goatfarmer11

Oh boy, I'll be following along for this one Keith. Its going to be a beautiful model.

I would have to say it is definitely lack of knowledge. Keeping in mind this is my first build I still have a lot to learn. I do feel relatively safe with what I have come up with because I am adding bulkheads between the existing bulkheads and it would seem the lines should carry to an extent. Of course I will reserve the right to make any modifications as I go. I do have quite a bit of scrap material saved up as we speak. Also a backyard foundry and sand casting abilities. I am also working on learning vacuum casting as it does render the most highly defined castings. At this point I have problems casting brass as the results are often full of voids. Hopefully vacuum casting can help with that. As always, thank you for your help.

I've begun acquiring materials to start on Miranda's engine. I can't believe the price of brass is so high. At least it will be nice and shiny for a while.

Thank you Wefalck, I spent a fair amount of time deciding which half of the bulkheads were the correct ones. Hoping I got it right. As far as a full body plan with waterlines and diagonals...that is way beyond me. I struggled to get this far so I think I will fly with it and hope for the best.

Ok...so here is where I am at now. It's been a couple of difficult weekends trying to get the gun Wales fit and maintain a smooth, even curve. I thought about throwing in the towel but I won't give up that easy. What I did discover is the plans for this boat are not well drawn at all. I mean no disrespect to Mr Harley but after going over things carefully I found the drawings for the bulkheads are not even symmetrical. I thought at first that I did a sloppy job cutting but after remaking patterns I used only one half of the drawing and folded the paper to find some places were off by as much as 1/4 inch. I ended up redrawing all of the bulkheads and carefully added 5 more bulkheads. It took me a long time to draft these but I think it will help. See the attached drawing and let me know what you think. 1,3,5,8 and 10 are the originals, the others are my best interpretation. i would appreciate feedback before I cut these out. So for now I am basically starting over. As always thank you for the likes and feedback. I appreciate all of the comments.

Thank you for that bit of info Keith. Yes I have searched every Miranda I could find but unfortunately no build logs.

Nice job so far Tim. I'll be following this build with excitement as a steam tug will be in my future. Being from New England this tug from Maine really catches my attention. I can't wait to see the progress on her.

At this point I have to agree with you. I've been trying to fit the gunwales and even after heat bending them I am having a hard time maintaining an even, smooth curvature from front to back and side to side. Perhaps its time to dig out some card stock and see if I can produce more bulkheads to maintain the curves. Thanks for the advice.

could this be it?

I spent a fair amount of time on Miranda this weekend but progress seemed slow. I realized that my scale drawings aren't necessarily scale. I spent time trying to figure out what was right and what was wrong. I turns out the depths of the notches in the bulkheads were not accurate at all so I either had to remake them or add some filler pieces. I opted for the filler pieces because it was faster and will not affect the strength or appearance of the finished boat. I was a bit surprised to get to the workshop and find this fella sitting there. He didn't say much, as a matter of fact I got nothing but his name out of him. He just sat there quietly and watched me work. Apparently he was enjoying himself because he was still sitting there when I turned off the lights. His name is Bart apparently. I spent some time in the sawmill and got some spruce cut to make stiffeners for the narrow part of the keel and around the prop shaft. Then the rest of my time was spent to carefully calculate the positions of the bulkheads and to get them glued in place squarely and in proper alignment. This proved to be much more difficult than I expected but I considered it very important. And I also got the hole made through the bulkhead and the keel for the tube for the propeller shaft. I was really hoping to get to the bulwarks and begin covering the hull with plywood but I guess that will have to wait. At least I know what I am doing next. As always thanks for the likes and comments.

Spectacular build you have going on Keith. I have no idea how you can keep track of all that rigging. These are beautiful ships but I think I'll stick to steam for a decade two. There is so much detail going on here I don't know where to look next. Just wonderful.

I understand what you are saying but this is exactly how the original was built by Basil Harley. Thank you for your interest.

Thank you Mr Black. I have been considering fiber glassing the hull but will not make up my mind until I see how strong it feels when I finish planking. The original model build by Basil Harley was not glassed but he admitted to having a few planks come loose due to humidity changes.

