Robert E Lee by John Ruy - FINISHED - BlueJacket Shipcrafters - 3/32” to 1’ scale or 1:128 - Steamboat

[Papa]

On 12/3/2021 at 12:33 PM, Cathead said:

Please tell me there's more than just that page!

Those instructions look much like what i had with my “yellow box” Essex kit back in 1968.   Sort of “we have given you some wood, some fittings, a few blocks.   Now go make a ship. Good luck”.  

[John Ruy]

Lighting on Main Deck…

 

 

 

 

Main Deck lighting has been placed and I am now ready to attached the sub decking for the Boiler Deck. 

 

Boiler Deck sub decking fitted and ready for installation. 
 

Let the fun begin… 🍻

 

[John Ruy]

Railings, Lots of railings…

 

 

I began the process of building deck railings. No wonderful etched brass fittings in this “kit”. 😆

 

I drew out a template on paper and used rubber cement to attach the deck posts made of 1/16 x 1/16 basswood. 
 

Then using Gel CA glue I attached 1/32 x 1/32 basswood rails across the posts. 

 

Using 1/32 x 1/64 basswood I have attached stanchions with CA glue. The top rail will be Cherry Wood cut from 1/32 Cherry wood sheet at a 2 mm width.  I hope I can speed this up a bit, this first section took me a hour to assemble and paint.  Very tedious to say the least, quite maddening like the paddle wheels. 

 

 

As you can see here, LOTS OF RAILING!

 

Onwards… 🍻

[Cathead]

I personally think railings are the worst part of steamboat modeling.

[John Ruy]

48 minutes ago, Cathead said:

I personally think railings are the worst part of steamboat modeling.

 I agree, and I thought paddle wheels were tedious. 😆 Particularly given the scale, but I have the solution. Still have to figure out all the Victorian Drape. 🤨

[John Ruy]

Boiler Deck…

 

 

More creative clamping… Boiler Deck is now in place. Deck 2 of 4…

 

Main Deck Lighting also in place. Here are few photos of the lighted views. 
 

 

Engine Room…

 

 

Fore Cabin and wood pile. 😎

 

 

Grand Stairway now in place. Started planking the boiler deck. 
 

Cheers 🍻 

[toms10]

On 3/4/2022 at 9:00 AM, Cathead said:

I personally think railings are the worst part of steamboat modeling.

 Yes, kind of like tying thousands of clove hitches for ratlines.  But they certainly do enhance the detail work and bring out the "wow" factor.  This is the kind of stuff that separates many models from toys.

 

John, your model is definitely not looking like a toy.  Fantastic job, I love the little split wood pile.

Tom

Edited March 9, 2022 by toms10

[John Ruy]

Railings 2.0…

 

 

Thought I could do a better version of railing. After all, it will be a very large portion of the detail. 

 

Better spaced stanchions… 

 

 

 

 

Water/ammonia soak and shaping. 

 

Kitchen Deck Railing placed. Just the beginning, but a good start. 
 

Boiler Deck Planking completed. 

 

 

 

Decking ready for staining and sealing. 
 

Onwards to more walls, windows, doors and railings. 🍻

[John Ruy]

Rear kitchen deck stairway. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back to the Boiler Deck… 🍻

Edited March 16, 2022 by John Ruy

[ccoyle]

James Hatch is our resident tech guru.

[gsdpic]

John....nice work on the railings!

 

Check the pinned posts in the "How to use the MSW forum" for hints on the picture rotation...there's one on how to upload photos and one on a free picture resizer program.  I have not used the latter but it indicates it also fixes rotation problems.  It is for windows, not sure what you are using for posting.

 

[John Ruy]

4 hours ago, gsdpic said:

It is for windows, not sure what you are using for posting.

Thanks, I’m using an iPhone. However, I did discover that resizing the iPhone photo to a landscape aspect ratio did allow for the proper upload you see on this post. Thanks for your compliment on my railings. Got to get this right, there are so many Victorian influences in the design of these floating hotels. 
 

John

[John Ruy]

Boiler Deck planking completed…

 

 

Now for lots more windows and doors. 
 

😆 🍻

[John Ruy]

Boiler Deck Furnishings…

 

 

Began framing for the State Rooms and Saloon. 

 

Like the Main Deck, the framing will all have to be plumb along a slightly curved deck. 🤨

 

 

Installed transom over the Grand Stairway. 
 

