my youth. -Brian

Vlad, Magnificent job on the Captains gig. I have four cutters to build from my Cairo. I can only hope they come out half as nice as this one did. Sorry to see this project coming to an end. I’ll have to switch over and follow you progress on your Glory of the Seas build. -Brian

Not a bad idea Patrick working on multiple projects. Helps keep the mind fresh. When you get hung up on an issue with one, just switch to another until You can solve it. BTW: The F-4 Phantom is one of my favorite planes. Right up there with the P-40 Warhawk and F4U Corsair. -Brian

Patrick, Beautiful job on the boiler and hull. Smooth lines fine finish. Also looks like you are double-dipping with those F-4 parts under the hull. 😜 -Brian

Vaddoc, Your craftsmanship is top notch and this shouldn't be any problem at all for you. She is really starting to take shape. -Brian

Eric, I did notice this little detail and really thought about adding it, but it was just one of those that I decided to forgo since it is not going to hardly be seen at all. I am glad that you showed me the Arabia pics though. Part of the reason I decided against doing the scarps joints was that I wasn’t 100% sure that was original or just built that way on the restoration since a lot of the original timbers were missing. l guess I need to stay consistent when deciding what details to add and what not to. Mostly depends on the mood I’m in at the time I’m building it. -Brian

Hello again everyone, So it has been a very unproductive productive week or so. I started working on the engines last week and got them about halfway built when I started to realize that they just weren't looking the way that I wanted them to. Unfortunately there are no real good detailed drawings of them (the HSR drawings are somewhat useful but are still a little lacking in details), so I am having to rely on photos of the actual Cairo and other builds to get an idea of the shape and reasonable size of them. Working off the photos is tough given that everything is painted black and doesn't show a lot of depth. So I gave it a shot to see what my first version would look like. I started with the bottom support rails. The width was pretty easy to figure out since the HSR Gun Deck Plan drawings have them in place and since I have the plans scaled to 1:48 I could get this part close. I then turned down and carved the connecting yokes. Then using 3 different size dowels I made up the steam drums and piston rods and laid out the assembly. It was here that I started to think that they just weren't looking correctly proportioned. So I decided to work on other features and figured I'll circle back to these when I can get a better understanding of the size proportions between the assemblies. So I decided to start work on the support pillars for the engines and paddle wheel. These were a little easier to figure out. The hardest part of this was getting the height position of the paddle wheel and the correct angle of the timbers. These are the ones from the actual boat. Although they are not original, they gave me a general idea of how they were constructed. These are my versions. These are all just dry fit for now. I am waiting on another order of scale lumber to complete some of the interior walls. Once I have those in place can get everything glued down. Next, to stall for time while still pondering my engine dilemma, I decided to get the toe boards in place for the crew quarters. Starboard quarters. Port quarters. Lastly I finished installing all of the hatch covers and cut out the rough version of the Pittman arm wooden inserts. These will be used a rough draft for now until I can get the engine situation straightened out. I just wanted to see what it was going to take to get these carved out. Pittman arms. And how she sits now (pardon my foot photo-bombing the picture). I removed the boilers and set them aside so they wouldn't get dinged up while working on the other features. I still need to get the boiler hold painted with a whitewash and touch up the coal, but I'll get there. Doesn't look like very much right now, but soon I will start going vertical and it will then begin to look a little more like a gunboat instead of a barge. That's all for now. Thanks for taking the time to visit. -Brian

Very interesting history, good to see that he was able to survive and prosper after such a devastating war. I have relatives out in Parker County as well. Most of my family immigrated from France and Ireland in the mid 1880’s and settled in Louisiana, so I have no Civil War history there. But it’s great to hear about those that have. -Brian

Vaddoc, Thank you for the kind compliments. The American Civil War is truly an interesting subject. A subject that I was really into when I was younger. As I grew up, my interest in it kind of faded away (once girls and cars came along). Then I was fortunate enough to get deployed to the UK during the Gulf War and that’s where the real history is. Not downplaying American history, it’s just that Europe has a lot more of it. I spent a lot of my spare time while I was there exploring historical sites and taking every opportunity to go where Uncle Sam would send me throughout Europe and Southwest Asia. It wasn’t until a few years ago when we visiting Vicksburg again that my interest in the Civil War was renewed. But you are correct, the build log coupled with the history behind the ship, definitely helps to keep it interesting. -Brian

