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Keith Black

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  1. Like
    Keith Black reacted to palmerit in Ranger 1864 by palmerit - FINISHED - Vanguard Models - 1:64 - Barking Fish Carrier   
    I’m done with the Vanguard Ranger. It’s my second Vanguard model after the Sherbourne. The first couple of photos are in progress shots, but the rest are of the completed model. I still have a few clips holding some rigging while it dries (the tied off rope has a coat of diluted white PVA), but I’m done. I’m going to try to take some nicer photos with my Nikon - maybe next weekend - still need to do the same for my Sherbourne that I finished a while back. 
     
    My next Vanguard model (in my stash) is the Zulu ‘Lady Isabella’, another fishing boat. For this one (and the Erycina, also in my stash) I’ve ordered from Vanguard the nicer sails instead of using the ones that come with the kit. I’m thinking of also getting blocks and line from Syren.  









  2. Like
    Keith Black got a reaction from MAGIC's Craig in Tally Ho by vaddoc - scale 1:12 (maybe) - as rebuilt by Leo   
    Vaddoc, I'm following along hoping that someone actually finishes a Tally Ho build. I think it's four builds (?) that I've watched start that have withered on the vine. 
  3. Like
    Keith Black got a reaction from Knocklouder in Tally Ho by vaddoc - scale 1:12 (maybe) - as rebuilt by Leo   
    Vaddoc, I'm following along hoping that someone actually finishes a Tally Ho build. I think it's four builds (?) that I've watched start that have withered on the vine. 
  4. Like
    Keith Black reacted to yvesvidal in Le Chebec by Yvesvidal - CAF Model - 1/48   
    Ronald,
     
    The sculptures are made of CNC carved boxwood.
     
    Yves
  5. Like
    Keith Black reacted to gsdpic in America 1851 by Caferacer - Mamoli - Scale 1:66   
    For what it's worth, the larger bluejacket kit had the sponsons for the chain plates a little bit higher and wider but the lower deadeyes are basically even with or slightly below the cap rail.

  6. Like
    Keith Black reacted to vaddoc in Tally Ho by vaddoc - scale 1:12 (maybe) - as rebuilt by Leo   
    Ok, so lets do a quick follow up post with the first thoughts on this.
     
    To start with, the plans do not seem to be as comprehensive. There are the lines and some drafts of the keel and a table of offsets but something feels not quite right. Then again, Leo managed to loft the boat so everything should be there.
     
    I checked the plans and the lines are not really straight, or vertical. This is common however, paper distorts over time and CAD is really very unforgiving to plans drafted 115 years ago. These lines will be ok to start but serious lofting will be needed. Still, this seems a much easier boat to loft than Hercules
     
    I imported the plans to Rhino and scaled them to the actual boat size. I need to dive more into these but it seems that the distances as measured from the lines plan are not the same as in the table of offsets.
     
    I am not sure where the stem/start of sheer should be or where the Transom sits.
     
    To make things worse, the plans I received do not seem to have been scanned very well. Most of the text in the table of offsets was missing but I managed to recreate it by watching Leo's videos - he had the same plans and they can be seen in a video, so I was able to read almost all of the missing text.
     
    A part of the lines plan has not been scanned well and another small area at the bow is missing - apparently permanently damaged as it is missing from Leo's plans as well
     
    However, the same lines are easily found on the internet, clearly copied before the damage occurs so I scaled this to size and used it to fill the gaps - kind off.
     

    So I blended all together and came up with a sheer plan view

    Then added the profile view and created the sheer from these

    Adding the other half, shows a bit of the boat shape

    Now this is just a study of the plans as I am not really sure where the sheer begins and ends, but it's a start.
     
    Until next time
     
    Vaddoc
  7. Like
    Keith Black reacted to Desertanimal in Tally Ho by vaddoc - scale 1:12 (maybe) - as rebuilt by Leo   
    This looks to be quite the project! Best of luck. I’ll be following along. 
    Chris
  8. Like
    Keith Black reacted to Knocklouder in Tally Ho by vaddoc - scale 1:12 (maybe) - as rebuilt by Leo   
    Good luck on your journey with this build !
    Bob  M.
  9. Like
    Keith Black reacted to Canute in Missouri, Kansas, & Texas Railroad along the Missouri River by Cathead - 1/87 (HO) scale - model railroad with steamboat   
    We use 2 man crews a lot, especially when we get new operators. Some just need local area rules orientation, others are a multiple session mentoring program.
    Those commodity trains were usually the fastest freight trains on a railroad, since the feeding/resting/icing rules were hard and fast for properly handling these freight classes. Milk trains were another type, but may be run as a passenger train, since they may have a coach tacked on .
    Cows could ride up to 28 hours; then they needed 8 hours outside the cars while those cars were cleaned and re-bedded. Most produce and meats needed ice, but the shipper specified what type and the timing.
    Some veggies, like potatoes, needed to be kept to a specific temperature range, so instead of ice they could put charcoal heaters in the ice bunker during the winter. 
  10. Like
    Keith Black reacted to Cathead in Missouri, Kansas, & Texas Railroad along the Missouri River by Cathead - 1/87 (HO) scale - model railroad with steamboat   
    This actually has a connection to Rocheport. Readers will good memories may recall that the huge warehouse behind the grain elevator was a massive hay barn used for feeding livestock being shipped on the Katy. 
  11. Like
    Keith Black reacted to Gregory in America 1851 by Caferacer - Mamoli - Scale 1:66   
    Mamoli does seem to take artistic license with some details but they are not alone.
     
