Ben Ain

[James Hill 5Participant @jameshill5]

Continuing to be impressed by your quality of workmanship Richard. The pictures show so much detail this person is wondering how much I’ll get on mine!!

Looking at my plan, I think Vic Smeed used an early boat to base his drawing on, as it shows having a sail on it, and is a fairly basic looking boat. Obviosly a builder can add detail to what ever level they want, or have the ability to do.

Jim.

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

Jim,  Thanks for the comments.  With Puffers there is so much information available and they were such a prolific class of vessel that you can get away with almost anything.  These ships come from a time when life on a ship was very different to what it is nowadays.  Crew frequently sourced thier own food from local suppliers in ports or along inland waterways and cooked it themselves in thier accommodation, on the woodburning stove.  Can you believe a woodburning stove in the same space as matresses filled with straw!

Maintenance was done a lot more by the ship, rather than expensive dry docking, with puffers in particular simply sat on a sandy beach while repairs were completed to the hull, the rudder or the propeller, while the tide was out and the ship was out of the water.  Money was very limited for maintenance, as was time, so repairs were invariably crude and cheap.  Painting was invariably only done when absolutely necessary and then it was a case of very basic hand chipping, a coat of red lead and a top coat.  Purely for the sake of preventing rust rather than anything to do with aesthetics.

All this gives huge scope for personalising these models and adding detail typical of its time.  A very frequent addition seen on the decks of a lot of coastal steamers of this era was a pushbike.  Necessary to send the youngest member of the crew ashore to get food supplies!  Another option was the ship’s dinghy, again very useful for getting supplies.

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

Moving on it is more and more dealing with the details of the model.  A lot is scratch built, a lot is modified bits and peices from other parts and kits, adapted to suit.  The majority of the work though is simply creative thinking and much of that comes from an understanding of how these vessels operated, how the crew went about thier every day tasks and therefore how this dictates how these ships look.  Reference material from the following writers is worth its weight in gold:

C.V. Waine, R. S. Fenton and P. N. Thomas, a lot of which is published by WAINE Research Publications.  Most are descriptions, drawings, diagrams and plans, all of which are invaluable reference material when looking at adding detail.  One of the books, ‘Steam Coasters and Short Sea Traders’ has a good section dedicated to Puffers.  The best book I have from this publishing house though is ‘Old Time Steam Coasting’ by Owen G. Spargo and Thomas H. Thomason.  This book is a much more descriptive volume and takes you through what life was really like on small steamers in the early part of the 20th Century.  It brings these ships to life and helps you to understand how better to model them.

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

So time for more detail to be added to the model.  Working for a while on the accommodation unit I first added a canvas cover to the forward engine room bunker.  This was made from sticky backed duct tape, with the sticky removed with turps, run over with the pounce wheel from the rear and folded to create a realistic looking canvas cover.  This can then be primed and painted up to give a nicely textured finish.

Again the printed ply overlay for the hatch boards was replaced with individual planks.  I like to show as much detail as possible so like to have canvas covers ‘not yet fitted’ so the detail below can be viewed.

Finally a piece of rope, ready to be tied over the canvas cover when the crew get around to it.

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

As detail was added the weathering process could also be progressed.  I was only after a slightly worn and used look as A) The ship was operated by a larger company who would have attended to maintenance and B) I wanted to avoid the model ending up looking a scruffy mess.  So nothing more that the application of enamel washes and s bit of dry brushing where appropriate to bring the model to life. This was done around the funnel and top of the accommodation in particular as the fall out from the funnel always made this area particularly dirty.  Soot around the funnel top was common as a result of poor combustion so a little soot enamel applied with an airbrush added this effect.

I even added a very watered down wash to the insides of the boats to accentuate the detail and give them a slightly more used feel.

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

Attention then went back to the boat falls.  I didn’t like the double blocks I originally had so searched until I found some much more credible items.  They were running blocks though so had to be adapted by adding eyes.  The result was a much more realistic looking fall arrangement.

The davit arm was modified by the fitting of a running pulley and then the falls were rigged with a suitable running rigging scale rope.

 

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

So that was just about it for the aft accommodation section with everything in place.  I was pleased with the overall look of the part, not too much weathering but enough to give it life and a used look.

