mbp521

Yves, So true. The build logs have been a wealth of knowledge to help along, as well as all of the input from others. This may have been my first build log but definitely wont be my last. -Brian

Yves, Thank you for the kind words. This was my first attempt at a build log. I was a little hesitant to start one at first. I've been a member of MSW for a while now and I wasn't sure if I would maintain the log or not. I see so many that start one but never finish and I was afraid I would do the same. Persistence pays off though. Kurt, Thank you! Your build article was a huge help. -Brian

Eric, it’s the drought season. I really wanted to get some sort of picture of her with water in the background, but we couldn’t find a way to set her up other than holding it in front of the pond like we did. I still had the mount bolted to the bottom when we took the pictures and I wanted to set it up on a post actually in the water but my fear was my clumsiness would kick in and I would have to start this build all over again because I dropped it and it sank. I’m still toying with idea of making a epoxy resin water base for it in the case but I’m not sure my artistic skills are up to that task yet. I may play around with is and see how it comes out. Thank you so much for your kind words and encouragement throughout this build, I will definitely miss this build log to. I’ll still drop in on your build and offer similar words of encouragement as well, although I might not be much help in knowledge base of Western River Steamers, but I’ll do my best. -Brian

Hello All, Well it's almost time to close the books on this build. I've just about done all that I can do to my Chaperon (aside from building her a case and installing those elusive stag horns on her bell). It's hard to believe that it has been 13 months and 24 days since I started this project. My how time has flown. Before I do close this build log out, I wanted to throw out a real quick kit review. Please keep in mind that I am by no means a professional model builder, nor do I claim to be an expert on model kits or writing reviews. These are just my observations, opinions and views so please take all of this with a grain of salt. All in all, Model Shipways has done a fantastic job with this kit. As with all model kits there are some areas of imperfection and room for improvement, but for the most part this one is a fantastic kit. I urge anyone that is into the steamboat era (or even those that are not) to check it out. It is a fun and rewarding build. Pros: First: Their packaging is minimal, no fancy boxes with graphics all over them, just a simple blue box with a picture of the completed model pasted to the top and one on the side for shelf identification. This helps keep the costs down and if you are like me, your're just going to toss the box once the model is complete anyway. All of the parts are packaged neatly for easy inventory and identification and the wood strips are individually wrapped according to their size (with the exception of the dowels, but those are easy to sort out). As for the materials and parts themselves, the kit was complete with no missing parts. Even if there were parts missing, Model Expo's customer service is spot on. A quick email to Ed and he'll have the parts on their way to you in no time. Second: Right out of the box you can tell this is going to be a nice model. MS uses good quality wood for all of their kits. I built several kits that the supplied wood is just complete junk. It splinters easily or has to be sanded down to nothing to get a decent finish on it. MS uses good Basswod that requires minimal sanding to get a good finish on. Their laser cutting is precise and easy to remove the parts from their sheets and most of the char is minimal. A little light sanding cleans the parts up nicely and provides a good bonding surface. Third: The instructions and plans were clear and easy to understand. These coupled with Kurt's build article (which I have to say is well worth the price) will help make this an almost effortless build, especially if you are going to build it straight out of the box. If you decide to go the route I took and "dress" it up a bit, well then that takes a little more effort. I only wish that the overall plan sheet was to scale. This would make it easier to get the correct placement of some of the features. This is only a minor thing and nothing that warrants putting in the Cons section. Fourth: It's easy to tell that a lot of research went into the plans for this kit. During my build I studied numerous pictures of the actual Chaperon and many of the "out of the box" details are spot on (kudos to you Bob Crane). As with all my models, I put my own little spin on them to "personalize" them. And like Eric said in a previous post, I made this model my own. Fifth: As for the amount of material supplied with the kit, there is more than enough to complete everything with plenty left over to use on other builds. I don't believe that I ran short on anything. Many of the extra details that I added were built from leftover materials from previous builds. With the exception being the deck planking, but that was my choice, so thats on me. Cons (I hope you don't find these too petty, I just want to present my opinion on these) : First: I know I've said it many times throughout this build, I am not a fan of the brittania pieces. I know that it is a safer (lead free) alternative to pewter and it is probably used to keep the costs down for production and the consumer, but surely there is a better alternative out there (or at least update the molding process). The capstan was totally out of round, and no amount of adjustment could be made to make it look right without reducing the scale. The lifeboats will do for what they are. With a little effort you can doctor these up and make them look fairly nice. And the steam whistle, pretty much useless. Not realistic looking at all. However, nothing a little scratchbuilding on my part couldn't remedy. Secondly: The finger joints on the Main and Boiler deck sections are one of the biggest distractions. I know this was done due to packaging limitations, but with the prescibed deck board lines this a drawback. One simple soultion could be to prescibe the individual deck board lengths so that the finger joints are not quite as obvious. Since I went ahead and planked mine, this wasn't a huge issue and if you paint the deck as was on the original boat then these are a little easier to hide. Fortunately MS did put the joints in somewhat inconspicuous places so they are not that easily seen. Third: The PE turnbuckles were flat and not very realistic. No too much to say about these, other than these unused parts will sit in my parts box and maybe get used for some other project. Good thing was that I got to hone my metal working skills scratch building more realistic looking ones. Fourth: The missing Hog Chain posts on the Main deck up by the boilers. This is a minor detail, but one that could be remedied easily by adding the parts to the kit. There is more than enough room on the parts sheets to add these without having to add additional plywood sets. This is just a small detail, and to be honest, if it were not for Kurt mentioning it in his build article, I might have completed the model without ever knowing they were missing. For my build I decided to create several fetures to add to the detail and realism of the model. While my build is not museum quality, I am extremely happy with the end result. I can understand that no (affordable) kit can have every detail on it, and given the amount of chanages this boat went through over her career, it would be next to impossible to have a kit that fit every detail into it. So it is left up to the builder to add as much, or as little to it as they want, but that is what makes this hobby so enjoyable. I also want to thank everyone for their guidance, input and commnets. Eric, Kurt and Roger, I can only hope to one day be half as knowledgeable as you guys on steamboats. All of your contributions to my build are greatly appreciated. Thanks to everyone that followed and visited my build and gave me a "Thumbs-up" on my progress. (Geez, I'm starting to sound like I'm accepting an Oscar or something). Anyway, here are some final pictures of my build (again, minus the stag horns and case). I hope you enjoyed my build log as much as I enjoyed writing it. Oh yeah, and one for fun. I didn't want to actually see if she would float, so I had my daughter take a picture of it in front of my pond and Photoshop my arm out of it. I'll Post some of these in the completed gallery and once I get the case built I may add a few more pictures. -Brian

