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bobandlucy

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Everything posted by bobandlucy

  1. bobandlucy
    Pressing on, glued down the pilot house, Started on stairways.
  2. bobandlucy
    Thanks, Bob. I'm pretty happy with things so far. I am not now doing the railings where staircases are located. The kit is also short of the 1.5x3 mm rail material, but I may have enough to do the straight run on the other side of the boat. Still, there's lots of other areas to work on. I'm using CA gel to place the column decorations. Using a round toothpick to place gel in dots along the glued edges, and using an angled tweezers for placement. It's not easy to get them perfectly square to the structure. What is helping somewhat is that there is a very small lip left on the underside of the deck above, resulting from the sapelle deck edging being slightly wider than the deck is thick, and I had made the edging flush with the top of the deck. I had thought of sanding the edging flush with the bottom of the deck, but the overhang was so slight, and I was worried about mucking up the straight line appearance. This lip was also helpful in placing the slanted columns uniformly. The horses and stable keeper are Preiser (to my mind the best). I also bought a 5 pack of Model Power figures, which includes the Pilot. The hay bales are from JTT Scenery Products. It is very hard to find period-appropriate figures online- I spent many hours and did find some 1900s era figures. A lot of them are unavailable "because." Ebay better then Amazon. My biggest haul was from a railroad hobby store (also very hard to find these days), which had an impressive stock of Preiser, and that was where I bought the hay bales as well. Unfortunately, although this store has a web site, they do not do online sales. As an aside, I have spent almost as much on the figures than the model itself cost! Bob
  3. bobandlucy
    I'm at the point where I should be building the remaining stairs, but found that the wood specified for the treads is not in the kit. Ordered some lumber online. While waiting, I started the second deck railings and column decorations. This is fussy work, as the spaces are too small for fingers, so using tweezers and magnifying visor.
  4. bobandlucy
    Here's what I did with the wrap-around windows:
  5. bobandlucy
    I received this model yesterday and did an inventory this morning (all is there). Designed by David Antscherl, it is the fourth in the Shipwrights series of progressive tutorial models. @Joseph F. has posted a complete unboxing "review," so I will not post more than a picture of the box here. The only thing I might differ with in Joseph's excellent assessment of the kit: "Should be an excellent kit for the intermediate ship builder, and easy enough for beginners." This kit is marketed as an "Advanced" level kit, and it certainly strikes me as such. But of course our skill levels are all different. . . Josephs review: https://modelshipworld.com/topic/30239-196-uscg-harriet-lane-paddlewheel-gunboat-by-model-shipways/#comment-862352 I am currently building AL's King of the Mississippi, so posting here will be slow for a while, but given my propensity for jumping around I can see maybe painting some of the cast metal parts or doing other small tasks for Harriet Lane here and there. Otherwise I will follow David A's advice to keep to his suggested order of operations. Certainly I will be reading and re-reading the manual before doing anything! Very exciting!
  6. bobandlucy
    Thanks, Bob. I did paint the railings. I had picked up a bag of pins at the hobby store, so did not have to use up the kit pins. Because I had painted the rails and the columns, and used CA glue to assemble them, I felt the pins added some structural integrity. As it turned out, I like the final appearance. Yesterday I glued the elevated portion of the third deck to the bottom of the staterooms and added the pins for the ventilation openings. I had pre-drilled the holes with a drill press, so just had to use a pin vise to extend the holes into the deck. Also, cut off the locating tabs from the top of the staterooms, as they were in the wrong place. I still have to deal with the wrap-around windows. . . really should have added the window material before gluing the rounded portion of the building together. I'm not sure how I will do this now. Soon I will be adding columns/posts to the second and third decks. Not sure if I am going to attempt to notch them to accept the top and bottom rails as shown in the manual. I don't have suitable tools to make these accurately and repeatable. Would use a mill or small table saw for this, I imagine. I will not rush finishing this model, but am awaiting delivery of the next, the new Harriet Lane from Model Expo, which is the fourth in the Shipwrights learning series by David Antscherl. Building the Dory, Pram, and Lobster Smack gave me the experience I needed to attempt this KOM model. Needless to say, the Harriet Lane is sufficiently daunting in complexity, as a Level 4 model, to have already given me that feeling of trepidation I seem to enjoy when starting a new project. Plus she fits right into the shipbuilding era to which I am most attracted!
