bcochran

Hello everyone. I am back. On July 20 I had major spinal surgery. I am ready to do physical therapy. I am almost able to walk without pain. While I couldn't move much, I built this model of the steamboat Robert E Lee. I have a build log on it. So I was thinking it is about time I get back to my Cutty Sark. When I left off, I was working on the masts. So that's where I will pick it up. This is where things stand. I'll post more when I get more done.

The display case was made by Acrylicjob. I ordered it online. You tell them the dimensions you want, and they make for you.i https://www.acrylicjob.com/

Well, this is my last picture and last post for this log. My Robert E Lee is basically finished. The boats still need to be rigged and the people added. It will be a while before I finish that. Anything I add will not change it much. This what she looks like in her display case. If anyone wants to add to this log, please do so. For me, it is a few more projects then back to my Cutty Sark. My surgery is healing. Most days I am in a bit of pain, others not so much. I don't walk much on the pain days, but I feel like I am healing. Thanks for all the likes and input. You folks are the best.

Pork roast and ham will be on the menu this trip.

Freight is aboard.

Complete except rigging the boats and adding any people and freight.

This is from a book titled "Come Hell or High Water" by Michael Gellespie. It describes what the boats looked like. My boat very much like it. An occasional touch of color offered pleasant relief from the glaring white superstructure of most boats. Decks and roofs often were darkened with shades of blue. Many steamers featured a red stripe painted lengthwise on their white hulls. A few boats sported red or green hulls with a corresponding white stripe. The famous Natchez established a singular tradition with her trademark red chimneys. The most aesthetically pleasing opportunity for adding color to the boats’ exteriors came in the design and adornment of paddlewheel housings. Here, bold and husky letters, with bright-colored shadowing, visually shouted a boat’s name to all that came in view. Sometimes the name of the packet company or the points of destination would appear in an arc along the edge of the housings, and paintings frequently graced the wheelhouse sides. These works of commercial art ranged from simple sunburst patterns to intricate murals that in some way depicted or elaborated the name of the boat. The display of banners and flags was another means of adding color and distinction. Besides the jackstaff on the bow and the verge-staff on the stern, there were flagstaffs near the wheelhouses and sometimes aft of the pilothouse. The national colors flew at the verge; brightly embellished pennants heralding the name of the boat and the principal cities it served waved from the other staffs. Etiquette suggested that the city or person for which the boat was named should donate the banners when the steamer made her first home port call. It was all very flashy, all very colorful, and of course, all intended to attract business.12

Rigging in process.

I am working on the rigging. I haven't gotten it to my liking, but I will soon.

The stern work yawl is done.

Here is some freight going on board the Lee. Painted, washed with artist oils, then dry brushed.

Fastest On the River by Manly Wade Wellman Willie Japer's Golden Eagle by F N Monjo The Great American Steamboat Race by Benton Rain Patterson The Great Steam Boat Race by Roy L Barkhau Way's Packet Directory 1848 - 1883 by Jr Frederick Way The Western Rivers Steamboat Cyclopedium by Alan L Bates https://www.steamboats.com/museum/ https://steamboats.com/research/index.html The Mississippi Steamboat Era in Historic Photographs: Natchez to New Orleans, 1870-1920, by Joan W. Gandy, Thomas H. Gandy Black Life on the Mississippi: Slaves, Free Blacks, and the Western Steamboat World Thomas C. Buchanan Funny thing, Wellman always refers to the main deck where the boilers as the boiler deck.

Well the stage rigging that I did is remove., I am going to try to do better with thinner thread. So I still have yawls and stage rigging to do. I wouldn't be happy if I didn't do a re-do.

Just a small piece of this rigging needs to be done. I think the quality of it doesn't measure up to the rest of the boat. I think my line is too thick. It's easy for me to do it over, since it's held together with water salable white glue. I am going to do it over with a thinner line. It just doesn't measure up to the rest of the boat. I am reaching the point where I want this build to be over. I have the yawls to rig and add any people and freight.

A map of the route of the race between the Robert E Lee and the Natchez will be the bottom of my displace case. It comes from the book shown here. I will need to take it to a printer to resize. So my Robert E Lee will be resting on the Mississippi River.

Yawl (riverboat boats were called yawls) before being rigged. Freight being decorated.

Thanks for the reply. I've had fun building this model. During this build, I have acquired 4 books about the race and a couple about river boats. The one I am currently reading is about the lives of African Americans on these Mississippi boats from the civil war and after. All these books are not only about the titled story, but give much incite to the boats themselves. I've gone from a little knowledge of the large Mississippi River boats like the Lee to someone who can talk about them. So the pleasure I get is not only building and detailing, but also learning about the subject I am building.

