American river boats

[DaveT]

good morning, I have a question.
Does anyone have any experience of building any of the available kits of Mississippi 19th century river boats. I am considering one for my next project as a change from 18th century British warships of which I have now built seven. All are Caldercraft Nelsons navy builds. I see various options including POF and solid hulled boats of various sizes but nothing that I can find on the forum of anyone building these.
I need to sort out which to buy. anyone any suggestions?

 

[leysend]

Hi @DaveT ,
I have built Amati's Robert E Lee. It builds into an amazingly beautiful model.
Here's also a youtube channel where this person has a whole series of videos building this kit.
Very helpfull.

 

[DaveT]

Hi @DaveT ,
I have built Amati's Robert E Lee. It builds into an amazingly beautiful model.
Here's also a youtube channel where this person has a whole series of videos building this kit.
Very helpfull.

Thanks for the info, I will check out youtube. Robert E Lee was going to be my preferred choice, is the solid hull OK to deal with?
Still disappointed that there is no build log on this site.

 

[Senorbob]

i built the disar marieville and don't have anything bad to say about it. fun build. if you can get an inexpensive one go for it

 

[leysend]

Thanks for the info, I will check out youtube. Robert E Lee was going to be my preferred choice, is the solid hull OK to deal with?
Still disappointed that there is no build log on this site.

The hull is solid. I did sand the corners to be more rounded, and added thin planking for a more realistic effect.

 

[Roger Pellett]

These American riverboats are properly called Western River steamboats as the type plied all of the rivers in the huge Mississippi watershed.

While there were subtle differences over the years and in designs for different operating environments the type shared common features. Some kit manufacturers’ therefore offer kits that are little more than cartoons of this classic American vessel type.

If I were to build a model of one of these from a kit, it would be Model Shipways’ Chaperone. This is a smaller “short trader” boat that served the lower Ohio River Valley. The kit is based on sound research. Properly built, the model looks like a real river boat.

Roger

 

[Carleroo]

I built the CR Lamb, a sternwheeler of the British Columbia rivers and lakes. This kit was extremely well engineered in 1:48 scale. Everything was to scale including the 2 x 4 wall studs. Not cheap, but excellent quality and an extremely nice model. I have posted photos and build log on this site: Interaction Hobbies C.R. Lamb

C.R. LAMB Sternwheeler Ship Kit

 

[Roger Pellett]

Another variation of a basic theme! That looks like a particularly nice model, with a distinct North American West Coast appearance.

Roger

 

[Vfordyce]

Check out Peter Voogt’s Robert E Lee.

 

[Dhart]

good morning, I have a question.
Does anyone have any experience of building any of the available kits of Mississippi 19th century river boats. I am considering one for my next project as a change from 18th century British warships of which I have now built seven. All are Caldercraft Nelsons navy builds. I see various options including POF and solid hulled boats of various sizes but nothing that I can find on the forum of anyone building these.
I need to sort out which to buy. anyone any suggestions?

I built the Artesania Latina King of the Mississippi. Nice kit, good instructions. Turned out great. I added figurines, lights, and a motor for the paddle wheel.