ScottRC

It's been a while again but I look at it as I have a permanent Dr.'s note!
Progress on the tops. Made the rails. Began tapering/shaping the top masts. This is how I mark pieces that are eight sided like these are in places. Shows me exactly where the edges need to be. I started out scraping them with a razor blade. Just getting this far causes me to have excruciating pain throughout my body especially in my back and shoulders. I intended to keep going a bit longer but our cat Izzy decided she wasn't going to let me. She got right on my lap and would not stay down and out my way so we retired to my chair for the evening.
 
More to come soon,
Jesse
 

This is an interesting subject you are building.  I will want to follow along.  Ironically, I grew up near Fort Benton MT and now live south of Kansas City. I someday would like to pursue building a model of a Missouri river packet someday.
 
Scott

This is an interesting subject you are building.  I will want to follow along.  Ironically, I grew up near Fort Benton MT and now live south of Kansas City. I someday would like to pursue building a model of a Missouri river packet someday.
 
Scott

The Arabia as envisioned by artist Gary Lucy; used with permission of the Arabia Steamboat Museum
 
As a resident of rural Missouri, not far from its eponymous river, I've long been fascinated by the less-well-known steamboats that worked the “Big Muddy” from the river’s mouth at St. Louis all the way to the head of navigation at Fort Benton, Montana, an astounding 2,300 river miles. Most modern impressions of interior American steamboats are of the large, highly-decorated “floating wedding cake” craft of the lower Mississippi River, which represent a small fraction of the full diversity of steamboat design and use. Those craft are, to my eye, too gaudy by far, the equivalent of overbuilt Disney cruise liners; I don’t care for them, and I really don't care for the highly inaccurate and toylike models that most kits claim represent American riverboats. I prefer the smaller, leaner steamboats of the upper rivers, those designed to risk the rocky ledges of the Ohio River (such as the Chaperon) or fight their way up the narrow, shallow, ever-changing treacherous channels of the Missouri River.  By the 1850s, their design had been nearly perfectly adapted to the unique conditions they faced, changing little for decades to come, until railroads finally cut them off at the knees. Two of the most well-known and well-documented steamboat wrecks from this period are the Bertrand (a sternwheeler that sank in 1865 and was rediscovered in 1968) and the Arabia (a sidewheeler that sank in 1856 and was rediscovered in 1988). Both boats now have excellent museums displaying their highly diverse and extraordinarily well-preserved cargo; the Bertrand at a wildlife refuge north of Omaha, Nebraska, and the Arabia at a museum in downtown Kansas City, Missouri.
 
I began researching the Arabia in earnest in spring 2017, writing about and documenting my research and sources for information in a separate thread, but am now ready to begin building the actual model. The text above is copied and rearranged from that thread, but I felt it provided an important introduction to this project and so should be repeated for those who may not go back and read the research thread. Although I am far from a master modeler, this will be my third scratchbuilt Missouri River steamboat. I built a rudimentary version of the Far West when I first became interested in wooden ship modeling, and later tackled a fully-framed and interior-detailed version of the Bertrand. Both of those were built in 1:87, a comfortable scale for me as a former HO model railroader.
 
However, for this project I wanted a new kind of challenge, so decided to build the Arabia in 1:64. The model will be around 32 inches (81 cm) long, allowing for more detail to be added overall. At the same time, though, I've decided not to recreate a fully-framed hull and interior as I did with Bertrand, for several reasons. First, that was a lot of work and material and would be even more expensive at 1:64, and I've already done that style now. Second, creating a framed model of Arabia would be both redundant and speculative; the museum preserves her stern intact for anyone to see, while the rest of the hull wasn't well-documented by the salvage team, so I'd be guessing more than I did with Bertrand (which was meticulously documented by an archeological team). Third, I just like the idea of a complete exterior model this time, trading a bit less interior detail for more focus on the overall appearance and higher detail allowed by the larger scale. Basically, this is just what I feel like doing this time, and doing a project the way you want to is part of what makes it engaging.
 
Although my initial plan was to develop a full set of blueprints for this project, that effort has stalled. It just isn't working for me to spend that much time on a computer, which I already do professionally as a freelance science editor. I'd rather spend my downtime working with wood than with pixels. So I stopped after developing a basic outline of the project and will just dive in, holding the design in my head and in various rough sketches and notes. This is, in fact, an authentic way to proceed, as riverboats in this era weren't built from printed blueprints either (one reason few construction records exist) but were simply laid out and built by artisans on the frontier shores of the Upper Ohio River. So any mistakes or quirks I may build into my Arabia as I proceed from the seat of my pants will be, at worst, a tribute to the real vessel's construction.

