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John Ruy

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Everything posted by John Ruy

  1. John Ruy
    Superstructure continued… More windows and more battens… Once I have this lower structure assembled, I will be disassembling it for painting. Airbrush will give it the best look. 😎 Onwards… 🍻
  2. John Ruy
    Progress on the superstructure… Cutting out Boiler deck for staircase. Boiler sub deck cut… Cutting out kitchen deck. Remaining decks cut out. Massive four story structure. It feels like I am in architecture class. 😆 Board and Batten is going to drive me batty. 😆 That and windows, four more floors to go. 🍻 Framing on the port side will be left open for the sneak peak at the engine room and paddle wheel. 😎 Bubble Bubbles it’s all got to be plumb. Looking forward to more opportunities to improve my craft. 😆 Superstructure to be continued. 🍻
  3. John Ruy
    Yes… Lots of fun to be had for sure. A million opportunities to increase my scratch building skills. 😆 This kit essentially consists of the drawings and a giant wood package. Thanks for the comments. 👍
  4. John Ruy
    Grand Stairway continued… Preparing the staircase for railings. Used 1/32” sheet cherry wood to cut and build railings. 1/8” Mahogany posts and basswood strips as rail caps. Fine sanding prep before staining and poly. Grand Stairway in place… Cheers! 🍻
  5. John Ruy
    Very nice planking… what is the thickness of those Maple planks, I may want to keep these in mind for my stash of projects under the bench. I have a Sergal Peregrine Galley I picked up on eBay that is missing all of its 1mm x 6mm Walnut planking. Would Maple be a better choice for the top planking over Walnut? Great job 👏
  6. John Ruy
    Engine Room and Superstructure… Paddel Wheel shaft journals… Paddle Wheel shaft connection completed… Boiler Feed Pump… Steam Driven pump to feed river water up into the massive boilers. N - Scale windows and doors. Board and batten siding. Superstructure walls… Because I will be viewing the engine room, I had to create the interior walls. I could not find anything regarding the interior structure, so I assumed it would be “Barn” like. Given that this is the foundation for four story hotel structure it needs to be stout. 😎 Engine Room is coming together. Note: Not going for accuracy here, very little info is available specific to Robt E Lee. I’m only trying to create the illusion when looking in under the boiler deck from the port side where I will leave the engine room wall open. The above photo taken from Alan Bates’ Engine Room Cyclopedium will be my inspiration as I attempt to add to the illusion of an Engine Room. 😎 A lot of windows to install… Engine Room wall for the starboard side. I will leave this wall open on the Port Side. On to building the Wheel Housing. Keeping everything plumb on a curved deck. 😆 This will be the view into the engine room from the port side. There will be framing only no walls. Curved walls on a curved deck… Added windows. More latter… Cheers 🍻
  7. John Ruy
    Grand Stairway… Used 1/16” Cherry to cut the staircase. Ordered some 1/32” Cherry to use for the curved railings. 😎 Cheers 🍻
  8. John Ruy
    You are correct a striped buoy would be in order. 😊
  9. John Ruy
    Lobster 🦞 Trap and Line Tub… Line Tub materials included in the original kit. The Lobster Trap, I am building from scratch 🦞 Now she is complete… The Dory is officially FINISHED! Back to the Robert E Lee… 😎
  10. John Ruy
    Rigging… Lacing and tying off the sail to the Mast. Note the Snotter used to tighten up the sail with the Sprit Pole. Sail set and ready to run for home with a “boat load”of fish. The sail on “The Dory” was generally used to head home after a day fishing. Rowing out in the morning and Sailing with the wind in to shore. The Dory is finished. Nice little kit, a lot of fun to build. Now I can put a bit of Maine History on the shelf. 😎 Cheers 🍻
  11. John Ruy
    Sewing the Sail… Traced a pattern from the blueprints. Ironed and folded over the edge seams. Cut out the corner overlap. Sewed the 1/4” seam around the edge. The used Fray Check before trimming. Marked sheet seams with pencil. Sewed sheet seams and corner tabs. Colored white rigging rope supplied in the kit with custom mix of acrylic paint to look like Manila Rope. Glued on Bolt Rope. Then whip stitched the Bolt Rope in place. Sail completed and ready to set. Getting close…Cleats, Rigging and Oars left to build. That’s all… 😆 Later… 🍻
