jmiba

I'd like to start a build log of a 3D model of a Western River steamboat created on the basis of plans and photographs. This section, however, might not be the right place for a virtual model?

I would recommend open-source Blender. Quite a steep learning curve but great for modeling complex intricately textured objects. I use it for modeling ships and buildings. Could give some advice on modeling hulls.

Thanks, @kurtvd19, those are great and rare photos. They’re gonna help me model the center stanchions that must have been present on the J.M. White.

3 minutes ago, kurtvd19 said:

I thought the photo I have was of the J.M. White but I must be mistaken.  The photo I was thinking of was provided by Ralph DuPae who found/provided most of the photos in the museum's collection. 

Transverse chains (knuckle chains) would have been in the hold - and, I wonder, on the main deck. They are not in the plans, however, but then, those were drawn from the sparse photos. So it’s guess work again.

On 5/11/2019 at 6:37 PM, kurtvd19 said:

I can't find it but I have a photo of the interior of the J.M.  WHITE showing the transverse hog chains in the dining room and how the passengers and crew had to be aware of them so they didn't hit their heads on them.

Really? I'm not aware that there were those in the main cabin. I'd be interested in that photo. Too bad you can't find it. I'm modeling the J.M. White, so it'd be very helpful. This would have been the dining room (https://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/ETDUW5IPJ3ADA8Q)

On 3/20/2020 at 3:38 PM, mbp521 said:

Does anyone have any clear guidance as to how these were actually built. I'm sure that each boat builder had their own method, I'm really just looking for some common way to build it up right.

I just very recently joined this forum, of which I learned because of the traffic on my website. I'm quite flattered, @mbp521, that you went along with some suggestions I made in my 3D model. Most are the result of hours and hours of scrutiny of the UW Steamboat Photography Collection. As for the sockets of the davits: I found some evidence in photos of other steamboats that these were simple wooden blocks with a hole in the middle to receive the base of the davit poles. 

Indeed, this was I question I racked my brain with for quite some time.

Jens

Well, accuracy is challenging - and that is where the fun is. It took me ages to figure out some things for my virtual model of the Chaperon. Nice example: How to place the ropes of the yawl pulleys? And I had to make quite a number of  wild guesses where evidence was shallow or non-existent (the interior, the boilers etc.) Perhaps you want to have a look at my model: https://www.jensmittelbach.de/steamboats/chaperon/index.html

Yes, the Chaperon indeed got remodeled - and renamed - several times. Since the photos are not dated it is quite hard to guess on the chronology. Quite certainly the carbon arc flashlights on the hurricane deck, for instance, came after the kerosene lamps on the boiler deck that can be seen in some photos. There also seem to have been less significant changes over time.

I like your work, @joep4567. Researching the Chaperon I found evidence that the starboard and port sides of the boat were not symmetrical, neither on the main deck level nor on the boiler deck. Have a look at this photo: https://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/YIQROM4RJYY7O86. Next to the staircase to the hurricane deck the bulkheads were indented somewhat towards the middle of the deck. 

Other photos suggest that there were windows instead of doors in the rounded edges towards the fore of the main cabin. The middle doors to the cabin remain, alas, subject to speculation.