SEGUIN by schooner - FINISHED - BlueJacket Shipcrafters - 1:48 - RADIO - Steam Tug

[MAGIC's Craig]

Tim: Nice creative thinking to make it all come together so nicely! I will happily join the crowd following along on your build.

[Rick310]

You’re doing a great job!!  Looks like a really fun build.

Rick

[gjdale]

Great work on the deckhouse Tim.

[pwog]

Nice job! Looking so good. 

[MrBlueJacket]

I agree - very good work!

 

Nic

[rvchima]

Tim,

I just discovered your build a few days ago and have been meaning to comment. As you mentioned, this is not an easy hull to build. There are not enough frames, and all those frame extensions and rudder support just want to break off. You've already tackled that. I think the model should be double planked for strength.

 

You are doing a beautiful job, and I'll be following along to see her in the water.

[schooner]

Thanks for all the kind words everyone - it has been "a real trip" to use a term from my youth. 

Double-planking would be a good idea.

[schooner]

17. Installing Ballast and the RC Gear

 

Bedford posted a reply a little ways back recommending that I ballast down the model to its waterline and let it float in the tub for a few hours to make sure there are no leaks. It was a good suggestion so I followed it.

 

I went to my local Bass Pro outlet and bought a selection of different sizes of lead fishing weights. I ended up using about 3/4 lb of the weights, all of them in the aft 1/3 of the hull since there is a pronounced “squat” on this hull - the waterline and the keel are no where near parallel. Just like on modern tugs, they wanted to get the prop as deep as possible to generate thrust, not bubbles. I ended up with just under 1/2 lb of weight in the aftermost section near the rudder tube and the rest went under where the motor will sit. I could only fit one of the two NiMh battery packs I ordered but even if there was room for the second pack there is not enough reserve buoyancy to support it - just one pack took care of bringing the bow and midships area down to the waterline.

 

The bathtub test worked fine - thank goodness. With that out of the way it’s time to start installing the RC gear.

 

The first thing I had to do was something I did not want to do. The biggest threat to running this model on my lake will not be wakes from real boats but one of these guys (the fish not the geezer - that's not me BTW):

 

 

There are a ton of Largemouth Bass in my lake, including a few big ones under my dock. They weigh 3-5 lbs, move fast and strike vertically at prey on the surface, including baby ducks (all together now “Oh No!! Not baby ducks!!) One of the most effective lures for catching them (bass, not ducks) uses brass blades that rotate as you retrieve it so it looks almost identical to what this beauty would look like while running:

 

 

So after sanding off the protective coating and adding spray paint my prop is now a boring black:

 

 

The motor was mounted to its pad with screws. Aligning the motor shaft with the prop shaft was easy to do visually athwartship but vertically took a combination of a small mirror and my finger to check for alignment as I turned the screw.

 

The battery pack is velcroed to its pad so it can be removed if needed but I plan on recharging it in place.

 

 

The ESC is also velcroed so it can be removed if I need to remove the battery pack (for a relatively large model there really isn’t all the much space to work with inside the hull).

 

Since the rudder servo will also experience torque it’s mounted with screws. The servo is placed so that its arm and the arm on the rudder stock align fore and aft.

 

The last item to add was the receiver - I placed it as far forward as possible to minimize electro-magnetic interference from the motor and ESC. Placing it there also allows  the 3 inch antenna to project vertically up into the deck house for (hopefully) better reception.

 

 

Next up will be installing the pushrod between the servo and the rudder.

 

Edited August 21, 2023 by schooner

[Cathead]

I just have to say, as a spectator and not a builder, I would love dearly to see video of a largemouth bass striking a model tug. Move over, JAWS. Too bad you can't mount harpooning gear on her!

[Ian_Grant]

Nice neat installation. Looks like a mini servo on the rudder. I only seem to see two terminals on the motor so I assume it's brushed? Is it geared down?

 

Nice model by the way...... if I ever build a tug I'm quite taken with the "George W Washburn" by Dumas.

 

 

[pwog]

Looking great! Nice progress. 
 

Also nice bass! I don’t know that I’d risk with those lurking about. 🤨

[schooner]

Hi Ian,

Yes it is a mini-servo on the rudder, I got a pack of 10 of them online for about $20, hopefully it will work because a larger one I have won't fit in that spot. If it does burn out after a while at least I have plenty of spares.

 As far as the motor goes I don't know if it is brushed (I threw the box out and I'm a total RC newbie), it is geared.

 

The Washburn does look like a nice kit, there is a decent build log for it over at https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?1558895-Building-the-George-W-Washburn

[Roger Pellett]

Tim,

 

Before you launch this beauty, you should built a 1:48 scale destroyer escort that can drop model depth charges!  😀

 

Roger

[Ian_Grant]

4 hours ago, schooner said:

<snipo..snip>

 As far as the motor goes I don't know if it is brushed (I threw the box out and I'm a total RC newbie), it is geared.