 

 

Preparing framing for the railing at the head of the Grand Stairway. Of course these are curved railings. 🤨

 

 

Railings placed…

 

Basswood .03 x .02 wood strips will be used for the railing stanchions. 

 

 

 

 

 

Cut rail cap from 1/32” Cherry sheet. 

 

 

 

I think 🤔 this is going to work. I’ll give it a final buffing tomorrow and try staining. About 3 hours for this little piece of work. 🤨 This is getting to be serious work now. 😆 Later…
 

Cheers 🍻 

 

 

 

[Toolman]

John, your craftsmanship is fantastic.  I have a smaller vintage Robot E Lee kit made by Scientific.  Rather crude but I will build it.  Following along.

[John Ruy]

 Boiler Deck edging and guard… 

 

 

Also adding the vertical Timbers on the superstructure, engine room and Wheel House. 
 

Baby steps, in it for the long haul. Steady as she goes… 🍻

[mbp521]

Great job on the railing John. Hope the bandaid isn’t symbolic of a mishap on the railing construction. Those #11’s can be quite sharp 😄. 
 

-Brian

[John Ruy]

9 hours ago, mbp521 said:

Those #11’s can be quite sharp 😄. 

Yep, occupational hazard. Bandaids are a must have in the tool box. Don’t want blood stains on the decks. No worries, it’s just a scratch. 😆

[Toolman]

Would you be able to provide a list of the n scale doors and windows and the Qty ?  Your help would be greatly appreciated.

[John Ruy]

19 minutes ago, Toolman said:

Would you be able to provide a list of the n scale doors and windows and the Qty ?  Your help would be greatly appreciated.

Sent you a PM…

[John Ruy]

Superstructure Framing…

 

 

 

 

Onwards… 🍻

[John Ruy]

Superstructure framing (port side)

 

 

As for the port side, I want to leave the Engine Room and Paddle Wheel visible. 
 

 

 

 

Created see thru walls with clear plastic, retrieved from the recycle bin ♻️ 😎

 

port side superstructure framing completed. 

 

Visible Engine Room

 

 

Paddle Wheel structure visible. 

 

 

We will leave a light on for you. 😆

 

 

[John Ruy]

Boiler Cat Walk access…

 

 

As I was contemplating 🤔 The companion ways and staircases, I realized there was no access to the Boiler Cat Walk or Forward Cabins on the Main Deck. Upon closer inspection of the drawing I found the “ladder” to the cat walk. Very strange this was not in the instructions. Oh wait, there were no instructions. Attention to detail does matter. 🤨

 

 

 

 

So I conjured up a couple of ladders 🪜 Turns out to be a great little detail next to the wood pile. 😎

 

Moving on to the Boiler Deck with its Saloon and State Rooms. Of course, we don’t want to forget those Railings…

 

Cheers 🍻

[MrBlueJacket]

I'm a huge fan of interior reveals!

[John Ruy]

Completed Railings at the top of the Grand Stairway. 
 

 

 

 

 

Cheers 🍻 

[mbp521]

Very nicely done John. Big fan of the lighting. I find that it just adds just the right amount of realism to the build along with highlighting some of the otherwise hidden details. 
 

-Brian

[John Ruy]

Furnishing the Boiler Deck continues…

 

 

Assuring wall framing is plumb on a curved deck. 

 

Hog Framing placed through the boiler deck. 

 

Cutting in the Stern Windows. 

 

Stern Windows in place. 

 

Windows and Doors for the State Rooms. 

 

 

Only nine more of these walls for this deck. I will paint these and place the glazing in the widows before gluing them in place. Construction is a bit tedious given the window alignment and board and batten siding. Servers hours required for each state room. But that’s what we live for, right. 🤪

 

Its all about the detail. 
 

Cheers 🍻 

 

 

[John Ruy]

State Room walls…

 

 

Framing progress… I have a plan now 😆

 

 

 

Boiler Deck Stern State Rooms completed. 
 

Cheers 🍻 

 

[John Ruy]

State Rooms continue…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Onwards… 🍻

 

 

[John Ruy]

More Windows…

 

 

 

 

 

… and more framing for more windows. 🤪 Repetition does make for improved carpentry skills.

 

Vintage photo (courtesy Floyd County Library) of the Hey Day of Shipbuilding in New Albany, IN. On the Ohio River bank with 1000s of carpenters and many tons of lumber. 
 

 Cheers 🍻 

Edited April 6, 2022 by John Ruy