Making " Hidden " Details .
Hi Ya'll ;
Well , it's Finally a rainy monday here in New braunfels , Tx. Finally ! I thought I was going to have to re-sod my lawn . It's burned pretty good , maybe after this rain , I will see little shoots hmmm ?
This is what I mean about the Hidden Details . How many of you have seen the beautiful Riverboats in photos and models that at one time plied America's Rivers ? The funny thing is Gene1 sent me some Riverboat plans and there are NO outside supports under the main decks .So , No bracing seeme to be correct .
There are Pictures of the Wolverine ( Great lakes Training Carrier ), That show them as being very obvious . As a matter of fact they are quite clear . I saw a model of the Natchez by someone in Missouri . Full deck supports above the main deck , and the framing for the overhang areas in the overheads too .
Now on the American Side Wheelers . there is a small looking Cabin like structure right above the Paddle housing and slightly forward . On the Pyro , Lifelike , Lindberg version there are some Wibblies that may represent vents or windows .
I am not sure , But based on a photo of one from Sacramento they were vents . Then they should look like vents , Right ? Either vertical or Horizontal will do . Most build the Robert E. Lee or Natchez with what's there .That's alright too .The instructions Never say what they are .
Now here's a point .Those of you wanting any boat but those two can have them easily . The names are raised letters on a plastic panel . Shave them off and then either create letters in three dimension or use Decals . Either of these two is permissable .
Point of Note . I believe something may have happened to the mold section that spelled out Natchez . I haven't seen it except on much older kits . That's alright though , except the name panel and other things that you cannot see well , both boats could be sisters to the eye . Just different colors is all .
For the Sternwheel connessiour ( Gee , Did I spell that right ? Probably not ) . There are good Photos available in a book called "Dawdling The Delta " . By one of the locals and it documents quite a few . There are two editions pf the book .The first leans more toward a history and the second a verbal and photographic up and down the San Joaquin/Sacramento River delta and it's unusual denizens of the Human variety
I was once one of those and still miss the Delta Opening day Boat Parade , Bethel Island Bash and Fourth of July anchored off the point of land owned by Baron Hilton and watching fireworks and partying like there was no tomorrow .
Yes , there were folks who partied so hard they fell in the river . Sure ,we rescued them and lifted another to their safety !
Oh , the History ."Blood Alley" with John Wayne was filmed there and some of those wrecks and abandoned boats were still there when I moved there in my boat ! They are gone now , but what a past !
Anyway , where was I ? Oh , underdeck details , not normally seen . This is not something necessary unless it detracts from a model from an engineering or appearance standpoint . A model looks strange if it is large enough to see these things and they are not there .
I did a conversion of Monogram's old R.A.G. Boat Kit . I converted it by adding a full forward cabin and main cabin with helm . The main cabin interior was completely visible to the observer as well as the roof and support structure of the aft deck cover .
There were also former tank round boxes gathered up as postal sorting boxes .
The front windows lifted into an open position and the side windows slid aft in their own rails .The spotlight and radar both swiveled , ( with the aid of a long pair of tweezers grasping the internal handles .) The cabin door slid back in forth in it's own set of rails and the rudder turned with a push of the small spoked wheel .
Why ? Because they could be seen and I wanted to win the class at a local I.P.M.S. Show . Our esteemed President had a little better income at the time , could afford those Expensive ( To others anyway ) Tamiya race car kits in 1/20, and was always taking best of show , best of class and Peoples choice .
The rest of us couldn't see paying that much out of our limited budgets for those kits .So we detailed the Bazoom out of what we had . The results ? My " Mail Boat " conversion and the Edgewater Princess II took the Gold and one , two and three in vessels of history and practicality .
But not because of any personal tiffs . We all admired our President's skills in building Flawless out of the box models . We just decided he needed to have his Ego bent a little .After that , Greeblies started appearing in Planes and Armor too .
He still won in Autos , But detail oriented building Suffused our club in ALL categories . That included Figures and Dios too ! Best thing that ever happened . Now we met in clinics on how to do this or that detail .The Planes got awesome and so did Ships and Armor !
So you see , when you add an extra detail , Even if it cannot be seen ( as in Many Monogram Kits of famous planes ) .You , the Builder know it's there . And you feel vindicated as to your skills . Add that detail , It will only make you a better modeler and if possible , make the detail parts yourself , just once .
Then enjoy what the market has to offer . Knowing that if it ain't for sale , you can still have that detail on your model , or in it too , because You Made those " Hidden " details ! ! . Tanker - builder