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John Ruy

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Everything posted by John Ruy

  1. John Ruy
    Paddle Wheels… Thought I would share some progress I have made on the paddle wheels. Albeit rough to say the least. 4 of 8 wheels assembled… Airbrush painted before final assembly. Determined spoke alignment was not accurate enough to proper alignment of the paddles. (Quite Maddening 🤪) Spent hours adjusting the spacing to “exactly” 6 mm. Results were minimally acceptable. Fortunately once the housing is completed the misaligned paddles will not be seen. But, I will know they are there. 😆 There is that OCD, AGAIN! I plan to leave side panels off to make the engine room and paddle wheel viewable from one side. That said, I will build another set of wheels more carefully and accurately. We will see how I do before I decide to remake the first one. That is if I don’t go insane. Wish me luck. 🍻
  2. John Ruy
    Sorry to hear this Ron, some times things look better in a photograph than they do in real life. Glad you are taking the time to do it right. Good luck with your repairs, sometimes we have to step back and take another look. Repairs are a necessary part of this hobby, it always leads to perfection. I know, been there done that. 🍻
  3. John Ruy
    Looking great Ron, stepping those masts properly should not be rushed. Good job!!👍
  4. John Ruy
    Thole Pins… Drilling into the Mahogany Cap Rail to place the oar locks. Marking the depth of the hole. Marking 1/16” dowel rod… Cut then sand round the edges, leaving 1/4” above the rail. Oar Locks complete… Cheers 🍻
  5. John Ruy
    Glad to see you back at it. sit back and enjoy the ride is exactly what I plan to do… Should be a good ride at that. 😎 Really looks good so far. Excellent! 👍
  6. John Ruy
    Hanger Rods with Turnbuckles… Installed some Hanger Rods with the wire and turnbuckles supplied in the kit. Painting them flat black enamel. Work continues on the Paddle Wheels. Cheers 🍻
  7. John Ruy
    Seat Risers… Notched the framing slightly to provide flat gluing surface for the seat riser. Now the Seats, these would be normally removable so the Dory could be stacked on deck with other Dories Used copy of drawing to cut out seats. Seats are complete…. Oars, Mast and Sail still ahead. Later… 😎
  8. John Ruy
    Hull completed… I think 🤔 it’s time to take a break from maddening 😆 paddle wheels and work The Dory. It’s been on the back burner for a while. Cheers 🍻
  9. John Ruy
    Paddle Wheels… Correcting to 1mm… Time for paint… 1 of 8 complete… Onwards. 🤪
  10. John Ruy
    Thanks, My wife already thinks I am a mad scientist in the basement. LOL 😆 My laughter is becoming some what maddening. Just saying…
  11. John Ruy
    Post and beam supports… Now that the forward boiler deck supports are in place, I will need to work on the paddle wheels prior to building the walls of the engine room to support the aft boiler deck. Got a good start on the paddle wheel construction. I will need eight of these. This will take some time. 😆 Cheers 🍻
  12. John Ruy
    Stacking Timber… Corrected the engine supports. They look much better now. Starting some wall construction for the engine room. Also stacked a few Timbers to better support the Wheel Shafts. Boiler detailed and placed. Now I can start the Boiler Deck supports. Still looking at those paddle wheels, they are intimidating. 😬 My Engine Room Cyclopedium is on the way should have it tomorrow. Then I can look at detailing out this Engine Room. 🧐 Happy New Year, Stay Safe out there. Cheers 🍻
  13. John Ruy
    I asked Travis (curator at Howard Steamboat Museum) about any information they may have specifically on the building of The Robert E Lee, it was originally built in the Jeffersonville shipyard. Travis told me that all of the shipyard information had been given to the Lilly Library at Indiana University in Bloomington, IN. I will be contacting them to try to get information regarding the Robert E Lee’s construction, specifically engine room details. I’ll give it a shot anyway, if not I have got lot of pieces to put together a reasonable facsimile. 😆
  14. John Ruy
    Talked to the museum curator today and have a copy of Engineroom Cyclopedium on the way. Travis said he makes up 3 copies of the engineroom and steamboat Cyclopediums every year, they are copies of Alan Baits book with a spiral binding to allow for better layout. They have two copies left of each, if anyone wants them. Give the a call and they can mail them out for the costs listed above.
