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

[John Ruy]

THE LEGEND OF THE ROBERT E. LEE

 

The Robert E. Lee Steamboat was nicknamed the "Monarch of the Mississippi" and built in New Albany, Indiana in 1866 for a price of $200,000. The grand steamboat was 297 feet by 49 feet. While the name was being painted on the ship it was moved over to the Kentucky shore as some Hoosiers resented the name of the rebel leader being used.

On June 30, 1870 the steamboat left New Orleans in a race against the Natchez to St. Louis.  At the time the Natchez was the then-current speed record holder.  The Henry Tate, MayFlower, Mary Alice and Tahlequah preceded the two steamboats up the river for a way with excursionists in order to be able to view the race. The Robert E. Lee won with the time of 3 days, 18 hours, 14 minutes.

She was eventually dismantled in Jeffersonville, Indiana, in the spring of 1876, to build the Robert E. Lee (2nd).

 

https://www.explorenewalbany.com/index.php/downtown-new-albany-history/new-albany-history/30-the-legend-of-the-robert-e-lee

 

Another vintage kit rescue from eBay. This should be fun, but aren’t they all. 😆

 

 

 

Solid Hull shaping…

 

 

Marking the solid wood hull and cutting out templates from profiles on sheet 2. 

 

 

Ready to start shaping. 
 

 

 

This is going take a bit of time. 😆

 

I will be back. 🍻

 

[gsdpic]

Pulling up a chair....this looks like it will be a fun challenge for you.   I had no idea the original was built in Indiana.  As a former and possibly future Hoosier, I take a bit of extra interest.

[John Ruy]

1 hour ago, gsdpic said:

Pulling up a chair....this looks like it will be a fun challenge for you.   I had no idea the original was built in Indiana.  As a former and possibly future Hoosier, I take a bit of extra interest.

I have a Daughter who lives in Corydon, Indiana just minutes from New Albany. I grew up just North of St. Louis myself on the Mississippi River. 
 

Should be an interesting change from the age of sail and tall ships. 
 

Welcome aboard. 

[John Ruy]

Shaping (carving) the stern…

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adding sculpting to my skill sets…

 

Onwards 🍻

Edited December 1, 2021 by John Ruy

[Cathead]

That's a lot of shaping! Always up for another riverboat build.

[John Ruy]

7 minutes ago, Cathead said:

That's a lot of shaping! Always up for another riverboat build.

 
A bit too much carving for me, I prefer planking. Actually, I was inspired to find a Riverboat kit by your Riverboat build. You set the bar high on that one. 😎

 

[John Ruy]

Reshaping the stern…

 

 

I took a bit too much off the stern while carving. Looks like I get to do a bit of planking after all. 🤔

 

 

 

 

Finally got this hull in the paint booth.
 

 

Now figuring out the next steps. Hand drawing and cutting out the Main Deck from 1/16” Ply.  
 

 

Scribing the planking into the deck. 
 

 

Scribing the planks worked but I’m not happy with the look of the plywood grain. 😝 

 

I have ordered some 1/32” x 1/8” planking from model expo. Should be here in a week or so. Moving on…

 

 

Cut out full main deck. 1/8” ply with an Exacto Knife is tough…

 

 

Painted underside of the hull and main deck. 
 

 

Laying out the Boiler Deck. 😎

 

Moving on, I will need to study these drawings some more. Got to understand the structure better. This is really more like building architecture than ship modeling. These boats were quite the Grand Hotels on the Mississippi River. 
 

Cheers 🍻 

 

Edited April 30, 2022 by John Ruy

[Cathead]

Nice upgrades! Planking actually sounds easier to me, in terms of getting a nice smooth run through difficult curves, than trying to achieve that through sanding. And the result looks great. I definitely agree with adding the planking, too, there's little way to hide that plywood grain across scribing. I know what you mean about the architecture, the superstructures on these are so different from sailing ships and so much more complicated. This is certainly a more complex vessel than I've ever attempted. Looking forward to seeing how it comes together.

[John Ruy]

3 hours ago, Cathead said:

Nice upgrades!

