Arabia 1856 by Cathead - FINISHED - Scale 1:64 - sidewheel riverboat from the Missouri River, USA

[Cathead]

Some really amazing news: the Arabia was chosen as a featured model in the NRG's 2021 calendar, now available in the NRG store. The timing of this announcement is particularly good as we just passed the anniversary of her sinking on September 5. Please go buy a calendar and support the NRG! I still can't believe this was chosen.

[kurtvd19]

Eric:

Feel even better about it because I had absolutely no input on the selected images so the model made it without my positive bias toward riverboats.

Kurt

[Cathead]

LOL, I assumed you had a hand in it. You're right, now I feel even more dazed.

[joep4567]

Congratulations! This news is quite a nice honor I'm glad for you as it is well deserved!

[mbp521]

That is great news. A model well deserving of being on the calendar. Congrats on being chosen Eric. 
 

-Brian

[Canute]

Well done, Eric.

[mtaylor]

Congratulations Eric.   I think this is the MSW equivalent of an Oscar.

[leclaire]

Very well deserved, Eric. Nice to see your excellent work being recognized this way. I will most certainly buy a calendar.

 

Bob

[LJP]

Excellent!  Your model is exquisite! And I have ordered  an NRG 2021 calendar.

 

LJP

 

[Vladimir_Wairoa]

congratulations Eric. She is really beautiful you should be proud. Vlad. 

[Cathead]

One more update: I finally made the trip down to the Missouri River for a photo shoot along Arabia's natural habitat. I had hoped to do this close to her actual sinking date of September 5, 1856, but this is only a few weeks off so conditions look pretty similar. I shot this at Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area, about 135 road miles downstream of her sinking location near Parkville, MO (just upriver from what is now downtown Kansas City); she would have passed this location many times in her service along the river.

 

First, a reminder of the iconic painting used by the museum:

 

 

And here are my two best attempts to recreate the setting and angle (try to ignore the stand):

 

 

 

A few other shots at different angles:

 

 

 

Me with the model:
 

 

And for fun, a black and white shot as a what-if (she was never photographed, or at least no known photograph survives):

 

 

The river itself looks very different than it would have in her time. Back then it would have been a broad, shallow, multi-channelled river full of sand bars and tree snags, carrying a lot of sediment and generally brown, always shifting across its mile-wide floodplain between bluffs several hundred feet tall. Now, it's been channelized for navigation into a single narrow deep channel that never moves, flows a lot faster, and carries far less sediment due to upstream dams. But the shape of the landscape hasn't changed much and she certainly saw that small bluff in the background. There are much larger and more dramatic bluffs in this stretch, but none that can easily be accessed for a photo shoot in this context. But I hope this gives at least a slight idea of how she might have looked churning her way up and downstream in service before finally hitting that snag in 1856,

[kurtvd19]

Glad you resisted the urge to get a photo floating on the river

[Cathead]

Current's too strong.

[wefalck]

With a bit of 'photoshopping', you could probably blend her into the river ...

[joep4567]

The boat is absolutely beautiful and the photography is equally as nice ! What a great effort!

[Cathead]

Wefalck, I may play with that down the road, but didn't have the time currently and wanted to post them while the season was correct. It would be very neat to have a fully integrated shot.

[cog]

Can you get me a HR shot from the river and one from your build so I can merge them together for you? The downward angle to river should be the same as to the model ...

[Cathead]

Carl,

 

That's a very generous offer. Unfortunately that river site is about 45 minutes from where I live, so it's not easy for me to pop back and take more. I wish I'd thought to take a few plain river views while I was there, it just did not occur to me. It is a site we like to go birding, though, so I think I'll be back there within a month and could try. 

[Roger Pellett]

Wonderful model and photos, and congratulations on her selection as a Calendar Girl.

[Cathead]

It won't feel real until I see her on the nose of a B-17.

[jmiba]

On 5/11/2019 at 6:37 PM, kurtvd19 said:

I can't find it but I have a photo of the interior of the J.M.  WHITE showing the transverse hog chains in the dining room and how the passengers and crew had to be aware of them so they didn't hit their heads on them.

Really? I'm not aware that there were those in the main cabin. I'd be interested in that photo. Too bad you can't find it. I'm modeling the J.M. White, so it'd be very helpful. This would have been the dining room (https://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/ETDUW5IPJ3ADA8Q)

[kurtvd19]

I thought the photo I have was of the J.M. White but I must be mistaken.  The photo I was thinking of was provided by Ralph DuPae who found/provided most of the photos in the museum's collection. 

[jmiba]

3 minutes ago, kurtvd19 said:

I thought the photo I have was of the J.M. White but I must be mistaken.  The photo I was thinking of was provided by Ralph DuPae who found/provided most of the photos in the museum's collection. 

Transverse chains (knuckle chains) would have been in the hold - and, I wonder, on the main deck. They are not in the plans, however, but then, those were drawn from the sparse photos. So it’s guess work again.

[kurtvd19]

Here is some info on transverse chains from a talk at a NRG Conference in St. Louis, MO in 2013 presented by Jack Custer a noted expert on steamboats.  Jack was the Editor and Publisher of the Egregious Steamboat Journal.  The talk was on Steamboat Architecture.  A photo of the J.M. White is also included.  I think the drawings and photos were printed in the Egregious Steamboat Journal at some time.

[jmiba]

Thanks, @kurtvd19, those are great and rare photos. They’re gonna help me model the center stanchions that must have been present on the J.M. White.

[Rail and Tie]

Stunning work. Well done and great subject matter!

[Cathead]

Anyone who followed this log might be interested in an upcoming talk I'll be giving:
 
 
 
Steamboats symbolize a historic era in Missouri River exploration, commerce and transportation. Missouri River steamboats evolved over time, becoming ever more adapted to the basin’s unique environment while simultaneously altering it, much like an invasive species introduced into a new ecosystem. In this presentation, Eric Reuter will use hand-made scale models of Missouri River steamboats and other vessels to discuss the linked history of steamboat development and environmental changes in the Missouri basin, drawing on his professional and personal interests in the links between geology, ecology, history, and land management.
 
Specific information, including how to watch, is available here. The time is 7 pm American Central time.
 

[leclaire]

Eric, I am really looking forward to your presentation.

 

Bob

[michael mott]

Hi Eric just signed up I am really looking forward to your presentation.

Michael

[kurtvd19]

I have seen this talk - Eric asked me to review it for him.  It is excellent.  I highly recommend it.