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

[lraymo]

Happy New Year, Keith!  Your Sternwheeler looks great!

[Keith Black]

3 hours ago, lraymo said:

Happy New Year, Keith!  Your Sternwheeler looks great!

 Thank you, Lynn. I'm glad that you're back. 

[Keith Black]

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

 

  After yesterdays posting I went upstairs and ripped off water level tube 1.0, what a goofy looking piece of nonsense that was. So here's water level tube 2.0. The older water level tubes were more elaborate than later models so i tried replicating that look with a piece from some sheet brass I've had for years. I painted the wire with a very pale blue and once dry applied a coat of Gallery Glass trying to give the impression of water in a tube.     

 

 

  Thank you for following along.

 

    Keith

[wefalck]

Now only the probing valves are missing (just kidding) - the things looks very convincing at this small scale!

[clearway]

20 hours ago, Keith Black said:

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?

Looking better and better Keith and yep gets to the point where i have to clear everything off, burn all the waste and chaff on the fire so i can fill it full of crud again!  Ahh the circles of life🤪.

 

Keith

[Keith Black]

9 hours ago, wefalck said:

Now only the probing valves are missing (just kidding) - the things looks very convincing at this small scale!

 Thank you, Eberhard. I wish I had a watch lathe and the skills to use it. I'd enjoy being able to go detail crazy.

 

5 hours ago, clearway said:

Looking better and better Keith and yep gets to the point where i have to clear everything off, burn all the waste and chaff on the fire so i can fill it full of crud again!  Ahh the circles of life🤪

 Thank you, Keith. That made me laugh.

 

 

 After viewing the photos last night I decided to scrape off the paint and Gallery Glass. It was a good idea but the Gallery Glass came out too lumpy and wasn't convincing as a glass tube. I repainted the wire, smoothed it with a wet finger, and left it at that. I'm much more pleased with the way the water level tube now looks and am ready to move forward.

 

 I think this will probably be the side presented to the viewer.

 

 This is a pretty neat view of the water level tube and the pressure gauge pigtail but once the engine and pilot house are installed this view will no longer be available. 

 

 A little more distance and less magnification.  

 

  That's it for the boiler except for plumbing the systems together including the hand pump which is the next item on the menu. My apologies for dragging you through multiple boiler posts but I was striving for something more than a little black lump.

 

 Thank you to everyone for the comments, likes, and for following along.

 

   Keith

Edited Thursday at 08:12 PM by Keith Black

[KeithAug]

Nice work Kieth. Your water level tube looks just the job.

[Keith Black]

10 hours ago, KeithAug said:

Nice work Kieth. Your water level tube looks just the job.

 Thank you, Keith.

[Keith Black]

Thank you for your support with your kind helpful comments and likes.

 

 I've started work on the hand pump. Images of period hand pumps are as scarce as hen's teeth. I finally found an image I like so it's off to the races.

 

 This is the image I found and that I'm using as the model for Lula's hand pump. I think the pump in the photo came out of a French winery but I like the look of it. Of course I'll not be making the cart, the pump with be planted firmly to Lula's deck.

 

 These are very small pieces, when I have the frame and pump handle made I'll make sure these pieces are vertically square on the base. This is the side that will face the boiler. The hole is drilled for plumbing to the boiler. 

 

 I made my first attempt at making the pump handle, it looked like poo so I'm working on PH 2.0. The frame is going to be the challenge. I'm going to try using some brass sprue from photo etched parts to make the frame. If that doesn't work I'll make the frame out of wood. 

 

 Thank you for being part of the journey.

 

    Keith

[clearway]

No need to apologise for the boiler posts Keith- its interesting to see how it evolved regards the pump handle, for my cutty sark windlass handle i used brass tube with an eye glued in each end to take the handles if that makes sense.

 

Keith

[Keith Black]

7 minutes ago, clearway said:

No need to apologise for the boiler posts Keith- its interesting to see how it evolved regards the pump handle, for my cutty sark windlass handle i used brass tube with an eye glued in each end to take the handles if that makes sense.

 Thank you Keith. Regarding the pump handle, yes it makes sense. If I were working at a larger scale my options would be greater. At 1:120, 24ga (.019/.020) wire is the correct size for scale.   

[wefalck]

This appears to be cart-mounted fire-pump - the engravings in the back corroborate this. They came into use in the 18th century and were finally surplanted by IC-engine-driven pumps in the 20th century (there were also two-wheeled steam-driven cart-pumps, but they were expensive). Every village used to have at least one, if they couldn't afford a bigger one or when the streets didn't allow access by four-wheeled ones. They were also common in industrial establishments and shipyards for rapid intervention.