NARROWBOAT by tartane - FINISHED - scale 1:25

[tartane]

 1

I built this model in 2016, so a few years ago, at the request of someone who had sailed on such a boat a number of times during holidays.

In England it is possible to rent such a boat for some time and go out yourself in the canals in the middle of England. Originally they were cargo ships, but nowadays hundreds of newly built ones sail through this area.  Moreover, many of these ships are permanently inhabited. My client wanted to use this model to show family and friends how much fun it can be to sail on such a narrowboat.

 Just an example

 

They are very narrow, no wider than 2.08 m, which is necessary to pass through the many locks that do not have a wider passage than 2.13 m. The maximum length is 21.9 m, which has to do with the length of the locks in those canals. I determined the length of the model to be 717 mm, which comes down to an actual length of 18 m, which is the most common occurrence in reality.

The difficulty was that there were no blueprints to be found anywhere. Extensive research yielded nothing, so it seemed as if this belonged to the English state secrets. Only the head sizes are known.

Still, there had to be a drawing and I made it mostly on the basis of photos of people so that I could determine the necessary measurements after comparing and calculating. The client gave instructions for the layout of the interior. Drawings of the layout of such boats were available at the various rental companies, but they gave no indications about the construction and the heights. Photos of the boats lying on land for maintenance gave clues about the situation below the waterline.

With the help of all this data, I made a drawing on a scale of 1 : 25 that served as a working drawing for the construction from that moment on.

 

The stern

 

The bow

 

As a result, it has become a model of a non-existent boat, which accurately meets the standard dimensions. The painting is entirely at own discretion. By the way, it could be that there is a boat sailing around in this outfit, because after a quick comparison with photos it turns out that no two boats are the same.

 

Constant

 

[ccoyle]

3 minutes ago, tartane said:

My client wanted to use this model to show family and friends how much fun it can be to sail on such a narrowboat.

 

It does look like a wonderful way to see some country!

[tartane]

2

 

For the most part, the hull of the model is built of 8 mm thick MDF. This allowed the structure of the boat to be determined. In that structure, the location of the engine, the fuel tank and the water tank were already taken into account.

 

 

 Strips of 1 mm thick plywood were installed along it. Curved round at the back and ending in a point at the front. After drying and filing, the characteristic bow was glued to it, which is almost the same for every narrowboat.

 

A deck hatch was then placed on the forecastle and later also the filler cap for the water tank.

 

As far as possible, everything on the outside was painted in grey. Commercially available semi-circular strips of PVC were used to make the protruding edges along the hull. These were glued to the hull after examples in photos. These edges are intended to protect the hull when sanding along the edges of the locks.

 

 In the last picture you can already see that bulkheads have been placed in the boat that form the partitions of the various compartments. A temporary bulkhead is placed in the front of the hull so that the boat could be turned upside.

 

Constant

[tartane]

3

 

At the stern there is always a fence, sometimes equipped with a bench, against which the skipper leans while sailing. This is also where he operates the rudder and levers for the engine. I made this fence out of 2 mm thick brass on which I also soldered the supports.

 

It was then mounted on the aft deck. A hole was drilled through the deck in which a tube was glued in which the rudder pin can turn. The rudder blade and propeller, both soldered to brass, were then mounted. On the model, the tiller can move and the propeller can also rotate in a tube lengthwise of the model.

 

Underneath the propeller is a steel beam that is mandatory in every narrowboat to prevent damage to the thresholds of the locks and the propeller itself.

The tiller has a characteristic shape that is the same for every boat.

After the hull under the upper bumper had been painted completely silk matt black, work could start on the interior.

 

Constant

[tartane]

4

 

The top of the boat must be kept as low as possible to be able to pass under the many low bridges. As a result, there has to be a staircase to get to the bottom of the boat. Here the steps are  between two cabinets. On one side is a cupboard for the ship's technology, on the other side is a hanging cupboard. In front of that, two single beds with a narrow passage. 

 

Walking from the back to the front, from right to left, the following spaces appear;

 

 

1.            A toilet with washbasin

2.            A hanging cupboard

3.            One double bed

4.            Toilet/shower/sink and a cupboard

5.            Kitchenette with cooking facilities

6.            Lounge

7.            Stairs to the forecastle

 

 

One of the panels for the electric heating, here against the side of the toilet.

