Chaperon by vossy - Model Shipways - 1:48

[vossy]

Ok, so I was given this kit as a present last Christmas and have so far resisted the very strong urge to start it whilst I am still completing my current project, which can be found here - https://modelshipworld.com/index.php?/topic/17564-mississippi-1870-riverboat-by-vossy-sergal-150/&

 

Given the stage I am at with Mississippi, and deciding I needed a really good birthday treat, I thought I may as well make a start. I will be finishing the aforementioned model in conjunction with this build, but as they are so obviously now at very different construction points I thought it might break up the monotony of one build with something fresh.

 

There are a number of really great build logs of the Chaperon on this site, and trust me I will be getting as much info as I can from all of them as I proceed. The one thing I noticed however was that not one of them did a "what's in the box" type introduction. So by way of a start, here's a look at what you get for your $$$$'s

 

Minimal box art, but it tells a brief history of the vessel, and more importantly, the model specs.

 

Parts list and instructions are first rate I reckon. All in English and easy follow. Plan sheets are full size, and thus very large. I haven't photographed every individual sheet, but I hope you get the idea.

 

 

The lifeboats are metal; which I don't really like, but I figure with a nice cover they will come up ok on the finished model.

 

 

There are many laser cut boards of various sections of the boat. I will get to this later in another post, but one thing I have noticed is an excessive amount of char on the parts once they are removed from the board. The parts themselves seem to be of very good quality otherwise, but it is necessary to remove the char before gluing.

 

 

Also on this model you have to hand paint the name. It is slightly etched into the panel, so hopefully it wont be too much drama.

 

 

One thing I don't like however is the pre-scribed decks. I love the way random planks show the different grain patterns of timber side by side. unfortunately with these you don't get that contrast. Also I don't like 100% uniformity on wooden vessels of any age. In my opinion there would have been a lot of difference from one plank to the next. Also, these scribed planks have no length. I will deal with that when I get to that stage.

 

 

 

The kit has a very nice sheet of P.E. to do the fancy bits. My particular box was shipped in extremely good condition and the sheet was perfectly flat upon opening. Nothing worse than opening a box to find bent P.E.

 

 

I did a fairly detailed inventory of the supplied wood for hull planking etc. Seems to all be in very good condition and of a high standard. Also, I cant see that I have been short changed on the amount of any. Though, this kit is not as generous as the Sergal Riverboat Kit when it comes to materials. Something i'm not overly keen on is the solid dowels for the chimneys, but again, I will deal with this when I get to that point.

 

 

And finally you get this long brass, very fine rod in this cylinder. Have no idea what its for yet, but it's packaged well!

 

 

So that's the box contents. Hope it was of use to some who maybe might be thinking of building this boat.

 

Cheers

 

Chris

 

 

 

[ccoyle]

As you said, I don't think anyone has done an unboxing of this kit before. The contents do indeed look very good. You might consider modifying your first post entry by adding a few more thoughts and commentary and adding it to the kit reviews section. Good luck on your project!

[vossy]

20 hours ago, ccoyle said:

As you said, I don't think anyone has done an unboxing of this kit before. The contents do indeed look very good. You might consider modifying your first post entry by adding a few more thoughts and commentary and adding it to the kit reviews section. Good luck on your project!

Hi mate. Not sure what else you want me to add??? I am happy with the kit in general, bar the couple of gripes I have pointed out. Pretty hard to review a kit unless you have finished it I reckon. Just my opinion. If you want to add my first post to the section you mention, by all means do so.

 

Cheers

 

Chris

 

[cog]

Pime seating, I'll be in for the ride, Chris. Looks like a fun kit to build

Edited September 15, 2018 by cog

[Louie da fly]

Great to see this one under way, Chris. A whole new adventure!

 

Steven

[Cathead]

Wooohooo, just noticed you've officially started this. I'm fully onboard with realistic steamboat builds here on MSW. Very excited to see what you do with her, especially with regard to upgrading the decks and so on.

 

For what it's worth, technically those boats aren't really "lifeboats", they're primarily workboats used by the crew. They could certainly be used to save a few passengers in a wreck situation, but I don't think that's their primary purpose (maybe Kurt will correct me if he finds this, he's the resident Chaperon expert). Safety wasn't much of a consideration on these boats, especially earlier in the era (the Chaperon  is a bit later than my core knowledge). Moreover, wrecks were rarely deadly for lots of people as most rivers were fairly shallow and steamers that hit a snag just tended to settle to the bottom or make it to shore before truly sinking, meaning those on board could retreat to the upper decks and await developments. Most steamboat wrecks that killed lots of people involved boiler explosions, and at that point the boats were often kindling anyway.

