mbp521

Hello all, I’d like to pose a question to some of the experts out there about boiler construction. Since there isn’t a whole lot of documentation on the construction of the City Class Iron Clads, a lot has been open to interpretation and research on the remains of the USS Cairo. Since these boats incorporated a lot of techniques from standard Steamboats I was wondering about how the hulls or decks were protected from the heat of the boilers and fire boxes. Going by the build of my Chaperon, the boiler was constructed with legs that supported the boiler tubes and there was an ash pit at the front of the fire boxes that I can only assume was brick lined to protect the wooden deck from hot embers that would escape while shoveling coal in. However, there were really no details on what was beneath the boiler tubes. In one build that I ran across there are pictures of what looks like a shallow pit with a some sort of substrate filled in to keep the heat from the wood planks below it. Was this a standard practice, or were other methods used like brick lining or something else? One other thought was that the entire boiler assembly was wrapped in asbestos blankets, but again I am not sure of the methods used during this time period and my guess is that whatever materials were readily available at the time were used. And given the fact that the recovered boilers from Cairo didn’t show any evidence of blanketing, this may not have been the case. I’ve studied the pictures of the USS St. Louis build going on, but it’s hard to make a determination as to what they have come up with, since most of the pictures of the boilers show it off the boat or already installed. Any suggestions or information would be greatly appreciated. -Brian

Tim, Keep them coming. Can’t wait for the next installment. -Brian

Patrick, Coming along nicely. You are definitely right, this hull is so much easier to build and plank than the full rigged ships. -Brian

Tim, Thanks for the update. Things are coming along. This is an absolutely beautiful build. I recently started work on my scratch built USS Cairo and have been using this build as a guide. Y’alls research on this really helps answer many of the questions and roadblocks that I have been running into trying to get it right. -Brian

Eric, I agree with your assumption, the slots do not seem to be cut square. Of course with all of the kits I have built all of the parts we cut just perfectly so that everything lines up just right. (Cough, cough). Seriously though, you are right on track with adjusting the slots to enable the centerline of the deck to line up with the keel. None of this will be seen when the planking is in place. -Brian

Dafi, Its simply amazing at the amount of detail you put in such a tiny space. Beautiful work. -Brian

Thank you Keith. At 1:48 scale there is actually plenty of room to work in the hold. Although, once the boiler is installed it’ll be tight quarters though. -Brian

Hello again everyone, I'm back from a much needed vacation. Not a whole lot was accomplished this time around, haven't had a lot of build time having to playing catch up at work but I did manage to get a few post-worthy things done. So with my change of mind to go ahead and do some of the interior of the model, I got the bulkheads cleared out from the boiler hold. This was a task that I wish I had thought about prior to building the hull since it would have been much easier to do with all of the glued hull planks. However, I managed to get them removed without too much damage. Here the bulkheads are removed and I am going in with the sub framing for the boiler decking. I figured that since the next forward bulkhead was further forward then the boiler hold that I would also build out the forward coal bunkers as well. Floor planking going in. Floor planking completed and the curved hull planking going in. Curved hull planking completed. Forward coal bunkers trimmed out. And finally the deck sanded down and the boiler hold trimmed out. I am going to simulate the port and starboard coal bunker doors as closed since I don't want to cut into the false keel boards. I'm too afraid this will weaken the hull if I cut into them too much. Besides, they will be in a location where they are not easily seen. I had started cutting out the hatchways and realized that it is very difficult to keep the framing lines straight, so one of my next tasks is going to build a cradle for the hull to sit in so that I can keep everything lined up properly. I've seen this methods done on several builds and it seems to have helped those builds. We'll see how this goes. Until next time. Thanks for looking and all of the likes. -Brian

Vaddoc, I may have to look into that. The place I get my wood from mostly deals in Basswood, Mahogany and Cherry, but I’m sure there are many other places to purchase scale lumber from. -Brian

Eric, Great job on the build frame. Looks like you may be able to save it and use for other builds. Glad to hear the “wet and weight” method worked to straighten the keel. -Brian

