leclaire

That's very true, Clark. When it comes to tools, and particularly tools for a hobby, economics always force compromises. Rarely, however, do such compromises impair the quality of modeling. What the pocketbook cannot attain, the skill of the craftsman can always exceed... and often does.

The next mini-project involves the two main pumps next to the boilers. These have to be finished and installed before I attach the next deck. The big on is the "doctor" pump, which draws river water to feed the boilers and for any other major water needs. The odd name comes, supposedly, from the fact that its invention cured a variety of problems in riverboat boiler/engine development. Here's a reminder of what Arabia's doctor pump looked like:
 

As with the other machinery, I knew that (a) I wouldn't be able to craft a perfect replica and (b) it wouldn't be fully visible anyway, so my goal was to craft a reasonable representation of the general idea. There's a lot of stuff going on with this pump, but after some rummaging and head-scratching, my scrap box and other sources around the house turned up some good-enough material.
 

I started by making the main flywheel, for which I used a ring cut from a length of PVC pipe left over in our barn. It's not quite to scale but it was the closest ring-like item I could come up with. I then carefully made the central axle and spokes, not trying to mimic the beautiful swirled shape of the original because I felt it would be beyond me. I used a hollow section of styrene tubing for the central part so I could string this on a piece of wire, making it easier to assemble the whole thing later on. The supporting stanchions are more of the same styrene, drilled to accept the wire "axle". The parallel pump "handles" (not sure just what those are actually called) I shaped from two pieces of wood, then filed and drilled a dowel to hold another piece of wire that would, again, make these easier to mount.

So here they are loosely test-fit on a base. I think with some sanding, painting, and finishing detail, they'll blend into a fairly decent representation. This will only ever be seen from the side through parts of the superstructure, in partial shadow. Not sure if I'll get any farther this weekend, got a variety of commitments coming up, but I'd like to get back to more regular updates so figured I'd show this much.

If this is pre-planning ... I'll take up hibernating for prolongued periods

Pre-planning is always worth the time spent on it. She is looking very nice indeed, Eric.

I've quietly been working on developing the main deck superstructure in relation to the boiler deck. The downside to pre-building the latter is making sure everything fits just right when it's finally attached to the main deck. I've been doing a lot of measuring and test-fitting. Below are a few images of the current state. This is all test-fitted, not attached permanently (except the wheels and engines), but it gives a nice hint of where the model is going.



In the last image, you can see proof that this is a test fit, because the internal stanchions down the center-line are clamped to the boiler deck but don't reach the main deck (and are at a cock-eyed angle)! This is because the former was built flat but will flex with the slight sheer of the main deck once it's installed for good.
 
Before I attach all this permanently, I need to be sure I've got any details I want installed on the main deck. For example, I haven't built the various ancillary pumps that go with the boilers. I will also need to install some of the piping connecting the boilers with the engines.
 
The current plan is to deal with that stuff, take a deep breath and attach the boiler deck, then fill in the rest of the superstructure between the two decks. Progress has been and will continue to be slow. With spring here (compare the outdoors conditions in my last post, three weeks ago, with these) and there's a lot of competition for my non-work time between needs (orchard pruning, final firewood cutting and splitting, fence repair, etc.) and pleasure (spring birding, seasons underway for American soccer & baseball). Thanks for reading, and for patience with my slow progress and intermittent updates.

OK, here comes some rolling stock I've been fiddling with since Thanksgiving. All are HO scale (1/87).
Blue car in the back is a scale 86' car with extended coupler pockets. It's a little over a foot long. Middle car is a scale 50'. Front one is 36'. Blue car is late 60s, middle car mid 50s and the little one is pre-WWI.
Braced the insides and added the coupler boxes on the body. Original coupler mount was a swing arm off the truck (wheel-set at each end). Car needs a huge radius to run. I built it more as a kit-bashing exercise.

Added the silvery brake platform down low on the end. It's stainless photo etch and a bear to cut with a hobby knife.  I use a Xuron cutter. A few more things to add like air lines and paint here.

Same railroad, different paint schemes over the years. Front car is WWI era, middle is around WWII. Back car is post WWII.

This is the level of detail in many kits today, although this was built up from many pieces/parts. Careful gluing here. Nowadays, model companies have the Chinese build up the cars and sell them ready to run. Where's the fun in that?

This is the brake pipes and rods on the underframe. The cylinder towards the top is an air reservoir, the little collection of box like objects underneath that reservoir is the master valve and the small cylinder on the left with a cone pointing left is the actual brake cylinder. It actuates the rodding to set and release the brakes on the trucks.

Simpler early brake equipment.
 
