Keith Black

 Ferrus, not that it matters two hoots but FYI, the paddles are called buckets. I have no clue to why because they don't look like buckets.  

 Thank you to each of you for your comments and likes.

 Meet William R. Waterman, Lula's new captain/pilot. He was born in Hudson, New York in 1826. I had interviewed with a couple of men before William's interview but something didn't seem right about the way they stood behind the wheel.  But Captain Bill is a natural, seems to know a lot about New York Harbor and has captained sternwheelers on the Missouri and Ohio so I hired him on the spot!. But something kept nagging me about Captain Bill's name, it sounded familiar and when I questioned him about it he said he had a famous uncle but didn't or wouldn't go into details?  Captain Bill said he would see to the crewing of Lula, so be it. I'm sure they'll come drifting in one by one over the next couple of weeks.

  The figure for Captain Bill was one of the Holden late 19th century British naval figures with gaiters requiring me to carve away most of the uniform. It's very hard to see any remaining uniform at normal viewing distance. 

 I'm not just messing about with figures, I'm also building the pilothouse walls. I've almost got the stern wall done and moving next to the fore wall. 

 Thank you again for your support and for being part of the journey.

   Keith

Those look super, Greg.

 Amazing detail, Siggi. 

29 minutes ago, Knocklouder said:

The plan shows eyehookd to the deck, but that doesn't look right to me, they need block and tackles to tighten them up I think.

 Bob, IMHO blocks would not be strong enough to hold the stay lines and eyebolts alone doesn't seem right. Were I you, I'd use bullseyes. They're sturdy with a means of slacking or tightening when necessary. 

 All's right with the world, a new SIB journey! We get to go to Japan this time. 👍

 Those look way cool, Glen. 

 Welcome to MSW. There are many build logs for sternwheelers and working riverboats. There is a search function on the home page and using it makes it easy to locate them. Glad to have you aboard. 

16 hours ago, MAGIC's Craig said:

Me 'ats off to you!!  Amazing and delightful, Keith

 Thank you, Craig.

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

6 hours ago, Ferrus Manus said:

The only issue here is that I have never, and I mean never, seen a river boat, even a barge-pushing river boat, whose bow and Stern were completely squared off.

  The sternwheeler in the image below is the Juanita built in 1954. Ferrus, were I you and I liked the kit, i'd build and have fun with it.

11 hours ago, Paul Le Wol said:

Keith, it’s been fun to look at the photo of the real Lula and find the things you’ve been pointing out. Great work!

 Thank you, Paul.

9 hours ago, lraymo said:

Wowzer!  And I thought my stuff was tiny... but yours are teensy!  Way to go!

 Thank you, Lynn.

 If I glued em on I think I could easily get five on my thumbnail.  I know the stool isn't pretty but making something pretty with simple hand tools this size is impossible for me at this stage of my modeling development. If I had a six year old running around the house I'd order a 3D printer in a heartbeat! 

http://remisquotable.blogspot.com/2016/04/planemakers-in-china.html

37 minutes ago, tmj said:

I'll glue the rest together tonight while watching Svengoolie

 I think that frog is a bad influence.   Speaking of the frog, we haven't seen his slimy face lately. Is he helping with those nice frames?

46 minutes ago, Paul Le Wol said:

Glad it came off the build board without any grief 

 Isn't it great when something works out like it should! At times during a build that can seem like the rare bird. 

On 4/3/2025 at 11:45 PM, BANYAN said:

She is really looking great Keith, a lot of well crafted unique detail.

 Thank you, Pat. 

16 hours ago, lraymo said:

Wow, you've done so much since I was here last!  She's looking amazing.  Love all the intricacies, and your historical detail that goes along with your build!

 Thank you, Lynn. 

 Thank you to everyone for your comments, likes, and for following along. 

I never thought I'd be making furniture for the Flea family.   I can almost put five of the stools on my thumbnail. The legs are .0315 inches square, the seat is .15 x .175 inches and height is .225 inches. Amazingly enough, it's pretty robust for being as small as it is. I need to lower the stool height to .175 inches for a bit more clearance. 

The chart table is .30 inches wide x .20 inches deep, .25 inches tall at the front and .40 inches tall at the rear. The chart table legs are temporary, more later. The figure is one I randomly reached in and grabbed and is there for definition of space and scale. The port side of the chart table is not painted as that edge gets glued to the interior wall.

The figure is one I randomly reached in and grabbed and is there for definition of space and scale.

 The pilot house is a crowded affair, the real Lula didn't have a stove so there would have been a little more room.  

Regarding the chart table legs, they are temporary but necessary for being the correct height once I glue it to the stern wall. If you look closely at the original Lula photo below through the PH door you can see the stool under the starboard side corner. For the stool to be in that position there couldn't be legs on the chart table, it had to have been wall mounted. And it makes sense because this would then have allowed the stool to be stowed under the CT and would have been completely out of the way.   

For the interior sheeting I'm using is Midwest Products .015625 inch birch plywood, the same material I used for the chart table and stool seat. It'll be easier to install vs planking and will give just a tiny bit more room. Because of the limited view and once painted white, one won't be able to tell what sheeting was used for the interior walls. When I've glued the chart table to the stern wall the legs will be removed.

 Now that all the pilot house interior elements are made it's time to start making the walls and adding windows. I'm pretty excited to reach this point because the pilot house is Lula's crown.

 Thank you again to everyone for your support.

   Keith

 Moving right along, Paul. 👍

 Looking very nice, Gary. 

 I wonder how those radiators would have affected the aerodynamics? I think the nine fin arrangement looks great, Greg. 

 That looks great, Bryan. 

10 minutes ago, Glen McGuire said:

I need to hit the pause button on the Constitution for a couple of weeks so I can get another SIB going.  

 While your work on the Constitution is incredible another SIB in the works is music to my ears. 

Our dear wives are absolute treasures for their willingness to put up with us for a minute let alone half a century, it boggles the mind. Maggie and I are working on 47 years, hopefully we both live long enough to see our 50th. 

23 hours ago, wefalck said:

... you could use black decal strips, either home-made from decal sheet or commercial ones. I am also using increasingly soft artists' felt-tip pens with pigmented acrylic paint in them for such things. 

 Thank you, Eberhard. I'm just going with an all white interior though I do need to test acrylic felt tip pens. They sound counterintuitive to my small brain but you and others have mentioned them so I need to quit being so bullheaded and purchase a sample lot to test them for myself.  

20 hours ago, Jim Lad said:

White would be a good choice, Keith - make the interior details stand out a little more.

 Thank you, John, I agree. 

17 hours ago, Glen McGuire said:

If I gotta choose between the rum keg and the chart table, I'll take my chances with blind navigation!    

 

Exceptional work, Keith!  Such a cool project and so well done!

 Thank you, Glen. No alcohol onboard Lula, period! Not even a beer with lunch. I want a cold sober crew push/towing that pile driver I worked so hard on building. 

5 hours ago, Rick310 said:

This is such a great build Keith!!

You are doing a magnificent job!!

 Thank you, Rick. 

 Craig, that looks fantastic. And it's a pleasure to see Vicky's willingness to be a part of the project. Go team!