EJDERN in scale 1:30

It is a quite calm morning. At the harbor Ejdern just cast off from the jetty. If you stood real close you could actually see the white painted and, in relation to the ship, big propeller slowly rotate and push the ship offshore. She glides through the water and gives way for a couple of ducks unwilling to move. A frog, however, gets scared and flops into the water. But Ejdern has to change course to avoid the water lily leaf the frog was sitting on.

I have built some models before and I have had the idea of building a passenger steamer model for quite a long time. A year ago the project started. The reason why I chose Ejdern is partly because I see her at least twice a day since her jetty is 15' from my way to work and partly because she out-beauty all other steamers with her beautiful lines.

I got in touch with a well-reputated hobby-shop in Stockholm, asking for a modeling kit or at least drawings of Ejdern. Ejdern appeared to be quite unknown in connection to modeling and there was neither drawing nor modeling kit of her. So I simply had to start measuring and photographing her on my own. I also found some drawing material in Per Fagerholm's book about Ejdern.

How did I build the model? Since I chose the scale 1:30 the model became 74,6 cm (2' 5"), big enough to radio control, but not to big for the bookshelf. Furthermore, the smallest steam engine from the shop "Eskader" in Stockholm, the ST-Junior fits perfectly into the model. Unfortunately the original boiler for the ST-Junior showed itself to be too clumsy and too heavy for the model, so for that reason I had to make my own. In fact I had made five pieces, before I got one good enough. The first one dropped at the floor during soldering and it turned into scrap. The second boiler, of Scottish type, had too low efficiency; the flames went right through. Boiler number three was impossible to fire up at all, too thin fire-tubes. Boiler number four was of an entirely different type, consisting of one tube inside a box working as the fireplace. That boiler was soldered with tin and ended its life in the "big" Ejdern's kitchenette (in a way I'm not going to tell here). Both the kitchenette and the model managed without damage. The fifth boiler finally worked as I wanted. It is the same type as number four but Silver Soldered.

And now about the hull: Model boat hulls are traditionally made from tree on a framework. But Ejdern has a metal hull with rivet joints. Should I do the same way with my model? No, that's not realistic. I chose to do the hull in glass fiber reinforced plastic instead. Now I got a hull that tolerated both water and oil, something that the engine spreads quit generously around itself.

The superstructure is made of plywood, the afterdeck is glued with strips of wood and "blackened" glue which give a realistic imitation of a deck with pitch in the seams. The rails are made of soldered brass threads. In other words the model is made traditionally except for the simplified hull.

Per Widing

Photo: Juha Nyberg
Translation: Claes H Nygårdh
Proofreading: Robert Nygårdh

Comment from the editorial staff:
It is our hope that we will see more "mini Ejdern" in the future (get in touch, if you are building your own Ejdern). And maybe we will see Ejdern as a modeling kit in the future?