Steam Schooner Wapama 1915 by Paul Le Wol - Scale 1/72 = From Plans Drawn By Don Birkholtz Sr.

[Keith Black]

 Great detail on the cabins, Paul. How did you replicate the forward cabin door hinges?

[Paul Le Wol]

20 minutes ago, Keith Black said:

 Great detail on the cabins, Paul. How did you replicate the forward cabin door hinges?

Hi Keith, thank you. The hinges were made from 26 gauge wire. The paint was burned off and and then it was bent into an L shape. The long end was pushed through the hole and bent over. It was glued with E6000 glue to keep it from turning. I didn't like the way they looked. They were all different colors so I gave the whole wall another light coat of paint. The door knobs are steel pins with the heads reduced in size and then heated red hot. they came out a grey color. As usual by the time I do the last one I'll have it figured out

 

[Glen McGuire]

The precision in your work is outstanding, Paul.

[Paul Le Wol]

14 minutes ago, Glen McGuire said:

The precision in your work is outstanding, Paul.

Hi Glen, thank you so much!

[Rick310]

Really great!!

Rick

[Paul Le Wol]

1 hour ago, Rick310 said:

Really great!!

Rick

Hi Rick, thanks very much!

[Jim Lad]

The superstructure is coming along very nicely, Paul.

 

John

[Paul Le Wol]

10 hours ago, Jim Lad said:

The superstructure is coming along very nicely, Paul.

 

John

Thanks so much John!

[wmherbert]

Doing a beautiful job.

One question are you using a mini table saw to cut the small strips? Trying to get uniform strips of say 1/32 × 1/16 is quite difficult for me.

Any tips?

Bill

[Paul Le Wol]

Hi Bill, thank you very much.. I’m not cutting my own strips. All of the AYC came from Joe at Modeler’s Sawmill . I have no idea how people cut these small strips as I’m having a hard enough time using them. Joe’s wood and service are first rate.

Edited September 18 by Paul Le Wol
Grammar

[Keith Black]

  I use Midwest Products basswood strips but they seem to be a victim of their own success. Currently it's almost impossible to find small scale sizes, I see resupply dates around mid November. 

[sheepsail]

I have a small drum thickness sander to thin down the wood to 1/32.   The laser has no issues cutting 1/32 inch sheets.    Xacto knifes and micro planes cut through this stuff like butter.

 

 

[Paul Le Wol]

25 minutes ago, Keith Black said:

  I use Midwest Products basswood strips but they seem to be a victim of their own success. Currently it's almost impossible to find small scale sizes, I see resupply dates around mid November. 

Hi Keith, I usually buy basswood from Sunward Hobbies in Toronto. They sell Bud Nosen Models wood who are in Two Harbors Minnesota. At the moment Sunward has BNM in stock

[Paul Le Wol]

Hey Everyone. hope you are all doing good. Thank you very much for the Comments and Likes. This update will be about the completion of the aft cabins. Once most the siding was installed, the parts were dry fitted in place to check for square.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The parts were then glued together and weighted down for a day.

 

 

The structure was then removed and the siding was finished

 

 

After a couple of coats of paint the cabins were installed

 

 

 

 

 

 

I guess my mind was elsewhere because I forgot to glaze the windows first but it still went okay. The glazing was made from a divider from a spiral wound notebook. One side is glossy and the other side has a rough texture so the glossy side faces out. They were a friction fit but white PVA was still used to hold them in place. 

 

 

The next items that needed to be addressed were the pillars at the forward end of the superstructure. A sheet of 1/16" basswood was laid on top of the cabins to get the height of the boat deck. After getting all of the measurements the pillars were assembled and and just dry fitted in order to get more measurements.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have been using Glad Press'N'Seal to line the jigs when gluing is involved. It slicks well to everything but is easy to remove. The door hinges and knobs are glued on the inside of  the cabins with E6000 glue. This is what I have been using when I don't want to use CA. And here is that notebook divider.

 

 

There is a lot of stuff going on with the cabin deck. I am starting to install the stanchions that support the boat deck. Hope to see you soon.

[Glen McGuire]

Your cabins are looking sharp, Paul.  Nice work.  

 

Also, what is this thing you are using as a weight?

[JacquesCousteau]

Fantastic job, very precise work!

[Keith Black]

 Remarkable execution, Paul. I love this build, it's also penguin approved. 

