Irish Royal Mail Steamer Connaught build

[marinemole]

She looked magnificent on the bench but the true beauty shows up in her natural element - on the water. I knew the paddle wheels were big but didn't realise just HOW big.

A fantastic achievement and thanks for sharing.

Andy

[PeeWee]

Looking fantastic there on the water.

What was her turning circle like?

[neil howard-pritchard]

That is truely the most magnificent model I have ever had the pleasurable witness of seeing built from day one.
You have been tremendously inspirational through all adversity, Stuart, and I have to say I am overwhelmed by your courage and fortitude.
God bless you, and it has been a priviledge to have seen this model take form the way it has and the dogged determination you have shown whilst building her.
Best wishes to you, Stuart
neil.

[ancoaster78]

Hi Stuart,

This build has been a truely inspirational read/watch, to see the finshed ship afloat looking so beautiful is very exciting, and reignites all over again my desire to build.

Thank you so much for sharing the build in such detail, giving us all hints and tips, and well done on such a superb result!

All the very best wishes & congratulations, Andy

[derekwarner_decoy]

Hi PD's.......& Stuart says...... "I just need to fix the small leak"

Come on Stuart  ...where is the leak?...... ....Derek

[Stuart Badger]

Hi PDs!

First of all thanks again for the wonderful comments.  It was your interest in the project that kept me going when frankly I felt on occasion like giving the build up! I now feel quite keen to start the next one.

The construction of the model has taught me a lot. Without the help of various members on the forum  (you know who you are!) the research would have been much more complicated and protracted, but with information and photos plus advice from many people it was made relatively simple. Oliver (Walden models) noted that he had had no response from the Holyhead museum to his enquiry about pictures of Connaught – sadly I found this the case with many archives and museums. Some were very helpful but a large number either didn’t bother to reply or just sent a standard ‘sorry’ email. It was also interesting that many sources of information were woefully inaccurate – many of the pictures were wrongly labeled or dated incorrectly.

I am pleased with the end result – but it is far from perfect. Inevitably I had to make compromises and make educated guesses about various features and measurements. I am fairly sure that the flying bridge deck on my model is too short and that the sponson houses are also not long enough. The only excuse I can offer is that I did not have a set of drawings of the ACTUAL ship – only a conglomerate of all four and as the build progressed and new information came to light I realized that there were errors.

As for the construction itself there was nothing unusual or complicated – just a lot of it. I would change the method of deck construction next time as I found in the end that for a model this size it is a little too fragile for comfort until everything is in place and glued down. The hull proved to be the only major problem as it turned out (apart from those b****y funnels!).. I only had pine planks cut by a local joiner to plank the hull with. These have shrunk over the 6 months of the build resulting in one or two hairline cracks in the hull and on the second flotation some seepage was evident. I have now given the inside of the hull a good thick coat of polyester resin which has cured the problem – I should have done this as soon as I had the hull complete. (Derek please note!) Other areas of the build could have been done more accurately and with more care – but that is purely down to me perhaps not taking enough time!

One aspect I am VERY pleased with is Connaught’s behavior on the water. I think this is due to several factors. Her size obviously makes it easier to produce a stable model even given her length to beam ratio. I am also convinced that a round bottomed hull is MUCH more stable than a flat bottomed one. The size of the paddle wheels helps, I think as a smaller proportion of the circumference is actually in the water at any time. Also the wheels only occupy about  two thirds of the width of the paddle boxes allowing plenty of room to prevent water locks. The wheels lift very little water as they are driven relatively slowly – and, although I know some may disagree – I am convinced that having the wheel feather helps.

One thing that did really surprise me is how little power she requires (given the weight/length etc) and how fast she is in a straight line! I could easily have used just one motor. Inevitably the turning circle is large, (about 20 meters?)   when she is beam on to a stiff breeze you nearly bend the transmitter stick waiting for her to respond! BUT she does turn VERY nimbly going astern! I have no means of weighing her – but ballasted up with batteries I think she is in the region of 20 kilos.

So all in all I am reasonably pleased with the end result – I hope that Connaught has taught me enough to make the next one better!

All the best

Stuart

[waldenmodels]

Stuart, that was indeed stunning! I've just gotten around to watching the video, and it's absolutely spectacular. She looks absolutely perfect on the water. Why can't they build ships like that anymore?
Now I find my own little 1:250 Connaught rather disappointing. I lust for 1:48 greatness!

I can't wait to see what's next...

All the best,

Oliver

[Eddy Matthews]

Just to complete Stuarts wonderful build of the Connaught, here are a few photos of it being loaded into a van in Greece for transport to England.... My thanks to Ros Badger for sending them.

Eddy

[marinemole]

Thanks indeed to Ros for the photographs. I can vouch that this was a BIG crate, it still dominates my garage. Connaught has been displaced from her usual berth in the back bedroom as my daughter is home from the Middle East for a couple of weeks.

[neil howard-pritchard]

he is greatly missed.

i loved his build blogs

[Eddy Matthews]

he is greatly missed.

i loved his build blogs

I'll certainly second that Neil - Stuart had become a very good personal friend, as well a superb contributor to the website.

Eddy

[Talisman]

Arrgh..
I had a long winded reply all typed out and then deleted at a time out or something or other... the joys of not being a computer whizz kid...
Anyway long story short....

Stuart's builds were / are  great! Hell knows i miss him and his blogs! There is definitely a big void needing filled!

It would be good to hear from others on this forum........ Guys, you send me pics of your builds and I'd love / be delighted to see them  on here .... I'm not beyond learning! And others would probably love to to see your work to!

I'm pretty sure Stuart would love to have seen your work too! So come on let see what your upto ... Please?

Regards,
Kim

[neil howard-pritchard]

sadly kim, my builds are never about paddlers.......

i enjoy looking at them and the builds that you guys do, but know little about them, as my building interests lie in other types of vessels, and probably have far too many "other" builds to do before i ever get round to a paddler.
i think that is why i enjoy both this site and my yearly holls in Largs....where else can i see  a paddler on the doorstep every day of my stay.
but as you say, please guys put your paddler builds up on the site...i love them.
neil.