Hello from Western Australia

[lawrie g]

Hello
Lawrie Graham from Perth in Western Australia. Thank you very much for letting me join.

I have always been intrigued with paddle steamers but thought them beyond me .  I have been a fan of Glynn Guest's modelling and  built a couple of his Warships a few years back. I found that 144 scale was getting too small and fiddley for my limited skills .

 Recently, I found some of my old Model Boat magazines which included the Wrigley 121 stern wheeler and his Eccleshall paddle tug at a much larger scale  and so, as I had the plans, I decided to see if it was feasible for me to build a model  paddle steamer. So I have started on the Wrigley and an currently making the paddle wheels as per Glynn's methods and it seems that they are not that hard to make as I have thought they would be.

Looking forward to being a part of the forum

Lawrie

[Eddy Matthews]

Good morning Lawrie,

welcome to Paddleducks - It's great to hear that your giving a paddle steamer a go! Making the paddlewheels is the major thing that puts most people off building a model paddler, but they aren't as difficult as you first think, yes it takes a bit of patience and care, but they are within the skills of most modellers.

Please post a few pictures of your progress in the build areas of the forum, I'm sure lots of us would like to see your progress, and it's always there as a pictoral record of your build later - Plus you can ask for any help and advice you may need if it's required.

Looking forward to your next posts....

Regards
Eddy

[Walter Snowdon]

HI lawrie and welcome. I have been out sailing Glynns blockade  runner paddler today in Very gusty conditions for its narrow beam and it performed pretty well. Glynn has designed some very good models over the years and you wont go wrong using one of his plans. I particularly like his Paddle tug Eccleshall as its proportion are very good and it reminds me of my childhood views of paddle tugs on the northeast coast of UK. Personally I wouldnt use separate motor drives as  all I have seen are pretty jerky in steering and a bit imprecise. A single motor driving a single shaft gives a better impression and is far easier to set up. The Wrigley 22 is a handsome craft but another 2 or 3 inches added to her midships length makes her look better and stops the sometimes problems of stern wheelers "tail sitting".Go for either of them. Both have the oportunity of making very colouful models. Regards, walter

[lawrie g]

Hello Walter and Eddy

Thank you for the warm welcome.

Many thanks for the suggestions you gave me, Walter. They are really appreciated and I will definitely bear them in mind during the Wrigley build.

Cheers
Lawrie