TID steam tug 42″ – PN Thomas drawing enlarged

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Thanks Guys,

Well I was born with a sheet of 1/16″ plywood in my hand, 🙂 I blame my dad for having all the tools and materials to learn to make things !! he also taught me to scale up drawings when I was about 8 years old !!

The weight of the is still going to be a mystery ! once I have sealed the hull I will find how much ballast it will need, watch this space, the ships wheel just arrived from Cornwall model boats, I’m not painting her till after the Southern Model Show on the 30th & 31st August the tug will be on the Cygnets stand on Saturday and the Chantry stand on Sunday 🙂

It’s probably the biggest show of model boat clubs of the year down South here in Kent and with RC flying , cars & trains something for everybody 🙂

Regards Ray

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

The weight of the is still going to be a mystery !

Not necessarily if you have built a a scale model Ray. Extract from my 60th Anniversary Special Issue:

Scale Displacement

This sort of calculation can be even more impressive applied to scale models of larger craft, in smaller scales. A 4ft. long model of a Leander class frigate (2,200 tons displacement) for example, which would be 1/100th scale. True weight for such a model would be 1/100 x 1/100 x 1/100 x 2200 tons or a mere 51b! If it was not, and the hull lines were true scale, it would not float at the same waterline.

I have done a rough calculation on a TID which you might like to check:

Model length 42 inches Original vessel 65 feet approx scale 1:18

Actual displacement  124 tons, Using the formula above model displacement about 47.5lb which seems about right.

Colin

 

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Thanks Colin,

That looks very scientific 🙂 I hope it doesn’t weigh that much !!

Time will tell I suppose, as its a chine hull I’m not expecting to be any where as heavy as my old Cullamix which I think was around 35 lbs all up .

Regards Ray

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

I made an error! The tug length is listed as 65 feet but that is between perpendiculars and the length overall is around 75 feet which makes the scale around 1:21!

So 124 long tons x 2240lb = 277760lb displacement. Divide by 21 three times and it comes out at about 30lb

I have done this on a couple of my boats in the past and the formula has worked surprisingly well.

What is a surprise is the exponential effect of using 1:21 scale instead of 1:18.

Colin

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Thanks Colin,

That’s a relief 🙂  I thought I’d be needing a trailer !!

Regards  Ray

[Anthony ShilsonParticipant @anthonyshilson68083]

I’ve just used Colin’s calculations for my tug project ~ 85lb…. Ouch and I hope my calculations are wrong 🙂 .

[Boiler BriParticipant @boilerbri]

Looking good Ray.

I think my next one is going to be a Remora. Just sketching out the frames.

 

Reagrds

 

Brian

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi Brian,

She is a good looking boat, I have the plan and a new 3.5cc ED diesel engine to go in it 🙂

So many boats on my list , Oh and aeroplanes !!

Regards Ray

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi All,

Back on the TID tug now, I have designed and built the Slipper Launch and a new RC aeroplane in the break !!

She seems massive in comparison, I’ve begun varnishing the hull and superstructure to seal the wood before primer, I have picked up my gas burner and tank from Jerry as it was his first time at the Midlands show 🙂

Regards to all

Ray

[Chris FellowsParticipant @chrisfellows72943]

Did you go to the show yourself Ray? I went on the Thursday as it’s only a few miles from me.

I’m not really into tugs but that is looking very nice and has a steam plant in it.

I did think about building a Remora as they perform really well and was going to modify it as I wanted to do an outboard project. But I’ve ended up building a Lesro Sprite which is quite a rare sight, probably due to its quirky looks. Mine’s increased in size to 30″ from 23″ and modified, though still keeping the Sprite heritage, and for the outboard.

Drawings are nearly complete, having done a non-outboard version for someone else. Picture is a cut and paste I produced.

Chris

 

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi Chris,

Yes it was my friends turn to drive this year up from Maidstone on the Thursday, I enjoyed the show and didn’t buy too much 🙂

We should have made contact before !! maybe next year ?

