leclaire

Merry Christmas and a Happy New year to you Eric, and the same to all members of this wonderful community of ship builders.

Bob

Eric,

I wonder if the builders of these boats were as worried about some imperfections in their work as we modelers seem to be.

Bob

Looks like a nice solution to your kit designer's "error". Better use the strong words sparingly or you will run out before the Peerless is afloat.

Bob

Looks good, Eric. I would agree with using the shorter pieces rather than the full beam approach. No one will see it after laying down the deck anyway. Good idea.

Bob

Thanks for the explanation Brian. Makes sense for what you are building.

Bob

Brian,

At the risk of exposing my ignorance, what is a mini-split unit? Obviously it has something to do with air conditioning and seeing two boxes suggests the split reference. How does this work in your case with one room to cool.

Bob

Interesting question. At almost 80 I am not going to be doing a lot of scratch building (or any for that matter). I have several kits going at the moment and will be lucky to finish all of them before the old hands and brain get to the point where it is time to quit making a mess of things and driving myself crazy. I have a dremel (not a lot of $$) with drilling stand (again not expensive) as well as a disc sander from Menards ($39.00) and use both of them on each build. Other than that there is no need to spend big bucks on more sophisticated machinery. Long winded way of getting to the point - where are you in the pursuit of this wonderful hobby? A long way to go? Then get the best you can afford to make the journey as good as it can be. Otherwise.......... 

Bob

Brian - I have to say that your idea of "not a lot of progress" is sure different than mine. Looks like a whole lot of cutting and gluing to me. I just spent two full days getting the paint job on the cannons for my Philadelphia to look halfway realistic. Keep up the good work.

Bob

Brian, I followed your last build with great interest and will be most definitely be along for the ride on this one. I am in full agreement with Eric on the issue of more river craft from the kit makers. Since I live on the Mississippi in Leclaire Iowa I see the modern version of towboats every day during the shipping season. I have thought about trying my hand at a scratch build of the the Lone Star, an old stern wheeler finally retired in 1966 after almost 100 years on the job. It now resides in the Buffalo Bill museum here in Leclaire and would be very easy to use as a "template" for a model. All I need to do is now get the three kits I currently have under way finally finished.

Good luck on the new project.

Bob

Brian - nothing to say that hasn't been said before. An absolutely beautiful build. And your narrative throughout has made the journey a delight. Particularly for us steamboat enthusiasts.

Good luck on the "modern" riverboat build. I will certainly follow along as I have on the Cairo.

Bob

Thanks for the tip Paul on Ages of Sail. I'll keep that in mind in case I break my promise to myself not to buy another kit until I finish the ones I have. Any bets on how that will turn out?

Bob

I received my annual catalog from Model-Expo today and noticed several pages devoted to Disar Models. I guess what caught my eye was their Marieville Paddlewheel Steamer. Since I am working on the Chaperon at the moment and have been faithfully following the wonderful builds of Cairo, Arabia, etc., anything looking remotely like a river steamer is of immediate interest. I am also contemplating a scratch build of the Lone Star, an old sternwheel tow boat on the Mississippi.

I have not seen Disar Models advertised before and wondered if anyone has any knowledge or experience with this company. I sure hope this is not another pirated model issue. We have enough of that going on right now to suit me.

Bob

I agree with Roger. Hard to believe you got such a realistic look with regular bond paper. Very nice indeed.

Bob

No problem using Firefox.

In the beginning I swore that I would never start a new project until the current one was finished. I was able to complete my first build (Occre Albatros) alright but then things went off the rails in a hurry. Now in progress are Niagara (MSW), Chaperon (MSW) and the gunboat Philadelphia (also from MSW). I can't even begin to look at the various model manufacturers websites out there in fear that another "just have to have" will appear.

Bob

Hi Lauren,

As another Navy vet from Iowa, welcome to MSW.

Bob

A question Brian - how did you cut the slot in the toothpick to insert the paddle blade. Something that small would be a huge problem for my shaky hands.

Bob

Hi Pat,

Lighting issues aside, your model looks pretty darn good.

Bob

I don't know, that paint scheme so far looks like Michigan State Spartan green and white. You may have some explaining to do to the folks in Madison. 😜

All kidding aside, very nice indeed.

Bob

I too just found your build log. Very much looking forward to following along as steamboats are a particular interest of mine.

Bob

Brian - I admire your idea of "slow progress" and "not getting much done". It sure looks to me like you made a whole bunch of progress.

Regarding your decision to paint the inside edges of the viewing ports red, you might want to consider painting them more of a maroon color rather than bright red. I agree the red would tend to detract from the overall look and using a maroon would make it more of a weathered presentation. Just a thought.

Bob

Brian - thanks for showing the screw up with your drill. I was beginning to believe you never made a mistake like us mere mortals who follow your magnificent work.

Bob

Very happy for you, Eric. All the thought, research, hard work, and attention to detail you put into the Arabia certainly paid off. In addition, along the way you provided an entertaining education not only on scratch building but the history of steamboats in general. I know I certainly came away the better for following your build log.

Bob

I have used Rubber Cement (commonly found at arts and crafts stores). It keeps the template in place and is easy to remove.

Bob

Hi Eric,

I just got through watching your riverboat presentation. It was fascinating and you did a great job. The moderator kind of summed it up for me at the end when he said that he felt like he had just read an entire book on the subject in just one hour. Unfortunately I was unable to stick around for the Q & A session but I plan on watching this again on the recording on the you tube channel.

Many thanks.

Bob