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

[LJP]

Keith,

 

Great job!

 

But your "Valuable lessons learned should I have the opportunity to make another sternwheeler. " should read WHEN I make the next sternwheeler...

 

LJP

[Cathead]

I should be used to your standard of work by now, but my jaw literally dropped when I saw that wheel. Better than any I've ever built and in a much smaller scale. Just fantastic.

[Keith Black]

5 hours ago, LJP said:

Great job!

 

But your "Valuable lessons learned should I have the opportunity to make another sternwheeler. " should read WHEN I make the next sternwheeler...

 Thank you, LJP.  Given there's enough sand left in the glass I'd like to do another working sternwheeler. It would be shame to have gained a little knowledge to only use once.

 

3 hours ago, Cathead said:

I should be used to your standard of work by now, but my jaw literally dropped when I saw that wheel. Better than any I've ever built and in a much smaller scale. Just fantastic.

 Thank you, you're much too kind, Eric. I feel privileged to be able to stand on the shoulders of giants such as yourself in trying to model Lula. Without your numerous builds to reference and learn from I'd be deep in tall grass.

[Jim Lad]

Looking good, Keith! Maybe you should try a side wheeler for a change! 😉

 

John

[Keith Black]

49 minutes ago, Jim Lad said:

Looking good, Keith! Maybe you should try a side wheeler for a change! 😉

 Thank you, John. I'm not enamored with side wheelers for whatever reason? Please don't get me wrong, there are numerous great side wheeler builds and their history is fascinating but they're just not my cuppa to devote the time and energy to build one. 

[Cathead]

5 hours ago, Keith Black said:

I'm not enamored with side wheelers for whatever reason?

I prefer sternwheelers too. Three of my four steamboat builds have been sternwheelers and the only exception was because Arabia was too good a local project to pass up.

[Jim Lad]

I'm probably biased as all our local historical paddle steamers were side wheelers with the notable exception of one, which was designed by and American living over here! 😀

 

John

[Keith Black]

 

11 hours ago, Cathead said:

I prefer sternwheelers too. Three of my four steamboat builds have been sternwheelers and the only exception was because Arabia was too good a local project to pass up.

 

9 hours ago, Jim Lad said:

I'm probably biased as all our local historical paddle steamers were side wheelers with the notable exception of one, which was designed by and American living over here! 😀

 Leave it to a bloody American. 

 

 

 I've always associated side wheelers as passengers first and cargo second vessels. With few exceptions sternwheelers were just the opposite, cargo first and passengers second. I guess because of the dirt under my fingernails background I've always been more attracted to those gritty little get it done sternwheeler workboats. 

 

 

[lraymo]

Wow, the wheel is looking great!  but I am so sorry you and Maggie have been sick, and even more concerned about your slip on the ice!  Yikes!  I hope you have both recovered from illness, and since you are working on the wheel, i assume this means your arm is better.  But at any rate, rest up as needed!

 

 

[Keith Black]

13 hours ago, lraymo said:

Wow, the wheel is looking great!  but I am so sorry you and Maggie have been sick, and even more concerned about your slip on the ice!  Yikes!  I hope you have both recovered from illness, and since you are working on the wheel, i assume this means your arm is better.  But at any rate, rest up as needed!

 Thank you, Lynn.

[FriedClams]

Terrific tiny work on that wheel, Keith!  Are you sure this is 1:120?  

 

On 1/28/2025 at 1:12 PM, Keith Black said:

I'd like to do another working sternwheeler.

 

I also would like you to do another working sternwheeler - we all would.  Better get started on the research.

 

Gary  

[Keith Black]

5 hours ago, FriedClams said:

Terrific tiny work on that wheel, Keith!  Are you sure this is 1:120?  

5 hours ago, FriedClams said:

I also would like you to do another working sternwheeler - we all would.  Better get started on the research.

