Tramp Steamer by von_bednar - 1/100 scale - 1920s/30s - 3d printed with scratch built elements.

[von_bednar]

 

*** INTRO ***

Custom Tramp Steamer inspired by the SS Venture from King Kong

 

This is my first build log on here and my first nautical model. I come from wargaming hobby and pretty much by accident got interested in model ship making (bit more info about it in my intro post). So, for my first model I decided to go with something that would fit with what I already made for my long-term wargaming project, which is alternative history pulp adventure themed. Tramp Steamers are iconic in pulps and not too difficult to put together, so it was a no-brainer this should be my entry point to this hobby.

 

After some research I found a 3d printable model of SS Venture from the 2005 version of King Kong and I will be modifying it to fit my needs. Apart from scaling it up (it comes in 1/200 scale "out of the box") I'm changing the shape a bit (making it a little wider and a little shorter) and redoing pretty much everything above the decks (with similar elements, but still). Some of the changes are done to make it fit my 3d printer better, others to accommodate the miniatures better. The plan is to make it a playable "terrain" piece that can also work as a nice display piece. I will be using mainly my wargaming tools and materials, which might not always be perfect for the job (currently using coffee stirrers for wood planks for example), but I'm hoping this will be enough for now. We'll see how well that works out 🤞

 

Because it's my first attempt at building a ship model, I'm not hoping to match the level of realism seen in so many builds on this forum. Not only my nautical knowledge and model ship making skills are not up to snuff, but I also don't have solid references or plans to follow (after all, I'm starting with a model of a fictional ship, and I'm using it more as a loose inspiration on top of it). Instead, I'm shooting for something I would call "cinematic realism" - as long as it would look correct on a movie screen, I'll be happy. This means that I might change and/or exaggerate some details and hope it won't anger anyone (I know as a retro computing enthusiast, I can be very pedantic about inconsistencies I see in movies when it comes to old computers ). What I want the most of this project is to give the ship a "character" worthy of pulp adventures it hails from.

 

Saying that, I don't want to deter anyone from giving critique and advice on this project. Call me out if I'm doing something wrong, tell me what detail would fit better, etc. I want to learn more about this hobby, so my next model can be even better! I know I will be asking bunch of questions on here anyway, so feel free to chip in whenever you see that I can be doing things better

Edited May 29, 2022 by von_bednar
fixed title & changed wording

[von_bednar]

I was hoping I would have more to show today, but I have run into a problem with my primer (it just doesn't want to stop being tacky!), so more substantial update will come as soon as I deal with that (it looks like sanding it off will be the solution). Nonetheless, here's what I have so far (tacky primer not included):

 

I have already printed, glued and filled the top part of the hull. I'm splitting the hull like that mainly because I want the model to do double duty. As it is now - sitting flat on the table and looking like it's actually in the water - it can be used as a wargaming piece. Later on I will get the bottom part (and a display base) printed and will make those connect using tiny magnets. It will still leave a pretty obvious line in the hull when the two parts meet, but I hope to hide it a bit with some creative weathering on the below water part of the hull.

 

I have also planked the two decks. I'm not super happy with those (I tried for a pattern of planks with an offset but I think it looks weird), but the coffee stirrer wood I'm using for planks is surprisingly hard to cut with an exacto and I'm not sure if I want to redo it. Although, I might just go without wood on the fore castle, as it would be quite unusual to have it there anyway. What I do like is the effect rubbing graphite on the edges of the planks create. I found it discussed somewhere before I joined this forum as a away to simulate the waterproofing used on wooden decks and I think it creates a lot of visual interest. Next is to color the wood. I have a dark wood stain (kona brown), but I think I want to go with something lighter to create more contrast between the dark/black hull and decks. I've seen @FriedClams getting amazing stained/weathered wood effect using weathering powder mixed with IPA on his New Englad dragger build and I'm eager to give that a try.

 

 

On the 3d modelling side of the project I'm still trying to decide on the layout of the superstructure. I need to strike a balance between realism and playability, and with each floor being detachable I also want to add some detail to the interior. The biggest hurdle here is trying to find some references or even examples of layouts inside of those structures - as a layman I have no idea what's really in there! I've been making no progress on it for over a week, so I think it's time to move to modelling something else. Maybe some of fore castle details?

 

In the meantime would welcome any advice and resources on how to lay out the superstructure.