Yes, your MACK 1885 motor is brushed.

 

Since you're a newbie, a warning about batteries - I don't think it's the case here (your battery looks like NiMH cells) - but if lithium batteries are being charged it's best not to leave them in the boat due to fire risk. 🔥

 

Look forward to your launch video! Wish I was as close ...... 😣

[Bedford]

I'm glad the float test went well and it's good that you're thinking ahead and painted that prop, could avoid a disastrous encounter. 

[rvchima]

She's looking great Tim. I am totally impressed that you managed to waterproof everything and squeeze all that gear into that awkward hull. I hope that you will post videos of her on the water.

[schooner]

18. Steering Gear & Deck Furniture

 

The push rod between the servo and the rudder needs small brass rod at the ends to fit into the small holes on both arms but such thin rod may bend under pressure so I used an idea I found on a RC website and used a wooden dowel for the majority of it. This model is a little unusual in that the pushrod will remain above the deck but it will not be visible since it will be inside a 3-sided box, 2 of which sat on the fantail of the real SEGUIN to protect the steering ropes. The box hiding the pushrod and the fantail grating will be spot glued with white glue so I can remove them if needed.

 

 

 

 

The deck furniture is done, with the exception of the boat. The fore and aft bitts, the ice chest, the stack and the skylight are per the plans. The kit provides a resin piece for the water barrel but I’ve had several wooden ones from Model Expo in my stash since my first build, as it turns out they are a perfect match for the plans so I used one.

 

 

Next up will be the Pilothouse.

Edited September 3, 2023 by schooner

[schooner]

19. Pilot House and Masts

 

The frame for the pilothouse consists of laser cut base and roof outline, joined by 3 pieces of 1/4” square stock. I added some scrap decking material to the floor.

The 2 aft support columns show thru the window and door so I painted part of them black to make them less obvious. Although the instructions call for 1/4” square stock the plans show 1/8” square stock - I’m glad I went with the 1/4” , it is very sturdy which helped when it came time to bend the sheathing around the frame while glueing.

 

 

To shape the 2 laminated pieces I found a spray can with the same radius as the front of the pilot house. After soaking them in hot water and ammonia I rubber- banded them in place and left them overnight:

 

 

The steering wheel is britannia metal, its stand is made up of strip wood per the plans. The plans show a chart table and bench, I added a voice tube and engine order telegraph:

 

 

Here is the furniture in place:

 

 

And here is the completed pilothouse with the roof (and rooster) in place:

 

 

 

As it turned out, almost all the interior details are not visible. It’s pretty dark in there and the sight lines thru the windows block everything but the top of the steering wheel, the voice tube and the bench.

 

This would be a perfect place for putting acetate in the windows but I left them out for the sake of consistency - I had to forgo glazing the doors and windows on the lower deckhouse so that the heat from the motor and ESC would have a way to vent.

 

The masts have been tapered and the metal work attached:

 

 

The instructions call for attaching the foremast by glueing the bottom to the deck which would work fine for a static model but since this deckhouse needs to be removable I changed the attachment point to a spacer that is glued to the front of the deckhouse and will sit on the deck between the water barrel and the ice box - the mast will be glued and pinned to the spacer which is set at a width that will place the mast at the designed rake:

 

 

The aft mast needs a little help securing it. The instructions call for glueing it to the hole in the roof but even for a static model that will not provide much strength when it’s time to tension the rigging since the bottom of the mast is just hanging in the air inside the deckhouse. I put a framework on the underside of the deck that will provide a good glueing surface and that also sets the mast plumb and with the proper rake:

 

Edited September 3, 2023 by schooner

[schooner]

20. Upper Deck Details

 

I did one more bathtub float test, this time with the motor running to make sure there would not be any leakage in the stern tube with the shaft rotating - everything was fine.

 

I placed the pilothouse in place after setting up the brass railings.

 

 

I got a lead on some very nice brass stanchions from RVICHMA’s SEGUIN build log. I bought 2 packs of 10 from the  Age of Sail website. 24 gage brass wire fits snugly in the stanchion holes.

 

 

The stack is pinned in place and the guy wires use the kit-provided copper wire with crimping tubes to fasten them:

 

 

The skylight and the boat davits were easy additions:

 

 

 

This build is almost done with just the masts, rigging and ship’s boat to go.

[Ian_Grant]

Looking forward to her shakedown cruise!

