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#Post#: 8894--------------------------------------------------
Suter sternwheel riverboat
By: gbritnell Date: May 24, 2019, 8:33 am
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My family moved to the fringe suburbs in the late 50's. The
area was surrounded by farms and fields and one of the nearby
farms held a threshing party once a year. The owner of the farm,
and mayor at the time, had several old traction engines that he
would bring out along with a threshing machine. The local
farmers would supply the wheat to thresh. For me it was quite
exciting and began my lifelong interest in things mechanical and
in particular steam powered machines.
When I got my first lathe I purchased a Stuart casting kit from
a local pattern shop. From that point there were many more
Stuarts along with a Reeves, scratch built engines and my
ultimate steam engine a Coles 1 inch scale Case traction engine.
Through the years I came across a fiction book about a young
fellow's adventures on the inland waterways of the U.S. Although
the book was fiction the included photographs were taken from
the U.S. Corps of Engineers files. I was really taken by one
picture on particular, that of the Suter sternwheel riverboat.
In the preface of the book was a colorized black and white photo
of this vessel. I always thought that it would make a great
model. The years marched by and the model was mostly forgotten.
I have ridden motorcycles for most of my adult life and my wife
and I would take trips with friends to unique places. On one of
those trips we attended a riverboat festival in Marrietta, Ohio,
along the banks of the Ohio river. While there we visited the
riverboat museum which includes the last steel hulled riverboat,
the W.P. Snyder, as part of the exhibit. After the tour we
visited the gift shop and in conversation the clerk told me that
they had drawings for the Snyder so I bought a set.
My intent was to build a model of the Snyder as I had the
drawings but my mind went back to the Suter which to me had more
elegant lines. Using the drawings I started making my own
drawings using the Snyder drawings as a basis for the build. My
original intent was to build an RC boat but in the scale I
wanted to build it some of the parts became too fragile to be
handled while accessing the radio and running gear so a static
model settled upon.
The finished model is 38 inches long. The basic structure is
made from Basswood with the hull being carved from a piece of
clear pine. The detailing parts are made from Walnut, brass,
aluminum and plastic. The paddlewheel is made from Maple with
0-80 U-bolts holding the buckets to the arms. The color scheme
was taken from the colorized photo which I had to assume was
taken from the original boat. The lettering is decals that I
drew up and printed at home.
These are the only photos I have of the boat. A friend had one
of the first digital cameras and took them for me. The blue
color is a little bright in the pictures but it give you an idea
of the color scheme. I haven't taken any up-to-date pictures of
the boat as it sits in a display case and is too hard to
extricate.
As an addition to the history of the build when I got a
computer and started roaming the Internet I came across an
English group named Paddleducks. Their interest is building
model paddleboats, mainly the English. Australian or European
types with the side paddlewheels. Their website contained a
great amount of information on construction and drive systems. I
posted picture of my boat and one of the members bought my
drawings and built an RC version of it.
So without further ado here are pictures of my model
sternwheeler, the Suter.
gbritnell
#Post#: 8901--------------------------------------------------
Re: Suter sternwheel riverboat
By: Stoker Date: May 24, 2019, 10:13 am
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Very VERY NICE .... and yes it does look just a bit too delicate
for use as live steam R/C.
#Post#: 8907--------------------------------------------------
Re: Suter sternwheel riverboat
By: jkbixby Date: May 24, 2019, 10:37 am
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That's a great model - you've done a wonderful job of modeling
on this sternwheeler.
#Post#: 8931--------------------------------------------------
Re: Suter sternwheel riverboat
By: txlabman Date: May 24, 2019, 4:11 pm
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George:
Thank you for sharing the great story and the pictures of this
build.
I grew up in West Virginia and have been to Marietta, Ohio many
times.
This is a world class model of a beautiful watercraft.
Charlie
#Post#: 8935--------------------------------------------------
Re: Suter sternwheel riverboat
By: St Paul Steam Date: May 24, 2019, 4:34 pm
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Wonderful background story George, It sure is a lovely craft &
knowing you ability for details I'm sure up close its even more
magnificent.
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