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

What it then needed to finish it off was a bit of life. I fully understand there tends to be two camps when it comes to figures, either for or against, but I think the shame is frequently those against feel that way because they simply don’t like painting figures.  I think the life they bring to a model ship merits learning a bit about how to paint them so, while I’m no expert by a long way, I do like to incorporate figures.  The trick is to find something appropriate and adapt them.  In this case a Tamiya German field kitchen kit supplied a cook, all I needed to do was to remove the insignia and paint in civilian clothes as wellies was pretty typical cooks footwear when washing down.  The other figure is a Soviet tank crewmember mending a jacket, who converts perfectly to a crewmember splicing a mooring rope.

I like little cameos around a model so tend to use figures in pairs.

 

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

So now the whole piece comes to life.

[Fred Ellis 1Participant @fredellis1]

Richard, love the use way you have used the figures, I would say that the cook is a lot better than some of the one’s who cooked in some of the greasy spoons that I have eaten in when I was on the road, to find out what was on today you looked at the cooks apron.

[James Hill 5Participant @jameshill5]

Have to agree with Fred, Richard. the addition of figures does make a great deal of difference. Obviously finding the ones you can use or adapt is critical.

One thing I’ve been learning from your posts , is the terminology you use. As a non sailor, many descriptons of items have often gone over my head!

Great modelling ,as usual.

Jim.

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

My apologies Jim.  If you ever have a question please don’t hesitate to ask.

Thanks for the comments gents.

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

One thing that seems to stand out quite frequently when you study photographs from the 1920s and 1930s of steam coasters is the fact that there is quite likely to be a pushbike somewhere.  This was so that the youngest crewmember, i.e. boy, could be sent ashore whenever possible to visit local farms and obtain fresh food supplies.  Consequently I fancied a 1/32nd scale pushbike, but what I didn’t want was a plastic kit with horrible over scale spokes in the wheels.  I spent a lot of time looking before I eventually came across a company that produced a white metal and photo etched kit of a German Army bicycle. Near enough!  Eventualy I was very lucky to find one, they have long since been out of production, so got my hands on it.  Lovely little kit and far more realistic than anything in plastic could be.  It was glued together, painted up and suitably weathered.

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

One thing that caught my attention one day while visiting the waterway’s museum at Ellesmere Port was the fact that many coasters and short sea traders were fitted with wooden rubbing strakes on the hull.  These were pretty substantial baulks of timer bolted through the hull and saved the crew having to deal with any form of removeable fender on the very frequent port visits.  Not surprisingly they became very scuffed and frequently they were not even painted.

I noticed the Ben Ain, in line with many other ship models of this period, have rubbing strakes moulded into the hull but we invariably paint them as part of the hull.  I wanted them to look like the wood that they really were.  Removing the entire rubbing strakes would be a very big job but I decided that the surface could be fitted with a thin wood overlay, that could then be trimmed and sanded to fit the moulded rubbing strake, smoothed in, painted around the edge, then scuffed and weathered on the outside surface to make it look like a wood rubbing strake.  So that’s what I did.

[Richard Simpson]

On Richard Simpson Said:

One thing that seems to stand out quite frequently when you study photographs from the 1920s and 1930s of steam coasters is the fact that there is quite likely to be a pushbike somewhere.  This was so that the youngest crewmember, i.e. boy, could be sent ashore whenever possible to visit local farms and obtain fresh food supplies.

 

On working narrowboats on canals, the bike would also be used for “lockwheeling” , that is, one of the crew cycling ahead of the boat/boats to set the next lock ready for the boat to avoid delays.

Would the same have been the case with puffers transiting the canal or were the locks manned by lockkeepers?

 

Stephen

 

 

 

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

I suspect Stephen puffers would be going through canals of a size, i.e. Crinan Canal, that would merit the locks to be manned.  I agree though with smaller vessels and smaller canals where the locks may not be manned and the locks had to be operated by the crew that the bicycle would have been in frequent use.

[Fred Ellis 1Participant @fredellis1]

Hi

I must say that it’s a good job that there is not a LIKE button, as by now it would be broken.

Fred

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

Little bits of careful weathering finished off the aft unit.  More might be added in the future, I might fit a work bench at some point and maybe add some spare ropes but, at this point, it needed to rest.

The quarter deck was given a little weathering with a wash to pick out the rivet detail and the ladder rungs having the paint worn away from the top of the rungs with a lead pencil.  The chequer plat on top of the steam pipe conduit was worn away where it would be stepped on by the vertical ladder.

The external hull was completed with final details and trim but will not be weathered until right at the end of the build.

