leclaire

Red ochre, iron-oxyhydroxide (FeOOH ... I am a geochemist ) is rather stable in most environments. Its the same mineral the colours red sandstones and also a component of most iron-ores. So it is not terribly surprising that it may outlast wood. Depending on the actual composition of the mineral and heating processes during the pigment production, it's colour can vary from a pale orange to deep red to a reddish violett. Assuming that no a very high-quality pigment was used in 'barn-paints' a brownish red is probably the most likely colour.

Roger, Wefalck,
 
Thank you both for the information. It’s very much appreciated. I had no idea that farmers used the same red on their barns. That would explain why you can still see remnants of red paint on some of the old dilapidated barns, as well as some still standing. The paints actually last longer than the wood.
 
I am seriously considering going with a reddish-brown hull, it seems the general consensus points that direction anyway. I have a few inquiries out to others, a couple of which are outside of this forum, with the same question, and so far the answer has been the same, “not a lot of info on it” and “go with your preference”. I think I’ll play around with some colors and see what comes out. I still have some time. 
 
-Brian

Brian,
 
The park may be closed to visitors but staff may still be working or at least available. The core NPS jobs are permanent hires, it's not like everyone's been let go, and they can't just shut the gates and ignore everything. So there's a decent chance someone is still monitoring contact info and could get back to you. They give basic contact info (phone # and an email form) at the link below, could try that and see if anyone responds. If you can make contact, the rest might work as the right staff member might be able to pass you along to the right historian or whoever.
 
https://www.nps.gov/vick/contacts.htm

Hello, I am so glad to see this build log. I had an older version of this model and put up a build log before the crash. This was my very first ship model. It was probably a little too difficult for me, but with the help of the forum members, I built a pretty nice model. I finished the hull and deck furniture, stained everything and cut away the model from the original keel piece. I built the two masts before some family issues arose and I had to stop. I've started up again and have the gaffs, boom and main yard built. I expect to finish it this time. I'll be watching this log and hope you ask for help if you need it. And what I learned is that if I wasn't  sure that a piece looked good...I threw it away and built another one. (I am pretty sure I built some pieces 4 times.) Good luck with your build.

The situation is complicated.  As for tools, although enthusiasm often leads to wasted money as far as tools, even your father probably does not realize which tools
he needs until he needs that specific job done.
It may be wiser to get:
A gift certificate to a special tool vendor:
Lee Valey
Japan Woodworker
Lie-NielsenToolworks
 
or
A subject specific book:
The 100-Gun Ship Victory (Anatomy of the Ship)  by John McKay
The Anatomy of Nelson's Ships Hardcover   by C. Nepean Longridge
 
But for something unexpected but better than what he is likely to know about:
Japan Woodworker  #156382  1/8" double bevel Blue Steel knife
It also needs a piece of scrap leather and a fine honing compound like Flexcut Gold
Compared to Xacto type #11 blades - both will do the job,  but the knife it like having Lamborghini instead of a Ford
  
or from StewMac    
    Item       Price       Qty       Total
    Japanese Super Fine-Cut Saw
Item # 3617
    $39.48     1     $39.48
    Japanese Curved-edge Mini Saw
Item # 3612
    $28.30     1     $28.30
    StewMac Ultimate Scraper, Mini
Item # 0632
    $28.07     1     $28.07
 
The curved-edge saw works a trick in crosscutting

As with the post above, I use a standard hand held drill.  it is easy to do for mast - just stick one end in the drill and sand to desired thickness.  I like to leave the dowel long to account for the part that is in the drill chuck as the chuck will leave indentations on the wood.  This can be sawed off later.  I do yards with a drill as well but with some modification as both ends need to be tapered, unlike the mast.  The yard is cut longer than needed (again to account for the part of the yard in the chuck.  Once one side is sanded then the other side will need to be cut to the correct length.  Then I wrap some painters tape around the side that has been tapered (so the tape rather than the wood with get the indentations from the chuck) and  you are ready to sand the other side.  This method has worked well for me over the years.  Some yards recently done can be see on my log of the revenge by xodar461
 
Jeff

So after a little more research, I determined that you were right Keith, The muzzle swell on the 30lb parrot rifle was a little bit much.
 
I found some pictures I had taken a few years ago when I visited Vicksburg NMP. Now given the assumption that these are the original guns that were brought up with the rest of the USS Cairo then the 30 pounder has a slight swell at the muzzle, a little less than what is shown on the HSR.

 

 
Compared to the HSR drawings, the real guns have less muzzle swell.

 
So with that all being said I decided to turn it down a bit. It might not be perfect, but I do think it looks closer to the actual gun than the drawing.

