King of the Mississippi by bobandlucy - FINISHED - Artesania Latina - Scale 1:80

[bobandlucy]

Thanks, Bob and Eric.

 

Bob, what you're seeing at the base of the stairway railings is just a piece of wood I've been using as a spacer between the decks and the bottom rails, it just happened to be laying on the deck in front of the railings.

[bobandlucy]

I need to vent. Having finished the railings on the second deck, I counted the number of PE brass railings that would be required to complete the third deck. The kit is again way short, by at least 10 pieces.  I sent in AL's form from their clunky website. They require a sales receipt, which I do not have (lesson for future). We'll see what happens. I'd pay if it can be shipped quickly.

 

I have scrapped none of the supplied PE parts.

 

Of course my brain immediately started processing the available alternates. So far they are:

 

  1. Bow and stern with PE railings and wooden railings similar to first deck along the sides. I have the wood (which was also short), which I had ordered from another vendor.

  2.  Bow and stern with PE railings and wooden railings alternating with PE railings along the sides (if indeed I have enough PE).

  3. Entire third deck with wooden railings.

 

I don't resent having to deal with "problems," but material shortages of the extent present in my kit are another matter. I am happy with the model, but the kit itself has been a disappointment. I'd have a hard time opening my wallet for another Artisania Latina kit, for sure.

 

Venting concluded.

Edited December 6, 2021 by bobandlucy

[Bob Fraser]

Hi Bob.

Did you get two PE sheets of railings, one large sheet, one small?

Let me count how many are needed for the 1st and 2nd decks, and I can send you the spares I have, if this helps any.

As you know I messed up the third deck myself, and it has no PE on it.

It'll be tomorrow as I can't pull the bits out at the moment.

 

 

[bobandlucy]

Thanks, Bob- there are too many pieces missing, but I do appreciate the offer!

 

AL did respond promptly. They are charging me due to lack of receipt, but that's OK. The shipment originates in Hong Kong. I imagine that with our current "supply chain" problems that this may take a while. But at least I know the direction I'm heading, so can keep up the progress.

 

Maybe AL's new owners are attempting to right their ship. Hope that effort extends to QA process as well.

 

 

[Bob Fraser]

That's great news, and a fast response too!

The AL instructions say 66 railings (part 211) are needed and I counted 70 in the PE sheets.

That should leave me with 8 spares - lets see what happens.

All the best!

[bobandlucy]

I'm feeling a little ashamed about my rant posted above. Upon reflection, and review of past logs, it seems unlikely that I would be the only one experiencing a shortage of the PE railing material. Maybe I did something strange with it. The wood shortage was definitely there, and was significant, so maybe I jumped to conclusions. One thing I have confirmed through reviewing other logs- the locating tabs for the staterooms and the pilot house deck were left incorrect for a period of years and led to more than one builder installing the staterooms backwards, and offsetting the pennant mast away from the above deck overhang or leaving the mast out entirely.

 

Moving on, I began placing the chimneys, pennant mast, kitchen stacks, and third deck railings. Although I checked as I went along, one of the chimneys is out of plumb. I'm not sure if I'm going to correct this, as it would lead to significant rework and I'm not positive that anyone but we here would notice. Once again I've got to remind myself that I'm doing this for fun and to learn. The next will be better, I'm sure.

 

[Bob Fraser]

Looking the part, Bob. 

7 hours ago, bobandlucy said:

I'm feeling a little ashamed about my rant posted above. Upon reflection, and review of past logs, it seems unlikely that I would be the only one experiencing a shortage of the PE railing material. Maybe I did something strange with it. The wood shortage was definitely there, and was significant, so maybe I jumped to conclusions. One thing I have confirmed through reviewing other logs- the locating tabs for the staterooms and the pilot house deck were left incorrect for a period of years and led to more than one builder installing the staterooms backwards, and offsetting the pennant mast away from the above deck overhang or leaving the mast out entirely.

I think a lot of others have had such rants - let off a bit of steam and you definately feel better! 🤯  😁

Wood shortage and poor instructions seem to have been an AL consistency, and I think I had 3 goes at getting those staterooms right!

7 hours ago, bobandlucy said:

Moving on, I began placing the chimneys, pennant mast, kitchen stacks, and third deck railings. Although I checked as I went along, one of the chimneys is out of plumb. I'm not sure if I'm going to correct this, as it would lead to significant rework and I'm not positive that anyone but we here would notice. Once again I've got to remind myself that I'm doing this for fun and to learn. The next will be better, I'm sure.

Maybe a little late for you now, but I found that the sideways tilt on the chimneys was caused by the upper crossbeam on the metal part being too long as it hits the fixing spike of the crowns.

7 hours ago, bobandlucy said:

Once again I've got to remind myself that I'm doing this for fun and to learn. The next will be better, I'm sure.

As Mr Punch would say when he triumphs "That's the way to do it!"  

 

Cheers,

Bob

[bobandlucy]

Bob, thank you. I did trim the ornamental crossbeam, as I saw the interference. The slant is in the forward direction.

 

Today I added the surrounds for the kitchen stacks and steam stacks, and some of the third deck railing. I am really happy with this area, and I think it is where I would be hanging out if onboard, watching the shore slip by while sipping a bourbon whisky and listening to the sound of the paddlewheel slapping the water. 

 

 

 

[Bob Fraser]

6 hours ago, bobandlucy said:

Bob, thank you. I did trim the ornamental crossbeam, as I saw the interference. The slant is in the forward direction.

My bad - It must have been perspective (or my old eyes 😀 )! As you said, only just perceptible when pointed out.

6 hours ago, bobandlucy said:

I am really happy with this area, and I think it is where I would be hanging out if onboard, watching the shore slip by ...... listening to the sound of the paddlewheel slapping the water. 

 

 

 

The stern of the Mersey Ferry used to be my favourite place to be when travelling to work, watching the wake and the gulls, not to mention the other shipping.  Gave me vertigo if I looked down for too long!

[Cathead]

21 hours ago, bobandlucy said:

I am really happy with this area, and I think it is where I would be hanging out if onboard

 

Just don't forget that on many sternwheelers, the heads overhung the wheels for obvious reasons of disposal! So maybe check the wind direction first (not that that means much on winding North American rivers).

[bobandlucy]

Working on the hog chains and supports. Couldn't resist adding some people to the upper stern area.

 

Getting close to finishing now. Still have to shape the bow-end masts. . . I've been avoiding that. I've found that shaping is much easier/accurate starting with square wood as was done with Model Expo's Pram and Lobster Smack, rather than with the round dowel supplied with this kit. The pennant mast already installed is a bit wavy, not the smoothest taper. I'll see if I can do better with the remaining two. It's probably just a matter of going a bit slower and using more measuring points along the length of the mast.

 

[bobandlucy]

Received the parts from Hong Kong and finished the model. I am mostly pleased with the results. 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 31, 2021 by bobandlucy

[Bob Fraser]

A nice clean job, well done. Looks really good and the people do bring it to life!

[UdoK]

CONGRATULATIONS!!

 

A beautiful model, perfect built.

[tlee01]

Wow, great job.

[Cathead]

Looks great, congratulations on a job well done and thanks for sharing it with us.

[bobandlucy]

Thanks for the nice comments!

[ccoyle]

Congratulations upon the completion of your project -- she looks great!

[Ryland Craze]

Congratulations on finishing your King of the Mississippi.  You did a nice job on building this model.

[GrandpaPhil]

Congratulations!  Well done!