Has anyone heard of this ship in card?

SgtSki in MI

New Member
This is a ship that I would really like to try doing in 1/200 scale cardstock. This ship doesn't exist in plastic as far as I know.
This is the U.S.S. Wolverine (IX-64) which was a training aircraft carrier on Lake Michigan during WW2. It one of only two paddlewheel aircraft carriers ever built and was built from the largest sidewheel steamer on the Great Lakes, the SS Seeandbee. The other sidewheel aircraft carrier on Lake Michigan was the U.S.S. Sable (IX-81) which was built from the S.S. Greater Buffalo. This is something I'd truly like to render and build as it is pretty unique. I have seen a 1:72 Scale scratchbuilt wooden model online that was pretty impressive though.
Here's a pic of the SS Seeandbee and the USS Wolverine that she was converted into. In the second pic the Wolverine is berthed at Navy Pier in Chicago. To her starboard you can see the S.S. Greater Buffalo very shortly after work started to convert her into the U.S.S. Sable. As a note, neither of these ships were true aircraft carriers. They did not have elevators or hangar decks, aircraft would either do a touch-and-go, or re-launch immediately after completing a trap. Many Naval Aviators in WW2 qualified for carrier landings on these two ships, including a future president, Ensign George Bush.
 

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Fred Bultman

New Member
Dream on. the only Great lakes ship in card is the JSC Fitz in 1/400 scale. Paper Shipwright may someday do the Keewatin. (Sigh.)

I too built card models while deployed to the Balkans. Paperclips are a good resource for wire, gun barrels, etc. Enjoy.
 

dansls1

Member
Interesting ships - I had never heard of these before. Another topic to read up on when I get some spare time ;)
 

Bowdenja

Active Member
If you get a chance to make it to the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola FL.......... they have a display with two SBDs recovered from Lake Michigan and some info on the training carriers............... one of the Dauntless recovered was a Battle of Midway survivor, that came back to be a training aircraft after the battle.

Cool display and interesting information.............

john
 

CaptMike

New Member
Well its not the Seeandbee or the Greater Buffalo, but I will be releasing a kit of the Steamer Ste Claire soon. The Ste Claire was another of the Frank Kirby designed steamers that sailed the Great Lakes. Kits will be sold by the Ste Claire organization as a fundraiser for the restoration of the actual ship. Just waiting for the organization to say go - should be down to a matter of months now.
I know that some of you may have heard that this kit has been coming for a long time now, but it really is going to happen. The owner of the ship, who will be paying for the kits, has just been preoccupied with the more immediate needs of saving the ship.
 

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SgtSki in MI

New Member
Nice looking steamer CaptMike

Well its not the Seeandbee or the Greater Buffalo, but I will be releasing a kit of the Steamer Ste Claire soon. The Ste Claire was another of the Frank Kirby designed steamers that sailed the Great Lakes. Kits will be sold by the Ste Claire organization as a fundraiser for the restoration of the actual ship. Just waiting for the organization to say go - should be down to a matter of months now.
I know that some of you may have heard that this kit has been coming for a long time now, but it really is going to happen. The owner of the ship, who will be paying for the kits, has just been preoccupied with the more immediate needs of saving the ship.

That looks pretty cool CaptMike! I grew up on White Lake in Michigan (Montague and Whitehall, Michigan) and I enjoy pics of the old lake steamers. The Goodrich Line used to have a dock in Montague way back when. I have a picture of my Great-Grandparents aboard one heading up to Charlevoix for their honeymoon in 1919.
 

sjsquirrel

Member
Excellent!

Not a card model, but detailed info:

USS Wolverine IX64 - ModelBoats.co.uk Build Features

Terry

Ping-Pong Ball Cannon and N/Z scale Old West paper models (free samples) at: paperbeam - virtual paper models

That's a great resource Paperbeam. SgtSki, why don't you contact the builder there and see if he's willing and able to share the plans and ref material he has. I'd love to see both versions of that ship. I lived along the Detroit river (on the Canadian side eh!) and long for a good model of a lake freighter, and some of the other ships I used to see all the time.

CaptMike, the Ste Clair you show above looks like one of the two ships that used to go back and forth between Detroit and Boblo Island (an amusement park on an island in the river) back in the sixties/seventies/eighties? (don't remember exactly when they closed it). Do you know if it is one of those?

SJ
 

dansls1

Member
That's a great resource Paperbeam. SgtSki, why don't you contact the builder there and see if he's willing and able to share the plans and ref material he has. I'd love to see both versions of that ship. I lived along the Detroit river (on the Canadian side eh!) and long for a good model of a lake freighter, and some of the other ships I used to see all the time.

CaptMike, the Ste Clair you show above looks like one of the two ships that used to go back and forth between Detroit and Boblo Island (an amusement park on an island in the river) back in the sixties/seventies/eighties? (don't remember exactly when they closed it). Do you know if it is one of those?

SJ

BOB-LO BOAT STE. CLAIRE - it is the 2nd of the 2 Boblo boats. I've been on that boat (ship?) quite a few times as a kid ;)
 
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