Keith Simmons

I did this little experiment with my decal maker and ink jet printer.   there is a thread here,  but here is my blog on it......I still need to do more on it though:
 
https://wenzelswharftips.wordpress.com/2014/04/29/embossing-sails-part-1/
 
you can do the same in photo shop.   take an image of the decal sheet...sized to what you need,  and run a piece of sail cloth through you printer.  I used decal bonder to stiffen the cloth .......but I tried it with cloth that required no stiffening at all...and it worked just as well.  hope this helps  

There are iron on transfers available onto which you can copy and print your artwork then iron it on to your preferred fabric. Probably JoAnns fabric will carry these. Sounds like it might be a funproject to try to perfect. Might try spray starch on the fabric so you can shape it a little.  Bill

now you see the beauty..........the refinements are beginning to show     the upper decks are gorgeous.......you did well in giving her a visually elegant  'top'. 
 
    if this is the indication of the finished photos....the Mary Jean should be a piece of cake!    awesome job my friend!

That's probably what I would do also.  Only take it apart to show friends.
 
Bob

Hi Bob
 
Thanks. That's a great question! I'm probably going to have her displayed as a full ship, in the knowledge that I can take each deck off, as and when required.
 
All the best!
 
Cheers en
 
Patrick

Hi everyone 
 
Another quick update.  I've done a bit work on the paintwork.  As I hope you can see from the glint off the hull and superstructure in some of the photos, I'm slowly achieving that glass smooth and shiny finish that I'm after.  I'll just need a few more (dust free) coats before I'll be happy with it.  Only then, can I return to detailing the interior.
 
I've also had some fun doing the four large umbrellas which are situated on the Sun Deck, i.e. two at the rear of the deck and the remaining two are over the spa.  Oh, and the twin radar domes are also done.
 
I hope you all enjoy the photos!
 
Cheers
 
Patrick
 
 
 
 

Hi Cathead, I have been thinking about attempting a scratch built riverboat. Your thread has me thinking a bit harder about how I can take a riverboat and put my twist on it...lol. Thanks again for the thread, will be watching...

Hi Cathead, I have been thinking about attempting a scratch built riverboat. Your thread has me thinking a bit harder about how I can take a riverboat and put my twist on it...lol. Thanks again for the thread, will be watching...

Hi Cathead, I have been thinking about attempting a scratch built riverboat. Your thread has me thinking a bit harder about how I can take a riverboat and put my twist on it...lol. Thanks again for the thread, will be watching...

The vast majority of Australia's river boats were side wheeler tugs - i.e. they towed a string of barges which carried the cargo.  There were a few, but not many, passenger boats, and most of these were later additions to the river fleet as the original passengers - owners and workers of the scattered rural properties along the rivers, would 'camp' on the tugs while travelling to their destinations.
 
The photo below if of one of the Murray passenger boats; the 'Ruby', built in 1907 and now restored and running regular cruises on the river.
 
John
 

Hey, John, I sure don't mind if folks want to talk about riverboat anything. I set this up the way I did, in part because US boats are all I know, and because it seemed to be the focus of models here right now. But it's neat to learn anything that anyone wants to share, and I hope I didn't offend anyone by making it US-centric. Your photo of the Adelaide shows a really neat craft that's noticeably different from anything in the US. Thanks for sharing!

And if you feel that you'd like to widen the discussion even further, Australia has a rich history of steam boating on our inland rivers - especially the Murray-Darling river system.
 
Here is an old photo of mine of the PS 'Adelaide'.  She was built in 1866 and was a working boat until 1958.  She is currently one of the preserved steamers at the Victorian town of Echuca.
 
John
 

Yeah, I agree, Bob. Much prefer the pickups to the palaces. There are a few obscure boats, like yours above, from the Osage and Gasconade rivers that would be really interesting scratch projects too. The oddballs are just so interesting!

Bob, good question. I'd say you have to drill down a bit deeper to answer, though as a very broad characterization you wouldn't be wrong. The lower Missouri (especially Omaha or Kansas City or St Louis) had a fair amount of passenger traffic and regular packet service. There was even service up a few of the larger tributaries, like the Osage and Gasconade. The upper river certainly focused on hauling freight to Montana and gold/furs back, with only primitive passenger accommodations.
 
We tend to see photos of the floating passenger palaces on the Mississippi, but they obscure the existence of lots of regular cargo/work boats, too, hauling cotton and other agricultural products downriver to New Orleans and lots of imports and other stuff back up. Then there's the question of what era we're talking about, which influences the question, too.
 