Edited May 29, 2022 by von_bednar

[thibaultron]

I'll be watching, and thanks for the download link! This is just the type of ship I've been looking for for the pier area of my model railroad! And I love that version as well as the original version of the King Kong movies!

[Roger Pellett]

Ron,

 

Maybe you can also print King Kong himself with a railroad car in his hand (paw?). 😆😆

[thibaultron]

Unfortunately, none of the buildings will be tall enough for him to climb.

[von_bednar]

I'm also big fan of the original and 2005 King Kong. The others: the 70s one, the Japanese 60s movies where he fights Godzilla and the modern "Monsterverse" movies are not really my thing. I'm much more interested in that Pulp Adventure era, and those two movies deliver it in spades!

 

Eventually I want to make myself bunch of elements for Skull Island / Land that Time Forgot dioramas/wargames. So somewhere down the line I will either print myself a Kong, or maybe modify an existing toy if I can find one roughly in scale.

 

...and I would gladly see Kong menacing a railroad town

[KeithAug]

I have to say that I found your rust bucket to be a charming choice of vessel. I wish you luck with your first scratch build.

[bruce d]

What Keith said.

👍

[lmagna]

On 5/28/2022 at 10:41 PM, von_bednar said:

as a layman I have no idea what's really in there! I've been making no progress on it for over a week,

I brought it up before in my last post but it seems I forgot to supply the title or link. I have this book and for all intents it is a step-by-step guide on building a tramp steamer of the turn of the century. 

https://www.amazon.com/practical-fundamental-principles-described-especially/dp/9353863198

It is available in a number of editions and prices.  There is no way you could use everything included in the book as it is intended as a reference for building the real ship. I would recommend  it to anyone building this kind of ship whether it be to house King Kong or not.

 

Here is another source covering much of the material from the book but in less detail. You can click on the pictures and see details of much of what you are looking for.

http://www.cocatrez.net/Water/FerrisShips/FerrisShips.html 

 

At the bottom of the article there is also some general arrangement detail on the Dougherty style steamer, also from WWI but more like what you are looking for. There are also a few other general arrangement plans available at the bottom as well.

 

In addition since it appears that you have some 3D skills:

https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/game/ww1-us-cargo-ship-efc-1001-ferris-1-350-scale

 

Edited May 30, 2022 by lmagna

[von_bednar]

Thank you for the links @lmagna - the top views of what's inside the superstructure are especially helpful.

 

I found an earlier version of the "A practical course in wooden boat and ship building" available on archive.org as it is now in public domain. Did a quick comparison with a 2007 version you can borrow online and it seems they are the same books... at least they seem to have the same drawings and photos. Will be delving deeper into it today and try get some layout for the inside of the superstructure sorted.

[lmagna]

I had no idea that the entire book was available in digital form for free. That means that you can just print out the pages you need and enlarge them to the size you want. Now all you need to do is decide if you want a 3 island Farris style design or a single aft Dougherty style steamer. You now have all you need for either.

 

Thanks for the links I will add them to my stuff as well.

[NavyShooter]

That looks like a fascinating project!  Bringing something from the movies into real life!

 

I observe that you appear to be using DesignSpark Mechanical as your build tool.  That's the program I'm now starting to work from as well.  I started in TinkerCAD (online) but have shifted to DSM due to the increased capability and flexibility of the program.

That said, chopping up big parts of items to fit onto the 3D printer's platter area is something I'm still actually using TinkerCAD for.  

 

Well done on your model so far!

 

As to what's in the interior - well, normally in the area immediately below or behind the bridge, you'll find the Captain's Cabin (proximity for emergency response) meaning that there will also be a Heads (washroom) nearby as well.  You may have a Chart-room and a Radio room nearby as well, but that depends on the size of the ship.  

 

The Galley is usually lower, and aft.

 

Or at least, that's my experience from my time in the Navy. 

 

Keep up the good work!

 

[von_bednar]

Thank you for the layout advice @NavyShooter it's really helpful. After looking through the plans @lmagna shared above and realized that I won't be able to fit all that and still have space for miniatures. Having it explained in more 'broad strokes' gives me some ideas. Given your first hand experience in the navy I might be bothering you with some questions... like this one: looking at the picture from the movie in first post, do you think the captain's cabin would be on the first or second floor of the superstructure? 