Beatiful work as always Eric. Nice solution for the post tops. if you wouldn't have said anything I would have thought they actually do extend through the deck. So here is a questions that I though about while reading through your update. I'm really going to show my limited knowledge of steamboats here. Arabia has a jckstaff that her pilots used for navigation, and she has grasshopper arms for negotiating sand bars, I am going to go under the assumption that on boats like Chaperon that didn't have a jackstaff that the pilots used the landing stage boom as a navigation tool instead. Also, since Chaperon didn't have grasshopper arms I guessing that on the rivers she travelled, sandbars were not as much of a concern so they were not needed. Now here is where I am going with this: In looking at your painting of Arabia that you have at the first of this build, I noticed that with the jackstaff and the grasshopper arms, there is no landing stage or boom. So were the grasshopper arms used as a dual function, to hop sand bars as well as load freight and set the landing stage? or did they use some other method? My first thought was work boats (tinders) or landing barges, but it seems to me that these methods would not be very effecient. Forgive me for the long winded question, I'm just trying to expand on my learning. By the way, I know your heart lies in the steam era and Western Rivers, but you ought to take a trip back in time one day and build a fully rigged ship. They are lots of fun and challenging. Very time consuming (not that your Arabia hasnt been) but very fun. -Brian

Yves, Thank you for the compliments. You do have a point, that pilothouse light is a bit bright. I wonder if that’s the reason many of the boats met their demise on the river because the cabin lights were too bright for the pilot to see the dangerous snags at night. I’m sure the searchlights helped with that though. I may tone it down a bit to help with the night vision. As for the red navigation lights, all of the old photos of the Chaperon have them in place. I’m sure they were just oil lanterns with colored lenses that were lowered, lit then hoisted into place for night running. Since all of the old photos are black and white I just went under the assumption they were the standard red and green used today. Even the instructions call for the kit supplied lanterns to be painted red and green (and we all know how well we can trust the instructions). I guess I need to look a little deeper into this subject to see if they were actually using these colors. Off to the interweb. -Brian

