Chaperon 1884 by mbp521 - FINISHED - Model Shipways - Scale 1:48 - First Build Log

[mbp521]

23 hours ago, Canute said:

Brian, after Cathead(Eric's) endorsement in his Arabia log, I'm jumping on this bandwagon. Very nice work. 👍

 

If you haven't already done so, I'd paint the steam whistle brass/gold color. The whistles on steam engines were usually brass, at least on the railroads.

Ken,

 

Welcome aboard and thanks for the praise. (And thanks to Cathead for the endorsement. His detailed work on the Bertrand and Arabia inspires me).

 

The scratch whistles I made were from brass tubing and I turned a couple of caps for them from a 1/4" walnut dowel, but I was not happy with the result. I have been rethinking how I want to cap them off. I would love to make the caps out of brass as well, but my metalworking skills are pretty limited. I'm sure I'll come up with something. However, I definitely plan to have them brass/gold in color with whatever idea I come up with.

 

3 hours ago, cog said:

I really enjoyed following your build from a quiet corner upto the start of your pilot house ... you really make that shine, such marvelous details you added ... very well done!

Carl,

 

Glad to have you on board as well. Thank you for the kind words on my build. I felt that I would not do this kit any justice just leaving the pilot house the way it was. On a model of this quality it deserved something better, and with all of the input on this forum there is an abundance of great ideas to help add to the detail.  As I go along, I'll try not to disappoint.

 

Thanks again for looking.

 

-Brian

[Canute]

Brian, you could look for 1/48 scale model railroad parts. Steam locomotives needed steam whistles. Not being a modeler in that scale, I can't steer you to a specific brand. I can give you a few sites to check out.

Klein's up in Baltimore: https://www.modeltrainstuff.com/

English/Bowser's shop in central PA: http://www.toytrainheaven.com/

Wiseman's in Kentucky: http://wisemanmodelservices.com/

 

Or you could just paint them with gold paint. As we say, it's your model.

[Griphos]

For the whistle, one possibility would be to use solid rod, file the sound hole as you have done on the tubing and just paint the hole black. Might not look very different at this scale. 

[mbp521]

Ken/Griphos,

 

Thank you very much for the links and input. They very much helped me along the way and here is what I finally came up with.

 

As I have said before, I am no metal-smith and after several failed attempts at trying to solder the brass pieces, here is what I finally came up with for my whistle. Below are some of the ideas I used for my design. 

 

At first I was just going to use the kit supplied whistle base and mount my scratch built brass ones to it, but after looking at it, I thought it looked a little cheesy. So, using two different sizes of brass tubing, some small aluminum tubing and small brass rod, I set out on my whistle adventure. 

The two whistles are made with 1/8" brass tubing, the mounts and steam pipe are made from 3/32" brass tubing. Since I was not able to successfully solder the pieces together, I took a small piece of 1/16" aluminum tubing and drilled through the whistle mounts and CA'd them all together. Conveniently, all three pieces of tubing stacked nicely into each other.

 

Since the tubing sizes fit so neatly together it was a lot easier to get the style I was looking for. I used a small 1/32" brass rod for the steam lever and hammered out the end to make the loop for the pull rope.

 

Next I pieced it all together.

 

Then finally I had what I was looking for. I was going to use a blacken-it for the lower portion of the whistle, but with the residual solder and CA still on the tubing, it just wouldn't do right. So I just painted it all black.

 

Here is the end result installed on the pilot house with the pull rope attached.

I think I am happy with the results. Now on to planking the main deck.

 

Thank you for looking.

 

-Brian

[Canute]

Great looking whistles there, Brian.

[Griphos]

Excellent solution!

[SandyBay]

Very nice, they certainly look the part.

[mbp521]

Thank you everyone for the compliments and likes. I am rather pleased with the way they turned out. 

 

So as I was working on the main deck planking, another thought occurred to me. How were the deck planks fastened to the substructure? Given that many of the packet steamers were built on a shoestring budget and time was not a virtue, was the time taken to trenail each board in or were they simply just nailed down?  I did some looking at some of the other build logs but couldn’t come up with a definitive answer.  

