The Steamboating Forum

Welcome to the forum Will. Remember that none of us has all the definitive answers on how to make steamboats or their models, and lots of different ways will be perfectly satisfactory, particularly at model scale.

This web site might give you some ideas, and maybe your local library could get Paul Fisher's manual on model boat building.
http://www.makeamodelboat.com

Just like big boats, marine ply! Most modelling shop carry the thinner sections.

Thanks everyone,
I guess I will just start messing around with different things to get the feel of it. I think the wood route will be better for me than fiberglass.
Will

Get a sheet of "doorskin" from the lumberyard. Strong, cheap and plenty to work with.

Welcome Will!

I like Minnesota because my boiler was made there. Jeff Lund, LundMachineWorks in New Ulm.

-CB

Thanks CB,
Yes, Jeff does great work! Have you ever heard of Lawrence Swanz? He's a boiler maker in MN and does great work also.
Will

Another modeling option, strip planking. This method is used often to make light weight canoes and kayaks, thin wood strips, fiberglass cloth covering, makes for an excellent steamboat model. The pictures below show a 6 foot long steamboat model I made with these materials for the John Fitch Museum. John Fitch built the first steamboat in regular commercial service, Philadelphia PA, 1790, 17 years before Fulton.

Thanks for that info!
I have started building a little hull built from a balsa wood frame and sheet wood planking. It's small, but I thought it would be good to start with. After I complete this hull I will hopefully go on to build a bigger one for my actual steamboat, one that's big enough to hold my steam plant.
Will