But, yeah,to me the "typical" Missouri River boat was essentially a pickup truck with cramped quarters while the "typical" Mississippi boat was a tricked-out SUV with some cargo space.

That is how I've always felt.  I like the workboats.  One of my favorite pictures is of THEALKA.  I hope to build her someday.
 
Bob
 

Note: I altered the title and topic of this post later on, to be more inclusive of rivercraft from all parts of the world. I'd started it as a topic on river craft of western American rivers in the nineteenth century, because that's what I know most about and what most of the models here seem to be of. But the burst of interest in other regions and periods led me to think it'd be best to open this up to a broader set of interests. Below is my original starting post.
 
Many unique and interesting watercraft developed along the interior and western rivers of the United States, especially the Mississippi River system and its major components such as the Ohio, Missouri, Arkansas, and Red rivers. The most recent issue of the Nautical Research Journal (spring 2016) has several good articles about early, unpowered craft on these rivers, like the keelboats, flatboats, and barges that were poled/rowed/sailed up the rivers and floated down again. Once steam power developed in the 1830s, a unique class of steamboats developed along these river systems.
 
There seem to be a number of folks with an interest in western river craft on MSW, judging from the interest in recent projects like my own sternwheeler Bertrand (1865), ggrieco's sidewheeler Heroine (1838), gerhardvienna's USS Cairo (1862), chborgm's Mississippi riverboat (1870), and so on. It's easy for general questions and discussions to take over such build logs, so I thought perhaps we should have a discussion/question forum for this topic in general. Perhaps it'll take root, perhaps not. I'll kick off with two topics.
 
One, I was delighted to see the articles on keelboats and such in the latest NRJ, as a few years ago I build models of a Missouri River keelboat and Lewis & Clark's barge when I was first getting into maritime modelling. As a Missouri resident and river buff, I never expected to see my inland maritime empire so prominently featured. Here are the models I built based on the research I was able to do from home:
 

 

 
I thought some folks who read the NRJ articles might be interested in seeing models of the subject matter.
 
Two, although steamboat wrecks were exceedingly common in western US rivers, very few boats have ever been found, recovered, and studied. Thus, there was some great news recently when the team that excavated the Arabia (and displayed its cargo in a beautiful museum in downtown Kansas City, Missouri) announced its discovery of the steamboat Malta in central Missouri. The town of Malta was named for the boat, as the wreck was well-known when it happened in 1841, but the location was long-lost as the river's course shifted dramatically over time and left the wreck buried somewhere beneath miles of farm fields, as was the fate for many such wrecks. Here's a news story about the discovery; this should be especially exciting because we have almost no information about early steamboats from the 1830s and 40s; the Heroine is a rare exception. If this team does end up excavating Malta, we'll have a lot more information about this period. I drive through the town of Malta whenever I go to Kansas City, and it's really neat that its namesake craft has been found.

I think the best thing to do is get an idea of what class of vessel it will be...then look up the type of rigging for that particular vessel.   the basic rigging for that vessel,  will give you the ideas to modify it to your vessel.   whatever sheet you plan to raise will need the rigging for it's function.  you may elect to run a second fore stay.........lash your jib sails to them.  I love your configuration....very unique!   well done  

Thanks Patrick, I kind of hated to finish that one....

After much staring at this ship I came to the conclusion that my original sail configuration was just too busy for me. I decided to have only one mast and this is the end result. All that is left to do is finish the shrouds and some rigging....

Patrick,  As far as I am concerned, building on such a small scale is amazing, And the real benefit of that scale is it is easy to find a display space, my ships take up whole walls ...lol..

Hi Patrick,  The yacht is looking great !  I am always amazed at the detail in such a small scale model, that takes pure talent...Good job Mate...

Patrick,  As far as I am concerned, building on such a small scale is amazing, And the real benefit of that scale is it is easy to find a display space, my ships take up whole walls ...lol..

Hi Patrick,  The yacht is looking great !  I am always amazed at the detail in such a small scale model, that takes pure talent...Good job Mate...

I have to agree with Keith........it's logical that as the scale gets smaller,  some detail gets lost.   you seem to ignore that rule.   I don't see any mistakes,  I only see  'adjustments to be made'  

Patrick,  As far as I am concerned, building on such a small scale is amazing, And the real benefit of that scale is it is easy to find a display space, my ships take up whole walls ...lol..