Keith Black

She's looking very nice, Bob. If they ever make speed modeling an Olympic event my money's on you.

Welcome to MSW. Glad to have you aboard.

Thank you for posting Ben's Birthday photo, Keith. He's a little treasure, God keep him well.

I'm sorry, I was confused and thought you had bought Mike's ship, see photo. Your tiller is a quandary, at least you have witness marks to help in trying to solve the mystery. It's meat you were able to track down a bit of her history.

Welcome to MSW. Glad to have you aboard. Current San Francisco build log.

I like Minwax Polyurethane and have used it for years. I recently tried Minwax Polycrylic hoping the flat finish type would be better suited for modeling. What little I've used it I'm not impressed. Poly provides great protection not so with polycrylic, IMHO. I'll be doing some testing shortly on sealing pastel weathering with polycrylic, hopefully I'll see better results.

If you bought the model then I don't understand the question "Hi, how is this project progressing?" as you would know better than anyone else. Having said the above, how is the model today, has all the restoration work been done? Current photos would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you, Brian. This little project will hopefully become part of a larger project based around the Brooklyn Navy Yard. According to Ken, @Canute the water near the mouth of the East River would have been too brackish to have supplied water for the boiler. I dare say there's very little difference in the engine fundamentals between a Steam Donkey engine and boiler and the engines and boilers for steamboats. The only difference is the water, steamboats plied fresh water rivers while the barge in this build was towed/pushed around in brackish waters.

I think I remember this model coming up for sale on eBay?

Thank you so much everyone for the likes. Thank you, Pat. During the time period this model represents I think the manufactures were content with developing engine improvements with no thought toward efficiency. Thank you, Gary. My thought exactly regarding the weight distribution but had I been part of the design team I would have put freshwater tanks below the in the barge's deck which would have guaranteed an abundant water supply for the boilers and also would have provided ballast for a lower CG. Thank you to everyone for being part of the journey. Keith

Tom, I finally came across a good image of a US Continental Navy seaman's uniform. 1975 US stamp.

Paul, she's a sleek beast, looks like a wet greyhound.

John, were I you I'd have bought that the moment I saw it. For $7.66 (you spill more than that on a good night ) it's a steal. Yes, there's satisfaction in building something like the winch from scratch but..... if that Bluejacket piece comes close to working out it'll save you at least a weeks worth of work. And if nothing else you could rob it for pieces parts if you decide to build the winch from scratch. In that case buy two. I think that's an awesome find, I'd jump all over it. It doesn't appear the winch on the model in post #8 is close to being the correct winch? Who looks at that model and say's "well, nice model but that winch."

John, regarding the winch. I suggest that once you determine the frame dimensions that you draw those dimensions on card and cut out the winch footprint to give yourself an idea of the boundaries you'll be working in. Rough guess on my part, at 1:96 scale, I think the frame footprint to be approximately 1.25 L x 1.0 W inches not including the four friction drums. Then start thinking on how to create the winch elements out of simple materials, card or styrene for gears and the two gear guards, eye pins for shaft bearings and levers, dowel for shafts and friction drums, 16 or 14 gauge wire for shafts, smaller wire for levers and rods, small dimensional wood for the frame. That's a lot of elements to cram onto a very small space. The goal is to suggest the whole without replicating each individual piece, IMHO. The below is the hole punch set I have that I used for punching the gears out of card for my Donkey engine. They're very inexpensive and when they get dull, replace em! https://www.harborfreight.com/9-piece-hollow-punch-set-3838.html?event_id=183117&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=12169518939&campaignid=12169518939&utm_content=114845717657&adsetid=114845717657&product=3838&store=437&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADAHb4feIhHaYGJ7rQIokKGomcEYK&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIi52GtYCgiAMV0Un_AR1OBApJEAQYAiABEgIbxvD_BwE Keith

Please post Ben's Birthday photos.

Brilliant machine work, Keith. Just yesterday I was going through your log and came across Ben's little face. It doesn't seem possible that a year has passed already.......Happy Birthday, Ben.

Unfortunately I can't hit the laugh emoji and thank you emoji at the same time.

A huge thank you to everyone for the likes and for following along. Thank you, Richard. The later improved duel cylinder, duel drum Donkey engines dwarfed this early version. Thank you, Ken. Yes, there'll be an elevated oval water tank on a stand that will gravity feed the boiler. Something like this measuring 8x4x6 feet would hold 1,436 gallons weighing (including tank weight) a little over 12,000 Lb's. In all likelihood this will be somewhat modified in the making. A milestone day. We started this little project on July 11th with an idea and 49 days later as of today, the Donkey engine was permanently attached to the barge and the drum lines run over the sheave wheels. The engine shed is filled with the engine, there's no way a water tank would fit and little else for that matter. The water tank will go at the back of the shed attached to the shed wall. The friction drum line cleated at the base of the tower needs a coiled line. I'm not sure at this time how I'll handle the line on the friction drum head but it won't as it is currently pictured. The shed base is not attached and as soon as I've satisfied myself that all is well I'll remove it by cutting the shed base where the front doors are located and slip it around the Donkey engine lines. Next up, we start the shed. Everyone's support for this project has been incredible, thank you. Keith

My friend, if anyone can make the awning framing look elegant, it's you. Polished brass in itself will do wonders to improve the looks.

We need a 'whew' button.

Absolutely but the awning framing isn't elegant nor aesthetic either. With the exception of the railings all the deck metal work looks cheesy.

Congratulations on 48 years of marriage, Bob!

Thank you for the comments and likes. I'm going to build a 4x4x6 water tank with a hand pump between the tank and boiler. That size tank is just over 700 gallons. Lula, the help boat/tug, will deliver water in the AM when she brings the pile driving crew to the barge. If 700 gallons isn't enough water for the day she'll make a midday delivery along with piling logs and fire wood if necessary. Most Donkey engines were wood fired till the 1920's. That's the way it's going to work in my world unless someone has a better plan. Thank you to everyone for your support. Keith

And weight calculated in stones. What's up with that?

Thank you, Brian. Thank you, Gary. Golden times those moments when the work flows like that. Not like the current moment as I'm trying to spool the drum and it isn't going like I had it pictured in my head. Thank you again. Thank you for the response, Ken. The Brooklyn Navy Yard sits at the mouth of the East River, that's why I thought the harbor water might have been useable as feed water, guess not. So the question is, do I need to build a water tank for the Donkey and if so any guesses on size and shape? I can't find diddly on water usage rates for a single cylinder Steam Donkey. It couldn't have been too great as loggers drug these things out into the middle of nowhere. Contrary to popular belief there's not a babbling brook every hundred yards in the middle of the forest. Having first hand experience it could be a hike to get to a stream or river and you sure wouldn't be hauling at the most more than ten gallons at a time. Water usage is a bit perplexing for me. I don't wanna just throw a Donkey in a shed and not address the obvious water needs. If someone tells me "Keith, you'd need a square, rectangular, or triangular fifty gallon tank at least painted purple", I'm off to the races.