leclaire

Got the stern half of the hurricane deck glued down:
 

Edges need some trimming but I'll do that all at once when the whole deck is installed.
 
The larger news is the arrival of a new tool in the Cathead workshop:

That's a Byrnes table saw on the workbench. Technically a Christmas present, but I wanted to make sure all was in order. I did one quick milling of some Eastern Red Cedar scrap I had lying around, making thin planking-scale pieces and veneer strips. It's really pretty in person:
 

I hope I never have to buy model wood again. Living on 40 acres of mostly woodland with an orchard mixed in, I have lots of fun self-harvested stuff to play with, and this will let me mill up quite a bit of stock from my scrapbox. Reusing things and avoiding waste is a big deal for me, so I'm very excited for this development. A Missouri River craft of some sort built with all Missouri wood sounds like a really fun and unique project once Arabia is done.
 
Happy Holidays to all of you. Our big celebration is a solstice party this weekend for a variety of rural friends and neighbors, featuring homemade mead and some good traditional fiddle-tune jamming.

Still plugging away. I filled in the tops of the wheel housings and painted both assemblies:


I started building the frames that will support the hurricane deck out over the stern (the roof of the boiler deck). You can see the beginnings of these in the above photos. These will be really delicate, so I gave some thought to how to make them stronger and easier to assemble. The plan I came up with was to insert small pins into many of the joints, using a small drill bit and leftover brass nails from a kit.
 


Above you can see one such joint, with the pin sticking out at upper right and another pin ready for another joint at upper left. I bent a beam in a full 180° curve to form the deck's stern contour, and attached a central supporting beam:

Here's that beam installed on the model. Each end fits into a pin in the already-installed framing (see next photo down), with a pin into the deck beneath the stern-most support:


More framing. This is now ready for the hurricane deck to go on. I also built the rear staircases between the two decks, using basically the same method I did for the pilot house stairs. These aren't glued in yet, just set in place for appearances.

Another view of the hurricane deck framing and stairs:

You may notice that I included a bit of an upward curve here toward the stern. I think this adds some style and is similar to other boats of the era. Finally, I started cutting thin sheets of wood to form the base of the hurricane deck. As this will be fully covered in simulated tarpaper (like the pilot house and Texas structures), there was no need to plank it.

These aren't attached, just set in place to test the fit. I think I'll use pastels to lightly color the open bottoms of these rather than waste paint (and risk curling the thin sheets).
 
That's where the model stands. Current plan is to work my way forward from here. I started at the stern as I expected it to be simpler, the forward framing will be more complex, so now I have a better idea of the mechanics I want to use.
 
At times this project feels like it'll never end, then I get moments where it seems like it's racing along. Thanks for reading!
 

Interesting. I bought a small disc sander for my bench a few weeks ago and even though the amount of dust produced is minimal (no large sanding projects so far) I have been thinking of some way to capture what does fly in the air. Looking forward to the ideas our members come up with. They are a creative group for sure.
 
Bob

I'm 40 but am involved in mostly "retiree" interests like model building, birdwatching, and playing American/Irish/Scottish folk/bluegrass music. I generally stick out like a sore thumb. There is an element of generational change, but it's also true that most people in my age bracket +/- 15 years are deeply involved in some combination of working, saving for retirement, raising kids, etc. and that leaves relatively little time or funds for outside hobbies. I've never attended an NRG conference even though I'd like to because flying across the country for a several-day event is pretty expensive per unit time, especially when I have limited time off and the first priority for that goes to family visits and regular travel interests that usually don't correspond with conference locations or timing.
 
Realistically, there may well be another generation waiting in the wings to take up model shipbuilding once their kids move out, they finish paying off college loans (theirs and/or their kids), and/or they're financially comfortable enough to retire. Keep in mind that, the younger you get, the less likely any of those things are to happen at an equivalent age to older generations, given the changing nature of the job market and the economy, at least in the US. The average 40-year-old now has more debt, less job security, and less-well-off kids than a 40-year-old 20 or 30 years ago, so it'll be harder to draw them in.
 
I don't disagree that there's a potential need to "reach out" somehow and connect with people who might be interested in this hobby if they were exposed to it. I'm not sure social media is really the way to go, but I also avoid it like the plague so I'm biased. I've been thinking about this and don't know the answer; I'm rather unrepresentative of my generation so don't have a good insight into the right approach. A few years ago I tried offering an Intro to Wooden Model Building class through a local adult-education program that has lots of craft-type classes, but it only got two signups and was cancelled for lack of interest. Don't know what else to try.
 
I don't think it helps that people are increasingly disconnected from older modes of transportation that used to be far "sexier", like ships and trains, which are now increasingly bland and standardized (to an amateur eye) and ever more out of sight, out of mind. Most older modellers now still grew up in the passenger train era and with a one-generation memory of the great naval battles of WWII; my generation has almost no direct connection to such things in ways that encourage the urge to recreate. Now I'm just rambling; told you I was an honorary old person!

