I'm back with you Jeff- looking good, keep her going! :up:

Thanks John, Gord, Bill, and Carl.

Thank you for the link to the video, John. It answered the question I had as well as a few others.

Gord, what you said about the varnished canvas makes sense when I watch the video.

Thanks for all your comments. Now where did I put that scale canvas?...

Jeff

Hi Jeff;

Before I lost most of the sight in my left eye, I had great plans. I was going to do what you're doing now. It brings me great pleasure to see your work. Lots of challenges, too, I see. You are doing a masterful job on this project, Jeff. and, once again I salute you.

Cheers!

Hi Jeff, great to see you return to work on your Kootenay lake sternwheeler!

And it's all looking mighty fine above the water line!

Greg Shinnie

Jeff, I'm certainly glad to see you back at the work bench. This sternwheeler project of yours certainly is a favorite of mine. Hope to see you around for some time.

Nice to see the sternwheeler re-appear, Jeff.

Thanks Greg, Frank, and Frederic. And thanks again, Gord. It is good to get back at it after a long break.

Well, there comes a time of any project where the next step is a major one, and going back would require a major deconstruction. Like closing the cockpit of an aircraft model, adding the next deck is that step. With a deep breath, I wax the philosophical and take the leap...

I used 15 minute epoxy so I had time to make adjustments and tape the deck in place:



I cut the deck slightly narrower and shorter so I could add trim to smooth out any irregularities and used putty to fill the gaps:



I added the posts supporting the deck over the open portion of the bow:







I have a lot more finishing to do before I can say the lower deck is completed and this is a major step in that direction.

Jeff

Jeff, I can't stop drooling over your work. This is incredible modeling. Can't imagine tackling what

you have ahead of you. WOW

John

Neat!
..........

Ditto what Ray said.

I know the feeling of closing off an area that you will not be able to reach again is scary but you

have done a great job. I have not been posting much but I am following your build with great interest.

WELL DONE !!

Bob

I'm still here too Jeff...hope you can carry on through winter!

Eager to see where this goes!

Ditto to the "dittos" above.

Thank you, John, Ray, Bob, Carl, and Frank.

Still plugging away here, I'm going to leave the accessible details until later when there is less chance of damaging them. It's hard enough to get things right once let alone two or three times!

On to the second deck structure, I transferred the drawing to poster board and cut it to shape.



Cutting one half like this makes it easier to keep it symmetric; I just flip it over to get the opposite half.

I then transferred it over to a piece of wood.





I used a band saw to cut it to shape.



Test fitting, it looks good. The next part of shaping is a bit more finicky. The deck curves bow to stern as you can see in the photos.





Oops, I forgot to take pictures of transferring the curve to the wood. Sorry about that. What I did was to set the wood beside the deck with a pencil on it. The lowest part of the wood was in line with the pencil at the lowest point of the deck. The pencil was slid along the deck, marking the wood as it went. The wood was then shaped roughly with a stationary sander. The final shaping was accomplished with a piece of sandpaper fixed to the deck and the wood was slid side to side on the sandpaper.



When finished it sits nicely on the deck.



The next step will be to laminate styrene to the sides.

That's it for now. It's Thanksgiving in Canada this weekend and our son is coming home. I'm also putting the finishing touches on my Boat and Net Storage diorama for a train show next weekend. Bear with me though, I will be back.

Catch you later,

Jeff

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours, Jeff. Stay safe, have fun......we'll be here waitin'.

Cheers;

Nice work!

Happy Thanksgiving, and save me a drumstick!