 

 

The living room with the kitchen. The table can be lowered so that it becomes a double bed with the sofa.

 

The insides of the toilet, the wardrobe and the shower room.

 

Constant

 

 

[druxey]

I love to see models of unusual subjects! This is an interesting one.

[Jim Lad]

What a fascinating project! That's a truly different subject to model.

 

John

[tartane]

 

 

 

5

The side walls with the windows each consist of three layers of plywood. The outer one is 1 mm thick, the middle one is 1.5 mm, and the inner one is 0.8 mm. In the middle layer, sheets of perspex of 1.5 mm are included.  The outer and inner layers have been painted/varnished in advance and temporarily attached to each other.

 On the blue background a layer of tape on which the windows were drawn, which were then sawn out.

 

The frames of the windows were taped and painted.

In the middle layer, slightly larger openings were cut out in which sheets of perspex. After gluing those three layers together, the windows became visible as glass and the side panels were ready to be mounted.

 

 The front and rear were then painted and the two bulkheads of the cabin were made and finished. In both partitions there were doors with perspex as glass

 

 After that, the side panels could be installed. Inside the cabin, everything was completed.

 

 

 

Fenders were installed at the bow and stern, especially necessary so as not to damage anything in the narrow locks during the locks. In the model, they are pieces of cork that have been cut into the right shape. They are attached with chains and rods.

 

Constant

 

[tartane]

6

 

The last major part was the roof on the cabin. I made it in two parts. This roof is slightly curved. It consists of three layers of 0.6 mm thick plywood. These were fixed on a bent mould. Between the layers came the wood glue. After drying, that curved shape remained. In the photo, the mold is visible next to the parts of the roof.

 

The short part is fixed and the long part is removable to view the interior. This fixed part is necessary to ensure the stability of the model. In the roof there is a sliding hatch that closes at night, and is open during the day, which is necessary to be able to access the stairs.

 

On the roof of the cabin there is a lifebuoy and a boathook according to regulations. A deck mop is also an indispensable part. Furthermore, the various ventpipes for the toilet, shower and extractor hood of the kitchen are located in the right places.

 

Constant

 

[tartane]

7

 

Zuil met bedieningshandel =                                            Column with service handle.

Uitlaat dieselmotor =                                                         diesel engine exhaust

Bolder =                                                                              Bollard

Vuldop brandstoftank =                                                     Fuel Tank Filler Cap

Luik naar motorcompartiment =                                        hatch to engine compartment

Vuldop watertank =                                                            Water Tank Filler Cap

Schijnwerper voor in tunnels =                                           Floodlight for tunnels

Luik waaronder butaglasflessen =                                      Hatch to butane gas bottles.

On the roof and on the side walls the name of the boat, in this case that of the client's wife.

On the front on the side panels is the mandatory number for all boats. In this case, it's my own date of birth.

 

The model stands on a base of two baffles between which are copper threaded rods in brass tubes.

 

Constant

 

[tartane]

8

 

In the previous post, something went wrong at the end.

 

Here are some more pictures to end this topic

Thanks for all your likes!

 

 

Constant

[DonSangria]

Thank you for sharing! Refreshing to see something different. Good looking model.

[ccoyle]

A very novel subject and well executed!

[yvesvidal]

Beautifully executed!!! What a different subject from what we are used to see.

 

I can see a Venetian Vaporetto in your future 🙂

 

Yves

[rcmdrvr]

Absolutely gorgeous!

[wmherbert]

I second all of the above

[Jim Lad]

A delightful model!

 

John

[druxey]

Glad one can still view the inside of your boat. Well done!

 

By the way, it seems we share a birthday: 29.10 - except I'm a few years older than you. Happy birthday!

[wefalck]

Very nice model indeed and a subject not often, perhaps even for the first time, seen here ...

 

If you happen to be in London, you may want to visit the London Canal Museum: https://www.arbeitskreis-historischer-schiffbau.de/mitglieder/ontour/london-canal-museum/. This page is in German, but you can have it easily translated these days.

Outside the museum, which is an old ice-house, there is a harbour basin (Battlebridge Basin), in which during winter-time dozens of narrow-boats are laid up.

[Mike Collier]

This is quite a good build!