C.R. Lamb, 1:48 Sternwheeler Kit by Interaction Hobbies

[Carleroo]

This kit is made by Interaction Hobbies, located in British Columbia Canada. The company seems to specialize mainly in railroad diorama products, but also offers this kit in O scale and HO scale.

The model is:
25.5" long x 5.5" wide x 9.0" high

The original boat was built in 1907. She was 94' long, 20' wide and had a draught of 4'. She was powered by 2 34 horsepower steam engines. She was decommissioned in 1936.

 

[Carleroo]

What is most impressive is the set of instructions that come with the kit. There a total of 90 pages divided into 2 cerlox-bound manuals. These manuals - Part 1 and 2 - are also available as downloads from the Interaction Hobbies website. The instructions are detailed, comprehensive and accompanied by photos and illustrations. The author has also inserted hints and tips for a number of the assembly procedures. Here are a few pages as examples.

The kit is exactly to scale in every respect. Wall studs, faucets, bench slats, hinges - everything - is sized down to the correct 1:48 size. This means that there are very many small parts and pieces. For example the hull planks are 0.5mm x 2.00 mm. The small size means that you have to be quite careful in sanding, etc.. Here is a photo of the many bolts that are part of the padde wheel and Pitman arm assembly. These are 0.5 x 2 mm.

I will continue posting....

 

[Carleroo]

The parts are of high quality. The engineering of these parts is impressive. Despite some of the small sizes, everything fits perfectly. I have made quite a few other kits and in many of them, some sanding, filing or some reshaping is needed to ensure a snug and accurate fit. I don't think I had to do any filing or resizing throughout the entire project. There are about 25 or so laser sheets. It can be quite a chore to locate parts by sight, even though there are pages that illustrate where the parts are located. What I did was to create a "library". I added letters - A, B, C, D, E etc.. to each of the sheets, and then filed them in separate file folders (A-G in one file, G - L in another, and so on). I also annotated the letters to the parts identification sheets. Now all I had to do was locate the part on the list, which then told on which sheet and in which folder it was located. This saved me a ton of time...No need to keep shuffling through the parts sheets.

The kit also contains separate containers for the LED lights and wires, lifeboat components and 3D printed parts. A big plus was that for many of the 3D parts, extras were provided. The same for the decals, for those of us that can make a mess of applying decals!!

My only complaint is that all the measurements are in Imperial measures - inches and fractions of inches. I had to buy a caliper to show fractions (1/8. 1/32, etc..) but often I still had to calculate, since instead of 3/32 the rule would show 9/96. I would recommend that any future improvement of the kit provide measurements in metric, or both Metric and Imperial.

The kit also contains instructions on how and where to locate the LEDs. The supplier did send me extra sheets and suggestions when I emailed him. There should be some drawings included in he kit that shows some simplified wiring diagrams, and there are photos and instructions provided in the manuals. I think for most people experienced with LED, this would be enough, but as a novice (never did LED before) I could have benefitted from a bit more illustrations or maps on how to manage the wiring. This would have saved the supplier - Darryl at Interaction Hobbies - from having to deal with my many questions!

To be continued..

 

[Carleroo]

On the subject of customer service..This is a small operation, not a huge company. There was one person, Darryl, who responded to all my queries. Sometimes it took a few days or him to get back to me, because of the volume of his business. At one point it took a while because his place was threatened with some of the wildfires earlier this summer. But he always responded and provided replacements for a missing part and for parts I had damaged. So, excellent customer service and follow up.

The detail on this model is excellent. Even the steam cylinders, which are so far back in the engine room that they are difficult to see once the outer walls are installed, have great detail. There is lots of opportunity to add extra details. For example, the kit does not include any steam pipes or other engine room controls. The manufacturer has preferred to leave it to the model builder to add these and to customize. Photos show the basic configuration, plus an additional photo showing some of the extras I added.

There are also some additional photos that show the small sizes that are part of the kit.

 

[Carleroo]

The lit assembly was very straightforward. There were a few parts that were a slight challenge, but these were mainly due to my shaky hands. The kit also included some jigs that were a great aid in assembling the paddle wheel.

I forgot to mention earlier that the wood strips were colour coordinated. It could have been helpful if the instructions described which of the colored strips were to be used for a particular assembly. However I was informed that sometimes the wood supplier changes the color codes, so unless the coding was standard over a long period of time I can understand a reluctance to refer to the colors in the build. The colors did help in organizing the various strips.

 

[Carleroo]

Summary observations

The Pluses:
- great, detailed instructions, both hard copy and in pdf format.
- excellent engineering of parts.
-additional parts and decals provided.
- accurate scaling of just about everything, from wall studs to faucet handles and window frames
- super customer service.
-LEDs included.
-Shipping to US and Canada is cheap. About $12. Also if you are in Canada or US, there is no duty.

The suggestions:
- I would have preferred metric measurements
- Many parts are small/fragile. There is no way around this. You just have to be careful.

Overall Comments
This is a fantastic looking model, with great detail, straightforward assembly. The price is $385 USD.
It is fun to build. I would give this 5 stars!!

Note: I have posted a build log on this site

 

[Uwek]

Many Thanks for this insight of the kit and sharing your experience.
Very informative !

For everybody looking for the building log, please take a look here

INTER-ACTION HOBBIES' PADDLE STEAMER C.R. LAMB 1:48

This is the beginning of my build log for the CR Lamb, an early 20th century sternwheeler. I found this kit thanks to a fellow modeller. Inter-Action is a Canadian-based hobby supplier that seems to be focussed on train scenery and diorama items. This is their only ship kit (as far as I know). I...

shipsofscale.com

 

[Carleroo]

Many Thanks for this insight of the kit and sharing your experience.
Very informative !

For everybody looking for the building log, please take a look here

INTER-ACTION HOBBIES' PADDLE STEAMER C.R. LAMB 1:48

This is the beginning of my build log for the CR Lamb, an early 20th century sternwheeler. I found this kit thanks to a fellow modeller. Inter-Action is a Canadian-based hobby supplier that seems to be focussed on train scenery and diorama items. This is their only ship kit (as far as I know). I...

shipsofscale.com

Thanks Uwek!

 

[Capt Parsons]

Wow! That IS unique!! Nice.

 

[Carleroo]

Wow! That IS unique!! Nice.

Thanks!

 

[Steven B]

Very interesting kit, providing the blend of wood with the details of resin printing.

Jumping to see your build log.

 

[Donnie]

Oh my - super tiny parts.

 

[Carleroo]

Very interesting kit, providing the blend of wood with the details of resin printing.

Jumping to see your build log.

Yes, almost all the parts are wood and some sort of plastic/resin stuff. The only metal in the kit is the wire.