Robert E Lee by jarero - Scientific Models - Scale 1:139

[capnharv2]

Jared,

 

What scale is the model? I thought somewhere it said 1:120, but I thought I saw it also say it's 1:96.

 

Good comeback on the repair. Scribe or draw a few lines in on the new piece and it will be hard to tell it was damaged.

 

Thanks,

 

Harvey

[slagoon]

Harvey, the scale is 1:139...

Time to check my (and Jared's math).........

1/8":1.45'

1/8in:1.45ft

1/8in:1.45ft x 12 in/ft

1/8in:17.4in

1/8x8:17.4x8

1:139.2

[themadchemist]

I thought to myself when I looked at the box cover, Who uses 1/8" to 1.45'.

Where did the 1.45' come from? thats unusual, or at least it seems to me to be, usless its a metric conversion scale?

comes out 3.175mm to 441.96mm so not likely and 139.2 would still be and oddball ratio.

 

anyway you slice it, its small. have the macro and penny handy.

[themadchemist]

that reminds me. at the auction last night they auctioned off one of those humongo coins I think it was a liberty 1/2 but was 5" in diameter. If it hadn't went too high I was thinking it would help make my work look better.

[jarero]

Jared,

 

What scale is the model? I thought somewhere it said 1:120, but I thought I saw it also say it's 1:96.

 

Good comeback on the repair. Scribe or draw a few lines in on the new piece and it will be hard to tell it was damaged.

 

Thanks,

 

Harvey

Thanks Harvey, I will have to try that and see if it helps camouflage my boo boo.

 

I thought to myself when I looked at the box cover, Who uses 1/8" to 1.45'.

Where did the 1.45' come from? thats unusual, or at least it seems to me to be, usless its a metric conversion scale?

comes out 3.175mm to 441.96mm so not likely and 139.2 would still be and oddball ratio.

 

anyway you slice it, its small. have the macro and penny handy.

I have no idea how they came up with that oddball scale but it must have made sense to someone?  Maybe they made the box first and had to figure out how to make the kit fit inside?

[Script]

Jared,

 

Scale is a bit confusing......    my Bob is shown as 1/160 (very close to 'n' scale.....)

 

Yours appears to be almost identical.....

 

Hmmmmmmmmm...........

 

Jim

 

 

 

[jarero]

Jared,

 

Scale is a bit confusing......    my Bob is shown as 1/160 (very close to 'n' scale.....)

 

Yours appears to be almost identical.....

 

Hmmmmmmmmm...........

 

Jim

 

It is a bit odd seeing as how the length of the two completed models are almost identical yet they are different scales?  Maybe steamboats stretch with use and you are building the younger non-stretched version?  Makes sense to me!

Edited April 22, 2013 by jarero

[jarero]

Well after righting my boat since capsizing it I got back to work making some parts for the deck.

 

I had to cut out 24 of these small curved pieces that are used to make a lip around the outside edge of the main deck:

 

Staying organized:

 

 

For the straight sections of the deck the instructions said to use 1/16" square basswood. In retrospect I should have used the straight square basswood for the curved pieces that I cut out by just bending it to the shape required. More on that later when they are installed.

 

Now on to the deck support braces that will be mounted on the underside of the main deck. I have to wonder if these braces carried one heck of a load since there is suck a large overhang of the deck from the hull.

 

These were cut out of one of the pre printed sheets in the kit:

 

[jarero]

Now on to painting the hull and bottom side of the main deck...

 

You will also notice that I have drilled the holes for mounting the boat on its stand at this point:

 

 

 

Edited April 22, 2013 by jarero

[overdale]

Jared, If I might make a suggestion.? You could get the windows and doors printed on acetate. The type used for overhead projectors. You can get it done at Staples etc.

 

The 'glass' effect is very good if you surround them with a wooden frame and much neater than trying to make the mullions from wood at that scale.

 

Dan.

Edited April 22, 2013 by overdale

[jarero]

Jared, If I might make a suggestion.? You could get the windows and doors printed on acetate. The type used for overhead projectors. You can get it done at Staples etc.

 

The 'glass' effect is very good if you surround them with a wooden frame and much neater than trying to make the mullions from wood at that scale.

 

Dan.

Thanks for the suggestion Dan. I have already attempted a number methods and created some prototypes but none yet with your method. I will give it a shot and see how it looks.

[trippwj]

This looks to be an interesting build - a very strange scale, but guess that's what you get for buying an old kit?

 

Nice recovery on the repair job - look forward to watching this one progress.

[Script]

Jared,

 

Out of curiosity, is your main deck flat?  I had to layer some progressively shorter pieces and then sand them in order to put a slight slant in the bow and stern main deck....

 

My paddlewheel section was open to the edge and I had to add the bracing on the outside.

 

Jim

 

[jarero]

This looks to be an interesting build - a very strange scale, but guess that's what you get for buying an old kit?

 

Nice recovery on the repair job - look forward to watching this one progress.

 

Thanks Wayne. Oh and hurry up with that Ranger build since I need a good build log to follow on that one (another birthday present).

 

Jared,

 

Out of curiosity, is your main deck flat?  I had to layer some progressively shorter pieces and then sand them in order to put a slight slant in the bow and stern main deck....

 

My paddlewheel section was open to the edge and I had to add the bracing on the outside.