 
Thankfully there was only one 30 pounder on board. Now to build the carriages and figure out how to duplicate the other guns.
 
-Brian

And this...
 

 
is an ex-Parrott.
 
Sorry.

Do you have decimal reading calipers? That would be the most direct way.

My first and most important wish is for this pandemic to go away. My second wish is if number 1 comes true that we all learn something from it and go forward with a better world.
 
Now if both of the above come true, my last wish is for a Byrnes sander. Got to add some greed in here somewhere.
 
Bob

My first and most important wish is for this pandemic to go away. My second wish is if number 1 comes true that we all learn something from it and go forward with a better world.
 
Now if both of the above come true, my last wish is for a Byrnes sander. Got to add some greed in here somewhere.
 
Bob

My first and most important wish is for this pandemic to go away. My second wish is if number 1 comes true that we all learn something from it and go forward with a better world.
 
Now if both of the above come true, my last wish is for a Byrnes sander. Got to add some greed in here somewhere.
 
Bob

My first and most important wish is for this pandemic to go away. My second wish is if number 1 comes true that we all learn something from it and go forward with a better world.
 
Now if both of the above come true, my last wish is for a Byrnes sander. Got to add some greed in here somewhere.
 
Bob

My first and most important wish is for this pandemic to go away. My second wish is if number 1 comes true that we all learn something from it and go forward with a better world.
 
Now if both of the above come true, my last wish is for a Byrnes sander. Got to add some greed in here somewhere.
 
Bob

Brian,
 
Your attention to detail is remarkable. I wish I had started this hobby many years ago so that my skills were at a level allowing me to produce your kind of work. At 77 the eyes and fingers don't work that way anymore even if the brain wishes differently. Keep up the great work.
 
Bob

Brian,
 
Your attention to detail is remarkable. I wish I had started this hobby many years ago so that my skills were at a level allowing me to produce your kind of work. At 77 the eyes and fingers don't work that way anymore even if the brain wishes differently. Keep up the great work.
 
Bob

Brian,
 
Your attention to detail is remarkable. I wish I had started this hobby many years ago so that my skills were at a level allowing me to produce your kind of work. At 77 the eyes and fingers don't work that way anymore even if the brain wishes differently. Keep up the great work.
 
Bob

Brian,
 
Your attention to detail is remarkable. I wish I had started this hobby many years ago so that my skills were at a level allowing me to produce your kind of work. At 77 the eyes and fingers don't work that way anymore even if the brain wishes differently. Keep up the great work.
 
Bob

Brian,
 
Your attention to detail is remarkable. I wish I had started this hobby many years ago so that my skills were at a level allowing me to produce your kind of work. At 77 the eyes and fingers don't work that way anymore even if the brain wishes differently. Keep up the great work.
 
Bob

Brian,
 
Your attention to detail is remarkable. I wish I had started this hobby many years ago so that my skills were at a level allowing me to produce your kind of work. At 77 the eyes and fingers don't work that way anymore even if the brain wishes differently. Keep up the great work.
 
Bob

Hello again everyone,
 
Progress has been a little slow for this update, my focus has been on projects around the house trying to get many of the outside things taken care of while the weather is nice and before it gets cold.
 
A couple of things that I did get accomplished were the cookstove and some of the lantern wiring. I am still shying away from the engines for some reason, mainly because I still haven't found enough photos of it to get a good representation of them. I had hoped that a friend of mine who was passing through Vicksburg a few days ago could have swung by and taken some pictures for me, but unfortunately the Cairo display and museum are still closed. So for now I'll work on other parts.
 
So on to the update.
 
Starting with the cookstove. This was just cobbled together with a few pieces of leftover wood sprues from a previous build (I throw away nothing). I then covered the whole thing in aluminum tape.
 
The basic form of the stove.

 
I then covered the box with aluminum tape and scribed the cook plates and top.

 
I then added then added the fire doors, hinges and handles.

 

 

 
Next I added additional features. Not sure what all these features are, they just added to detail.

 
Finally added the chimney flue. 

 
Once the assembly was complete, I gave it a coat of flat black.

 

 

 
Followed by a dry brushing of light gray paint for highlights and a final coat of clear satin lacquer.

 
 
After the stove was completed, I started work on running the wiring for the lanterns. This is some time consuming work, soldering all the connection points. I plan to install about 20 LED's to light major features that will be visible. Some will be disguised as lanterns, others will just be hidden to light other features such as the paddle wheel and engines (if I ever get them built). The central connection point will be hidden under the boiler and I haven't quite figured out where I'm going to put the battery compartment and toggle switch. I still have time though to figure that part out.
 

