mbp521

Just catching up Eric, and you have definitely posed a good question. My initial thought was the coal could have been stored on the deck in front of the firebox as stated before. When first looking at the photo of the wreck, I thought that maybe the reason that it is not seen was because they cleared it off before the photo was taken. Then I noticed that the fires are still stoked, due to the smoke coming from the stacks, so that shot that theory down. I do like the idea that sacks of coal were used and just dumped out on the deck as they were used. Not sure if it was common practice, but is it possible that there are coal bunkers actually in the deck itself that go down into the hold slightly? I’m thinking something like a sloped trough that would allow ease of shoveling, but far enough down that wouldn’t be noticeable in any of the photos? Just thinking out loud. Good idea reinforcing the posts with wire. On several occasions I’ve had to beef up these delicate connections with wire or trenails. Definitely gives piece of mind to it’s stability. I also love the “grittiness” you add to your builds with the high traffic area wear. Adds to the realism and gives the boats life. -Brian

Scrolling through these builds, enjoying the photos and commentary and learning new and old techniques of the progress is only part the entertainment that I get from this forum. The sideline conversation and banter is the added bonus that keeps me glued to the builds and coming back for more. -Brian

The machine has an exhaust fan on the back with a duct that you can vent outside. They also have an air purifier attachment that you can purchase separately that filters the exhaust fumes and smoke. For now, I just have the duct attached to the back and when I run the tool, I just pop the window open and drop the duct outside. A little crude, but it works for now until I can get around to building a permanent solution for it. -Brian

It really is pretty easy to use Keith, and there are numerous tutorials out there that give step by step instructions. I bet if you set the laser to the highest setting and slow passes on engrave you could cook with it. Now to just convince your wife of that, it could be called a multi functional BBQ.😆 -Brian

Beautiful Keith! I have often found myself in the quandary of getting the inside work done before the shrouds or visa-versa. Doing the internal work without the shrouds is so much easier to access, but I’ve always thought that once the inside work was done and the shrouds added later that the tension of installing the shrouds would cause a sag on the inner lines. So, I’ve always worked from the outside in, praying to the ship gods that i didn’t snag a line and dump the whole thing in the floor. Oh the trials of model shipbuilding. 😁 -Brian

It wasn’t until I started making the parts that I realized that many of the kit manufacturers probably use similar equipment to make their kits. Albeit their machines are likely a lot more pricey and robust than this one. -Brian

It runs on a free downloadable proprietary software called XTool Creative Space (XCS) which is real easy to use plus there are several tutorials out there to help with the more complicated features. Another program that interfaces well with it and a lot of XTool owners use is Lightburn, but that’s a aftermarket software that costs, but it does offer many more features than XCS. You can also create a .svg file in any supported software and manipulate it in the XCS program. I managed to learn a good bit in a few short days. -Brian

Hello again, Time has a way of getting away from us, and I didn't realize that it has been over a month since my last update. With the holidays, I needed two of me to keep up with everything that I was doing. I have made some progress on the the Caroline though, and I figure it about time to get something posted. So before the holiday's hit I managed to work on the Kort Nozzles. For these I found that 1 1/2" plastic conduit was the perfect diameter for these, and saved me a ton of time having to shape these out of styrene. Ok, I admit the size wasn't exactly perfect, they were .75mm larger than the correct scale, but I figured that was close enough, and by the time I finished shaping them I would be close enough. Besides these will be on the bottom and not fully seen. Placement on the hull in there approximate location. I put the nozzles on my drum sander and used that as an arbor to sand them into shape with a sanding block and files. I forgot to take photos of the process, my phone was in my hobby room and I was too lazy to go get it. But anyway, this was the first nozzle roughly shaped, compared to the original pipe. Both nozzles with their general shape. I still need to get them smoothed out a little more and add a few details for them, but I like what I have so far. Then the Christmas holiday hit and Santa was very good to me. The Admiral and I decided that we needed a new toy to support our craft and shipbuilding hobby and we decided to invest in a laser engraver. After extensive research we decided that an XTool S1 would be worth the investment, so we bit the bullet and purchased one. So I spent a few days tinkering around with the engraver and it's software, making small, little simple projects just to get the feel for it, then it was time to see what it could really do. So why not try it out on the Caroline. Here I am working on the walls for the first two decks. Pretty easy since they are somewhat square. Then it was time to see what this baby would do. Couldn't ask for better results. So I played around with the windows a bit, using different thicknesses of wood to give them more dimension and depth and engraving the window frames, as well as some of the door features. So to help with some of the wall structure I drew up little brackets to help support the wall braces and cut them out as well as the braces. Then it was time to give it all a test fit. I'm thinking I am going to really like this tool. I do realize that this is somewhat turning a scratch build into a kit build, and hopefully no one thinks that this is cheating. But hey, aren't most kits started from a scratch built model? I've got more to come, but I just found out the hard way that CA has a shelf life, and after first opening my current bottle two years ago, it's adhesion is just not what it used to be. So for now I'll work on some of the other deck walls and get them designed while I am waiting on a new bottle of CA to arrive. That will do it for this update. Thank you all for stopping by and the kind comments. -Brian