 

Jim

 

I had to add the contour to the top of the hull prior to gluing the main deck pieces down. There wasn't anything in the instructions that spelled out this step but a side profile drawing of the hull clearly showed it was contoured.

[capnharv2]

Regarding scale. . .

 

I looked up the overall length of the Robert E Lee-285' Since your model looks to be about 2' long, that does work out to 1:142

 

Ya know Jered, it's close to scale of Sara's Harriet Lane, and the period is similar. Does Sara have any spare parts you can use??

 

Harvey

[jarero]

Regarding scale. . .

 

I looked up the overall length of the Robert E Lee-285' Since your model looks to be about 2' long, that does work out to 1:142

 

Ya know Jered, it's close to scale of Sara's Harriet Lane, and the period is similar. Does Sara have any spare parts you can use??

 

Harvey

No spare parts left over that I am aware of, although I could sneak down to the docks late at night and help myself to some parts. I wonder how those canons would look on a river boat?

 

Promise not to tell her about my plot to plunder?

[trippwj]

Not sure the cannons from the HL would be any match for that mortar Jim used on his....

Edited April 22, 2013 by trippwj

[jarero]

Not sure the cannons from the HL would be any match for that mortar Jim used on his....

Well in that case I could stick the Bob's traditional approach by dumping all the cargo and making a run for it!

[Script]

Jared,

 

Worry not...the Bobs cannot harm one another......Something to do with ectoplasmic displacement.......... :D :D :D :D

 

Jim

 

[trippwj]

 

Thanks Wayne. Oh and hurry up with that Ranger build since I need a good build log to follow on that one (another birthday present).

Guess I need to face up to the challenge of planking that hull...have been putting it off for "a few" months now...

 

Dang - that shipyard there must be getting pretty crowded about now!

[jarero]

Jared,

 

Worry not...the Bobs cannot harm one another......Something to do with ectoplasmic displacement.......... :D :D :D :D

 

Jim

 

I think that holds true as long as you don't cross the streams?

 

Guess I need to face up to the challenge of planking that hull...have been putting it off for "a few" months now...

 

Dang - that shipyard there must be getting pretty crowded about now!

 

I have it bookmarked and ready when you are!

 

The shipyard, in a short span of time, has gone from empty to a nice collection of wood sticks in boxes tucked in the closet.  "I will have the strength not to buy any more kits....I will have the strength to not buy any more kits....I will have the......"

Edited April 22, 2013 by jarero

[slagoon]

No spare parts left over that I am aware of, although I could sneak down to the docks late at night and help myself to some parts. I wonder how those canons would look on a river boat?

 

Promise not to tell her about my plot to plunder?

And that is precisely why my canons are glued down!

[themadchemist]

You may have the strength not to buy kits but does Sarah. If I recall she had 20 something on her wish list.

and Sarah put the Pug on Guard dog duty watching the HL and the chihuahua watching Jarero,

 

Its a funny thought, rather the fighting over who get the remote or the last brownie, it'll be who gets to build the next kit. First one done is a rotten egg, ready set go

[jarero]

You may have the strength not to buy kits but does Sarah. If I recall she had 20 something on her wish list.

and Sarah put the Pug on Guard dog duty watching the HL and the chihuahua watching Jarero,

 

Its a funny thought, rather the fighting over who get the remote or the last brownie, it'll be who gets to build the next kit. First one done is a rotten egg, ready set go

We have to be strong for each other!  Right now we "only" have 5 kits that aren't started yet. 

 

We definitely don't fight over the remote or the last brownie and we have the kits divided up already but we do fight over the glue or tweezers or dremel or.....  I think we need to buy more tools .

[jarero]

Ok, on with the show.....

 

Installing the deck support beams:

 

 

 

 

 

Done!

Edited April 24, 2013 by jarero

[jarero]

Installing the lip around the main deck using the 24 curved pieces I cut out earlier plus the use of some 1/16" square basswood for the straight sections. I used the cargo posts as a guide to help verify they would fit in the gaps when they are installed later:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trying to keep the pieces organized during paint:

[trippwj]

Coming along very nicely, Jared!  Thanks for posting these!

[jarero]

trippwj, on 24 Apr 2013 - 08:55 AM, said:

Coming along very nicely, Jared! Thanks for posting these!

Thanks Wayne!

 

Now we move on to my next BIG mistake with this build...

 

The instructions said to put a clear coating on the decks like a varnish. I tried this in a couple of test areas that would be covered later and it just looked so lifeless and terrible. I figured that some stain might help it out some so I also tried a couple of test spots that I thought looked nice in comparison. The problem started once I saw the stain over a larger area and realized not only was it way too dark but it emphasized the grain of the wood which is not something I wanted to see when working at this scale. You will be able to see what I mean with the pictures. In the end I wish I had used a very, very light stain and then a flat varnish. It has grown on me a little as I have worked on it but it is still far from ideal. I am hopeful that the grain will be less evident as I add more and more parts to the deck.

 

 

 

 

[ScottRC]

Cannot wait to see more.  Especially when the deck housings wheels start to take shape. 

[themadchemist]

I think it looks fine.

Wood grain is just something that you can't scale. Plus I agree the deck furnishings will break up the grain lines some what. Either way I like the warmer dark stain better then the unstained.

 

I also like your numbered paint board idea. Your moving fast on this one, lots of progress to see. She's taking shape nicely.