captainbob

The boat would not have been built free standing on her keel as we do with our models.  If she were build upside down the frames would have been extended to and toenailed to the floor.  If she were built upright the frames would have been extended to the ceiling of the boat shed or possibly an A frame structure.  Each frame would have been squared and well supported on its own.  Only after she were planked would the frame ends be cut free.
 
Bob 

Cleaver way to hold the glass.  I'll have to remember that. 
Bob
Sorry but I don't know how to get rid of the quote box.
 

Cleaver way to hold the glass.  I'll have to remember that. 
Bob
Sorry but I don't know how to get rid of the quote box.
 

Another Dragon.  When I lived aboard, there were two Dragons docked nearby.  There was nothing sweeter than to see them slide out of their slip and head out to have fun in the Pacific.  When I started model building, a 12" long Dragon was one of the first boats I built.  My brother came to visit and I gave it to him.  After he left my wife, "she who must be obeyed", said, "That was my favorite boat."  So I had no choice but to build another.  My brother's was built as a racing boat, my wife's was built as an early pleasure cursing boat with a cabin.  It will be fun watching another Dragon going together.
 
Bob

Yes, and she's lovely.
 
Bob

Beautiful. Simply beautiful.
 
Bob

Hi All,
I have to move away from research for a while to build a little more.  Or I will know everything there is to know about the Mariefred and never build her.  The Mariefred is a very early (1903) steel boat.  So like Nils (Mirabell61), I had to plate her, rivets and all.  Maybe I shouldn’t say so but it was a lot easier that I thought it would be.  The main problem is finding the right foil for the job.  Most of what I found at the hardware store was too thin and doesn’t look right.  There were four or five brands where us non-professionals find what we want.  But walking down to the end of the store where the contractors go, I found the heaver foil that is needed.  I found an old clock gear that I made into a ponce wheel and with just a little practice . . . here’s the results.   I’ll accept it as a first try.  Now paint and on to the rest of the boat.
 
Bob

Hi All,
I have to move away from research for a while to build a little more.  Or I will know everything there is to know about the Mariefred and never build her.  The Mariefred is a very early (1903) steel boat.  So like Nils (Mirabell61), I had to plate her, rivets and all.  Maybe I shouldn’t say so but it was a lot easier that I thought it would be.  The main problem is finding the right foil for the job.  Most of what I found at the hardware store was too thin and doesn’t look right.  There were four or five brands where us non-professionals find what we want.  But walking down to the end of the store where the contractors go, I found the heaver foil that is needed.  I found an old clock gear that I made into a ponce wheel and with just a little practice . . . here’s the results.   I’ll accept it as a first try.  Now paint and on to the rest of the boat.
 
Bob

Yes, the tape is self sticking with a waxed paper backing.  As for the plating, there was two was it was done.  One was to start at the keel and lay the above panel overlapping the one below.  The other method was to lay every other row of plating (1-3-5-7), then go back and lay the other rows (2-4-6) overlapping both the row below and above.  According to the plans the Mariefred was plated by the second method.
 
Bob

What a beautiful hull.  A good foundation for the rest of the ship.
 
Bob

We don't talk about that in nice circles.
 
Bob

I'm wondering the same thing on my Mariefred, and it's three times larger in scale.
 
Bob

Cleaver way to hold the glass.  I'll have to remember that. 
Bob
Sorry but I don't know how to get rid of the quote box.
 

She's beautiful.  Well done.
 
Bob

It's nice to see more of such a beautiful boat.
 
Bob

Yes, the tape is self sticking with a waxed paper backing.  As for the plating, there was two was it was done.  One was to start at the keel and lay the above panel overlapping the one below.  The other method was to lay every other row of plating (1-3-5-7), then go back and lay the other rows (2-4-6) overlapping both the row below and above.  According to the plans the Mariefred was plated by the second method.
 
Bob

Cleaver way to hold the glass.  I'll have to remember that. 
Bob
Sorry but I don't know how to get rid of the quote box.
 

It's nice to see more of such a beautiful boat.
 
Bob

Well thanks to everyone who have pressed the like button on this rather slow build.
I took a break from all the other stuff today and did a bit more reworking of the cabin I am still working out the shape and size of the companionway into the hull.
 
The underside of the forward section of the cut up cabin was a bit weak and so I added a thin reinforcing strip to keep things together until the rear cross timber is added
 

 
I shortened the rails and the hatch and also cut the rear section of the old cabin top in half along the line of the front of the new structure (temporary blocked up to see if this shape and size feel right)
 
 

 

 

So I will sit with this for a couple of days and then if it still feels about right I will finish up the structure and it will be fixed permanently with the rear section to the deck. Access to the interior will still be adequate through the two forward sections in order to load and unload the ballast weights.
 
Michael

Hi Denis 
 
Very, very nice!  I can just picture Syborn chugging across the ocean, trawling backwards and forwards, forever chasing those elusive fish.  The seagulls would also be hanging out for a free feed...so watch out in case they leave their calling cards on the decks🤔  You wouldn't want to clean the decks unnecessarily😧  
 
All the best. 
 
Cheers
 
Patrick
 
 
 
 
 

today I devoted a bit of time on the trawler.   the port side net is on finally........you may have seen a trace of the net on my desk,  in viewing the progress on the Thermopylae.   as mentioned,  I did start cutting the parts for the vents.  I was going to use the horn type vents,  but they didn't look right on her.   these are the bits I have to piece together.

the net and the buoy beads were on my desk,  cluttering things up.   taking the trawl rig down from my crane lamp,  I began to put it together.

gluing the beads on the line is time consuming........do a few......wait for them to dry........do a few.   either that,  or they move around on me,  and I have to keep fixing them.   it was assembled onto the boom and rigged.  the process is finished.


next will be the vents,  and then onto the stern     

Gerhard,
We live in Missouri which is not, too far from Vicksburg, Mississippi and had been planning a trip there to check out other technical details. We were coordinating with the Cairo Museum curator, Elizabeth Joiner, for assistance getting better access to remains than the pure tourists can get. (They need to protect the Cairo remaining fabric from souvenir hunters) However, Mrs. Joiner is no longer the curator and a replacement or technical contact hasn't been identified so any trip has been delayed indefinitely. Bob Hill and 10 members of the Tampa Bay Ship Modelers visited Vicksburg a few years ago and took a lot of photos which were very helpful but I don't recall any of the mural.
One other factor which leads us to favor the lighter carriage is that the original armament originally allocated to these ironclads while under US Army control was a "mixed bag"of the discarded and obsolete ordnance that nobody really wanted. Inter-service rivalry was alive and well. The Cairo was technically under the command of Gen. George McClellan who was stationed nearly 1000 miles away in Virginia and probably never even cared about its operation. The  Navy field carriage usually included ammo boxes and would be more practical for a land assault by Marines which are part of the US Navy. The lightweight carriage could be easily broken down for  storage aboard ship where space is at a premium and would be easier to handle on the cambered Hurricane deck. I suspect that the carriage recovered with the Cairo was actually still in its crate
I can imagine that both carriage versions were in use on some of the seven "City Class" ironclads and we don't really have any specific information on which was on our "USS St. Louis", but the lighter version looks more interesting.
 
johnhoward

Cleaver way to hold the glass.  I'll have to remember that. 
Bob
Sorry but I don't know how to get rid of the quote box.
 

She's beautiful.  Well done.
 
Bob

She's a beautiful boat.  Thank you for letting us watch your build.
 
Bob