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AFRICAN QUEEN Plans

A

Albert Senior

Joined
Aug 6, 2024
Messages
6
Points
3

Location
U.K
I would like to thank all the members which answered my call for help regarding plans for the AFRICAN QUEEN.
I decided to search the internet for photos and I have DRAWN my own plans, and the length is 1000 mm because
I want to use a STEAM ENGINE and boiler and hide all the Radio and electrics under the decks.
I will post photos as they come available and if you would like to know more let me know.
A fellow modeler.
 
You may find the following interesting. I have no idea what yard built her in Lytham but maybe there is contemporary information there that would be helpful.

The boat from the 1951 movie The African Queen is now a tourist attraction in Key Largo, Florida:

History
  • The boat was originally built in 1912 in Lytham, England to serve on Lake Albert and the Victoria Nile. It was used to transport cargo, missionaries, and hunting parties in the Belgian Congo in the 1910s. The boat was discovered half-sunk in Cairo, Egypt in 1968 and towed back to the United States for restoration.
    Restoration
    In 2012, Captain Lance and Suzanne Holmquist restored the boat over a period of six months. They replaced the boiler, steel in the hull, and conditioned the wood.
    Current status
    The boat is now on public display at the Holiday Inn dock in Key Largo, Florida. It's available for short chartered cruises out into the Atlantic. The boat is registered as a National Historic site and is considered an iconic piece of film history.





 
AllanKP69 said:
You may find the following interesting. I have no idea what yard built her in Lytham but maybe there is contemporary information there that would be helpful.

The boat from the 1951 movie The African Queen is now a tourist attraction in Key Largo, Florida:

History
  • The boat was originally built in 1912 in Lytham, England to serve on Lake Albert and the Victoria Nile. It was used to transport cargo, missionaries, and hunting parties in the Belgian Congo in the 1910s. The boat was discovered half-sunk in Cairo, Egypt in 1968 and towed back to the United States for restoration.
    Restoration
    In 2012, Captain Lance and Suzanne Holmquist restored the boat over a period of six months. They replaced the boiler, steel in the hull, and conditioned the wood.
    Current status
    The boat is now on public display at the Holiday Inn dock in Key Largo, Florida. It's available for short chartered cruises out into the Atlantic. The boat is registered as a National Historic site and is considered an iconic piece of film history.
Click to expand...
According to Wikipedia, there were two boats used in the filming. The one described above was used for filming on the Congo River. She was diesel powered and was fitted with a fake steam engine. The diesel engine was hidden under crates of gin and other cargo.

The second boat was used for filming on the Nile in Uganda. This vessel was built especially for the film in 1950. She has been restored, including an old Brady steam engine that was found with her abandoned hull. She resides in Uganda.

I have personally viewed a third boat. This one is a model of approximate 1:4 scale. Its crew consisted of dolls of Rose and Charlie when it was used to film the sequence where they risked life and limb going down the rapids. Viewing that sequence, it's clear that a model was used. I saw her in the lobby of the Annapolis Waterfront Hotel, which I just south of the U.S. Naval Academy. I don't know if it is still there.

Fair winds!
 
Since you have drawn your own plans and plan to invest money and or time for a relatively heavy steam plant I suggest that you determine the model’s displacement when floating at your load waterline. Otherwise you might be embarrassed when you put her in the water! (Look up US Navy Civil War Light Draft Monitors on Google)

Calculations are not theoretically difficult but can be somewhat tedious. An Excel Spreadsheet would be ideal for this. There are also of course computer programs for making hydrostatic calculations. Some connect directly with CAD drawn lines drawings. I have never used any of these. Back in the day when I studied Naval Architecture, “high tech” was a mechanical calculating machine.

You may be way ahead of me and have already done this but if not and don’t want to wrestle with a new computer program, I can walk you through the process.

