Sub guy also interested in Ore Boats but looking for modding help maybe...

HEY !

Did you say BUFFALO ? That was a neat place when I was a small fry years ago . I don't know about now though . Well , I might like my memories better .    Tanker-Builder

I think a lot of folks shy away from scratch building for several reasons, but I encourage folks to give it a try.  As I have said many times, the barge hull shape of lakers is the easiest to model because there is less carving to do than with a finer hull.  I am a big advocate of solid hulls.  You don't have to worry about what is behind the gunports on a laker  :-)  

One only really needs to scratch build the hull and deckhouses on a ship model.  There have always been sources for detail parts and fittings.  Model ship building has a long history- well before model kits were ever made and sold, and most scratch ship builders do not really like to make their own detail parts- ones you need by the dozens.  If you build a steamer, there isn't a lot of rigging.  And, the railings, one of the more tedious areas, are available as generic PE railing sets in several of the more popular scales that people use for lakers.

Scratch builds - wow - whole nuther level I'll never see! LOL

Hokey

Cool. What kits did u use to build the Ryerson and the Strathcona?

Those were scratch builds.  In fact, all the lakers on the pages were scratch builds.  Plans from A J Fisher for all except Ryerson. I did the drawings for that myself from photos and listed dimensions.

Cool. What kits did u use to build the Ryerson and the Strathcona?

Go to this site;

http://www.usfamily.net/web/stauffer/models.htm

The Ryerson, shown on that page, is very similar to the Fitz.  I wrote an article published in Ships in Scale on building it, including scale drawings.

Then, at bottom of page is a like to my ship modeling page.

GMorrison

I wish I had photos.

My Father was born in Albion and grew up in Detroit.

My mother was born in Saint Claire and grew up in Detroit.

I spent a couple summers on the lakes and on the Saint Claire and Detroit rivers.

The ore boats were pretty impressive.

My wife's family is from Buffalo but that's another story.

There is a neat website, www.boatnerd.com, that has an awesome photo gallery, with many dozens of photos, organized by ship name. I always go there before I start a laker model, to see how many good photos I can download of the subject I am undertaking.

There is another web site dedicated to modeling of Great Lakes Ships.  I recently lost all my bookmarks- if I can find the site again I will post the URL.

I wish I had photos.

My Father was born in Albion and grew up in Detroit.

My mother was born in Saint Claire and grew up in Detroit.

I spent a couple summers on the lakes and on the Saint Claire and Detroit rivers.

The ore boats were pretty impressive.

My wife's family is from Buffalo but that's another story.

Note that there is a whaleback on display in Superior WI (next to Duluth MN). It is a permanent exhibit on Barker's Island. It was originally a bulk carrier but was converted to an oil tanker, the form it is currently in.  Well worth touring if you get close to that area.

I have that Fitz resin kit but haven't built up the courage to do it justice yet.

I might point out that whalebacks are an excellent introduction to scratch ship modeling.  There is no sheer to the deck, most of the carving is convex curves- only a small amount of concave work.  I did an article a number of years ago on the John Ericsson scratch build, and more recently a 1:500 build of the Edward Ryerson.  The Ryerson is a more complex build though.  Both were in Ships in Scale.

I am an advocate and practicioner of the bread and butter (laminated) hull build up- much simpler than a planked hull.  Again, lakers are fairly easy to carve as they are very full-bodied and don't have some of the fancier curves of salties.

There are probably more drawings (scale drawings) available for ships than for any other modeling genre (except possibly aircraft).  Ship modeling goes back to antiquity and kits were pretty much a 20th century thing, so scratch ship modeling has a long history.

HI !

 I saw one of those in BUFFALO N.Y. One winter when I was just a widdle kid . " Gees , I thought , Whatta big Subarine " That's the impression that stuck too .The whalebacks are a very interesting boat and they are NOT that well known either . I have touched the EDMUND FITZGERALD and many more in my years growing up in the western N.Y. area . I personally liked the passenger steamers that plyed the LAKE ERIE waters going back and forth to CANADA .One sticks especially well .That's the CANADIANA .WHY ? I got to ride and stay aboard her more than once .My GRANDMOTHER loved riding her , but , didn't want to go alone .I never refused . We saw WHALEBACKS and regular BIG BOATS plying their trade .Isn't it funny though ? Great Lakes ore boats are called BOATS even when they are seven hundred feet long .Where I originally come from ,that size qualified as a SHIP ! Enjoy your building of these unusual ships . I like the pictures too .    Tanker-Builder

Sorry for bringing up an old thread but I would like to point out that Iron Shipwrights makes a resin whaleback in 1/350, the John Ericsson.  Whalebacks are a personal favorite of mine and this has been put on wish list.

If you are a sub fan, consider building a whaleback.  They sort of look like submarines.  Problem is, you'll have to scratch build it.  I did an article many years ago for a mag called "Ships in Scale" on scratch building the largest whaleback.  The whalebacks are not that hard to scratch because there was no sheer in the decks and no hollows to the hull.  Deck houses were not that complex.

I do not remember which Fitz resin kit it was, (I think your #2)  but a buddy bought one a few years ago and it was a very nice kit.  Carr Hobbies in Duluth is the hobby shop that caters to Great Lakes ship modelers.

I am aware of a styrene kit sold by a model railroad vender (Walthers?), in HO scale. It is a little short, but they sell add-on midship sections. It is waterline, so may be your #1.  Not the best or most detailed kit.  There was a resin ship kit vender at the Omaha nats that showed a whaleback Christopher Columbus, a passenger version.  I suppose that could be converted to an ore carrier.

Cool! That woulda been a great gig I think - unless stormy waters!!!

Thanks for the ideas. I'm not sure what I end up with when I've got 3 boats only half there?  Would they not look weird or incomplete???

My guess is the most practical thing to do is buy two copies of the kit in your link in #1 above and one of the kit in #2 above.   The kit linked to in #1 is the right length for The International and you could probably just cut out a section amidships to get it the right length for The Harvester.  For the Fitzgerald you could buy the kit  you link to in #2 above and cut it with a razor saw at the waterline so all three kits would "match" each other (all three would be waterline).  

By the way, I sailed on an ore carrier on the west coast, the Harry Lundeberg.