wefalck

Wouldn‘t there be a safety-valve and some piping that leads the steam safely out of the boat? And: where is the steam for the engines taken off? Is there a steam dome to ensure dry steam is drawn?

You could simulate a bit of protective sheet-metal around the openings ...

Yep, you were right Maudslay constructed his first lathe around the turn of that century - I was quoting from memory and that sometimes fails. Still at that time bolts were expensive and the first standardised thread by Joseph Whitworth had only just been proposed (1841).

I believe many such riverboats had locomotive-type boilers, rather than than the more complex marine boilers. But this may also depend on the period, I suppose. A locomotive boiler has the firebox at one end, the fire-tubes going through the actual boiler room and the smokebox at the other end, where the flue-gases collect and are led up the smoke-stack. However, the boiler you modelled seems to be a return-type of boiler, where the fire-tubes are U-shaped and return towards the firebox, ending up next to the fire-box, before the flue-gases exit through the stack (see picture below). It seems that two U-shaped fire-tubes are placed into the same boiler, stoked by two fire-boxes side by side: Image from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flued_boiler. The power of a steam-engine is determined by the surface of the grate in the fire-box and surface of the fire-tubes along with the maximum permissible pressure. The above construction is one of the simplest forms of boiler and would not permit very high pressures due to the large diameter of the single/double fire-tube and the difficulty of keeping the large openings for them water-tight.

Deck 'clutter' would have been permitted only during brief periods, namely when being aprovisioned, certainly not at sea. Anything loose will fly around and cause danger to personnel and equipment.

A rivet does not necessarily need to be red-hot, but indeed, it needs to be accessible from both side. The planks of clinker-built hulls are rivetted together, but there the rivets are made from copper. During the Viking-age, I think also iron rivets were used, but they tend to rot the wood or corrode due to tannins in the wood. If the iron used for the rivets was sufficiently malleable, one could form the the heads on the outside using cold hammering. Another possibility is, that the bolts were not actually rivetted, i.e. a head was formed, but clenched, i.e. the points were turned over and driven back into the wood. This, howver, requires space inside the hull to work in. Given the realtively blunt bows of the time and that it would be at waterline level, this should have been possible. I gather, the term 'rivetted' refers to the fact that the plates were not just nailed on, as copper sheathing would be, but fastened with through-bolts/rivets. Today, one probably would use coach-bolts for such a task, but at that time threads and nuts were made still individually to match, no norms and only rudimentary thread-cutting technology. The thread-cutting lathe hadn't been invented by Maudslay until somewhat later in the 1840s.

The thingy between boiler and stacks is the ‚smoke-box‘.

It was a typical shape of a commercial ship of the middle of the 19th century. I have lots of examples from Germany that shows that form until around 1860. Around 1846, I believe, a new bow form, the Aberdeen-bow was developed by Alexander Hall in Aberdeen, which became the forunner of the 'clipper-bow'.

Yes, the watchmakers called this inter alia 'pivot drills'. And you are right, carbide drills invaded this trade as well, as it allows to drill watch/clock pivots (i.e. the arbors of wheels etc.) without tempering and then re-hardening them, as was done traditionally.

Actually, there are brass-drills out there with a steeper helical angle and differently ground cutting edges ... Another option would be watchmakers' spade drills. These are made for use with reciprocating drills, i.e. Archimedes drills, but also work with electric drills. In the US a source should be Otto Frei (https://www.ofrei.com). Watchmakers, actually used to make them themselves from steel wire. A further option are so-called EUREKA, straight-fluted drills, also from the watchmaking realm. They are stronger than the spade drills, but these days they seem to be expensive and difficult to find. I very rarely use carbide drills for hand-drilling and mainly only in the watchmakers' lathe, where there are very stable conditions with no lateral forces.

I think it was back in the early 1980s when I last painted any figures at this scale - I have since moved on to 1:87 ... Got what must have been one of the earliest figure modelling guides published in the UK, didn't check but think it is from about 1968 or so - since then techniques have moved on considerably 😉 Today I would use a light grey undercoat, basically to be able to better see any imperfections in sculpting/conversion. The Old Masters used a complementary colour undercoat for skin areas, meaning a light green and then applied the skin-tones in several light washes. The complementary colour underneath makes the skin-tones more luminescent. In my later years of 1:35 figure modelling I used artists' oil-paints for any skin areas (and also for leather details). They could be worked much longer than the Humbrol enamels I used otherwise. However, if you want to work with oil-washes, this requires really long drying times between layers, days or weeks, otherwise the high medium-content of the washes dissolves the previous layer. Today, I basically only use acrylics, mainly from Vallejo (their original business was artists' paints ...). Working with washes is fast, as they dry sufficiently within tens of minutes. Talking about brushes, you may also want to look for so-called 'spotters', this are finely pointed brushes with short hairs. I am not so dexterous or don't have enough practice with standard brushes. The latter can hold more paint, which can be adavantage. Don't go for expensive sable-brushes for working with acrylics. Apparently does not good to them. I use mainly the synthetic ones from the British Da Vinci brand.

I picked up my copy by chance some 10+ years ago on a flea-market in Orléans, but the 'Vence' is now available also as ebook from the French National Library: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k11684265.r=vence bateaux?rk=128756;0 Otherwise, ANCRE sells reprints at 40€: https://ancre.fr/en/reprint/47-construction-des-embarcations-latines-vence-1897.html. Originals, can by quite pricey at 80 to 100€ or more. What part of Spain are you in, btw ?

