1880's Floating Steam Donkey Pile Driver by Keith Black - 1:120 Scale

[clearway]

Looking good keith- this one slipped under my radar 😁 i love these old workboats and definitely a unique subject.

 

Keith

[tmj]

42 minutes ago, KeithAug said:

Yes I was just contemplating how excited we are all getting about this lovely little build. An external observer might think we ought to get a life.

My 'other' half likes to occasionally make comments insinuating that I'm wasting my time on my hobbies... just before she sits down and logs on to Facebook to look at people's food pictures and read silly meme's.    

[KeithAug]

26 minutes ago, tmj said:

Facebook to look at people's food pictures and read silly meme's.    

What about handbags, dresses and shoes. She has her priorities wrong.

[Keith Black]

 

1 hour ago, KeithAug said:

Hard to know which of the four sides are the bow. First ship I have seen with two starboards and 2 ports

 Keith, I could have stuck the pile driver on this thing! 

 

47 minutes ago, tmj said:

This is looking really nice! I like how you are making it look 'artistically' grungy without making it look like a grungy mess... as the real thing probably appeared after being worked for a while. Great job Keith!   

 Thank you, Tom. 

 

45 minutes ago, clearway said:

Looking good keith- this one slipped under my radar 😁 i love these old workboats and definitely a unique subject.

 Thank you, Keith. About four years ago I thought I should try building a pile driver but at the time I was thinking a skid driver. As time passed and I became interested in workboats following the build logs of Gary, @FriedClams, mcb, @mcb, Brian, @mbp521, Eric, @Cathead, and Roel @Javelin the idea of building a floating pile drive seemed like a good little unique project.

[Javelin]

2 hours ago, KeithAug said:

Hard to know which of the four sides are the bow. First ship I have seen with two starboards and 2 ports.

Well actually... This is quite normal on workboats. Tugboats nowadays can work both directions, some even have 2 sets of portside and starboard side navigation lights to shift. 

On cutter suction dredgers it's also often like that (Spartacus being an exception to that rule, having her gantry forward). They use "navigation SB/PS" and "dredging SB/PS" or just SB/PS for regular vessel and left and right for dredging direction. 

On top of that, there is an icebreaker called Baltica that has an assymetric hull and breaks the ice sailing sideways 

 

That said, great job on this pile driver and the boiler Keith. Making great progress. Curious about the supporting vessel already.

 

[KeithAug]

5 minutes ago, Javelin said:

ssymetric hull and breaks the ice sailing sideways 

Amazing Roel - someone has to volunteer to model it.

[Cathead]

I dunno, I've heard of lots of ships having more than one port, it's just the multiple starboards that get confusing...

 

Great work,  your weathering looks just right so far.

[Keith Black]

Thank you to everyone for the likes. 

 

3 hours ago, Javelin said:

That said, great job on this pile driver and the boiler Keith. Making great progress. Curious about the supporting vessel already.

 Thank you, Roel. I'm anxious to complete the barge, driver, and Wonky Donkey but I need to get back to the Tennessee and at least complete up to the fore mast before diving in on building a tug for the pile driver. 

 

I posted this photo in an earlier post.  I want the tug to be a variation of the below ferry. 

 

 

3 hours ago, KeithAug said:

Amazing Roel - someone has to volunteer to model it.

 We could play spin the binnacle and let fate decide? 

 

2 hours ago, Cathead said:

Great work,  your weathering looks just right so far.

 Thank you, Eric. 

 

 The barge has her first coat of grunge. Hopefully she doesn't wind up looking like a garbage scow. 

 

 Thanks everybody for stopping by.

 

   Keith

 

[mbp521]

Woah, how did I miss out on the start of this build Keith? I guess I got caught napping. I love these odd bits of history and even odder boat builds. I’m definitely going to hop on the journey for this one. 
 

-Brian

[mcb]

Hi Keith, 

Pile driver is coming along nicely.  It will be finished before you know it.

I do like that ferry with a chain drive paddle wheel.  I don't see a boiler though.

 

Thanks for posting,

mcb

[Keith Black]

 Thank you to everyone for the likes.

 

12 hours ago, mbp521 said:

Woah, how did I miss out on the start of this build Keith? I guess I got caught napping. I love these odd bits of history and even odder boat builds. I’m definitely going to hop on the journey for this one. 

 Brian, thank you dropping in and I'd love to have you following along, looking over my shoulder and offering guidance when you see I'm about to go off the rails.

 

10 hours ago, mcb said:

Pile driver is coming along nicely.  It will be finished before you know it.

I do like that ferry with a chain drive paddle wheel.  I don't see a boiler though.

 Thank you, mcb. I don't know if the ferry was converted from steam but as photographed she is certainly propelled by a combustion engine. When I model the Lula for the tug she'll be steam driven and I'll put the boiler where the Model A's are parked.  