 

Yes - I'm using DesignSpark Mechanical - good eye! I used to use Fusion360, but I dislike their recent business practices, so I switched. DSM can do 90% of what I would use Fusion for, and for anything else, I can use Rhino3D in a university library nearby. I always thought DesignSpark is really unknown - it's nice to find someone else "in the wild" using it. 

 

As for splitting models, I often use Mircosoft 3D builder. It's a free, simple tool, but does the job... and it's surprisingly good at fixing models that have errors/are not printable, which comes in handy for the times I want to print some generic (i.e not designed for 3d print) models, like stuff from video games. Highly recommended for those small jobs!

[von_bednar]

*** UPDATE 1 ***

 

Most of the time so far was getting rid of that tacky primer - it was not a fun time. After getting it sorted and resurfacing the model again (this time with some artist Gesso as my "primer") I really needed to do something that will look like I'm making progress - so I decided to give the hull some paint and treat the wooden decks and make/3d print other stuff afterwards.

 

The paint job is nothing special so far: just black coat, followed by some drybrushing with light grey to bring out some of the detail (photos don't really do it justice, it "pops" a bit more in person). This is what I would call a first pass on the outside hull. Washing, weathering and all that fun stuff will be done later when I figure out the waterline and paint everything below it red. Nonetheless, it makes the model already look better than my grey plastic covered in slightly different grey Gesso.

 

For the wooden decks, I remembered that I had some Boiled Linseed Oil (BLO), so I applied a thin coat of that. The color wasn't right so I used some of my home made weathering powders* to mix a color closer to what I was looking for. I then sprinkled some of that powder directly on each deck and went over with some more BLO to mix it all in. The color is much closer to what I was looking for, if a little too saturated. That's OK as it will probably fade a bit in the next few days as BLO fully cures, and if not, I'll say it's a part of that "cinematic realism" I'm after

 

Next I need to figure out a good color for the inside hull and superstructure. In the meantime, here's some progress shots:

 

 

 

* Home made weathering powders are probably also known in the model ship world, but I first seen it used in wargaming. Instead of buying ready-made weathering pigments, you buy a set of artists' chalk pastels (I have a earthtone set) and scrape a bit of whatever color you want with your knife. The resulting powder is very close to the store-bought pigments and can be used the same way (apply dry, with PVA solution, IPA, etc.). The difference is price, and the fact that I can mix'n'match colors to create my own shades much easier.

Edited May 31, 2022 by von_bednar

[Veszett Roka]

50 minutes ago, von_bednar said:

Given your first hand experience in the navy I might be bothering you with some questions... like this one: looking at the picture from the movie in first post, do you think the captain's cabin would be on the first or second floor of the superstructure? 

I think this ship is too small for several rooms. I'm pretty sure that behind the bridge maybe only a small chart room, but i think there is only one room on the top floor: the bridge which acts as wheelhouse and chart room. Immediately below we have many portholes, i think this is the crew's dining saloon and lavatory. Behind this cabin there are a small house, that must be the kitchen - on its top you can see the freshwater tank.

Below (now we are on the main deck) the cabins, we see the doors here. Captain's cabin must be at the front, just below the bridge and i can imagine an inner ladder to the bridge. We need a cabin for the first mate and chief engineer duo on other side. Crew should take accomadation by 4 bunks cabin, i think two will enough for 8 men (engineers, bosun, deck boss and deckhands). Need to have some storage for food: near the kitchen for canned and below deck for refrigerated food. Need some storage too for other stuff like ropes, engine parts, tools etc. I think the rear deckhouse is for the engine room (see 4 portholes on the rearhull section) and steering machine.

... and this is strictly speculation

[Roger Pellett]

In the early 1900’s the British Merchant Marine dominated the ocean shipping business and the vessels that they sailed were built in British shipyards.  In these small vessels accommodations were primitive.  The crew lived in the forecastle.  There would be a door from the main deck to the forecastle and probably an overhead hatch and ladder.  The forecastle was heated with a coal stove that was also used for cooking.  Bathrooms- an outhouse sort of structure dumping directly overboard and a bucket for washing up.

 

Sometimes the forecastle was split, the deck seamen living in one half and the “black gang,” the engine room gang, living in the other.

 

The watchkeeping officers- The Captain, two or three mates, a chief engineer, and two or three assistant engineers plus the officer’s cook lived in the deckhouse.

 

This is all described in the book “Old Time Steam Coasting” by Spargo and Thompson, another in the C. V. Waine series of books.