Vaddoc, Thank you. The girls were tickled that they got to help, and the smiles on their faces was priceless. I chose basswood wood because I am familiar with it from many of the kits that I’ve built in the past. It’s rather inexpensive, it’s an easy wood to work with and cleans up nicely. Since most of this model is going to be painted I didn’t want to go with the more expensive alternatives. -Brian

Glad, The details of this build are simply amazing. It’s almost as if the pictures were take on the deck of the actual Cutty. Beautiful job! -Brian

I was lost the minute I scrolled to the picture. I guess you just have to match them up part for part to know which piece to replace. Tedious process, but one that will be worth it in the end. Looking good though. -Brian

Eric, Glad to see you are under way. Of course there will challenges along the way, that’s what makes the hobby so enjoyable. Where’s the fun in everything going smoothly. Im with Kurt on this one, build the frame the wet and weight the keel until dry. It’s amazing at how straight it will get. I’ve done this method on all of my full rigged ships and the results were perfect. Hope your stresses subside soon so you can focus on more enjoyable things. -Brian

Patrick, Thank you for the kind words. I have no doubts that your Chaperon will turn out great. I’ll definitely be following along and help out in any way I can. That’s one of the great things about this forum, plenty of people out there with a wealth of knowledge to help out with advice when it’s needed. According to the experts the decks were painted red, I chose to leave mine natural out of personal preference. I tried my best to keep the boat as close to the original as possible for historical accuracy. However, when it came to my paint scheme I took a few liberties with it. -Brian

Hello again Everyone, I'm back with another update. It's been a little slow going, I've been making some adjustments to another error I ran across. This error was partly my fault for not looking at both sets of plans and misinterpreting the ones that I was going by. From here on out, I am going to build this primarily from the HSR plans and just use the Bob Hill plans for clarity purposes and placement of some deck features. So when I originally built the hull I was using the Bob Hill plans. Where I screwed up was thinking that the paddle wheel opening was further forward that it actually was. When I built it I misread the forward paddle wheel opening (shown in red on the diagram below) as the axle for the paddle wheel and the curved hull area (shown in green below) as the forward wall of the waterway. So to correct this I moved the forward waterway wall back from frame 50 to frame 40. I then rebuilt the curved hull area from just aft of frame 45 to frame 40. Hull after the adjustment. After all that, I finally started work on the deck planking. This was a long drawn out process due to the fact that I had a change of heart and decided that I am going to go ahead and do a little of the inside detailing. I still haven't ironed out all of the plans yet, but I am to try and make it to where one side or the other swings open (or removes) to show the cannons, engine, boiler and crew quarters. I figured that since I was going to go through the effort of building this boat that I might as well go for it all. Starting of the deck planking. For these I used 1/16"x 1/8" basswood strips to fit the correct scale of the plans. Center strip was 1/16"x1/4" basswood. The red area is the boiler hold. I am going to have to remove the bulkheads from this area to install the boiler and some of the coal in the fire room. This will be done after I get the support beams on the aft pontoons behind the paddle wheel. These beams will help hold the hull in place since I don't want to take any chances on possibly weakening it by removing the bulkheads. More of the planking in place. My granddaughters came for a visit while I was working on the boat and they insisted that I let them help. It's hard to argue with a three and four year old. Not to mention my heart melts when they give me the "puppy dog eyes". So I caved and gave them both a piece of wood to sand and since they "helped" I felt obliged to put their names on the boat as well. Finished deck planking. Next step is to mark out all of the hatchways and get them cut out. Then I'll put the aft pontoon beams in and remove the unneeded bulkheads. Thank you for looking and all the likes and kind comments. -Brian

Patrick, I just found your build. I completed this same kit just a couple of months ago. I’m definitely going to following along with great interest. -Brian

Patrick, At the sake of hijacking Russ' magnificent build. I had the same issue with mine, I wasn't too keen on the joint lines on the Main and Boiler decks and 1/32" strips are exactly what I used on my build to cover them up. The strips were thin enough that there was not enough difference to be noticeable and the comings were thick enough to hide the additional planks. -Brian

Eric, Glad to see you back. Looking forward to this build with great anticipation. If it’s anything like you Arabia build we should be thoroughly entertained. -Brian

Beautiful job Russ. She really came out great. Congrats on her completion. -Brian

