T24 Tugboat by mikiek - FINISHED - Tippecanoe Boats - RADIO

[donrobinson]

I've been following along and this is real interesting. I actually checked out their site.......and it is so tempting

[captainbob]

I guess I've been away from RC too long.  I've never heard of sealing the deck that way, but it's a lot easier than what I used to do.  Good job.  Can't wait to see her in the water.

 

Bob

[mikiek]

Don - although it interferes with my model building I am having fun with it. It's kinda cool building a boat that you can actually get wet. I have their tri-maran on order.

 

Bob - this guy Will is a wizard with epoxy. All kinds of interesting tricks. And he explains them all very well - both in his videos and the kit instructions. I've learned so much from doing his builds. As a for instance, I think my old problems with the 15 minute 2 tube epoxy was not mixing it well enough. Will is adamant about that. Used to be the 15 minute stuff was still gooey the next day. I know I added the proper amount of hardener, but if it ain't mixed in it ain't gonna work. Will stresses 30-60 seconds of mixing before use.

 

Anyone that has dealt with Tippiecanoe will tell you they are a top notch outfit. Great products and great customer support.

[Nirvana]

1 hour ago, mikiek said:

Anyone that has dealt with Tippiecanoe will tell you they are a top notch outfit. Great products and great customer support.

I second that!

[mikiek]

With the deck glued to the hull I couldn't resist doing a little painting and varnishing. A long way from finished, but she is taking shape.

 

I am one step closer to planking the deck. Overspray from painting the hull got all over the main deck. Lots of little black dots. It will probably sand off but I can leave it if I plank. The one scary thing about that is using epoxy to glue down the sticks. I tried that on my T37 sailboat and it was a mess. As much as I rave about this epoxy, it is extremely difficult to use for planking.

 

I've also thought about adding some brass hand rails in a few places. Not sure if it would just get beat up down the road. Was also thinking a bunch of model car tires around the hull would look cool.

 

 

 

 

I'm tempted to fill up the tub and see how she floats 

[donrobinson]

She is quite the tug Mike, I'd enjoy seeing her run around the lake too. If are thinking about planking Titebond III is completely waterproof and would be much easier to use. 

[mikiek]

Well I did pick up some Titebond III today. I believe planking is the only option now. Too much overspray from painting the hull.

 

 

If the deck was solid wood I'd be sanding right now, but it's plywood with a thin mahogany veneer. If you do much sanding on it you go right thru the veneer. It should look pretty nice planked. I'm thinking some pretty wide strips, maybe 1/4".

 

I still want to get some model tires to hang around it.

[donrobinson]

Planking it will look real sharp. What type of wood are you thinking about? Tires are a sweet idea and would look so cool. I would still sand to get it smooth just be a little cautious, it would be about the same as sanding the second layer of planking on a hull

[EJ_L]

I agree that the planking will add a cool element to the build and enhance the overall appearance. The tires will also look great and may even prove functional if you have to go out and retrieve a lost ship. 

[mikiek]

Don, E.J., thanks for the feedback. I have a lot of boxwood strips so I imagine I'll go with those - maybe darkened a little bit. I have some walnut and maple sheets on order - I could make planks from those. But I'm not sure when they will arrive and I would like to get this build finished this weekend.

 

I definitely want the tires, however that must be a hot item in the model car world. Lot's of sites have them and lot's of sites are out of stock.

 

Had not thought about the tires being useful, but you are right E.J. And I do plan on this tug being a rescue boat for my RC sailboats.

[EJ_L]

You might try ebay. I have bought bunches or "junk" tires on there before for other projects. Probably best bet too for a lot of inexpensive tires.

[mikiek]

Got a lot done in the last 24 hours. Deck is planked, stained and first coat of varnish. I used 1/4" x 3/32" boxwood sticks, miscalculated and ran out before I was finished. That was disheartening as it was early this morning, I was on a roll and had planned to finish planking. Fortunately I had a 3/32" sheet and was able to rip enough from that to get the rest.

 

Staining (Minwax Provincial) really showed up all the spots where I didn't sand the glue off well enough. I was going to sand the stain off and try again but then I thought for a tugboat, all the spots kinda add to the ambiance. So I left them. I used a satin finish on the deck rather than the glossy that is on the sides and bottom.

 

Got to thinking, all the wood is covered now so I could put it in the water tomorrow. We'll see. Pix are a little dark this time, not sure why.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Nirvana]

Mike,

Very nice, but one serious question;

Isn't that trailer little to big for your tug? Or are you to haul both of the Ts' on it? 

[donrobinson]

Right on! Let's see her in the water

[mikiek]

May have to postpone the christening today. I slapped another coat of varnish on the deck this morning. Not sure it will be dry in time.