 

The ships of sail side of me wants to trenail them in (mostly because I love the look), but the steamboat side of me wants to keep my build as close as possible to the original (even though I have strayed a little from authenticity). I know that it’s my build and I should do as I please, but I am always open to others opinions.

 

Please feel free to chime in on what direction I should take. 

 

-Brian

[kurtvd19]

Nailed in place.  The builders were not shipwrights.  In the period of the Chaperon the nails would have been cut nails.

Kurt

[mbp521]

17 hours ago, kurtvd19 said:

Nailed in place.  The builders were not shipwrights.  In the period of the Chaperon the nails would have been cut nails.

Kurt

Kurt,  

 

Thanks so so much for the info. Kind of what I figured. I guess I just like having confirmation from the experts. 

 

-Brian

[mbp521]

Greetings everyone,

 

It's been a little bit since my last post. Life and work have been in the way this week. We've been in the process of building a barn and the prep work is taking up some of my shipbuilding time. It'll all be worth it in the end as the barn will eventually house my new shipyard.

 

Anyway, I finally received my planking material after a month of waiting and was finally able to get the main deck planked. Thanks to Kurt's assistance in letting me know that steamboat decks were nailed in place and not trenailed. I did a little digging on the Arabia website and found that they have a deck section setup with the boats capstan and anchor displayed. I noticed that on this display that you can actually see the nails that hold the deck planks in place. 

 

Since I love the look of a nice trenailed deck, I figured I could do something similar to trenailing with the deck nails. In the picture of the Arabia display you can clearly see the nails lined up in a neat row, so I figured I could simulate the same with a fine point Sharpie pen and a ruler.

 

After I had started planking the deck as I do all of my builds, I run a Sharpie pen down the edge of each plank to simulate caulking. It wasn't until I had several rows laid down before I realized that I hadn't done my research or asked the question of, were steamboat decks caulked? Well, a little too late to ask the question now so pressed on with the way I was going. My thoughts after the fact were that steamboat usually carried cargo in their holds below deck so they were probably caulked to prevent damage to the goods stored there. Whether they were or were not caulked, mine will be.

 

Any way, enough of my ramblings. For my deck planks, I cut each strip into 6" lengths to get the effect of the scaled 25' to 30' boards used on the real boats. The strips I purchased were 1/8" x 1/32" basswood which matched up to the laser cut plank widths on the deck panels, so keeping them lined up was pretty easy. I also used the empty space behind the machine room walls to create a little jig where I could line up the deck planks on edge to sand them smooth and blacken them with a Sharpie. Worked out pretty well.

 

The planking definitely looks better than the simulated laser cut planks on the deck panels. Especially at the finger joint. I'm truly glad I decided to go this route.

 

When it came to the area around the boiler I took a couple of 1/8" 1/16" strips of basswood to line each side as waterways to keep rainwater from flowing under the boiler. Maybe not truly authentic but it added another nice little touch. 

After a little sanding and a couple of coats of semi-gloss poly the finished product looks pretty nice.

The stair case, boiler and machine room walls were temp installed to give me an idea how everything was going to look with natural wood deck. I'm liking it.

 

My next task is to scratch build a capstan. I really don't care for the one included with the kit. We'll see how this one goes.

 

So that's all for now. Thanks again for looking.

 

-Brian

[cog]

GReat result on the deck, Brian

[Cathead]

Real planking always looks better. Are you leaving it the natural wood color or planning to paint/stain the typical red color?

[mbp521]

18 hours ago, cog said:

GReat result on the deck, Brian

Carl,

 

Thank you. I am quite pleased with it as well.

 

9 hours ago, Cathead said:

Real planking always looks better. Are you leaving it the natural wood color or planning to paint/stain the typical red color?

Eric,

 

I'm going to leave it as is (natural with a couple of coats of poly). All of the builds on MSW have the typical Red or Brown decks so I thought I'd change things up a bit.

 

Besides, if I paint it now it will hide all of my nail heads that I worked so hard to put in.

 

-Brian

[mbp521]

Greetings everyone,

 

I am finally back with an update. Again, life and other projects have taken up some of my building time but have managed to squeeze in a little work in my spare time. 

