wefalck

Wefalck, I absolutely agree that tape on its own would not be a good idea, but recall that earlier I described how the masking tape is attached with a layer of carpenter's glue once it's cut to fit. The glue soaks into the tape and not only holds it quite solidly once dry, but stiffens it so that it's easier to trim. The paint provides another round of stiffener. The same method used on my Arabia has shown no signs of alteration in ~4 years of the highly variable environmental conditions within my house (from bone-dry firewood-heated air in winter to humid summer air only partly buffered by air conditioning, and temperature variations from the 50s-80s F). So I'm pretty comfortable with the method.
 
The venue is setting up large square tables, one for each model, so people can view them from all sides but they're not easily reachable (especially by little hands). Still a little nerve-wracking but worth it, I think.

I can only speak about German naval boats, but I think it would be more or less the same for all navies: The bow-oars were indeed shorter than the others, as the boat would be much narrower at the first bench.
 
Some 30 years ago a colleague of mine, who unfortunately died prematurely a couple of years ago, wrote a series of articles on the naval oars of the Imperial German Navy that summarise the knowledge pulled together from various books, naval instruction manuals etc. that are difficult to put your hands on. Although, I do have some of these sources, these articles were extremely helpful, when I worked on my current project.
 
He gives as a rule of thumb the following dimensions/proportions:
 
Length = 3 times largest breadth of the boat, 2/3 outside, 1/3 inside the boat.
Max diameter = 0.017 times the length at 1/3 of the length
Handle = 0.8 times the larges diameter and about a foot long
Length of the blade = 0.27 to 0.3 of the total length of the oar
Max breadth of the blade = 1.5 times the max. diameter.
Min. thickness of the blade = 0.16 times the max. diameter, at the end.
 
In fact, there are tables with detailed dimensions for all the oars of the Imperial Navy, which were standardised to nine different sizes and matched to the different boat types, which were provided in different size classes. In fact, there were some 20 different boat types in the navy.
 

I apply each strip separately. Cut to fit as needed, smear wood glue on the tacky surface, apply, use a strip of wood or my finger to rub smooth and flat (sometimes bubbles get trapped), then move on to the next one.
 
Another benefit to doing it that way is that the tape itself is just tacky enough that sliding it into an exact position is tricky because it catches. A film of wood glue on the bottom means it slides effortlessly and can be adjusted to exactly where you want it, then snugged down with some gentle pressure.

Sorry, I indeed missed the point with the carpenters' glue. So once trimmed to shape, you lift off the assembly, apply the glue and put it back, right?
 

I can only speak about German naval boats, but I think it would be more or less the same for all navies: The bow-oars were indeed shorter than the others, as the boat would be much narrower at the first bench.
 
Some 30 years ago a colleague of mine, who unfortunately died prematurely a couple of years ago, wrote a series of articles on the naval oars of the Imperial German Navy that summarise the knowledge pulled together from various books, naval instruction manuals etc. that are difficult to put your hands on. Although, I do have some of these sources, these articles were extremely helpful, when I worked on my current project.
 
He gives as a rule of thumb the following dimensions/proportions:
 
Length = 3 times largest breadth of the boat, 2/3 outside, 1/3 inside the boat.
Max diameter = 0.017 times the length at 1/3 of the length
Handle = 0.8 times the larges diameter and about a foot long
Length of the blade = 0.27 to 0.3 of the total length of the oar
Max breadth of the blade = 1.5 times the max. diameter.
Min. thickness of the blade = 0.16 times the max. diameter, at the end.
 
In fact, there are tables with detailed dimensions for all the oars of the Imperial Navy, which were standardised to nine different sizes and matched to the different boat types, which were provided in different size classes. In fact, there were some 20 different boat types in the navy.
 

Sorry, I indeed missed the point with the carpenters' glue. So once trimmed to shape, you lift off the assembly, apply the glue and put it back, right?
 

I quite like the look of the 'painted canvas' decks. My concern, however, would be how long it stays attached to the decks. These masking tapes are designed to be not too tacky and I know that ordinary painters' masking tape becomes quite brittle with time.
 
