Model Boat Mayhem
The Shipyard ( Dry Dock ): Builds & Questions => Working Vessels => Topic started by: Tiny69 on April 09, 2016, 08:17:10 am
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I have been building this model for the past 3 1/2 years since spending a week on board in September 2012. It's scratch build from drawing I produced on CAD from the original builders plans. The hull is plywood frames skinned with limewood and them plated using cardboard. The bulwarks are brass sheet cut to shape with the main hatch and superstructure constructed from plasticard. The wheelhouse is made on a limewwod frame with limewood planking all round. All the fittings are scratch build from brass and plasticard. It is fitted with a Planet T7 radio and Action Electronics sound system for the engine and various steam whistle sound effects recorded from the actual vessel.
I have included two video links
First Water Test
https://youtu.be/esD-fyLee3s
Launch Day
https://youtu.be/bUWUTUnrXkY
Here is a link to the detail builds of the model
https://sites.google.com/site/tinysmodellingsite/Welcome/vic-32---steam-lighter
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Thats a nice looking Clyde Puffer. I think you've captured it perfectly. :-))
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Brian60. what a superb job you have done on Vic 32 (victory inshore craft) :-))
she looks the part. and sails very nicely in the videos a pleasure to watch.
will have a read of the build later to day
congratulations on a job very well done :-))
regards Mick
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Hi Tiny
Well done there. I have watched the six clips playlist and enjoyed seeing the plating part. Might try that myself having watched you do it :-))
Dave
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Brian60. what a superb job you have done on Vic 32 (victory inshore craft) :-))
she looks the part. and sails very nicely in the videos a pleasure to watch.
will have a read of the build later to day
congratulations on a job very well done :-))
regards Mick
Victualing Inshore Craft
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Tiny69. A really fine model of VIC32. O0
I am pleased to see that, for once, the builder has correctly not described her as a 'puffer'. :-))
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Lovely example of a VIC.
Is the Radar mast magic?
Now you see it Now you don't O0
Ned
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The radar mast became detached whilst I was adjusting the trim.
victualing: to provide with food or other stores.
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Hi Tony,
32 would have bee n one of few that survived.
I suppose the radar was a required retrofit if
carrying passengers (HSE Rules)
I have been aboard but sadly not sailed in her.
Ned.
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Tiny69. A really fine model of VIC32. O0
I am pleased to see that, for once, the builder has correctly not described her as a 'puffer'. :-))
Why not? 'Puffer' is a generic term that encompasses these vessels as well as peacetime builds.
BM
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Tiny69. A really fine model of VIC32. O0
I am pleased to see that, for once, the builder has correctly not described her as a 'puffer'. :-))
tiny69 take a look at the video link even the owner of vic32 says it stands for victory inshore craft https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yePEkFOF_mI&nohtml5=False (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yePEkFOF_mI&nohtml5=False)
regards
mick
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Ned,
The VIC 32 operates as a passenger ship and has a regular summer sailing schedule so must meet various regulations and has been fitted with radar and GPS systems. I have included these in the model hence all the aerials around the wheelhouse.
The vessel is owned by the Puffer Preservation Trust and their website is called Save the Puffer but the name on the board is S.L. VIC 32 which stands for Steam Lighter Victualing Inshore Craft. As BM says the term Puffer is a generic term for this type of vessel but the steam engine design is far from the original systems of the early cargo vessels that gave rise to the description.
Tiny
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The Save the Puffer leaflet state Vitualling Inshore Craft and having listened to the video must disagree that Nick Walker says Victory and actually says Victualling.
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tiny69 i stand corrected my apologies. my 60 year old hearing is not as good now days.
thanks for correcting me
regards
mick
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Why not? 'Puffer' is a generic term that encompasses these vessels as well as peacetime builds.
BM
Aye - it may be generic but it disnae puff - ergo, incorrect. It may sound pedantic, but would you refer to every fishing vessel as a trawler?