 

 

The barge doesn't look like a garbage scow, at least not yet. Her first coat of grunge is a darker brown color using a special stain I made up many years ago. I also used it on the driver so everything should tie together. 

 

  Thank you guys for your support.

 

   Keith

[Keith Black]

 mcb @mcb was kind enough to send two more images of floating pile drivers. I treasure the four photos he has provided as they've aided me greatly  in this build.

 

"These pile drivers are DL&W RR marine department equipment.  I think they are marked circa 1910.  From the backgrounds the location appears to be Hoboken/ Jersey City on the Hudson.  As were the last photos I sent these are from the Steamtown NHS Collection National Park Service.   William B Barry jr. photographer."  

 

 

[rwiederrich]

Fun Little side model Keith.  Like a diorama.  you've done very well with her....clean and sharp.  Great idea...and great execution.

I built many models similar to your pile driver....  Fun stuff.  Keeps the mind sharp.

 

Rob

[Keith Black]

19 hours ago, rwiederrich said:

Fun Little side model Keith.  Like a diorama.  you've done very well with her....clean and sharp.  Great idea...and great execution.

I built many models similar to your pile driver....  Fun stuff.  Keeps the mind sharp.

 Thank you, Rob.

[Keith Black]

 Thank you to everyone for lookin in and for the likes.

 

 The barge has her deck's base grunge and algae added. I still need to add poly just at the edge of the waterline to make the waterline edge look wet.

 

 I think this enough deck grunge, in fact ,it maybe too much? Please don't hesitate to offer up an opinion. I'm not looking for a pat on the back, I'm looking for honest assessments before moving forward as the barge treatment thus far is reversible. Once the driver is permanently attached then it's, it is what it is. 

 

The decks of the floating pile drivers was a mess. The photos show the decks littered with muck and debris so maybe this isn't too much?  

 

 

 Algae added at the waterline. I'm not happy with the cleat weathering, that will get redone.  

 

 No matter how the Donkey engine turns out, I'll be adding a engine shed as this is the most common configuration and it will add additional visual interest.  

 

 I added a bit more grunge to the hull at the base and sides of the driver.  

 

 Thank you to everyone for your comments and a huge thank you to everyone for your support by following along. 

 

    Keith

Edited August 9 by Keith Black

[wefalck]

I think on models of such vessels there can be never enough grime. I suppose the deck was never holy-stoned 😁

Edited August 9 by wefalck

[Keith Black]

2 minutes ago, wefalck said:

I think on models of such vessels there can be never enough grime. I suppose the deck was never holy-stoned 😁

  Deck cleaning only came at the hands of Mother Nature when it rained. 

[Cathead]

Keith, the one suggestion I might make is to make the color palate of the weathering more complex. Right now the deck especially is all tones of brown, at least to my eye, and has a hint of old stained furniture as opposed to a grimy deck. Some shades of grey or black might help balance that. Maybe also hints of rust around the metal fittings. You could even think about or map out where crew were likely to have walked and make those routes darker. This is the kind of thing where pastels excel.

[wefalck]

In such cases I put a light dusting of white and grey pastel into the corners etc. Thinking about grimey places, there should be coal bunker for the donkey-boiler and in front of both there would be coal and ash grime. Also under the winding and steam machinery there would be a lot of oil grime.

[Keith Black]

7 minutes ago, Cathead said:

Keith, the one suggestion I might make is to make the color palate of the weathering more complex. Right now the deck especially is all tones of brown, at least to my eye, and has a hint of old stained furniture as opposed to a grimy deck. Some shades of grey or black might help balance that. Maybe also hints of rust around the metal fittings. You could even think about or map out where crew were likely to have walked and make those routes darker. This is the kind of thing where pastels excel.

 Thank you very much for the response, Eric. Yes, the deck is monotone brown (trying to replicate mud and grime. I did try to make it darker around the tower, where the engine shed will be, and the path between the shed and the tower. I also made it darker around the four cleats. I left it lighter in the two side areas where there would have been less foot traffic. 

 

 I recently received two weathering kits from Golden Artist Colors and I will use these on this project but I wanted to get a base down that I could add to once the everything was assembled. Yes, no? 

[KeithAug]

33 minutes ago, Cathead said:

and has a hint of old stained furniture as opposed to a grimy deck.

I agree with Eric - before I got to his comment I was thinking it looked quite a lot like some of our very old furniture. Very nice but not grunge.

[Keith Black]

1 hour ago, wefalck said:

In such cases I put a light dusting of white and grey pastel into the corners etc. Thinking about grimey places, there should be coal bunker for the donkey-boiler and in front of both there would be coal and ash grime. Also under the winding and steam machinery there would be a lot of oil grime.

 

1 hour ago, KeithAug said:

I agree with Eric - before I got to his comment I was thinking it looked quite a lot like some of our very old furniture. Very nice but not grunge.