It looks like you are off to a great start Paul. I'll be tagging along for this journey.

I'm just not sure about how to create more frames accurately to the hull shape. I agree completely it would be easier to have more but without drawings in the plans I am not sure I can accomplish this.

Unfortunately the plans do not call for more frames, instead a layer of 1/64" plywood for sheathing...then planks over that. It seems as though it will be a little tricky.

Todays progress was fairly good. I got the Keel and the bulkheads cut out and sanded. I decided not to glue it yet because the glue I have on hand is interior glue and not waterproof. Any suggestions for the best, easy to use glue for my project. I am thinking titebond II perhaps. Here are some photos of my progress.

I have finally started rounding up materials to start my scratch build of Miranda, the 42 foot steam launch based on the 1888 Waterlily built and owned by the Thornycraft family to be run on the Thames. To start with I needed to clean out a spot in my shed and build a bench for a workspace. I got that done yesterday so now I have no reason not to get started. I got some insulation and chipboard up first behind the bench so I don't have to disturb anything when I finish insulating later on in the summer. I now have the plans for both the boat and the steam engine and boiler to power it. I plan to make this a RC boat so I am not taking it too easy on myself for my first build. It was my understanding that this build was featured in Model Boats back in 1983 so I spent some time begging in a few forums and a kind gent named Larry was able to help me out with the complete article. That will prove to be valuable in this build. Then i was lucky enough to find this in the trash. It is not the best one in the world but I am sure it will be very useful and the timing could not have been better. I ordered some blades for it and it seems to work just fine. It is a Dremel. So far I have gotten the patterns traced and ready for cutting out. The Keel is going to be made from Poplar and the bulkheads will be baltic birch plywood. This is as far as I have gotten so far. I am also awaiting the delivery of a mini table saw so I can begin cutting planks. The hull will be planked in some Beech which I have had kicking around for 30 years or so and I am planning Mahogany for the deck and superstructure. I may take a few liberties in her construction as this is my first build and I will be learning as i go. She will not be an exact replica of Waterlily. Any tips or tricks along the way will be greatly appreciated and I would appreciate any that want to join in for this ride. I've no idea how long it will take to complete but I will likely be jumping around from wood to metal from time to time as the budget allows. Denis

Ok, I just finished up with your construction of the Cairo so now I am in for this one! Denis

Hello Brian, I just read this thread from start to finish and I am in awe! Every time I thought you were adding the last detail you would come up with more. A truly inspiring build of heirloom quality. I am just getting ready for my first, a simple steam launch and have learned so much by seeing how you accomplished the level of detail in your model. Thank you so much for sharing and I am now headed to your next build. Denis

I live in Concord, a very small rural town near St. Johnsbury.

I sure will, thanks for the kind welcome. Denis

Hello Bill, I'm new to this forum and new to model boat building. I just ordered my first set of plans and cannot wait for them to arrive from across the pond. Meanwhile I shall follow your build log and take notes on your techniques. Nice looking build so far. Denis

I have recently become interested in model ship building and came across this forum. The content here is fantastic and I know I can learn a lot. Last summer I bought a hobby metal lathe and soon became interested in model steam engines and boilers. I have recently linked this hobby to model ship building and now dream of building a steam powered Mississippi River Paddleboat. I am definitely not ready for that yet but am considering starting with something more basic like a steam launch. I have done a bit of searching for plans but to be honest I'm not sure where to start. I definitely want to do a scratch build from plans as I have little to no interest in a kit build. I have been a backyard carpenter and woodworker my entire life so tools and skills really are not a problem. Though I have not completed a steam engine or boiler yet I am very close to that. All of the research is done and many books purchased and studied on both. I just don't feel like my lathe skills are up to par quite yet to dive into those projects. I also do some metal casting and 3d printing. I am somewhat knowledgeable with Sketchup which is very handy for making patterns from 3d prints for casting. If anyone could point me in a good direction for some plans it would be greatly appreciated. I'm thinking something two to three feet long would give me the best opportunity to include the best detail and not be so small it would be fiddley. I guess since this would be my first boat build the more detail the better. Thank you for accepting me into this forum and I look forward to learning as much as I can here. Denis