1880's-1890's Sternwheeler by Ferrus Manus - Lindberg - 1/64 - PLASTIC - A quick build of a Western barge-pusher

[Ferrus Manus]

A build log is being made for this build because I would like to get some information/do some research on Late 19th century American sternwheel paddle boats. This is Lindberg's "Southern Belle" kit, although it isn't based on any particular ship. I will still be working on the Chebec while I am building this kit, and this kit will not take long- maybe 3 weeks max. 

I have a few things dry-fitted so far, namely the fore deck and engine room gear. One of the things that factored into my decision to build this model is the fact that the last (and first) powered work boat I made was Revell's tug boat, which turned out pretty great. 

The tug, accompanied by a late-19th century fishing smack: 

Another element that factored into my decision to build this kit was @Keith Black's Lula, a sternwheeler intended to supply a floating piece of machinery. 

The only issue here is that I have never, and I mean never, seen a river boat, even a barge-pushing river boat, whose bow and Stern were completely squared off. Any information would be helpful. 

[Keith Black]

6 hours ago, Ferrus Manus said:

The only issue here is that I have never, and I mean never, seen a river boat, even a barge-pushing river boat, whose bow and Stern were completely squared off.

  The sternwheeler in the image below is the Juanita built in 1954. Ferrus, were I you and I liked the kit, i'd build and have fun with it.

 

 

[Ferrus Manus]

Yesterday and today, I worked on the engine room machinery mostly, and also painted the deck. 

I'm not particularly a fan of the pristine "as launched" appearance of modern restorations/reconstructions (this goes for models as well) of work boats. They wouldn't have looked like that for most of their working lives, and in the case of a coal steamer, would have looked disgusting after the first voyage. Hence the unhealthy, lung-destroying layer of coal dust on the deck immediately aft of where the boilers will be. So far, I have assembled the engine room machinery and dry-fitted the paddle wheel and its associated ironworks. 

[Ferrus Manus]

Now I know why most of the machinery and moving parts on a ship powered by steam would have been unpainted iron- when I painted the parts, I had to give them a protective coating or the paint would rub off, and, much to my annoyance, the arms would have a habit of freezing up when I attempted to cycle the stern wheel. That has, hopefully, been remedied by close alignment of the arms and the parts that connect them to the paddle wheel. 

The aft assembly is not permanently affixed to the hull as of right now. The individual paddles themselves and the hull will be painted the same shade of red as the wheels. I didn't spend much effort dirtying up the machinery inside the hull itself, as that will only be visible through the windows. I might not even paint the interior walls, we'll see. So far, with just a few exceptions that arise from necessary procedures (unless, of course, Lindberg wants to supply me with genuine cast-iron parts), this is shaping up to be a fun little project. 

[Ferrus Manus]

The process of finishing up the sternwheel involved entirely disassembling the wheel assembly and associated machinery, realigning and repainting the wheel and machinery, and gluing the paddles to the wheels. 

The process of assembling the paddle wheel: 

The paddles were attached five at a time. After they were all in place, I repainted any areas that were scuffed up by the assembly process, and sprayed the wheel in a clear sealant. This is to protect the wheel from further scuffing and to simulate the wheel being wet from the water it revolves around in. 

Here is the wheel as it sits tonight: 

Tomorrow evening, I will assemble the rest of the stern machinery. 

[Keith Black]

 Ferrus, not that it matters two hoots but FYI, the paddles are called buckets. I have no clue to why because they don't look like buckets.  

[Ferrus Manus]

Kieth, I greatly appreciate being taught the terminology for a type of ship I know very little about. Anyway, yesterday I got the arms and other machinery hooked up to the sternwheel, and the siding for that section of the ship into place. 

As is relatively standard for my work boats, I made the weathering severe and nasty, indicating a long life for the ship. Next is the coal boilers and associated machinery. 

I have also decided on a name for this boat- Carol Ann. Maybe when Lula's rudders jam, Carol Ann can push the supply barge for the pile driver. 

(Seriously, Kieth, your Lula is a masterpiece that I couldn't hope to compete with as I build this kit. You should be proud of her.) 

[Keith Black]

1 hour ago, Ferrus Manus said:

Kieth, I greatly appreciate being taught the terminology for a type of ship I know very little about.

 When I started Lula I couldn't even spell sternwheeler.   I've had to do a ton of research including going through the excellent build logs of many sternwheelers/riverboats. Thank God for the resources here on MSW and sharing knowledge is what the NRG/MSW is all about. 

 

1 hour ago, Ferrus Manus said:

Seriously, Kieth, your Lula is a masterpiece that I couldn't hope to compete with as I build this kit. You should be proud of her 

 Thank you very much, Ferrus. I've enjoyed building little Lula, I've tried very hard doing the best me old self can achieve knowing Lula was going to be the bookend to the pile driver. 

[Ferrus Manus]

I've now made up and painted the platform upon which the boilers sit, built the boiler assemblies, and I have them dry-fitted in place as well as the fore bulkhead and the second deck. 

Next step is painting and installing the steam boilers. 

[Cathead]

On 4/6/2025 at 11:43 PM, Ferrus Manus said:

Hence the unhealthy, lung-destroying layer of coal dust on the deck immediately aft of where the boilers will be

For what it's worth, since you're interested in learning more about river vessels, the firebox would typically be in front of the boilers, not behind them. That's why the chimneys (the proper riverboat term for the smokestacks) are there; they're venting the smoke from the firebox. So the biggest coal mess should be in the area in front of the boilers. At least how's how the real thing would be; this kit seems to take various liberties with accuracy and I can't quite tell from your photos where it puts the firebox.

