Ilmarinen, the first steamboat in Finland [COMPLETED BUILD]

Next I wanted to concentrate into the machinery of the boat like the boiler and steam engine.

I started with the easier of those two, the boiler. It was made of two D shape pieces of 6 mm MDF, on which a plate of 1 mm plywood was glued. I wanted to show the numerous rivets on the surfaces of the unit, typical for the boilers of that era. That was made using self adhering 0,1 mm aluminum foil where riveting was pressed with a special tool made of old alarm clock gear.
Steam dome is made by turning from piece of Sikablock plastic material, funnel is part of 20 mm thin walled steel tube. On top of the funnel a smoke generator from a company Seuthe was installed. It is specified for 4,5...6 volts and the battery on bord is a 2 cell LiPo with nominal voltage 7,4 V but the smoker seems to work fine with this voltage too
Water level glass was made of a capillary tube from an old thermometer, safety valve of styrene and pressure gauge was turned from brass and the dial designed with computer and printed on paper. Later on the boiler will be painted matt black and instruments with brass paint.

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And the smoker seems to work fine:

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Now the more difficult part, the steam engine.

Ilmarinen`s engine was so called side lever steam engine. It had on both sides a substantial lever which controlled all functions. At the boiler end of the engine there was the main cylinder where steam was brought through slide valve system, which distributed steam to above and below the piston and also the used steam into condenser. On the other end of engine was a smaller cylinder which acted as an air pump which pumped vacuum into condenser. Down on the side of the engine there were two small pumps, the other pumped cooling water into condenser to help the steam to condensate; and the other pumped the mixture of cooling water/condensate back into boiler as feedwater.
Ilmarinen`s engine was supplied by Alexandrowski mechanical works in St. Petersburg. It was operating with relatively low steam pressure of 2...3 bar, and generated 34 horsepower.

When I started to build the engine, I first drew it on paper to find out the movement of all parts. After it main parts were drawn with cad and cut of 2,5 mm plywood. Parts were then handled with filler to emulate roughly cast iron surface. All tiny levers, bearings etc. were fabricated of brass, plastics, etc. and bolts and nuts are M3 and M2.
After considerable sanding and adjustments the engine started to work easily, so it was installed into boat`s hull.

Engine drawing with main components:

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Workers installing the engine. Ship owner and the captain were superwising work:

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Small video of the testing of boiler & engine:
 
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Thanks Daniel and Uwek. The sidewheels at video are running with max speed with 7,4 V, about 130 rpm. The motor will be controlled with ESC so that speed can be started then from zero.
Max speed of original ship like this is about 6...7 knots with sidewheels rotating only 20 rpm, but in this scale it is necessary to have higher revs to get scale speed.
 
Great work on the engine build.

Hope the crew had safety gear so they didn't get burnt by hot steam on test runs.

I have worked on "Live Steam" railroad engine in past, much to learn on how all the parts and pumps work together to keep the boiler working and not blowing up from lack of water.

Kurt.
 
Missing items like cowls for sidewheels, railings and other constructions have been added. Not much to tell about them, just ordinary woodwork using bits and pieces still remaining.
Next thing is to start painting/staining the model. This is the work that I hate most. Very easily you could spoil the whole work by selecting wrong type of paint or working method.
Some decorations and small details are still missing which will be added after painting.

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Finally I was able to get her painted. RC equipment is still missing because the shipment has been on its way already for about 3 months from China. They will be installed when (if) arrived.

But the outlook of the model is ready so we can call her and this blog as finalized. I hope you have enjoyed this as much as I have when building her. Now I have to consider what to build next.

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Hello Daniel and Tony, I am glad you like this model.
The maiden voyage depends on the arrival of rc gear from China. Receiver and speed controller are in this parcel, so immediately after I get these I will install them, and then we will have possibility to take her to water.

And Tony, you are right, the hull is about 1 metre long.
 
badras-khan said:
Hello Moxis
The rc gear has arrived?
I finished planking the first layer and now will stay in curing.
Have you founded more info about the steam launch?
Sincerely yours ,Daniel
Click to expand...
Hello Daniel. No, the rc gear has not yet arrived, tracking of the shipment says it is still in US (?) and they have tried to send it further but that doesnt work.

Your planking looks great. I hope you will get a beautiful hull with the second planking.

Yes, concerning the steam launch I ordered the original plans from Sweden, Sjöhistoriska Museum and had them enlarged into LOA 120 cm. Beautiful boat! I dont know when can I start to build her.
 
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