NARROWBOAT by tartane - 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

 

Edited 14 hours ago by ccoyle
corrected log title

[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