Manufacturers would have you gluing all of this stuff together, but I choose to screw the coupler boxes and truck kingpins, in case they need replacing. (You never know when a car will take a fall off  benchwork over a meter off the floor. The resulting crash could dekit the whole car or do significant damage to it) Mostly 2-56 screws, a few 1-72 or 0-80, like on the big auto box. I tap the holes to keep things square, but some of the plastic parts can be done with self tapping screws. The metal details, like the coupler boxes on the 86' car, are pewter, so you have to tap those holes. Same for any zamac or pot metal parts.
 
These and the other cars I've done up are all in need of paint and weathering. And I have a couple of more intense kit bashes, requiring cutting up bodies and under-frames. One hopper and a handful of refrigerator cars.
 

Hello everyone. While I am not new to the ship modelling world this will be my first attempt at a build log, so please excuse any errors while i work my way through this. While I love the older period sailing ships, I recently tried my hand at steamers. I picked the Artesania Latina King of the Mississippi and enjoyed the build so much that I wanted to attempt another steamboat build. After reading several build logs on MSW and the reviews of the kits I decided on the Model Shipways Chaperon. I really like the quality and detail of their kits, and after completing the AL KotM, this is a real step up.
 
I actually started the build a couple of weeks ago and while researching some of the builds came across Kurt Van Dahm's post for his article on his build of the Chaperon. Since I want to do this model justice I purchased his article to help me along the way. Since Kurt was so gracious to make this information available, I figure why not return the favor and start a build log.
 
Anyway, like most, I won't bore you with the details of the kit contents since this has been done already, and jump right in with the build. Since i just now decided to start a build log, I have very few pictures of the beginning, however going forward I'll try to take more as I go along.
Any and all comments and suggestions are always welcome. Thank you for looking.
 
-Brian
 
 
Here is what I have so far.
 
Starting the hull. Bulkheads and stringers in place and first row of planking.

Small planking completed and starting on the big planking.

Looking good Eric. Glad to see you back at the build.
 
FYI - I got my copy of the Chaperon CD from Kurt the other day and it is great. Really wish I had it from the beginning of my build. I agree, it would be a terrific resource for anyone building not only the Chaperon kit but any other river boat where a bit of authenticity is desired. Some of the other kits out there are pretty far off when it comes to accuracy.
 
Bob

Looking good Eric. Glad to see you back at the build.
 
FYI - I got my copy of the Chaperon CD from Kurt the other day and it is great. Really wish I had it from the beginning of my build. I agree, it would be a terrific resource for anyone building not only the Chaperon kit but any other river boat where a bit of authenticity is desired. Some of the other kits out there are pretty far off when it comes to accuracy.
 
Bob

Looking good Eric. Glad to see you back at the build.
 
FYI - I got my copy of the Chaperon CD from Kurt the other day and it is great. Really wish I had it from the beginning of my build. I agree, it would be a terrific resource for anyone building not only the Chaperon kit but any other river boat where a bit of authenticity is desired. Some of the other kits out there are pretty far off when it comes to accuracy.
 
Bob

Once again, thanks for all the kind thoughts. We'll always miss our friend, but life does move forward overall. This build got put off even longer by a last-minute trip down to Arkansas to help out my in-laws for almost a week, but I finally made some progress on an important step: permanently installing the wheels and machinery:

I took some photos outside since the weather is finally sunny and pleasant. Our region has not gone above 65 °F (~18 °C) for 138 straight days, which is a record going back to the start of data in the late 1800s. Most of that has been cloud, too, our solar panels have been performing well below last year's production. We may finally stop this streak next weekend, but it's not certain.

Everything you see is now there to stay. Hopefully I didn't (or don't) screw anything up.

Sharp eyes may notice that I didn't include the metal u-bolts that hold each paddle bucket (the horizontal planks) to the frame. I experimented off-model with various ways to do these and couldn't get anything to look right. I finally decided they'd look better without them rather than with crappy, out-of-scale ones. Plus, it'd be a ton of detailed work since there are two u-bolts for every spoke, i.e. 6 per plank, 12 per spoke x 18 spokes just for one wheel. You get the idea. I decided that only experts would notice their absence.


Now that this is done, it's time to go back to working on the boiler deck and getting ready to install it. That'll change the look of things dramatically.
 
Thanks for reading, and apologies for the slow progress and intermittent updates.
 
EDIT: Forgot to mention, if you haven't seen this yet, Kurt Van Dahm now has his full series on building the sternwheeler Chaperon available on CD. I ordered a copy and it looks really neat, lots of good info and photos. Even if you're not planning on that specific kit, it's a good resource for learning about building steamboat models in general. I strongly recommend getting a copy.

DIGITAL BACK ISSUES AND BOOKS

Ships in Scale Magazine back issues are finally available. 

