Springer tug boat / rescue boat, a simple design

[Tamiyacowboy]

well howdy again, tami is back with a new boat build and again something VERY EASY to build.

if you ever wanted to make a boat but thought it was to complicated it is not. we are going to make a springer tug

ideal for newcomers and master builders. lets see a springer tug boa, the one below is a basic model, but some builders

go to extremes making them look very lifelike to scale. we can build them from balsa or plywood same thing just a different wood.

 

 

so first off we need a shopping list ( this can grow over time but the very basic requirement.)

 

Balsa sheet, our build will use 6.5mm or 1/8 balsa sheet.

i would say atleast four-five sheets ( inc wheelhouse walls also dependant on builders design ideas)

a couple spruce engine bearers to hold out motor mount

1/8 square stringers two lengths

1 sheet 2.5mm balsa ( wheelhouse roof)

WOOD GLUE , we really cannot use superglue  we need wood glue.

sharp craft knife/ jigsaw if using plywood

long ruler and pencil, with tracing paper( mums grease proof cooking paper works a treat to)

Tissue and dope, to seal our model and some paint.

 

for electronics, a cheap 2 chanel rx and tx, a 540 27turn brushed motor, and suitable esc

you can run lipo or nihm packs, cheap servo and cheap rudder kit usually a few quid from hobby store.

remember not all about speed but powerful pushing and towing

 

now look at the image below, this is a hull curve draugh drawing. i am now going to get you to draw the darker outline on your sheet of tracing paper. yes our hull is not curved as much and is flatter, this is because our sheet is only 100mm wide.

 

 

right hand side of image is the front, the left hand side is the back. its a side profile of the hull shape.

mark off a rectangle 18 inches long by 4 inches wide. from the right hand side mark of 20mm draw a line down 

now do it again but this time each line needs to be spaced 23mm between each other 

 

from right hand side mark of these measurements along the lines downwards.

 

33mm,52mm,72mm,89mm,100mm,100mm,100mm,100mm,100mm,100mm,100mm,100mm,97mm,89mm,80mm,72mm,63mm,55mm,50mm

,47mm,45mm

 

now join up those marks you made and you have your hull outline, trace this using your grease proof paper.

keep your draugh as you can use this for other tugs and friends who may wish to make one. 

 

so to recap first line 20mm wide all others 23mm the total length should be very nearly 18 inches long.

your hull depth is 4 inches at deepest point., on those lines you have drawn vertical mark of the measurements above from right to left.

join them up dot to dot style and you should have something like above. 

 

Now mark out two rectangles one 33mm wide by 8 inches long, mark a second out 8 inches long and 45mm wide.

these are the front and rear of your tug. now we have a front panel a rear panel and a side profile curve.

 

thats it for today, next time we shall cut our side walls out and our front and rear panels, then we shall glue them up.

 

toodle pips and tally ho till next time folks

Edited August 28, 2013 by Tamiyacowboy

[Tamiyacowboy]

Well hello again ladys, gentlemen and boys "n" girls.

 

well if you have taken your time and marked of those numbers correct you should have

a nice towboat/ pushboat styled hull, so lets trace it to some wood and cut it out. 

a quick bluepeter and below you see the hull sides and the front plate and back plate.

 

 

 

so next we need our good friend the masking tape, this will let us dry fit our hull parts so we get a perspective

of our model we are building. it also helps for us to make small adjustments if needed. so

a quick bluepeter  and again we have our dry fitted frame.

 

 

here we go, it looks a little big, but thats ok we will be pushing and towing barges and maybe even rescuing

other peoples models, so size is ok here, but it does not look very strong. so let us add some extra slats

and beams, to help make it stronger.

 

 

ok heres what i done, I cut a 8 inch long by 1 inch wide plate to fit the rear ( left side)

i cut a 6.5x6.5mm square batton x2 that are 8 inches long, and i cut two strips 6.5mm wide and 18 inch long

these parts will for a lip your top deck will glue onto/into.

a couple more slats were cut to strengthen the bottom also. above image shows all the parts you will need.

you can add more cross members if you like.

 

when all taped up for a dry fit this is roughly what you are aiming for. , all it needs is gluing together

and the bottom sheeted and the top deck made and fitted.

 

 

 

So how quick was that, hull cut and dry fitted and glued in under a day. 

anyways lets take thought and if your gluing up let it sit for 24hrs. yep we want rock solid glued joints.

then we will move onto sheeting the hull and making some of the topdeck.