 

Work has progressed on the main deck. The walls and staircase have been installed, along with coal piles and steam tubes. For the coal piles I just used a little Talus aggregate held together with scenery adhesive. I found a parts tray that was the perfect size to fit neatly in the cubbyholes alongside the staircase. I simply filed the parts tray, poured in the adhesive, let it dry then removed it and shot it with light a coat of flat black spray paint.

 

 

Another feature that I wasn't completely satisfied with on the model was the way the walls ended just behind the boiler. To me it didn't seem structurally sound and needed a "little more" detail. I decided to finish off the opening and add that little more touch by installing cargo crates to help dress it up with more detail.

 

Next I installed the pressure relief valve manifold on the boiler and the steam tube back to the mechanical room. I added a couple of hangers to support the steam tube as well.

 

I'm currently still working out how I want to build my capstan. So far I have made a couple of attempts that I am not completely satisfied with. Hopefully soon I'll  have a version that I will be happy with and get those pictures posted soon. In the meantime I'll start work on the boiler deck structure and features and see where that takes me.

 

Anyway, that's all for now. Thanks for looking.

 

-Brian

 

Edited June 4, 2019 by mbp521

[kurtvd19]

The hangers for the steam pipes are a neat detail that you have added.

Kurt

[Cathead]

I agree with Kurt, and it's a good reminder that I need to do this on my own build as well. Like the crates as well.

[mbp521]

Greetings everyone,

 

It has been a while since my last post here, but I am finally back with an update on my Chaperon build. Finally having successfully married my daughter off and moving into our new house, life has settled down a bit where I can get a little build time in. 

 

Not much work has been accomplished, and unfortunately since I was so excited to get back to building again I failed to take a lot of pictures of the work being done. But here is what I have so far.

 

The boiler deck has been installed. And as with the main deck, I was not happy with the finger joint on the deck panels. So I did the same as with the main deck and planked over the prescribed lines and detailed the nails. 

Once the planking was completed, I applied several coats of semi-gloss poly and added the runner boards for the cabin walls.

After that I started installing the stationaries. I created me a couple of jigs (as suggested by Kurt in his Chaperon build article), one to help get an even height between decks and the other to get the correct extension height of the stations above the boiler deck.

 

With all of the stations in place I'll work on getting the bull rail brackets in place then start the arduous task of building the cabin walls with all the little battens. 

 

 Thanks for looking. I hope to be back soon with more updates. This time I will be sure to take more pictures along the way.

 

-Brian

 

Edited July 29, 2019 by mbp521

[cog]

Congratulations on your daughters wedding. Enjoy your new house.

 

Despite the "limited" number of  photographs, nice progress

[Cathead]

Nice! Great to see you back at work. Is your new home still in "far north Texas"? I worked in the Panhandle for a summer after college, at Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument and Lake Meredith National Recreation Area, doing geological surveys for both parks as well as public interpretive work.

[mbp521]

10 hours ago, cog said:

Congratulations on your daughters wedding. Enjoy your new house.

 

Despite the "limited" number of  photographs, nice progress

Cog, 

 

Thank you for the kind words. I will definitely enjoy the new house. Just need for the weather to cool down a bit so I can get my new shipyard in the barn up and running. The Admiral was kind enough to "loan" me the guest bedroom for the time being, but I'm sure it wont be long before she pulls rank on me and I have to pack it all up again.

 

5 hours ago, Cathead said:

Nice! Great to see you back at work. Is your new home still in "far north Texas"? I worked in the Panhandle for a summer after college, at Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument and Lake Meredith National Recreation Area, doing geological surveys for both parks as well as public interpretive work.

Eric,

 

Most definitely glad to be back at it.

 

We didn't move far (about 600'). We built a new house and barn on our property, a project which we started early last September, but with all the rain Mother Nature has been gracing us with, put us behind by several months. So I am still in far north Texas, but on the eastern side about two miles from the Texas/Oklahoma border on Lake Texoma. Roughly 80 miles north of Dallas or about as far north as you can go without hitting red dirt. 

 

-Brian

[mbp521]

Hello again Everyone,

 

It's nice to be back at it again, albeit at a slow pace, but at least I'm getting something accomplished.

