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Midwest Seguin w/ Saito Steam Power

H

Hobieflier

Joined
Mar 5, 2026
Messages
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IMG_6441.jpegA messy workbench is a sign of progress being made! Here’s my Midwest Seguin, just getting started. More pics to follow as this box of sticks transforms into a tugboat!
 
Planking in progress!
Easier and harder than I expected. A little math was necessary as I came to the part of the hull where the planks converge at the bow. A planking fan and a table sander are extremely helpful in making planks that fit nicely and look ok.

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Bryian said:
Well done sir. Excellent planking. :)
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Thank you. This is my first time doing planking. If I had planned ahead a little better, they might have been more even. They get very narrow at the bow, below the waterline, but I am still pretty happy with the results. My wife even said it will be a shame to paint it.
 
Second coat of ZPoxy (and a whole lot more sanding!). Cross bulkheads cut, and steam engine trial fit… just baaaarely enough room to fit the burner in front of the boiler. Boiler has to be where it is to put the smokestack through the superstructure in the right place.

Smokestack is an aluminum track and field relay baton… nice, light aluminum.

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She floats and steams! (No R/C gear installed yet, so we chased her back and forth across the pool. There is a pretty significant leak somewhere in the bow that we will have to find. Stuffing box is a bit too tight, but otherwise a successful trial run! Such a cool sound!!

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Throttle and forward/aft servos installed. Rudder servo will go between them. Found a couple of my original Futaba S148 servos in a box…They still work!!

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Here’s the color scheme I am planning on going with. The bottom paint will be a bit more brownish red, while the above waterline detail will be a deep red.

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Making slow progress.
Still sooo many details to add! Pilothouse roof, windows and interior coming next. Hull strakes and rails, stern grating… etc.!

Using Tamiya lacquer paint. It’s a little bit thin, so it took 2-3 coats to cover the wood properly.

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It has been a couple of rainy days, so a lot of work done with little visual changes to show for it…(binged ER episodes with my wife while fitting pieces to the hull!) Interior gunwale structure added and painted. Hull sanded. Lower side strakes added. Steamed and bent the stern bumper parts. They are temporarily clamped to the upper transom to fix their shape, but will be attached at the level of the deck.

It’s really cool seeing progress being made. Looking more like an actual boat with every step.

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Hull rub rail complete. Combination of mahogany and basswood came out better than I had hoped. Bending the mahogany around the stern was fun. I put the wood in a baking pan with about 3/8” of water…in the oven at 450 for about an hour. That softened it up nicely. Then clamped around the curve for a couple of days to dry. I painted the red accent on the inner piece before gluing the strips to the hull.

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Hobieflier said:
It has been a couple of rainy days, so a lot of work done with little visual changes to show for it…(binged ER episodes with my wife while fitting pieces to the hull!) Interior gunwale structure added and painted. Hull sanded. Lower side strakes added. Steamed and bent the stern bumper parts. They are temporarily clamped to the upper transom to fix their shape, but will be attached at the level of the deck.

It’s really cool seeing progress being made. Looking more like an actual boat with every step.

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It is indeed looking more and more like a ship, and it even sails and steams too. Great job!
By the way, have you managed to find the source of the leak?
 
Peter Schaap said:
It is indeed looking more and more like a ship, and it even sails and steams too. Great job!
By the way, have you managed to find the source of the leak?
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Thank you! I did find the source. It wasn’t the hull. It was the condensed water in the exhaust from the steam engine. The exhaust pipes were directed to the smokestack, and the water in that steam was running down, through the bottom of the smokestack, into the hull. I built a small tank to catch the water and direct it out of the side of the hull, and pipes to allow the steam to go to the smokestack.
 
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