G'day from Oz!

[cooked_unit]

G'day all,

I've just joined the forum, after watching from the sidelines.

I've always been pretty interested in riverboats, and steam in general, and have been planning on building a Murray River steamer for a while. I drew up my own plans for Pevensey about four years ago, but browsing this forum has revealed the wonderful world of www.floataboat.com.au, to whom I am about to send a fistful of dollars for a plan set. Can anyone advise on what the best timbers would be for a hull like this - I have located a specialty timber place nearby, but am not 100% sure which way to go??? I want to keep my first hull simple, but would then like to try some real serious planking. I'm also into miniature live steam locomotives, I have a 5" gauge NSWGR 59 class running, and a NSWGR 12 class half built, so I wouldn't mind eventually building a Murray steamer that runs on live steam too.

Anyway that's about all from me, I hope to hear from you in cyberspace.

Chris

[Roderick Smith]

Where is the circuit where you run your 5 in gauge loco?

It is really good having a Newcastle member.  Have you joined Friends of William the Fourth?  You could build your first project in 12 in to the foot.

Even if you stick to scale, please keep the group informed on happenings to this paddlesteamer.

Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

[derekwarner_decoy]

Hi PD's & welcome on board Chris ..[another from OZ]...........

1) the Float_a_Boat plans are great...you won't regret purchasing them

Materials are a big variable...but please learn from the errors of others

2) hull frames.....do not use MDF   - it has great squareness & compressive strength so is great for making a set of shelves - it has no end grain strength [nailing of planks] & is not friendly when sanding

3) @ 1:24 scale the Pevensey would suit 6 > 10 mm thick hull frames - 3 ply formwork is the most in expensive but has terrible end  grain strength - in fact most laminated plywoods suffer the same negative

4) An alternative to consider is 10 mm thick X 100 wide cedar tongue & groove wall panelling.....  just  & glue sections together prior to frame shaping - with this form of frame construction you have a 50/50 balance of end grain to side grain connection

5) Planking can be purchased from your local hobby shop.....  @ a certain cost...however the same cedar tongue & groove wall panelling can be ripped down to make your own great 10 mm high planks  X say 3.5 mm thickness prior to any sanding

6) The beauty of this is ........you have  :respect2 cedar hull planks of great earthy OZ colours which can be a hull feature

[Peter Webster]

Chris,
I have the Pevensey plan already and have built the keel and attached bulkheads. The timber I have used is 1/4 inch very hard balsa I will be planking it with 3/16 balsa and dope and tissue with about 6 coats of dope. Power will be 2 USE Unit steam engines from Tony Green Steam Engines, UK. They cost me A$138-00 landed for the 2 of them and once run in should be adequate for the job. Remember to keep it light, hence the balsa.The inside skin will be a combination of 1/8 plywood floor and 1/8 hard balsa walls.

Hope this helps
Peter Webster
from Melbourne where its bloody hot

----- Original Message -----
From: cooked_unit (introductions@paddleducks.co.uk)
To: introductions@paddleducks.co.uk (introductions@paddleducks.co.uk)
Sent: Friday, January 18, 2008 12:41 AM
Subject: G'day from Oz!


G'day all,

I've just joined the forum, after watching from the sidelines.

I've always been pretty interested in riverboats, and steam in general, and have been planning on building a Murray River steamer for a while. I drew up my own plans for Pevensey about four years ago, but browsing this forum has revealed the wonderful world of www.floataboat.com.au, to whom I am about to send a fistful of dollars for a plan set. Can anyone advise on what the best timbers would be for a hull like this - I have located a specialty timber place nearby, but am not 100% sure which way to go??? I want to keep my first hull simple, but would then like to try some real serious planking. I'm also into miniature live steam locomotives, I have a 5" gauge NSWGR 59 class running, and a NSWGR 12 class half built, so I wouldn't mind eventually building a Murray steamer that runs on live steam too.

Anyway that's about all from me, I hope to hear from you in cyberspace.

Chris






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[cooked_unit]

G'day again,

Please forgive me if I am not using the right etiquette with quotes etc yet, this is the first time I've ever posted on a forum before.

Rod, I run my loco at the Lake Macquarie Live Steamers at Edgeworth, a great bunch of lads. I haven't had much time to run the old girl lately, am doing a bit of minor maintenance and hopefully hitting the track again very soon. Boiler ticket's due in March.

I've thought about the William the Fourth Group, but the problem is having time when the group meets -I have too many other things going on, with 12 inch to the foot railway preservation, vintage farm engines, music etc, so I decided if I was to take up another hobby it would be one that can fit around a busy schedule.

Thank you all very much for your advice on timbers etc. I'm still a little intrigued re construction methods - looking at the posts, pictures etc there seems to be the option of building a flat bottomed hull, with square, flat sides, or going the full hog and planking from a flat bottom, or going to the extra trouble of twisting planks per the prototypes. What have most people done with modelling a prototype such as this one, or what should they do for a first time model?
Sorry, this is probably getting into too much detail for an introductory thread.

Cheers

Chris