The sides of the yawls and lifeboat (all the boats in the kit are the same) have molded cover hold downs on them. You could easily make a cover for the top and leave the sides as they are and have a decent covered boat. I read in my research that these yawls were never covered, so I am sanding the sides smooth.

Completing the port hog chain with the Cathead's idea of chains going through the hurricane deck to the hull. Need to finish the stages rigging. This work today, then rig the yawls and rear lifeboat tomorrow and my Robert E Lee will be finished except for any people, freight and animals I might add.

And temporary pile of freight.

Trying out a couple of the figures I have for the boat. They are 1/150 scale, while the boat is 1/163 scale. I don't think the difference in scale matters much. Here is a roustabout on the main deck. And Captain Cannon looking down river from the hurricane deck of the Robert E Lee for any sign of Captain Leathers' Natchez. This is temporary, I need to repaint any figures and add 19th century dresses to the woman.

The new style starboard hog chain is in position. Some stage rigging is done.

Now working on the redo of the hog chains. They now will disappear into the hurricane deck on their mythical way to connect with the hull, rather than be tied to an eyelet. I am using music wire, which I will paint black. I am adding the same turnbuckles from the first try, just to have something there, though I have research somewhere that turnbuckles were not used there. I use dividers to measure the length of the wire needed and where the bend should be. The next piece of wire will connect to three posts.

These are my favorite drawings or paintings of the Robert E Lee. I was going to save a post like this for last, but I put it here to give myself the last bit of inspiration needed to finish. I only have the rigging of the stages and the yawls and lifeboat and my redo of the hog chains to finish the boat. My surgery is healing as it should per my doctor yesterday. I have no excuse to lag. The Cutty Sark awaits! The painting of the Natchez and the Lee depicts the Robert E Lee leaving for the race 4 minutes early at 4:56 PM and blocking the Natchez from leaving her warf boat and turning into the river on time at 5:00PM. The Natchez had to leave late or run into the stern of the Lee. She started minutes behind. The Lee lead all the way to St. Louis, but maybe unfairly at times.

Cathead you are right about the hog chains. I could have made them go through the deck, but I am not sure how it should look. I would need a top-down view or maybe look to see what others did. I took the easy way and did not modify the kit there. This discussion makes me want to do a do-over. Do more research, which I like doing. I'll have to think about it. I could use something like brass or music wire for the chain and put the end through the hurricane deck. I wouldn't need to go further, you couldn't see it. Very tempting idea. In my reading about the race, one of the officers told Captain Cannon that he could loosen the chains to let the hull lay more level and that would add speed. The chains were certainly attached to the hull. I have read three books about the race and have a fourth on order. The Robert E Lee wasn't very different from other packets on the river. There were no plans that builders followed. Her parts were built by workers who knew how to make them from skill, training and experience. She was somewhere around 9 1/2 feet deep in her hull. She drew 6 to 7 feet of water depending on her load. The Natchez was one foot shallower. When I read about her building, the only "design" that is mentioned was of her hull. She had 40-inch cylinders, which were bigger than most boats. Other boats were longer and others were shorter. She was a packet meaning she had a narrow boiler deck, built to carry 6,000 bales of cotton on the main deck, and in doing so, did not block the view from the boiler deck. I have gotten this information from my current reading about the Lee. I could get citations if anyone wants them. My guess is her hog chain system was just like any other steamboat of her type. I decided to do a do-over and run the hog chain through the hurricane deck. I will remove the stern eyelet, leaving the hole for that portion of the chain. I'll need to leave the bow eyelet in place because the mast for the stage rigging is supported by a guy wire to it. I'll just drill a hole there for the bow portion of the hog chain. One thing I do is use Elmer's white glue to fix the rigging. It is water-soluble, so it is easy to undo. I used to use superglue, and the permanence made it difficult to do a do-over without breaking something. White glue takes longer to set, but worth the waiting, I think. This will solve one of my other problems. I did not like the knot of black threat tied to those eyelets. I will use music wire for the hog chain. If I remember correctly, I saw a picture of the two ends of a hog chain tied together, there were one of these joints between each of the hog chain supports. (The supports also went down to the hull) They were not joined by a turnbuckle, but rather like a join on a sailing ship. Each end of the hog chain had an eye splice on it. The two eye splices had a lanyard with several turns holding them together. My guess is this is where the hog chains were tightened or loosened. The hog chain looked like rope or wire rope, like on sailing ships of the 1860s. I can't remember where the picture is. If I find it, I will post it. Thanks Cathead for the inspiration. You are now officially a part of this build. Maybe I can come up with a badge of some sort for us. .