  12. John Ruy
    Mast and Sprit… Shaped Mast and Sprit Pole ends. Placed Mast into Mast Step… One Step closer… Cheers 🍻
  13. John Ruy
    Hanger Rods and Turn Buckles… These rods were used to support the Main Deck as it was cantilevered beyond the hull. Turn Buckles we’re supplied in the kit by Bluejacket. Good quality brass castings. I decided to use fine brass wire vs. the stranded wire I had used on the first two earlier in the build. The stranded wire will be more more appropriately used as the Hogging Chain and Stack guy wires later. Attaching the hanger rods… Setting the rods with CA glue… Painting the rods flat black… Starboard side Completed. Cheers 🍻
  14. John Ruy
    Ho Ho He He Ha Ha,.. I am not sure weather I survived without becoming a bit Obsessive. I have now taken up Cutting Twigs into 3/8” pieces and splitting them into firewood. 🤪 They call this “Wooding Up” on the Mississippi. 😆 Those Steam Boilers consumed a forest to transport goods and passengers. Several stops to “Wood Up” were made between New Orleans and St. Louis. Onwards… 👍
  15. John Ruy
    Paddle Wheels… Ready for assembly… Posts are lining up pretty good. Some filing to get paddles a bit better aligned. Painting… The Robert E Lee had two paddle wheels, each 38 feet in diameter and 17 feet wide. The second one was definitely built a bit straighter than the first one. Paddle Wheel 2.0 will be the one left viewable, the other will get a full Wheel Housing built over it. 😆… Paddle Wheels completed. 👍 Cheers 🍻
  16. John Ruy
    Tom, Not sure how tame my process was, very intense. 😬 All I can say is take your time and be very accurate. 👍
  17. John Ruy
    Paddle Wheels continued… Cutting 3 mm blocks… Sanding after CA glue has set… Sanding excess glue… Ready for paint… Onwards… 🍻
  18. John Ruy
    Paddle Wheels continued… Finally, got this figured out and one more to go. Thought I would document the steps to get this far on the last one, now that I know what works. Installing the spokes on the hub using CA Glue. Be very careful to align with the template accurately. Marking the spokes for the blocks. Trimming the spokes to proper length. Cutting 6 mm blocks. VERY CAREFULLY, cut 1/16 basswood strips with ends that MUST be Square with the proper angle to set the spokes properly. Magnification required. 🧐 Verifying the spacing between each spoke to be 6 mm (not 6.25 mm) after gluing and clamping. Note the block in the top photo had to be trimmed. The block in the bottom photo did not need trimming. Started with blocks on opposite sides of the wheel. Clamped the wheel flat as I continued around with in both directions. I got better at cutting these blocks. Used a single edge razor blade as It is stiffer than an Exato Knife. That’s it… Easy Peezy just repeat until you go insane. 😆 Still need to do the tiny center blocks and the paddles. Thought y’all mighty get a kick out of this detail. You might not want to try this at home. LOL 😂 But then again you might like the challenge of scratch building a paddle. Some of you already have. Onwards 🍻
  19. John Ruy
    Boiler Catwalk continued… Starboard side Catwalk completed. Cheers 🍻
  20. John Ruy
    Thanks… Don’t we all on MSW… 👍 Steady as she goes, Don’t give up the Ship! 🧐
  21. John Ruy
    Paddle Wheel progress… 2 of 4 wheels aligned. 🍻
  22. John Ruy
    Boiler Guard and Catwalk… Boiler Guard constructed of 1/32 materials. Two Boiler Guards completed ready for paint. Cutting in Boiler Guards and Catwalk. Nice break from those Paddle Wheels. Work continues on the Paddle Wheels. Thanks again to @Cathead and @yvesvidal for the tips On Paddle Wheels. Onwards 🍻
  23. John Ruy
    Easier said than done. 🧐The hubs are spacing the wheels. As you can see here I will have to revisit the blocking and adjust. Thanks for your suggestion, I will leave the hub off one side so I can lay the next wheel directly on this one. Tedious but doable, I think. 🤔 I will let you know how it works. 👍
  24. John Ruy
    Paddle Wheel 2.0… Progress… 🍻
  25. John Ruy
    Agreed… I have noticed that when I cut the blocking, it must be square to minimize the twist in the arms. Careful measurement to 6 mm and precise clamping of each piece may get the results I am looking for. The problem with that is there are 34 arms, 68 blocks cut from 1/16” basswood. Multiple that by 8 wheels for 2 Paddle Wheels . 🤪 But who’s counting. Did you find any particular techniques useful in minimizing the misalignments? Thanks

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