Keith Black

Thank you to everyone for the comments and for the likes. The following is how I make the 0.10 inch blocks. The block on the left is completed, the three pieces on the right are the components necessary to make the blocks. This effort is 3.0, the body is cut from thin aluminum. The 2.0 body was made from 1/64 plywood and discarded due to edge breakage. The 1.0 body was made from card and discarded because the edges were too fuzzy. All bodies require the photo etched eye pins as shown. Once the body is cut from a one tenth inch square in a diamond shape, I apply a tiny drop of CA on the back of the body and glue it to my worktable. This makes attaching the eye pins much easier as I'm not trying to align two tiny pieces with a mind of their own. The first eye pin is centered in the body and glued in place with CA. The next step is gluing with CA the second eye pin's shank tip halfway between the upper edge of the body and the eye of the first eye pin. This piece is for capturing the thread. After working on these I found it easier by getting the eye pin shank in position, CA gluing eye to the table and THEN CA gluing the second eye pin on top of the first eye pin. Doing it in this manner allows alignment adjustment. Note, the block on the left was not done this way and the alignment isn't sport on. The one on the right was done with this method and the alignment is much better. Blocks were cleaned up by scraping away as much CA residue as possible with a #11 Exacto blade and then tested for thread clearance. Two very important tools in making these blocks are tiny Q-Tips for cleaning away excess CA and my homemade needle CA applicator for pinpoint CA delivery. The blocks were painted and weathered once installed. I drilled all the way through the wood, inserted the eye pin shank, and then applied a small amount of CA on the topside. This allows adjustment of block position by twisting the eye pin shank, this keeps from handling the block itself. Once the position of the block was acceptable the shank was CA glued in its forever home, trimmed, and the end filed flat. And that's how this tiny sausage is made. Thank you to each of you for your support and for being part of the journey. Keith Edit. I forgot to mention that after the second eye pin is added I release the block body from the worktable by lifting the body edge with an exacto chisel blade and giving it a gentle bump.

Phil, thank you for the suggestion. I quickly tried after your post and got nowhere. Not sure what I was doing wrong but I plan on going back and trying agin. Thank you to everyone for the kind comments and the likes. The boiler is roughed in and I'm close to being finished with the coal crib. A piece on the starboard side wire rope block came off when I was running the lines. I'll see if I can fix while it's hanging, if not I'll have to make a new block. The blocks are a diamond shape made from a 0.10 inch square piece of 1/64 plywood and my fav tiny photo etched eye pins. The lines that hold the coal feeder conveyor belt tail at the correct height are temporally crossed and glued to aft bottom board. Once the coal feeder is in place the lines will be cut and attached to the belt tail. The coal crib is 8W x 6L x 5H feet and it doesn't look like it would hold much coal. Allowing for the conveyor belt and for making ease of operation, a space of 4 x 4 x 3 feet would hold two and a quarter tons. From past research a boiler under moderate use would consume 100 lbs an hour. Even 150 lbs per hour and for 12 hours would = 1,800 lbs. I think this all works out dandy. Thank you to everyone you support and for being part of the journey. Keith

Terry, welcome to MSW. Glad to have you aboard.

Eric, IMO that's the better choice for now, once you have the town and foliage in place then decide.

Congratulations, Jacques. All those hours of research paid off in a well executed and handsomely built model of a little known work a day vessel. 👍

Cheap price and probably a quality block as built in obsolescence hadn't been invented yet.

It's good to see the Astrolabe back on the menu, Bob. 👍

Mine fly off into the abyss never to be seen again. I guess it's food for the modeling gods?

Thank you to all for the kind comments and the likes. A bit of play and a bit of progress. Nothing is glued to the deck as I'm still trying to determine the exact hull length. I'm close and I'm thinking 67 feet is going to be the magic number. I need to get a rough boiler in place and start trying to get some idea of the coal auto feeder shapes and dimensions. If anyone has photos or drawings of large scale auto feeders for vertical boilers I'd be forever grateful, please post anything that might be helpful. I think it was either belt or bucket fed because the wire rope blocks hanging above the coal crib as seen in both the bow and stern original photos. I did some preliminary work on the deckhand, sill more to do but he looking the part. The chain winches need to lowered a tad. The stairs are glued to the roof of the engine room, much more work on the stairs is required. The coal crib and support for (this is where the wire rope blocks hang from) the auto feeder's tail. I don't know of it was belt or bucket that took the coal to the crown table. Did the crown table shake and then coal went onto the slide or did gravity alone get the coal onto the slide? The top right group single is what I see hanging from the support. Thank you for your support and for being part of the journey. Keith

That second photo looks like prairie hula dancers. Both are great compositions.

Okay, okay. I'm just sayin' I'm ready to see another one of your beautiful SIB projects come to life. Thank you, Keith. Thank you, Gary. John, how very kind of you to say. I do believe I've found my niche. I've enjoyed, am enjoying creating models of vessels most wouldn't give a second glance. Not all boats come off the ways with beautiful lines but if one looks hard enough at those that don't, one comes to appreciate their persistence to keep moving forward in their work a day world.

Unbelievable, absolutely amazing.

Thank you, Glen. Hey, when's that "TBD" gonna change?

Thank you very much, Paul.

Thank you to everyone for the comments and likes. There is a hull in the action. I added some color to the bow. In the original photo the decking on the bow runs fore to aft but the decking aft of the engine room fore wall runs from side to side. The only reason I can think of for that being the case is another layer of decking was laid down on top of the old decking at some point as the bow decking takes the most beating. I also added a little color aft of the engine room. More will be added as the build progresses. I've let the aft run wild till i know exactly where to make the cut out for the wheels. Thank you to all for your support and for following along. Keith

That background is beautifully done, Eric. Bravo!

Rodney would be pleased, Bob. She looks great.

john, a nice update before you head off on holiday. I pray your medical treatment is successful, get back to us when you're able. Take care.

Thank you, Chris.

Thank you, Gary.

Ah, don't sell yourself short, John. Yes, decent figures painted or unpainted are difficult to find. With the number of cottage 3D printer industry folks out there these days I'm really surprised that someone hasn't taken on that market niche and made a determined go at it.

Thank you, Tom I agree, the pilothouse was more coal sooted as it was higher up and it was worse on the aft side. The engine room was more of a tan color because of the dredged material being primarily on the side and fore walls. If anything, I think I need to add just a whisper of tan to the pilothouse side and fore walls.

John, did your figures come pre painted or is that your work? Whichever, those are sharp looking figures.

Thank you, John. Thank you, John.

Thank you to everyone for the comments, laughs, and the likes. I repainted the pilothouse and got it weathered. There is enough weathering on the engine room, I don't think it needs any more. Weathering requires a light touch and I'm prone to be heavy handed. I really have to reign myself in to keep from going overboard. I also do better in natural light as artificial light cast shadows. My worktable lights wash the weathering effects so these are actually a bit darker than pictured. I added the pilot. This particular resin figure was perfect for the pilot but both hands had broken off. These figures are so small (the tallest is 0.60 inches) and fragile that the extremities are easily broken off. I removed the hands from two other figures that were badly damaged for the pilot figure repair. I did my best job yet sculpting away the navy uniform and I think the figure turned out pretty okay. He looks the part of the pilot in the original photo. Time to quit messing about and start on the hull. I've been dragging my feet because the amount of space between the furnace and the wheels is unknown but I've got to go with my best guess. Between the furnace and the wheels is the furnace's automatic coal feeder, the coal crib, and the twin cylinder steam engine and shaft to the wheels. The water pump/pumps and gas engine are all on the port side. Thank you for your support and for following along. Keith