Above are my loose outlines of her design. The real Arabia was about 170' long and 30' wide (hull, not including the wheels) and drew about 5'.

And the sketches from which I'm getting started. There is no definitive information on the shape of her hull, other than the stern-most portion, which I've based on photos and measurements I took at the museum. So for the rest I've adapted a representative hull profile for the era from Alan Bates' The Western River Steamboat Cyclopoedium. The wheel and its supporting cylinder timbers are drawn directly from measurements I took at the museum. Centered within these drawings is the central internal bulkhead/keel I've laid out. These riverboats didn't have external keels the way normal ships did; their bottoms were generally perfectly flat with a stronger internal keelson instead. In this case, I'll be laying out horizontal bulkheads against this longitudinal one, just like a regular plank-on-bulkhead build. Hopefully now that I've laid the keel, so to speak, I can keep progress coming steadily. Thanks for reading, and for offering any ideas, suggestions, and criticisms that come to mind. I'd sure appreciate it if anyone points out concerns or problems that I can either explain or correct as I go along, as again I'm not a master modeler, just an ambitious one.
 
Table of Contents
Below I link to posts starting various portions of the build. This is intended to help folks looking for information on specific aspects of steamboats or their modelling, or just those wanting to catch up on a certain section. I'll try to keep this updated as I go along.
Framing the hull Guards and main deck framing Planking the hull Cylinder timbers & engines Planking the main deck Paddle wheels Boilers Main staircase & chimney breechings Framing the boiler deck & superstructure design Boiler pumps & other main deck details  

Tried turning the model upside down and shaking it, Ed? Just kidding! Lovely work and progress, as usual. I love the open boat partially in frame as seen in the second to last photo.

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 237 – Fore Spencer Gaff
 
The term "spencer" describes gaffs rigged on masts with square sails – except for the spanker gaff at the mizzen.  They were used to support fore and aft sails that were occasionally used, or sometimes to suspend pennants to keep them out of the other rigging.  The fore spencer gaff is shown in the first picture.
 

 
The gaff is a small, very simple spar attached to the mast with a gooseneck/eye fitting.  Stops for the standing lift are roughly centered on the spar as shown in the picture.  The upper end of the lift has an eye splice shackled to the eyebolt in the top.  A stop cut into the end of the spar will take a doubled "vang" pendant pair with a single block spliced into each end.  The long pendants may be seen in the next picture.
 

 
Each vang pendant is attached to a simple whip, with the standing end seized to an eyebolt on the main rail.  The fall is belayed nearby on the main pin rail.  In the picture the falls are temporarily clamped to center the gaff.  The next picture shows them belayed to the main pin rails port and starboard.
 

 
The limited required movement of the gaff requires a relatively short fall, so the coil of rope shown in the next picture is fairly small.
 

 
The masking tape shown over the open beams, does not do a lot for the photographs, but my sanity demands it.  I finally acquiesced to this after yet another part dropped into the hold and could not be retrieved.  While it is relatively easy to blow out small bits of thread, the main mast fid did not respond to this.
 
Finally, a test for clearance around the outboard boats is shown in the next picture. 
 

 
I need to think about this and decide if a lead block would be appropriate for this relatively small line, perhaps on one of the backstays.  I love rework.
 
Ed
 

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 251 – Sheet Blocks
 
Each square yard, except for the skysail yards at the tops of the masts, will be fitted with an iron sheet block suspended from an eyebolt below its center.  These "cloverleaf" type blocks contain two sheaves, one for each of the two chain sheets for the sail directly above.  The sheets pass through sheaves in the yardarms, or cheek blocks on the larger yards, through fairleads under the yard, then to the sheet blocks.  The blocks direct the sheets downward to tackles that are belayed on deck in most cases.  The first picture shows the seven fabricated, 21" sheet blocks with eyebolts attached.
 

 
Two of these have been blackened.  This size will be used on lower, lower topsail, and upper topsail yards on the fore and main masts and on the crojack yard on the mizzen.  The remaining yards will be fitted with smaller, 15" blocks of this type.
 
To make these efficiently, some "mass production" was used.  In the first step, holes for all the plate casings were drilled as shown in the next picture, through two long strips of .010" brass, ¾" at 1:72 scale.
 

