Mississippi Riverboat by rebekB - Mini-Mamoli - Scale 1: 206

[rebekb]

Thanks Keith!  And appreciate the link to the Disney models - those are cool!

[captainbob]

Rebecca,

 

Just found your build log.  It’s coming along nicely.

Minwax has stain sticks, similar to magic markers, in many colors for covering scratches on furniture.  I use them frequently on my boats.

 

Bob

[Sjors]

It's looking good Rebecca,

 

I like the planking all over.

 

[rebekb]

Thanks Sjors, and thanks Captain Bob for the stain stick idea. 

 

I've added the bow rail, built the gangways, all the other parts are cut (except still figuring out the capstan), and thanks to the "woolding" thread I've managed to rope my smokestacks. I also colored the smokestacks using an alcohol-based aniline dye - I have loads of the stuff for use in book conservation.

 

I'm up to the point that it's time to add the windows, and then do all the pillars and railings for the sides, which will be oh so fiddly. I made myself a 1 cm "square" to make sure the pillars are straight but I realized I also need a faster glue for the pillars than the wood glue I use. Yesterday I finally turned up something billed as a non-toxic, water-based super glue. We'll see if that actually works!

 

Rebecca

[rebekb]

I've been making some progress -- I added the kit windows to the second deck using the testor's clear/windowmaker - I also put the testor's on the top part of the doors (plus a bit of blue pencil), and filled the window frames with it to get more shine. Could have been neater, but it's my first try

 

I didn't like the name plate that came with the kit (the brown one) - I designed my own in powerpoint, printed it on to photo card, and glued it to a wood backing. I coated the paper with Renaissance Wax, also known as British Museum Wax - it's micro-crystalline and can be used on virtually anything to clean & seal (I use it particularly on cloth books).

 

 

And then I found my "least favorite part" of the build - adding the pillars. The plans (see first photo in thread) call for pillars to go from the first to third deck, which I thought looked ugly, so I split them in two. I put pencil dots for spacing on the bottom of the 2nd deck, these also marked where to put glue. I used titebond translucent as it turned out I needed extra set time to get them straight. I also started fitting the pillars for the second deck but have had enough pillaring for one night, particularly as it will take tweezers to do all the second deck pillars. I am going to complete one side, then do the other side. I'm glad I haven't yet glued on the fourth deck cabin - the model is still stable upside down, which is helpful when working on the pillars.

 

The light wood "L" in the picture is my homemade square for straightening the pillars...

 

 

Rebecca

[riverboat]

nice work Rebecca...... that is pretty small after looking at the coin comparison..... looks like you'er going to turn this into a great looking riverboat

Frank

[john46]

Great job Rebecca, the wood blocks are transformed to a steamboat !

 

Regards,

John

[rebekb]

So I'm to the point in the build where something turns out "BLAH" and has to be redone!

 

The picture just above shows that the third deck had developed a warp/slump (at least on the port side, the starboard side is straight) - in part because the support system for this deck in the design of the model is so poor - and being a first-time builder I wasn't quite smart enough to realize that. I finished adding pillars and rails on the port side 2nd deck and then realized how really not-straight the roof was - and I'd made it worse by making the pillars very snug.

 

Not being able to "live with it," I'm now in the process of fixing it. I added a filler piece just above & to the right of the little stair in the photo above (where there is a void), topped up the stern pillar with a wood slip, and then popped out all the rest of the pillars (most of the rails came with as well). Now, I'm in the process of recutting/refitting the pillars while clamping down on the deck as each dries in place, hopefully this will straighten the portside out enough to be passable. Pictures to follow when it's finally done...

 

Rebecca

[john46]

That's the right spirit Rebecca, if you are not happy with it then redo it ! This is a great advantage of wooden models, one can most of the time restore parts of the building. Curious to see the outcome. Have fun.

 

Regards,

John

[DCIronfist]

You can do it

[slagoon]

looking really great - can't wait for the next installment. I do like the sign you made.

[Tophog]

Looks to be finishing out very nice. Looking forward to seeing it completed.