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[steve mahoney]

Five house moves in the last 2 years have kept my modelling projects on the back burner. I’ve got a comisssion (1/32, 15m line handling tug Busby) and a personal project (1/50, 17m Voith harbour tug Maui) sitting half-finished in boxes. I’ve now got a new workspace set up but I’ve had so long away from the bench that I’m a bit reluctant to crack straight back into them without a little retraining and practice. So for a warm-up, to shake off any cobwebs, I’ll try making something quick and simple to get my mojo back.

This will be the tiny dozer tug Kapai.

I’ve always wanted to build a PNW logging bronc/dozer tug/boom boat and this as close as we get to having anything like that in New Zealand. It’s tiny (5m), tough and hard working. It’s owned by Total Marine Services in Auckland, who now also own a couple of other tugs I’ve built – the Koraki and Tika.

Total Marine seem to have a tug for every occasion and the Kapai can be trucked around the country to work on either the west or east coast. Mostly moving work bargers around. Looks like it would be a wild ride in any sort of chop. The only thing to hang onto is the wheel.

As usual, this will be 1/50, display only, and a mix of ply, styrene and brass. No PE parts, apart from a prop from the spares box. Hopefully I won't need to buy any material for this little one other than some green paint. I don’t have any plans or GAs for this one but it’s a pretty basic, no-frills design and the few photos I have should be enough to go on.  I’ve worked from worse.

Working on something so small should make the 1/32 Busby seem easy – fingers crossed.

Kapai means ‘all good’, as in: How was the meal? – Kapai! How did you go last night?– Kapai!

[Martin (Admin)]

Great stuff!

A couple of those 'tugs', look like you have to hang on for dear life!

[steve mahoney]

Yeah, it's a wild ride at full noise.

[steve mahoney]

Here we go.

I drew up some lines based on the dimensions and photos that I had. It’s a simple boat, not much to it. The parts were laser cut out of 1mm ply, along with another project. If you’ve followed any of my other builds you’ll know that I regularly snap off any rudder heels. Right about now you’ll be thinking – “he’s asking for it with that rudder heel in 1mm ply”. Especially with that laser etched lower chine line.

And sure enough, it lasted about half an hour! The whole skeg came off. It was a nice clean break so should be easy enough to mend.

Right about now you’ll be thinking – “Does this guy never learn?”

Apparently not.

Apart from that, the hull frames went together very quickly. The deck and bracing makes the carcase quite strong even though it’s only 1mm ply.

The sides and lower hull panels also went on without any drama. Sanded all of the edges and it’s ready for some primer. Not bad for an afternoon’s work. So far so good. Kapai!

[tassie48]

Hi mate looms like yet another great build for some reason you are building smaller lol , I see Dalby for sale on trade me boats looking a bit weathered like the extended wheel house on her , glad to see you finally settled back down and back into building tassie48

[ballastanksian]

Thanks for showing us your models Steve! The logger is coming along nicely, I look forward to seeing more progress now you have got your workspace all set up.


I hope to get some bench space set up as well this year and you chaps are revving my enthusiasm up again.

[steve mahoney]

Thanks Gregg, yeah the wheelhouse looks awful and the whole boat is looking pretty shabby at the moment. What's the name of the black tug/tender also on TradeMe?

And thanks Ballasttanksian, good luck with the new workspace.

A couple of light/diluted coats of primer sealed everything and also highlighted any cracks and flaws. These were filled and then the whole thing had a good sanding with 240 and 400 grit. Fairly quick and easy on a hull this simple and this small.

Then the skeg could be reinstated. The real boat has strengthening panels that run alongside the skeg/keel so they now also help to hold the re-attached skeg/keel in place. All solid and secure now.

The shaft, stern bearing, and skeg reinforcing are styrene. This model is very small and for display only so these areas don’t need to be overly strong.

[steve mahoney]

The ship’s wheel on this one is probably the single most complex item on the boat.

I started by cutting slices from some 15mm and 8mm brass tube. These was filed down to 0.7mm height and notches filed for the spokes. Then they were glued in place onto a printout of the wheel plan. Then the spokes and shaft were soldered in place. 

Sounds easy when you say it quickly but it did take most of an afternoon, and a lot of work with my smallest files. Should look OK with a coat of paint.

The rail for the fenders was quite straightforward as well. I soldered it together, in place, to guarantee that the posts will line up with the holes in the deck.

[steve mahoney]

This build needs a few tyres for fenders and they are smaller, car size tyres rather than the usual truck size tyres that I've used on previous models.

Making tyres is a slow, tedious and messy job so I thought that I'd might as well make a few for some future projects. Adding in a few extras I come to a total of 250 tyres. Mostly 20mm diameter (= truck size tyres), some 15mm (= car size), some 13mm (= small cars), and a few large tractor size tyres.

Each tyre is made up from 3 circles of 1 or 2mm ply (depending on the tyre) with a 0.5mm layer for the outer wall. CA glued together, sanded, undercoated and painted. Quite a lot of work.

A few evenings later they are all glued together and just need a quick sand before painting. What a job!

To break the monotony of tyre making/glueing my fingers together I cracked on with the exhaust stack. The flanges with nuts/bolts are from the PE spares box – leftovers from the Tika build.

I need a couple of tiny vent grills for the console so I'll try cutting some companionway tread down to size. More tiny, fiddly stuff.

[steve mahoney]

Started on the console today and it went together quite easily. All styrene so it's all plain sailing. Really enjoying the instant cementing.

