A tug by any other name

[Phil Winks 1Participant @philwinks1]

a cheap and cheerfull tug I put together out of boredom

[Phil Winks 1Participant @philwinks1]

Having  finished my copy of Pauls Barrelback launch and not being quite ready to start the “Holmeswood landing” I found my work bench temporarily empty. so I thought I’d have a bash at my interpretation of the club tug thats the standard for our scale steering competitions. The design is a simple slab sided flat bottomed hull with the usuall shallower section at the stern to allow the prop to be within the total draft and the prop shaft angle to be minimul.

My choice of materials was governed by my “scrap” pile and lurking at the bottom of said pile was some 10mm white UPVC facia board. and a small sheet of 2mm UPVC plastic normally used as a door skin. yes I used to fit UPVC windows and I’m a magpie! never through owt away “just in case”

So an evenining on the cad and I was away.

5 days later and this is the result.

The 10 mm board was used to make the formers and the skin is from the 2mm sheet. total length is app 500mm and she draws 50mm with 52 mm freeboard. 1st water trials show the kort nozzle to be mega affective she’ll damm near spin in her own length so should be great for steering competitions. I do need to down grade the speed of the 540 brushed motor its a little to perky maybe a reduction gearbox or maybe reduce the volts to 6 from 7.2.

[Phil Winks 1Participant @philwinks1]

One of the benifits of building with this material is that for non structural joints super glue AKA Cyanoacrylate is the prefered bonding material allowing for a speedy build. all the structural joints on the frame have been made with “Gorilla glue” monstrously strong stuff even if it needs clamping firmly for two hours.

The basic design brief from the club only covers the Hull! the superstructure is left to the individual. As for my superstructure I started with the Idea of making it simple however the builder in me has taken over and now the plans incude a detailed bridge interior and cabin interior including bunks galley rope store and even the heads. However that detail will wait untill I have as much deck detail as needed. At the min that looks like an H towing bollard fore and aft with capstan, mooring bollards and of course a good scale representation of a braided towing line neatly coil stacked on the rear hatch. Finally I need a name and for some reason “The Clog” leaps to mind. So there you have it. As I progress with the detaling I’ll pop the odd photo up.

Edited By Phil Winks 1 on 23/06/2009 21:01:58

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

Hi Phil

It’s a super looking little tug and the UPVC makes a great building material.

 

How about performing a bollard pull test with a spring balance to see what it’s pulling strength is.

 

Paul

 

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

I quite like your purpose built steering class boat ,Phil!………well done

 

Looks a bit like Noah`s Ark!

 

At our club`s steering comps….yawn!…yawn!….yawn!……they seem to use any size of boat and I don`t really know how they cope with the various sizes in the club rules

 

It makes more sense to have a standard model like your example!

 

I`ll mention it to our Vice Commodore Duckie, the next time I see him

 

Bob

[Phil Winks 1Participant @philwinks1]

Thanks chaps for the kindly comments. Not sure I’m old enough to remember Noahs ark Bob  I’ve called it “The Clog” because without its superstructure it reminded me of the Dutch footwear in shape. As for a bollard pull test Paul, nice Idea must get a spring balance from some where. What sort of pulling power Should I expect with a brushed 540 spinning a 40mm prop in a kort nozzle? This looks like another exscuse for She Who Must Be Obeyed to get the camcorder out! I’ll make a Spielberg out of her yet  meanwhile I’m still looking for something to make a substatial towing bollard from. prob some ali tube so I can bolt it securely to the deck, and the painting continues at a steady pace as always.

Oh and the Glazings in. For those interested I always use a PVA based product called Lexan picture glue. its desinged to paste photos etc to the inside of the clear Lexan (plastic) car bodies used in rc scale racing. prior to painting them and dries totally clear so even if you smudge a little on the window when dry its all but invisible.

[Phil Winks 1Participant @philwinks1]

Work progresses on the deck detail

the H bollard, tow line & anti scuff frame are all functionall. the H bollard is securely bolted to a reinforced deck section and will carry the whole 3.175kg weight of the tug.

The cabin doors all open/close with magnetic catches.

Now I think I need some figures on deck and in the bridge, also  a couple of lighters to tow.

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

……and some hand rails too!

 

Bob

[Phil Winks 1Participant @philwinks1]

Oh the list is endless Bob davits, tender, mast, radar, work lights, nav lights they will hopefully all get done as I find materials/come up with a way of reproducing them. this is still very much a work in progress.