 

keep tuning in and toodle pips n tally ho till the next update 

[Tamiyacowboy]

howdy ladys gents boys and girls , so i am back with an update. 

 

those frames spars and front and rear panels should have now set nice and hard with glue so lets release

the clamps tape and stuff to see what we have. 

 

 

 

 

so not bad hey, that wood glue has done its job a good strong and watertight bond,

you will also notice i bulked up my hull braces made them a tiny bit wider and added a couple extra.

i also glued prefitted a rail on the inside of the hull these will be dropped down about 6.5mm,

and will allow our topdeck to sit flush and allow us to waterseal it totally.

 

 

 

 

well here we go the topdeck plates are added, we dry fit them first to make sure they are nice and tight fitting.

we will glue the topdeck into place, then we will cover the hull. it gives us a flat base for us to work on the hull.

when all covered and sealed we will cut a hole into the topdeck so we can get inside.

 

your nearly there now its not far. esc battery servo and drive set you could be humming round the pond.

but it is a tug so WILL require some crafty watersealing, and we want a cabin and some pushing knees.

maybe even a crane, 

 

hmmmmmm crane i do like a crane , you can buy them in model stores online, search for robbie cranes.

while your having a look on the internet at cranes, have a word with google search with the phrase " pushboat designs " " push boat "

have a look at the styles of wheel house, make a mental note or a scribble of the image somewhere you can fall back on.

also have a search on springer subs and springer tugs, see what others have designed.

this is where you and your buddys/friends/son/daughter can go wild with imagination.

a box-van pushtug

a jumbojet pushtug

submarine pushtug 

the choice and design is endless. so have fun and remember to check back for another update soon.

 

well toodle pips and tally ho till next time round

[Tamiyacowboy]

shed load of picture on phone so will have to upload them and add them to a reply.

 

have been somewhat busy dragging out a couple of 7 inch stuffing tubes fitted with

surface piercing 1.5 inch props both counter rotating. 

i am messing with the idea of a couple of Kort tubes and running a dual prop

or i can just use a single prop and rudder system. 

 

the Deck is fully glued down ready to have a big hole cut into it. and i have enough space to carry

2x 6v 4.5AH ,thats 12v at 4.5 ah and should give me around 3-5hrs runtime,

 

now motors, your wanting anything that has a maximum 60 turns and a minimum 27 turns. no lower than 27 turns ok

ESC wise Mtronics do a nice Viper 25amp esc , if you can find an esc that is able to go upto around 20/24volts ,

your covered if you ever get a monster tug. we tend to use 55t lathe motors the integy 55t is popular in crawlers and also pusher tugs

 

Servo wise your going to run standard size with maybe a 1.5 -3kg rate.

i have a six chanel handset so am open to use other chanels to work things like a crane or winch and lighting.

 

wel thats all for the time being, i have the hull plates gluing up. nine and a half inches paneled up and left to glue overnight.

tomorrow a pop to wickes to grab 4 ratchet bar clamps for

[Tamiyacowboy]

Gluing up the hull plates to give that flat style bottom curve a pushboat has.

 

 

 

 

 

 

now yes it is a bit cowboy'ish but all the tools i had to had at that very time was somewhat hit an miss.

clamps just dont do angles that well, and rubber bands can only hold so much so one has to think of other ways

to solve the problem of " how on earth do i make that stick there for a couple hours".

 

anyways that said and done you should now have a hull looking like this.....

 

 

 

Again a little tidy up around the edges with that ladys nail file from the cabin cruiser build

done well. i also gave the bottom a nice sanding over to the lips of the plates are all flush and smooth.

means less work prepping for the epoxy and single glass fabric sheet.

 

hulls done, i have been looking around for a cabin design and came across 

 

 

 

this is a British waterways Canal Push boat, the Irish waterways have a similar designed push boat they use for cutting and clearing weeds.

simple cabin design should be easy to mimic and also three smaller pushing knees than two large monster knees.

 

well thats all for the time being, i have to get back to a few things and the model store for glass / epoxy/ yellow glue

motor mount / new 6v 4.5ah batterys, and a Dumas Ace dingy ( under

Edited September 3, 2013 by Tamiyacowboy

[bs2236]

That looks familiar, September 2006 if i recall, just above Newark town lock.