Thanks… I was hoping you would be tagging along on this build. I’m using your build of the Arabia to give me direction and some building ideas. These vintage kits leave a lot to desire for instruction. 😆 Almost a scratch build or kit bash, I’m not sure. 🤔

 

I’m looking forward to your input as I progress. I am making it up as I go, sounds like a plan. 😎 As they say, “Some Assembly Required”, but with a lot of creativity. LOL 😂 

 

Here are the instructions included. Some help required. Thanks in advance. 👍

 

[Cathead]

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

[John Ruy]

Yep… That’s it… probably why these kits keep circulating and pop up on eBay. I know my first purchase of a vintage bluejacket kit of the Constitution scared the heck out of me. It went rIght back up for sale on eBay. But I sank my teeth into Marine Model Company’s Charles W Morgan and developed a taste for scratch building a “kit”. 

 

I am not sure when this kit first sold but it was a Boucher Ship Model sold as Bluejacket Ship Crafters. The drawings are Copyrighted 1934 and the parts list is dated 1969. 
 

 

 

 

Maybe @MrBlueJacket knows how old this kit is. 🤔

 

The parts list does tell you what the parts are to be used for and it did come with some “Fine Brittanian Model Fittings. 
 

 

And of course a box full of wood 🪵 

 

 

Paid 123.50 + shipping for this kit on auction. I do love these kits, as they can stretch my modeling skills. With some help from my friends. 😆

 

And that’s the pure definition of a “Fine Vintage” Kit. 
 

Onwards with the passion… 👍

[MrBlueJacket]

11 minutes ago, John Ruy said:

Maybe @MrBlueJacket knows how old this kit is. 🤔

 

 

It had to be before circa 1972, when Boucher became BlueJacket.

 

[John Ruy]

@Cathead I am thinking about building the steam engines, as long as they can be seen through the windows. Maybe add lighting in the engine room. 🤔

 

From your riverboat research do you think the engines in the Robert E Lee would have been similar to your Arabia?

 

Thanks

[Cathead]

The era is similar, so it seems reasonable to assume the engines followed the same general concept. Probably a lot bigger, though, given how large that vessel is. If you want to build engines, I strongly suggest getting a copy of The Western Rivers Engineroom Cyclopœdium by Alan Bates. It's rare but you can find it used in places, or you could always put in an interlibrary loan request. His companion volume The Western Rivers Steamboat Cyclopoedium would also be an excellent resource, and has some basic information on engine design and layout. You can also find some good visual resources on various websites by a basic Google search.

[John Ruy]

The Main Deck…

 

 

Gluing and Nailing the Deck to the Hull. 
 

 

Marked the sub deck for furniture placement. I will be laying planking on this deck. 
 

 

 

Installing the guard on the deck edge. Soaked the timbers in ammonia/water to get them to follow the curve. 
 

 

Top side completed…

 

Next up framing on the under side of the deck. Later… 😎

[toms10]

Hi John

I have been busy catching up on neglected house chores but manage to sneak in some “lurking” on the forum. I just came across your build. As you mentioned earlier, this one is a bit different from Age of Sail ships. This will definitely add to your already adept skill set. Solid hull carving is not something I am ready for but you seem to have mastered it. Looking forward to following along.
 

Tom 

[John Ruy]

Main Deck underside framing…

 

 

Laminating the underside of the guard rail. 
 

 

Soaking the bow and stern tail pieces. 
 

 

Lots of clamping required to make the curves. 
 

 

Framing complete…

 

Adding the Rudder…

 

 

Molding added to the rail. 
 

 

Ready for the some fine sanding and paint. 
 

Can’t wait 😝 to turn this puppy over and start working on this floating grand hotel. 
 

Later… 🍻

 

[John Ruy]

@mtaylor This build log of The Robert E. Lee Steamboat is in the 1801 to 1850 category, it was built in New Albany, Indiana in 1866.  I am building it as she appeared in 1870 for the “Great Race” against the Natchez. 
 

Can this build log be moved to 1851 to 1900? 

Thanks

John

 

[mtaylor]

Done.... moved as requested.

[John Ruy]

Hull painting…

 

 

Final color coat airbrushed…

 

 

Original water slide decals from the kit still in good shape, after all these years in storage. 👍

Main Deck…

 

 

Started planking the Main Deck. 
 

 

@md1400cs provided a link to a scratch build of the Robert E Lee on another forum. 
 

https://www.modelbouwforum.nl/threads/mississippi-paddlesteamer-robert-e-lee-1-96-scratch-build.271285/

 

The images from that build will be very helpful, although it does raise the bar. 🧐 found this drawing of the Steam Engines. The challenge now is to detail out the engine room and leave enough walls open to view the engine room. I am also going to need to add lighting. 
 

