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[steve mahoney]

I might have mentioned Russell Ward’s excellent website www.tugboats.co.nz in previous posts and how every time I go there I find another interesting tug to build as a model.

Well now he's started sending me photos of tugs that he knows I won’t be able to resist. He has even come round to my house with a pocket full of photos trying to entice me with likely looking contenders.

It worked. This is the 1880 steam river tug Tui (first photo).

The river tugs of this era are all gone now and there aren’t even many records of them, only a few photos, but in their day they were a vital part of opening up the country for settlement.

NZ is a very mountainous country and in 1880 travel between towns was often easier by coastal boat than overland. The road linking the biggest city with the capital 600k south wasn’t even completed until the 1920s. Most of the country was too mountainous for rail or covered in dense forest.

There are thousands of rivers, and plenty of big ones – almost all of our power comes from hydro, however not many of the rivers are navigable.

The South Island has more mountains than Switzerland so the river courses are short, steep and swift. The biggest southern river (the Clutha) is huge, even at its source at Lake Wanaka it’s 30m wide and 4m deep and has a 7kmh current from go to woah. No steamboat could get up that. The rest all have rapids, falls and gorges.

Even the large steamers on the big Otago lakes couldn’t steam upriver to get to the lakes. They were built on the coast and hauled up to the lakes and assembled there. The Earnslaw went in pieces by rail to Kingston for assembly, and the Tawera was pulled from the Mossburn railhead 50km to Lake Te Anau by bullock teams. Now that was a trip! Not quite as epic as HMS Mimi and Toutou’s African overland haul but pretty impressive none the less. The photo of the Earnslaw is as it is at the moment and the other photo shows the Tawera at its launching.

On the Canterbury Plains the rivers are mostly shallow braided sorts only traversable once the jet boat had been invented in the 1950s by local petrol-head Bill Hamilton.

Same story in the North Island. The largest and longest river (Waikato 425km) now has 8 hydro dams so you can get an idea of the drop over its course.

The only really navigable river is the lower 150km section of the Wanganui and that can be very shallow in the upper reaches. Photo No 5 shows wanganui riverboats around WWI and the next photo shows a boat hauling itself up some upstream rapids in the 1930s.

Consequently there were many small rivermouth/estuary ports all around the country where cargo could be transferred from coastal steamers to lighters and towed inland by small shallow draft tugs as far as they could go before running out of good water – usually only about 5-10km.

The Tui was one of these tugs, working the tidal stretch of the Ngunguru River in the far north of New Zealand. She hauled coal from a mine up country, down to the settlement on the coast, and took supplies back upriver. She worked a short 10k stretch of a small river.

The other tug in the second photo (the Kamo Lady) worked on the same route. Its captain certainly took his job title seriously, judging by his very officious looking uniform. Captain Shoebridge on the Tui is much more chilled.

The Tui was 46ft long by 9ft6 with a 5ft draft. Built in Auckland by Logans, who later became famous for their racing yatchs. Logans pioneered double and triple skinned planking and their hulls were extremely light and strong. Although the yard only lasted until 1910 it became the most significant boat building firm in the Southern hemisphere during that time, dominating the NZ market and exporting to Australia, South Africa and the Pacific. Tui is long gone but many of their classic yatchs are still around, and highly sought after (last 2 photos).

Russell tells me that some of these river tugs had a tunnel stern to keep the prop wet and draft low. That wasn’t a Logan thing so I’m thinking that the Tui was a conventional hull, single screw.

So, back to the project. Only one photo of the Tui exists but it’s a good one and I’m sure I can figure out most of what I need to know from it. Should be fun.

I’ve already got a thread going for my build of the 1971 harbour tug Maui. That will be  a long and complicated build so I’ll try and sneak this little project in at the same time. After a long lay-off from model making I’m hoping that quick result with this little project will fire me up for the more difficult Maui build. Flawed logic?! I know – but that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

It’s tiny and not very complex so I should be able to knock it out without too many problems. As usual: display only, 1/50.