 

The bull rail brackets have been installed on the stationing, I think I am going to leave the bull rails off until I'm just about done. There are still several things that I need to do before installing them and they'll just be in the way. 

 

Work then began on the boiler deck walls. Getting the radius formed just right was pretty simple with the braces provided with the kit. Cutting the walls just right to where they would form around the braces without cutting all the way through was the biggest challenge.

Then came the tedious part of the build, adding all of the battens. Monotony at its best. I may have dozed off a time or two because I found a few that were not quite on the prescribed lines. Nothing a little paint can't hide though.

Besides adding all the battens, I think the toughest part of this build was getting the front wall lined up even and straight. The side walls had a slight bow to them which caused the curved part of the wall to want to lean out. Not a huge problem that a few clamps and rubber bands couldn't solve. 

All the doors were added as well. I decided to go with red door frames. I was thinking that they just blended into the walls too much and pretty much disappeared with them painted white. I just need to go in and add the door knobs as soon as I can find my small beads that I use for knobs. I hate moving, I can never find anything when I need it.

I also started working on the forward stairs. I am contemplating adding hand rails to them as well as railings around the sides on the main deck stairs. Seems to me that it's sort of a hazard to leave them just open on the sides for some unsuspecting passenger (or crew) to inadvertently stumble over the side and down the steps. I know that OSHA wasn't around back then, but it seems that with a boat that carried passengers, some sort of safety features would be in place. Still not sure of how I am going to do them, I see a little more research in the making.

 Finally, I decided that I was going to go with lighting things up. I did this on my King of the Mississippi build and liked the results, so I figured why not. I have some leftover LED's so I'm going to put them to good use. Only this time I am going to make it battery powered instead of AC. So I placed a few LED's along the main deck in places that would highlight some of the features on the deck.

I'm going to start working on the side staircase and making some bulkheads for the cabin walls. The supports that I have on there right now are not taking all of the bow out of the walls like I want them to. I figure about four should get them straight enough. We'll see. Now to go hunting for my door knob beads. Only four boxes to go through.

 

As always, thanks for looking.

-Brian

Edited August 6, 2019 by mbp521

[mbp521]

Good morning everyone,

 

A little progress has been made on my Chaperon.

 

I was finally able to locate my door knob beads (of course it was in the last box I opened) and got them placed.  Now all of the rooms and hallways on the Boiler Deck are accessible. 

 

I also completed the bulkheads to help straighten the walls. Seems to have done the job. Not only will this align the walls but it will give me a better base for the Hurricane Deck.

 

I also added railing for the forward staircase coming up from the Main Deck to the Boiler Deck. I modeled it after the plans for the ones on the Hurricane Deck. Nothing too fancy, just thought it needed something besides drop off to the stairs below.

 

I found a very interesting site for the University of Wisconsin. https://uwdc.library.wisc.edu/collections/LaCrosseSteamboat/ They have a complete library of Historic Steamboat Pictures. There are several of the Chaperon that give an excellent view of what she looked like in her hey-day.

 

While looking at the photos of her, I noticed a little detail that I though would add a interesting touch of realism. In the photo below (and several others) I noticed that there are several vertical rub rails placed on the Main Deck stationaries. My assumption is that these were used when docking next to other steamboats to prevent damage to the sides. I fashioned these rub rails from some leftover walnut I had from a previous project and blacked a few brass nails to simulate the attachment bolts.

 

Finally, I completed the aft Boiler Deck staircase. From what I can tell at this point, there will need to be some adjustment made to the inboard wall. It seems to be a little thick. When I dry fit the Hurricane Deck I am not able to get the access hole to line up properly. It looks as though the inboard wall will need to be shave down a tad to get it to look right. I'll work on that.

 

Currently work has begun on the mast, but hasn't been completed. I'll post more pictures of it next time when I'm done with it.

 

On a side note, I have been seriously contemplating doing a scratch build and I have been weighing several options. Ironclad have always been a fascination of mine since I was a kid and visited Vicksburg National Park and saw the USS Cairo. I would love to do a build of the Cairo, but unfortunately there are no large scale wood kits of her only small scale resin models. I've found a few build logs on other sites of 48th scale scratch builds where they mention plans obtained from the National Military Park at Vicksburg but I haven't been able to find a purchasable copy of them.