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tiny69 i stand corrected my apologies. my 60 year old hearing is not as good now days.
thanks for correcting me
regards
mick
You're welcome Mick - now you've been corrected twice as Tiny missed my post pointing it out. Bob :}
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Aye - it may be generic but it disnae puff - ergo, incorrect. It may sound pedantic, but would you refer to every fishing vessel as a trawler?
If you are going to be pedantic then the term 'Puffer' can only be applied to the original scows fitted with single-cylinder, non-condensing engines that exhausted directly to atmosphere and thus created a puffing sound. As soon as the compounded, condensing engine came into use, the puffing sound was eliminated. Nevertheless, the small coastal craft plying their trade on the West Coast continued to be known as 'Puffers'. VICS were added under this heading when they came into service in the coastal trade. Even when some of them were converted to diesel they were still know as puffers and even those in the last days of the trade that were laid down as motorships were still known as Puffers. It was a specific term that became generic through long usage and familiarity. Consider the analogy of the 'hoover' as a generic term although many vacuum cleaners are made by manufacturers other than Hoover.
If you are to insist that only the original single-cylinder, non-condensing engined craft should be known as Puffers, what would you have all their successors called?
Finally, no I wouldn't call every fishing boat a trawler but then their roles are far more specific while a puffer would carry any cargo and adopt any role that paid the owner.
Barry M
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If you are going to be pedantic then the term 'Puffer' can only be applied to the original scows fitted with single-cylinder, non-condensing engines that exhausted directly to atmosphere and thus created a puffing sound. As soon as the compounded, condensing engine came into use, the puffing sound was eliminated. Nevertheless, the small coastal craft plying their trade on the West Coast continued to be known as 'Puffers'. VICS were added under this heading when they came into service in the coastal trade. Even when some of them were converted to diesel they were still know as puffers and even those in the last days of the trade that were laid down as motorships were still known as Puffers. It was a specific term that became generic through long usage and familiarity. Consider the analogy of the 'hoover' as a generic term although many vacuum cleaners are made by manufacturers other than Hoover.
If you are to insist that only the original single-cylinder, non-condensing engined craft should be known as Puffers, what would you have all their successors called?
Finally, no I wouldn't call every fishing boat a trawler but then their roles are far more specific while a puffer would carry any cargo and adopt any role that paid the owner.
Barry M
I rest my case then! I am pedantic about this, for good reason, but I won't lose any sleep over it.
Google agrees with me on descriptive terms but then continues with your 'generic' point which I personally disagree with as it is a historically and factually incorrect description although I concede it's popular usage.
I would call the successors of the original ships what my father who served many years in them called them - coasters which is what they were. VIC32 is miles from being a true' puffer', no matter what some insist in calling her.
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Then by your definition, nothing can be called a Puffer unless it was powered by a non-condensing engine? Given that these died out by the beginning of the 20th Century at the latest, no craft in the coastal trade thereafter may be called a puffer - which is far from the reality and the accepted description.
Barry M
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Irrespective of what anyone thinks it should be referred to. I suggest they look at the front of the leaflet above. It says VIC 32, we call her the Puffer, and again a little way down it refers a second time to puffer.
If they call it a Puffer than who is anyone on here to say it isn't? (Glad I was the first to call it a puffer on this topic, even if it isn't :embarrassed: :embarrassed: )
The thing is, to the general public, it looks like a puffer, it goes like a puffer, it probably sounds like a puffer. Who are we to dissapoint them?
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Agreed Brian :-))
'Save the Steam Lighter'. would not get many followers methinks.
Ned
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The thing is, to the general public, it looks like a puffer, it goes like a puffer, it probably sounds like a puffer. Who are we to dissapoint them?
...and that's it in a nutshell - very well put Brian. :-))
Regards,
Ray.