Regards Ray

[Richard SimpsonModerator @richardsimpson88330]

Maybe next year we should make an effort and try to meet up at the show.  Tug looking very smart Ray, if possible it would be very useful to mount the gas tank on a copper base that is common with the boiler.  That way you will get some residual heat transferring from the boiler to warm up the gas tank and stave off the effects of gas cooling.  This is particularly challenging with smaller refillable tanks.

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Thank’s Richard,

I have a fellow club mate Geoff Dixon who runs several steam warships had mentioned this also, I will search out some copper from the shed 🙂

Good idea about the Midlands Show for next year 🙂

Regards Ray

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi All,

As we are suffering some proper winter at the moment 🙁 some old ongoing projects have resurfaced !!

The painting has begun with the superstructure, then I’ll sort out the engine room 🙂

Jim’s Puffer hasn’t been in the water yet as our lake is frozen !!

Regards  Ray

[Chris FellowsParticipant @chrisfellows72943]

Yes, it’s been good model building weather for the last few days without feeling that I should be doing something else, well someone else thinking that I should! Having said that, a few days ago the washing machine started making ominous noises! Was hoping to buy some time by reducing the spin speed which worked but it’s just been sounding like a bag of nails, drat! Trouble is it’s going to be a pig of a job to replace it with space being tight and the tumble drier mounted on the top – going to replace both with a washer drier now.

Your model is looking really good and being run on steam is going to be a real bonus.

Chris

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi Chris,

I also live in dread of my appliances conking out, you have my sympathy !!

I’m in full blown RC Aeroplane building mode at the moment having built 2 airframes since the beginning of December, proving the point that boats take much longer 🙂

I’ve given boat building a good bash for the last 10 years !! variety is the spice of life 🙂

Regards Ray

 

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi All, just keep the build thread going, a couple of snaps of the TID progress , which was going well till I decided to build an Airfix 1/48th Hawker Sea Fury 🙂 a most impressive aeroplane. Regards  Ray

[Tim RoweParticipant @timrowe83142]

Looking very business-like Ray.  Have you run the steam plant?

Tim R

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hello Tim,

Yes I ran the plant last year with a blowlamp up the flue, the pipework needs sorting out as it had a mechanical feed pump and bypass which I’ve taken off, the hand pump will be fine I just need to put an inlet and filter in the bottom of the boat .and a tank for the condensor overflow, The new burner and cut off valve will be installed and sorted out soon lots of advice received about keeping the gas tank warm, and I want to make provision for a whistle 🙂 Amazing what a drop of paint does She almost looks like a tug now 🙂 I’m going to call it Brent after the one in Maldon which Bernice and I see quite often on our Essex days out 🙂

Not going for the colours on Brent currently, as a mix of the one at Chatham which I have better photos of.

Regards  Ray

[Richard SimpsonModerator @richardsimpson88330]

Looking smart Ray.  Time to start throwing all that detail at it!

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi All,

As the Chantry MBC at Bluewater is having a steam day on Bank Holiday Monday, a first I think in recent years I thought the TID needed to be finished to a workable state 🙂 which I hope I have achieved , the burner is in place and gives me 20 lbs per square inch pressure the gas cut off valve is fitted. The boiler flue was in the wrong place for the chimney so a couple of copper bends silver soldered together I hope does the trick, the boat needed 16 lbs of ballast to get down to her marks this is lighter than Cullamix I built a few years ago , but as the TID has chine construction it’s slightly lighter, on the water picture to follow I hope 🙂

Regards  Ray

[Richard SimpsonModerator @richardsimpson88330]

Good luck with her on the water Ray, looking forward to the pictures.

For future development ideas I would definitely recommend an attenuator valve.  Forest Classics do a very good one, designed by Martin Baylis, which I have just done a review of for the magazine.  It works superbly and looks after boiler pressure perfectly.

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi Richard,

I have never heard of one of those, but I look forward to your article 🙂

To be honest the burner is not producing enough heat to get over 20 psi I may have to make something else 🙁

Time will tell 🙂 I guess your at Wickstead this weekend have a good one

Regards  Ray

 

 

 

 

[Richard SimpsonModerator @richardsimpson88330]

It is scheduled to be in the August ’26 edition.

[Author]

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