Lula by Keith Black - 1:120 Scale - 1870s Sternwheeler Supply Boat for Floating Pile Driver

[TBlack]

Wonderful video. Beautiful machine. Much engineering. Thanks, Keith, for including.

[Keith Black]

9 minutes ago, TBlack said:

Wonderful video. Beautiful machine. Much engineering. Thanks, Keith, for including.

 You're more than welcome, Tom. Im pretty impressed with the young man and his knowledge, lots of valuable information therein. 

[LJP]

The video is incredible!  Not only the detail on the boiler but the operating intricacies also.  Great detail for your boiler!

[Keith Black]

On 12/23/2024 at 10:51 AM, LJP said:

The video is incredible!  Not only the detail on the boiler but the operating intricacies also.  Great detail for your boiler!

 Thank you, LJP. The video is must watch for those of us without a great deal of steam experience. 

 

 I started a steam propulsion links topic and I think it would be great if you put that Scotch boiler catalog page there. Your Thistle build is great and I'm using it as guidance.

 

Edited December 24, 2024 by Keith Black

[Keith Black]

 Maggie and I wish each of you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. 

[Javelin]

Merry Christmas to you and your family Keith! 

[Canute]

Steam engines are the neatest engines devised by man. All the appliances and appurtenances are out side the boiler, so you see most of the moving parts. I had several classes about steam in college. Most of my classmates went to work in industry and spent more time working with steam. I dig steam locomotives; the sounds of that engine as he built steam is sooo familiar. Thank for including it, Keith.

Merry Christmas to all and a prosperous New Year.

[mcb]

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your family Keith.

 

mcb

[Ian_Grant]

Very cool video. There's a lot to know about properly running this technology!

[clearway]

Hope you had a nice christmas day and a happy new year to you both Keith- you know my stance on steam engines 🤩

 

Keith

[KeithAug]

On 12/19/2024 at 11:23 PM, Keith Black said:

What I have done so far on the beam engine sits atop a penny assembled and painted.

Lovely Keith, particularly when weathered.

[Keith Black]

On 12/25/2024 at 12:15 PM, Javelin said:

Merry Christmas to you and your family Keith! 

Thank you, Roel.

 

On 12/25/2024 at 1:15 PM, Canute said:

Steam engines are the neatest engines devised by man. All the appliances and appurtenances are out side the boiler, so you see most of the moving parts. I had several classes about steam in college. Most of my classmates went to work in industry and spent more time working with steam. I dig steam locomotives; the sounds of that engine as he built steam is sooo familiar. Thank for including it, Keith.

Merry Christmas to all and a prosperous New Year.

 Thank you, Ken. The #1 to the video is very good as they put together the boiler and other equipment. I'm spending a lot of pause time with both those videos. 

 

On 12/25/2024 at 2:17 PM, mcb said:

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your family Keith.

 Thank you, Keith

 

On 12/25/2024 at 3:11 PM, Ian_Grant said:

Very cool video. There's a lot to know about properly running this technology!

 Yes there is, Ian. 

 

On 12/26/2024 at 5:24 AM, clearway said:

Hope you had a nice christmas day and a happy new year to you both Keith- you know my stance on steam engines 🤩

 Thank you, Keith. Hey, bring you trains over and help me work on Lula. 

 

15 hours ago, KeithAug said:

Lovely Keith, particularly when weathered.

 Thank you, Keith

 

 

 I'm starting work on Lula's Scotch marine boiler. A Scotch marine fits the time period and its squat design will help keep Lula from looking over crowded.  

[Keith Black]

 Thank you to everyone for the kind comments and the likes.

 

 I've got the basic components of Lula's boiler made and assembled. I used @LJP's Marine Iron Works catalog page from his Thistle build as my guide for building a Scotch marine boiler.

 

In my initial layout I had not allowed for the space requirements of the beam engine but because of the boiler's squat design I was able to maintain my original spacing.

 

 Thankfully black paint hides many sins. 

 

 I'm ready to start adding details to the boiler

 

I also made a final decision on the coal bin, it will only be fourteen feet wide.

 

  Thank you for following along, I appreciate your support.

 

     Keith

 

[Paul Le Wol]

Very nice Keith!

[Keith Black]

2 hours ago, Paul Le Wol said:

Very nice Keith!

 Thank you, Paul. 

[TBlack]

3 hours ago, Keith Black said:

 

 Thankfully black paint hides many sins. 

 

Boy, ain’t that the truth!

[Jim Lad]

A mate of mine, a builder by trade, once said to me, "A good painter has saved many a builder's reputation."

 

By the way, she's looking very nice!

 

John

[Keith Black]

12 hours ago, TBlack said:

Boy, ain’t that the truth!

 Our namesake paint has come to my rescue on several occasions. 

 

7 hours ago, Jim Lad said:

A mate of mine, a builder by trade, once said to me, "A good painter has saved many a builder's reputation."

 

By the way, she's looking very nice!

 Thank you, John. 

[FriedClams]

Catching up after a few weeks away, and good grief you have been busy.  Your beam engine looks fantastic and the fact that it's in 1:120 makes it flat-out incredible. The weathering turned out great and there is no shame in going back and reworking what didn't turn out to your liking.  I find weathering to be a process rather than a one-and-done. The engine sitting atop the penny is a telling image, however the engine makes the coin look bigger than it is.  I have a penny on my desk and looking over at it makes me appreciate how small that engine really is.

 

Wonderful modeling, Keith.  Good start on the boiler, also.