Hello All, After my post last night I got to checking to make sure that my lighting was functioning properly and then I realized that I hadn't posed any pictures of Chaperon lit up. So here are a few from my tests last night. The Admiral suggested that I take more night pictures, but next time get the fog machine out and take them with that running. Awesome idea. Some with just the deck lighting on. Some with the navigation lights on. They are a little bright, but I still think they look pretty cool. After seeing these, now I really wish that I would have found a way to light up the search lights. Oh well, maybe on another build. Thanks for looking. -Brian

Thank you Eric. I thought it would be a neat touch. Just something different to add a little bit of realism. Completing these builds is bittersweet. The end result is worth all the time and effort put into it as you admire sitting on the shelf. However, on the flip-side ending the build means the end of the discussions and interesting topics that come up while build progresses. Fortunately, there will be other builds and the process starts all over again. No telling what topics are to come in future builds. -Brian

Eric, You are getting to the part of your build that I like most. I am one of those who love rigging. Something about it to me feels that it really starts to bring the model together. This is one of the only drawbacks of the steamboat era is that there is just not that much rigging. Beautiful job on the smokestacks. I really like the use of the parrel beads for the attachments. I wish I had thought of that on mine. I think they look much more realistic than eye-bolts. I'm real anxious to see how the grasshopper arms come out (no pressure). By the way, don't fret the work boats too much. You still have plenty of time to come up with a solution. Look at what you have accomplished so far. Absolutely magnificent build! -Brian

Good Afternoon Everyone, Time for one of my final updates, I've just about go this baby finished. This weeks work consisted of getting the ensign printed and installed. I couldn't come up with an alternative method to make the flag so what I ended up doing was printing it out on standard printer paper. I then cut it out and distressed it on the edge of my workbench rolling over and over on both sides to soften the paper and give it an almost cloth-like feel. I then took some clear Elmer's glue and glued the halves together, then formed it into a semi-waving form. I installed a little brass cleat on the bottom of the flagpole and tied off the lanyard to it. All in all, I think the results looks pretty good. Next I added a couple of rope hooks to both sides of the aft end to store the mooring ropes. For the hooks I used some 20 ga. brass wire, hammered one end flat then formed the hook. I drilled a couple of holes in it for the mounting bolts, dipped in some brass black then mounted it to the engine room wall. I made up a couple of rope coils from some heavy string and washed it down with some diluted clear Elmer's to hold it in a natural hanging position. I also seized a tie loop on one end and looped it around the aft cleat. Another detail that I added was the name placard that is mounted on the aft end just above the paddle wheel. Judging by some of the old photos, this was a detail that looks to added some time later on, as not all of the photos have this detail. Since my build is somewhat of a cross between an earlier version and later version of Chaperon, I figured I'd go ahead and add it. The sign I printed on standard printer paper, then with a little spray adhesive, I glued it to a piece of thin polystyrene sheet then cut it out. I coated the sign with some Mod-podge for protection and a little CA was used to mount it in place. Lastly, for the surprise detail that I added was sun screen/shade that was mounted on the Boiler Deck to keep passengers shaded during the hot summer days. I know it's nit much, but thought it was a nifty little detail that add some character to my build. I had the sail material from my USS Constellation build since I am building it without sails, that I used for the screen. I cut a 1.5" strip and wrapped it around a small wooden dowel. I then marked of the stationaries and installed the ties on either side of them. Once these were completed, I slid the dowel out and mounted the screen in place. From all of the pictures that I found, none of them had the sun screen going any farther down than about a third of the way. My guess was that this was specifically designed to shade the common area in the font of the deck. So just a few more cleanup items and some touch up paint here and there and I will be done. My daughter is an amateur photographer and is dying to do a photo shoot of my completed build. So as soon as I can complete the above listed items and get the pictures taken, I'll get some final pictures posted and close the door on this build. As always, thanks for the kind words, likes and for looking. -Brian