 

That tug was a prototype of a series that was built the following year.

[Tamiyacowboy]

well here we are back again, but this time with a prototyped crew cabin.

 

i will add photos in the morning to this post. 

 

 

Anyways, lets get some stuff together, 

you will need the 1/4 balsa sheet ( 6.5mm thick) and you will need to cut

it into four equal rectangles. each rectangle will be 4 inches wide and six inches long.

your cabin roof will have a overhang on the front and sides so cut your roof last.

you should now have a single man crew cabin. so cut some windows and make it look

a bit like one.

 

next we can use three 4 inch wide and six inch long panels to form a rear engine hatch. just like

the Small and green british waterways push boat. , use rubber bands to hold your boxes in shape and lay them onto your Deck

make up two or three pusher knees also and see how things sit on the deck. adjust them to your like.

 

so we got a cabin and an engine housing cover. to glaze our windows in our cabin we will do what was done on the Dolphin cabin cruiser

tutorial. and go with a thin clear lexan window from a recycled carton around the house ( so keep an eye out for something suitable )

remember cartons / containers can be used to hold our electronics inside the craft.

 

well toodle pips and tally ho till , and i will upload the images to this post very soon ( after a sleep)

[Tamiyacowboy]

So you should have the rectangle box knocked up and held together with rubber bands,

like before it is a prototype so it will be made smaller/ fatter/rounder etc etc, this all depends on what YOU

want as a cabin/wheelhouse design. i will give you something simple first off. 

 

so before the cabin we have that nice smooth rounded and flat hull.

 

 

 

i went outside to shoot these snaps, you can see how smooth and fine the 2mm balsa sheeting looks on our hull.

we need to front plate the main front and rear end plates with balsa to.

now lets plant the cabin, so that rectangle now when up-ended looks like this 

 

 

 

 

Looking more like a tugboat/fishing boat wheelhouse, as ever, it reminds me of them little red bath toy tugs we had in the 70's

as young ankle snappers. you can see the Knee markings on the front plate of the hull it gives me a ref to where the cabin is planted

and a rough idea on the knee placement. ( this version has two knee's , but large and deep to push a barge/sinking boat).

your second smaller rectangle box will sit behind the main wheel house to make an engine housing and storage area.

 

We will soon have to hack a large hole into the top and start to make formers and stretchers so we have a hatch type opening with side and end walls.

to help keep water out of the hull if the boat is deck swamped. 

 

well there we go ladys and gents, boys and girls. now it is starting to look like a tug/pusher boat.

 

toodle pips and tally ho until the next time, and remember if you never ask you never get to know.

so any problems/ideas or just plain old stuck and need a guiding hand, give us a holler.

[Tamiyacowboy]

been feeling very out of breath this weekend so work has been very slow so much to say i nearly called a meat wagon last night

so i am taking a short break and rest. but heres what i did so far ( not very much but something hehehe) 

 

i have cut a 5 an 1/4 inch x 10 an 1/4 inch deck hatch. its large for the need to be able to get inside. 

next i cut some railing strips. these are around 30mm  high. these four strips will Fit

inside the hatch hole you just cut out. they shall sit proud above the surface s your cabin slips over the top.

these skirts will form a 1 inch high barrier the water has to get over before its into the hull. 

so in theory your boats deck level can be nearly 1 inch below the waterline before water starts to make its way inside.

 

as for your dive system, after asking the tug boat guys around, your best to have the driveline dead horizontal.

if you add a negative angle like  -8 degree you will have a problem with boat wanting to push the bow down and not a good idea.

so drive like straight and level. 

Gap between the propeller and the hull this is upto you but i would not put it to close. leave enough space incase you wish to

go up a couple of prop sizes. i will fit mine so i can use a 40mm prop but also smaller if need be.

use either a prop strut or a keel to hold the shaft as it comes from the hull and keep it nice and solid.

 

i will update a few pictures when i am feeling a little more better, showing what i have done for combing the hatch area.

 

toodle pips and tally ho till the next time around !!