  7. bobandlucy
    Finally installed the railings around the spiral staircase opening, and shaped the wavecatcher at the bow. Glued on the third deck. Stacked up the remaining upper components for fun. A good days progress, I think.
  8. bobandlucy
    Finished the pilot house. The pilot probably doesn't yet realize that he's trapped in there forever. I hope for his sake he's got a few bottles in there. . . I am concerned that he may be overcome by smoke from the stove, as the stovepipe is not centered on the stove collar. Oh, well. . . as far as I know, plastic people do not breathe very deeply.
  9. bobandlucy
    One of the things I like about building this model is the ability to do some parts out of order. I'm not in the mood to deal with upper deck placement issues right now, so I started on the pilot house. I did not like the method given to mark panes onto the acetate window material, so after framing the windows with the supplied 1x3 mm sapelle, added mullions from 1x2 mm walnut I have, aligning the mullions with the outside of the frames. This leaves a 1mm recess on the inside in which to place the "glass." I need to get better at cutting the acetate, but I still like this better than the method used by the designer. I realized too late that there was a plastic film on one side of the acetate sheet, and had to pop the two I had done out and redo, so it got a little messy. I'm sure the other two will be better.
  10. bobandlucy
    Very interesting, Grandpaphil! I'll check out your scratch project as well.
  11. bobandlucy
    Railings look good, Bob!
  12. bobandlucy
    "I decided to try a rope coil for the bow mooring and see I need to improve my technique." Rope coil is perfect, what are you talking about? Bob
  13. bobandlucy
    Good work! Nicer than mine, and I admire the lobster trap. You have a talent for this work, and I'm happy you have decided to continue with this series of instructional models. Bob
  14. bobandlucy
    Decided to take a break from larger issues and built the bench seats. This was more difficult than I anticipated, and required a jig to keep square. I couldn't resist adding the Preiser seated figures I had purchased. Gosh they are delicate, and I did break two of them but was able to fix, My favorite are the couple reading, which in my experience is a rare coupling. Additionally, there is a guy half in the bag, and opposite a man intent upon his destination. Finally a couple, the wife is nagging him and he is in despair.
  15. bobandlucy
    The hull looks really nice, Skibee!
  16. bobandlucy
    I'm sure you will enjoy the building of this model. I learned a lot from this series of kits. Bob
  17. bobandlucy
    I don't know if these boats would have featured any advertising, but I thought a playbill from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, in which the rapscallions The Duke and The Dauphin deceive the citizens of a small Arkansas town by selling tickets to a "production" of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, might provide a nice tie-in to the book. It's a little large, but heck, so is everything else on this boat! I've taken the text from the novel, including misspellings:
  18. bobandlucy
    I installed the final full height columns towards the stern. I puzzled over this for a while (days), as the manual shows the column tucked under the rounded portion of the second deck, against the building corner trim. On my model, as for most I have seen, the as-built condition does not allow this, and I did not like the appearance of the column slant being more severe than the rest of the run. Some people installed the column in this location and allowed the top of the column to protrude, some moved the column forward- which also would affect the length of one of the diagonal braces. I preferred to maintain the column spacing and also the slant, and so added a stand-off piece between the column and the building trim. This will also prevent possible distortion of the railings when they are added. From the manual: As installed: I also placed the short posts out on the wheel area. Topped one of them with the supplied bead and pin, but realized it would be wise to wait until the railings are installed, as they will provide added rigidity for the posts. Would have been easier to add the beads off the model. . .
