Chaperon 1894 by Mike Dowling - FINISHED - Model Shipways - Sternwheeler Steamer

[Roger Pellett]

Great looking hull and assuming that the stand is robust enough to do its job, I think that it accentuates the hull shape.

 

Well done!

 

Roger

[Mike Dowling]

Thank you very much Roger, I really appreciate that.

[cog]

Those boilers are quite the chunk of metal. You could use a satin finish on them ... i.e. if you don't like the mat

[Mike Dowling]

I could do that Carl ! Don't want to upset the expert though!!! You wait until I get onto the superstructure, silk finish sounds good to me !!

[cog]

 

 

Don't want to upset the expert though!!!

 

Oeps, forgot all about them ... 

[Keith Simmons]

Hi Mike, 

              I will be watching your build with a lot of interest. I am getting ready to start my version of a  scratch built stern wheeler soon. Your hull looks great....         I don't do much painting, but for the ones I have done, I use drywall compound as a filler. It seems to not affect the wood as other fillers do and sands beautifully. As for paint, I like to use gloss ( since gloss has a harder finish when dry) and then sand it till I get the satin or matte finish I'm looking

for. Then I top the paint with a lacquer finish of satin or matte depending on look I am going for. Not that this is the best way to finish paint, but it works for me.

             Looking forward to the rest of your build,    Keith

[Guest ir3ausley]

Hi Mike,

 

Just checked in. Nice work on the hull. Any chance of fitting a small steam plant. I know theres not a lot of space but there must be something available.

 

Keep up the great work.

 

ir3

[Mike Dowling]

I am probably being thick but I am not sure what a steam plant is. I think it sounds too complicated for me anyway.

[ir3]

Hi Mike,

 

I am not familiar with the Model Shipways Chaperon but is seems that it is large enough for a small steam engine. It would be interesting to see one of these running under steam power. Just a thought.

 

IR3

[Mike Dowling]

It's a good thought but I'm afraid much too clever for me. I shall be glad just to get the whole thing looking like it is supposed to but many thanks for your interest.

[thomaslambo]

Hi Mike,

 

Looking really good so far....I'll be watching with great interest

[Mike Dowling]

Time for a winge!! I reckon that Model Shipways get their basswood from the same place as Constructo !! Both are horrible, very prone to denting and as absorbent as blotting paper. It just loves to soak up anything like water including paint and then warp in a variety of directions. I suppose if one wants to be precision accurate then mechanical engineering with metal is the answer and this sort of thing is the punishment that those of us who work with wood must put up with.

 

Right, enough of the rant. I have now put the first deck on the hull which proved to be a lot more difficult than I anticipated. To be honest apart from the above I am not sure why it was so awkward but I had the devils own job lining up the four parts required. Anyway, they are now on, very firmly glued (!!!) and the sort of 'dog tooth' joint between the sections filled and re-scored for the imitation planking. To be perfectly honest I would have preferred to plank the deck as I have with others but I am trying to follow the destructions!

 

I don't have an airbrush so I am intending to hand paint the deck with iron oxide coloured paint as suggested but which I have to say is very orange. My main problem is that if I water down the paint it will make the basswood far too soggy and raise the grain far too much. If I use it too thick it will fill in the laser cut plank markings. I have tested on a piece of scrap and the coverage is good and I found if I sanded it afterwards very, very gently that the wood doesn't show too much through and if anything leaves a sort of weathered effect.

 

Any hints or opinions as how to progress gratefully received.

 

Anyway, a couple of photos of the deck.

 

 

 

 

[kurtvd19]

Mike:

Looking good.

 

The deck is glued down tight so there is no worry about warping at this point.

 

I airbrush, but this works with brush too.  Wet the wood - dampen the wood is more accurate - let it dry and you will see that it has fuzzed up.  Sand lightly to knock off the fuzz and dampen it again.  Re-sand and then paint.  There might still be a bit of fuzz, but much less.  A very light final sanding will give a smooth surface.  I  use a very worn sponge sanding pad (by 3M) for this.

 

Another way to avoid the soaking in of the paint and fuzzing of the basswood is to apply Shellac to the wood - the Shellac seals the wood.  A very light sanding and then paint. 

 

Kurt

[Red]

Hi Mike,

There are plenty of experts on the site who will be able to advise you better, but If faced with this sort of situation, I would have tried some sanding sealer on a piece of scrap to see if that would help.

I think the trick is to keep it flat with weights.

Looks like have recovered from your difficulties very well. Once painted none of this should show.

Good luck

Regards

Red

[Mike Dowling]

Thank you both for that. Normally I would indeed seal the wood with the sanding sealer but my concern is that it will fill the laser cut plank lines which are not very deep at all. I do like your idea of wetting the surface first Kurt so I am tempted to try a very small area with both methods to see which works best.

[kurtvd19]

Mike:

Test on scrap basswood.  The frets that the parts came out of works well - same exact wood so results will be same.