Tim, Thanks for the update. I recently started my scratch build of USS Cairo a few months ago, and the information and pictures that you guys have provided have been most helpful in getting my build under way. I am currently working on the gun deck features and was working on researching the make up of the walls that surround the engines and officer quarters. I figured that the walls around the engines were just to help with noise mostly since, judging by the plans, it looks more like a shield than anything else. Unfortunately the HSR “Gundeck Plan/Section” that I am using is rather vague but the walls look to be similar to those surrounding the boilers, although probably minus the louvered windows. I was just curious if you guys had a plan as to how you were going to build this section of the interior walls, or is this part still in the research phase. Or, am I totally reading the plans incorrectly and is there even a wall there? Also scrolling through the build I haven’t seen any pictures or mention of the officers quarters. Was that part still being researched as well. I know that a lot of the information on this section of the boat is lacking due to the fact that most of this area was lost or destroyed during salvage operations. I’m just trying to get my head around the construction of these parts. Please forgive me if I am jumping way ahead in your build, there are just so many unknowns on this build and I’d like to get it as accurate as possible. You guys are doing a fantastic job on this build, and I can only hope that my version comes out half as good as this one. Looking forward to more updates. -Brian

It has finally arrived. Not sure how I ever made it without this book. What a wealth of information packed into it. -Brian

Patrick, We’re with you to the end. Pace is not important, as long as you enjoy the project, and these projects can take time. We are a patient bunch. Besides, you can’t rush perfection. 😁 -Brian

Patrick, The boiler looks great! I would venture to say that the boilers were riveted together, but I would have to defer that to the experts for confirmation. However, since many of the boilers in this time period were similarly constructed, I would say that it’s an accurate assumption, and I riveted the boiler on my Chaperon as well. I used a similar method for my boiler on my Cairo build. But instead of glue droplets I used a ponce wheel on the backside of the aluminum tape to form the rivets. I must say though, you did a great job on getting the glue droplets uniform. -Brian

Looking good Eric. Great idea with the binders. I’ve tried using finger clamps before hold pieces in place on each side, but the swivel feet made it difficult to line up on both sides. I’m going to keep this method in my back pocket for future use. It’s just a thought, but the color of stain that you are using looks great on there. I would think that a couple of more coats would give you the desired color you are looking for and may help alleviate the visible wavy lines of the wood. -Brian

Here you go Vlad. Enjoy.

Vlad, With what I’ve see so far by the quality of your work, I don’t see where the plank sheer will be a problem for you. Cutty Sark is on my list of builds one of these days. Unfortunately I do not have a build log or gallery pics of my Flying Fish on MSW, if you like I can post a few pics here if you like (I figured I’d ask before hijacking your build log). I started her about five years ago and in the mean time we moved. She was packed up for a few years and I only recently pulled her out of storage. My intention is to finish her once I’ve completed my scratch built USS Cairo. Right now all I have completed on her is the hull and deck furniture. I had started work on the masts but didn’t get very far before she was packed up. -Brian

Vlad, It seems at that scale it would be a lot easier to do. Sounds like you are going about it the way I do mine. My approach was to cut all the planks to length and mount them in place. I then placed the nibbing Strake in place on top of the planks and marked the plank location on it. Then cut the nibbing Strake on the marks, a little fine sanding and the glued into place. These are some pictures of my planking and nibbing Strake from my Flying Fish. Hope this helps. -Brian

Vlad, Beautiful job on the nibbing. As mundane and time consuming as it is, this is still one of my favorite parts of deck planking. -Brian