Edited September 8, 2013 by Tamiyacowboy

[Tamiyacowboy]

Over in the technology section in the forum i posted a thread about a home made CNC router.

in the same thread i posted images and infomation on making a table router using a dremel type tool.

here is the link to said thread , you will find a CNC router, a hobbytool router table and a video on how to make a 

jigsaw into a bandsaw/shaping saw : http://www.msuk-forum.co.uk/topic/175642-easy-build-cheap-desktop-cnc-cutterrouter/

 

 

well i did some measuring cutting and sanding to make a keel plate. the prop shaft tube goes through the center of the plate

and into hull. it keep the prop and tube in line and nice and snug. instead of using a long drill it and risking an off center cut.

i fitted a 2mm grinding bur ( diamond coated one, not a cutter bur), set my fence guide and ran the two plate halfs through the

router tool. 

the images below show the tube and prop inside the keel plate and the keel plate router cut.

a very handy tool indeed and i am glad i constructed the router table. it has save lots of hard work and hand drilling.

 

 

Edited September 8, 2013 by Tamiyacowboy

[Tamiyacowboy]

well here we are again and some more work. 

 

this will be quick so what have i done. put a raised combing around the hatch area i cut out.

i also made some pushing knees and little skid pads, and i also make the keel plate things above

shorter and sanded them some more to get a better and closer sealing to the hull.

 

its coming along and am sorry this is short but images speak a thousand words.

 

 

 

 

 

[Tamiyacowboy]

A teaser of whats to come. 

 

a dry fitting of a wheelhouse, i doubt it will be the final product, its more a work in progress.

but i have ideas. i also fitted the pusher knees, they are glued down inplace and braced up.

the knee skids are glued in place to. i need to add a box around the combing so the wheel house sits ontop.

and some way to keep the wheelhouse/decking cover in place. 

The faint black line on the side of the hull is the intended waterline, its how deep the boat will sit in the water

 

so here she is, still yet to be named but i am playing with the name Bits and Bobs ( its made from bits and bobs from the cabin cruiser build )

 

Edited September 10, 2013 by Tamiyacowboy

[Tamiyacowboy]

hi dee ho ladys and gents boys and girls, we are back again. 

 

let us be fair, that cabin although it works is very bland it needs refining.

so what i have done is this.

 

i started out by making two frames, using squared stringers, just as one would making a shed or a fence.

a box with a centre spar........ now the hard part. you need to find something thats bowed a nice bowwing curve.

for me i cheated and used a spitfire front nose section frame. this gave me a nice bow. so i made two sides

then cut a roof a floor and a middle spar. i sandwiched sheets together to get a even curve on all at once,

and the trusty nail file helped smooth and shape everything.

 

 

so two sides + roof/floor and mid section make a bowed cabin.

 

 

some placed spars again make up the door way, noticed i cut out centre plate to give the open cabin area.

 

 

 

 

now to get the front all sheeted over use 2mm balsa sheet and give it a good good steam,

while your sheet is still hot and damp from steam use elastics to gently curve it round and hold in place.

DO NOT GLUE IT, just let it sit and air dry, the balsa may want to spring back a little so we may need a second steaming

if you hear cracking of wood when your setting it to curve, stop and reheat with more steam. 

 

and there we go a better looking cabin with a more styled look. 

 

well toodle pips and tally ho till next time, see you soon and keep them tools at work and the model ideas flowing !!

Edited September 12, 2013 by Tamiyacowboy

[Tamiyacowboy]

back again with more installments. 

 

well i skinned the cabin fully and went about adding some windows.

you may be expecting some numbers to mark of onto the wheelhouse, but alas

this is where you eyeball them yourself. 

 

starting with a side pannel take a pencil and lightly envisage your window in your head.

now outline the window onto the cabin, you want a roughed window shape you like.

so take time and adjust the final outline.  transfer windows onto other side.

and a single window in the rear of the cabin, 

 

 

 

take a look above, see how we have banded the window cutout, here i used 3mm wide and 2mm thick spars.

cut with a 45 degree angle to butter them up nicely. and fixed down with glue.

 

 

 

looking from the rear left of the cabin and the left hand side of cabin wall you can see i have two windows.

the rear pannel window a little higher than the side cabin windows. 

using the same technique you did drawing on windows , mark out a rough door, cut it out and frame like above windows.

 

 

 

so here is my cabin midway through window framing, i have left the bow front window till last, this will need

the window frame glued on first, then the window cut out, being curved and bowed we have stress points that need

the window frame to help keep the curve and bow shape.