    The Campbell drawing above shows the fore lower deadeyes below the cap rail while the contemporary drawing shows them both above.
     

    This 1851 painting shows the fore deadeyes below the cap rail.
     
  12. Like
    Keith Black got a reaction from Willi in May I introduce myself?   
    Please do so, Willi. I'm sure everyone would enjoy the opportunity to see your work. 
  13. Like
    Keith Black got a reaction from FriedClams in Sternwheeler From the Susquehanna River's Hard Coal Navy by Keith Black - 1:120 Scale   
    Thank you, Bob. Unfortunately a HL is down the list a ways if at all. Psst, don't tell anyone but after this project is done I've got one more sternwheeler to squeeze in before getting back to the Tennessee. 
     
     Eberhard, thank you for the comment. When working in larger scales I use the pads of my fingers, at 1:120 I work with my fingertips. With experience I've learned how much pressure I can apply when working with tiny objects. Material size and physical limitations are indeed humbling.  
  14. Like
    Keith Black got a reaction from FriedClams in Sternwheeler From the Susquehanna River's Hard Coal Navy by Keith Black - 1:120 Scale   
    Thank you to everyone for the likes and the comments.
     
     
     I got the Myers water pump made and installed. It's been a long time since I've made a piece of any complexity that hasn't been under a roof.

     
     There are 7 pieces to the electric motor and 14 piece to the pump not counting the belt. The water pump pulley isn't a pulley per se but it's the only wheel I had that worked in scale. Those that followed my Tennessee build may recognize it as a sew on clothes snap. 
     
     The electric motor is 0.10 inches W x 0.20 inches L. The pump is 0.275 inches W x 0,50 inches L. 

     
     This is just a fun photo putting this little guy's size in prospective. 

     
    Thank you to everyone for your kind support and for following along.
     
       Keith 
  15. Like
    Keith Black got a reaction from LJP in Sternwheeler From the Susquehanna River's Hard Coal Navy by Keith Black - 1:120 Scale   
    I got a few items's checked off the list this past week.
     
     Added the stair railing. 

     
    The stair railing was the moat time consuming as it was mostly trial and error
     
     Added control lever and steam pressure gauge in the pilothouse and it's now permanently attached. 
     
     Added the water tank, exhaust pipe, steam whistle, drive shaft (as much as can be seen) and step over

     
     
     Thank you to everyone for the likes and for your support, I appreciate it so very much. 
     
        Keith
  16. Like
    Keith Black got a reaction from FriedClams in Missouri, Kansas, & Texas Railroad along the Missouri River by Cathead - 1/87 (HO) scale - model railroad with steamboat   
    My guess would be by word of mouth. Cattle herd seen heading to such and such a place or a particular crop seen ripening near a certain community. Station agents probably gambled a lot on district knowledge and by keeping a close ear to the ground. I'm sure those station agents that were successful were duly compensated while those that weren't had to seek employment in other capacities like bank robbing and cattle rustling. 
  17. Like
    Keith Black reacted to Cathead in Missouri, Kansas, & Texas Railroad along the Missouri River by Cathead - 1/87 (HO) scale - model railroad with steamboat   
    To add to what Ken said (thanks!), some model railroads will operate with two-person crews per train, to better simulate the engine crew / conductor dynamic. One person actually operates the locomotive, the other handles the paperwork and is in charge. This has several advantages: it lets more people take part if you have a lot of interested operators, it's more realistic in terms of recreating the teamwork necessary to actually operate a train, and it divides up the work as one operator juggling a throttle and paperwork and timetable and uncoupling and turnout operation and everything can actually be too much for one person (just like on the real thing).
     