 

Gary

[Keith Black]

5 hours ago, FriedClams said:

Catching up after a few weeks away, and good grief you have been busy.  Your beam engine looks fantastic and the fact that it's in 1:120 makes it flat-out incredible. The weathering turned out great and there is no shame in going back and reworking what didn't turn out to your liking.  I find weathering to be a process rather than a one-and-done. The engine sitting atop the penny is a telling image, however the engine makes the coin look bigger than it is.  I have a penny on my desk and looking over at it makes me appreciate how small that engine really is.

 

Wonderful modeling, Keith.  Good start on the boiler, also.

 Thank you, Gary. You're most kind.

 

 In fact, they whole bloomin' lot of you folks are so very kind with your comments, likes, and support. You guys truly bless me ole heart.

 

 

 When I take photos I try to clean up my worktable. The other day Glen said he likes to see how the sausage is made so I thought I'd share what the sausage factory looks like when I'm knee deep in my madness. One would think it's impossible for a man making penny sized parts to create this much chaos....what can I say? 

 

The boiler is basically completed. 

 

 When I started the boiler, in my minds eye, I saw the front of the boiler and firebox as a place where I could really go giddy with detail but alas it wasn't to be. I just don't have the tools to accomplish what I wanted to. 

 

 Without the benefit of highlighting it's difficult to see what detail I was able to incorporate. I want to be able to take my time highlighting but I've got some caregiving duties that need my attention after this posting so that fun will have to wait till next year. 

 

 i'm pleased with the way the pressure gauge turned out 

 

but I'm not happy with the water level sight glass. I'll play around with sight glass 2.0 and if I can make something more pleasing I'm gonna rip that resistor looking thing off and pitch it in the trash.

 

 Again, thank you for taking the time out of your busy day to follow Lula's journey.

 

 I want to wish each and everyone of you a Happy New Year, may your new year be better than the old. For those of you who'll be going out tonight to celebrate, please please be careful getting home. My God bless each of you and your families in 2025.

 

  Keith

Edited December 31, 2024 by Keith Black

[Knocklouder]

Fantastic work Keith, the boiler looks awesome.  Have a great New Year my friend, .

Pile ,Goober and I hope for all the best for you and Maggie in the new year.

 Bob   M.

PFCGP

Goober  🙂

 

PS I went and bought a quart of Black Paint lol.

[Keith Black]

15 minutes ago, Knocklouder said:

antastic work Keith, the boiler looks awesome.  Have a great New Year my friend, .

Pile ,Goober and I hope for all the best for you and Maggie in the new year.

 Bob   M.

PFCGP

Goober  🙂

 

PS I went and bought a quart of Black Paint lol.

 Thank you, Bob. "I went and bought a quart of Black Paint" made me laugh so hard I spewed iced tea all over my computer screen. 

[Jim Lad]

That boiler's finished up really well, Keith.

 

By the way, your work bench looks a bit like mine!

 

John

[Keith Black]

13 minutes ago, Jim Lad said:

That boiler's finished up really well, Keith.

 

By the way, your work bench looks a bit like mine!

 Thank you, John. I've tried working neat and tidy but that only seems to last for about three minutes.  

[wefalck]

I agree with the others, the boiler looks the thing!

Is this going to be final disposition? Somehow I have the feeling, that the stokers wouldn’t have a lot of room to work - or was the boiler by chance oil- fired, I don’t remember what you wrote.

 

Oh yes, and a good start into 2025 and continuation 🥂

Edited December 31, 2024 by wefalck

[Keith Black]

1 minute ago, wefalck said:

I agree with the others, the boiler looks the thing!

Is this going to be final disposition? Somehow I have the feeling, that the stokers wouldn’t have a lot of room to work - or was the boiler by chance oil- fired, I don’t remember what you wrote.

 Thank you, Eberhard. There's about five feet between the coal bin and the firebox. Research indicated small sternwheelers only burned about one hundred pounds of coal per hour.  The key to a happy back while shoveling is being able to keep one's feet planted. 

[kurtvd19]

Regarding you wanting to remake the water level tube.  I used a piece of small aluminum tube and painted the ends with brass paint and inserted a wire, bent it to 90 degrees on each end and stuck the ends into the boiler front after painting the wire black.  The aluminum tube looks enough like water in the 1/4" scale I was working at and the placement of the boiler without a lot of easy vision to that area so at your scale it should work even better.

Kurt

Happy New Year Keith and crew!

[Keith Black]

2 hours ago, kurtvd19 said:

Regarding you wanting to remake the water level tube.  I used a piece of small aluminum tube and painted the ends with brass paint and inserted a wire, bent it to 90 degrees on each end and stuck the ends into the boiler front after painting the wire black.  The aluminum tube looks enough like water in the 1/4" scale I was working at and the placement of the boiler without a lot of easy vision to that area so at your scale it should work even better.

Kurt

Happy New Year Keith and crew!

 Kurt. thank you for the idea and for the New Year wish.

[clearway]

Looks great so far keith- happy new year to you and yours and what a nice tidy work bench- mine literally looks like a load of B17s and Lancasters have carpet bombed it 😁

 

Keith

[Keith Black]

6 hours ago, clearway said:

Looks great so far keith- happy new year to you and yours and what a nice tidy work bench- mine literally looks like a load of B17s and Lancasters have carpet bombed it 😁

 Thank you, Keith. Do you find that the your cluttered workspace eventually drives you to the edge leaving a very tiny amount of room to work?