Kurt

[Roger Pellett]

The following is from Alan Bates Western Rivers Cyclopedium. Thought that you might enjoy:

 

Composition for Covering Boilers & etc.

 

Road scrapings, free from stones, 2 parts, cow manure gathered from the pasture, 1 part,; mix thoroughly and add to each barrowful of the mixture 6 lbs of fire clay; 1/2 lb of flax shoves or chopped hay, and 4 oz of teased hair. It must be well mixed and chopped ; then add as much water as it will bring to the consistency of mortar, the more it is worked the tougher it is.

 

It is hard for us to understand today, how homespun the engineering of these steamboats was.

 

Roger Pellett

[Mike Dowling]

I love it Roger !!

 

Having done a test, methinks the best option is the sanding sealer, to be done however without shaking the tin! Thing is, sanding sealer contains talc so, if I don't shake it I don't get the talc in my laser cut grooves !! I think it will work but having said that the water and sanding also works but the paint still soaks in a lot and I only bought 30mls not a bucket full ! I have also to say that I do think sanding sealer is wonderful! It smells awful but does a really good job and I did recommend it on another build to someone else with porous wood. Maybe I should listen to my own advice.

[kurtvd19]

Mike:

Sounds like you have the problem solved.

 

Roger:

That's interesting - but we would probably need a scale cow!

 

I have to sit down and do a page by page read of both of Bates' books.  Have used them for reference many times reading the relevant parts but you have convinced me that a thorough read is due.

 

Thanks,

Kurt

[chborgm]

It is probably to let, but on my Chaperon I planked over the etched sheets with 1/16 x 1/8 planks. I did not paint them red though I just stained them.

[Mike Dowling]

As I said I have been very tempted to plank the deck. I will see how it turns out because I can always plank on top.

 

My next build obviously just has to be a scale cow !! Now, how on earth do you paint that ?!!!!!

[cog]

Mike,

 

Quite a destruction you had to lay the deck. I might have planked the entiry thing not conforming to kit, but that would be me. Still you've made a nice job out of it ...

 

A scale cow ...  I would say black and white or tan and white ... probably off white like my Tryumph Dolomite was ...

 

Cheers

Edited July 29, 2016 by cog

[dgbot]

For a sealer I experimented with a 50/50 mix of Varathane and mineral spirits.  I worked out pretty good.  

David B

[Roger Pellett]

Considering the mode of transportation that existed prior to 1900 I wonder what "road scrapings without stones" consisted of.

 

Roger Pellett

[mtaylor]

It's not as bad as you think, Roger...  A bit of a  later and....

 

"Consists of: An aggregate produced by a cold milling machine. The machine is used to remove the surface layer of a tarmaced area such as a highway or footpath. The resulting waste is loaded into a lorry and is officially known as Road Planings although many refer to them as Road Scalpings or Road Scrapings."

"Road Planings are not suitable as backfill for drainage trenches due to the high fines content and care must be taken when sourcing them as older tarmac surfaces which have been deep planed may contain tars. The use of Road Planings is generally considered environmentally sound as Bitumen is a natural substance. Using them also reduces pressure on quarried aggregate stocks.

Unfortunately the days of being to obtain Road Scalpings for free have gone as the pressure of the recession on local authorites has resulted in very little resurfacing work be carried out and thus Road Planings are not as abundant as they once were."

[Mike Dowling]

All very interesting but what has this all got to do with cows?

 

On a slightly different topic, I am not good with computers. A lovely lady called Anja who used to be a moderator for the forum used to help me with getting my 'current build' to show under my details and also list my previous builds and gallery. I think a couple of moderators may be watching this build of mine so please, can someone either tell me in very easy language how to do it or, make an offer to do it for me ?

[cog]

I'll PM you for it, we'll grab the bull by the horns ... give me a minute to write it down

Edited July 30, 2016 by cog

[Mike Dowling]

Many thanks to Carl who has sorted my problem out.

[Cathead]

Mike,

 

Looks great so far. I'm a bit late to the deck-painting discussion, but here's one other method I've used before. Use a cotton swab (Qtip) with diluted paint. Get the swab wet, press out the excess paint liquid against the side of a container, then use the swab to rub the color onto the wood. If you get it right, this allows a transfer of diluted color that's less sloppy than a brush, as you're essentially using the swab as a sponge, so it retains more moisture than a brush does. Certainly experiment on scrap first to get the hang of it, but I like it.

 

I love the idea of replanking the deck, but it's not my model!

[Mike Dowling]

So far I have sealed the deck with sanding sealer less the talc and it has had two coats of brushed acrylic and it still needs another one. So far, the planking lines still show through. If it looks dreadful I am quite prepared to order some wood and re-plank but there are a lot of precut holes to redo. I wouldn't mind if they were circular but loads are square !! To be honest by the time the superstructure is on top there is not a huge amount of deck actually showing but we shall see. I might be really brave, take some pics and see what others think!