  19. bobandlucy
    David, yes, I feel I'm heading in that direction. I'd also like to incorporate dioramas. . .
  20. bobandlucy
    David, as you have said- I'm learning with each model. If I had a full shop and the extra material, I would certainly change quite a bit on the KOM. I'm not so much concerned with historical accuracy at this point, but many features of this model are so wildly out of scale that they hurt my brain. However, I will finish it, and it will make an attractive display regardless, I'm sure.
  21. bobandlucy
    I received my order of wood and have been adding baseboards on the exterior walls in order to hide the gaps. This would have been easier if done prior to placing the support columns, but I did not want to wait. However, this was not impossible, and was even fun trying to figure the angles and avoid getting glue where it doesn't belong. I'm happy with the results so far, and with the dimensions of the baseboards (1x2 mm). Similarly, placing the horses in the stable area would have been easier at an earlier stage, but was also fun. Using tweezers to manipulate them into position reminded me of the old child's game "Operation." Kept expecting to hear the buzzer. . . I have not glued any human figures in as it's too early, but seeing them and the horses on the model really makes clear some of the dimensional shortcomings of the model. These are HO scale figures, a little off but really the difference should be barely perceptible, if at all (model 1:80, figures 1:87 scales). For instance, the rails at the stable are huge- how many men would it take to lift them off for loading/unloading? And the treads on the spiral staircase. . . probably not impossible to climb but it would be a heck of a workout!
  22. bobandlucy
    Mike, I just PM'd you with the instructions
  23. bobandlucy
    Thanks, Bob. I see the slanted end columns on the plans, but was not sure if the ones in between them were also slanted, as there is no section view provided. The pictures in the booklet are not taken at angles that give a good view of them. I decided that having a mix of vertical and slanted columns would look odd. I went with the slanted support columns. Since I did not mark the column locations by overlaying the plan prior to placing the 2nd deck buildings, I started by centering a column between the stable opening. I took the distance between the columns from the plans. The opening in the railing in front of the boiler room double doors did not come out centered, as it should have. I guess the spacing should have been increased slightly. I will learn to accept that this model will be less than perfect!
  24. bobandlucy
    Installed the spiral staircases. Of all the parts of this model done so far, I am least happy with these, but at the same time glad to be more or less done with them. The underdeck closure parts came out at a bad angle, and I had cut them off. I will have to figure out some detail to hide the messy intersection of the stairs and the 2nd. deck at the front edge of the deck. Maybe some bunting? I lost track of how many times I broke the posts, and they are not vertical at the top of the stairs. Had to add some shim to one to make it match (almost) the height of the other. Altogether a humbling experience. Started cutting some deck overhang support columns. This has been driving me crazy. I can't tell from the plans if they are supposed to be vertical or slanted inboard from bottom to top. The 2nd deck is slightly smaller then the 1st. Mounting is shown to be on the inside edge of the rub rails. The ones at the ends of the run where the deck above is rounded are slanted, according to the plans. The columns above, 2nd to 3rd deck, are clearly slanted. I have seen build logs showing both approaches. Leaning towards slanting in order to maximize space for passage, and to minimize twist in the railings at the curved deck areas. This approach will result in a slightly rounded profile when viewing from the boat ends, which may be a nice contrast to the building structures. Am I nuts?
  25. bobandlucy
    Thanks, David. I have the patience, but could use better eyesight! Or a stronger magnifier. . . I see now that I had the hinges for the double doors wrong, they were supposed to be operable. Bob Fraser got it right. The written instructions confounded me, and it was not apparent from the parts themselves that they needed to be cut, and part of the hinge discarded. When I enlarged the picture (after the fact), I could see how they are supposed to be formed. Oh well, I'm not going to do over. . . I made the supports for the stable area out of the 4x5 mm material called out. They seem to be way large, and would allow only a very small passage along the side of the boat once the columns are installed. I think I will make replacements out of smaller material.

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