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

[popeye the sailor]

oh!   it's art Mike........well worth the wait!   great looking turnbuckles.....kit supplied or hand made?   I do notice the starboard side doesn't follow the slot in the deck......minor adjustment?   it looks superb though........a stunning key point of the model    

[Mike Dowling]

I have to admit that the turnbuckles were kit supplied. I am not clever enough nor do I have the kit to make my own like Kurt did. Minor adjustment only but thanks for pointing it out about the slot. I'll bet that has a posh name too !!!

[kurtvd19]

Mike:

Looking Good!  I like the dark buckets - good contrast.

[Mike Dowling]

Kurt, I almost don't like to ask because I think it's something to carry water in but, what is a bucket ?

[kurtvd19]

Mike:

The planks of the wheel are called Bucket Boards.  I don't know if that term was used in the kit instructions or not but it's common usage. 

 

When you mentioned a bucket for water, one thing I meant to add to the model and never got around to it was a couple of racks of fire buckets carried on the roof of the boat to stop fires started by sparks from the stacks.  I don't remember if these were included in the kit or not.  They might have been included in the kit and I didn't use them because they most likely had flat bottoms as the kit pieces usually have - fire buckets had round bottoms - and were painted red.  The round bottoms were to make them useless for anything else so the crew would know they were where they were supposed to be and not being used to swab decks or something.

 

Kurt 

[Cathead]

Looking real nice, Mike. You should be very proud.

[Panama Port]

Beautifull Mike, very nice work.

[Mike Dowling]

The minor adjustment for the slot in the deck turned out to be a major incident so the best I could do was equalise the situation on both sides. It's a shame but it will have to do.

 

Kurt I don't understand how you can have round bottomed buckets unless one were to make something like a cannon ball rack to hold them. The kit definitely doesn't have any.

 

Now folks, I know I am a truly sad person (!!!) but I simply had to show you my lifeboats. They came as two shells of brittania metal and I have to say I am a bit pleased with my modifications.

 

 

[kurtvd19]

Mike:

Yeah, the fire buckets sit in a rack with a hole in the top board to hold the buckets upright.  Sometimes they hung buckets from brackets or stands.  The photo of my model of the Bluejacket kit of the tugboat Lackawanna shows fire buckets in the rack at the base of the stack.

Sorry, being a retired FD Chief I assumed everybody just knew this.  

Kurt 

 

 

[Mike Dowling]

You didn't like my lifeboats then ?

[Cathead]

Kurt, I remember at some point you posting a great photo of a fire-bucket rack on a steamboat. Or was it someone else posted it, and you just explained it? Either way it was a really illustrative photo, if you know what I'm talking about and where to find it.

 

Mike, I did something similar with the boats for Bertrand: I wasn't happy with hollow shells either, so added wooden thwarts, tillers, rudders, etc. I think both mine and yours gained a lot from the modifications.

[Mike Dowling]

So only one person likes my lifeboats huh ! Fine friends you lot are !!!

[Elijah]

Hello! How did you plank the insides of those boats? They look very small, I don't know how you managed to do it.

[Mike Dowling]

I will assume you like them first. First thing I did was to paint the inside of the metal a wood brown colour. Then I made a paper templates and planked them ,while they were still soft I could easily mould them to fit the bottom of the boat and then glued them in and varnished them in matt varnish.

 

Thank you so much for noticing that I had done that. I know I didn't do any rollocks or whatever they are called and I didn't provide any oars. I did do thwart risers and thwarts (clever eh?) but I still think they look better than a bare metal husk!

 

Thank you so much Elijah for being my second friend!

[kurtvd19]

Mike:

I like your boats.  Nice job on the planking.  You took it beyond what I did with the ones from mt build.

Kurt

[Mike Dowling]

Thanks Kurt, not only are you a very helpful Gentleman, you are now my third friend !!

[Mike Dowling]

OK Wackowolf, you can be my friend too even if you don't like my little boats !

[WackoWolf]

I never said I didn't like anything. I just didn't say. LOL

[Elijah]

Wow. I could swear the planks were wood! Did you use standard printing paper? Yes, I do like them.

[Roger Pellett]

Mike,

 

If you choose to add fire buckets, this rack from Ship Joinery by Duckworth (1924) would be typical and appropriate.

 

Roger

 

Edited October 31, 2016 by Roger Pellett

[dgbot]

Those old catalogs are a godsend when you are looking for a shape or a part on old equipment.  A neighbor of ours likes to model old farm equipment and he as a bookcase loaded with old catalogs.  

David B

[Roger Pellett]

That would be an interesting hobby too. I still have some old toy farm equipment from my childhood, including a 1950 John Deere Combine. Someday I have to find a good home for it.

 

Rogerl

[ASAT]

Beautiful build Mike, I am looking for something different to do, never considered this one until now, just a very nice build....

 

Lou

[gjdale]

At last count Mike, 10 people (including me) liked your boats. So I guess you have at least 10 friends........

[Mike Dowling]

I love it, people like me !!!!

 

In case I mislead anyone the floor of the little boats that so many like now is wood. I planked the paper template and then trimmed it to fit the floor of the boat.

[popeye the sailor]

I like your boats too Mike.........I've done a few things with the kit supplied boats...even the plastic ones     who says you can't make gold out of lead?!?!

 

the fire bucket and rack sounds like a good idea

[Mike Dowling]

So, what was left to do.

Oh yes, put the lovely little boats on and rig them !! I had already made the smokestacks so they had to go on and get rigged and the planky, boarding rampy sort of thing (which I am sure has a proper term, also made up and needing to go and rig! and of course make up 9 coils of rope.

 

So, I did it and she is now finished !!!! Whether I put some fire buckets and holder on I will think about.

 

I did add an American flag of the right date just to finish her off!

 

Anyway, a resume. Model shipways kit. Most of the wood was good except for their basswood which I think is far too soft and warps as soon as you look at it and soaks up paint like a sponge. Their laser cutting was pretty good except for some of the very small thin pieces which surprised me. I would have thought they were the easier to make. Instructions were no better or worse than many. The plans were excellent but with one big gripe. The plan showing side, fore and aft views were not to scale which meant there was no way of taking measurements from them. They could easily have been produced to scale by using one more sheet - please take note model shipways. The brass work was first class. Not enough brass eyelets were included so it was lucky I had some spare.

 

Overall though an excellent kit which I have thoroughly enjoyed and would recommend.

 

Huge thanks to Kurt whose generosity in providing photos, better instructions and general help in answering queries without which I really don't think my end result would be as good as it is.

 

Also many, many thanks to those of you who have watched and posted comments. I hope you have enjoyed the build as much as I have.

 

 

[cog]

Mike,

 

A truely lovely build, I see a sister paddler on the wall, so you have experience still she looks magnificent!!

Edited November 2, 2016 by cog

[kurtvd19]

Mike:

It has really turned out nice.  A very good model.

The term for the  planky, boarding rampy sort of thing  is landing stage.  And you did a good job on it too - wasn't that fun to rig into place?

Kurt

[Mike Dowling]

Not sure about fun Kurt but definitely a challenge !! Thanks Carl, yes two previous paddlers but they are all very different.