King of the Mississippi by Auger - Artesania Latina - 1/80

[Auger]

3 hours ago, Cleat said:

The ladders are tricky for me and I only made the short ones so far.  I ran short of the step material so I need to find more.  I like the dark wood trim detail around the stairway opening.

I think they shorted me the step material as well and gave me an over abundance of light veneer for the bulkheads, so I’ve been using the veneer for the steps. Doesn’t look so bad.

[Auger]

Been a while but still here. Life takes up a lot of time.

with that said, I got some work done on the starboard railings.

[Auger]

Always to music

[Auger]

As of this evening.

[Auger]

Some more railings. Still some sanding to do.

[Auger]

A bunch of these to make. And the builder’s norm…

[Auger]

[Auger]

Added some railing to the upper deck today:

 

 

[Bob Fraser]

Looking nice and neat!

[Cleat]

I hope mine turns out as nice as yours.

[Auger]

9 hours ago, Bob Fraser said:

Looking nice and neat!

 

6 hours ago, Cleat said:

I hope mine turns out as nice as yours.

Thanks for the kind words, Bob and Cleat.

 

I think one thing I’ve taken away from this build is that the directions will lead you astray if you follow the book down to the part. Skip the rail beams and once the second deck rooms have been installed, start looking ahead and thinking about the third deck, stairways, masts, steam stacks and rigging locations. I made the mistake of installing the first deck railing support beams by using the side-view plans because the book showed them being installed, and then worked them bottom-up. But now all of my support beams are a bit off which is causing me to have to get creative with the laser cut railings. I should have waited until the third deck was laid before adding any rail support beams and then moving from the top-down using the deck plan for their placements. And even then, build everything from the inside out before adding them or else the rails will block certain operations like filing out some of the pre-cut holes in the deck or passing rigging. In hindsight, I should have done them last.
 

Oh, well. Next time…

 

 

Edited November 5, 2023 by Auger

[Auger]

A little Sunday afternoon work before I go back to work. 

 

 

[Auger]

Gettin’ jiggy with it.

 

Already presented this jig but sometimes something super simple helps enormously.

By the way, this is one of the laser cut parts I had to rework.

 

 

Edited November 5, 2023 by Auger

[Auger]

Well, we’ll just call it a navigational error.

 

Not really sure what happened here, something obviously moved. For the time being everything is solid so, it is what it is. Looks like that support beam closest to the paddle wheel fell-out a bit. I’m just going to reinforce it because I fear forcing things will just put myself into a worse situation.
 

Anyone else ever have something move after time passage?
 

 

Edited November 6, 2023 by Auger

[Cathead]

Can you clarify what you're referring to in the last photo?

[Auger]

4 hours ago, Cathead said:

Can you clarify what you're referring to in the last photo?

Apparently the support beam for the side railings there closest to the paddle wheel sagged, causing the top side railing to warp, or straighten up a bit. Maybe the garage workshop got too hot this summer.

Edited November 7, 2023 by Auger

[Cathead]

Gotcha, thanks. When you said "support beam closest to the paddle wheel", I thought you were referring to the angled brace coming down from the superstructure, and I couldn't see anything wrong there. It's interesting that the rope there still seems taut; I guess it's just the last bit that warped.

[Auger]

7 minutes ago, Cathead said:

Gotcha, thanks. When you said "support beam closest to the paddle wheel", I thought you were referring to the angled brace coming down from the superstructure, and I couldn't see anything wrong there. It's interesting that the rope there still seems taut; I guess it's just the last bit that warped.

I just recently added the rope so it’s fresh. 🙂

[Auger]

A little more work this evening:

 

 

[Cleat]

I noticed the knot you tied in the picture showing the side railings and I'm wondering how you tied that, what kind of knot is it.  Your anchor looks like it is two knots (dark & light rope).  I had strung the rope on my build last spring before my build went on hiatus, I'm not sure what type of knot to tie.  (I hope to get back to my build in a couple weeks). 

[Auger]

2 hours ago, Cleat said:

I noticed the knot you tied in the picture showing the side railings and I'm wondering how you tied that, what kind of knot is it.  Your anchor looks like it is two knots (dark & light rope).  I had strung the rope on my build last spring before my build went on hiatus, I'm not sure what type of knot to tie.  (I hope to get back to my build in a couple weeks). 

Not sure if it’s historically accurate for the application, but I thought it looked nice. There are tons of videos and images here on MSW on how to tie these. I struggle and waste a lot of rope in the process, but some of the older guys are masters. No idea how you all do it so well.

 

 

Edited November 8, 2023 by Auger
Typo

[Cathead]

In terms of historical accuracy, the structural part this kit represents with rope was actually solid iron rods, so it's modeler's license as to whatever knot looks good to the builder!

[Auger]

26 minutes ago, Cathead said:

In terms of historical accuracy, the structural part this kit represents with rope was actually solid iron rods, so it's modeler's license as to whatever knot looks good to the builder!

Good to know! So why not this knot? 😁

But now you’ve got my mind going. Maybe some shackles instead? 🤔
ok…. Next one.

Edited November 8, 2023 by Auger

[Cathead]

Basically, these "hog chains" were iron rods anchored into the hull and superstructure that acted like the trusses on a bridge, holding the hull to a certain shape while still allowing some flexibility (much as a truss bridge can still flex or sway). They were tensioned or loosened using iron turnbuckles set partway down each length of rod.

 

This kit is not, shall we say, lauded for its historical accuracy in any way; it's the steamboat equivalent of a Disney pirate ship ride. But it still makes an attractive model with a lot of options for modeler's license, so don't feel constrained by any of the above. Do what looks good and right to you! For example, the lashing in question was quite well done and would look nicely at home on many sailing ships, so be proud!

[Auger]

The tedious task of installing the upper railing posts has begun. Funny how our camera lenses make everything look crooked sometimes. I just ran downstairs to be sure of something before the glue set. Nope, it was perfectly fine. 🙄

 

 

[Auger]

Most of the railing posts have been completed and a little rigging as well. Stormy day today so I just holed-up in the workroom.

[Auger]

[Cleat]

Nice pictures.  You get a pretty good depth of field. 

[Auger]

18 hours ago, Cleat said:

Nice pictures.  You get a pretty good depth of field. 

Thank you. I try to focus somewhere in the rear-foreground to capture as much as possible. My quick imaging device isn’t the greatest but it gets me by. I also try to always upload images between 400k and 500k to save MSW some server space/money.

[Auger]

Not enough time in the day. Would love to have done more, but today was just some lower railings.

Edited November 12, 2023 by Auger