 

Per - traveling with the fleet is getting difficult. 1 - T37 sailboat, 2 - Dragon Force sailboats, 1 tug with barge and soon 1 trimaran (with 7' mast). Plus sails, tools, chairs, etc.  If the trailer wasn't filled up with astronomy gear it would be perfect.

[mikiek]

I forgot to mention I did order some 1:24 model car tires to tie on around the sides. Should be a nice feature.

[mikiek]

Construction on this build is finished. I'm not changing the thread title yet because I still have a few things to "trick it out" - tires, airhorns, exhaust pipes. I had her on the water today for a few minutes. She rides higher than I thought. At full throttle she will do circles around the RC sailboats. The motor has an incredible amount of torque. I didn't have the prop shaft fastened tight enough in the universal joint and it twisted loose pretty quick.

 

I have to come up with somewhere a little more elegant to take final pix   I'll try to get some water shots real soon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I still have the marker hauling barge to build. That looks pretty simple. Guess that means I need some sort of hitch for hauling. And right as I was typing that I thought of some big mooring cleats. All tugs have lots of those.

 

 

[mikiek]

My order from the model shop came in today. Minus the tires - backordered.  Pretty poor turn around - they were in stock 15 days ago when I ordered. It took them 12 days to ship and apparently in the mean time they ran out.

 

I did get my order from Tippiecanoe Boats today. T50 trimaran is in hand - hull number 22. It's going to be a screamer. I'll definately do a build log when I start that. I'm glad I have the experience of 2 of their other kits before starting this. It looks like a challenge.

[Nirvana]

Mike,

With that order of yours from Tippecanoe I am almost on the verge to de-friend you.............

Just kidding, that T-50 will be the "Ultimate" racer.....

 

Why didn't you order the Venom at the same time?  

[mikiek]

Gotta save a little time for the "non-floaters"

[mikiek]

I'm going to call this one done. I've added a few details but still don't have any tires to hang on it. The back ordered tires order was cancelled yesterday if that tells you anything. I feel sorry for model car builders. No one seems to have regular old scale tires.

 

So I've added some horns (non-functional), some exhaust pipes and what tug would be complete without some cleats? Here's some final shots. Thanks to everyone for following along.

 

Oh yeah, the tug did it's first rescue the other day. We were sailing the rc boats and the comm link broke for some reason and a boat just drifted off into a fountain and got hung up on the sprayers. So I sent the tug in, gave the sailboat a nudge, freed it up and let it drift to the other side of the pond. Exactly what I got the tug for

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Nirvana]

Mike,

It seems like I am to be the first to congrat you on a finalized Tug boat.

I am glad the maiden voyage was successful in many ways.

Do you have a name yet? If not, here is a suggestion; Sailors Rescue or Tug Along.

[EJ_L]

Looks great and even better, it works! Have fun with your newest addition to the fleet!

[mikiek]

Thank you Per. It was a good build. Regarding name - I was going with something more traditional (tug boat wise) - Maggie Mae. Will can make laser printer vinyl decals with various fonts. I used them on the T37 and I will get him to make some for the tug. Name on the transom, hull number on each side at the bow.

 

I'm going to work on my other static builds for a little while and then start on the trimaran. I'm running out of room for all the RC toys. I've had to start storing the boats using wall mounts.

[donrobinson]

Mike, she looks pretty cool. Job well done, be sure to add some action shots.

[mikiek]

EJ, Don - thank you for the kind words. It was a fun build and as EJ says I can get her wet. She's riding a little high at the bow which seems to make the steering a little goosey. I'm considering adding some ballast to bring it down some.

 

I did get some tires so here's a few pix of that. I'm thinking about adding some more. Maybe in the gap between each and a little higher up.

 

 

 

[donrobinson]

Tires are a good addition, are they hanging below the water line?

[cog]

Tires should be above the waterline Mike, at least that's how the tugs in Rotterdam "wear" them. Nomaly the are hung at the widest section of the hull (vertically seen that is) but your hull is pretty straight

[mikiek]

OK Carl - Unfortunately at the moment the tug is riding quite high at the bow. I need to get that resolved so that I have a true waterline. I probably should have held off on painting the lower hull until I had that waterline. I think even when I get the hull floating level the black painted part will not be totally under water. So I don't have a real mark where the waterline is. I think if I can get the bow down, the tires should be in about the right place.

[cog]

Can't you put some counter weights in it. I know with the Smit Rotterdam, and the Smit Nederland we had to add some lead. In the Nederland it was, fortunately, at the stern, which was easy to reach. You do have a bit of leeway with regards to the waterline. As a tug burnes more diesel, it rises ... so if it gets to low, it's fully bunkered, just don't let it sink