Tasmanian mini tug build

[mermod]

Marking out the side panels after joining.I ordered some Bote Cote from Boatcraft pacific, should arrive in about 4 or 5 days then I can start assembly woo hoo

[mermod]

Thats my plan Peter, slow and steady, I hope to temporarily fix the stem to my strongback/base to avoid any movement, and I cant wait to see it assembled either, been a long time coming.

[P.L.Lenihan]

You know something, you really should warn us Northern folks if you are going to start posting warm sunny photos with green grass all over the place. I mean, a fella could hurt his eyes ya know!

Have you cut your stem exactly to its' finished length or given yourself lots of extra length? I hope it is extra long so that you will not hesitate to get a few good braces screwed solidly into the extra stem length parts.A perfectly true stem will go a long way in making the hull assemble go smoothly and produce a nice square( twist free) hull.

I think you'll do fine taking things slow, steady and thinking through the steps to come.....keeps mistakes to a manageable level. Trust me!



Cheers!



Peter

[mermod]

sorry about that, I will insert a warning next time. The stem is oversize at the moment and I'm really big on everything being square and straight, my wife tells me I go to extremes (the word anal is used alot)

You know something, you really should warn us Northern folks if you are going to start posting warm sunny photos with green grass all over the place. I mean, a fella could hurt his eyes ya know!

Have you cut your stem exactly to its' finished length or given yourself lots of extra length? I hope it is extra long so that you will not hesitate to get a few good braces screwed solidly into the extra stem length parts.A perfectly true stem will go a long way in making the hull assemble go smoothly and produce a nice square( twist free) hull.

I think you'll do fine taking things slow, steady and thinking through the steps to come.....keeps mistakes to a manageable level. Trust me!



Cheers!



Peter

[M. J. Notigan]

Re: Post #38

Mermod, I would have personally paid dearly for the excellent advice offered by Peter had I better known the ramifications to follow. The only thing I can do is reinforce what Peter offers here, a good session with the level, tape measure, a good quenching beverage (non-alcohol to keep the mind clear during this set-up) and a comfy chair in the shade (I understand your part of the world is going through some broiling temperatures!).

I like the inner stem pieces there, helping to align the 2 side panels. Kind of wish they were drawn up for my own build.

Your ship models in posts 23 and 26 are beautiful! If they are any indication, the 1:1 scale boat you are now building is going to be just as detailed and special!

Take Care,
Mike

[mermod]

If youre interested I have more photos of my models on facebook, just search for Mersey Models (mermod, get it) the only downside to building a full size boat is that the parts won't fit inside my lasercutter.

[Larks]

Nice progress Phill, I'll enjoy watching this grow. Just thinking though that the stem construction looks a little glue starved in that cross cut in post #34?

[mermod]

Hi Larks, yes it is a bit dry close to that end but lower down everythings good.

[M. J. Notigan]

Hi Phil,
I just saw your ship model work on your facebook page. What can one say but simply astounding! Incredible attention to detail. I swear that crane on your Star of Perseus is operational! Silver soldered handrails perfectly bent. Just amazing and captivating!
Take Care,
Mike

[mermod]

The crane on the Star Perseus is operational, the ram is a mini pneumatic one, the rotation is done by a servo and the winch is a model rockcrawling winch capable of about 20kg lift, it also has twin independant brushless drive motors, homemade working bow thruster, working anchor winch, sirens and a full size dual car air horn, the whole thing runs off a 12volt 24amp agm battery and runs for about 8 hours straight,she's my baby.

[mermod]

Played with my bottom today, put a 1mm x 75mm rebate along the joins for the fibreglass cloth to lay in then joined and sealed the whole thing with Bote Cote epoxy.

[mermod]

I find these ice cream containers to be the perfect size for epoxy application.

[mermod]

It's not easy keeping hairs out of your resin when your helper looks like this!

[Hunky Dory]

He's just happy you are building a boat big enough for him to ride in.

[Tom Robb]

Tell us about the model boats too. They look first rate.

[Lifer]

Looks good . I stole some of my wife's disposable cake piping bags , the type for frosting and used them to make my fillits ... Shhh don;t tell her but they worked great and are very cheap to buy. Canadian Ice Cream does not come in anything that looks like that but it looks to be a perfect container . Is it flexible ? the paint trays I bought are flexible so when the left over epoxy cures in them i just flex it and POP it right out .


Lifer

[mermod]

Hi Lifer, they come from the places that sell scoop icecream in bulk, my Dad does the rounds of the local shops once a week and they give them to him rather than throw them away and yes they are flexible.

