Suter hull?

[Eddy Matthews]

Here she is again..... Now with some of the stairs added up to the wheelhouse, the smokestacks fitted, and the "H" towing bit on the bow.

It's amazing how the smokestacks seem to make the model suddenly come to life!

[Eric West]

Hi Eddy.
Looking good now Eddy,Don't know how you find the time you must have more days in your week than me :lol:.Can't make out what you used for smokestacks is it copper tube.
       
     Regards Eric

[mjt60a]

Looking very good indeed, I've noticed also that I can spend days on some area of my model with no apparent progress being made (though it always has to be done at some point to complete it...) then I do one simple thing (eg. glaze the windows) and it's completely transformed!

[Eddy Matthews]

Hi Eddy.
Looking good now Eddy,Don't know how you find the time you must have more days in your week than me :lol:.Can't make out what you used for smokestacks is it copper tube.
       
     Regards Eric

There's about four weeks work in the Suter so far, but only maybe 2-3 hours per day, so it's progressed a LOT quicker than I thought it would!

The smokestacks are copper pipe, with some aluminium tube at the bottom - Bob Booth (my MBC chairman) turned the aluminium for me, and has also done some bits for the sternwheel as you'll see at a later date..... Metalwork isn't my thing! :-)

The apparent progress will slow down now, as the next stage is the paddlwheel and drive system, which will take a while to construct.... Then it will be onto making all the window frames and doors etc.  So it's all stuff that will take time....  

I have to admit that this is probably the best model I've ever built, not particularly because it's the best I've made, but purely because it's the one I've enjoyed building the most - Maybe that's why it's progressed so quickly?

[Eddy Matthews]

I've made a start on the paddlewheel for the Suter, but when I come to look at the drawings I have for the boat, the framework that supports the wheel and it's bearings is very unclear..... Does anyone have any good photos of a similar sternwheeler so I can get my head around how the sternwheel is actually mounted and the framework that supports it?

Any help would be very welcome!

[thewharfonline]

lookin' Great Eddy!

[towboatjoe]

Eddy,
My hard drive went out on me last Friday and I should have a new one tonight. Whenever I get my computer running again (hopefully in a day or two) I'll check and see what I can find in the way of photos for ya.
tbj

[Eddy Matthews]

Thanks Joe, I'd really appreciate that....

[gbritnell]

Eddy,
I'm sorry I have been away for so long or else I could have answered some of your questions. Let me tell you how I determined the depth of my hull. I had bought a set of drawings for a sternwheeler that is berthed in Marrietta, Ohio, I'm sure Joe is familiar with her. (W.P.Snyder) I took the dimensions of this hull and proportionally applied them to the Suter. If you deepened your hull it won't cause any problems as long a you put enough weight in it to bring the freeboard down so that the paddlewheel sits deep enough in the water. American sternwheelers had very little freeboard. The W.P. Snyder is a floating museum and without any load on her she only sits about 1 foot out of the water. If you have any other questions please let me know.
George

[Eddy Matthews]

Thanks George - My idea was to deepen the hull so I knew there would be plenty of bouyancy. If that means I have to add extra ballast to bring it down to the correct waterlevel that's fine - I'd rather have too much bouyancy than not enough! :-)

The model hasn't been tested in the water yet - it's too big to fit in the test tank (the bath), so I hope it will be okay.

[Eddy Matthews]

Just a quick update on the Suter....

Very little has been done recently - For those that don't know me very well, I have a wife that suffers from epilepsy which isn't controlled very well by medication, and also have a severely mentally and physically handicapped daughter - Unfortunately they've both been going through a bit of a bad patch which resulted in the Suter being shelved for a little while...

Anyway, after a trip to the model engineering show at Harrogate last friday, I now have the various bits of brass and nuts and bolts that I need to progress onto making the frames that will support the paddlewheel bearings. So hopefully (fingers crossed!) I can get some more done in the next week or so..... Photos will be posted to show what I've done soon...

I didn't want anyone thinking the project had been abandoned! :-)

[thewharfonline]

Just a quick update on the Suter....

Very little has been done recently - For those that don't know me very well, I have a wife that suffers from epilepsy which isn't controlled very well by medication, and also have a severely mentally and physically handicapped daughter - Unfortunately they've both been going through a bit of a bad patch which resulted in the Suter being shelved for a little while...

Anyway, after a trip to the model engineering show at Harrogate last friday, I now have the various bits of brass and nuts and bolts that I need to progress onto making the frames that will support the paddlewheel bearings. So hopefully (fingers crossed!) I can get some more done in the next week or so..... Photos will be posted to show what I've done soon...

I didn't want anyone thinking the project had been abandoned! :-)

I think Eddy you have  a valid excuse, and my best wishes to the family and I hope that they are feeling better, or as best that can be. And I'm sure the model can wait....until it's finished it really isn't going anywhere anyway!

[Eddy Matthews]

Just a quick note to let you all know that the Suter is still progressing, even if it is slow progress....

I've almost got the main frames made which support the paddlewheel - All in brass to give it the strength it needs, and I hate working with metal! Give me wood any day!

There isn't a lot to show for what seems like weeks of work - in between my wife's seizures - But I hope to have the paddlewheel mounted by the end of the week, and then I'll take a few photos to show what I've done....

There are four main areas left to do once the paddlewheel is mounted - Drive system to construct, All the windowframes and doorframes to make, painting, and final detailing such as the stanchions for the handrails etc etc. It doesn't sound a lot, but there's probably a few months work left yet.

Once the drive system is made, I hope to get a quick coat of primer on the hull and then try some on the water testing....

[Eddy Matthews]

A couple of photos showing the start of the framework that supports the paddlewheel. It's actually turned out a lot stronger than I thought it would, and I can even pick up the boat using it, though I don't think I'll make a regular habit of doing that! :-)

[mjt60a]

That's looking wonderful