 

Another option is a side-wheel packet steamer. Every time I view Eric "Catheads" build log of the Arabia, it stirs my interest even more on building a side-wheeler. I was scrolling through Facebook the other day and I ran across an old picture of the side-wheeler Selma. She was primarily used in the Red river of Louisiana and other small tributaries of the Mississippi. With the exception of the picture below and a few other drawings, I have not been able to find a whole lot on her.

 

Either way, I still have plenty of time to decide while I complete my Chaperon.

 

As always, thank you for looking.

 

-Brian

[Cathead]

Great work! Love the added bumpers, they're definitely a realistic touch.

 

Regarding Cairo, have you looked at BlueJacket's kit? It's mostly wood (you can view a kit-contents video at that link). I'm strongly considering that as my next project. Also, there's a fantastic large-scale build of the USS St. Louis (a sister ship to Cairo) being build by the Gateway Model Shipcrafters club in St. Louis. As far as I know they're relying heavily on Cairo plans, so you could contact them for advice and resources. I suggets reading their log as a reference; I've seen the in-progress model in person and it's amazing (and huge). They've been maintaining the log intermittently lately but I can put you in direct email contact if you want.

 

Regarding a sidewheeler prototype, there are certainly lots to choose from. I love that UW site as a resource; it's where I found the Mary McDonald photo collection I've been using as a reference for Arabia. I also have a copy of Way's Packet Directory, a nearly comprehensive listing of all known interior riverboats with varying levels of information on each one (history, dimensions, tonnage, masters, features, sale history, etc.), so I'd be happy look up any given craft for you.

 

For example, there are three entries for sidewheelers named Selma. The first was built in 1845, served out of Mobile, AL, and was lost in a collision in 1850 (here's an 1846 newspaper clipping about her). The second was built in 1853 under a different name but was renamed in 1856, primarily serving out of New Orleans until being dismantled in 1860. The third was built in 1867 and also operated out of New Orleans (here's an 1868 sales notice from the New Orleans Times-Picayune). The latter two were roughly the size of Arabia while the first one was a little squirt about 1/3 the tonnage.  I'd guess yours is the third one but hard to say without more info.

[mbp521]

On 8/17/2019 at 11:24 AM, Cathead said:

Great work! Love the added bumpers, they're definitely a realistic touch.

 

Regarding Cairo, have you looked at BlueJacket's kit? It's mostly wood (you can view a kit-contents video at that link). I'm strongly considering that as my next project. Also, there's a fantastic large-scale build of the USS St. Louis (a sister ship to Cairo) being build by the Gateway Model Shipcrafters club in St. Louis. As far as I know they're relying heavily on Cairo plans, so you could contact them for advice and resources. I suggets reading their log as a reference; I've seen the in-progress model in person and it's amazing (and huge). They've been maintaining the log intermittently lately but I can put you in direct email contact if you want.

 

Regarding a sidewheeler prototype, there are certainly lots to choose from. I love that UW site as a resource; it's where I found the Mary McDonald photo collection I've been using as a reference for Arabia. I also have a copy of Way's Packet Directory, a nearly comprehensive listing of all known interior riverboats with varying levels of information on each one (history, dimensions, tonnage, masters, features, sale history, etc.), so I'd be happy look up any given craft for you.

 

For example, there are three entries for sidewheelers named Selma. The first was built in 1845, served out of Mobile, AL, and was lost in a collision in 1850 (here's an 1846 newspaper clipping about her). The second was built in 1853 under a different name but was renamed in 1856, primarily serving out of New Orleans until being dismantled in 1860. The third was built in 1867 and also operated out of New Orleans (here's an 1868 sales notice from the New Orleans Times-Picayune). The latter two were roughly the size of Arabia while the first one was a little squirt about 1/3 the tonnage.  I'd guess yours is the third one but hard to say without more info.

Eric,

 

I have seen the BlueJacket kit. It's a relatively nice kit, unfortunately it is a little small for what I'm looking for.

