Thank you gentlemen;
I deliberated and wrought my hands for some time...
the vexed question of " paddle-steamer wake pattern,
at differing speeds, differing paddle wheel designs, differing hull shapes etc
how much by foaming white 'thrash' aft of the paddle wheels is realistic
Views of paddle-steamers from above are surprisingly rare-- and then mostly of
the Waverley- a large British seagoing paddler of nearly 19 knots- and only a few
of the images are of the vessel them at high speed...
The large fleets of Swiss Lake paddle steamers-- fine vessels that they are
have top speeds up to 17 knots-- but cruise at around 10- 12 knots ( tp reduce wash on lake shores)
and the few overhead images bear that out
a few images as examples...Waverley's paddles... when the dig into the water seem to make a distinctive
pattern aft of the paddle wheels both sides-- which appears to differ somewhat from the
" thrashier " more turbulent white water pattern of Lorna Doone...
Waverley being a 1948 build I think has more efficient "blades"
than the 1914 designed Lorna Doone and her sister Solent Queen.
a few image to support my thoughts...
PS Waverley
Solent Queen ( ex Queen of Thanet )
Lorna Doone ( ex Queen of Kent )
So onwards ...
I eventually chose to create an amalgam of the various images
but leaning more towards the thrashy water of the 1915 ex minseweepers,
charging down the Solent at 15-16 knots....
The model is essentially completed -
aside from a last check-over ...
below are some snapshots with the workbench camera ...
I will do some ' proper ' photos in good light with the SLR on a tripod..!
giving proper depth of field and less wide angle distortion that the point and shoot
Its been quite the journey...
it all seems a very long way from this stage....
It just looks so simple, but it requires a very fine technique, a very secure hand and the patience of an archangel!
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