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Did anyone see the programme on BBC 4 the other night Scotland's Vital Spark? I have seen it before when it was available on the iplayer last year. Having watched the programme again I got a sense that the term Puffer, although not an accurate description from a technical point of view, became a term of affection towards these little vessels by those that sailed and operated them as well as the people that saw them everyday until their demise in the late 60's. It was interesting to see the paper article with the headline 'Where have all the Puffers gone' after the introduction of the Roll On - Roll Off ferries that allowed cargo to be just loaded onto a lorry and driven on and off. No more loading and unloading of the cargo from the lorry and into the cargo hold. Even when some were converted to diesel they still couldn't compete with the ferries.
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For those that missed the great story on the Vic 32 - Vital Spark , You can watch it here;
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06s5n0f (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06s5n0f)
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It was interesting to see the paper article with the headline 'Where have all the Puffers gone' after the introduction of the Roll On - Roll Off ferries that allowed cargo to be just loaded onto a lorry and driven on and off. No more loading and unloading of the cargo from the lorry and into the cargo hold. Even when some were converted to diesel they still couldn't compete with the ferries.
The ferries also got a Government subsidy whereas the Puffers didn't.
BM
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Super Web site Tiny with lots of details . Thanks for sharing. I met up with VIC 32 at Tarbert 3 or 4 years ago and was impressd then. Then to see a programme about her on the Telly in the week got me thinking about a change from making model aircraft........
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Thanks for the comments about my website, Fubar. After I have finished building a model I also complie a book about the build which I make available as an ebook on the website. I am just in the process of finishing it before I publish it. It will contain the history of the vessel, photographs, descriptions on how the model was constructed and the drawings I used and produced myself. I have already produced two other ebooks on the Moonlight and TID 164 which can be found on the site at the bottom of each page listed below.
Moonlight ebook
https://sites.google.com/site/tinysmodellingsite/Welcome/moonlight
TID 164 ebook
https://sites.google.com/site/tinysmodellingsite/Welcome/tid-164
Regards
Tiny
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Now that the building of VIC 32 is complete I have put together an ebook containing my research, ship photos, drawings and some pictures of the model sailing. It is available to download from the link provided.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3GWA-kKklLOTWg2SkFrVlMwSFE/view?pref=2&pli=1 (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3GWA-kKklLOTWg2SkFrVlMwSFE/view?pref=2&pli=1)
or visit my web page and follow the link at the bottom of the page.
https://sites.google.com/site/tinysmodellingsite/Welcome/vic-32-page-2 (https://sites.google.com/site/tinysmodellingsite/Welcome/vic-32-page-2)
Tiny
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hi Tiny69
what an amazing model and e book you have produced.and thank you for sharing it with us :-))
i have had a quick look but will enjoy sitting down with a glass of larger and have a good read.
the model looks brilliant and full credit to you for the build and research you have done. just wish this had been around when i built my vic 32.
it just may inspire me to build another model.
thanks for sharing mate
best regards
Mick
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very interesting read , thank you tiny for sharing and the download, :-)) :-))
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Thanks Tiny, looking forward to the read.
Are the lines drawings of the hull available for a donation to the Puffer Preservation Trust ?
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Fubar,
The drawing I obtained from the Puffer Preservation Trust shows a side cut through elevation of the vessel and various plan views of the decks but does not have any sections/frame lines. I bought it for £20. I used the Traplet VIC Puffer drawings MAR2405 to give me the hull sections and frames. These are now £18.99.
Tiny
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Thanks Tiny Your book was a good read !
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(http://www.trawlerpictures.net/uploads/gallery/album_417/gallery_14_436_1323698335_10215.jpg)
In Corpach,
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wbeedie,
When was that photo taken? Must have been before 2012 because the white along the lower rubbing strakes has not been added. Also the anti fowling red steps up two thirds along the hull and the mast is cream and not bright yellow. I have noticed that the VIC 32 changes subtly every year.
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taken Feb 2009, didnt realise it was that long ago lol, got a few that day but a few were poor lol
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The photo shows the model on display at a recent Model Ship Society meeting with the hard back copy of the book I recently produced.