 

The USS St. Louis build is a beast. I wouldn't have anywhere to put something like, except maybe my pond. Although, building a ship on that large a scale would be an awesome treat. If only I had the time (and funding).

 

I'm looking to build something in the 1/48 size or just a little smaller like this one:  http://www.modelshipbuilder.com/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?5406.0 . 

 

In reference to the Selma, the photograph that I found is circa 1868. It was in with a group of other pictures that were discovered in France that were taken by Dr. Emeric deNux when he visited Avoyelles Parish, LA in 1868. I would have to agree with you on it being the third one since the other two were either destroyed or dismantled before then. So whatever information you have on this one, please feel free to pass along. I'd love to know more about her. 

 

-Brian

[mbp521]

Howdy Everyone,

 

It's been a while since I have had any updates. Unfortunately, some of the rough treatment of my body as a youngster has finally caught up with me. I had to have shoulder surgery  which has put me out of commission for some time. Kinda hard to work on tedious details with one arm. Any how, I still didn't let me keep me totally out of the shipyard but it did keep the work to a minimum. 

 

First thing I need to do is apologize for a couple of errors that I made on my last update. I had accidentally stumbled across the UoW LaCross Steamboat website, but as I read in more detail of Kurt's Chaperon build article, I noticed that he had mentioned this site in this article and I either overlooked it in reading or just read it and completely forgot about it. I just want to make sure that credit goes to where it belongs.

 

Secondly, I had added the fenders to the main deck stationaries from a photo I had found on the above mentioned UoW LaCross website, thinking it was an omission on the kit. After looking more carefully, the fenders are actually included. I really need to pay more attention to details.

 

Now that I have that out of the way, time for some progress updates.

 

I tried picking a few sections that would enable me to work with one had so I did some work on the stage, Hurricane deck and some boiler deck details.

 

The details in the construction of the stage were a little lacking, especially in comparison to the actual boat. The LaCross website had a great photo showing the details of the underside construction of the stage, showing cross braces along with the planking.

 

The model plans call for 20 - 1/16" x 1/8" planks glued together along with the side braces. If I were to construct the ramp according to the plans and add the cross bracing the entire structure would be too thick for the side braces to cover it all and look correct.

So I improvised and made my own version making the cross bracing and using thinner planking for the decking. If you look close on the old photo, there look to be two thicknesses of cross braces. The thick ones seem to be bolted through the side brace, with three intermediate braces that seem to be a little thinner. So this is what I came up with.

 

 

Framing thick cross braces between the side braces and dry fitting them.

 

Pilot holes drilled and brass nails inserted to simulate the bolts.

 

Leftover deck planking used for the decking.

 

Using some silkspan and black paint I created the non-slip walk way.

 

Final underside after painting.

 

Next I did a little detail work on the inside of the Boiler deck staterooms. Using a little lace that I "borrowed" from the Admiral's sewing machine, I created some curtains to decorate things up a bit.

 

 

Finally, I started work on the Hurricane deck construction and placing the decking on the boiler deck. 

 

And this is where she currently sits. A few more LED's added for the eventual deck lighting.

 

As always, thank you for stopping by a looking.

 

-Brian

[Cathead]

I love the lace curtain idea, that's a neat way to obscure the view while being more visually interesting. If you can get all that done with one hand, feels like I ought to be getting more done with two!

[mbp521]

Greetings all,

 

I figured it was time for another update. Things have been going at a snails pace lately due to being down an arm, but therapy has started and the road to getting back to normal is close. In the meantime, here is what I have been able to accomplish.

 

On my last update I was working on finishing the boiler deck. I finished installing the stanchions and the hog truss posts. I went the extra step and installed the forward Hog Truss all the way from the top of the boiler deck to the main deck. This omission has been mentioned in several build logs and I made it a point that I wasn't leaving it out. The toughest part of this was getting it lined up and matching the angle. But somehow I managed.

 

When installing the stanchions, I first set the bottoms in place and glued them down. After they were all set I cut several pieces of scrap wood to length that matched the height of the boiler deck walls. Then one by one I either clamped them down or spread them apart to get the stanchions all set to the right height.

 

 

With all of that completed, I decided to tackle the paddle wheel. This task in itself is another fine, time consuming build.

