Paddle Steamer Robert E. Lee, scale 1:96, scratch build by the Alan L. Bates drawings [COMPLETED BUILD]

Mecanizados said:
Es increíble una maravilla lo que has hecho, es una obra de arte, desde cero es magnífico me quito el sombrero de verdad un saludo

ENGLISH
It is incredible a wonder what you have done, it is a work of art, from scratch it is magnificent I take off my hat really, hello
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Paulpk said:
Peter,
Great job! The thought of hand cutting all those railings was mind dumbing. You have patience!
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Mecanizados said:
Si pero a veces te desesperas un saludo
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Miguel and Paul: Thanxs for your reply with the nice compliments.
Regards, Peter
 
PT-2 said:
Hard to express sufficient respect and recognition not only for your scratch build but for your photographic skills in presenting it. Outstanding!!! First Place MetalFirst Place MetalFirst Place MetalRich (PT-2)
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Thanxs Rich. I really appreciate your response.
BradNSW said:
Beautiful! I love the two shots, from the same perspective, of the real ship and your model! Thanks for sharing your build!
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Brad, also thanxs for your reply and compliment. As I wrote before, it was difficult to get the same perpective. I even pinched my picture in height to get close. And it must be a little bit more .... Different times, different cameras, different lenses. But Photoshop bridges the time. :)
Regards, Peter
 
Beautiful work Peter!!
I also have a set of those Alan Bates drawings. I had the opportunity to meet Captain Alan Bates at the Howard steamship museum shortly before he passed away. I never started to build the Robert E Lee, but I did start on the Cape Girardeau which he had also drawn. That model got destroyed during a change of residence. The riverboat I really got into is the James White. That boat was a bit larger and more ornate than the Robert E Lee. She was also built at the Howard shipyard by the same folks that built the Robert E Lee. I've got a set of CAD drawings of the J. White which I did shortly before meeting Captain Bates. There are 11 sheets which I did following his style and using basic dimensional data from newspaper accounts. The folks at the Howard museum had a look at them and felt that they were up to Captain Bate's standards. They include boiler, sidewheel, and engine details. I drew them to 1/8" to the foot scale. (1/96).
If you feel like you've got ambition to do another riverboat, let me know & I can send you a set of the drawings.
Again, That Robert E Lee model is a superb work of love.

Gerald Dykstra
(that's Djikstra spelled the Michigan Frieslander way.)
 
Peter Voogt said:
Final report:
After 2 construction periods from 1987 to 1991 and April 2019 to February 2021, with a total of almost 1100 construction hours, the first sailing with the Robert E. Lee was made: to the photo studio:
View attachment 217259
Here's a few images. A series has been sent to Donnie who will soon add them in the Completed Models Showcase.

The daylight lamps make it very visible that the 30 year old paint of the hull and the 1st deck is already quite discoloured. But is will give extra charm to the story of The Lee.

With grey back ground:
View attachment 217261

The bow and the stern:
View attachment 217265

Never made it before, from above:
View attachment 217266

The hidden steam engine:
View attachment 217267

With a white back ground:
View attachment 217268

A lot of lines, from chains&braces, spacers, guys, uprights, masts, stairs .......
View attachment 217269

And the comparison in greyscale with my main example photo:
View attachment 217270
I couldn't do exactly right away with my modern camera lenses. It is very likely the old photo was taken with a bellows camera.
It also flattened the ship. In Photoshop, I also flattened mine slightly with the help of a overlay with shifting the transparency.

I would like to thank everyone who has read and watched the build-log, provided with advice, comments and likes.
The construction of The Lee and the making of the report has given me great pleasure and satisfaction.
See you (perhaps) in mij BN build-log ;)
Regards, Peter
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Wonderfully build and exceptionally well photographed. Awards to you. Rich (PT-2)

First Place Metal
 
Oldboatguy said:
Beautiful work Peter!!
I also have a set of those Alan Bates drawings. I had the opportunity to meet Captain Alan Bates at the Howard steamship museum shortly before he passed away. I never started to build the Robert E Lee, but I did start on the Cape Girardeau which he had also drawn. That model got destroyed during a change of residence. The riverboat I really got into is the James White. That boat was a bit larger and more ornate than the Robert E Lee. She was also built at the Howard shipyard by the same folks that built the Robert E Lee. I've got a set of CAD drawings of the J. White which I did shortly before meeting Captain Bates. There are 11 sheets which I did following his style and using basic dimensional data from newspaper accounts. The folks at the Howard museum had a look at them and felt that they were up to Captain Bate's standards. They include boiler, sidewheel, and engine details. I drew them to 1/8" to the foot scale. (1/96).
If you feel like you've got ambition to do another riverboat, let me know & I can send you a set of the drawings.
Again, That Robert E Lee model is a superb work of love.