[steve mahoney]

First things first.

There are plenty of references for Victorian steam launches from the 1880s, even a few hull lines available online. I found something not too dissimilar and amended them to fit the dimensions of the Tui. It's got a very fine stern and looks like it has a nicely rounded hull, with a single screw.

Hull frames and keel were laser-cut from 3.6mm ply and slotted together very quickly and easily. You can see how small it is compared to a standard No. 3 scalpel. There isn't a lot to the stern section.

The original Tui was made from Kauri, a native semi hardwood that was used extensively for shipbuilding. Kauri has no knots, rings or blemishes and is a light honey colour. The trees were ancient and grew to immense size, many were 6m diameter and each tree yielded enough timber to make 5 houses complete with weatherboards, sarking walls, roof shingles, joinery, floorboards and furniture. It was all pretty much milled out by WWI. It'll be another 800 years before any get to those sizes again.

The deck stain is very close in colour to Kauri.

I had the forethought to make a construction stand for this one. Totally out of character. Had to – none of the old stands from previous builds in my box of tricks was small enough.

[steve mahoney]

I had planned to make this plank on frame like my previous builds but while I was packing out the stern and bow sections I had a change of mind and decided to do the whole thing and make this one as I would do if I was making a plug for a mould. I've always admired the old school 'bread & butter' method of construction but have never tried it. This is a similar process – fair it down and then seal it with resin, prime, fill, sand, rinse and repeat.

It looks a bit rough at the moment. Nothing some 240 grit won't sort out.

[steve mahoney]

And here it is with the resin applied and a first fill and sand. Still a few little bumps and blemishes but it turned out better than expected. Early days.

[steve mahoney]

A little more progress...

The laser cut rudder heel didn't last long – snapped off even before construction began. I really will have to stop being too ambitious with my rudder supports.

I've re-instated it, this time in box section brass that is held in place with brass rod pins. It's not going anywhere now.

Also installed the shaft housing.

Looks a bit rough in the first photos but you know what they say about eggs and omelets. The last few images look a bit better. Now I can start working on the hull finish and work my way up/down to the 1200 grit wet & dry.

[steve mahoney]

In-between times working on the Busby I've managed to get a little time in on the Tui. This boat is tiny and doing things on it doesn't take much time.

The hull has had a another fill, sand and prime session and is starting to look the part. Early days yet.

The bulwark supports have started going in. They are tiny – really at the limits of what can be laser cut from ply – and what I can see! I don't think that they'll offer much structure support, mostly cosmetic.

[davejo90]

wow that really is tiny

[steve mahoney]

I'm jumping between 3 builds at the moment. I had started on the Tui after the Maui but Tui has progressed faster. The hull is starting to take shape.

The bulwarks went in better and easier than anticipated. The little supports are stronger than then they look.

I had planned to use several layers of thin styrene to build up the bulwarks because of the difficulty of sanding down the inboard bulwark side. The layered styrene was too flexible, even with 3 layers of 0.3mm or 2 layers of 0.5mm. In the end I used 0.8mm ply and it has worked out fine. Forms really easily when you use the bias, and is reasonably strong and rigid.

The capping rail is styrene and once the rubbing strip goes on the bulwarks should be pretty durable. Touch plywood.

FYI: a Tui is a native nectar eating song bird. They are bigger than a blackbird, very boisterous and melodious. I have half a dozen who turn up for sugar water every morning in my front yard. Tui is also the brand of local beer around here – I have half a dozen of those in my fridge.

[steve mahoney]

Not a lot to report this time – other than putting on about a kilo over the Christmas break.
 
The hull finish is about where I want it to be. Smooth as a baby's bum. The lines are looking quite good on this one.

The rubbing strip, cap rail, prop shaft and rudder are in place, the rudder comes out so the propellor/shaft can slide in. The propellor is home made from PE. It looks fine.

