Gerhardvienna

Some more steps done for the small carriage, just the wheels, barrel and the frame for the ammo boxes missing.



 
Thank you for watching
 
Regards
Gerhard
 
 

Gerhard,
I knew it wouldn't make any difference to your individual paddlewheel parts as is also the case with ours. For our scale, other than just being more accurate, the ring spacing significantly affects the wheel assembly. Unfortunately, Bob expected higher accuracy from Ashley's 1981 NPS plans, his primary source in making his set. We and many others have done the same for their Cairo drawings and models  over the years.  We are now very happy to be able to share our research findings in a timely manner with you and any other modelers so that they will at least be aware of them and can decide for themselves.
 
johnhoward

WOW...............................

Regards
Gerhard

Update :
 
here we have the captain, just behind the the stb. bridge bulwark. He is proudly watching his baby plough the Atlantic, as the bow wake browses by. This little figurine, together with the gentleman and the two lady passengers in conversation two decks below, I`m proud to posess. They are a gorgious gift from MSW member "TLC", who saw that I was on the look for certain figurines in scale 1:144 or 1:160 N-gauge, specialy  the captain, and he so kindly merged the make of these with a young Bulgarian artist, who was producing miniature dolls and dollhouse articles. She herewith, first time attempted, custom made,  to do a long time searched for captain for the KWdG, and I know she did a top job on it.
Many thanks again at this ocasion to "TLC" and the young artist...
Now is the time to have these figurines boarding and placed on board at exponated positions.
 
Also today I received the etched brass wheels from "M.Z. Modellbau", Manfred Zinneckers webshop and they are correct in size and look top, so the telemotors could be completed, installed, and the hydraulics connected thereto. The bridge crew is now complete and doing its job...
 
Nils
 

Captain in scale 1:144 with moustarch and in his Norddeutscher Lloyd uniform....
 

the litte group of passengers, two ladies in their 1900- 1910 fashions in conversation with the gent at the railing on the forward promenade deck
 

one of the two telemotors after completion...
 

the little Revell color can for scaling
 
 

the nautical crew at work, hopefully they bring her safe to the port of destination
 

 
 

 
 

Very nice CAD work Gerhard,
One comment that might make your paddlewheel assembly easier is that the 4 identical frames were actually all facing the same way with the pocketed side of the hubs on the port side for the spokes. This makes the 3 spaces between the rings identical as well as the cross bracing arrangement, rather than "handed". Some versions of the Cairo drawings show this incorrectly but Vicksburg reassembled their original crumpled wheel correctly as you can probably detect in their photographs.
 
johnhoward

And having caught the carving bug (and with an Emperor and his courtiers to carve!) in between times while I waited for the glue to dry I've been working on extra people for the ship. Here is Emperor Alexios and one of his courtiers. I've cut out the courtier's outline with a coping saw, but the Emperor is still just a piece of paper stuck to a bit of pear wood.
 

Now I've cut the Emperor's outline out, and made a start on carving the courtier. I've placed the Emperor badly - I would have been better putting him higher on the piece of wood so I had something to hold onto while I carved.
 

 
The philosophy of getting a rounded figure from a squared off chunk of wood is to think of it as a series of layers. Leaving the layer nearest the outside face - in this case his arm - cut away wood from all around it, leaving the arm standing proud. You have to estimate how thick the arm is - it's often more than you think -and cut away that deep behind the arm. In this case all the detail of the head is lost as you have to cut it back to let the arm stand out. I've cut away a bit below the arm, but as I haven't yet sorted out the hem of his gown I've left it alone.
 

 
Now I've trimmed down further to begin to give the body some shape. Still thinking in terms of layers, the shoulders are the next nearest thing to the surface of the wood, so I've cut away everything around them. I've also trimmed off somewhat so the hem of the gown is in about the right place. Next I'll have to put a couple of saw-cuts across the figure to give the hem of the gown some definition and cut back to the layer of the front of his feet.
 
I've roughly re-drawn his face and arms to give me some orientation for further carving. I'm still trying to work out what to do with his strange hat - it leans forward over his head like a smurf's hat and I need to get it right; but all in good time. I've left myself enough leeway to come back to it and shape it  more carefully later.
 
Here he is from the left side . .
 

 
And from the back . . .
 

 
and from the right.
 

 
More progress pictures in my next post.
 
Steven 

Hi Roger
 
Found the photo, SEEMS to be close to the boats I expect to build. If you meant this one.
Thank you for the hint! But I did not find the boat from the USS Hartford, maybe I search  later for it!
The brass parts are not too complicated to make, that`s what I can do myself. Just the paddlwheel parts are a bit too hard to make, for a showcase model I would print them in 3D , for a floating model I want to have them from brass.
Made the missing parts, the black parts will be photo etched, all yellow things I will turn on the lathe.

 
Best regards
Gerhard
 
PS.: I just can HOPE, my build will forfill the high standards..............................
 