 

when finished you should have two windows on each cabin side wall, and a single window on cabins rear wall and a door way

into cabin on the rear cabin wall. 

you should be left with the bow front window frame to make up and glue in place and the front bowed window to be cut out.

 

 

so thats about all for today, i have to work on some mini hinges for the door to open and close, and

work on the bow front window, so you boys, girls, ladys and gents do not have many problems.

and any you stumble into have already been made by myself. 

 

Toodle pips and tally ho till the next update !!

[jordan_bench10]

pal your builds certainly contain some quality havent seen wood be used with such quality to a model before 

[Tamiyacowboy]

Thank you Jordan 

 

i just wanted to show, that cheap balsa could still be used and made into something

enjoyable and to while away the bad weather, cold nights and waiting for spares and repairs.

 

a very cheap power system  fitted gives a fun boat, nothing super quick, but is like a tractor/tank

of the marine world, and something both father and son could do together, even compete against each other.

see who could make the best tugboat.

 

the aim of the build is to inspire other to maybe take up a simple woodie build and enjoy the slow and relaxing pace.

[Tamiyacowboy]

well again i am back this time we have moved on even more. 

 

i finished of the bow front window, cut a frame and mounted it, then cut the centre hole for window.

at the same time i found up an old hinged aircraft wing hinge, its two parts with a small metal pin holding them to swing.

its a shame i could only find one up so will have to trawl for a couple more, but they made perfect to mimic big

heavy cast hinges you find on boats. 

 

well pictures speak a thousand words so here they are and where i am so far. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

well there we go as you can see the tugboat is coming along fine now, and i hope that the same is happening for you also

. on that note its time to say a fairwell so ... 

 

toodle pips and tally ho till the next installment !!!

[Nitroholic]

Bow-fronted wheel-house is loads better than the original 'box' concept. Can see this looking very nice indeed once filled, sealed and painted.

[Cabbagey]

Brilliant work again, good job tam. shows how much you can do with a few sheets of balsa

[beaufontboy]

_{Lovin the build,  may just have to have a go myself ....}  

[Tamiyacowboy]

please please do have a try, i am always loging in to check the forum,

hey us veterans have to keep up with all you younguns and ankle nippers lol. 

 

and any problems throw a mail or shout me in a thread, i will always pop over and

see what the problem is and try making a workaround for you. 

 

as for build basla is a little lightweight and some maybe worried about breaking a model,

so i have had a think and you could make it from half inch thick plywood sides

half inch thick front and rear plates and then skin it with a 1.5mm plywood.

that will give you a very beefy hull to take little hands bashing it about, or the odd

encounter with the pond wall hehehe. use the same old titebond III ( aka yellow wood glue ) and clamps

to set everything hard. you dont really need to add fibreglass.

 

so skipping the galss just finish the hull with Z-poxy finishing resin ( 8oz kit should be fine skim it light)

And Nitro your bang on there the bow front wheelhouse is something us english are more used to seeing, in

tugboats and books from school. it also i think sets of the hull more to follows those front and rear hull angles.

[S.Courtney]

Not really into the whole boat thing, but I admire your wood work. It seems very well done. Saw your status update.

[ibo]

Well done there my friend,lot of thought gone into that boat along with a great build   ya will be going for your skippers ticket soon then wont you ?

[Tamiyacowboy]

i need some ticket, mind you i just spent the whole day downloading a 12gb game client ( starcraft 2)

 

but yeah i would love to get a river pilots licence would be something i could enjoy.

ford flat four small block in a little river cruiser, and a lovely big berkley jet and a large V6 

blown hemi ( for the holeshots lol) i could and would be the meanest pilot on the waters.

 

got the front window fitted to, its not been glued in but i did glue the others, a big mistake.

remember to paint your things first before adding the final finishes lol.

[Tamiyacowboy]

back again with another bank load of images. 

 

added front plate between pusher knees to stop water overflow and deck wash.

just right now adding side rub rails, have painted cabin window frames in white trim.

added the hatch cover and glued it all up.

 

rescued a cheap mini china made multiplyer fishing reel. will be nodoubt

converted into a working winch unit ( still a bit of the old modder tamiyacowboy in me yet)

so that will be a cool part of the finishing build. 

just the odd bits and bobs to finish and a smoke stack exhaust unit to be designed and made.

 

well folks asi say a picture tells a thousand words and inspires so here we go ... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

well there we are folks and a toodle pips and tally ho till the next time !!!!