Todays Boating

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Three water jets!!! Hmmm…now there's a thought..

Popped over the pond and the water is quite clear, some very fine strand stuff about but negligible.

In view of this I think I will bring HMS Hasty and Midge out, as a complimentary pair (plus a lander obviously).

Project V was bath tested for 30 mins and the drive run up, with no leaks apparent. Good stuff.

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Weed still absent in boating pond as of this afternoon (sat) seen when passing by on bike.

Will still be boating in the 19th C still. ALSO will be there quite early as have to drop the wife off in Surbiton at 8.15, so will go to pond straight afterwards.

REMINDER….hats and water required for tomorrow morning!!! Likely to be blistering hot again.

Reprofiled ram bow on Valiant after , ahem, ramming jetty week before last. Damage very slight and a bit of dressing on the end followed by some black spray has it sorted. Must pay more attention.

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Lovely at the pond today. Only Peter and myself. Perhaps the others were put off by the (non existent) flowers show traffic??? car park relatively deserted.

Both Hasty and Midge going like rockets. Pond almost crystal clear, no weed problems. Chatted up several nice young mums. Answered a bunch of the usual questions…did you make that…where can I buy one like that..how long did it take to make etc etc Let a chappy have a go with a lander (notes…could do better)

Countered Peters crowd pleasing squirty fishing boat with devastating speed from Midge.

Ho Hum, all in all, the usual at the pond.

Ashley

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

Does Mrs Needham know about these young mums?

As a jazz musician you are already halfway to being a naughty boy.

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

OBVIOUSLY I was joking about the yummy mummies and the Mrs does not need to know about that..

Ashley

[harry smith 1Participant @harrysmith1]

Hi All

What goes on at the pond, stays at the pond !!!

Right Ashley !!!!

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

OO er. spotted some dust in the Titanic box and upon investigation I can see it may be woodworm !!!! Have treated it, but I don't suppose balsa is much to get excited about if you are a beetle wot likes a good chew.

One other boat/box was exhibiting dust (cant remember which one) but I didn't see any holes. I shall have to be vigilant for the little critters…

Have filled the soft areas at the stern of the Titanic and repainted in red oxide, ready for more use.

Tarted up the box on the SansP. Wish I had made an article out of the SansP now, but too late. It turned out much better than I thought and looks really good despite the lack of actual fine detail. I couldn't have submitted it due to the glaring error.

Ashley

[Richard BarnettParticipant @richardbarnett67129]

Who’s been a busy boy? Last time I saw your water pump beastie it was just a Hull with a lead shot lining!

Well done looks fab!

Just got back from me hols so see you soon.

Ricky ye pirate (bottle of rum and a Caribbean tan!)

[NoelParticipant @noel26080]

Hello. I've mentioned in the past I need something for my tugboat to tow, and Mr Geezer suggested one of these Eeezebilt lighter plans some months back on this thread:

Posted by Dodgy Geezer on 25/09/2017 17:58:20:

**LINK**

Thinking of starting on one of these soon. What would it be best to make it from, 4mm ply about right?
When its done thinking of sticking a crane on it in the style of Bertha the crane barge which is often moored at Twickenham.
**LINK**

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Richard. Wrong one! Please keep up with the builds!!! This is a v small thing built earlier this year…..will bring next week.

Noel. Yes 4mm ply ok but will need something thinner for the curved sides really.
Personally if building at the increased size like wot you want, I would not bother with all the fancy joints, just stick the stuff together with PVA and put some reinforcing strips at the corners internally. 1.5mm ply will be required to wrap round the edges, or make a flat sided barge and eliminate the curves and get away with all 4mm material?

Ashley

[Richard BarnettParticipant @richardbarnett67129]

Sorry Ashley, but it’s hard to keep up with your builds! If you were running a shipyard they’d all be on strike by now!

Noel,

I know that barge moored at Twickenham, good subject, lots of potential to fill with interesting fiddly bits.

As for the build, I would cut some frames for the bow and stern which will determine the hull shape and give you something to attach the skin to. 1.5mm sounds right if it’s too springy a good steaming helps. At the end of the day we all have our preferred build techniques.

Ricky ye pirate (yo ho)

[NoelParticipant @noel26080]

Thank you all for suggestions. Will get some 4mm ply. I have some 1mm that might do for the rounded ends.

It will have to be about 70-80cm long in order to look adequately larger than the tug I think.

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Noel. That's not very big…how big is the tug remind me. Needs to be a good bit bigger. Also needs to be heavy, suggest water ballast as there is some water available nearby…

Arr Richard. I be bringin` the NELSON down on Sunday to teach your SOPPY Tirpits a lesson. Right enough.

Also the Toyboata.