 

Roger

[von_bednar]

Speculation is more than fine @Veszett Roka After all it's not a "real" ship and I doubt the movie prop department recreated the interior to match an actual ship so your advice is really helpful.

 

I was trying to use all the advice on here to try to layout something that would also work for wargames, and man, it seems like it might be a lost cause. The problem is that the bases I'm using are 16mm and there isn't that much space to put everything in. Looking at the layout/plan for the actual ship the 2005 Venture was built on-top of It would make some passages/rooms narrower than my miniature bases. I might add couple rooms and staircases as a kind of hint of proper room layout instead.

 

Will poke around it tonight and see if I can get something half-decent going at least for the deck level/first floor. 

[von_bednar]

Thank you @Roger Pellett - that will solve some of my "imaginary accommodation problem" as I was already planning on adding a door on the wall in front of forecastle. Now I will also add a hatch on top for it. From the original ship plans it also looks like there were some crew quarters just under the superstructure.

 

Also - now I'm adding yet another book to to my list of resources to get

 

 

[Veszett Roka]

4 hours ago, Roger Pellett said:

crew lived in the forecastle.  There would be a door from the main deck to the forecastle and probably an overhead hatch and ladder.  The forecastle was heated with a coal stove that was also used for cooking. 

Dunno Roger. I think these small boats like on the picture were rarely sported with 15-20 men on board, complete with 3 watch officer, engine mates etc. I think that description is based on the deepsea merchant marine fleet, not the coastal tramps.

I know that usually the crew lived in the "focslee" but i doesn't see portholes on the side of forecastle on this particular boat picture so in my theory that part is for storage only. No deck hatch either, however we do not see if access doors exists on the forecastle bulkhead.

[lmagna]

It appears that there is very little crew accommodation on this design of ship, with almost all being located just forward and aft of the funnel on the Poop deck. Forward of the funnel on the boat deck appears to be the pilot house followed by possibly the chart room/Capitan's day cabin, (Or only cabin) Below that on the poop deck appears to be the Saloon and crew accommodations, possibly the galley as well. Aft of the funnel appears to be the engineer accommodations with a skylight just aft of the stack and a small hospital aft of that, on the boat deck. The small stern structure with the 3" gun mount appears to be the emergency steering room and the space one deck down, accommodations for the gunners with a washroom at the very stern. There also seems to be some accommodations forward for more gunners below the forward gun but detail there is not clear at all. Everything else seems to be either coal, cargo, or engineering.  Not completely certain as the print is quite poor but almost everything needed to run a ship would be available in that layout.

 

In the movie weren't there at least a few "passengers" living in sections of the cargo hold?

[Roger Pellett]

Several Points:

 

Von Bednar is building a ship from the King Kong movie.  King Kong lived on some far away exotic island, not coastal British Isles.  Visiting his island required a deep sea voyage.

 

British flagged vessels were governed by British Board of Trade regulations.  These would have required a licensed watch keeping officer on the bridge and in the engine room for each watch.  The captain usually did not stand watches. Watches were stood on either a two or three watch system.

 

In the early 1900’s almost all steam powered merchant vessels were coal fired.  This would have required at least one and more probably two fireman per watch.  Depending on the layout of the bunkers, some ships carried a coal passer for each watch to keep the firemen supplied.

 

All machinery in the engine room; the engine, plus the pumps and generating sets was open frame and reciprocating.  This meant that many bearings were hand lubricated.  This required an oiler continuously making the rounds in the engine room to keep moving joints lubricated.

 

I am currently building a model of a small steamship (240 ft) built in 1908 that sailed on the Great Lakes.  When lost in 1914 she had a crew of 20.

 

Roger

[von_bednar]

Loving the discussion - I'm learning a lot just from reading through it.

 

Based on what I've read about the making of 2005 King Kong Ship, they wanted to make it look that it could have over 20 people on board. I think that implies that there were some cabins below the superstructure, on the back where the portholes are. Saying that, they did store some of the extra "guests" in the cargo hold in the movie.

 

Anyway, after trying different layouts I will go with just the really basic layout below - will add doors and some detail later tonight, but the idea is read the rooms (coming from the fore) as: captain's quarters (with implied second sleeping cabin), mess, galley and storage. The ladder in the mess will also lead down to the implied crew quarters. Upstairs we we'll have a map/radio room (they have a scene in the movie taking place in it and it's looks quite big) in the fore building, and the aft... not sure yet - doctor, armory?