[vossy]

Thanks for following along. Be prepared to be bombarded with questions as I go! Anyway the first thing we need to do of course is construct the basic hull. Here is the first hurdle. Well not really a hurdle, but more of an annoyance with this particular kit. CHAR! With a capital C!

 

The photo's don't really show up the level, or darkness of it too well, but being a 6+ kit builder, this is easily the worst I have ever seen.

 

What it means in reality is that a simple task like assembling the hull and false bulkheads is turned into a long and tedious job whereby I have to sand every nook and cranny before anything will stick. This is a massive pain in the butt, given there are about 30 of these to do!

 

Having said that, I am in love with this vessel, so I forgive her and the manufacturer who produced her for me!

 

 

 

Nothing has been glued yet. Way too much sanding needs to be done. Hope you all stay tuned.

 

Cheers

 

Chris

 

[cog]

hope it does still keep some cohesion after sanding ... some of those "ribs" look more like a burnt pork chop from the barbie ... I would try to take off as little as possible in the centre to try and keep it as tight as possible... you may need some filling though (wood slivers?) if you have to sand it down considerably

[vossy]

Hey Carl, yeah it is easily the most burnt I have ever come across. Its nothing more than annoying though. I just wanted to alert newer builders to the fact that you do need to remove some of it to get good adhesion to other parts. I wont need any wood slivers as I wont be sanding them down too much.

 

Cheers

 

Chris

 

[vossy]

Getting all the bulkheads in place. A couple a bit out of whack, but the stringers will straighten them up. Most of the work just involved removing the char!

 

 

Have also checked and the stringers will correct the warp in the keel. Looks pretty dodgy at this stage I know, but I am 100% confident she will turn out just fine under the right hands!

 

 

When you get to bulkhead number 5 the clever folk at Model Shipways decided to make it a bit easier to fair the hull prior to planking by adding these really cool and useful guidelines! In my opinion, a few more kit manufactures could follow suit. Specially with beginner kits. 

 

I don't have any data to back up this statement, but I bet more than a few novice builders have abandoned a build because they didn't fair the hull and thus planking became a nightmare that was too much to overcome.

 

I reckon, by doing this on beginner kits it would at least instil the basic principle of fairing before planking.  I don't expect a Caldercraft 1:72 Victory to have this feature. If you are tackling one of those you better know how to do this already. But for a beginner feature, for me its a no brainer.

 

Cheers

 

Chris

 

[cog]

Tidied those up nicely, Chris

[Cathead]

Agreed on the fairing lines, I've seen them before too and they're great. Pros can disregard them if they like, but it doesn't hurt to have them on there.

 

Steamboat hulls always look like some kind of snake vertebra model at this stage.

[vossy]

So the bulkheads are faired and now the planking begins

 

 

As you all can see I managed to get one of them out of square! Looks bad on with the camera, but I don't envisage this being an insurmountable to overcome . Having said that, this is a single planked hull, but being painted I think it should come up ok. The error was my fault. Not the kits. So far loving this manufacturer. 

 

 

Looks pretty straight when you look along the length. Overall, happy with it up to this stage.

 

 

Cheers

 

Chris

 

[cog]

such a length ... must be hard to get that straight without a keel  fixed  to a building board!

[Cathead]

Chris, how's this build coming? I hope you're still at it.

[vossy]

Hi Eric, all building has slowed to a trickle as I have just started a new job which requires a lot of technical training, so by the time I get home I am pretty much zonked out. I have another 2 weeks training left after which I go on shift. So probably in a few weeks I hope to be right back into it. I will more than likely finish the Mississippi first though. Up to the smoke stack stage with her so she shouldn't take too long once i'm back to it, then Chaperon will kick off fully. Thanks for the interest.

 

Cheers

 

Chris

 

[mbp521]

On 9/30/2018 at 12:38 AM, vossy said:

 

So the bulkheads are faired and now the planking begins

 

 

As you all can see I managed to get one of them out of square! Looks bad on with the camera, but I don't envisage this being an insurmountable to overcome . Having said that, this is a single planked hull, but being painted I think it should come up ok. The error was my fault. Not the kits. So far loving this manufacturer. 

 

Chris,

 

Very nice start. I had the same thing happen to me, on or about the same area. Funny thing is I thought I made every effort to assure all bulkheads were square. Good thing is at least it will be hidden and doesn’t affect the integrity of the hull planks. Hopefully you will be able to get back to your build soon. 

 

-Brian

Edited April 10, 2019 by mbp521