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

[Cathead]

Keith, do you want some actual coal for your coal bin? At your scale, I could send you a tiny packet of crushed coal in a normal envelope. As you likely recall from Peerless, we have coal on our property and it wouldn't take long to crush some down for you. No worries if not, just a fun thought!

[Keith Black]

1 hour ago, Glen McGuire said:

That little pump is soooo well done (as well as everything else)!!

Thank you, Glen

 

43 minutes ago, Cathead said:

Keith, do you want some actual coal for your coal bin? At your scale, I could send you a tiny packet of crushed coal in a normal envelope. As you likely recall from Peerless, we have coal on our property and it wouldn't take long to crush some down for you. No worries if not, just a fun thought!

 Thank you, Eric. That is so very kind of you. I've got some sand left over from God only knows what project that I'm going to try to use. I'll have to paint it and then glue it in a pile and see if it makes acceptable coal. If it doesn't, I'll take you up on your generous offer. 

[Javelin]

I'm following for a while and marvel at your tiny detail work, yet in all my excitement I forget to react!! 

 

Great job Keith, certainly at that scale it's not easy to achieve what you intend to! Love that tiny boiler and the overall crisp finish of your model. 

 

[BANYAN]

Your sternwheeler machinery is coming along really well Keith, great detail to add a lot interest.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[lraymo]

That pump is sooo tiny!  And it looks so good!  Have you ever been to the Steamship Arabia museum in KC?  You could see the pump on display!

[Keith Black]

20 hours ago, Javelin said:

I'm following for a while and marvel at your tiny detail work, yet in all my excitement I forget to react!! 

 

Great job Keith, certainly at that scale it's not easy to achieve what you intend to! Love that tiny boiler and the overall crisp finish of your model. 

 

 Thank you, Roel. 

 

14 hours ago, BANYAN said:

Your sternwheeler machinery is coming along really well Keith, great detail to add a lot interest.

Thank you, Pat. 

 

14 hours ago, lraymo said:

That pump is sooo tiny!  And it looks so good!  Have you ever been to the Steamship Arabia museum in KC?  You could see the pump on display!

 Thank you, Lynn. No, I've not made it to the Arabia museum but Eric, @Cathead, shared photos of some of the museum exhibits in his Arabia build. 

 

https://modelshipworld.com/topic/17090-arabia-1856-by-cathead-finished-scale-164-sidewheel-riverboat-from-the-missouri-river-usa/

[Cathead]

Since Keith mentioned it, for those interested, there are more photos from the Arabia museum in the model's pre-build research/design thread.

 

https://modelshipworld.com/topic/15945-designing-a-model-of-the-1856-missouri-river-steamboat-arabia/

[Keith Black]

 Eric, thank you for posting the link above, neat thread. 

 

  Thank you to everyone for your kind comments and likes. 

 

 The coal bin before taking on it's first load of coal.

 

 After the first load.  My camera really picks up on black pastel. It's not this dark as you'll see below.  

 

 The chute door is plate with a handle. I decided not to incorporate the coal bin along with the boiler, hand pump, and beam engine. In fact, I'm going to try plumbing the three without them being on a 1/64 inch piece of ply. Iron plate that size would represent a great amount of needless weight, 

 

 The sand worked just fine representing coal (thank you again for the offer, Eric) ,once I have the boiler plumbed and set in it's final position I'll tun a piece of the 1/64 ply for the coal bin door to under the boiler and spill more sand out the chute opening. 

 

 The coal bin really has shown in the above photo. This is its true darkness. 

 

 I think the coal bin fits in well. 

 

 The bin is loaded on either side, access is made by lifting the hinged four foot roof sections on either side. 

 

 The boiler and coal bin from this angle is what I saw in my mind the

 

 first time I saw this photo of Lula. On to the steam engine room. 

 

 Thank you for your support and being part of the journey.

 

   Keith

[MAGIC's Craig]

I am so impressed by the detail you manage at this tiny scale! What a delight to see!

 

A friend and boatbuilder in Sidney, BC built some years ago a 2-deck live-aboard stern wheeler as a home for he and his lovely wife. The fully-functional pilot house enjoys lovely views and the side windows can be dropped down into slots to permit one to lean an arm on the sill while navigating along.  I wonder if the pictured  LULA might have enjoyed a similar feature - the forward window looks to have a possible handle(?).

Since the master of your Lula will have to look around the stack....? 😉

[Cathead]

Keith, I love that re-pairing of the model's status and the original photo. Shows how well you're adapting the original design to your own vision. Just awesome.

[BANYAN]

That is looking really good Keith; just the right amount of grime.

 

cheers

 

Pat