Good luck with your lecture and make sure that the audience watches with their eyes and not their fingers 😉 

I quite like the look of the 'painted canvas' decks. My concern, however, would be how long it stays attached to the decks. These masking tapes are designed to be not too tacky and I know that ordinary painters' masking tape becomes quite brittle with time.
 
Good luck with your lecture and make sure that the audience watches with their eyes and not their fingers 😉 

Sorry, I indeed missed the point with the carpenters' glue. So once trimmed to shape, you lift off the assembly, apply the glue and put it back, right?
 

A few shots of carefully working the masking-tape "canvas" around the rest of the boiler deck:


Lots of fiddly cutting and fitting here. But another benefit to masking tape is that it holds its shape stiffly and is easier to shape and fit than something floppier like silkspan or tissue. And it's just sticky enough on its own to stay put when you're trying to draw or cut a careful line, while still being easy to move when you want.
 
I finally reached the point where a bunch of these overlapping mini-projects all came together. So here she is with cabins and pilot house attached, deck fully canvassed and painted, hog chain posts installed, and stern planking applied.


Careful eyes will notice that I haven't yet installed the support posts for the rear cabin roof overhang, but it's plenty stable for now. I'm not worried about the messy appearance of the boiler deck's edge because that will get wrapped in a thin plank veneer.
 
On Sunday, I'll be giving a talk on the evolution of steamboat design along the Missouri River, at a regional cultural center that specializes in supporting educational and artistic programming. I initially developed this talk back in 2021 as an online lecture for a regional non-profit that works along the Missouri River (you can view the talk recording here if interested), but this will be the first time I've given it to an in-person audience. As a bonus, I'll be displaying three of my steamboat models, the first time any of them have been presented to the public. Here they are all lined up and ready to go:
 

In the back is Arabia (1:64), in the middle is Bertrand (1:87), and of course in the foreground is Peerless (1:87). All three operated on the Missouri River, from 1853-1856, 1864-1865, and 1893-1903, respectively.
 
Model size is misleading, as Arabia is at a larger scale though she's actually very close in size to Bertrand. On the other hand, Bertrand and Peerless are the same scale, so you can really see how tiny the latter was in comparison to her ancestors.
 
This talk has been scheduled for a long time, and I'd originally hoped to have Peerless done for this talk, but when it became clear that wouldn't happen, I aimed to at least reach a clearly presentable and semi-complete stage, which I just barely did!
 
Thanks as always for following along, and helping me get to this point.

Well, as we observed earlier, such ship were steered using the helm, rather than a steering wheel ... 
 
The gun would have been a 2-pounder or something like that and intended for signalling, rather firing in earnest at something/someone. The Baltic has been comparatively safe in the early 19th century, no pirates and such. With the barrel horizontal, it would fire under the rail.
 
In order to effectively work the pump, the fulcrum should be about waist-high. You can work it out by making yourself a scale dummy, say cutting out a figure from thin cardboard. Such a dummy is always useful to get feeling for scale and proportions. Not absolute sure that the pump would be correct for this period.
 
The black anchor, indeed, seems to be way too big. Anchor sizes are determined by weight, but it is not so easy to work out to what size this converts. The actual size would also depend on how the individual anchor is made. Perhaps someone else can help with table of anchor sizes per weight, I don't have one at my finger-tips. In any case, it would have a wooden stock.
 
Just a modelling tip: you should probably sand your parts more thoroughly. They will look more delicate when painted and fit better together.
 
 

Nice progress indeed !
 
Just wondering: where the pilot-houses open to the rear?

I was about to suggest to use a home-made scraper with a half-round profile, made from a piece of razor-blade to shape the shafts of the oars. You can cut the profile into an ordinary razor-blade with a diamond burr. Brake off the piece with pliers. This scraper can be held in a pin-vice that is slotted cross-wise. I have used such purpose-made scrapers for shaping very small profiles etc.

Indeed, jewellers' drawplates are not suitable for reducing wood in size. I think we had this discussion already in some thread here.
 