 
The holes were drilled using the mill as a drill press, with holes spaced using the calibration wheels, in a prescribed sequence using calculated spacings.  The resulting strips, for both block sizes are shown in the next picture.
 

 
Part of the drilling guide sheet may be seen in the picture.  It shows each movement in a numbered sequence, with penciled spacings calculated from the full size dimensions.  The punch marks on the strips were added for matching. 
 
In the next picture two dressmaker pins have been inserted through the holes on the vertical centerline of two matching plates. 
 

 
The rough shape of the block was cut through both plates using scissors.  The two pins are close fitting, and in the picture below are clamped in a vise where the triangle shapes are being sized with a file.
 

 
There is a thin, drilled wood shim under the two plates for clearance above the vise.  In the next picture the triangular shape has been filed, the plates separated, and the pins have been replaced with lengths of drawn copper wire.
 

 
One of these wires has been threaded through a turned sheave.  In the next picture, with both sheaves fitted, the lower ends of the pin wires are clamped in the vise.
 

 
In this picture the upper wire ends have been clipped off just above the top plate and then peened to form rivet heads.  The assembly was then turned over and placed on an anvil.  The long bolt ends were then clipped and peened.  In the next picture the central pin has been peened on both sides in the same way and the top pin has been inserted through a spun eyebolt.
 

 
As before, the lower ends of the pin wires are clamped in the vise for peening the first side.  The block was then flipped over to clip and peen the other ends, completing the assembly.  The lower block in the picture below shows this stage.
 
 
 
Each side of the triangle was then filed concave, shaped to match the pattern and polished. The fourteen smaller sheet blocks will be made later.
 
Ed

Just got the masts set, and I am starting the rigging. Asking for an opinion on the halliards. Do you think the line is too narrow? The kit comes with a slightly thicker black line, but I have noticed most deadeye halliards are white or tan, so I am improvising. 

I decided to detail the trailboards. Bluejacket puts a neat relief on them, and it would be a shame to simply paint them brown.

Attached are photos of the initial carving on the hull. This required chisels and a saw prior to sanding. This has been about four hours over two days. Templates are good, and it is coming nicely with just sanding at this point.

Great book and what looks to be the start of the great build.

Just working away on small details for the hull and tower. Also had a big surprise; Evan's ship has been rescheduled for the shipyard refitting to January, so Evan flew home from Dubai just in time for his wife's birthday and will be here until January. The company wants him to be the Captain that takes the ship in for refitting and oversee the work.
Here are the rudder components and the rudder will be able to be turned when finished.

 

 

 
Next I added the Maresk logo to the stack.  
 

 
Yes they have a swimming pool halfway up the tower.

 
Here is a sequence of the bow thruster with the challenge being the 3/16" diameter propeller. 
 

 

 

 
This was a tricky operation; turning down a locating pin without hitting the blade.
 

 
Wood shims were used to center the propeller on center in the slip ring to hold in place while being soldered.
 

 
The thruster motor is reversible so the propeller is on the port side only. Drilling the hole through the bow was a slow and careful process to get a tight fit for the 1/4" brass tube and then cutting and careful filing to get both sides to match hull surface.

 
Next I will work on the stabilizing fins that are recessed in the hull 12" back from the nose of the bow. Will try to have them movable as well. Still no word from Tom's Modelworks on the rail sizes. 

Etubino,
I will be following your build log as well, I am trying to start a Scientific Sea Witch.   
Scott

thanks sailor, its slow going with having to dig up a lump of coal to draw the plans, hacking  out the parts  with a stone ax, constantly having to sharpen the damn thing, now gonna have to fair it with a deer antler,,, good thing deer season is here cause i'm running out of antler,,,,

being naturally drawn to water we take the rv to a half a dozen corps of engineers lakes every summer so i thought it would be fun to build me a paddle board to scoot around on..

got away from the wife for a couple of hours and started the hull, slow going when all you have are neanderthal tools to work with, yard stick and a crayon
 
P.S. the fish got in by mistake, havent figured out how to delete yet

And here ends my IJN phase. I really don’t want to build another for quite a while as it just starts to repeat itself. 
 
Hope you enjoyed this one, I’m going forward to the Cold War next. 
 
Off to the digital graveyard. 