Hello everyone, I know we may have beat this horse to death, but the subject has been on my mind and I wanted to throw this out there to any future City Class Iron Clad builders. As Roger stated before, the plans that I have are wrong. With that being said, here is what I discovered after reviewing my source material. The Bob Hill plans are the ones that are wrong. His plans plans have the chine turning into the outboard keels and terminating a couple of feet forward of the stern post. This is the way that I built my model the first time around. I used these plans since they were a lot clearer than the HSR plans. I didn't think to do a side by side comparison of them, taking for granted that I thought the Bob Hill plans were correct. Bob Hill Plans. The drawings in the HSR are correct where they have the chine turning into the outboard keels and terminating at the stern post. There are several other noticeable differences that I have discovered as well between the two plans and now I am going back and making several adjustments to my build because of them. I'll point them out in later posts. But, since this was on my mind I figured I'd post it now. I have still not gone back and looked at the step-by-step documentation the USS St. Louis build to see if they pointed this issue out, so if anyone else has looked and found that they have mentioned it, then please forgive my duplication of info. -Brian

Roger, This is what I would like to to, but since my planking at the bow didn't quite line up it would still be noticeable even after the hull was painted. Something that would bother me every time I looked at it (just the way my little OCD pea brain works). My thoughts on what you are saying about no longer matching the drawing dimensions would be this: The original hull planks were about 3" thick using the scaling from the plans which equates to about 1/16" (the thickness of the planks that I used) scaled down to 1:48 . The veneer planks that I have ordered are .020" or just a smidgen over a 1/2 mm thick which would be roughly 1" scaled up. I figured that during the sanding to fair the hull, I'm almost sure that I took at least that much off of the original planking for the veneer to make no more than a 1/2" difference at most in the overall width of the boat. At least this is what my crazy math calculates to. Then again my math has been known to be wrong. -Brian

Mark, I actually did glue them down wet on the port side. This was my first mistake. One that I didn't make on the starboard side. I had glued down the curved portion where it mounts to the solid filler blocks and in my haste to get them done (second mistake), went ahead and glued the rest down to the bulkheads before letting the planks dry. On the starboard side I let them dry first then glued them to the bulkheads. No gaps on that side. Another lesson learned. I need to heed your signature and slow it down a bit. -Brian

Hello again everyone, It's been slow going on the build this week. The side hull planking is taking more time than I was expecting. The bow section was pretty easy since the curves are a lot longer with less twists in a short span but the compound curves on the aft end of the hull proved to be pretty complex in getting the bends just right. Initially my plan was to single plank the hull sides, but with the way the turns are on the aft end I needed to soak the planks to get them to cooperate, and once they were in place they shrunk up when they dried. This left several noticeable gaps that I don't think would look right just filling them in (even with the hull painted). All this coupled with the fact that I struggled to get the planks to line up just right at the bow for one reason or another, led to my decision to go with the double planking. The side planks are 1/16" x 3/16" strips so I am going with .020 x 3/16" basswood veneer strips to lay over them. this shouldn't throw my scaling off too terribly much. Plus, the thinner strips will be a lot easier to bend and line up. In the scratch build world, I'm not sure if this is cheating or not going with the second layer of planking, but I want this build to look as real as possible, so cheat I must.😈 Here are some of the pictures of my progress this week. Laying out the first couple of runs of planking. My measurements didn't come out quite right and I ended up with one thin plank (about half the width of the others) in the middle. I am going to have to go back and redo my calculations, because I should have had exactly 14 - 3/16" planks along the sides. Completed side planking. Notice the gaps at the aft end where my planks shrank back when they dried. Aft planking after rough sanding. This part turned out pretty good. My guess is that since this area had a solid mounting surface underneath, the planks couldn't shrink up enough for a gap. Since the ones around the side were just glued to the bulkheads they had room to separate. And the bow planks misaligned. I am a little disappointed in this part so far, but I will get it fixed. The veneer is on order and should be in some time this week. In the meantime I will start work on the decking. Hopefully once the veneer planks arrive and I get them installed, I will have better pictures to show. We shall see. Anyhow, Thank you for looking. -Brian

Good to hear it’s still ongoing. Looking forward to more updates. -Brian