 

 

First thing I had to to do was to remove the char from the tiny little crevices between all the wheel spokes. Of all the pieces of the model, I believe this part had the most char on it. 

Cleaned and ready for building.

Installation of the outer braces.

One of the more challenging parts was getting the spokes between wheels aligned and the wheels equally spaced. But with several clamps and some scrap wood, it all came together.

Once the wheels were aligned and spaced, then came the paddle boards. I went with the three thinner boards as suggested in the instructions because I liked the look of them and I wanted to add the extra detail of the u-bolt brackets and support boards to them.

The came the tedious part of the paddle wheel build. Cutting and installing the 108 tiny u-bolts. For these I used black plastic coated 20ga wire. I wrapped the wire around a small scrap of wood leftover from the paddle wheels. This gave me the correct width to fit snugly against each spoke. I then took each u-bolt and with another scrap of wood sanded to the correct thickness of the spokes, trimmed each one to length.

....then the tediousness began.

I don't know what it is about this angle, or if it is a trick of the camera, but the paddle boards look way out of whack. I promise you though they are all in line with the central shaft. They say the camera adds ten pounds, well in this case it skews things all wonky. Then again, you can't expect much from a phone camera and I have never claimed to be a professional photographer.

Several days later, I finally had the finished product. I went ahead and simulated the bolt heads on the paddle board side with a fine point sharpie. Nothing I had on hand seemed to work for these to give it a more three dimensional effect, so I just went the easiest route. I think it came out looking pretty good.  

 

With the stanchions in place, the boiler deck roof "tar papered", this is where she sits as of today. For now I am going to wait until later to install the paddle wheel. Just one more thing to get in the way. I need focus more on getting the Hurricane deck (or as the instructions call it, the skylight) painted, windows installed and LED's in place, then start on the Texas deck. I'm having a hard time trying to decide which task was more monotonous, the u-bolts or the battens on the boiler deck. I'll let you know what I decide once I've completed the Texas deck. I think I have a few hundred more battens that need to be installed there.

 

Anyway, I appreciate all the "Likes" and kind comments, and as always, thank you for looking.

 

-Brian

[J11]

Masterful!! 

[mbp521]

Greetings everyone,

 

It has been a while since my last update. Unfortunately, end of year work travels and work on the ranch has taken a considerable toll on my ship building time. However, winter is fast approaching which means colder weather to stay indoors and in the shipyard. 

 

I was able to accomplish a few tasks on my build, but not a whole lot. I figured I'd go ahead post what I have so far.

 

Work was completed on construction of the Texas deck. All those little battens to glue into place. A monotonous task to say the least, but I got it done. I still need to hang the curtains and secure it to the top of the Hurricane deck, but I need to get the LED wiring dressed up and run the main power wire from the bottom. I was going to go with a battery powered solution, but I couldn't come up with a way to house the batteries that I liked. So I decided to just run an external power source. (more pictures on that later)

 

 

 

Next I fastened the Hurricane deck to the top of the Boiler deck and pulled the wiring through. I used thin tissue paper to cover the windows to hide the LED's that are glued to the top. The tissue paper should provide a nice glow with the yellow LED's.

 

Lastly, I started work on the smokestacks. I tried several methods to simulate the joint between sections. First I tired using some leftover pin-striping I had, but I couldn't get the tape line up all the way around. Next I tried small rubber bands (leftover from the kids braces). Unfortunately, the kids have been out of braces for several years now and most of the ones I had left were dry rotted and didn't have enough good ones to complete the job. So I finally came up with the idea of using heat shrink tubing. I was outside repairing the wiring on my trailer when the idea occurred to me that this would be a perfect solution. So I gave it a whirl. I am actually pleased with the result. All I have left to do is paint them and see how they look. The smokestack caps I made from a sheet of thin copper, in which I pasted the pattern on and cut out with small snips. I am going to use the same method and material for the decorative tops.

 

 

That all for now. Hopefully I will be able to get more done with all of the travelling done for the year.

 

Thanks for looking (and Happy Veterans Day to all those who served)

 

-Brian

Edited November 13, 2019 by mbp521