 

Hi again& many thanks for your interest and so many likes!
 
Made some progress for the paddlewheel, just on the PC. First parts are ready drawn in 3D but must be transformed to 2D Drawings for photo etching.

 
BUT; could not stop myself and try to draw it as close as I can to the plans I have. The shaft and some other shims are not made at the moment, will be made later the day!
 
Regards
Gerhard

Hi Nils  
 
Sweet work, as always.  KWdG will make a wonderful and beautiful addition to your home.
 
For situations like adding the molding to the bridge, I find that this method works for me:  First, I shape the piece and dry fit it.  When I am satisfied with the fit I clamp it into place with small clips.  Once perfectly aligned, I tack it in place by introducing thin cyano in a few selected spots.  It runs behind the piece by capillary action and any excess I quickly blot away with a light swipe of paper towel.   When that first gluing is set, I remove the clips and check alignment again.  If all is still OK I feed thin cyano all along the edge of the piece, blotting as before.  No mess, no smeared paint, no glued fingertips.
 
Hope this is useful for you.
 
Dan

I ran across this when I went online this morning.
 
http://my.xfinity.com/articles/entertainment-movies/20170412/US--Perfect.Storm-Ship.Reef/?cid=featuredmovies_media_perfectstorm
 
the Coast Guard ship Tamaroa is being sunk.   not much news to the article,  but there is a link to another news article.   perhaps there is more.
 
 
here's a picture I use as a desktop wallpaper.......

I sent him pictures and an invite,  but there was no reply.   nope.........no George  

U N R E A L !!!
How is it possible to get such a small threaded rod and nut ???  You must be some kind of magician, Johann!
 
Of course, when I look at the rest of your work I can see you really are a magician!
 

!

Hi Roger
 
Found the photo, SEEMS to be close to the boats I expect to build. If you meant this one.
Thank you for the hint! But I did not find the boat from the USS Hartford, maybe I search  later for it!
The brass parts are not too complicated to make, that`s what I can do myself. Just the paddlwheel parts are a bit too hard to make, for a showcase model I would print them in 3D , for a floating model I want to have them from brass.
Made the missing parts, the black parts will be photo etched, all yellow things I will turn on the lathe.

 
Best regards
Gerhard
 
PS.: I just can HOPE, my build will forfill the high standards..............................
 
 

Hi again& many thanks for your interest and so many likes!
 
Made some progress for the paddlewheel, just on the PC. First parts are ready drawn in 3D but must be transformed to 2D Drawings for photo etching.

 
BUT; could not stop myself and try to draw it as close as I can to the plans I have. The shaft and some other shims are not made at the moment, will be made later the day!
 
Regards
Gerhard

Gerhardt/ John, Thanks to each of you for your kind remarks regarding my Passaic Class monitor model.  It is interesting to watch two models of USS Cairo being built simultaneously to high standards.
 
Regarding authentic Civil War ship's boat details.  The best photo that I have found that shows a US Navy ship's boat up close is one taken by James Brady of USS Onondaga in the James River in 1864.  The photo shows a group of soldiers or marines in what appears to be a small cutter up close with the Onondaga in the background.  Google Onondaga and you will find it.
 
The photo shows the distinctive sheer strake design that I mentioned above, and the brass castings that formed the openings in the wash strake for the oars.  If you are ordering photo etched parts you might want to include a supply of these.
 
Also interesting is the variety of boats moored along side Onondaga.
 
The Civil War navy museum in Columbus, GA has a Ship's boat from USS Hartford and there is a photo on their website.  Hartford, however, had a very long life and photos of many of these Civil War Ship's that survived into the 1900's show them outfitted with standard 1900 pattern boats.  Additional research of this boat is in order.
 
Roger

Thanks to all for the interest in my report.
In the meantime, I have made some progress on building the
top of the main mast.
Currently, I'm going to make the supports for the railing.

After all that more theoretical stuff it`s time for smoething real. Today I started with the 12-pounder carriage. This is a really small thing, just about 3,3 cm long without the wheels. The main part is soldered from 4 pieces of 0,5mm brass sheet, still some parts missing, but things go on.




 
Best regards, and many thanks for yll your kind likes!
Gerhard
 
 
 

Hi again& many thanks for your interest and so many likes!
 
Made some progress for the paddlewheel, just on the PC. First parts are ready drawn in 3D but must be transformed to 2D Drawings for photo etching.

 
BUT; could not stop myself and try to draw it as close as I can to the plans I have. The shaft and some other shims are not made at the moment, will be made later the day!
 
Regards
Gerhard

Hi johnhoward
 
Nice wheel!
That "moving fast" is just for concentrating the orders. When I order only the small parts I need for the 12-pounder, I will have to make another order later for the wheels rims. Thius way I can order all at once, and work then (while waiting) on the boats. Even all the wood i need for the rest of the ship will be ordered this days, so in a few days I can go on with all. Later I will have to buy a lot of brass for the engines, even this will be made as an "at once" thing. But before I can do this I will have to construct the engine, there are no plans in such small scale to work with.
The wheel will be a bit simplyfied for my build, here is my decision "form follows function"! Still very detailed, but the rims in one piece etched, and some other parts turned on my lathe.
 
