The African Queen - With Live Steam - Billings - 1:12 - by Wayne

[a49kid]

This has been a quest of mine all my life, I saw the movie as a very young boy when my parents went to the Drive In Pictures, around 1953. And I have always remembered different scenes from the movie. So I have now finally got around to building it, and with live steam. And intend to have RC for the steering, I will just let the steam engine chug along. Yea being an open launch I don’t want to have servos etc spoiling the look of the model. I hope to hide a small servo for steering under the rear seat.

And the vacuum formed plastic hull will be water tight when on the water. But I’m thinking of planking over the hull, I hope that will be OK.
And I must say, the most important tip I picked up while researching the build was to leave the top extra mounding there, not cut it off until the hull internals and deck were completed.
I have the ‘Miniature Steam Models’ plant #4034 here to go into the boat. I must thank gjdale, (Grant) for guiding me to that plant, and it looks spot on for the Queen.
Just ordered 2 universals, 5 to 4mm, and a brass prop from ‘Float a Boat’, also in Melbourne, and they were very helpful. Will have to see if I use the Billings prop shaft or have to buy a longer one.

 

[a49kid]

This is the Steam Plant that I bought for this boat, from MSM in Melbourne.
It has a butane gas burner, but I have not fired it up yet.
And I changed the clear silicon tubing to a black tube, I'm fussy with everything.
The black brass base plate is screwed to the lower floor ply timber sheet.

 

[a49kid]

The Build is Progressing.
I had to move the floor rails out a little bit when I discovered the steam plant base plate was about 3mm wider than the kits rail width.
Some spray paint on the inside of the hull sides, using Tamiya TS-66 grey.

 

[Corsair]

she is looking great so far !

 

[sevish]

Good luck with the build .
This looks very cool project.

 

[a49kid]

The stained ply deck and inner edge strips, whatever they are called.

 

[a49kid]

Yes I bought a longer 150mm prop shaft assembly, but cut it down to 125mm.
Dry fitted the steam plant, it has a 5mm output shaft, the prop shaft is 4mm.
The 2 universals fitted in good and everything rotates smoothly.

 

[a49kid]

Another thing that has annoyed me about the building instructions.
They could be clearer, and indicate that the joining timbers should go a little beyond the hull support pieces.
Yes this is only a small thing, but I would have liked to have made the stand as Billings had intended.
And interestingly, others have made the same mistake as me.

 

[a49kid]

OK, backtracking a little on this build, but something I feel is important as it is not part of the Billings build.
So I installed a lot of the internals in the plastic hull, with all the extra mold material still in tact, it keeps the hull more rigid till the deck is added.
I then glued the stained ply deck onto the plastic hull.
When all dry, trimmed and sanded the plastic back to the ply deck piece.
But I then discovered the ply was a little narrow in the mid section, so I added a couple of mm filler strip and then sanded that back to the shape.
You can see that at the bottom of the second pic.
I then decided that I did not like the look of the raw edges of the ply deck and the plastic.
You can see it in the 3rd pic at the rear of the boat.
So I added a 2 x 5mm strip around the sides and back of the boat.
To me it finished off the top of the hull and made it look much better.

 

[a49kid]

I added a reinforcing board on for the tiller / rudder tubing, but I slightly mucked up.
I should have added the hull planking before I glued on the board. But much too hard to redo it all now re the tube locating at the bottom and at the top, where I have added a half round piece.
Yes this vertical board then looked very thin / low profile, after the rear planking was added. Did not look right.
So I have just added a bit more timber either side of the tubing, it will all look good after a little filler and it is painted
And another builder was thinking like me and has done the same thing.
And he is very much into realism with his weathering……………

 

[a49kid]

Some pics of Richard Simpson’s very nice Queen on the water.
And it looks like it is electric powered, and probably RC.

 

[a49kid]

Gordon52 wrote ……
“Remember the African Queen is an “imaginary boat” so strict adherence to scale and detail is not necessary.
But I’m not sure what he means to an.”imaginary boat”............

It was a 30-foot boat built of riveted sheet steel in 1912 in the United Kingdom.
Built for the British East Africa Railway for service in Africa on the Victoria Nile and Lake Albert, where the movie was filmed in 1950.

The African Queen, it’s name for the movie, was originally named the L.S. Livingston, and had been a working diesel engine powered boat for 40 years.
The steam engine in the movie was a prop, and the real diesel engine was hidden under crates and other cargo.
It is now docked next to the Holiday Inn in Key Largo, FL.

 

[a49kid]

Now more on the Steam Plant.
Look at the boiler, and it was just a prop for the movie, not a working boiler.
It is a large diameter, with an extra dome piece on the top.

In recent times a real Steam Plant was installed in the “African Queen / L S Livingston”.
And you will notice the boiler is totally different to the one in the movie.
I hope you can follow all of this …………

 

[tossedman]

Looks great Wayne! How will the weight of your steam engine affect the buoyancy of the boat?

 

[a49kid]

Looks great Wayne! How will the weight of your steam engine affect the buoyancy of the boat?

Hi mate, and from Canada, are you sort of another British Colony too...........ha ha
I have some concerns re where the steam plant should go fore and aft, but I'm hoping it will be OK where I have it.
Re the weight of the Engine, I guess I will not really know till I put it in the water, but I have a feeling the boat has heaps of buoyancy and will sit OK.
Really the hull / boat is quite light, and I read one guy added scale weights front and back to get it sitting nicer.

 

[a49kid]

Nothing to report today, working on the Gin / Alcohol wooden crates, will post when I get all the bottles for them.
Ha guys, where is the key for the Ranking system / Stripes, what am I.

 

[a49kid]

Yea I have to do a Post every day, and I’m trying to get up to 3rd Class Petty Officer…….Ha Ha
Yes this is just a bit of a filler, but some people out there might like reading this Old Guys banter.
Now the sun shade at the back of the boat, well it seems to be there in some of the movie photos, but not all of them.
Yea I should watch the DVD I have here.

 

[sevish]

Nothing to report today, working on the Gin / Alcohol wooden crates, will post when I get all the bottles for them.
Ha guys, where is the key for the Ranking system / Stripes, what am I.

I have my bottle of Gin right here ,i just don't know what to do with with it yet
Waiting to see your result.
Cheers

 

[a49kid]

And Billings has this canvas material in red stripes, and with pretty scallops, not sure where they got that idea from.
They supply a white piece of cloth, which you would have to paint / colour with the red stripes.
Well I won't be, like most other people.

 

[tossedman]

Hi mate, and from Canada, are you sort of another British Colony too...........ha ha
I have some concerns re where the steam plant should go fore and aft, but I'm hoping it will be OK where I have it.
Re the weight of the Engine, I guess I will not really know till I put it in the water, but I have a feeling the boat has heaps of buoyancy and will sit OK.
Really the hull / boat is quite light, and I read one guy added scale weights front and back to get it sitting nicer.

Yeah, g'day from another of the colonies mate. Spent a year in your lovely country a while back. Have good memories of the Anzac Day Clash at the MCG in your fair city.

It was the for and aft balance that I was kind of wondering about. Looking forward to seeing your African Queen on the water. I'm really quite curious about the steam engine and how it works.

Cheers,

Todd