Roger
 
Albert Senior said:
I would like to thank all the members which answered my call for help regarding plans for the AFRICAN QUEEN.
I decided to search the internet for photos and I have DRAWN my own plans, and the length is 1000 mm because
I want to use a STEAM ENGINE and boiler and hide all the Radio and electrics under the decks.
I will post photos as they come available and if you would like to know more let me know.
A fellow modeler.
Click to expand...
It would be great, if you could introduce a little biut your made drawings and especially show your progress in building this highly interesting model, so maybe you start a building log with regular or irregular updates......

This would be the area

SOS Build Logs Scratch or from Plans

This Forum is all about building your ship from pure scratch, with the aid of plans, or even heavy modification or kit bashing. All can be found here.
shipsofscale.com
 
Selway Fisher has issued a plan which is very near the original African Queen: 30' Ijssel launch ( https://www.selway-fisher.com/Mc2130.htm#SS ) I was ordering the plan, had it enlarged into 1/12 scale and started to build the hull, but have never finished her.

My intention was to power her with an electric gearmotor installed under gin cradles & other cargo and rotating the common axle of false steam engine. Very easy is to install also a small smoke generator into the funnel of the boat.

The scale is just perfect to find dolls to represent Mr Bogart & Ms Hepburn because 1/12 scale action figure dolls are offered in vast numbers in internet.

Perhaps some day I will finish the project to have my own African Queen steaming on nearby pond.
 
Very interesting but can anybody tell me a) where to get plans for building the African Queen boat and b) where can I purchase a steam engine and accessories that can power my model. Thank you very much.
 
Hi Edubarca I have made my own plans from photos from the internet.
My boat is 1000 mm length x 300 mm beam with a steam engine.
i Attach a photo of my build
My steam engine came from CLEVEDON STEAM IN THE UK
I hope this helpsPly Build 03.jpg
Ply Build 04.jpg
 
Albert Senior said:
Hi Edubarca I have made my own plans from photos from the internet.
My boat is 1000 mm length x 300 mm beam with a steam engine.
i Attach a photo of my build
My steam engine came from CLEVEDON STEAM IN THE UK
I hope this helps
Click to expand...
Right. The thing is it is a fictional boat. If you make a model that looks like the two used in the filming, you have succeeded. Cap'n Albert, you look to be off to a great start! There is an informative build log of the Billing kit under the plastic kit listing. Fair winds!
 
Albert Senior said:
Hi Edubarca I have made my own plans from photos from the internet.
My boat is 1000 mm length x 300 mm beam with a steam engine.
i Attach a photo of my build
My steam engine came from CLEVEDON STEAM IN THE UK
I hope this helpsView attachment 543230
View attachment 543231
Click to expand...
Hello Albert. Thank you very much for your help. However, I'm not an expert draughtsman so I am respectfully ask you to please share tyour plans with me. You can send them as PDF to my email which is eduarbarcaro46♠yahoo.com I appreciate this very much. Regards, EDUARDO
 
Hi EDUARDO my plans are in SVG format because you can use the file to cut the parts on a CNC machine.
How are you going to print the plans as they are FULL size and i DO NOT RECOMMEND TILLING THE PRINT.
The hull is made of 6.4 mm BIRTH PLYWOOD and the planking is 3 mm thick.
The plan size is 2100 mm x 914 mm
I can convert the plan to PDF. but can not guarantee the dimensions.
 
I have my own CO2 laser cutting machine that I use for manufacturing my rubber powered balsa model airplane kits. (www.aeromodelosbritannia.com) You can send me the plans PDF and I can re size them to my needs and then vectorize to cut through my machine the formers etc. What I really want is the shape and cross cuts of the boat. I appreciate your help. EDUARDO
 
I was building the hull using Selway - Fisher plan in 1/12 scale. I used common POB method, after which the hull was covered with glassfibre/polyester cover. After curing the original wooden hull was removed and plating made of 0.2 mm alufoil was glued inside and out of the final hull. Rivet imitations were pressed into alufoil plates.
Boiler and engine are dummy parts. And 1/12 scale dolls were bought to imitate Mr Bogart and Ms Hepburn.

20250313_083046.jpg20250214_074751.jpg20250313_083010.jpg20250911_171250.jpg20250911_171357.jpg20250911_171424.jpg
 
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