Regards
Gerhard

Many thanks go to Christos, Gerhard, Bob, Greg, Eddie, John and Igor,
for your nice comments and compliments....
 
Christos,
thanks for your words..
 
Gerhard,
am very pleased that you like it...
 
Bob,
thanks again for you nice compliment, much appreciated...
 
Greg,
thanks for your words and greetings to Down Under...
 
Eddie,
another greeting to Australia and thanks for your compliment...
 
John,
wow, again Australia ! thanks John, I`m learnig a lot for english nautical terms, keep them coming....
 
Igor,
correct in scale the wheels ought to be 7,5 mm diam. outside the spokes. So I should be looking for 7-8,5 mm, if possible etched brass. I was lucky to have found some inbetween now and look forward to holding them by the weekend...
 
Nils
 
 made some scaled brass steering columns, comprising the column, the reduction gearbox, hole for the wheel and the reservoir for the hyraulic oil. In German they are called "Telemotor", and actually  the steering-wheel remote operates the hydraulic circuit for actuators on the steam valves far back stern where the steam powered steering mechanics sits under the waterline, within the tail cone area.
 

wheel axis and wheel still missing here..., one for the bridge, one for the "monkey`s island"....
 
 

The three main controll instuments
 

Hi johnhoward
 
Nice wheel!
That "moving fast" is just for concentrating the orders. When I order only the small parts I need for the 12-pounder, I will have to make another order later for the wheels rims. Thius way I can order all at once, and work then (while waiting) on the boats. Even all the wood i need for the rest of the ship will be ordered this days, so in a few days I can go on with all. Later I will have to buy a lot of brass for the engines, even this will be made as an "at once" thing. But before I can do this I will have to construct the engine, there are no plans in such small scale to work with.
The wheel will be a bit simplyfied for my build, here is my decision "form follows function"! Still very detailed, but the rims in one piece etched, and some other parts turned on my lathe.
 
Regards
Gerhard

Hi Nils
 
Superb work!
Not more to say..........................
 
Regards
Gerhard

Very true, Dick. If the Bayeux Tapestry, for example, is to be believed, the Normans had blue and green horses.
 
However, I find it interesting that out of the dozens of pictures of ships in the Skylitzes Chronicle, only these two are red and yellow, and both have the Emperor on board, and in one of them it is even labelled as the Imperial ship. Of course it may mean nothing, but the model has to be some colour, and these manuscript illustrations are the only evidence available. If I don't use them I have nothing to work off at all. I suppose I could paint it black as the other ships in the Skylitzes are, but the same criticism applies to doing that.
 
I can never know for sure if it's correct (without a time machine), but this artist has got many other details right (in such things as costume) and I'm prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt.
 
Here are some progress pics of adding the "tail" to the gunwales. The first shows the two tails - one fully shaped and smoothed off, the other still incomplete.
 

 
Here is the starboard "tail"held in place with flat headed screws and tiny pegs.
 

 
And both in place. The tiny peg was too small to span the thickness of keel and both gunwales, so I had to use a normal clothes peg.
 

 
Before I put the tails on I'd been sweeping the table to get ready to take photos and in a moment of inattention I broke the tail off the keel. Not a happy camper. I had to carefully glue it back in place (I use white glue) and hold it in my fingers till it dried enough to stay put. But it came good, and now the two gunwales brace the tail of the keel so it's not likely to snap off if a similar accident occurs. As I'd feared there is a very slight asymmetry between the two gunwale tails, but I'll be able to fix this with a little imagination, trimming and gluing.
 
The next step is to make the frames more uniform. Currently they don't form a smooth curve for the planking and I'm slowly remedying this. Another lesson in patience and in technique. I should have used even more push pins than I did and held each frame against the plug at more points of the curve. But I'm confident that I can make it good with patience and care.
 

 
Steven   

Hi johnhoward
Thank you, again....
Would be great, if you could show both pics in higher resolution, so I could scale them to the correct measure for the Cairo. The cutter length has been around 26 feet, IF i have measured that correct from the plans, just the launch missing in its length and width. The plans dont show the boats correct, even the Bob Hill plans show 4 equal boats!
 
Beneath the searching for the correct boats I managed to redo the field carriage. This was too wide with 22 mm, should have been only 18 mm. So I opened some of the soldering spots, shortened the parts, and soldered them together again. Width is now at 18 mm, just the axles are longer. They will be cut to correct length, when the wheels are made. And I started with the boat carriage, most parts are done, have a look at that!
 

 

Thank you all for watching & your nice likes!
Regards
Gerhard