I only know the Emspünte by name, no details ... I wasn't aware that they use this kind sheerleg-like frame to raise and lower the mast, when passing bridges. This kind of thingy is steel used on modern yachts that operate on inland waterways. A friend of mine had a sailing boat on one of the many lakes in northeastern Germany and it had exactly the same device that puts the forestay higher and at a less acute angle to the mast, so that one can lift the mast more easily. Indee, the mast would have been sitting in what we call a 'mast-chair', two sturdy posts left and right of the mast with a sturdy bolt going across on which the mast is pivoting. There would a sort of latch at the bottom to lock the mast in place. The image below show a slightly different arrangement on the model of a Dutch boat that I built some years ago.

Goog luck witht he shrouds/ratlines. It's not as bad as it seems, when approached systematically. Tune into some nice music that takes your mind off less pleasant things. And Merry Christmas to all here !

Personally, I would shy away from oil on models. In case of decks, I would use a nitrocellulose-based sanding filler (not the acrylic-based ones). Depending on the wood, one or two coats will be sufficient. Don't apply to liberally and rub down with finest (0000) steel-wool. Dedust carefully and perhaps use a magnet to catch any swarf from the steel-wool. Such a treatment will not change the apearance of the wood significantly - decks on ships were never treated, as it would make them slippery and unsafe. In principle, one should not rely on glue alone for fastening, unless for larger surfaces. Normally, such deck-fittings would actually not sit on the deck, but would be attached to structural elements of the hull and planking would go around them. As the items in question seem to be cast from white-metal, I would carefully drill pin-holes into their bottom, insert a short pin temporarly to help locating the corresponding hole on the deck, drill this hole and then insert pins of appropriate lengths. As the parts seem to be metal, using epoxi for glueing is good advice. Otherwise, the nail varnish (or better zapon varnish) also works, as it adheres well to metal (zapon varnish is traditionally used to protect silver-ware from tarnishing) and sheer-forces are taken up by the pins. Shellac either in flakes or as ready-made solution should be readily available in the UK. Not sure, whether this French brand is still available in those post-Brexit days, but Liberon does have shellac-solution.

Lovely project and congratulations to have finished it (more or less) as a kind of 'Christmas present' ! I had followed the project with sort of one eye from time to time as I got interested in the Spanish boats in the last few years, being a frequent visitor to Valencia. 'Nuestra vela latina' is a book that has been on my list of a while, but haven't got around to get it yet. Isn't it written in Catalan, rather than Castellano ? I got a number of book on local Valencian boats (some of them written in Valenciano!). Otherwise, a more generic and classical source on the lateen rig is: VENCE, J. (1897): Construction & manœuvre des bateaux & embarcations à voilure latine.- 139 p., Paris (Augustin Challamel Editeur, reprint Editios Omega, Nice). However, the author draws mainly on experience from Southern France and Tunisia. Some years ago I wrote an article for the German LOGBUCH and French NEPTUNIA on lateen-rigged boats from the Albufera (a lagoon south of Valencia): https://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/maritime/albufera/Boats-of-the-Albufera.html. There are also some further references to books/articles about Spanish boats at the bottom of that Web-page.

Apologies to all, who looked here in vain for new developments, but real life severely interfered with my workshop time and the zen mental state to carry out miniature work ... In the meantime, I wish all Forum Members a peaceful Christmas and a successful New Year 2024 !

Without wanting to further dilute Valery's building-log with side-discussions, one also needs to precise the period and the prototype. Different rivetting techniques were used at different times and in different places around the ships. For instance, early iron-ships had rather visible rivet-heads as one can see on surviving examples. As confidence and material assessment technologies evolved, rivets and their heads became smaller. When steel was introduced, half-countersunk heads became possible in even relatively thin plates due to the high tensile strength of the materials involved. On war-ships and other types of ships were appearance was considered important, rivets were generally countersunk above the waterline, so that these showed smooth hulls. There is also the old scale discussion: can I leave off details that would not be visible at a 'normal' viewing distance? On the other hand, people may put their nose onto the model (or hopefully only on its glass-case) and then would see many more details. I think as long as they can be reproduced to scale, one could or should show details, such as rivetting, when appropriate for the prototype.

A pretty massive set, even though its 'only' narrow-gauge. I gather one needs mass and HPs to get through the drifts.

Nice progress, indeed! Out of curiosity: are you related to the painter Sorolla by any chance?

I am well aware of this method, but was always worried, that the edges of the putty may crumble. Automotive (spray) putty is quite strong on the surface, but it is actually a bit crumbly, so as to permit easy sanding. I gather, once painted the edges of the strakes become much stronger?

Moon-shine calvados could come in any kind of bottles 🫢 A year of 1938 in 1944 would make more sense for calvados than for cidre though, which is generally drunken young (and traditionally from bowls, rather than glasses).

Castrovejo would the keyword to watch out for re. eye surgery instruments. I think he was a Californian surgeon. I have various scissors, needle-holders and such.

If it’s Normandy, it should be cidre/cider, rather yhan wine / comes in champagne-type bottles. To my knowledge, there are no vinyards in Normandy. The bottle modelled would be a Burgundy bottle, long slender neck, as opposed to the short necks of the Bordeaux bottles.