30ft 1890's navy steam launch 1/6th scale

[tghs]

seeing this all started with the 1900 navy plans, found the navy boat 1900 that had the hull and fittings plans, contacted a full size steam guy who has several on the engines.. he provided engine plans and boiler/ engineering drawings.. 1/6th scale was selected because the Stuart Turner compound launch engine kit could provide the engine cylinder block,, the navy engine was design onto itself framework and bed wise.. I made masters for the needed "navy" parts , molds made,waxes cast, brass castings made,, other brass boat parts made (soldering, milling, turning,) last Jan.. things made a big jump with the arrival of a LMS 3990 mill,,my shop space was moved taking about 2 months time but now I'm back up and working..

[Vixen]

Hello tghs and welcome,

You are setting the bar very high with this navy steam launch.  Very impressive, and excellent workmanship on the brass castings and waxes, Likewise, nice work on the sternpost and rudder.

Looks like you have a good set of lines and drawings for the hull. Do you have the full size launch nearby? You did not say which part of the world you are from or who's navy the launch belonged to.

Mike

PS    Ha ha, I have always wanted some "white oak futtocks" (second to last photo)

[tghs]

 I'm located in central North Carolina,, the boat is a US navy steam cutter,, in 1900 the navy printed a plan book to standardize boat building at the shipyards,, everything from 6ft work punts to 40ft steam cutters,, the rare book room at the university where I work has copy,, my full size steamboat contact has 2,, one that is unbound so he could send me flat copies,, (he is pushing me to do this correct) the only known existing example of this type of boat is a 40ftr  for the early version of the battleship New Jersey,, several years back it was restored to it's original fitment.. the restorers have been great about supplying me with any needed info.. this  "beast" has been in the planning for years..  most of the story can be found here..
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?3018430-US-navy-28ft-steam-cutter
this will be a long term project, it wouldn't have got this far without the great help from others..

[crueby]

Excellent work on the parts so far!!!


 

[Chipswitheverything]

Thanks for posting the project photos and information, this looks like being a most interesting build with a lot of character and prototype realism.  Admire the work that you have done so far.   Dave

[steamer]

Nothing like a good Futtock first thing in the morning!...   

Welcome!    I'm a steamboating kinda guy

Looks like your building a model of a Navy "K"..

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwi9_pPH-J7kAhXBY98KHfNOAgYQjRx6BAgBEAQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.steamlaunch.com%2Fengines%2FAntiqueEngines.html&psig=AOvVaw0N8DAM6J2P0KYf88HmPnlR&ust=1566854106538152

Dave

[steamer]

Do yourself a favor if you haven't already.    Draw a line above the shear parallel to the base line, and mark it as a building board line.    You can then build it upside down which will be much easier to work on and you can pick off the dimension to the board line from the plans when you make up your frames from many  many futtocks!....     

.....that's just the boatbuilder in me talking..........

Keep the post pictures coming!    I like it....   Alot!

Dave

[tghs]

it will be either a B or G engine,, really doesn't matter the basic engine form was the same for all the models,  just the size changed,, all my hulls get a building board made(if I don't have one of the correct size)  and building a hull "up-side-down" is the best method,, its the only way to keep things true during the planking, more important if your hull has a curved or stepped deck.. your link is well known to me..

[Dave Otto]

Beautiful work, thanks for sharing!

Dave

[steamer]

it will be either a B or G engine,, really doesn't matter the basic engine form was the same for all the models,  just the size changed,, all my hulls get a building board made(if I don't have one of the correct size)  and building a hull "up-side-down" is the best method,, its the only way to keep things true during the planking, more important if your hull has a curved or stepped deck.. your link is well known to me..

There ya go.   Were they multilayered and "cold molded" in real life ( poor choice of terms I suppose) ?   or is that just a modern construction bent?

I assume you have it strip planked and then cold molded....   Nice shape!   It looks very fair!

Dave

[steamer]

it will be either a B or G engine,, really doesn't matter the basic engine form was the same for all the models,  just the size changed,, all my hulls get a building board made(if I don't have one of the correct size)  and building a hull "up-side-down" is the best method,, its the only way to keep things true during the planking, more important if your hull has a curved or stepped deck.. your link is well known to me..

There ya go.   Were they multilayered and "cold molded" in real life ( poor choice of terms I suppose) ?   or is that just a modern construction bent?

I assume you have it strip planked and then cold molded....   Nice shape!   It looks very fair!

Dave

and the reason why I ask, is I know where some of the smaller more enigmatic engines might be....   If you're interested in specific detail....  I know where a K is...and I've only seen 2 ever. 

[tghs]

the pictured hull is a 1/16th scale (4ft) RAF whaleback double diagonal planked (the same method was later used on US PT boats) I've have detail photo's of the engines and many discussions with their owner on what changes will be required in the scaling down process.. the foot print will be close,, the frames will be a bit more robust,, the entire block/valves unit will be a little longer,, just a tad taller.. all in all it should be good scale live steam model.. planning on building the hull very close to the prototype in regards to methods and materials.. have 3 select eastern white cedar boards that will provide the planks, white oak for the frames and keel,, I may replace the ash with another pale wood as finding ash with a finer (scale) grain pattern has been tough..

[steamer]

That's great!   I really look forward to hearing and seeing more!.

Dave

[Vixen]

I'm No boat builder so I may have this totally wrong. I am surprised at the use of ash wood on a boat, I have only used ash wood to build the frames for vintage car bodies, the wood frames were covered with either metal sheet skins or fabric. The ash frames were  used because ash was a light flexible wood, but it tended to wet rot after a few years due to the effect of rain water etc. So you can see my surprise at it being used in a marine environment. Hope you find a suitable replacement.

Mike

[tghs]

the ash was used as trim alternating with cherry,, it more importantly was used in the seating slats that were bent to follow the curve of the stern.. most of my 30ftr files are to large to post but some 40ftr info give you the idea,, all of the "trim" wood would have been kept in a good coat of waxed varnish..