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John Ruy

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Everything posted by John Ruy

  1. John Ruy
    Boiler Deck… More creative clamping… Boiler Deck is now in place. Deck 2 of 4… Main Deck Lighting also in place. Here are few photos of the lighted views. Engine Room… Fore Cabin and wood pile. 😎 Grand Stairway now in place. Started planking the boiler deck. Cheers 🍻
  2. John Ruy
    I agree, and I thought paddle wheels were tedious. 😆 Particularly given the scale, but I have the solution. Still have to figure out all the Victorian Drape. 🤨
  3. John Ruy
    Railings, Lots of railings… I began the process of building deck railings. No wonderful etched brass fittings in this “kit”. 😆 I drew out a template on paper and used rubber cement to attach the deck posts made of 1/16 x 1/16 basswood. Then using Gel CA glue I attached 1/32 x 1/32 basswood rails across the posts. Using 1/32 x 1/64 basswood I have attached stanchions with CA glue. The top rail will be Cherry Wood cut from 1/32 Cherry wood sheet at a 2 mm width. I hope I can speed this up a bit, this first section took me a hour to assemble and paint. Very tedious to say the least, quite maddening like the paddle wheels. As you can see here, LOTS OF RAILING! Onwards… 🍻
  4. John Ruy
    Lighting on Main Deck… Main Deck lighting has been placed and I am now ready to attached the sub decking for the Boiler Deck. Boiler Deck sub decking fitted and ready for installation. Let the fun begin… 🍻
  5. John Ruy
    Thank you for your comments. This little guy came from my search for a crew of scale. I have decided against figures on board, but this guy won’t go away. 😆 I think I need to put a broom in his hands, so he can help clean up around here. I think the build is going well, although it can be a struggle at times. More of a scratch build than a kit, but then that’s what you get with vintage model kits. Thanks again for your encouragement. Cheers 🍻
  6. John Ruy
    Finishing up Wheel Housings… Forming 1/32 x 1/32” basswood by soaking it in Ammonia/water and strapping it to the housings to dry. CA gluing the molding into place. Now to finish out that Engine Room. Cutting steam pipes out of dowel rods. Engine Room completed. Starting to install lighting. View into the cut away. One last look before the Boiler De k goes on. I didn’t forget the Paddle Wheel cut away. Thanks to all for your 👍 and comments, they keep me going. Cheers 🍻
  7. John Ruy
    Wheel Housings… Framing up the Wheel Housing. I finally get it all straightened up and it’s time to cover it up. 🤨 That was quite the challenge! 😆 I will be doing a cutaway view of the Paddle Wheel. Can’t let that stand hidden away. 😎 Onwards… 🍻
  8. John Ruy
    Main Deck Superstructure construction continues… Tiller rigging blocks are being installed prior to the kitchen deck placement. Stopping the blocks with black thread. Tiller rigged… Placement of wheel housings. Kitchen deck placed… Creative clamping to pull things together. 😆 Planking the kitchen deck. Note the wheel housing in the background. A bit of a lean on. 🤨 Removed the wheel housing side cover to affect repairs. Had a warped beam under the paddle wheel framing. soaked the exposed beam with ammonia and water. More creative clamping. 😬 Paddle Wheel now appears to be upright. We will let that dry overnight and see how it recovers. 🤪 More tomorrow… 🍻
  9. John Ruy
    Actually, I feel more like a builder trying to understand the architect. Like you said, “pretending to be an architect.” 😆
  10. John Ruy
    Main Deck Superstructure… Ready for the paint booth. Basswood has a tendency to curl when painted with Acrylics. Painted and ready to be reassembled. Started framing up the engine room. more later… 🍻
  11. 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… 🍻
  12. 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. 🍻
  13. 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. 👍
  14. 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! 🍻
  15. 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 👏
  16. 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 🍻
  17. John Ruy
    Grand Stairway… Used 1/16” Cherry to cut the staircase. Ordered some 1/32” Cherry to use for the curved railings. 😎 Cheers 🍻
  18. John Ruy
    You are correct a striped buoy would be in order. 😊
  19. 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… 😎
  20. 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 🍻
  21. 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… 🍻
  22. John Ruy
    Mast and Sprit… Shaped Mast and Sprit Pole ends. Placed Mast into Mast Step… One Step closer… Cheers 🍻
  23. 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 🍻
  24. 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… 👍
  25. 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 🍻

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