[pwog]

She is looking so great! I’m out for a short trip cruising coastal Maine. When we went by Seguin Island I thought of you and this build. 👏🏻

[schooner]

Paul,

 Thanks for clearing up a mystery for me. Searching for the tug's namesake I googled and googled "Seguin" but all I could find was a hero of the war of Texas Independence who died shortly before the Seguin was built. Even though during the Mexican War he fought against the US, Texas didn't hold a grudge against him and named Seguin Texas after him. I thought it was strange and unlikely that Seguin’s owners would go so far afield for a name but now I know there is a Maine connection.

So much for leaving this model to the Seguin, TX public library in my will.

 

 

 

Edited January 28 by schooner

[pwog]

This is from: https://maineanencyclopedia.com/bath-historic-register/

SEGUIN (tugboat)

[Bath Marine Museum] Named for Seguin Island in the Kennebec River, the tugboat was launched in Bath in 1884. For most of her career the tug operated out of Bath, and was used in her early days to tow four and five masted sailing vessels, as well as barges, from the sea to various parts of the Kennebec River. During the latter stages of her working life the Seguinoperated out of Belfast on Penobscot Bay from 1950 to 1969 until she was retired. She also towed cargoes as far south as Norfolk, Virginia, as well as tending to oil tankers and destroyers.

The Seguin is the oldest steam operated tug in Maine and possibly in the country. She was considered to be a very reliable craft. She suffered through only one serious mishap, a collision with a submerged pier of the Richmond, Maine bridge. The tug had a four foot hole opened in her side. Divers patched, raised, repaired, and recommissioned the little steamer. Her 400 horsepower engine was built by the Portland Company in 1909. For many years the Seguin trademark was a large three-footed, white wooden rooster perched on her pilot house. In the 1920s the rooster was mysteriously stolen. No trace was ever found. The the tug had been the only one on the Kennebec River for many years.

The Seguin has had four different owners during her colorful career. It is 88 feet long and 19 feet 8 inched at the beam. Her relatively shallow 12 foot draft was ideally suited for working on the river. Now at the Bath Marine Museum on the Kennebec River, it is a major part of its substantial collection.* [Bath Marine Museum photo]

[schooner]

21. Ship’s Boat and Final Rigging

 

 

 

The Boat

 

The instructions call for carving a provided block of wood into a boat shape -that's beyond my skills so I ordered a 3 3/16" britannia boat from blue jacket and covered the top with tracing paper to simulate a canvas covering.

 

Standing Rigging

 

For the shrouds and stays I followed the recommendation in the instruction book for the RC option and used black stretch cord (.5mm) that I bought online. To secure them I used .015 inch crimping tubes.

 

Previous build logs, as confirmed by the plans, reported that the after boat davit is completely blocked by the shrouds on the port side of the aft mast so I moved both davits 1/2” forward. Several build logs reported a problem with the shrouds impinging on the deck house roof. I found that if I anchored them on the inboard side of the cap rail that there was no problem.

The stretch cords, set to be about 1 inch short of their pre-stretched final length, hold the deckhouse firmly in place but are easy to lift off of the hooks on the mast so the house can be removed.

 

 

 

Running Rigging and the flags

 

The model comes with a gaff boom on each mast. I assumed they were there as part of an emergency “get home” sailing rig. If so, the rigging on the plans did not make much sense to me so I copied the gaff rigging used on my model of the USS Olympia (built at the same time as the Seguin) and added double blocks to the gaff vangs and changed the rigging of the gaffs themselves.

 

The paper flags are from the kit. I rubber-cemented a piece of aluminum foil onto the back of one half of the flag, leaving a border around it for paper to paper gluing. When dry I placed the halyard in the fold crease and then folded and glued the flag halves together. Two different size dowels were used to impart alternating curved folds. Although the dowels could just as well be used to make the flags hang limply I wanted the Seguin to look as if she is headed down the Kennebec River under a full head of steam to pick up a schooner to tow into Bath for an extortionate fee.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The only thing left to do now is to design and fabricate a launch/recovery/carrying cradle, probably from PVC piping and then conduct the maiden voyage, but that will have to wait until Nov when we get back from a road trip out to the West Coast.

Edited January 21 by schooner

[Ian_Grant]

She's beautiful ..... nicely done! Will look great on the water!

[pwog]

Kudos on your build and your very informative log! She looks beautiful. I’d be afraid to put her in the water😂  Nicely done!

[ccoyle]

Beautifully done! Congratulations!

[KurtH]

Immaculate craftsmanship!  Such a clean model!

[Cathead]

That looks so good!

[Ian_Grant]

Looking again at your beautiful pics, it occurs to me that the ESC fan could maybe use some duct for outside air on a hot day. Does the funnel actually ventilate the interior cavity? Note, I have zero experience with ESCs' as all my electric boats were made decades ago; simply circulating the interior air may be enough. You could check the ambient air max temp spec for the ESC and decide.

 

Looking forward to video of the maiden voyage! Great work!