The Delta Queen

[Bill Jones]

I started this project because it appears that I'm allergic to the wooden model my mom gave me for Christmas. Before starting Bluenose, I decided to build a tool box of sorts. In the process, I broke out in a rash all over my body. Since wood seems to be out of the question, paper and cardboard seem a good alternative.



I picked the Delta Queen because building from scratch seemed a good idea, even though I've never done that before, and she seemed relatively easy. I imagined it as a layer cake with doors and windows. I decided that I should attempt to build the paddle wheel first since if I can't build that there's no point in attempting the rest of her.



I had to learn a little bit of 2D CAD drawing which is how I produced the pattern you see below. I decided on 150 scale for now. There are some details on the wheel that are too small for that scale, but I'm learning to build things not how to detail them.



Knife work is a little bit harder than I thought. You have to keep the blade perpendicular to the paper or you make a slicing cut, which will just about always go off course.



The next step is transfer the pattern to the heavier paper that will make up the wheel. It's slightly less than a 1 mm thick. I'm struggling with how to reproduce the white metal bands that go around the side surfaces of the wheel. They're there to support the wood, and they add a contrasting color, but they may be too thin to bother with. At 150, they're around 0.3 mm thick.

[Michael Mash]

I hope your paddle wheel goes well. I find assemblies like that a challenge, but very enjoyable. This caught my attention because most new members try a “kit” as their first project. But yours is a “scratch” build! I’ll watch to see how it goes.

Regards,
Mike

p.s. I see you are located in Heredia, Costa Rica.
May I ask: I know the climate there is nearly perfect, perhaps you are an American retiree?
What was the advantage to locating there as opposed to one of the southern locations in the U.S.? Is there a significant difference in the cost of living?

[Bill Jones]

The advantage to Costa Rica is that it's not the United States. I was born there, grew up there, and left in 1998 through circumstance. It wasn't a choice I would have entertained on my own. I've been in Latin America for over 20 years now, and I'm pleased with my decision to leave, especially as I watch the radical right wing take over the country and tear down everything that was built up through the Civil Rights Movement and simple human decency and kindness.



(You asked, so I told you, but this is not the place to have political discussions. Whatever your feelings about current US politics, I hope you'll let my comment slide)


I ended up with a scratch build because, unexpectedly, I ended up allergic to the kit I bought, so it was either build from scratch or not build at all. I spent a great deal of my life working with my hands, so this isn't a complete surprise. Modeling has brought a great many positive things to my life, so, whether I'm successful or not, a scratch build has been a good idea.

[Bill Jones]

Now, I only need 3 more just like it. After cutting it out with a pattern, I painted it with primer and paint. The white lines represent steel bands that are bolted to the wooden braces. I made them by printing out my pattern and trimming it back and then tracing around the disk with a white gel pen. I needed a line 0.3 mm wide to be in scale. This one is 0.5 mm, but if you can tell the difference by eye your eyes are better than mine.

[Michael Mash]

At 1:150 scale it should be the perfect size.
Nice looking start with the wheel.
Mike

[FRD]

Decades ago I had considered when approached by Lou Dausse and PMI of doing a simple, commercially available kit of the Delta Queen but never got around to doing it, will be watching this with great interest.

[Bill Jones]

Originally Posted by FRD

Decades ago I had considered when approached by Lou Dausse and PMI of doing a simple, commercially available kit of the Delta Queen but never got around to doing it, will be watching this with great interest.

I looked at the link you posted. You definitely need a Delta Queen model to add to the collection. The Columbia I know, but the others I don't. Columbia is famous for sinking, isn't it?

I've never done this, build a model from scratch, before. I'm sure now that I can build the wheel. I guess the hull comes next, but that'll be a while.

[martyr366]

Which Delta Queen are you building?

[FRD]

Bill- The Columbia Gorge never sank, I've never done the, "Columbia"

[Bill Jones]

Originally Posted by martyr366

Which Delta Queen are you building?

I haven't made up my mind yet. I've been building the wheel just to see if I can. After that I'll move on to something. I'm leaning towards an earlier version, but not California. I've only found one picture of her in California