 

I wish I could "render" all the implied walls and rooms, but I really want to keep the interior playable, so I'm limited by the bases for my miniatures (which create something like over 1 meter radius of "personal space" from each person - which obviously you won't get on the a ship this size at all times ).

 

I welcome any comments and critique on this "layout."

 

...but don't let me stop you from discussing stuff further. I plan to make another, probably bigger steamer somewhere in the future (even found some decent plans for one) so all of this knowledge will come in handy

[Veszett Roka]

17 hours ago, Roger Pellett said:

(240 ft) built in 1908 that sailed on the Great Lakes.  When lost in 1914 she had a crew of 20.

All right Roger, those points are valid. But not for this particular ship, even she need a deep sea journey to reach Kong. Just think of Thor Heyerdahl who sailed across the Pacific on a raft, so this is completely doable, although risky. Moreover, i'm doubt that boats on a far exotic islands rigorously follow the British Board of Trade regulations, i don't think they even consider this boat on the pic seaworthy. Last, the Venture in the film was registered in Surabaya, Dutch East Indies in 1930ies, now Java, Indonesia:

Do you think that the ship pictured above is 240ft long (73meters)? See the men onboard, i guess the ship is not longer than 130ft - 40m. And if the 240ft ship had 20 men, i guess the smaller one had to go on smaller, sometimes inadequate crew. No one want to sail in a floating coffin. I think the Venture could carry 20+ person on board in general, including the passengers in cargo hold.

 

 

Edited June 2, 2022 by Veszett Roka

[Roger Pellett]

The actual crew size during the voyage is not the point.  It is the size of the crew that she was originally built to accommodate.  As I said in my original post, a huge number of steamships in the early 1900’s were built in British shipyards to Board of Trade manning standards.  As the vessel’s aged, they were sold, often several times and reflagged.

Edited June 2, 2022 by Roger Pellett

[thibaultron]

Roger, which ship are you building?

[thibaultron]

According to the information I found on the movie, that King Kong was, like the original, supposed to be about 25 feet high, if that helps for scaling.

[NavyShooter]

Looking at your 3D model - the forward cabin would be the Captain's - there should probably be an interior door to enter it from the base of the ladder just aft.

 

Looks like a great design!

[von_bednar]

Thanks Shooter. I was going to add the interior doors yesterday, but work was busy and I was too tired to do anything yesterday. Hope will be able to get it done tonight so I have it ready and printed for some hobby time this weekend. I'm also thinking of changing some of the exterior doors to wooden to match the movie better. Hope to have something more to show this weekend.

 

@thibaultron Thanks for the info - was already looking for a King Kong (or just a good gorilla toy) around 8cm high to match the movie, but it looks like I'll end up 3d printing one as I didn't find anything that really works for me.

 

Also, I think the steamer Roger is working is the SS Benjamin Noble - some awesome scratch building in there, hope I'll be able to make something that advanced one day

[Roger Pellett]

Ron,  I’m building the Benjamin Noble built in 1908, lost with all hands April 1914 in Western Lake Superior about 20 miles East of Duluth during a Northeast gale. 

 

Build log log on this same forum category; Scratch Built Vessels 1901- Present Day.

 

Roger

[von_bednar]

*** UPDATE 2***

 

Some progress finally happened this week!  First superstructure floor printed and installed/glued. It's not much, but truth be told I spent most of this time trying to get that "rustbucket" look just right.

 

I'm not a great painter and am using the cheap craft paints you find in supermarkets, so it took some trial and error to get something looking not too plain nor too cartoony. I might have gone a little overboard (some pun intended ) with it, but as in my mind the ship is used by bunch of sea gallivanting rogues I think it's ok and fits with the idea of "cinematic realism" I'm aiming for. 

 

Not much done apart apart from the painting. The only detail I added is some coated paperclips which I used for the railing as I was not 100% happy with the "railing" I previously 3d modeled.

 

In the end I haven't changed the metal doors to wooden ones like I planned, and I'm kinda kicking myself about it. I feel dark brown "wood" would make for a better contrast on the superstructure. Will probably go with that on the next floor then.

 

I'm planning just a few touch ups on the existing decks (bring some more contrast to the square windows, fix some mistakes) and will move to the next floor to superstructure next. My thinking is to get the "big" parts done first and then move to the details like the derrick, windlass, barriers etc.

 

 

 

 

Edited June 9, 2022 by von_bednar
photo re-upload