I have just read that Sylvan Scale Models has pushed a Great Lakes Ore Boat made exclusively for Walthers is due June 1st, 2009!! The boat measures 36" long (258' scale feet) and 6" wide!! It is designed for use with the Walthers Hulett Ore Unloader and Ore Dock kits. If a longer ship is desired, one can also purchase a add-on kit that includes a hull and deck section that can be added to the center of the ship to further lengthen the model. This kit is due June 15th, 2009.

The boat is not cheap, but man is it a BEAUTIFUL model!! Ill be ordering these when they come out to go with the steel series!!!

http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/696-10501

Check it out!!!

that looks nice!! Of course, the first question I would have is - Can you model the Fitz????? you can't see much of the deck details, but it still looks good!

The owner of Sylvan, is a retired Great Lakes sailor. He knows the vessels of the area, and his ship/boat model kits are accurate, and well made.
When you consider the cost of researching, designing, and building the master patterns, making the molds, casting the parts, the cost of mold material, and resin,........you gotta sell a lot of kits to break even.
If you like Great Lakes merchant vessels, this is a kit for you.


The "Fitz" was considerably larger, and there was/is a kit of her out there.
....and no, I wasn't paid for the "good press".

That is impressive!
Ralph

Im still just as exited about this boat as i was this morning when i submitted this thread LOL

Stumper, thanks for the info

Is this related to the previous Great Lakes freighter that Sylvan produced? I guess the other wasn't an ore boat.
I was hanging around his table when it was introduced and he said that the one complaint he had was that there was a coffee pot in the chief engineer's office but none on the bridge. His explanation was that he'd been in the engineer's office but not on the bridge.
Anyone planning to build one should book the dining room table for the next year.

If you buy enough of the add-on sections, you'd be able to build a boat of a length similar to this one, which is about 736'.


Of course, this boat is a more modern one than the Sylvan model, which, incidentally, was featured in the April 2009 issue of RMC. In that article, one was shown with a scratch-built HO scale working model of one of the CNJ's McMyler coal unloaders at Jersey City.

Wayne

Quote:If you buy enough of the add-on sections, you'd be able to build a boat of a length similar to this one, which is about 736'.

If you're planning to do that, you'd better reserve the dining room table, AND, buy a second table and reserve it too! 736' in HO scale is 8' 5-1/2"

Quote:I was hanging around his table when it was introduced and he said that the one complaint he had was that there was a coffee pot in the chief engineer's office but none on the bridge.

David, you must have been talking to Claire, Manfred wasn't a sailor.

That is the same ship that Sylvan has been selling on their site (and which I have been eyeing) for many years. Same description and measurements:
"patterned after a St. Lawrence "canaller". While canallers have the look of a typical freighter, they were much shorter, as their size was restricted by the locks on the St. Lawrence River prior to the Seaway opening in 1959."

This is great news for Sylvan Models landing a deal like this with Walthers!!!

Val