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

[Keith Black]

3 hours ago, Cathead said:

That's spectacular!

 Thank you, Eric

 

3 hours ago, wefalck said:

So it kind of operates like the knee-levers on electrical sewing machines? Interesting mechanism.

 

She now really looks like a hard-working vessel 👍🏻  I like these unsual workboats.

 Thank you, Eberhard. I used the photo below as inspiration for Lula's pilothouse interior and engine controls. I scaled the controls to match the height of the pilot to be added later. A US penny looks huge when placed on the floor of the PH. I'll make sure I get the photo taken and posted next time. 

 

 

 And that's the last photo I will use to complete Lula with the exception of the original historical photo of Lula. No more boilers, steam engines, derrick cranes, or pilothouses, just little Lula the car ferry. I need to make a chart table and chair (we'll see how that goes) and once those are done all remaining work is on the exterior.

 

 I don't know why but it seems like I've been working on Lula for a very long time when in actuality i'm barely into my fifth month of actual fabrication. I find myself slowing down and reminiscing as much as I work as the end of my intimacy with Lula draws to a close.

Edited 22 hours ago by Keith Black

[clearway]

nice one Keith- i never realised they had steam engine controls in the wheel/ pilot house - would cut out the need for an engineer as well as a fireman in the boiler/engine room.

 

Keith

[tmj]

Nice work on those small parts! Pardon my ignorance, but I'm curious. What was the tallow used for?

[Keith Black]

1 hour ago, clearway said:

nice one Keith- i never realised they had steam engine controls in the wheel/ pilot house - would cut out the need for an engineer as well as a fireman in the boiler/engine room.

 Thank you, Keith. The only reason I could justify having the engine controls in the pilothouse is because the pilothouse sits directly over the engine room. Had that not been the case then an engine telegraph and engineer would have been necessary.

 

1 hour ago, tmj said:

Nice work on those small parts! Pardon my ignorance, but I'm curious. What was the tallow used for?

 Thank you, Tom. Tallow was used on wood decks as grease to make things slide about easier requiring less energy. Pile drivers use tallow to help in driving piling. Lula maybe delivering that barrel of tallow to a pile driver, not sure how story is gonna play out. 

 

 As promised. Sorry, I should have included this photo in my first post of the day. The heck of it is, the only view inside the pilothouse will be through the open rear PH door. I was going to stain the interior but now thinking I need to paint the interior white and why not, with few exceptions everything else is white. 

Edited 19 hours ago by Keith Black

[KeithAug]

On 3/26/2025 at 3:18 PM, Keith Black said:

 I hope the above makes sense,

Thank you Keith.

[Knocklouder]

That is so cool Keith, I think the interior would look great in white and black trim for the windows , and under the penny to the left of the door looks like there is enough room for a Rum keg on a little white stand. 😀.   Great work my freind. 

    

 

Bob M.

[Keith Black]

14 minutes ago, Knocklouder said:

That is so cool Keith, I think the interior would look great in white and black trim for the windows , and under the penny to the left of the door looks like there is enough room for a Rum keg on a little white stand. 😀.   Great work my freind.

 Thank you, Bob. Unfortunately where you want the rum keg to go is where the chart table goes. No black trim on the inside, it's just too dang hard to cut straight paint lines at this scale. Trying to paint black trim on the inside would probably drive me clean over the edge. 

[wefalck]

... you could use black decal strips, either home-made from decal sheet or commercial ones. I am also using increasingly soft artists' felt-tip pens with pigmented acrylic paint in them for such things. 

[Jim Lad]

White would be a good choice, Keith - make the interior details stand out a little more.

 

John

[Glen McGuire]

5 hours ago, Keith Black said:

Unfortunately where you want the rum keg to go is where the chart table goes.

If I gotta choose between the rum keg and the chart table, I'll take my chances with blind navigation!    

 

Exceptional work, Keith!  Such a cool project and so well done!

[Rick310]

This is such a great build Keith!!

You are doing a magnificent job!!

Rick