  15. John Ruy
    If you guys have any information specifically related to the Robert E Lee engineroom, I would love to have any leads. I plan to build the Steamboat with a viewable engineroom and would like make it as accurate as possible for 1870. Thanks again for the lead on the museum. Cheers
  16. John Ruy
    Yes… Thanks guys, I emailed them this morning. Seems Capt Bates left his books to the museum and they are making copies in spiral bindings for sale. The book $25.00 Tax (Indiana 7%) $ 1.75 Shipping (USPS) $ 8.55 Total due HSM $35.30 I am calling this afternoon to order it. Thanks for your help…
  17. John Ruy
    That one is currently unavailable. I did find a copy of The Steamboat Cyclopedium on eBay for 20.00. I had just missed the Engine Room Cyclopedium from that same seller. Any other source of detail on 1870s Steamboat Engine Rooms would be helpful.
  18. John Ruy
    Hello All, I am trying to find a copy of “the western rivers engine room cyclopedium by alan l. bates”. If you have a copy of this book and are willing to part with it, I would like to purchase it. Please let me know via PM. Thanks John Ruy
  19. John Ruy
    Thanks Cathead, I do prefer accuracy over Aesthetics. Thanks for pointing out my misinterpretation of the drawings and giving me the correct info. I can some times head down the wrong path. Your comments help me interpret this drawing a bit differently. 🧐 I now see heavy timbers stacked under the wheel shaft. Thanks again, I don’t mind the rework. Can’t wait for the Cyclopedium. In the mean time keep a close eye on me. John Coming up… Paddle wheels. 😆
  20. John Ruy
    @Cathead Here is the link to a scratch build I am referencing. https://shipsofscale.com/sosforums/threads/paddle-steamer-robert-e-lee-scale-1-96-scratch-build-by-the-alan-l-bates-drawings-completed-build.5362/ In this log they reference the Alan Bates drawings. I am hoping there is more to reference the interior of the engine room, since I intend to make it viewable. 😎
  21. John Ruy
    Thanks… Below are the drawings I am working with. I am going to frame out the main engine room so I can leave one side open to view the engine room and paddle wheel. I have a copy of The Western River Steamboat Cyclopedium by Alan Bates coming and hope I can detail the engine room layout from that as a reference. I couldn’t find a copy of the Engine Room Cyclopedium, still searching for that one. I thought the open trestle style would be 1870 period.
  22. John Ruy
    MainDeck furnishings, paddle wheels, engines, etc… Finished up the hull trim, before proceeding with everything on deck. Scratch building the infrastructure for the transmission of steam power to the massive paddle wheels. couple of cutouts to give some perspective of just how massive this steamboat really is. 😆 started working on the framing around the paddle wheel housing. Steam engine parts. These pieces of wood will become the steam cylinders driving the paddle wheels. Two steam cylinders ready for installation. Steam engine transmission structure completed. A little micro Carpentry. 😆 Progress on the engine room, lots of details coming. 😎 Inspiration photo only, massive paddle wheels coming up … later… 🍻
  23. John Ruy
    Main Deck planking continues… 1/32” x 1/8” basswood strips, cut into 4” pieces and staggered 1”… 🤪 Finally, completed deck planking. 😎 Stained with a light cherry to keep the natural wood look. I will coat this with satin Poly to seal it. Now! I can move on to the details of the Main Deck furnishings. Boiler Deck supports, engine room walls, paddle wheels and engines. More detail coming with the boilers and steam pipes as well. Cheers 🍻
  24. John Ruy
    Looks good Ron. 👍 Good detail with the hinges and rope.
  25. John Ruy
    Boilers… The Robert E Lee had twin high-pressure steam engines; cylinder bores 40 inches (101.6 cm); stroke 120 inches (304.8 cm); eight iron boilers each 46 feet (14.02 m) long and 27 inches (68.6 cm) diameter, working steam pressure 120 lbs. Here is a drawing of the boilers I grabbed from the internet. These boilers were quite massive, to say the least. Scratch building the boilers… Wood blocks and dowels… shaping the metal casting… Boilers and fire box all set… Adding the breaching duct to smoke stacks… Steam Drum and safety valves added. Two steam pipes are headed to the engine room for the massive steam engines. More deck planking to do and the work on the paddle wheels and engines will begin. Cheers 🍻

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