 

Eberhard, Keith, thank you very much for your responses. As I said in my reply to Eric, what's on the barge deck is a base. I want the whole to be assembled before the real weathering takes place. Please remember I'm attaching everything with CA. When I smear CA gel on the driver base and press it into the barge deck, I want it to stick with a vengeance. I'm a tad bit leery about trying to do that with pastels twixt the two. Am I making sense or have I gone completely wonky donkey? Hey, be gentle. 

Edited August 9 by Keith Black

[Glen McGuire]

3 hours ago, Cathead said:

Keith, the one suggestion I might make is to make the color palate of the weathering more complex. Right now the deck especially is all tones of brown, at least to my eye, and has a hint of old stained furniture as opposed to a grimy deck. Some shades of grey or black might help balance that.

I agree with Cathead, that it would look better with a little color variation besides shades of brown, especially for algae.  If you remember on my Roman Quinquereme build, @BANYAN suggested I add a scum line to my wall.  I made a gradient of dark green, gray, and black extending upwards from the edge of the water, which looked like this.  It might not be as subtle as you need, but maybe something in the middle would work.

 

  

[KeithAug]

Dear Wonky, Yep, I agree tha shunt stick ont top o paint. (That really won't work for anyone reading this through a translator😬).

[Keith Black]

1 hour ago, Glen McGuire said:

I agree with Cathead, that it would look better with a little color variation besides shades of brown, especially for algae.  If you remember on my Roman Quinquereme build, @BANYAN suggested I add a scum line to my wall.  I made a gradient of dark green, gray, and black extending upwards from the edge of the water, which looked like this.  It might not be as subtle as you need, but maybe something in the middle would work.

 Glen, thank you for your response. If the barge were stationary then there would be higher more patchy growth. The barge was constantly being moved from the piling just driven to the next to be driven and once that job was completed it was hauled on to the next job.

 

 This is the algae line i'm trying to replicate. 

 

1 hour ago, KeithAug said:

I agree tha shunt stick ont top o paint. (That really won't work for anyone reading this through a translator😬).

 That was my thinking, Keith. 

 

 

I edited the second  sentence in my post #105 from "The barge has her grunge and algae added" to "The barge has her deck's base grunge and algae added" 

 

 I sincerely apologize for the confusion.

[mcb]

Hi Keith, 

Pile driver is looking good.

 

Weathering seems to be a very subjective thing.  I usually like it understated, especially in the smaller scales.

On the other hand, the real pile drivers were certainly filthy, maybe I would vote that way for this one.  

Mostly I use weathering chalks in layers which usually can be removed without too much trouble if one gets carried away.

 

Thanks again for posting this work,

mcb

[Keith Black]

24 minutes ago, mcb said:

Pile driver is looking good.

 

Weathering seems to be a very subjective thing.  I usually like it understated, especially in the smaller scales.

On the other hand, the real pile drivers were certainly filthy, maybe I would vote that way for this one.  

Mostly I use weathering chalks in layers which usually can be removed without too much trouble if one gets carried away.

 

Thanks again for posting this work

 mcb, thank you for the compliment and for your response regarding the weathering. This is my first time weathering so I'm leaning heavily on Eric, Eberhard, Glen, and you for your experience and expertise making the weathering convincing. I'm really looking forward to playing with the pastels once everything is built and attached, 

[wefalck]

The model railway guys (e.g. Woodland Scenics), sell little bag of ground up foam in different colours as foliage. I used this, dunked it into white glue and squeezed it onto the piling etc. as algal growth. It was dry-brushed a bit with a lighter green and then soaked in glossy acrylic varnish to give a wet effect:

The model is in 1/60 scale, but it works in smaller scales as well.

 

[Keith Black]

7 hours ago, wefalck said:

The model railway guys (e.g. Woodland Scenics), sell little bag of ground up foam in different colours as foliage. I used this, dunked it into white glue and squeezed it onto the piling etc. as algal growth. It was dry-brushed a bit with a lighter green and then soaked in glossy acrylic varnish to give a wet effect:

 Eberhard, thank you for the great idea. The barge's current algae line is flat and vague. Having some volume however slight would help define the algae line as something other that just a painted line. 

 

 At 1:120 I think bits of ground up foam would be too large and might appear too weighty but I like the idea a lot. I think sandpaper dust is too fine but the sawdust one gets from sawing may be varied enough in size to provide an acceptable alternative to foam at this scale. I'll give it a try and mix up some sawdust and PVA and see how it looks. Thank you again for the idea. 

[Cathead]

If the ground-up scenic foam is too coarse, you could also simply use the scenic grass powder also sold by the likes of Woodland Scenics. Real problem is that you only need a tiny amount of either product, so buying a whole bag is a waste. Your sawdust idea is a great way to get around that.