 Thank you, Gary. I do have another in mind, a dredger would fit in nicely with Lula and the pile driver.

[ccoyle]

5 hours ago, Keith Black said:

a dredger would fit in nicely with Lula and the pile driver

 

That brings back some memories! All during my childhood and even long into my adult years in Humboldt County, California, there was a derelict dredge that languished, grounded, in one of the sloughs of Humboldt Bay. It was an everyday sight when driving up and down the county's only north-south freeway, Hwy 101. I found this image of it online:

 

 

The dredge was not used to maintain any channels, but rather to build up the levees surrounding the adjoining pastureland. In recent years, the land became part of what is now the Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge, and much of the pastureland has been returned to its original salt marsh state.

[Keith Black]

 

7 hours ago, ccoyle said:

That brings back some memories! All during my childhood and even long into my adult years in Humboldt County, California, there was a derelict dredge that languished, grounded, in one of the sloughs of Humboldt Bay. It was an everyday sight when driving up and down the county's only north-south freeway, Hwy 101. I found this image of it online:

 Thank you for sharing those memories and the image, Chris.

 

 

 For whatever crazy reason there are numerous photos of early sternwheeled dredgers and snag boats. Below are just a couple.

 

 

 

 This is a link to a great model, the build starts in earnest on page four, the photo is from page five. 

 

https://www.finescalerr.com/smf/index.php?topic=3143.45

 

[wefalck]

A bucket dredger also has been on my 'list' for decades - lots of opportunities for turning, milling, cutting gear-wheels and such. I have also collected quite a bit of drawings on them from the mid to late 19th century.

 

It is interesting to see in first photograph, that they simply attached the bucket arm to the side of a sternwheeler.

 

Given that many rivers in Europe are a lot smaller, they were often not self-propelled in the early years, but put out anchors upstream and then moved along while working, using these mooring points. Otherwise, they needed a tug to move them to different locations. They usually where catamaran-like with the dredging arm between the two separate hulls.

 

Early ones had often wooden structures for the dredging arm. There is a 1829 drawing/etching by E.W. Cooke of one like that:

 

[Keith Black]

20 hours ago, wefalck said:

A bucket dredger also has been on my 'list' for decades - lots of opportunities for turning, milling, cutting gear-wheels and such. I have also collected quite a bit of drawings on them from the mid to late 19th century.

 There were many varied styles of dredgers which I didn't realize till I started researching them a couple of months ago. If one likes workboats they can make a nice model. Eberhard, you should start building one. I'd love to see your work on one, Would you do 1:160? 

 

 

 Thank you to every for your kind comments and the likes.

 

 It took me all day to get one engine done, it fought me the whole way. 

 

 This is what I was attempting to replicate. 

 

 This is the most delicate piece I've ever made. I couldn't clean it up as much as I wanted to because it is so delicate, consequently it's pretty rough.  

 

 The only consolation is even though the engine room is open it's tucked away.

 

Any detail is lost in that field of white. The details should pop once I had some grease and grime. 

 

 It's a short space between the cylinder and the pitman so those pieces are really bunched up together. 

 

 

 If I can make another one that looks close It'll be okay.

 

  Thank you to everyone for following along. 

 

     Keith

Edited February 1 by Keith Black

[BANYAN]

She looking great Keith, some lovely detailing there. I am enjoying watching her progress - the yard supervisor must be happy with the build

 

cheers

 

Pat

[Knocklouder]

I agree with @BANYAN this is really  great to follow, amazing work, you atention to detail amazes me ever time you post. 

Bob M.

[Glen McGuire]

That is superb work on that engine, Keith!

[wefalck]

The engine looks really good. Do you have some close-up pictures? How did you construct it?

 

In a way I am surprised that they used what looks like Corliss-engines with valves, rather than simple sliding valve engines as in locomotives.

 

Talking about bucket-dredgers: the most difficult parts would be the buckets. Their rounded features would need to be reproduced by e.g. vacuum-forming or hammering around a wooden former or perhaps 3D-printing ...