The anatomy of an oar depends on it's use and the period. Sea-oars are rather different from the oars that are used on inland waterways. Basically, sea-oars are symmetrical, so that one can use them forward and backward. Also the diameter is round for much of the length. Likewise, the blade is quite narrow.
 
The diameter is, of course, proportionate to the length. The length depends on the breadth of the boat and whether it is single- or double-banked. For single-banked boats the length would be about three- to four-times the breadth.
 
In 1/128 scale I think it would be not so easy to make the blade and the shaft in two pieces. You would need to slot the shaft for the blade and this could be a challenge for a shaft only somewhere, say, 0.6 to 0.8 mm in diameter. I would start from a flat piece of wood (or styrene), layout the shape, cut out the shape, and then shape the shaft and blade by scraping and sanding.
 
My 1/160 scale oars where made from layer of paper blanks cut out with the laser-cutter and laminated together using varnish. They were further shaped using diamond files.

I was about to suggest to use a home-made scraper with a half-round profile, made from a piece of razor-blade to shape the shafts of the oars. You can cut the profile into an ordinary razor-blade with a diamond burr. Brake off the piece with pliers. This scraper can be held in a pin-vice that is slotted cross-wise. I have used such purpose-made scrapers for shaping very small profiles etc.

Today, I reached one important milestone with the huge bat. After painting the internal MG, I installed it into the fuselage, because this area will be harder to reach, when the wings are on.
Then, I installed the nacelle struts, which received eyelets before for the nacelles rigging. Before adding the engine nacelles itself, I finished the rigging between the fuselage and the struts, a hard to reach area, after the engines are in place. I used Infini elastic rigging thread and tiny aluminum tubes for the rigging and tried successfully not to break the struts while rigging.
Lastly, I added the engine nacelles itself and the radiator and engine steering axles. 
It was a nerve wrecking task and not all went completely satisfactory. The starbord engine isn´t perfectly upright, but there was no way to correct it without a lot of fuss.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Cheers Rob

Muchas gracias señhores, oil colors are indeed perfect for leather replication with their good coverage, easy blending and brushstroke free application. My love for oil colors in modelling started only four years ago with the replication of wood, another area, where oil colors are perfectly suitable. I use different thinners for different finishes, like in this case the matte thinner.

Everything started with my Hansa Brandenburg build, where I tried to get a grip on wood reproduction.


 


For the same build, I first discovered the oils capability for looking like aged leather:




 
Later, I used oil colors more and more and don´t even use pre fabricated washes and panel liners any more, as oil colors render the same with a much better ability to control the result.
I even decided to make an experiment and paint a whole airplane kit with brush and oil colors. The Polish PZL was perfect for the job with it´s single color camouflage and corrugated wings, where the oils added some depth. The oil colors proved very versatile in breaking off the monotone olive surface.


 






Cheers Rob
 

Nice progress indeed !
 
Just wondering: where the pilot-houses open to the rear?

I was about to suggest to use a home-made scraper with a half-round profile, made from a piece of razor-blade to shape the shafts of the oars. You can cut the profile into an ordinary razor-blade with a diamond burr. Brake off the piece with pliers. This scraper can be held in a pin-vice that is slotted cross-wise. I have used such purpose-made scrapers for shaping very small profiles etc.

I was about to suggest to use a home-made scraper with a half-round profile, made from a piece of razor-blade to shape the shafts of the oars. You can cut the profile into an ordinary razor-blade with a diamond burr. Brake off the piece with pliers. This scraper can be held in a pin-vice that is slotted cross-wise. I have used such purpose-made scrapers for shaping very small profiles etc.

As a matter of fact the transition between varnish, sanding sealer and primer are rather flowing. 
 
A primer is a material that interacts physico-chemically or chemically with the surface to which it is applied and thus adheres well to it. In turn, the paint interacts with the primer and therefore adheres well to it. With the exception of certain oily wood species, there is normally no need to prime wood for painting.
 