The presentation went extremely well and some are now more informed about the various aspects of modelling.
In working on the hatches I first make the sidewalls fitting snugly on the coaming using Midwest #8006 Basswood strips. Then I glue a slightly over-sized 1/32" hatch cover to the sidewall frame while in place and set a small steel block weight on top until the glue sets. This assures a flat cover index to the coaming; the glue while drying can distort the the cover if not weighted down. Each cover is marked on the inside with B(bow) and S(stern) and location P (port) and hatch number from bow. There is enough slight variation in size to make each cover unique.
 
 
 
I bounce back and forth between making hatch covers and the accommodation tower. The tower is being built with individual decks so down the road details can be added much easier than if the tower were one piece. Things like door hatches, ladder ways and rails.
Here is deck "A" which will index on the main deck; the small locator rectangle will have glue added to the center while indexed into the deck and the glue will stick to the main deck and release the deck when the glue is dry providing a tight fitting locator. This will be the foundation for the tower.
 

 
I used a wood strip spacer against the bay wall and masking tape for centering and gluing Deck "A" locator to the main deck.
 

 
Here is a view of the in progress build up of the tower so far. The challenge is adding the indexing locators of each deck to each other with a tight fit. The tower decks will separate from each other to add details later on. Here is a front view.
 
 
 
Here is a rear view showing various ladder way openings. The individual height of each deck is .375" 
 

 
Here is an overall view of where I am at so far. Many more hatches to go.
 

 
Now back to making hatches and decks.   Bring a whole new meaning to "Down the hatch!" 

Jim,
 
When I read you first post, it sounded like you just took up painting as a hobby for retirement, then I saw your work and thought man, you didn't retire, your on a career.  You have all the chemistry for good nautical illustration than so many professional illustrators seem to struggle with.  Most important, you have mastered perspective, depth of field, and scale.  That is very hard for a lot of illustrators to do, for out of scale features stick out and throw the scene off balance.  
 
I really like your work.
Scott

Jim,
 
When I read you first post, it sounded like you just took up painting as a hobby for retirement, then I saw your work and thought man, you didn't retire, your on a career.  You have all the chemistry for good nautical illustration than so many professional illustrators seem to struggle with.  Most important, you have mastered perspective, depth of field, and scale.  That is very hard for a lot of illustrators to do, for out of scale features stick out and throw the scene off balance.  
 
I really like your work.
Scott

Jim,
 
When I read you first post, it sounded like you just took up painting as a hobby for retirement, then I saw your work and thought man, you didn't retire, your on a career.  You have all the chemistry for good nautical illustration than so many professional illustrators seem to struggle with.  Most important, you have mastered perspective, depth of field, and scale.  That is very hard for a lot of illustrators to do, for out of scale features stick out and throw the scene off balance.  
 
I really like your work.
Scott

Jim,
 
When I read you first post, it sounded like you just took up painting as a hobby for retirement, then I saw your work and thought man, you didn't retire, your on a career.  You have all the chemistry for good nautical illustration than so many professional illustrators seem to struggle with.  Most important, you have mastered perspective, depth of field, and scale.  That is very hard for a lot of illustrators to do, for out of scale features stick out and throw the scene off balance.  
 
I really like your work.
Scott

I have always been interested in Ships and maritime history, and did spells in the British Merchant Navy and Royal Navy. I have built models most of my life ( not the really serious ones like on here ) but I always had great pleasure building them.  As well as model making, I have always  had an interest in art, well, marine art really, and do a lot of painting, especially now I've retired. I don't consider my self an Artist, more a ship painter. I do it for my own pleasure, and get as much pleasure researching the subject as I do painting them.
Her are a few of my paintings, please feel free to comment. Jim
 
1 Convoy Rescue ship passing. Liberty ship   2. Envoy class rescue Tug  3. Death of. windjammer Flamburgh Head with Rocket Rescue Team
 

Good evening everyone
 
this weekend the bridge module was made
 
took three attempt to get it looking right, 
im quite pleased how it is coming together now
the awkward bit was putting the skin on as it splits, the upper part around the bridge winds, where as the lower part wraps around the base

good evening everyone
 
I forgot to post build progress last weekend
 
I moved to the forward superstructure, as i want to keep the project at or around the same amount of progress, 
so with my modified light box a set of plans and a piece of plasticard, off I jolly well went

at the efter end of the fwd section there is a split level deck, there is access doors and ladders down the main deck
this is not my photo 
but you can see behind the boat the area i am on about
 
 

to finish the weekend off I made the support area for the fwd mast


 
 
this weekend the Bridge area's turn
 
as of last Sunday she looks like this, slowly beginning to look like something