I hope you don’t mind me stealing this method Roger. I usually just wrap the wire around a small drill bit with finger strength for rings. The end results like you said were not quite round, but I found they worked at the time. Never thought of putting tension on the wire. Still learning. -Brian

Happy New Year Keith! -Brian

Oh wow! That photo really shows the scale of just how small this boat really was. Now I understand how she got by with just one boiler. -Brian

I was thinking it was called the flume, but my knowledge of steamboat terminology is somewhat limited. However, I do like Eberhards description of “thingy between boiler and stacks”. A technical term that works well 😁. It’s surprising that she only had one boiler, I would think that she would have had at least two given the power needed to propel her upriver. However, thinking about it, steam locomotives got by with just one boiler and they seemed to function quite well. -Brian

Looks like it fits nicely where it’s supposed to. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and Mrs. Cathead as well. -Brian

So good to see you back at it Keith! I to have been guilty of letting other things get in the way of shipbuilding. Hopefully your recent progress can inspire me to sit back down at the bench and get some work done. Here’s wishing you and your family a Merry Christmas and a safe and happy Nee Year! -Brian

Looking good Eric. This has to be a first that I’ve seen, off-model building of the deck. I totally understand the reason behind it, given the deck is not too structurally sound, and the pressure needed to deck the frames. I admire your approach to it. Anxious to see how it all works out. -Brian

Right there with you Keith. I had cataract surgery on both eyes back in September. They replaced the lenses in both eyes and the world has never been so clear. I’ve been wearing glasses since I was nine and contacts the last 40 years, and I am amazed at the clarity the surgery has given me. -Brian

Congrats on a magnificent build. It’s been a pleasure to ride along on the journey. -Brian

Just catching up Eberhard, and as usual your work still amazes me. -Brian

Oh so true Keith. She’s going to have some weight to her. -Brian

Hello again everyone, It is finally about time that I get back to the bench and get some real work done, and not this around the house to-do list stuff. I don't have a lot to show right now, since I am just getting back into the groove, but I wanted to get something out there. I last left off working on getting the bottom of the hull covered. I was initially going to skin the whole thing over with basswood sheets, but the bow and the stern area had way too many compounding curves and angles to get the wood sheets to lie down correctly so I then decided that I would plank it to see how that would look. Still with the difficult curvatures around the Kort Nozzles, I still struggled to get the planks to line up and lie down as well. I started planking the middle and got so frustrated that I finally decided that I would just go in and fill the whole thing with body filler. So I tore out most of the planking and used a light weight air drying clay to fill in between the bulkheads, The clay was cheaper than the body filler, but took several days to fully cure. I then took a few strips of planking and glued them in place about an inch or so apart. The strips will serve as a depth guide for the applicator as well as an indicator of how far I need to sand the body filler down. I figured with all the gaps that I was going to have to fill in with the planking in this area, I might as well save some frustration and wood and just fill the whole thing in. Besides, this area will hardly be seen at all anyway. Here are the guide planks going and the clay filler in place. Even pre-soaked the planks had to be held in place with weights to keep their form while the glue dried. Next I slathered on a couple of coats of body filler and let that set. This is the first coat going on. First round of sanding is done. There are some low spots and pinholes that need to be filled in, but for the most part I think it turned out well. That is all for this update. I know it's not much, but I hope to have more next time around. Winter will be here before you know it which provides ample time for shipbuilding. I'm actually just tickled to finally get to use the new bench and shipyard setup. Thanks for stopping by. -Brian

Keith/Mark, that is exactly what I plan to do. I am going to run some LED lights to illuminate the model and enclose it with a pane of plexiglass. A lot cheaper and easier thank building a dedicated display case. Eric, the baseballs are a couple that I had autographed, one by Nolan Ryan and the other by Tony Gwynn Sr. As for the armadillo, I got that thing for Christmas when I was around 10 years old (45 years ago). Needless to say it has a few miles on it, but since I’ve had it for so long, I find it hard to part with. One of my grandsons has laid claim to it when I’m gone. -Brian

Hello again everyone, Well once again I failed at taking progress photos of my work, I guess the anxiousness of me wrapping this project up got the better of me. The weather has finally cooled down, so more attention needs to be focused on other projects and to be honest, I am really ready to sit down at my new bench and start making some sawdust. The past couple of months that I have actually been doing “work” work in my new room has found me staring at the incomplete hull of my Caroline towboat, just chomping at the bit to get back to work on her. So for now, I am calling this project done. The bookcase is finished and my nicknack shelves are done, the only thing that remains is the lighting and glass for my Chaperon, but I’m putting that off for the time being. For now this will have to do. The finished results of my bookcase and all my junk to fill its shelves. Still have more to move in, just haven’t found all the boxes with the rest of my books. Thanks for following along. For now I am leaving this build open for some final shots once I get the Chaperone properly displayed. But for now, I’m calling it good. -Brian

Nothing like a little gentle persuasion to get the wood to do what you want. 😁 Looking good John! -Brian

That’s quite the unique load she’s carrying. A far cry from the normal cotton bales. 😁 The masking tape tarpaper turned out great! It’s hard to tell from the pictures, but did you leave the scribe lines for the skylight visible through the tape? -Brian

Thanks for the update Tim. You guys' level of detail is just amazing! -Brian