robert e lee

long view

" />

Well , By Crikey !

      That's coming along nicely . Are you sure you are ready for what's next ? LOL.LOL.LOL .The boat is looking good . Now how are your nerves ?   T.B. 

She's coming along nicely. DO you know what you need to do on the rigging for the gangplanks?  The ship had block and tackle falls as well as stantions and rope railings. See some links below.

http://www.modelships.de/Robert-E.-Lee/dIMG_8809.jpg

http://www.modelships.de/Robert-E.-Lee/dIMG_8808.jpg

http://www.steamboats.org/forum/steamboats-history/1327-any-steamboat-models-kits-2.html

http://www.modelships.de/Robert-E.-Lee/dIMG_8810.jpg

Note the deck is quite busy with things they need to move.

http://nebula.wsimg.com/b1dcec599d56bd3a9d8114f2ce38d89a?AccessKeyId=056ECB687C9C9A7D3093&disposition=0&alloworigin=1

The stack caps were brass or gold painted as well.

Steve, with all the ship rigging you've done the riverboat will be a breeze. I like the windows open like you did. When I scratch build, I try to do it in HO scale,1/87, so I can use all my HO details & I have or had a ton of them. On my Betsy Ann I even used Evergreen siding & posts & everything. I have done things in wood but the plastic sidings & everything are so much cleaner & easier.

  You are doing a really nice job on the Lee, but everyone thinks so too.

Hey Steve. Your build is looking awesome! Nice work, Steve.

thank's for all the nice comment's guy's , really appreciated .

bigjake

those pictures are really appriciated , love that last one , I might even dirty this one up just a little bit

T.B.

I'm starting to think you have a sadistic streak in you somewhere , lol ,

Now Steve ;

 Was that a nice thing to say ? I just thought you wanted to put 275% into the build . I will be happy to see you do 100% though LOL.LOL. Besides - Don't you want someone to blame when it doesn't come out right ? LOL.LOL  T.B.

enjoying the build because of you T.B. I'm doing thing's I didn't realise I could do . it's not going to be as good as you would like , but I've learn't a lot , lol .

steve

don't know what you call these thing's , but they are the hardest piece's i have ever tried to make , they need to be painted , and i still have 2 to make 3 hour's worth" />

They are just a brace for the smoke stacks & the threads (cables) add stregth to the whole thing. Unless TB says something different. Do you have any plan or drawing on rigging the gangplanks ? I could send you a picture of my Lee, or use jakes picture. He really did a nice job. What was that last picture he sent, it looked real. 

   I ened up hand rigging my Prince because I couldn't make any glue work. That means no ratlines. How did you do the shrouds on your ships ? Were they the premade thread shrouds or did you rig them ?

" />gene

I rigged them myself mate , have you tried using a simple overhand knot instead of the clove hitch for the ratline's , at that scale no-one would notice . I would love any photo's of your lee , I need all the help I can get , your right about jake's build it's beautiful , bit above my pay grade lol , here's a couple attempt's at the lift's , with round and sqare spreader bar's , think I will go with the round it sit's better .

big jake

that last photo you gave me , is it real ???

finally got the stays between the stack's done , tried it with wire , just wouldn't stick , ended up using thread ,

" />

Hey Steve, it looks beautiful. Nice work!

Okay mate !

   Let's get this straight . I am advising you . You are the builder . Get the drift . She's your boat ! Nice stack braces . My first set looked like off center loom shuttles .

      No , really Steve . I just want you to know there's more inside you wanting to come out . Guess what ? you have already proved that to me . Good on You , Mate .

 D'ya know what a loom shuttle is ? If not  "Google " Looms, and you'll find them .   T.B.

 Besides , ya put Blokes and Birds on her . ! 

Hope this helps, I know I look at every picture I can get when I am building anything. They really help. This is my wood Lee. If I had a rowboqt I would come & get you to rig the rat lines on my Prince. Even when I was young & doing close work, I always sewed my ratlines. They don't call me no knot for nothing.

 Forgot about this one.

bakster

thank's mate , good to see your still sitting in

T.B.

didn't know you use to work a loom , wild bit of gear , and thankyou , I intend smearing the thread with a bit of CA to try and straighten the threads out .

gene

or should I say no knot ? , thank's for the pic's , wish they'd bring out a plastic rear wheeler , that look's cool .

steve5

Hi Mate ;

 There is a plastic stern wheeler , but not what you want .  T.B.