Interesting. I bought a small disc sander for my bench a few weeks ago and even though the amount of dust produced is minimal (no large sanding projects so far) I have been thinking of some way to capture what does fly in the air. Looking forward to the ideas our members come up with. They are a creative group for sure.
 
Bob

Interesting. I bought a small disc sander for my bench a few weeks ago and even though the amount of dust produced is minimal (no large sanding projects so far) I have been thinking of some way to capture what does fly in the air. Looking forward to the ideas our members come up with. They are a creative group for sure.
 
Bob

The rope colour depends on period and region - plus the treatment and grime as mentioned above.
 
Hemp was the main raw material until cotton was introduced from the US. Hemp has a pale yellow to beige colour, while cotton is more whitish.
 
Stockholm (pine) tar leads to a darkish brown colour, while coal tar makes the ropes black. With age and weathering, both tars become more greyish.
 
If you work on an 'artisanal' style model, you may want to have only two colours, for tarred and for untarred rope. When you want depict a real life ship, you may want to use several slightly different colours to represent different makes and ages of the ropework.

Cog, that's strange. I've run into similar problems every now and then on random websites, where I'll get a notice about security configurations being incorrect so the browser blocks it. My memory says it's usually major government sites (like NASA or NOAA in the US), so I suppose that fits for the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. I've found that using a different browser solves the problem, don't know why it happens in the first place.
 
No idea why Missouri would have it in for the Dutch otherwise. Belgium, maybe, after InBev bought Budweiser, but we don't have any beef with the Netherlands that I'm aware of.

Happy Thanksgiving to all the American readers (and the rest of you)! I'm grateful to have a community like this that makes this hobby so much richer than toiling away in isolation.
 
I've been quietly working away at planking the port wheel housing.
 

I decided to add the two windows shown in the painting; I don't know whether or not they were really there, but you can see similar features on other vessels. I built frames for these and added backing so they'd fit right into the planking (like a window in a model kit). Since you can't really see behind these, this was an easy way to get them installed.
 

I then hung them from the planking and started planking around them.
 

And here's the fully planked port side.

There's a fair bit of detail to add here, various vertical ribbing and so on, but it'll come later when the model is closer to being complete. Next I'll start planking in the upper surfaces of both wheel housings.
 
Thanks again for being part of this journey, I wouldn't (and likely couldn't) be doing it without you.
 

It's been a month, suppose I should update this log. Following a two-week trip to Western New York to visit family in my land of origin, I slowly got back to the model desk. I've pretty much completed the heads and related structures along with the framing of the wheel housings.
 
First, here's the "open" side of the model, the side of which won't be planked over (the top will). I designed the inner framing supporting the arch based on drawings by Alan Bates.


And here's the "closed" side. The entire housing and the area in front of the stacked crates will be planked over.
 


Here's a top view. The upper roof surfaces will be covered by the hurricane deck so aren't painted or otherwise finished; I used scrap sheet wood for these, which is why their appearance varies.
 

Fun note, these were taken with my new cell phone, the first one I've ever owned. I have decidedly mixed feelings about this, but the world moves on and it's becoming ever more difficult to operate without one, even for a rural recluse like me.
 
Finally, two photos of maritime interest from our trip. First, me at the Sodus Point lighthouse along Lake Ontario. Growing up, I learned to sail in the bay this lighthouse guards, my mother's second marriage took place here, and I took my high school senior photos here.

 
Second, a work boat and barge entering a lock on the Erie Canal, taken by Mrs. Cathead. She had fun watching a full lock cycle as this little fella went through. Looks like a fun someday model subject, and the canal lock would make a neat diorama. The Erie Canal played a large role in my upbringing as well, and I love returning to it.
 

We also had a good time visiting the Erie Maritime Museum in Pennsylvania (home of the Niagara), Niagara Falls, and lots of very hikeable waterfalls and gorges in the Finger Lakes region. Fun fact, we missed an historic event at Niagara Falls by one day. There's a wrecked scow that's been stranded just above the falls for over 100 years without moving. It moved downriver during a strong storm the day after we were there; would have loved to see that change!
 
Thanks for reading, we'll see if I get back to more regular updates from now on.
 

I mounted my Benjamin W Latham (similar profile to the Bluenose)  using 2 walnut blocks with the same cross section but different heights. 

Thanks for bringing this to our attention. I have been using an inexpensive combination belt and disc sander purchased from Harbor Freight which was OK but does not offer the variable speed control feature. I bought the one from Menards yesterday and it works like a charm.
 
Bob

Greetings everyone,
 
It has been a while since my last update. Unfortunately, end of year work travels and work on the ranch has taken a considerable toll on my ship building time. However, winter is fast approaching which means colder weather to stay indoors and in the shipyard. 
 
I was able to accomplish a few tasks on my build, but not a whole lot. I figured I'd go ahead post what I have so far.
 