 

[Paul Le Wol]

1 hour ago, Glen McGuire said:

Your cabins are looking sharp, Paul.  Nice work.  

 

Also, what is this thing you are using as a weight?

Glen, thank you very much. Those are cases of Olfa black retractable blades. The top one is a 50 pack of 18mm blades and the bottom one is a 25 pack of 25mm blades. They are pretty heavy.

 

1 hour ago, JacquesCousteau said:

Fantastic job, very precise work!

Jacques, I appreciate your Comments very much!

 

1 hour ago, Keith Black said:

 Remarkable execution, Paul. I love this build, it's also penguin approved. 

 

Thank you Keith, I am honored. It doesn’t get any better than Penguin Approved !

[Jim Lad]

She's really looking first class, Paul.

 

John

[Paul Le Wol]

1 hour ago, Jim Lad said:

She's really looking first class, Paul.

 

John

Hi John, thank you so much!

[druxey]

Also catching up on your excellent progress after a month away!

[Paul Le Wol]

18 minutes ago, druxey said:

Also catching up on your excellent progress after a month away!

Thank you druxey, I hope you had a great month!

[Paul Le Wol]

Hi Everyone, thank you for your Comments and Likes. Tis update starts with the stanchions that are attached to the main deckhouse and support the boat deck. They were made and test fitted before the main deckhouse was installed. Gary @FriedClams recommended the Tichy phosphor bronze wire in his Pelican build so I picked up a variety of sizes and used the .020" wire to pin the stanchions in place.

 

 

 

 

The pins were CA'd into the pre drilled holes and then the stanchion was slid in place and the holes for the wire rope handrails were marked. The stanchion was removed and the holes drilled. The stanchion was slid back on the wire and CA was applied to the wire. The stanchion was then pushed into place.

 

Once the first stanchions were in place I was able to measure the size of the platforms that sit outside the smoking room doors port and starboard. They cover the steering rod which gets converted to a wire cable after it enters the trough that runs inboard of the stanchions

 

 

After the platforms were installed the deck planks were laid and the rest of the stanchions were fitted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The pillar structure was next. A strip of 1/32" x 3/16" wood with a 1/16"x 1/16" glued to it's length was added to the top of the lower beam to match the height of the subdeck and cover the ends of the deck planking.

 

 

 

 

While this was going on a piece of 1.5mm x1.5mm x 1.5mm brass channel was glued between the last plank and the stanchions ( with CA ). This will represent the steering cable trough.

 

 

The knees for the pillars started as a shaped piece of 1/32" plywood. Then  1/16" AYC was glued to one side and sanded back to the plywood. The same was done on the other side but with 1/32" AYC

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The iron work was attached after the pillars were painted

 

 

A bit of work was done on the deck box and the skylights.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The sheaves at the forward end of the trough for the steering cable look to be housed in a wooden assembly and protected by a wooden step/cover. My version is supposed to represent that

 

 

 

 

Brass wire was used for the hand rails but it may get changed out for rope

 

 

 

 

Still lots to do on the cabin deck

[Keith Black]

 Great work, Paul. 

1 hour ago, Paul Le Wol said:

Brass wire was used for the hand rails but it may get changed out for rope

 White craft wire is an option. It comes in different gauges. I've shown an Amazon link as an example.

 

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=24+ga+white+craft+wire&rh=n%3A262596011&ref=nb_sb_noss

[Paul Le Wol]

36 minutes ago, Keith Black said:

 Great work, Paul. 

 White craft wire is an option. It comes in different gauges. I've shown an Amazon link as an example.

 

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=24+ga+white+craft+wire&rh=n%3A262596011&ref=nb_sb_noss

Thank you Keith. I am going to check that out 👍

[Jim Lad]

That just keeps looking better and better, Paul.

 

John

[Paul Le Wol]

1 hour ago, Jim Lad said:

That just keeps looking better and better, Paul.

 

John

Thank you John, I forgot to mention that I made the stanchions out of cherry after looking at Phil’s photos where they seemed to have a natural wood color. I think they give her a bit more character 

[Dr PR]

Paul,

 

Very nice build! When you started I hoped you would do the ship justice, and now I am pleased to see you doing such nice work.

[Paul Le Wol]

7 hours ago, Dr PR said:

Paul,

 

Very nice build! When you started I hoped you would do the ship justice, and now I am pleased to see you doing such nice work.

Phil, thank you very much for your kind comment!