Couldn't resist a dry fit of all of the components. It's getting there, just needs some paint now.

I'm still tossing up whether or not to make the instrument/control panel. When berthed the instruments are protected by a cover and can't be seen. That would be the easy option.

[salimlun]

 

[Umi_Ryuzuki]

Steve,... Excellent work. 

[steve mahoney]

Thanks Salimiun.

And thanks Aimee – this is 1/50 so not anywhere near as fiddly as your 1/96 tug. Very impressive work on the ASD drives. That 3D work is very tempting but I'm a little wary of the steep learning curve.

Back to the build – things are progressing smoothly, the push knees are quite simple and came together quite easily. They are all styrene. The rubber rendering will go on after painting.

That's almost about it for construction – only the rudder to finish off, and then on with some paint.

[steve mahoney]

All of the major items are all finished and the hull is undercoated and ready for some colour.

We have a long weekend starting tomorrow and it should be relatively warm so hopefully I can get some painting done. But first – a session with 400 and 800 wet&dry!

[Tworrs]

Looking good Steve.
Glad that you are settled into your new place.
Garry

[chum444]

 

[steve mahoney]

Thanks Garry. It's good to have a workspace again, and the weather has been very mild so I get to spend a bit of time in there.

Thanks Bill. What's next up for you?

Back to the build. The weather has been great for this time of year so I finally got some paint onto the console.

I've always used Humbrol enamels on my models. They used to be the only thing available when I was a kid. They are very predictable – you know exactly how they'll mix, dry and finish. I've tried Tamiya but didn't enjoy them and what's the point of a acrylic water based enamel that needs a special thinners (expensive) and plenty of it. I now only use their transparent red and green for nav lights and I find them both difficult to work with.

Well, somewhere I heard/read that Humbrol were discontinuing their enamel paints so I panic stockpiled some of the standard colours: matt & satin black and white, and a selection of silver, aluminium & steels, and a few anti-foul reds. I figured that I could experiment with various acrylic brands on a boat by boat basis. I had a good result with AK and Vellajo on the Maro bright greens so I thought I try them again, and some Testors acrylic.

Didn't like the Testors –very 'watery', not very opaque, but that may just have been that particular colour.

I didn't realise that Vallejo make model paints and gaming paints. The model colours airbrush well and dry like an enamel –great. The gaming paints: yeah/no! Don't airbrush smoothly, the second coat intensifies the colour so that it's darker than it should be, and the final dried finish is not very robust. It rubs off at the slightest touch and is not waterproof. Quite frustrating. There was a happy ending though – apparently Humbrol are not deleting their enamels and there is plenty of stock in the country – happy days!

Any way – here's the console on its final colours. The photos I have of the Kapai show the paintwork after a lot of time in the sun – it's much lighter and turquoise looking than the day it was applied (as the newly painted Tika and Koraki). I like the faded colour so it's staying.

[Martin (Admin)]

 
I'd be very happy if I could produce something this neat!   

[steve mahoney]

Thanks Martin, everything looks much better at 72 pixels per inch 

I managed to get a few coats of paint onto the hull and decided to use the green also as the anti-foul colour. It is available here as a real anti-foul paint colour, so, hey! why not? Plus, I'd already bought a bottle of the stuff for the console.

The green acrylic was a real pain in the proverbial. Same issues with drying and opacity as on the console, and it seemed to get everywhere except on the hull. One corner of the work area ended up with a green tinted film of overspray and I walked it all over the place. Cleaning up afterwards took twice as long as usual and the airbrush needed a thorough service after use.

Eventually I got a finish I was happy with but for such a small model it was a lot more work/headache than it should have been. I can live with it. Time is a great healer.

Now to start assembling the various components.

[steve mahoney]

We are definitely in the home straight now although I didn't get much done today as I stayed up quite late last night watching NZ beat Australia at Rugby – again.

Ahh! I could watch that all night.

After the late night I only managed to get the console instrument panel finished. Might be able to get everything finished in a couple of days if I don't watch the game replay too many times. Yahoo!!

[steve mahoney]

Quite cold in the workshop today as a strong southerly is blasting through, so I only stayed long enough to attach the tyre fenders. On the real boat these are tied to the fender rail through an eye attached to the tyres. Sound simple but the combination of a black 0.7mm eye/loop on an almost black tyre, black thread and dodgy eyesight really stretched the job out. I needed my finest tweezers, 2 very bright angle poise lights about 6 inches away and my strongest glasses. At one stage I even tried a large magnifying glass. Blind old bat!

Worked out OK but I definitely need some stronger specs.

[steve mahoney]

One last thing to do – the zinc anodes. 
This area is one of the few parts of this boat that I have a decent reference for.
Easy peasy.

[steve mahoney]

And just like that, it's all finished. I'll add the name when I next get some rubdowns made.
I made this one to brush up my modelling skills after a long layoff. It worked well to get my new workspace organised but I'm too impatient. Still need more practice, and need to not try and rush things or take shortcuts. Confirmed my views on enamel v acrylic. And that I'm supposed to be doing this for fun. It's frustrating but satisfying and that's the main thing. Probably won't make one this tiny again.
It's a unique (in NZ) little tug and the colour worked out well. Looks OK on the shelf.
So, all in all, it turned out OK – kapai! (all good).

[Tworrs]

A lovely little model Steve, you haven't lost any of your skills in your downtime.

[chum444]

   Nice Steve. Looks great on its display stand. Appears to the untrained eye to be a simple build, but the way you approached its construction proved it was anything but that. I’m still blown away by the helm you built.