[mermod]

A llittle bit more, the rebates in the bottom filled with 2 layers of 6oz cloth and a heap of epoxy. The plans don't call for this step but I know of another mini tug of this design that weeps through the bottom joint.

[mermod]

By laying a sheet of acrylic or polycarb on top I can get this sort of finish.

[mermod]

The plans call for buttstraps when joining the side panels, I did that but couldn't stand the look of them so routered them off and went with the rebate with 2 layers of 6oz again.
(acrylic sheet still covering in this picture)

[mermod]

once again the joint looks like this with the acrylic sheet on top.

[mermod]

Someone asked about one of my models in the background, the two white hulls are for a client, she is the Abeille Liberte and Abeille Bourbon, emergency tow vessels, I'm about halfway through the build, probably should be working on them instead of the mini tug!

[norseman]

Abeille Bourbon

Small world! :-)

[mermod]

Hi norseman, nice to see you here, are you stalking me by any chance?

[Robmill0605]

That's a neat trick with the acrylic. I'll have to remember that one. I think your doing a terrific job on this tug and it's a good idea to glass the bottom seams that way. Looks very strong, and I'm looking forward to seeing more of your work.

[mermod]

Glad it's not too boring, here's todays progress, the support for the wheelhouse wall, rebated, epoxied and braces in place and the second support closer to the stern is is where the seating and outboard support go.
The area between the two timber supports is the cockpit area, I'm tossing around the idea of doing a layed deck in tas oak but not sure if I should epoxy them right onto the floor or make a false removable floor with the boards on for easy removal and cleaning (probably gonna tung oil the boards and sikaflex the seams) only thing is I'm not sure how to fix a removable sole in place and make it look neat.

[mermod]

fixing the forefoot to the stem.

[mermod]

Stem and it's knee finally glued in place, next up , wrapping side around.

[mermod]

Side panels fitted, they slid perfectly into the rebate in the stem, I'm starting to picture myself cruising down a river somewhere.

[boingk]

Wow, this is a seriously cool build. Very much liking the design of the boat - would love to have one painted up in Newcastle Harbour tug colours and get a side-by-side photo!

Cheers - boingk

[Larks]

Glad it's not too boring, here's todays progress, the support for the wheelhouse wall, rebated, epoxied and braces in place and the second support closer to the stern is is where the seating and outboard support go.
The area between the two timber supports is the cockpit area, I'm tossing around the idea of doing a layed deck in tas oak but not sure if I should epoxy them right onto the floor or make a false removable floor with the boards on for easy removal and cleaning (probably gonna tung oil the boards and sikaflex the seams) only thing is I'm not sure how to fix a removable sole in place and make it look neat.

It might pay to look into the Tassy Oak deck option a bit more Phill, I remember Peter Sibley advising on here quite a while ago that it may be somewhat rot prone in a marine environment and a deck in particular would be a real test for a rot prone timber.

[mermod]

Thanks for the "heads up" Larks, do you have any links to what he had to say? sounds like a removable layed panel might be the way to go.

[Larks]

Thanks for the "heads up" Larks, do you have any links to what he had to say? sounds like a removable layed panel might be the way to go.

No, but I'll give him a nudge to look in here.....

[PeterSibley]

Mermod, g'day, I heard Lark's whistle.

Tassy oak ? I guess you mean e. regnans ? I think it might be a bit on the open grained side for a deck and perhaps with a tendency to throw splinters ? It's not terribly durable and seems to surface check when exposed .... but perhaps I've just worked with some dodgy stuff . Does your yard have anything with a closer grain in a colour you like ?

I made up a few test "deck" panels with epoxy and tallow wood a while ago and it was instructional !! The tallow wood was 45 x 6mm thick and it just cupped and tore the epoxy off the ply substrate after 6 months outside in the sun and rain. If I use a hardwood pretend laid deck I think the hardwood strips need to be very thin. I recommend a few tests and making the overlay as thin as possible.

My 2c.

[mermod]

Thanks for the advice Peter, most of my experience with Tas oak has been in the furniture industry but when I moved to tassie there was a huge demand for timber window replace and repair jobs, alot of the window sills I've seen have only had one coat of paint in their life and faired pretty well with minimal rot, however I find the younger stuff available now with a pinkish tinge does not feel the same nor does it machine a nicely, luckily I have just finished some renovations and have plenty of old timber left from moving some walls and replacing windows (stripped up my old mantlepiece last night for shelf stringers)
When the older more oaky colored timber is thicknessed I dont even really need to sand it but the new pinky stuff always needs the normal attention.
However none of my experience is in a marine type environment so I appreiciate the advice from members like yourself.
( I also realize Oaky and Pinky are not very professional terms)