Eric, I don't think the Model Expo boats come in scales, just lengths. They leave it to the builder to get the correct size in relation to the scale of their build. One option you could go with if the scaling of features isn't right is to cover the boat with a tarp. I've seen this on several builds and it looks great. The boat I used on my build I wasn't real happy with the way the insides looked so I just turned it upside down and mounted it keel up. Just a couple of suggestions. I'm sure with your expertise and inventiveness you'll come up with something that will definitely look great. -Brian

Hello all, Time for another update. As the weather starts to get nicer, outdoor projects are starting cut into build time. I am rapidly approaching the finish line on this project which in a way is a good thing since I have so many projects that need tending to. I managed to complete a few things this week as well as a little touch up paint in some areas. Lifeboats were set in place and rigged. I put together this simple little jig to make the rope coils. Really easy and can knock them out super quick. Just wrapped the string around the thumbtacks, looped the string around itself through the groove and tie it off. A little dab of CA on the knot and all is good. I started making oars for the lifeboats and work boat, but once I completed a couple of them I realize that they were not quite to scale. I should have paid a little more attention to these while was making them. Oh well, back to the drawing board on these. I completed the work boat. I wasn't real happy with the way the insides looked so I decided to go ahead and place it upside down and just show the bottom. I have seen several pictures of these stowed this way on the decks. Final rigging on the navigation lights was completed as well. Lastly, I completed the flag pole and mounted it. I am trying to decide which ensign to place on it. three different versions would have flown on Chaperon while she carried this name, the 45, 46 & 48 star versions.. Unfortunately the kit doesn't come equipped with one, so I am going to have to fabricate one. I'd like to try and make them in some other fashion other than printing them on paper. so any advice on other ways to make them is always welcome. Just a few more minor details left and she should be complete. I need to make up the steps for the Hurricane Deck, rig the flagpole and one other addition that I will hold off on disclosing until I get it completed. It's a little detail that I ran across on researching old pictures of the boat that I think will be a nice touch. Something I haven't seen on a steamboat build yet. So bear with me, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. As always, thank you for the likes, kind comments and looking. -Brian

Eric, Great job on the railing. Looks like the jig worked perfectly. I can see where you could get a little nervous when working around it. I had the same dilemma with my work boats as well. I finally ended up using the britannia ones that came with the kit to place in the cradles on the sides, only I doctored them up a little. I also put together a spare kit that I had purchased from Model Expo some time ago. At Rogers direction, I looked up the Ohio River yawl boats and found several versions that closely resembled the kit that I had on hand. The only major difference was the bottom wasn't quite flat, but I think it looks just fine. I haven't updated my build log yet with pictures of it but I should have it done tonight or tomorrow. This is the kit that I used. https://modelexpo-online.com/SHIPS-BOAT-KIT--2-58--LASER-CUT-WITH-STRIP-PLANKS_p_3427.html -Brian

Eric, Beautiful job on the railings. I myself am spoiled to the PE ones my kit came with. This is definitely a tricky and time consuming part of the build doing it all from scratch. As for moving your Arabia around, please handle with care. We don't want your beautiful build meeting the same fate as the real Arabia. -Brian

Good evening everyone, I hope this find you all in good health. This week there is not much of an update, with all that is going on in the world and the COVID-19 virus affecting every corner of the world my primary focus this week has been setting the admiral and I up with temporary offices in the house since we have both been directed to work from home until further notice. What was accomplished this week was the completion of the forward rigging on the landing stage, the installation of the bull rails, navigation lights and the lifeboat booms. Finished rigging of the landing stage. Next was the installation of the bull rails. Another tedious task, although nothing compared to the placing all the battens on the Boiler and Texas decks. In order to access the battery for the LED's, I made a removable section so that I can remove the shipping crate to connect and replace the battery. As a little touch of realism, I left a couple of the bull rails unpainted. I was going for the effect of the crew having to replace a few broken ones and not quite having the time to get them painted up. I used a little bit of graphite from a pencil lead shaved off on some fine sandpaper. Just rubbed on the bare wood with my finger to give them a slightly weathered look. I completed the construction of the lifeboat booms and their brackets. as well as the cleats and boat rests. I found these inexpensive micro drill bits on Amazon. They are extremely handy when drilling the small holes and cleaning out the sheath holes in the blocks. They are made for circuit boards but I found them more convenient than using a pin vise. Boom sockets in place. Booms, cleats and boat rests in place and rigging ready to receive the lifeboats. Lastly, the navigation lights have been painted up and partially installed. I wanted to run these with miniature LED's but I couldn't figure out a way to get the wiring ran where it wouldn't be visible, so I just painted them. And here is an overall picture of where she sits now. Not too much more to go. This week I will try to finish up on the lifeboats and get them installed. I also had an extra lifeboat that I had purchased from Model Expo several years ago that will make a nice work boat. I think I will assemble that one and add it to the top. Thanks for all the likes and for looking. -Brian