Dan, How right you are, no creature comforts at all, with the exception of maybe the officers quarters. Of course even they had to deal with the heat and the constant churning of the paddle wheel and the engines. Still better than the enlisted crew had it. Sleeping in hammocks below deck having to deal with the heat and on deck with the mosquitoes. And as anyone from the Western Rivers region can attest, the mosquitoes can be horrible. I seem to recall reading the same thing about the armor upgrades and I believe that it was at the Cairo museum. If I remember correctly, all of the interlocking flat armor on the forward and side casemates was original (well in place when they were delivered to the Army. The upgrades with the railroad irons was the later addition as they proved that the 12" thick oak planks on the side was just not enough. I do not recall as to whether or not the aft casemates were armored. I would think that they were, but I'm not 100%. I will need to do little more digging when I get to that point in my build. The pilothouse was definitely armor plated. Here are some pictures of it from my visit there a few years back. I also recall from my research that several skilled Confederate sharpshooters took out some of the pilots of these boats by taking a perfectly aimed shot through the portals in the armor. I know that most of the surface damage on these plates was due to rusting, but I can't help but think that some of it may be from bullets and cannon balls. -Brian

Thank you all for the kind comments! Dan, excellent history lesson. I would say that that was one lucky shot that crippled the Mound City. One of the major drawbacks and hazards of the City Class iron clads (and I would speculate other classes as well) was the lack of escape routes in the event of a boiler rupture. I can only imagine what those men went through. Those lucky enough to make it through the gun ports faced enemy snipers while the others were basically boiled alive. Unthinkable horrors of war. -Brian

Hello again everyone, Update time. So it's been a pretty productive week, I started working on the boiler. First thing I did was cut five 3/4" dowels, 6" long for the boiler tubes. To simulate the rivets, I used some aluminum foil tape I had laying around. Using a ponce wheel, I ran the wheel on the paper side to give the 3-dimensional look of the rivets. I then cut these into strips and wrapped them around the boiler tubes. Simulating the rivets. Strips wrapped around the tubes. It was at this point that I figured out that I was going about this all wrong. I was making this way too hard on myself. So after rethinking the process, I decided to just wrap the entire boiler tube with the tape and create all the rivets at once. This was the result. Much easier and quicker. Next step was to create the steam drum using the same wrapping process. First I drilled out the holes for the connector pipes and pressure relief valves. Then installed the steam drum. The steam drum was made from a 1/2" dowel cut 4" long Next I simulated the mounting flanges for the steam drum and pressure relief valves. Then it was time for a test fit in the hold. Work then began on the flume and furnace doors. Simulated rivets for the flume. Work on the furnace doors. Taking Eric's advice I went ahead and printed the bricks for the boiler floor. After careful consideration, I determined that hardly any of this will be seen at all so I went ahead and just used the printed pattern for the entire floor, including the ash pit. Another test fit and all looks to line up pretty good. Now time to load up the coal bunkers. I used some modeling clay for the form and pressed some medium grain Talus for the coal. Some of the loose fill I held in place with some watered down PVA. Next, build up and installation of the pressure relief valves. Finally I installed the port and starboard coal bunker doors, got the boilers painted flat black and then dry-brushed the assembly white to highlight the rivets and other features. Next on the build agenda will be paint up the coal once the PVA dries, build the boiler supports and the engine mounts. That's all for now, Thank you all for looking and the likes. -Brian

Daniel, I read your build log and ask myself how can he improve on perfection, and yet you still never cease to amaze me. Beautiful work as always. -Brian

Dan, Thank you for the words of encouragement, and I hope to one day follow your build of the Cairo. You hit the nail on the head with this one, there was some serious experimentation going on with these boats. Given the fact that they just had 100 days to provide seven ships, there had to be major trial and error going on. Just a couple of examples would be, like one of our previous discussions in this log, the rudder placement and the lack of control of these boats. While the design of these boats was based on the standard stern wheel steamers, many alterations were made to try and protect the mechanical features from enemy fire like moving the paddle wheel forward and under the structure, armor plating etc. I’m sure the builders didn’t have much time for test runs and left it to the Army for shakedown testing. Another example would be the armament. These boats originally just had flat armor plating on the front, aft and sides (as well as the pilot house) when they left the shipyards. The function of the side plating was just to protect the boilers and that was about it. The crews felt this was not enough and came back and placed the additional armor forward and aft of the side plates using salvaged railroad irons. This holds true for Cairo, I’m not 100% sure of her sister ships. It’s really hard to tell from the old photographs if they all had this additional armor and I have not done extensive research on the other six to be sure. Through my reading though, there were many alterations done to them over time, unfortunately Cairo’s life span wasn’t long enough to get the chance to see many of these alterations. -Brian