[LJP]

Keith,

 

Unbelievable detail at so small a scale!  I know how difficult these engines are to build.  Way to go!

 

LJP

[Cathead]

Keith, you owe me a new thesaurus, mine broke when I tried to come up with proper new praise for your work.

[clearway]

nowt wrang wid that keith looks great😁

 

Keith

[Jim Lad]

A delightful piece of miniature engineering!

 

John

[Keith Black]

On 1/31/2025 at 10:33 PM, BANYAN said:

She looking great Keith, some lovely detailing there. I am enjoying watching her progress - the yard supervisor must be happy with the build

 Thank you, Pat.

 

On 1/31/2025 at 10:42 PM, Knocklouder said:

I agree with @BANYAN this is really  great to follow, amazing work, you atention to detail amazes me ever time you post. 

Thank you, Bob.

 

On 1/31/2025 at 11:21 PM, Glen McGuire said:

That is superb work on that engine, Keith!

 Thank you, Glen.

 

21 hours ago, wefalck said:

The engine looks really good. Do you have some close-up pictures? How did you construct it?

 Thank you, Eberhard. The photos I posted are as close to the engine as I dare take. I'm disappointed as the engine is not one of my better pieces, it looked much better in my minds eye before building it. I'll take build photos when I start the second engine, hopefully it'll be good enough for some closeup images. 

 

17 hours ago, Cathead said:

Keith, you owe me a new thesaurus, mine broke when I tried to come up with proper new praise for your work.

 Thank you, Eric. You made me smile.

 

13 hours ago, clearway said:

nowt wrang wid that keith looks great😁

 Thank you, Keith

 

10 hours ago, Jim Lad said:

A delightful piece of miniature engineering!

 Thank you, John. 

[Keith Black]

 Thank you guys for your kind comments and the likes.

 

 These are the bits I used to make the steam engine but I wound up not using the etched eye pins.I used brass wire in 22, 24, 26 and 28 GA. 

 

The two pieces of dowel joined and the piston rod added.

 

 

 I think these are rivets from I can't remember what. Everything is put together with CA. 

 

 The bits on the left are one hole stanchions. I had to add a brass bead for height plus it adds some visual interest. 

 

It's starting to look like something. 

 

 Rocker arm assembly. 

 

 Rocker arm added.

 

 And the completed engine. 

 

 

 Eberhard, this is the best me ole camera can do on closeups. 

 

 It's late so painting the engine will have to wait. Once the engine is painted and a little black pastel powder is added it's be time to finally start adding some walls!

 

 Thank you everyone for following along and being part of Lula's journey.

 

  keith

[Rick310]

Great!!

Rick

[Javelin]

On 1/31/2025 at 12:37 AM, Keith Black said:

Thank you, Gary. I do have another in mind, a dredger would fit in nicely with Lula and the pile driver.

YES PLEASE! A dredger would be fantastic! 

 

However, first Lula. A gorgeous piece of work and a great example of combining materials to reach an overall complicated appearance! True scratchbuilding. 

I can't imagine, but do hope, to be building such sharp and intricate details at your age. 

[Keith Black]

14 hours ago, Rick310 said:

Great!!

 Thank you, Rick.

 

 

13 hours ago, Javelin said:

However, first Lula. A gorgeous piece of work and a great example of combining materials to reach an overall complicated appearance! True scratchbuilding. 

I can't imagine, but do hope, to be building such sharp and intricate details at your age. 

 Thank you, Roel. God has blessed me greatly with good health both physically and mentally. If He continues to bless I do see a future dredger build.

 

 

  Lula is starting to come to life. I missed a golden opportunity when naming this build log. I should have named it, Tender Lula.  

 

 

 Thank you for your support by following Lula's build. 

 

   Keith

[Jim Lad]

That is looking so good, Keith!

 

John