Not to worry, I wasn’t offended by it. This Corona thing has lots of people stressing. In hindsight I now see that there were several areas lacking in the AL kit. I had seen the assembled kit 20 or so years ago in a hobby shop and thought it was really neat looking. At the time the $100 price tag was a bit out of my budget and raising three kids didn’t allow time for the hobby, so when it came time that I could afford it (not to mention I picked it up on sale about three years ago) I figured why not give it a shot. I had built the AL Endeavor and was working on the AL Constellation (which is a kit that is also lacking in accuracy) so why not go for it. You are correct, there does need to be more options available for historically accurate entry level steamboat kits (and Ironclads). As for Model Expo, I have been buying from them since the early 80’s. I hope this crisis ends soon so they can get back to it stronger than ever. Too many of their kits on my wish list I want to build. Fortunately for them they have an Amazon store to help them out during the shutdown (while supplies last). -Brian

Eric, Ooof. I was one of those who built the KotM. While it is definitely not historically accurate or representative of an actual steamboat, I will have to give it a little credit, it did spark my interest in the steamboat era. While it it is a lower end of the model scale and has its issues (nothing against AL), it did make a nice looking model. I have mine sitting on a cabinet in my office at work and I get compliments on it all the time. Of course this is from those that don’t know better. Lol All in all, it was a fun build, but nothing in comparison to the quality and fun of the MS Chaperon. Totally different league. Speaking of Model Shipways, I received an email from Model Expo that they were closing their doors due to the COVID-19 virus. Truly heartbreaking. Hopefully this will all blow over soon and I hope everyone stays healthy. -Brian

Tom, thank you you for the kind words. For all the top decking I used silkspan and Modpodge for the tarpaper look. I cut scale strips of silkspan, applied a coat of Modpodge then laid the silkspan over it. Each strip is slightly overlapped to give it the tarpaper look. Once this was all dry, I painted it all with a coat of flat acrylic black paint. Where the silkspan strips overlap, I went a little over the lines to give the effect of the tar seeping through the joints. Pretty simple really. While I like this method of “tarpapering” the roof, the credit goes to Kurt Van Dahm. It was his article on constructing the Chaperon where I got the idea. There is is also a fantastic scratch build of the Arabia by Cathead where he uses masking tape and black pastel for the tarpaper look. I’m considering trying this method on a future build as a comparison. I hope this this information was useful. -Brian

Eric, Funny you should say that, my first thought was "Herbie the Love Bug" a Disney movie. Yves, I sure hope it does. This is a truly fantastic model, and it has been a pleasure to build. More builders should give it a go. -Brian

Good morning everyone, This week marks one year that I have been working on this build. I must say my how it has flow by. This week I worked on finishing up on the forward rigging of the chimneys, landing stage, searchlights, mast and boom. Completing this portion really starts to pull things together. It also creates lots of snag points and I am going to have to watch myself when working around these areas or I'm going to be rebuilding some pieces. Tying off the top ropes on the chimneys. Forward turnbuckles in place. Last parts of the chimney rigging going in. Searchlights mounted and the control ropes being ran. Searchlight control ropes completed and upper mast and boom rigging. I was also able to add a little details to the fore deck. I used some leftover dead-eyes to create the rollers on the fore deck fair leads. Lastly, I finally finished the searchlights. I was looking for some old model car headlights to use for the lenses, but I wasn't able to find any that I had in my junk box. I had to ponder what to use for a while, I even tried drying out an old pair of contact lenses that I had, but these just didn't come out right. Then my daughter cam up with the brilliant idea to use googly-eyes for them. This was what my first impression of using them looked like. After having a little fun with this, and much to the disappointment of my granddaughter (she loved the eyes on the boat) I surgically removed the lenses from the googly-eyes, added some brass wire for the filament and then snapped the lenses into place. I couldn't have asked for a better fit. That's all for now. I will work on getting the lower blocks and rigging to hold down the stage, the rope coils and the rest of the bull rails cut out and in place this week. I'll also try to figure out how to mount the lifeboat/work boat booms. Hopefully I will come up with some sort of solution. She is really starting to come together, I can see the finish line in sight. As always, thanks for all the likes and thanks for looking. -Brian