Gerald Dykstra
(that's Djikstra spelled the Michigan Frieslander way.)
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Hi Gerald. Thank you for your message. Nice to have contact with someone with ‘Friesse’ roots.
How nice that you met Alan Bates!
When I considered building a Paddle Steamer, the Cape Girardeau was at the top of my list. But the company I was in contact with could not supply the drawings. Then it became The Lee. And I have not regretted it!
Of course I know the James White. A beautiful, perhaps the most beautiful steamer.
Now I'm building the Bluenose. And because of the communication in my log, the idea came up to start building scratch again. And a 'herring fishing lugger' from 1900 from Vlaardingen, my place of birth. And after that ...... then I am quite a few years further.
Gr. Peter
 
Peter Voogt said:
Dijk is very Dutch. We have so manny dijk’s :)
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When I lived in New York, I went to a Reformed Church that had Dystras, Hoekstras, Vellengas, and De Frieses. One of them loaned me a Bible written in Friesk. Between being able to read in both German and English, I was able to read the Friesian version quite easily. By the way, you build beautifully made ships and boats.
 
Vfordyce said:
One of them loaned me a Bible written in Friesk. Between being able to read in both German and English, I was able to read the Friesian version quite easily.
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That’s very understandable: The language belong to the West Germanic branch of the Germanic languages and are closely related to English and Dutch. These languages are therefore also classified under the Ingveonian languages (North Sea Germanic languages).
Regards, Peter
 
During my build of the Robt. E. Lee, I also did a lot of searching on the internet.
There I also came across a newspaper article from The New York Times, published on October 1 1882, about the fire on September 30, 1882.
I also found a drawing of the fire.
The download was 1 long strip of text. With the necessary cutting & past I made this myself in terms of lay-out:

Brand Totaal.jpg

They just got some years mixed up in terms of construction years. I got this info from the Wikipedia:
--> Wikipedia: Robt. E. Lee <--
Robt. E. Lee (I): 1866-1876
Robt. E. Lee II: 1876–1882
Robt. E. Lee III: 1897–1904
A lot of the interior of the original was used in the second.
Regards, Peter
 
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Peter Voogt said:
During my build of the Robt. E. Lee, I also did a lot of searching on the internet.
There I also came across a newspaper article from The New York Times, published on October 1 1882, about the fire on September 30, 1882.
I also found a drawing of the fire.
The download was 1 long strip of text. With the necessary cutting & past I made this myself in terms of lay-out:

View attachment 296819

They just got some years mixed up in terms of construction years. I got this info from the Wikipedia:
--> Wikipedia: Robt. E. Lee <--
Robt. E. Lee (I): 1866-1876
Robt. E. Lee II: 1876–1882
Robt. E. Lee III: 1897–1904
A lot of the interior of the original was used in the second.
Regards, Peter
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Nice. Thank you, Peter. This is good information. I have a ship and a boat to finish. Then I start on my REL. I’m sure I’ll have some questions to ask you when the time comes.
 
Ciao Peter, hai fatto un capolavoro.

Quando vedo queste opere perfette, penso che dovrei lasciar perdere con il modellismo, ahahahahahah.
Io sono ad anni luce di distanza.
Il periodo scelto è molto interessante perchè concide con quello scelto per il mio modello di "Free Interpretation", peccato che la tipologia di nave è totalmente differente perciò non ho elementi da poter ricopiare.


Hi Peter, you've made a masterpiece.

When I see these perfect works, I think I should give up on modeling, hahahahahahah.
I'm light years away.
The period chosen is very interesting because it coincides with the one chosen for my "Free Interpretation" model, it's a shame that the type of ship is totally different so I have no elements I can copy.
 
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