Work was completed on construction of the Texas deck. All those little battens to glue into place. A monotonous task to say the least, but I got it done. I still need to hang the curtains and secure it to the top of the Hurricane deck, but I need to get the LED wiring dressed up and run the main power wire from the bottom. I was going to go with a battery powered solution, but I couldn't come up with a way to house the batteries that I liked. So I decided to just run an external power source. (more pictures on that later)
 
 

 
Next I fastened the Hurricane deck to the top of the Boiler deck and pulled the wiring through. I used thin tissue paper to cover the windows to hide the LED's that are glued to the top. The tissue paper should provide a nice glow with the yellow LED's.

 
Lastly, I started work on the smokestacks. I tried several methods to simulate the joint between sections. First I tired using some leftover pin-striping I had, but I couldn't get the tape line up all the way around. Next I tried small rubber bands (leftover from the kids braces). Unfortunately, the kids have been out of braces for several years now and most of the ones I had left were dry rotted and didn't have enough good ones to complete the job. So I finally came up with the idea of using heat shrink tubing. I was outside repairing the wiring on my trailer when the idea occurred to me that this would be a perfect solution. So I gave it a whirl. I am actually pleased with the result. All I have left to do is paint them and see how they look. The smokestack caps I made from a sheet of thin copper, in which I pasted the pattern on and cut out with small snips. I am going to use the same method and material for the decorative tops.




 

 
That all for now. Hopefully I will be able to get more done with all of the travelling done for the year.
 
Thanks for looking (and Happy Veterans Day to all those who served)
 
-Brian

Thanks for bringing this to our attention. I have been using an inexpensive combination belt and disc sander purchased from Harbor Freight which was OK but does not offer the variable speed control feature. I bought the one from Menards yesterday and it works like a charm.
 
Bob

WOW. I may reorder my Chaperon kit and start all over again.

Roger,
The links for different projects (top bar of any given page) give some information on model destination. For example, the intro page for the Heroine project states:
 
We're thinking about an Oklahoma/Texas road trip next year, and this would definitely be on the agenda.
 
As for the wheel, I definitely see what you mean, but I think that can't be entirely representative of later practice based on photos and drawings from the 1850s onward. Heroine, as an 1832 boat, definitely represents an earlier experimental stage in steamboat design. I don't think a later boat could handle that ratio of wheelhouse to wheel diameter given the known size of wheels. But point well taken, the model certainly shows a precedent for lots of space below the curved wheel housing.

WOW. I may reorder my Chaperon kit and start all over again.

Here is the link to Glenn's finished model of Heroine.
 
https://nautarch.tamu.edu/model/report5/reconcomplete.htm

I would rather buy a Byrnes saw for that money.   That is crazy at $400.  Or buy another kit or two......or $400 worth of boxwood or swiss pear sheets.   
 
I am sure there are far less expensive way to cut basswood and styrene.
 
Chuck

Thanks for the review, Chris. I have been looking for a new "page turner" to get immersed in and this sounds like it might be just the ticket.
 
I just ordered the first in the series and I'll let you know how it turns out.
 
Bob
 

Our men’s book group just read and discussed the Caine Mutiny in memory of its author Herman Wouk who died earlier this year at age 103.
 
It is an excellent piece of naval fiction as well as a fine portrait of life on a small combatant, in this case a minesweeper built from a converted four stack destroyer.
 
If you have seen the movie, the book adds a lot that was cut and Queeg is not the same character as the one that Humphrey Bogart played.  Wouk served on one of these ships and writes from experience.

Thanks for the review, Chris. I have been looking for a new "page turner" to get immersed in and this sounds like it might be just the ticket.
 
I just ordered the first in the series and I'll let you know how it turns out.
 
Bob
 

Eric:
Unless I am seeing something wrong, the painting shows a wide box but it only comes to the side of the boiler deck cabin.  I think it might be a matter of the visual perspective as to how wide the box appears in the painting.  You have made the paddle wheels and buckets per the wreck and the box should be sized accordingly.  There is nothing gained by making them wider than is needed for clearance of the wheels/buckets. With the photos of the other boats, I think they had wider wheels - thus the wider box.
Kurt

Eric,
 
I always try to go with the solution that is supported by logic when all else fails. Of course, logic (as well as common sense) seems to be in very short supply in the world we live in today. I can see no reason for wide paddleboxes other than to maybe give more room for on the river repairs, maintenance, etc. to the paddles. But given these boats were built to provide their owners with a profit, they would not go the extra expense if they didn't have to.
 
Bob

Eric,
 
I always try to go with the solution that is supported by logic when all else fails. Of course, logic (as well as common sense) seems to be in very short supply in the world we live in today. I can see no reason for wide paddleboxes other than to maybe give more room for on the river repairs, maintenance, etc. to the paddles. But given these boats were built to provide their owners with a profit, they would not go the extra expense if they didn't have to.
 
Bob