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Hello Winkie

 

On second thoughts……………the chimney looks a bit puny?

 

Make it an squat oval shape…..canted back??

 

Bob…….Just a thought old chap!

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

No rust?

[Phil Winks 1Participant @philwinks1]

All taken on board gents the rust is a subject I’m working on Paul but then it is fresh of the slips give it a week or so before the rust shows eh

[Phil Winks 1Participant @philwinks1]

Well chaps I had a little time at the pond this afternoon and so the clog got some proper water under her keel. the performnce was much as expected. manouvreability is pretty good esp in reverse where she literally spins in her own length. top speed is alarmingly quick for a tug and I’m thinking about gearing her down as the initial motor start is a bit sudden making things a little hairy in tight situations. Some adlustments have been made to the balast as two things weren’t quite right. trimmed level she seems to dip the bow at full throttle, so I’ve trimmed it slightly by the stern, and the CoG must’ve been a little high as in a moderately tight turn at half ahead she lists outward quite severely so more ballast below the water line has been added to aid stability. Next outing prob sunday so we’ll see the results then and hopefully a short video.

[Phil Winks 1Participant @philwinks1]

Well you asked for hand rails so you got some

and a forward light + one in the bridge

Not sure why the foredeck bollard looks to be leaning can’t say I noticed it when I took the photo. I’ll have to check that out before she goes sailing on sunday

[Phil Winks 1Participant @philwinks1]

Well “the clog” gave a good account of herself today and performed faultlessly despite a brisk wind and some choppy conditions. Hopefully one of our cub members got a photo of her in action. I had some misgivings when her decks got wet in the swell but not a drop got inside

[Phil Winks 1Participant @philwinks1]

Well I just can’t help my self I’ve finally fattened the funnel, it still needs a little work, and I’ve added davits so now I need to make a lifeboat  will it never end I wonder

[Phil Winks 1Participant @philwinks1]

well I keep plodding on with this one and looking at the post above I’ve added quite a bit so what do you all think

Please ignore the messy workbench and the loose materials on the stern deck are for the mast when I get time

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Hello Phil

 

It looks finished now?……………..It reminds me of that children`s programme on the telly….Where all the tug boats have faces……Like Thomas the Tank Engine………Remember it?

 

Put a happy face on yours and call it Smiley?……………….And have a pair of big eyes that move with the rudder?

 

Just an idea………Bob

[Phil Winks 1Participant @philwinks1]

Not quite finished Bob. as you can see the mast is on as are the nav lights, mast lights will be added when I find some suitable led’s and the rear search light should get an led too. also I,m looking at a revolving radar if I can find a way to utilise an old sub micro servo I have in my bits box. I have a set of plans for our club steering boat that will poss get the face idea, which I love by the way

[Len OchiltreeParticipant @lenochiltree67043]

Hi Phil,

All you need now is a couple of Barges.

 

2 Barges made from Styrene and the middle one from Ply, the JCB is scratchbuilt from memory out of Styrene.

[Phil Winks 1Participant @philwinks1]

Hi Len your so right mate and its been on my to do list since I started this. love your boats by the way very good looking especially the JCB

[Phil Winks 1Participant @philwinks1]

Posted by Bob Abell on 18/08/2009 07:01:29:

Hello Phil

 

It looks finished now?……………..

 

I wonder do you remember saying that Bob?

Well it looks even more finished now mate! Complete with a working radar scanner and a full (ish) compliment of mast, nav and work lights.

 

Her performance is very satisfactory lots of pulling power and pretty stable. the upstand under the super structure works fine after several wettings of the aft deck not a drop of the wet stuff inside and the 4A 6v Pb battery gives about 45 mins of hard pulling and pushing. and strangly when on display with the home wood and barrel back draws a lot of comments (all good) from the general public. what started as a bit of fun to use up some scrap materials has turned out to be so much more.

Edited By Phil Winks 1 on 01/10/2009 17:32:34

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Hello Phil

 

It looks a real busy Bee now!

 

She deserves a better name than the Clog?……….What about Mighty Mouse?

 

Bob

[Phil Winks 1Participant @philwinks1]

I’ve had many ideas for the name and many suggestions too but to be honest I think I’ll be sticking with my 1st choice the base Hull without superstructure so looks like a dutch shoe.

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