Things just got interesting 🤔 

 

 

Here is the engine room layout. Modified the port engine drawing to scale, also scanned and flipped the drawing to give me a starboard engine as well.  Now all I have to do is build a couple of  paddle wheels with engines. 
 

We will see how it goes… 😆

 

Cheers 🍻

 

 

Edited December 16, 2021 by John Ruy

[yvesvidal]

John,

 

That is a great build of a very old kit. I cannot believe that they did not design this hull as planked, as that shape would be very easy to plank correctly.

I am glad that you managed to "insert" some planking into its building .... 😉

These paddle boats are some of my favorites and I will be following your build with a lot of interests.

 

Yves

[Cathead]

Great find of the engine drawings! That'll be a challenging but fun project. In case you hadn't run across it, when I was planning my Arabia build, I made a separate thread to share the various photos I'd taken at the museum and found in my research; these include a lot of views of the engines and wheels, both at the museum and from the original excavation. You might find it useful to look through that for real-world views of the actual machinery, which does look very similar to the plans you show above. I can also look for additional photos in my collection if you're trying to see a certain viewpoint not shared in that thread. Regardless, can't wait to see how you approach this.

[John Ruy]

5 hours ago, Cathead said:

Great find of the engine drawings! That'll be a challenging but fun project. In case you hadn't run across it, when I was planning my Arabia build, I made a separate thread to share the various photos I'd taken at the museum and found in my research; these include a lot of views of the engines and wheels, both at the museum and from the original excavation. You might find it useful to look through that for real-world views of the actual machinery, which does look very similar to the plans you show above. I can also look for additional photos in my collection if you're trying to see a certain viewpoint not shared in that thread. Regardless, can't wait to see how you approach this.

Thanks for sharing your research. Now that I have decided to open up some walls to view the Engine Room, I going to need to get a sense of what that room looked like in the 1870s. 
 

All I have so far is in the following photos. These rooms are probably to modern. I am imagining pipes valve and pressure gages, etc…

 

 

 

If you have any reference to the engine room it’s self I would appreciate it. I just don’t want to view two steam engines sitting in an empty room.

 

Your thoughts… 

 

Thanks

[John Ruy]

Main Deck continues 

 

 

How to set a post plumb on an un-level surface.

 

 

Inlayed the posts in the planking

 

 

This is going to take a while. 
 

Later 😎 

[Cathead]

8 hours ago, John Ruy said:

If you have any reference to the engine room it’s self I would appreciate it.

 

Not as such, given the damage to the wreck, and the museum just displays one full engine/wheel assembly out of context. But in the thread I linked above are several photos of the wreck that show the boilers and engines in place, which give a sense of the overall setting. Details are gone, washed away by the river, but from various things I've read the area might have included a small blacksmith's shop and other workbenches (boats generally had to do their own repairs, even on the relatively civilized Mississippi River).

[John Ruy]

Looks like all I have to do is give the engine room a bit of a steampunk feel. 😆

 

A cat walk and guard rails here some pipes there. The trick will be to not overdo it. 😂 

 

 

 

 

 

Onwards…

 

[Papa]

John, your work is outstanding as always.   

[John Ruy]

Forward Cabin on the Catwalk…

 

 

 

Fortunately, the previous owner of this kit research and collected N scale windows and doors. This is a great enhancement over the paper templates provided. 😎

 

 

Cutting out 1/32 material for installation of doors and windows in the Cabin on the Catwalk. 
 

 

I am going to have to paint that door 🚪 wood color to help it stand out. 🧐

 

Moving on… 🍻

[Papa]

Good idea using Model railroad window sets.  I used some in my City of Pekin canal barge. 

[John Ruy]

Forward Cabin continued…

 

 

 

 

 

Forward cabin completed with Catwalk post and beam structure holding it up off the Main Deck. Fire Wood and Coal for the boilers were stored under this cabin. The remainder of the Forward Deck was used to transport cargo to multiple ports up and down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. 

 

On to planking the forward deck, then I will progress toward the stern with the boiler, engine room, Paddle Wheels, etc… 

 

Talk about micro Carpentry! WOW 😯 

 

I’ll be back… 😎