A sanding sealer essentially is a kind of varnish in which finely ground particles, often pumice powder are suspended. The idea is that the varnish penetrates into the wood and the particles fill up any surface structure and pores of the wood. There are many commercial formulation of sanding sealers available. While they were originally based on solvents, today acrylics based formulations with water as solvent are more and more sold for environmental protection reasons, though they do not penetrate so well, particularly into more resinous wood species. Sanding sealer is applied after a first sanding that has been rubbed down wet to raise the wood fibres. It is then sanded down in preparation for further steps. Sometimes a second application is needed. Rather than sanding, I prefer to either scrape (flat surfaces) or rub down with steel-wool (curved surfaces).
 
A dye or stain is a coloured organic molecule dissolved in water, alcohol or an organic solvent. This means a dye can only applied to material that is capable to soak up the solvent you are using. It implies that you have to apply any dye or stain after a first sanding, but before applying sanding sealer.
 
An ink, conversely, is a liquid, usually water or alcohl, in which finely ground solid particles (e.g. soot) or coloured organic partciles are suspended. The ink also contains a binder, that may be either water soluble or not - in the latter case it is referred to as permanent ink.
 
A varnish is a lacquer dissolved in an appropriate solvent. A classical example is shellac, which is dissolved in alcohol, which gives it a good penetration into wood. Other lacquers and solvents may be used in commercial formulations, such as acrylic or polyurethane varnishes. The varnish would be applied to the surfaces prepared with a sanding sealer. One has to pay attention that the solvent of the varnish does not attach the sealer, otherwise you may destroy the effect of sanding.
 
A paint essentially is a varnish that has a pigment added to it. Again, paint is applied on top of the sanding sealer and the same provisa as for the plain varnish applies, i.e. sealer and paint have to be compatible. In general, water-based acrylics are compatible with almost anything, as water is not a very agressive solvent. 

Indeed, jewellers' drawplates are not suitable for reducing wood in size. I think we had this discussion already in some thread here.
 
The anatomy of an oar depends on it's use and the period. Sea-oars are rather different from the oars that are used on inland waterways. Basically, sea-oars are symmetrical, so that one can use them forward and backward. Also the diameter is round for much of the length. Likewise, the blade is quite narrow.
 
The diameter is, of course, proportionate to the length. The length depends on the breadth of the boat and whether it is single- or double-banked. For single-banked boats the length would be about three- to four-times the breadth.
 
In 1/128 scale I think it would be not so easy to make the blade and the shaft in two pieces. You would need to slot the shaft for the blade and this could be a challenge for a shaft only somewhere, say, 0.6 to 0.8 mm in diameter. I would start from a flat piece of wood (or styrene), layout the shape, cut out the shape, and then shape the shaft and blade by scraping and sanding.
 
My 1/160 scale oars where made from layer of paper blanks cut out with the laser-cutter and laminated together using varnish. They were further shaped using diamond files.

The model has a flat bottom, I don't use strips but thin plywood panels that I recovered ......

Indeed, jewellers' drawplates are not suitable for reducing wood in size. I think we had this discussion already in some thread here.
 
The anatomy of an oar depends on it's use and the period. Sea-oars are rather different from the oars that are used on inland waterways. Basically, sea-oars are symmetrical, so that one can use them forward and backward. Also the diameter is round for much of the length. Likewise, the blade is quite narrow.
 
The diameter is, of course, proportionate to the length. The length depends on the breadth of the boat and whether it is single- or double-banked. For single-banked boats the length would be about three- to four-times the breadth.
 
In 1/128 scale I think it would be not so easy to make the blade and the shaft in two pieces. You would need to slot the shaft for the blade and this could be a challenge for a shaft only somewhere, say, 0.6 to 0.8 mm in diameter. I would start from a flat piece of wood (or styrene), layout the shape, cut out the shape, and then shape the shaft and blade by scraping and sanding.
 
My 1/160 scale oars where made from layer of paper blanks cut out with the laser-cutter and laminated together using varnish. They were further shaped using diamond files.

Nice progress indeed !
 
Just wondering: where the pilot-houses open to the rear?