Great Lakes Freighter.

[785boats]

So.
It's time to start another build thread of a scale model.
This time it's the Dumas kit of a Great Lakes Freighter. I've always liked the look of those ships. Made famous by that ballad from Gordon Lightfoot about the Edmond Fitzgerald in 1976.
So here's a blast from the past for the young ones who have never heard of it, & us oldies who remember it. So Sad.



The kit was on special with free postage to Australia from the States. That makes a huge difference in the cost of a kit here in AU Dollars.

This kit is a bit of a break from the norm, in that a lot of the construction is in the form of polystyrene sheeting. Surprisingly easy to work with, considering that all my previous scale models have been constructed with plywood, balsa, birch, mahogany, and various other timbers over the years.
The lazer cutting, and die cut parts, are all extremely accurate.

The kit comes with a full size drawing, a 36 page instruction book with 330 odd assembly steps which is both extremely informative and at times quite humorous. Well, I got a few giggles out of it.

There is also a booklet of sub assembly drawings cross referenced to the instruction book.
I believe that anyone with a few construction skills can easily build this boat.

The specs are:
1:96 scale, making the full size boat at 360'
Length 45", Beam 6"
Adding a 14" section in the middle of this boat will give you the Edmond Fitzgerald. More on that later.

The first thing to do is start popping out and trimming the bulkheads & the sheets for the bottom, sides, & deck for the hull.
Next, add some greasproof cooking paper to the building board. This whole thing is stuck together with Medium CA glue. We don't want to stick it to the building board, do we?

After pinning the bottom of the hull to the building board the stuffing tube blocks are added, and then the outside strips are added. The bulkheads are added, & bow pieces are built up, as is the stern framework.

It was at this point (photo #1) that I felt it was just too short to be indicative of these ships.
So I found a seller locally that sold A4 size sheets of polystyrene . That's when I took my trusty scalpel & cut the thing in half.
Not long enough for the Edmund Fitzgerald, but I didn't want to model that one. It's been done too many times. I'll find a name for her later.

So now she is 57" long. Gonna need a bow thruster to turn & dock this one.

I added in the bottom section and the side strips of styren. Made an extra bulkhead for the join. Then added a 1/4"sq bass wood stringer on top of the side strips, spanning the joints and continuing on to bulkheads 2 & 5 for strength & rigidity.
Was it required? probably not once the sides are glued on. But I feel better for it.
I also added a 1/4"sq bass stringer either side of the bulkheads where the joins of the bottom sheeting are. Again to make me feel better. Feeling so good, I also added a piece to all the other bulkheads too.

Bear in mind that she is going to need the weight of about 3 house bricks to sink her to the waterline.

Here's a few pics.

Base & bulkheads at 45" long.
P1010004.jpg

The stern with the stuffing tube & blocks.
P1010002.jpg

The bow section.
P1010003.jpg

Cut that thing in half. Looks like a shipwreck already.
P1010008.jpg

Bottom section added, with basswood stringers spanning the joints, and the extra bulkhead added.
P1010010.jpg

Cheers.
Paul.