Hi friends and neighbors,

3 days ago I started a new built: One of the last constructed paddlers for the Irrawadday. Denny and Yarrow in 1947 shared a series of eight 200 ft paddlers, the construction was made by Denny, Dumbarton and was a slightly altered pre-war construction. The still preserved "Myat Yadana" in Bagan was made by Yarrow with the same plan.
Scale of my boat is 1 : 48, this gives a lenght of 132 cm. propulsion will like most of my other models by steam.

I wish you all a merry chrismas and a happy and succesful new year!

Thomas

Hullo THomas....we think ..that this will be another for your fleet, so will watch the build as it progresses

What steam engine & boiler combination do you propose?

Enjoy the Festive Season

regards Derek

Hi Derek and all,

probably I will install the American Graham twocylinder engine like in the similar seized "Marchioness of Lorne". Boiler I will make by myself, a flame tube type with 100 mm diameter and 110 mm lenght in front of the engine should be the correct choice.
I considered a long time between blockade runner "Presto" or the Irrawaddy steamer. But the hull of "Presto" is very shallow, it would be difficult to install a horizontal boiler.

Happy new year!
Thomas

Last week I got the 4 volumes Denny List, edited by the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich. A unique work, one find plan sketches of many Denny built vessels between 1846 and 1960. Also many paddlers, most built for colonial rivers in Burma, India and Africa. It should be possible, to buy copies of the plans by the NMM.

The hull is nearly ready, the white color is from the glue. Next work will be a coat of one component epoxy resin (G 4) inside and outside of the hull for complete watertightness.

 

Same advance took place, wheel galleries are installed. Tomorrow I will work with resin to make a watertight and solid coat of the hull.

Poplar or marine plywood? And the balsa hull?

It`s birch plywood with oak fillets. Bow and stern parts are of pine wood. After the coat with G 4 resin in- and outside hull, the wood got very hard and absolute watertight. Meantime the hull is painted and finished. I must consider the next steps of work - superstructure or boiler making? I prefer last.

I will make the boat to the original state like the plans shows. The 8 similar steamers built by Denny and Yarrow were altered after some years like the preserved "Myat Yadana" ex "Minthamee", built by Yarrow in 1948. But the picture gives a good impression of the boat and some details.

Boiler making.
Last days I made the boiler for my boat. Fortunately it was possible to use the outer part from the failured boiler for "China", I made nearly 3 years ago.
This time the flame tube was tight from the beginning. It`s no very great work to built a boiler, but even the pressure test is thrilling - are there leaks or not? Pressure test made until 5 bar with hot water - completely tight! Some parts like safety valve, water gauge and manometer are missing, but ordered by Regner.

 

Congratulations Thomas,

Do you build your boilers from parts and pipes from the hardware store or do you use parts from Regner?

Jurgen

Thanks Damian and Jürgen. I use parts from hardware service, for example copper tubes for the flame tube from installation shops. Its the cheapest and best way to build a boiler which must have special dimensions. The outer part is made from brass 63, which is certificated for pressure containers and boilers.

First steam up!
Boiler, gas tank and burner are functionable now. I want direcly driven paddles, but space between boiler and paddleshaft is rather less, so I can`t use a normal soldering-burner. After some experiments with homemade ceramic- and short solder - burners I take the ceramic-burner from my paddler "Welf" (model of African research steamer). It`s possible, to install a normal soldering-burner to last one. After 10 minutes a pressure of 3 bar was reached.
Next job are the feathered paddlewheels, the Graham TVa engine also is ordered.
Now one can imaginate, that the boat will be once a paddlesteamer!

Thomas