Have to leave sharp at approx. 1100 as playing at Runnymede again and need to get the 1212 choo choo.

Yo ho ho. Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Trevor is in the Algarve on his luxury yot at the moment and cannot post…

BUT he has reminded me that his barge has holes in it to allow the interior to fill up with water and be self ballasting (but you have to be a bit careful…..) And self emptying when removed from the pond of course.

Ashley

[NoelParticipant @noel26080]

Oh no, its gonna have to be quite long isn't it?

My tug is 20" long by 6.5" beam. The men on it are 16mm/foot scale railway figures and seem to be about the right size. So its very roughly 1:19 scale.
What do you reckon – a 25m long lighter comes up at 1.3m at 1:19 – Gonna be HUGE!

Might have to draw the line at 1 metre otherwise getting plywood might be a bit of pain? See what Addlestone models have got.

Trevor explained about his false bottom barge which sounds like a good idea otherwise it will need so much ballast it will be unliftable!

Here's Bertha as of this afternoon when I walked down the river:

Not going to be around a few weeks which is a shame as would be fun to see an engagement between Nelson and Tirpitz!

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Noel. Ordinary diy store (Wickes is good) for 4mm ply. The sides can also be 4mm ply with the 1mm stuff you have to do the curves…you are not building a proper scale model here.

1m is long enough. A clever person would arrange it so the tug can be stored INSIDE the barge, at a stroke cutting storage space significantly and easing transport.

Ashley

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

Not so sure about the DiY store plywood myself. I bought some frome Wickes to make the box of my fishery cruiser and found that when painting it the layers delaminated in places giving rise to large 'bubbles' on the top layer.

Colin

[Tim CooperParticipant @timcooper90034]

I have had the same problem with plywood but mine was eliminating as I was cutting it to make a storage box! Several coats of varnish needed to stabilise it.

Tim

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi Noel

Have a look at S L E C birch cross grain plywood about £2.50 for 12"x 60" 1/8th sheets these are their off cuts and it's top quality

Regards Ray

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

You do have to get the nice 3.6 or 4mm ply. Some of it is only good for shuttering, but other bits are finished very well and offer a minimum of splintering and so on when worked.

Noel (as far as I know) wanted to just build something for his tug to tow, so materials of simply adequate quality would be ok.

A forthcoming project to be (possibly) featured has used ordinary ply and I did not have any problems.

Ashley

NB Lovely morning at pond. Nelson and Tirpitz out together, Top Gear Toyboata also out with a pirate ship. Wind was a bit now you see it now you don't and seemingly coming from all quarters. Water crystal clear and absolutely no weed on the pond. Boating pond had at least 5 monster carp in it near the jetty.

[NoelParticipant @noel26080]

That Slec stuff looks great value at 2.50 for a 1500×300 length but if it’s cross grain does that really matter for a flat sided barge? I can put plenty of bracing and longitudinal things in it to stiffen it can’t I?

Missed boats today as at Uxbridge car show but there was lots of tool stalls and i got a nice cutting mat!

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi Noel

For a barge it's plenty strong enough, my 600mm barges have 1/8th base and 1/16" sides fill with coal for ballast.

Regards Ray

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Noel.

Plus postage for the slec wood? two or three bits

Personally I wood buy a bigger sheet so the top bottom and sides can be cut in one bit without having much waste. ALSO a big sheet enables TWO barges to be built for that added wow factor. B&Q new Malden do cutting, trim the ply to the width of the top/bottom so that's ready done and it will be easier to fit in the car, although you do have a big one . Would cross grain limit its usefulness on the longer strips you would be needing for bracing?

I reckon an easy afternoons work on the bandsaw and with this heat to set the pva.

Discussed barges with Richard (arrrr) at the pond and it was thought the Twickenham barge should make an attractive model in its own right as it has a welded on land-crane and all sorts of toot in the hold for detailing/interest.

Ashley

Edited By ashley needham on 16/07/2018 09:25:48

[Byron Rees…(Ron)Participant @byronrees-ron]

I built a similar barge for my friend at 1/24th scale. I found 1.4 ply frames and 1/16th sides and decks was ample. Had a cargo of coal on a lift out base. Underneath were two 6v SVLA batteries on their sides as ballast. Tow lines carried power and the Tid Tug could run all day for two days!! great for shows.

RON R.

[NoelParticipant @noel26080]

Ive ordered three lengths of 300×1525 4mm ply from SLEC at the offcut price of £2.50.
The postage was a bit steep at £12 but I've ordered a permagrit block and some cyano too so makes it worthwhile!

Got loads of other batten and stuff I can glue along the inside corners to stiffen it.

Thank you for all the suggestions.

Noel.

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