Steve, I have been waiting over 60 years for one to come out & no luck yet. That River Queen is the only good one in wood & it is really nice. I adde a lot of detais to it. Mostly HO . I built that other one & then about 70% along with it I never finished it, but sold it. 

  I nearly bought a River Queen on ebay about a month ago & it was fairly cheap. I believe less than $100. Model Shipways has a beautiful big kit of a small sternwheeler & I have thought of it a lot. They are around$200.

                                          No Knot

Gene1;

   There is only one I know of in plastic , But she has been around since the fifties . Intended originally to be motorized . It's  a stern-wheel towboat . It was put out by Pyro , Life - Like and then Lindberg.

     All the boats I've built have been Sternwheelers . Many measuring five foot or better .  The thing is they were all for clients and due to circumstances beyond my control , photos no longer exist . I just barely saved photos of my 68 Roadrunner Convertible 

     I create my own plans , fudge a little here and there and just build .Plywood ( model aircraft grade , thin ) ,Is the basis for the decks . All else is plastic , P.V.C. and various bits and pieces of brass and Kibri rails and fancy work .

     The decks are usually planked with skived mahogany and stained oak . Then clearcoated in semi-gloss clear . All else is as I said , the materials above . Now the stack crowns , to add a real fancy touch are the brass baskets from ultra mini hurricane lamps you find at Pier One , Micheals and Hobby - Lobby . Then lots of sheer fun watching them come together .

 I have devised a way to use foil - chrome and translucent blue and apricot orange for the windows .That way,  when you move around the boat they shine or not ,  depending on the viewing angle .I have gotten lots of comments on that feature ! Tanker - Builder

Just a note .

The last Lee I did I used the tan and brown and streaked the pole-masts so they looked like varnished wood .Too much white for me ! .  T.B.

I wished you put that on yesterday T.B. lol .

got some rigging done" />

" />

29_2029291_zpsebjdupsu.jpghttp://i1333.photobucket.com/albums/w636/stevetuck56/robert%20e%20lee/20160829_2029291_zpsebjdupsu.jpg[/IMG][/URL] " />

" />29_2029181_zpsnm9i1ua7.jpg.html]

Now Steve !

 Here's a bit of history . Do you have any idea what the lines and poles running the length of the boat are for ? Here's the truth of it . Riverboats were so flexible they could , if not too tight aground on an unsuspected sandbar be brought free.

  How ? Well the crew would tighten these cables ( Ropes ? ) and walk the boat off in a twisting , ambling kind of crawl.  Believe it or not , it worked more often than Not . They would raise one part and lower another in a rippling motion. This caused the ambling walk and off they would go , if they were lucky . T.B. Boat's looking good bye the way .

Absolutely Superb Steve. You are speed demon with that rigging. How did you get it done so fast? It really looks beautiful in all the pictures. That was worth waiting for.

 You know there is a real cute little stern wheeler paper model on ebay for about $22.It is about 12" long. It comes from China. The Western Rivers. I have never built a paper model. I had plans for that same boat 50 years ago & was going to build it in HO for my train layout. I think I still have the plans & part of it.  I wouldn't mind getting that paper kit & have it blown up to twice the size or to abot 3/4 the size & scratch  build it.

Questions: How did you get those bands on the stacks painted so clean? How did you get the straight line on the green roof, Masking tape ?  How about the nice clean job you did on the windows, steady hand ?

I forgot ,you still have the gangplanks to do.

    TB, I wish you had pictures of your boats. I knew this riverboat architect that was a model rairoader too. He had a real neat layout with riverboats on it. He lived in Louisville & designed a lot of the real big , real riverboats. He wrote a modelers book on making riverboats. I can't find his book now, but I know I have it. When I find it I will put pictures on. I can't even remember his name. I do forget everything, except how to get downstairs to build my models. TB, you might know him.

   He was the one who put me on to the architect in California that drew the Betsy Ann.I have a lot of questions for you on your boats.

T.B.

thank's for the history lesson , it's pretty ingenious who ever thought of it ,

gene

 yes tamiya masking tape for the stack's , the white line is styrene , thata's how big the gap was between the two piece's , so I cheated a little bit , I don't think it look's out of place , I wish T.B. had pic's of his build's too ,

steve5