 

 
Well that's it for this round. I am going to continue with dressing in the wiring and getting them painted up as well as completing the smokestack for the stove. I think I'm also going to either get started with the cannon carriages or possibly the casemates. Haven't decided just yet. 
 
Until next time, thanks again for all of your encouraging comments and likes.
 
-Brian
 

Greeting everyone,
 
Small update this week. I managed to get the paddle wheel and pillow blocks completed this week.
 
Here is the wheel assembly painted.


 
Buckets cut, sanded drilled and stained. I used a mixture of Ipswich Pine and Golden Oak stains for these. I wanted something that would contrast the black ironwork of the wheel assembly, yet not blend in with the rest of the surrounding wood. 

 
First bucket going in.

 
More buckets being installed. I threw together a little jig to hold the assembly while I worked on it. This jig made it a little easier to rotate the wheel, and by inserting a scrap piece of wood between the spokes, kept it from rotating it while I was installing the buckets.



 
All of the buckets installed and assembly temp installed in the wheel housing.


 
Finally the strings holding the buckets have been trimmed up, a little dry brushing with some light gray to highlight the details of the rivets and a final coat of clear satin and the wheel assembly installed in place.

 
Then it was on to the assembly of the pillow blocks. This part was a piece of cake compared to the paddle wheel.


 
Pillow block installed.

 
Here is the wheel assembly sitting in the pillow blocks. I still need to make the pillow block caps, I'll have to hunt around for some pieces of brass or aluminum for this part. Something that is the correct width and thickness and will also bend around the shaft, but I'm sure I can come up with something.
 
 
 
I tried to research on how the buckets were attached to the wheel spokes but couldn't find a whole lot on it. Apparently iron paddle wheels were not the standard back in these days or my search methods were just not up to par. At first I was going to make some simulated iron stirrups to attach them with, but I wasn't sure if this was correct or not. So I went with my gut, and off of the reasoning that the builders of the St. Louis model may have used for theirs in that tying the buckets to the spokes made for ease of quickly changing damaged boards. After all, these were war vessels and I'm sure they took their fair share of damage and in the heat of battle they could not afford to be sitting in the open while maintenance was performed. That and a portion of the paddle wheels on these boats was not protected by the armor plating and could be susceptibly to a fair amount of damage during periods of heavy gun and cannon fire. Just my thoughts, and since there isn't a significant amount of documentation on these, I took my "builders liberties" with it. Also, I think the group building the St. Louis know what they are doing, so I'm going to go with their expertise.
 
That's all for this update. I think I am going try and revisit the engines this week and see what I can come up with. First go-round just didn't come out right. Hopefully this time will be better. Wish me luck.
 
As always, thanks for looking and all the likes and kind comments.
 
-Brian

That is a tough call.  If you dont get a response in your build log you may want
to reach out to some folks by PM and and ask them.  This is something we have been trying to improve but you must understand that with so many build logs.
 
Best to just ask one question at a time and not write really long posts.  Posing short questions are more likely to get a response
 
For me I know its tough to read every build log.  
 
Probably the most important thing is to mingle and also read, post and participate in the logs of others beyond just your own.  Folks are more likely to take an interest in you and reach out if you do the same.  A quick look at your history reveals that you only post in your own topics and never in those for others. 
 
This is a huge part of the issue.  I am sure it would be easier to get a response if you pose the question or have participated in the logs of others.  Especially those that are building the same kit or similar.  This is is best way to create a mentoring cross exchange of ideas.    
 
its not a one way street on any forum where one should expect members to flock to them without ever having taken the time to do the same on other members projects and topics.   As if it was a paid class or workshop.  This is just a community of mode builders where folks are having fun and making friends.  No paid teachers here.  
 
 
I hope this helps....If a member wont reach out to others they can hardly expect to get any traction and there is nothing any staff member can do to fix that!
 
So please try to participate in the logs and topics that are not your own as well.  Even if its to just say that others are doing a good job.  Probably the best advice I can give you.  That effort will pay off in multiples. 
 
These are just a few things I can suggest to you.  Ask yourself when was the last time you posted and took an interest in other projects outside of your own.  Just to say good work or ask how they are doing? We dont have paid mentors and those folks are very busy.  They have a many opportunities to help others but are most likely choosing to spend their time in logs where those folks also have shown an interest in their work.
 
Chuck
 
 

Here is some info on transverse chains from a talk at a NRG Conference in St. Louis, MO in 2013 presented by Jack Custer a noted expert on steamboats.  Jack was the Editor and Publisher of the Egregious Steamboat Journal.  The talk was on Steamboat Architecture.  A photo of the J.M. White is also included.  I think the drawings and photos were printed in the Egregious Steamboat Journal at some time.