s/s Mariefred by burnside63 - FINISHED - Nordic Class Boats

[burnside63]

I got this from Ages of Sail.  Great service, by the way.  Ordered the ship and had it in a week, during Christmas shipping time.  I sent them some emails with kit questions and received very prompt responses.  I chose this because it is something a bit different and my CFO (wife) liked it, which helped convince her that the price is not do bad.

 

This is a large, heavy box.  Everything came well packed and packaged to minimized damage.  The build diagrams are large, clear and well organized.  There are, for all purpose, no written instructions.  The only written page contains directions such as use wood glue for wood-to-wood joints and super glue for all others. 

 

The quality of the wood is top notch.  All pipes/tubes, such as the smoke stack, are different metals.  The prop shaft is brass, for example.  There is very little plastic/plexiglass in the kit.  Almost everything is white metal with very little flash.

 

Below are some pictures.  I will update as work progresses.  This looks like a fun build and an interesting subject from a manufacturer that I have not seen previously.

 

 

[Captain Slog]

Hi Burnside,

 

This looks an interesting kit and a change from all the warships.  Can you list the scale as can't make it out on the box.

 

Cheers

Slog

[Jim Lad]

These old Swedish steam ferries are beautiful boats.  Should make up into a great model.

 

John

[burnside63]

The scale is 1/32.  She is 36 inches long.

[burnside63]

Quick update.  The keel, frames, fore and aft decks and main cabin front and back walls are together.  Everything has fit perfectly so far with almost no sanding needed with one big exception.  One lesson is that you do not want to follow the directions exactly as they are ordered.  Both fore and aft are 3 frames on each side that are used to help align the decks and form the bulwarks.  After setting the bulwarks, the frames need to be cut off.  I have already cut through them 2/3 of the way through to make removing them easier.  The deck is planked after they and the bulwarks are installed.  To make this easier, I began the deck planking.  This also made opening the various holes and mounting points on the deck easier than if planked after installation.  The only part remaining on the decks that needs planking is where the frames extend through the decks.  This is where the one exception in excellent fit arose.  The deck planking is supposed to be 4mm x 0.5mm.  The planks 'averaged' 4mm.  They ranged from 3.5mm to 4.5mm in width, sometimes on the same plank.  I got through it though.

I was going to per-paint some of this in white.  After further review, I decided not to pre-paint as most of the parts have tabs and such that would have to be filled.

 

Keeping her square has been fairly easy through the initial part of the build.

 

This is fun, so far.  It does not appear that this is going to be a long build.  My CFO (wife) has already approved purchase of her sister ship, Bohuslan.

[maggsl_01]

Hi Burnside,

 

I am glad to see that someone else is having fun with that swedish steamboats. I was very pleased to notice that there are These kits on the market. I probably will look for them when I have done my sailingship-Projects some day. I will follow your build... looking for a comfortable chair, a good glas of wine and many time...

 

Cheerio

 

Max

[burnside63]

I am truly impressed with the quality of the kit overall.  The fit of the parts has been excellent.  I have mocked up most of the ship and have not found any issues.  The strip wood width issue is only on the deck planking.  The rest is spot on.  I see building more of this manufacturer's ships in the future.

[burnside63]

Got a little more done on it over the last couple days.  I got the bulwarks on her.  I need to pick up some balsa for filler blocks front and rear before planking.  I am going to mock up a lot of her before beginning the planking.  I am going to attempt something I have not done yet.  My goal is to light her.  Ages of Sail has a lighting kit for her sister ship, the Bohuslan, but not for the Mariefred.  The lower deck cabins will have their window glass frosted as the cabins are empty.  The 2 upper cabins and the wheel house have the proper fittings inside them, so their glass will remain clear.  No guarantee that the lighting will be done as I have never lit a model before.  Need to mock it all up so I can see where to run and hide the wires.  Then on to planking.

[burnside63]

Ran into my first problems building the cabins.  Every pre-cut part from the thinner plywood is warped.  Fortunately, I have some large books.  I soaked each sheet and pressed them with books to straighten them out. 

