The Shipyard ( Dry Dock ): Builds & Questions > Working Vessels

Wanganui River Steam Tug Kumea

(1/12) > >>

steve mahoney:
I started this build over at my usual haunt ]www.modeltugforum.com but sadly, activity has been quite slow there lately so I thought some of you might be interested. I'm still trying to finish the last 1% of the little Hikurangi (only the pudding fenders left to make) and started this as a side project.

It's the steam tug Kumea.

There isn't a great deal of information about the Kumea – just one old photo and not much else. Built in Britain, probably in 1928, she spent time in Auckland, Wanganui on New Zealand's North Island, and Greymouth (down south).

There aren't many navigable rivers in NZ, they are all either to swift, too shallow or don't go inland far enough. The Wangaui is one the few that is navigable for a long way upstream, and has a port a mile or two from the mouth of the river. The entrance to the river can be quite dangerous and the tugs had a busy time. Quite a few ships had a tough time trying to get in there – the Port Bowen being one of the largest to come to grief. The Harbour Board had its own dredge and the entrance was continually being dredged but it didn't prevent regular disasters. The port isn't used much these days but up until the 1960s it was a busy little provincial port.

The only photo shows the Kumea steaming down the Wanganui River in the mid 30s. It is from Russell Ward's site: tugboats.co.nz. I can't visit that site without finding another tug that needs to be built.

So… not much to go on. I can sort out the hull based on typical British tug hulls from that era. From the photo, I'm guessing around 80ft LOA, steel hull, wooden wheelhouse. In fact pretty much everything will be guesswork – even the colours. Wanganui's provincial rugby colours are royal blue and black hoops (the 'butcher boys' win the 2nd division on a regular basis and always turn down promotion) so that's the funnel sorted. The hull is obviously not black and at the moment it's looking very Union Castle lilac, from this angle. Wanganui port is in the suburb of Castlecliff so that's close enough for me.

steve mahoney:
So... the model will be 1/50 and display only. I settled on 80ft (1/50 = 490mm). I have subsequently found out she was 75ft but I had already started by then. I can live with it.

Anyone who has seen any of my previous builds will know the drill by now. I began by adapting a plan of the 1900 steam tug Flying Foam down to the dimensions I figured to be equal to the Kumea. It is a very narrow beam thing – a real racing snake.

The adapted plan was then turned into a vector file for a set of ribs, keel, deck and basic superstructure components to be laser cut. The ribs and keel are 3.6mm Meranti, and the deck and superstructure parts are 1.5mm Birch. The 1.5mm ply in the photo still has the backing paper attached. This holds all of the pieces in place as it is being lasered. It peels off very easily and leaves no residue.

After a quick scrub to remove any laser dust/ash, the pieces slot together very simply and quickly. All glued together with CA and plenty of bracing to keep everything square and straight. Used 2 complete 3mL tubes of glue on the hull so far, so none of the pieces are ever going to move. Luckily the CA glue is very inexpensive.

Drawing up the plans and parts takes about 3-4 evenings, assembling the hull carcase takes only a couple of hours. The bracing might be a bit over the top but I've had hulls warp and twist at this stage so now I over-compensate just to be on the safe side. Plus I'm working in a very sunny room and that doesn't help with any warping.

Before I get stuck into the planking I needed to pack out the bow and stern with some balsa blocks and to fair it. 

The planking is pretty straightforward and shouldn't cause too many problems but the curves in these areas are quite tight and complex, so the more surface area for the planks to be glued onto, the better.

The packing only needs a rough sand – it'll all be covered eventually.

The timbered sections of the deck were stained as well, and they'll be covered in masking tape for the duration so I don't spill any glue or paint onto the stained areas. The decking lines are laser etched into the ply. The stain highlights the etched lines, paint would cover and hide them. Not sure about the colour at the moment – might be a little light.

So far so good. Next step… planking.

tassie48:
Well done mate great to see some one building the boats that no one else tackles following this build as I shipped out of Wanganui many years ago you build some great models keep up the great work tassie48

steve mahoney:
Thanks Gregg. Small world. Not a lot of traffic out of Wanganui these days. A friends' father worked at WHB in the '50s and he 'salvaged' quite a few items from any boats that were being scrapped. He has a piece of timber from the bridge of the Kumea (he thinks) which I'll be using for the stand.

I laid out the first plank and found that one of the frames needed a little remedial work to smooth out the curves. A thin strip of ply to pack it out and then sanded back did the trick. The rest of the frames were sorted out with a light sand to fair them out. Then the first plank could be relaid and both side looked pretty even and symmetrical.

My planking is pretty messy compared to many of the fine examples on the forum. Mine are more swiss cheese than watertight. I tend to see planking as a means to an end, and rely on filling and sanding a little too heavily. I usually use balsa but after seeing some of the fine examples here I might try using Lime/Basswood for my next attempt. Unfortunately it is about 4 times the cost over here so I may need to tidy up my technique.

Anyway, I'll spare you the gory details of my hamfisted planking progress, and hopefully in a few days I'll have something looking more like a hull.

Let the planking begin!

steve mahoney:
Well, that wasn't too painful.

The planking is done (first 3 photos), it's had a coat of resin (next 2), and the first session of primer, filler and sanding (last 2).

Early days yet. I usually need to repeat this process many times. Hopefully I'll have something I'm happy with in another week or so.
Regular viewers will notice that I've managed my usual trick of snapping of the rudder post. Not such a disaster this time as I couldn't get the prop shaft in with it there. Not thought out too well.

Whenever I see a model boat my first instinct is to check out the hull. The detail topside is fine but, for me, the real work is in the hull. Getting rid of any bumps, dips, funny curves or flat spots might take ages but It's something I'm very fussy about. I can spend days on it, I think I had 8 sessions on my last build. Being obsessive is just part of modelling, I guess.

Anyway, it beats gardening.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page