Wood and plastic. The best of both worlds. Nice looking bunks. Now it’s nap time. -Brian

So I have a question. I am coming to the point where it is time to construct the boat booms. The instructions call for two eye-bolts to be linked together and one end inserted into the dowel, the other inserted into the deck to make up the pivot point for the booms to swing out on. This seems like a cheesy way to do it, but I want to get it right. I've looked at the old pictures of the Chaperon and the only one I can find that has a clear shot of them doesn't really have any good detail. I have also looked at Jens Mittelbach's 3D website of Chaperon and from what I can tell he just has the booms sitting in what looks like a socket and the boom just pivots inside of that socket. Does anyone have any clear guidance as to how these were actually built. I'm sure that each boat builder had their own method, I'm really just looking for some common way to build it up right. Thank you in advance. -Brian

Eric, I thought so to. It seems that every museum I have visited (related to boats, ships, etc..) always has some sort of model in the exhibit. The more I think of it the more my curiosity gets to me as to why such a prominent part of my towns history and culture has an exhibit in the local museum, but no model of it. Bob, I would love to visit Le Claire and see the City of Baton Rouge some time just for the history of it. Maybe even take a ride on the Twilight. I'm sure there are not many people in my generation from my home town that have had a chance to see the actual City of Baton Rouge. I would be nice to say that I have. -Brian

Yves, Your attention to even the tiniest of details is just amazing. Even if the batteries will be mostly hidden, we will still have your build log to go back and reflect on your accomplishments. -Brian

Hello everyone, While I am not quite ready for an update, I wanted to share a little history from my home town. I grew up on the Mississippi River across from Baton Rouge, LA. Unfortunately for me the only way to get across the river from Port Allen to Baton Rouge was by either the new bridge (Horace Wilkinson Bridge - b.1968) on Interstate 10 or the old bridge (Baton Rouge Huey P. Long Bridge - b.1940) on State Hwy 190. However, before my time (just slightly) there was a ferry that ran between Port Allen and Baton Rouge from 1820 to 1968. While the construction of the "Old Bridge" helped save time getting between the west and east sides of the river, it wasn't until the construction of the "New Bridge" that led to the demise of the ferry route (two months before I was born). One of these ferries that shuttled cars and pedestrians was the City of Baton Rouge which ran from 1917 to 1968 and is featured heavily in an exhibit in the West Baton Rouge Parish Museum, as well as painted on buildings and signs all over town. As kid I frequented the museum often due to my love of history. The reason I bring this up was, I was looking at ideas for future build projects and during my last visit to the WBR Museum a few years ago, I noticed that with all of the pictures and artifacts the museum had related to the old ferry system and there was no models of the ferry itself. I didn't give it too much thought at the time since my focus was on pre-20th century sailing ships and not steamboats. It wasn't until I started my Chaperon build that my interest really switched to steam power and its history. So I figured that since I grew up around this type of culture, why not build something from it. Right now I am seriously thinking of doing a scratch build of the USS Cairo as my next project, but depending on how that build goes, the City of Baton Rouge could be after that. Who knows, since the WBR Museum doesn't have a model for their exhibit, maybe I could donate mine (we'll see how the build goes first). My apologies for hijacking my own build for this, I just found it interesting and thought I would share. Here are a couple of photos of the ferry during her hey-day and just before she was taken out of service. Photos are courtesy of the West Baton Rouge Museum. The City of Baton Rouge is still around today. When she was taken out of service in 1968, she was converted to a wharf boat for the excursion boats Twilight and Julia Belle Swain in Le Claire, Iowa. Here was an article posted in the Baton Rouge newspaper on the 100th anniversary of the City of Baton Rouge. https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/entertainment_life/article_4316a0ae-a54b-5800-92ef-1b914f398cdb.html Thank you for looking. -Brian