 

Also, if you build this, watch out for the alignment tabs.  This has as more alignment tabs than a plastic model.  Unfortunately, nothing is in the instructions telling you that the tabs are staggered from one side of a cabin to the other, even if the parts have the same number.  I found this out after building most of the cabins.  Had to sand off a lot of the tabs.  Not a big deal as I will use the corresponding holes in the deck for alignment.  More of an annoyance. 

 

Even with the warped parts, the fit of this is incredible.  Due to all the alignment tabs, I will be going through a lot of wood putty so they do not show when everything is painted.

 

I have all built that needs to be for the lighting mock up.  The decks are painting.  Once I finish the pre-wiring for the lights, I can begin planking the hull.  The final picture is a test on the lighting.  You will see some bleed out as the cabin is not glued to either the upper or lower decks right now.

[Jim Lad]

She's already looking like a ship!

 

John

[burnside63]

I cannot say enough how fun this build has been so far.  I have to get my hands around planking the hull though.  There are no good shots of the stern and how it should look. 

[Nirvana]

Burnside,

Here is the link to the real one, she is still steaming strong in Lake Mälaren.

[burnside63]

Nirvana, thank you for the link.  I will review it.

[S.Coleman]

I love these old steamers. There is one still in operation in Queenstown New Zealand that is sort of similar. She is called th S.S Earnslaw. I like the way you have done a mock up to test out the lighting. Are you running batteries or powering off the mains?

[burnside63]

The goal is to run off a 9 volt battery as she will be sitting on a wall and I do not want a power cord running down the wall.  Lighting her is a new process for me.  I have never done this before.  I started wiring her yesterday and found the LEDs ok when 2 were hooked up.  They dimmed at 3 and 4 and shut off at 5.  I was wiring them in series.  I began re-doing them today in parallel.  Works much better.  I have the lower deck done.  Tonight, after dark, I want to light her back up.  I have 2 LEDs in the large main cabin and I do not think this will be enough.  May end up back at Radio Shack for more LEDs and resistors.

[burnside63]

Short update.  Working on various parts.  The wiring harness is done, tested, and working.  First time lighting a ship.  Have not used as soldering iron since my model railroad days in my teens.  The control box is shown in one of the pictures.  Two main wires exit the ship from the bottom of the hull and plug into the box.  The switch turns the lights on and off.  The 9 volt battery is in the box. 

 

I finished and painted one of the cabins.  This is a bit too flat for me.  I am going to top coat it.  I will use matt clear.  The beam at the top of the cabin will hold the LED for the cabin.

 

Let the planking begin.  I have 4 planks on each side done.  Hit a fun bit.  The plywood used for the frames is rock hard.  To have a nail or tack or pin hold in the plywood, I need to pre-drill a starter hole for it.  I will be able, fortunately, to use the clips I made using binder clips from I found in another section of MSW.

 

I need an opinion.  The main cabin is has no floor.  It is open to the inside of the hull in case people want to build this for remote control.  I want to block the floor off so the light does not go into the hull.  I can use wood to do the flooring.  I am frosting the windows of the lower cabins due to there being nothing inside them.  What do you think about using aluminum foil for the main cabin floor?  It would reflect the light and, hopefully, make it a bit brighter.  Open for opinions/ideas.

[Nirvana]

Burnside,

I am afraid the foil will give to much reflections from your light source unless you dim it.

Why not try to attach the floor  to the cabin,  so when removing the cabin you take the floor along with it?

When my father built the Bohuslän he made alternation.

Just my two cents.

Btw, my head office (for work) is located where you are. 

Edited January 26, 2015 by Nirvana

[burnside63]

Nirvana, thanks for the response.

 

The small cabin I showed sits on the main deck, so it has a floor already.  My concern is the large main cabin that is part of the bulwarks.  The upper cabins sit on the upper deck, so they already have floors also.

[burnside63]

New update.  This is the mockup with the hull almost done.  I have almost all planking done.  Time to break out the putty and make sure her shape is right.  The floor inside the main cabin is under way.  It is being installed to prevent light from flowing into the open hull.  Getting there.  This almost feels like a plastic model due to having all the sub assemblies that will pull together to complete the ship.