 

Also, for reasons never fully defined, the deck with the boilers is the main deck, while the deck above the boilers is the boiler deck. Just how it is. Sailing vessels have their own bizarre vocabulary too!

[Ferrus Manus]

Eric, as I primarily deal with sailing ships, I am well aware of the confounding terminology involved. With that said, I understand that this kit is not based on a real ship, but is instead designed to look like a relatively convincing replica as viewed by a non-expert. This kit puts the fireboxes at the back of the boilers- there are even doors molded onto them. 

Furthermore, the location of the fore bulkhead makes it impossible for a man to even access the fore of the boiler to shovel coal. While this is inaccurate, I am not willing to scratch-build new boilers on a boat that should only take a few weeks to build. 

In other news, I have gotten the boilers and chimneys painted. 

 

[Cathead]

Yeah, as I said, I couldn't see from previous photos how the kit had things arranged. The angle on the box-cover painting makes the solid front bulkhead look like a post, or at least I assumed that's what it was showing since that's what "should" be there. Given what you've said, you've got the coal dust in the right place, even though the kit's boiler/chimney arrangement is wacky. I certainly wasn't intending to imply that you should do a bunch of scratchbuilding, I get that the appeal here is a simple kit that will look good when finished. Carry on!

[Ferrus Manus]

Eric, I think the steam boilers in question might be based on land boilers used in steam tractors and locomotives. For one, there is this article that explains that the conflagration of coal gases run in a tube through the water in the boiler, heating it: 

There are also some images of steam tractors that show the firebox at the back and chimney at the front, which seems to have been the standard configuration at the time: 

Our boilers on the ship seem to be at least partially based on this steam tractor from 1920. Perhaps the designers of the kit misapplied the concepts of land boilers to their marine boiler design. This begs the question: if the coal box and chimney are both at the front of the boiler, how would the water be evenly heated? 

 

[Kenchington]

3 hours ago, Ferrus Manus said:

This begs the question: if the coal box and chimney are both at the front of the boiler, how would the water be evenly heated?

By having fire-tubes that run the length of the boiler, then turn and run back again, or else a combustion chamber that extends the length of (but below) the water, then fire-tubes that return through the water.

 

It's not just a land vs marine divide. There were (are) traction-engine boilers, railway locomotive boilers, freshwater boilers, marine boilers, not to mention the various static boilers used in heating or generating plants ashore. Then there were fire-tube boilers, water-tube boilers, low-pressure boilers, high-pressure boilers ... all with engineers constantly striving for advances that improved efficiency or lowered costs, including maintenance costs and the like.

 

Trevor

[Keith Black]

\

3 hours ago, Ferrus Manus said:

This begs the question: if the coal box and chimney are both at the front of the boiler, how would the water be evenly heated? 

 

 Ferrus, the flue gasses travel in a u-shape going from front to back and back to the fore to exit. Theory of design being the longer the flue gasses remained in the boiler the greater the heating capacity.

 

 IMHO the Southern Belle kit is a rudimentary example of a 19th century sternwheeler begging no forgiveness for details not accurately betrayed. It is what it is, made for the enjoyment of building the kit. 

[Keith Black]

 Trevor, I need to type faster, LOL. 

[Cathead]

Yeah, I was only referring to common practice on American riverboats. Obviously, for example, railroad locomotives were set up the way this kit is. My understanding is that steamboat fireboxes were normally placed at the front at least in part to allow for the extra draft needed to keep their very tall chimneys drawing. Ironically, this kit has especially short chimneys, making that less of an issue.

 

And yes, in most steamboat boilers the fire tubes ran through the whole boiler to provide even heating. This was one reason it was very important to keep sufficient water in the boiler; quite a few boiler explosions happened when the steamboat's engineer let the water get too low, letting the firetubes get extra hot, causing an explosion when cold water came into contact with those tubes (either through refilling too late, or the vessel rocking from side to side).

 

Ferrus, see what happens when you let steamboat nerds into your build?

[Keith Black]

30 minutes ago, Cathead said:

Ferrus, see what happens when you let steamboat nerds into your build?

 Eric, I thought the same thing.   Ferrus started his build log fire not realizing how many ole moths would be drawn to the flame which is a testament to those in the modeling community who's interest run deep in sternwheelers and working boats.  

[Ferrus Manus]

@Keith Black @Cathead @Kenchington It seems as though the two inaccuracies in the boiler system actually cancel each other out. If the fireboxes were to be at the front, they would be at the front to increase airflow towards the extremely long chimneys (good to keep coal ashes away from a wooden boat) but the chimneys are abnormally short for this kind of boat. Now, this kit doesn't pretend to be an accurate depiction of any one boat, or even type of boat. Honestly, if I wanted a true-to-life representation, I would have just scratch-built my own steamboat as modifying the many inaccurate parts of this kit probably would have taken more effort. This kit, in its most basic form, is meant to be built as essentially a toy. I am choosing not to build it as such, obviously. At its core, despite its inaccuracies and failings, it is one of the least offensive offerings in either plastic or wood. Most of the other steamboat kits out there in either medium look very inaccurate, and honestly, quite ugly. Hence the large proportion of scratch built steamers on this forum. 

Edited 23 minutes ago by Ferrus Manus