Sternwheeler for 28mm African Adventures

[War In 15MM]

A couple weeks before Christmas I picked up a damaged Lemax sternwheeler at the swap meet.  Except for the stern wheel, bow gangway and trim items on the boat which are plastic, the boat itself is of a ceramic composition and was made to be part of a Christmas display.  Someone had probably dropped it because part of the stern wheel was broken (one of its paddles and a supporting brace) and the two smoke stacks were missing (broken away).  Despite the problems, it looked like it had potential for being turned into a tired colonial riverboat.  Another important factor was that it had minimal Christmas decoration and that could be hidden rather easily.  Lastly it was only $10.  I’ve provided a picture of the boat with repairs done but still unpainted and two additional pictures of it in its final repaired and painted condition.  I painted its flag in the German imperial colors. The flag is attached with a tiny pair of magnets which provide solid support but allow the flag to be removed for non-German use.  The two figures standing at the rail are from the Foundry Darkest Africa collection and the man at the helm is the figure that came with the boat.  My investment in additional time and paint was three or four dollars for plastic in addition to the initial $10 price of the boat.  I’m pretty happy with the way she came out.

[kidterminal]

This is a great find which will enhance all your colonial games.

[von Lucky]

Nice treasure find that you've poished up nicely.

[FifteensAway]

Richard,

I'm guessing that was a Lemax item.  Nicely done.  Just don't drop it!  Fragile as all get out.  My wife has a large - two dozen plus buildings - holiday village and its all fragile ceramic.  Fortunately, we've bought a lot of it on sale after the holidays - and sometimes before. 

Very nice paint job.

[Geudens]

Sweet! 

[commissarmoody]

Great find!

[dampfpanzerwagon]

A great little model. A good find.

Tony

[Ray Rivers]

Excellent! 

[War In 15MM]

I agree with all of you that she was a lucky find and at a great price.  I got more than my $10 worth just in the fun of repairing her.  FifteensAway, you are correct, she is Lemax and if the original wording on her flag (before I painted it) means anything, she was produced for Christmas sale in 1997.  So far she's survived at least one serious accident that resulted in her being sold at the swap meet,  (my luck)  and she survived four days of heavy repair work and painting.  I think her thick plastic/flexible base gives her some strength she wouldn't have otherwise.  I plan to treat her well.  Her Lemax name is River Belle.  I haven't made my final decision on a new name for her.  I might use the name of the gunboat in African Queen.  Thanks for writing.  Richard

[Hitman]

Nice find...you have to love the swap meets. Great painting and conversion. Well done sir!! Thanks for sharing.
Regards,
Hitman
 

[Mancha]

Nice paintjob.  I'm impressed that it's the right scale.  That will look great on the table.  Too bad there's so little room for miniatures.

[Brummie Thug]

Awesome repair and re-purpose job!

[War In 15MM]

Thanks again for the kind words.  My local swap meet has been very good to me.  Mancha, the issue of figure space was one I addressed as best I could by removing the three bench seats on the top deck.  Fortunately, they were plastic and came off rather neatly.  The seats themselves are perfect for 28mm figures so they were an added bonus from the project.  I also salvaged 2 seated resin Victorian-style figures, a man and a woman with a baby (I guess that actually makes three).  Richard

[Hubbynz]

Great work on this!!!

[Justin Buck]

Haha, that is awesome.  Looking at the 1st picture I had my doubts.  I then scrolled down to the 2nd picture and I was blown away!  I need to keep an eye out for something like this.  Great job.