[Mirabell61]

Hi Burnside63,

 

a very nice looking hull , you`ve been real busy with the planking. Are you going to plate the oldtimer hull, perhaps with rivet imitation ?

 

Nils

[burnside63]

Nils, thank you for the compliment. 

 

I am not going to plate the hull.  Going to leave her smooth.  I just finished reading your build of the Bohuslan.  Absolutely beautiful.  My CFO (wife) has already approved allocating assets for this one next.  She likes the big boats.  Wants them around the house.  Actually my wife bought the Endeavour in some of the Mariefred pictures.

[Nirvana]

Looking good Burnside,

S/S Mariefred is a little ship.

I was thinking about the "light leakage" you were worried about. Now it's to late but one idea that came to mind was to black paint the interior of the hull, or carefully use expansion foam. Another way to had done this would had been using blue insulation foam (not to cover everything) between the bulkheads, see attached picture. This was a quick draft I did in SketchUp 2015 Pro

[burnside63]

The center of the main cabin is the only part open to the hull.  I am almost done installing a floor in it to block light from going into the hull.  I like the idea of the expansion or blue foam.

[Jimz66]

Looking good Burnside. Keep it going. 

[jbelwood]

I'm a bit late in suggesting this but you might look into a company called Ngineering, http://www.ngineering.com/lightng.htm

for LED lighting packages. One came with my CR Lamb stern wheeler kit but decided not to use it. It came with a power

distribution board that handles up to 8 LEDs. Input power up to 18VDC. 

 

I've been looking at Mariefred for some time now but hesitate starting such a large endeavor, at least for me. Have pulled 

up a front seat for your build.

 

John

[burnside63]

John, I have the lighting wiring harness done.  I will check out Ngineering on the next one I light.

 

Regarding doing such a large build, she has been a sheer pleasure.  I had the same concern when I built the Endeavour you see in the background of some of my photos.  At the end of the day, it actually was easier than the smaller ships.  The curves of the hull are less dramatic, making planking a bit easier.  Normally, I turn masts by chucking them in my drill and using it like a hand-lathe.  Cannot do that with the mast on the Endeavous.  I had to learn how to use a spoke shave for shaping the mast.

 

I say dive in.  This would be a good kit to use for a large-scale build as all the parts fit so well.

[puckotred]

I would not acquire "Bohuslän" if I was you. The laser cut wall panels, roof and doors do not fit at all.  I can't understand how they could do so wrong. It's like the parts are at a different scale. Just to let you know.

[tarbrush]

John, thanks for the link to Ngineering,  I am planning to light my present build.

 

Burnside, your build for Mariefred is beautiful, I love the looks and the size and would like to build one myself, have you noticed any of the problems that Puckotread noticed with the Bohuslän kit?

 

[burnside63]

I have had absolutely no issues with fit and finish on the Mariefred.  She has been an absolutely relaxing build so far.  I have spoken with another builder who has the Bohuslan from Turks/NCB and has absolutely no issues with fit or alignment.  Puckotread may have received a bad one.  Talk to the folks at Ages of Sail, www.agesofsail.com, for additional feedback.

 

I will probably take a shot at the Bohuslan when the Mariefred is complete.  Falling under fortunately/unfortunately, my build was just delayed by 2 to 3 months.  My wife just received a job offer in another city.  Due to my working from home, we are able to pick up and move with no issues.  The job is great for her which is the fortunate part.  The unfortunate part is that my shop is now in boxes.  By the time we finish packing and move, I am looking at 2 or 3 months before building resumes.  Not looking forward to moving my ships.

[burnside63]

Well, the move is done.  We are now unboxing everything.  For all purpose, there was no damage to any models.  What little damage was done will take a total of about 30 minutes to fix.  Very lucky.  Still going to be unproductive from a building standpoint for a while.  The new house has an actual "Hobby" room.  Until I have the time to put together a building station in the room, I will not be building.  My building station has been an antique roll top desk and I need to stop working on it.  So, I should be back up and running in the next 30-45 days.