Many of these built on many forums. I did not like the plastic hull, so I made a fiberglass one w/poly resin a few years back. Thought I would finish the hull and decking this weekend. The 8oz gas cans are a bit big for this model, although they will fit.I bought a 'small' gas can from local Ohio steam product guy on the net:
http://www.ministeam.com/many good products. Had the can to me in two days. It holds plenty of gas for the Saito large boiler. There is no water pump in this model. Did not feel like building one in so have to refill for each run. Makes it more fun. While one model cools, I can run the other!
Pics explain the build. I used built up balsa for the gunwales inside the fiberglass to add some thickness to the cap rail mounting point. I use a TVR1a bb, great little engine for the money and a fun build.
The deck has a weathered look with some bleaching. Natural stain w/touch of red oak stain. Wiped and then washed in Floquil thinned weather black, and then hard wiped. I like to always add the light stain first so it soaks in and provides a slight barrier to the floquil, making wiping easier, and not letting so much black color into the wood. Used basswood strips for the deck on top of the plywood (airplane ply and very well made )
A note on decking: found that some tugs have the planks following the gunwales, some are straight off the king plank. I tried steaming the basswood to soften it, but the 1/16 planks were still tough to bend to the curve. Honestly, I just wanted to get her done, so I went with the also legitimate straight runs. These are cut at alternating intervals of the total length (stem to stern) divided by 3 and next row divided by 2. So ended up with 3 boards then 2 , then 3 , etc... this looks good with the rear platform deck (removable to get to rudder post).
Another trick: One nice thing about poly fiberglass combo is that you can heat and bend to correct minor flaws. example: the mid hull was bowed out at the gunwales due to the original mold bow. A LITTLE torch heat(goes a long way) and the plastic was soft, so a few pieces of tape across the hull pulled the edges in to where I wanted them, then let cool and came out pretty god. WARNING: polyester is VERY flammable so be very careful when doing this, and do it outside.
Build note: the first pic shows temporary wood cross braces over the hold. these were cut out later after the epoxy hardened the plywood deck to the underlying frame.