The latest job was to cut the scuppers out of the bulwarks. These scuppers are tiny, less than 1mm high – the thickness of a folded piece of sandpaper. Delicate work. In real life they'd be fine for a river boat but not so great for the open sea.

Only need to make the bilge pump outlet, a little more wet & dry and it'll be almost ready for some paint...

[steve mahoney]

Not much has happened at my end for the last few months – I've been getting the house ready for sale, clearing out years of accumulated 'treasure/junk', catching up on all of the deferred maintenance, and now that that is all finished I have my leg in plaster for 6 weeks. Wouldn't be so bad but it's my right leg so I can't drive.

It does mean that I can spend a bit more time on some of these builds, and the props that had been delayed in the post by the Covid problems have now all arrived.

The little Tui is the most advanced of the builds so I'll try and finish it off first. Then get back onto the Busby, then the Mahi, and then the Maui – fingers crossed.

The Tui's hull is completed and ready for some paint. The superstructure/cabins have been assembled. The base and bulkheads are ply with styrene trim and brass fittings. The portlights, funnel flange and wheel are PE brass. I especially like the 'starfish' spokes on the wheel as per the original boat.

The last photo is a dry fit to see how it will look. Now for a little filler and some paint.

[tassie48]

Steve whom makes your brass etching they look great do enjoy your builds tassie48

[steve mahoney]

Hi Gregg
I use PPD in Scotland. Great service, excellent quality and quick turnaround.


https://www.ppdltd.com

[steve mahoney]

Had my leg in plaster for the last 6 weeks so getting down to the basement to paint things has been a PITA. I did manage to get the hull painted without breaking my other leg on the stairs. It seemed to take forever to get it right. Working on the bigger boats is a bit easier – everything on this one is tiny – and fiddly.

Still a few little areas to tidy up but happy with the colours so far.

[steve mahoney]

Well, it has been awhile since I last had any progress to report.

The fleet has been in storage for over 2 years and I've finally got a new workshop and a place to store all of the boats.

It has taken awhile to set up the workspace and even though the boats were packed and padded securely some had minor damage from so much house moving. Unfortunately the Tika suffered some severe damage and will require major work.

The Tui had been almost finished when it was packed away and only needed its Nav lights made and attached, and a stand. Usually I make stained wood stands but black works better in the new display cabinet.

So, here it is, all completed. I'm quite happy with how it turned out. It has nice lines and I especially like the wiggly ship's wheel. I tried a new method for the hull construction and it was quick and easy. Also used parts from the spares box so I didn't have to buy too much. Win win all round.

[steve mahoney]

... and a few more.

[radiojoe]

That's a fine looking model Steve, as you said it was a cheap construction method but you would never know that from the finished boat, very nice 


Joe

[Mark T]

I have to agree with Joe here - what a fantastic job 

[steve mahoney]

Thanks Joe and Mark, although I feel like a woodbutcher when I look at your posts Mark.

During the downtime on this build I found a few more photos of the Tui in her heyday.

First photo is Ngunguru now, it's a particularly nice part of the country. The main street is Shoebridge Road. And, yes the water really is that colour – warm too, and good fishing.

The next two photos show the Tui in the bay at the mouth of the Ngunguru River with some coastal scows waiting to load/unload. You can see why small tugs and Scows were ideally suited to shallow waters like this.

Photo 3 also shows the Kamo Lady off to the left towing a couple of scows upstream. Tui is below the first scow.

Photo 4 shows the Tui towing the scow ‘Alert’ out to sea. This photo was taken in 1916 by Capt Shoebridge’s son Alec, and sent as a postcard to his older brother George (junior) who was serving on the Western Front. Looks like it was taken in our summer – so, winter on the Western Front, at the peak of WWI. The photo must have made him feel very homesick. He didn’t make it back. According to NZArmy records he died in towards the end of the war in 1918.

[Tworrs]

It may have been a simple build Steve, but the eventual outcome is very nice indeed.
I hope you are properly settled into your new home, and will be static for a while.
ATB
Garry