We have just added the digital archive issues of Seaway’s Ships in Scale Magazine to the NRG Store, on both disc and flash drive. These back issues are named “The Early Years 1983-1999” and “The Middle Years 2000-2009”. These were sold by Seaways as “The First 105 Issues 1983-199” and “The New Millennium Edition 2000-2009” respectively. The digital archives of the years from 2010 to 2018, when the magazine ceased publication, will hopefully be available before the end of the year.

We have also added the complete series of digital back issues of Model Ship Builder Magazine on disc or flash drive. Seaways sold these digital back issues as Volume I, Volume II and the combined “The Complete History”. We have decided to offer only “The Complete History” which includes both Vol. I & II. 

We are now also offering popular practicum reprints by Clayton E. Feldmann, MD.  The first, “Building the Continental Navy Brig LEXINGTON – A Practicum” is now available. The classic “Progressive Scratch Building in Ship Modeling” is also available. Both are sold on disc or flash drive

We now have all the digital archive back issues of the Nautical Research Journal available at the NRG Store on either CD/DVD and flash drives.  

Go to the NRG Store https://www.thenrg.org/the-nrg-store.php to order - or use the link on the MSW home page (upper right corner). Remember, full NRG Members get a 20% discount on the price shown.  Email the NRG Office at nrghomeoffice@gmail.com with your name and town to get the discount code (you would be surprised how many NRG members share names so we need to be able to tell you apart).

OK I think I'm done now.
Maybe a bit of touch up paint but I'll wait for that till I have a case.
Here are some pictures.
 

Hi Bruce,
 
Thanks for the response to my question. I am concerned as well that emery paper might be too thick and look out of place but had not come up with a better solution on my own. I will have to do a bit of experimenting with silk span to see if I can get the desired effect. Your directions will be most helpful. I may be back for further assistance.
 
I have seen others mention Kurt's SOS series and always wished I had a copy but a bit late for that. Anyway, thanks again.
 
Bob
 
 

Hey, that is great! Thanks Kurt, very much appreciated.
 
This is exactly why this is such a terrific site, all the support everyone gives each other.
 
Bob

Getting real close now.
With the cargo and main deck people in place I could finally add the bull rails.
It really helped to paint the whole set of wood strips (24") ahead of time. Then I could measure for each interval and cut 5 pieces off with a sharp x-acto chisel and immediately place them on/in the brackets, and then glue a bunch of them in place at one time.
Put together and installed all the rigging for the stage. I used Syren Co. small hooks (the older black plastic ones I had from the Morgan build) which worked really well. I used epoxy for all of the cleats - learned my lesson from previous builds when cleats popped off using CA when tension applied. Adds a overnight wait but the security is worth it.
Now trim the stage rigging, make and place a bunch of rope coils for that rigging and for the 2 sets of boat boom rigging. And some touch-up painting here and there and a bit of pastels weathering in a few places.
Then .... finished.

Eric,
 
It is times like these that everything I try to say comes out sounding rather like a worn out cliche of some kind. My best to you and your family. As Canute noted earlier, this is a great support group so don't feel like you were dumping on us at all.  
 
Bob

Eric,
 
It is times like these that everything I try to say comes out sounding rather like a worn out cliche of some kind. My best to you and your family. As Canute noted earlier, this is a great support group so don't feel like you were dumping on us at all.  
 
Bob

Eric,
 
It is times like these that everything I try to say comes out sounding rather like a worn out cliche of some kind. My best to you and your family. As Canute noted earlier, this is a great support group so don't feel like you were dumping on us at all.  
 
Bob

Eric My condolences to you regarding the loss of your friend, these events take a while to process, sharing your thoughts can help ease the pain.
 
Michael

Eric,
 
It is times like these that everything I try to say comes out sounding rather like a worn out cliche of some kind. My best to you and your family. As Canute noted earlier, this is a great support group so don't feel like you were dumping on us at all.  
 
Bob

Eric,
 
It is times like these that everything I try to say comes out sounding rather like a worn out cliche of some kind. My best to you and your family. As Canute noted earlier, this is a great support group so don't feel like you were dumping on us at all.  
 
Bob

Eric, my sincere condolences on your loss. It's good to have a support group at times like this.

Household latex paint is very thick as a result of the heavy pigment and will bury any detail. On the other hand if your woodwork is rough....... Hmm. If you were to model a water feature it might work pretty good over carved foam and then about 8 coats of Modge Podge over that. Might make passable water.

Latex is the current base for most model paints.   The difference between house paint from the hardware store and model paint is the size of the color chunks.  They're larger in house paint.  Model paint makers grind the paint color into smaller pieces.