    The whole blocking question is fun because it's a good example of how different model railroaders approach the hobby. In some cases people intentionally change things to make the work "harder" because, as a hobby, it's more interesting that way. So an unblocked train arriving in Rocheport would be an annoyance on the real thing, whereas on the model layout it's potentially a perk if the operator enjoys switching puzzles. Track plans are another example. In real-life Rocheport, as elsewhere on the Katy in this era, almost all sidings were double-ended (a turnout at each end) to make switching easier. But I took out the east-end turnout on my layout to make that a long one-ended siding, because that's more interesting to operate from a model perspective. If both ends had turnouts the work in Rocheport would be over too fast! It also saved some space that I wanted for more scenery.
  18. Thanks!
    Keith Black reacted to Caferacer in America 1851 by Caferacer - Mamoli - Scale 1:66   
    Fore are below, stern are above, weird, also one the fore have the stand offs.
  19. Like
    Keith Black got a reaction from Old Collingwood in Missouri, Kansas, & Texas Railroad along the Missouri River by Cathead - 1/87 (HO) scale - model railroad with steamboat   
    My guess would be by word of mouth. Cattle herd seen heading to such and such a place or a particular crop seen ripening near a certain community. Station agents probably gambled a lot on district knowledge and by keeping a close ear to the ground. I'm sure those station agents that were successful were duly compensated while those that weren't had to seek employment in other capacities like bank robbing and cattle rustling. 
  20. Like
    Keith Black got a reaction from woodartist in Le Chebec by Yvesvidal - CAF Model - 1/48   
    Gorgeous build, Yves. 👍
  21. Like
    Keith Black got a reaction from Cathead in Missouri, Kansas, & Texas Railroad along the Missouri River by Cathead - 1/87 (HO) scale - model railroad with steamboat   
    My guess would be by word of mouth. Cattle herd seen heading to such and such a place or a particular crop seen ripening near a certain community. Station agents probably gambled a lot on district knowledge and by keeping a close ear to the ground. I'm sure those station agents that were successful were duly compensated while those that weren't had to seek employment in other capacities like bank robbing and cattle rustling. 
  22. Like
    Keith Black got a reaction from Rik Thistle in Missouri, Kansas, & Texas Railroad along the Missouri River by Cathead - 1/87 (HO) scale - model railroad with steamboat   
    My guess would be by word of mouth. Cattle herd seen heading to such and such a place or a particular crop seen ripening near a certain community. Station agents probably gambled a lot on district knowledge and by keeping a close ear to the ground. I'm sure those station agents that were successful were duly compensated while those that weren't had to seek employment in other capacities like bank robbing and cattle rustling. 
  23. Like
    Keith Black reacted to Canute in Missouri, Kansas, & Texas Railroad along the Missouri River by Cathead - 1/87 (HO) scale - model railroad with steamboat   
    Very good explanation, Eric. Proper "blocking" is the key to this location's switching activity. Eric touched on that in his write-up. Blocking is the arranging of cars in their switching order before arrival in town. Sometimes a good yardmaster will do that before departure, sometimes the train crew will do that along the way, with permission of the railroad dispatcher. The telegraph was introduced on the railroads in the 1850s. The Erie issued train orders back then
     
    Waybills were generated by freight agents of the railroad and went to regional offices of the railroad. Copies went to the home office for billing and others went to the originating yard. The railroads employed a lot of clerks to process the waybills and carbon paper ruled. Copies of the waybills travel with the conductor in the caboose. He'll make up switch lists for the engine crew and brakemen, to use while actually switching the cars. 
     
    All the paperwork can become a nightmare, that no model railroader wants to duplicate.  We just generate waybills to get cars on and off the layout. On bigger layouts, the cars may have to stop in several locations to have work done. Livestock, produce and meat products had special rules for feeding and resting animals.Refrigerator cars needed icing base on shipper requirements.  Don't forget, railroads hauled many different items from our earlier industries. Sears, Roebuck was Amazon until probably the 1960s in the US. All the goodies in the old Sears catalog went by rail. They shipped everything up to kit build houses. Mail was treated the same in special Railway Post Office cars. Mail got sorted enroute.  The railroads were wide-ranging across the US.
  24. Like
    Keith Black got a reaction from Jack12477 in Missouri, Kansas, & Texas Railroad along the Missouri River by Cathead - 1/87 (HO) scale - model railroad with steamboat   
    My guess would be by word of mouth. Cattle herd seen heading to such and such a place or a particular crop seen ripening near a certain community. Station agents probably gambled a lot on district knowledge and by keeping a close ear to the ground. I'm sure those station agents that were successful were duly compensated while those that weren't had to seek employment in other capacities like bank robbing and cattle rustling. 
  25. Like
    Keith Black got a reaction from Paul Le Wol in Le Chebec by Yvesvidal - CAF Model - 1/48   
    Gorgeous build, Yves. 👍
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