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1/700 SS Fraser Paddle Steamer and Terminal/Depot #223

Rhino

Rhino

Super Moderator
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It all started back in Feburary of 2023..........
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And here we are today. There is still lots of work to do, but I expect it to lay out like this. 140-foot 1850's paddle steamer, SS Fraser will be making her last trip up the wild, Fraser river in BC, Canada before the river freezes solid, to Quesnel, BC, with a cargo of dynamite, whiskey, salt pork, flour, lamp oil, mail and fresh Doxys.
You know, Mining supplies.

The base is made out of cast-off resin waste bits, c/a glue and Tamiya putty. This will be posed in late October winter. I'll used Carl Musselman's excellent Ice floe techniques as a guideline.

No friends, I will not bore the livin' dogsnot out of everyone with every minutia of my Minutia this time.
I will also attempt molding the river bank/dock base to make another "Diorama in the Box" kit.
Thanks for looking in!
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:salute:
:oldguy:
 
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.015 copper wire posts are in place between the upper and main deck. Railings would mount outside of the supports, If they were included in the kit. They are not. P/E Inclined ladders to the upper deck are, but I'm not there yet.
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I make so many small nautical subjects that I feel like I should provide an interesting way to display them. Is it a river bank? Is it a shoreline?
I seek a mold box to this put this base into. Rick seems skeptical about the "mold & cast the base" project.

Tupperware?
nope. Curved bottom. It needs to be flat.

Disposable lunch containers?
Nope. Too many voids for air to get trapped in.

What to do, what to do.......................
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Sometimes a mold box is a BOX!
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Then, to make sure. Beans!!
Thanks for looking in!
 
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The Cree tribe named the steamboats "Fire Canoes" A few more details to add. Lines from the kingposts to the gangways, pennant staff and flag staff and paint touch up will have the little river steamer ready for box art, after the decals. My diorama Fire Canoe will have rails, boat davits and boats.

I know, I know. The Canadian maple leaf flag didn't come along until 1965, but by golly, you get one with every kit!
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I started putting the metal parts together for the kit. Today the base mold went into the pressure pot. The smaller mold is parts for the upcoming Bluenose/Cleopatra schooner kit. NO RUSHING the chemicals!!
More mold progress reports to come after work tomorrow.
Thanks for lookin' in eh!
 
Rhino said:
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The Cree tribe named the steamboats "Fire Canoes" A few more details to add. Lines from the kingposts to the gangways, pennant staff and flag staff and paint touch up will have the little river steamer ready for box art, after the decals. My diorama Fire Canoe will have rails, boat davits and boats.

I know, I know. The Canadian maple leaf flag didn't come along until 1965, but by golly, you get one with every kit!
View attachment 174299View attachment 174305View attachment 174304
I started putting the metal parts together for the kit. Today the base mold went into the pressure pot. The smaller mold is parts for the upcoming Bluenose/Cleopatra schooner kit. NO RUSHING the chemicals!!
More mold progress reports to come after work tomorrow.
Thanks for lookin' in eh!
Click to expand...
How does one order one? BTW got both of my Fire Canoe books and pretty darned interesting. A subject I wasnt really aware of even though there is a Fire Canoe in Edmonton.
James
 
jknaus said:
How does one order one? BTW got both of my Fire Canoe books and pretty darned interesting. A subject I wasnt really aware of even though there is a Fire Canoe in Edmonton.
James
Click to expand...
I'm a working on the instructions. Box art and kit won't happen until I get the base the way I want it.
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I have discovered, much to my dismay that foam board is compressible. The mold for the base obviously reflects this result. It was an expensive learning experience. Now I can see why Rick was skeptical. I made the mold for Bluenose/Cleopatra's boats and decknouses at the same time, or I might have gone with a lower PSI for the Fire Canoe base. Live and Learn or @$#%&&*#%!!
 
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Cutting, sanding and filling flaws in the sole casting of the squished base Master mold yields this:
The smaller base will do a better job of showcasing whatever models is posed on it. I think an outhouse, a bridge to cross the creek and a scale 24-foot birchbark canoe will round out the "Fire Canoe" set. The Cree People are up to YOU!
 
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Kit #322 optional parts. 1 birchbark canoe became 2. 28 and 32-footers, respectively. I made a big rock for the river, earthen berm for a battery of 24-pound cannon, 2 story boarding house, and a dock section, in addition. A PUFFS sonar antenna for USS Clamagore (each model sub will need 3) is in this molding as well.
The revised base will be in a vertical mold, like the Dickhead of the Year Award coins. It will be a big one!
Thanks for looking in again! RTV tomorrow!
 
I have often have troubles deciding where the "Stopping Point" is. This is it!
In the late 1800's, it is doubtful that a battery of cannon would guard a bend in the Fraser river in wintertime, but I made a shit-ton of resin 24-pounders and I wanted to put a few of them to work, beside the pair stern guns on USS Lawrence and Niagara.
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The Lego mold box for the base will require 740 ml of RTV. A horizontal mold of this same Master is 500 ml. The vertical mold will lend itself to a much longer production life than a slightly cheaper horizontal mold. Vertical molds also cast with almost no fuss. I expect to offer the river/beach/island base for sale separately. The People (indians) and other figures are up to the modeler.

RTV mold rubber is measured by weight, not volume, so I have to do some cipherin' to figure the actual weight of required RTV. I will pour the mold in 2 sections so I can brace the Master in the center of the Lego box.

I also lined the inside walls of the box with tape to minimize the amount of RTV that bleeds through the gaps in the bricks.
Remember what I said about "ignorance and expense"?
"Damn the MARTINIS! Full steam ahead! You may fire when ready, Mr. Gridley."

There I go. Rambling on again. Apologies, Brothers. I do get carried away.
 
It looks as if Reynolds Materials has "kicked me out of the Club". Attempts to order more of my favored materials have failed. The base project is stalled until I find a different supplier. BFA!! :bat :vmad:
 
Rhino said:
It looks as if Reynolds Materials has "kicked me out of the Club". Attempts to order more of my favored materials have failed. The base project is stalled until I find a different supplier. BFA!! :bat :vmad:
Click to expand...
Good luck finding new supplier. What's the problem with Reynolds?
 
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