With the aft accomodation unit complete and all suitably weathered I turned back to adding detail to the bridge unit.  Bits and pieces such as handrails and tread plates were added and a canvas dodger was fitted to the stanchions around the monkey island. The canvas dodger was again foil tape, folded up to form the appropriate shape and primed and painted.

Painting was finished and a very light weathering was done.  This was simple things such as a wash around most parts, the colours on the life belts was faded with pigments, the treadplates were scuffed by gentle abrasion, the treads on the steps were worn slightly and the paint on the tops of the handrails was given a worn look with a lead pencil.

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

Moving forward the foc’s’le received some attention next.  The figures were again a good example of repurposing.  They were actually German tank maintenance crew rodding through a tank barrel.  It wasn’t a big job to convert them to pulling ropes in either a stowing ropes or laying them out ready for tying up scenario.  The ropes were wound round the drum and then round the warping end in a fairly typical fashion for rope handling.

Handrails were white metal as supplied, which bent if you breathed on them, so they were replaced with brass items.  Holes were drilled in the deck to accept the stanchions, vertically using a drill stand, the stanchions were fitted and the handrails were threaded through in a single piece.  A lot of removing the stanchions, threading and replacing before everything was complete. The top handrail is a single piece from the bow right down the companionway to the main deck.  The entire handrail assembly was then soft soldered in place very quickly so as not to burn the deck and then the entire assembly was removed for painting.  Finally everything was replaced on the model and spots of very thin cyano applied to each stanchion base.  I removed the two pieces of handrail from in front of the bollards as they simply wouldn’t be there, and replaced them with a piece of removeable chain.

[James Hill 5Participant @jameshill5]

I don’t think I dare take close up pictures like that! Mine would just show something that a teacher would say ” could do much better, try harder next time !!!”

Jim.

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

We’re all on a journey Jim, just at different stages of it!

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

Turning attention to the forward end I started with a look at the rigging.  I had managed to find myself some really nice scale wire rope so used that for the shrouds on the main mast.  I also decided to use copper pipe as thimbles as the wire was a good bit stiffer than the copper wire I used on the aft mast.  I also wanted the shrouds to be operational so things could always be tensioned so working brass components were collected and assembled into the relevent rigging.

 

 

A coat of grey enamel gave a reasonable representation of an aged galvanised finish as well as ensuring the bottle screws did not loosen off themselves.

The masthead lamp was a parafin lamp so had to be lowered to light and then raised into position again.  To enable this it was mounted on two tensioned cable guides.  The lamp was then supported on a continuous rope in just the same way as a flag would be mounted.  As I wanted my lamp operational I connected the deck eyes to the power supply below the deck and connected a 12V grain of wheat lamp to the two wires inside the lamp, at the same time as insulating the lamp casing so it didn’t short.  All a bit fiddly but it did work in the end and you can’t see how the power gets to the lamp.

Again I noticed on a period photo of the vessel that there were only ratlines on the starboard side  so I only fitted them to the starboard shrouds.  One thing that I always think spoils a model is when string is used to make the ratlines which doesn’t sag in an appropriate scale manner.  Real ratlines simply hang down but model ones invariably take on a shape of thier own and can sometimes look unrealistic.  I decided to try something new and soldered lengths of the same wire across the shrouds to represent the ratlines.  The solder was then bound over with string.  The wire will eventually be painted with a buff coloured paint to resemble hemp rope.

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

So standing rigging finished the main things left to do are, deck details such as vents and steam pipes, the cargo handling winch, hatch details and all the running rigging.  Time for a pause and a think.

And take a moment to check that the main components still come off and can be refitted easily.

[James Hill 5Participant @jameshill5]

You say you’ve been building the model over a 24 year period Richard , but what a result. An absolute beauty of a model. It’s easy to understand the reluctance to handling it given the amount of fine detail you’ve fitted. I doubt a lot of us would get near that. Given that you’ve had other things to do, what made you decide to pick this one up again? or was it a case of ” it’s got to be done?”

Great pictures…….Jim.

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

It’s been sat in a glass case in my workshop now for the past few years with the hatch cover sat on my worktop and the canvas cover half made sat with it.  I knew there were batteries in the model as well, which had to be removed soon or I was asking for a leak so that was the final prompt.  I had to get a freind to give me a hand to remove it from the case so I thought I would have one last drive to finish it.  The batteries are now out and I’m working on the final part, which is the hatch cover.  The hull will get an overall light weathering then and I can put it all away again.  I’d very much like to have the lights working but that is probably going to be too much of a pain to arrange with external switching and power supply so I might have to drop it.

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