Scheldt River by Javelin - 1/1250 - Bottle - Dredger

[Glen McGuire]

4 hours ago, Javelin said:

Unfortunately that can't be done. In reality it's either dredging or discharging. The rainbowing is done stationary and dredging can't be done stationary...

That makes me think back to when I first started my longhorn herd several years ago.  I learned something fascinating about cows.  They can walk, eat, and poop all at the same time.  I guess they haven't designed a dredger yet that can multi-task like that!  😃

[Javelin]

7 hours ago, Glen McGuire said:

They can walk, eat, and poop all at the same time.  I guess they haven't designed a dredger yet that can multi-task like that! 

 

Yes they did, it's called a Cutter Suction Dredger: it walks on the spuds, at the same time it eats by cutting and dredging and it poops by discharging the dredge waste through the floating line at the stern! So we'll call them "dredging cows" now. 

 

@Keith Black, Haven't tried the varnish trick yet, but that might help. Time fore another experiment I guess. I did however prime the surfaces before with spray primer, also that didn't work... 

 

As for the cloud, I made a set-up today to see where we are and I'm not that unhappy with that cloud. Mind you I remeasured the bottle with the sand bottom in today. It gave me much less space than anticipated, but this set-up with the eraser below the hull is pretty accurate in dimensions. 

 

Still a lot of work to do though. I've been aching to start painting it, but since there is still a lot of detailing to do, I decided to continue building first. It's also freezing outside, so spray primer isn't a good plan for the time being. 

As you can see, she has also received the propulsion tunnels, I think I'll leave them empty. A propeller is possible, but nobody will ever notice, certainly not when I mount the rudders behind it. 

 

First I'll paint the dredge pipe, then mount it, close the hull and paint the hull. Once that's done I'll continue on the deck. I believe turning the gantry is possible, but to keep it in place is still a question mark. 

 

And for size

 

[Glen McGuire]

44 minutes ago, Javelin said:

So we'll call them "dredging cows" now. 

LOL!!!  BTW, nice detailed work on that dredge pipe.  Very convincing.  And I like the cloud too.  

[Keith Black]

 The last photo is fantastic. 

[KeithAug]

As ever, beautifully detailed work given the scale Roel.

[Javelin]

Thanks Keith, 

 

The question is not whether I can put those details on, but rather if I want to spend the time on it and whether it's worth the effort, considering the bottle distortion she'll face afterwards. 

I also used to mix the glossy moss green paint with colourles matt paint to get rid of the gloss, but since she'll be going in a nice glossy bottle, I guess this isn't necessary in this case. 

 

Kids back to school from today, so more time to continue. 

Yesterday I added the steel bar guides for the anchors. Due to her odd bow shape, she needs extensions on the hull to keep the anchors clear of that huge bulb. I build those from copper wire. 

She also has a riverine/streamer anchor, which they occasionally use in bad weather when picking up the floating line to stay in place. Depends on the dredge operator if he wants to use that one or not. This anchor also has those spacers to keep the anchor from getting stuck underneath the hull. The aft anchor does have a steel wire rope instead of chain (not that it matters that much on my model). 

The hull is now technically ready for paint. 

I've also primed the superstructures in order to paint them white after. White doesn't cover well and contrasts from pencil/marker lines are very difficult to hide. The primer takes care of that. 

 

And I finally tackled the other thing that I was ignoring, the platform on the PS. I finally cut it off and tested if the deck would fit. It makes a pretty big difference and leave some room to add more detail. 

 

Of course I still need that platform, so I fixed that platform to the hull piece. I first glued a smaller plate to have some contact surface to the sloped wall as essentially the platform needs to be at the same level as the deck piece (brown primer in below picture). I also added tiny stiffeners (0.2mm copper wire) to keep that platform level. 

 

I also added the two spreader pipes that diffuse the dredged material in the hopper from the top. These pipes I cut at the exact width of the hopper opening, so that they help to position the (brown) deck when I put it in place in the bottle. The seam is unfortunate, but necessary. The platform also has a different colour (gratings) on the real vessel, so in the end there really is a separation. 

 

And the overview to make things clear. 

Numbers 1 are the extensions for the anchors. Number 2 is the platform I'm talking about. Here is is standing free without the brown deck attached. You can also see the painted suction pipe and an effort to match the hull yellow-green. It looked ok during mixing, but I think I'll add more yellow to make it slightly lighter. 

 

After finishing the lower accommodation block and painting part of the "brown" deck in moss green, I'll attach the lower accommodation block to that deck. Then I can finally add the dredge line and perhaps valves.

 

At the same time, when I finish the bridge level, I'll be able to glue it to the lower bridge level and that part will be ready. 

 

 

 

[Keith Black]

 Roel, I love the detail you achieve at this scale. Remarkable stuff.