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[steve mahoney]

My last build was the Waikato River tug: Kaitoa, from the Roose Shipping Company. This build is another Roose boat – the Wainui, a purpose built river tow-boat – probably New Zealand’s one and only. Tow-boats are quite uncommon here, 99.99% of the workboats are fairly traditional tug designs

I gave a bit of history of the Roose Company in the Kaitoa build so I won’t go through it again other than to say that Wainui (a 30ft ‘pusher’ tug) was built in 1962, by Bob Parker and his crew, at the Roose workshops on Tuoro Island, Mercer. Mercer is a tiny town so having its own boatbuilding yard in the 1960s was some achievement.

Evidently Wainui wasn't too successful on the river, because it was sold (with a 60ft barge) after only a few years. She moved up to Auckland as Thompson Towboats first boat, then sold on to Total Marine Services in 1986, who have also ended up with 3 other tugs I have made: Koraki, Tika and Kapai. They always have an eye for a bargain and Brent Shipman (Total’s owner) called the Wainui a ‘good workhorse’ for its 12 years service with him during the 1980-90s. Not sure what happened to her after that.

It certainly is unique looking, for NZ anyway, and has some nice aspects. Roose’s other tugs from around the same time were quite conventional, so I’m not sure where the inspiration for this one came from. It should make a nice wee subject. I’ll be making a 1/50 version, display only, as launched in ‘62.

There aren’t many photos of the Wainui floating around but enough to go on, including several of her on the stocks before launching. The propellor/rudder area will be a bit of guesswork but Roose’s boat were all single screw and fairly basic layout below the water. Should be able to figure something out.

The rest of the boat is fairly simple and shouldn’t present too many problems. No deck equipment – Yahoo! Chain steering – not so yahoo.

The real mystery is the exhaust – no funnel, no exhaust pipes, maybe a hull exhaust but the photos aren’t conclusive. Might have to do a bit more research.

Wainui means ‘big river’.

[Hande]

Respect to youse that build from photographs!
I cannot fathom.... hoping to see pictures from your build.
Assuming you're in NZ, have a good spring-time!

[steve mahoney]

Unfortunately where I live (Wellington), Spring is the worst season. Very windy, wet and colder than the rest of the country. Can't remember exactly why I live here.

[Hande]

oops! One assumption too many - sorry! Sounds like our fall in Finland

[steve mahoney]

So here we go...

Knowing that Wainui was 30ft LOA and using the old Imperial door height (6’6”) as a base for the other dimensions I drew up some lines based on the photos of it on the stocks. 30’ is almost 9m and 6’6” is 2m so at 1/50 it will be 180mm long.

The drawings were then turned into templates for laser cutting – 1.5mm ply for the hull frames and 1mm for the deck and superstructure. Everything fitted into 2 small (200 x 200mm) sheets of ply – and that includes a few spares.

It takes a little figuring out how to make the various pieces so that they will all slot together like a kitset but I actually enjoy that part. Makes everything scaleable too, although I’ve never needed to build a bigger version. One day, maybe.

These images taken on the stocks are very useful for figuring out the hull shape. Not much to it.

[steve mahoney]

The laser cut parts are all done, with no mishaps or missing pieces. Yahoo! So, on with the build...

First step was to assemble the frame for the hull.

This hull is more punt/barge like than my usual subjects but is very simple so didn't present too many problems.

The basic frame for the hull fitted together pretty easily, just needed a few of the slots sanded a little more. I clamped it onto a flat surface while glueing to make sure that everything stayed true. I put in a few 90º braces as well, don’t want anything warping, twisting or out of alignment at this stage. You can never totally fix anything like that and you can always see the faults later on – no matter how tiny. Boats with a keel are a bit easier to assemble at this stage as the keel can be clamped square onto a baseboard and used as a spine.

Once all of the frames were in place and lined up, the deck went on. This was in 2 sections so that I could have a simple camber on the deck. I don’t usually bother but thought I’d give it a go this time. It’s so subtle you’d never know it’s there. Good practice none the less.

With the deck on, the bottom plates went on and were clamped down securely while glued.

[steve mahoney]

The extra plates on the deck are guides for the superstructure. So far, so good.

I put a few Basswood blocks in the 4 corners to form the curved corners.

I did an audit of all the Basswood and Balsa I had stashed around my workspace and there were bits everywhere. I must have had some of it for ages, some of the price tags were 20 years old. Looking at those prices I wish I'd bought a heap more back then. Now it’s all organised and in one place. I don’t think I’ll ever have to buy any again. I’ll have to do the same with the brass, styrene and paints.

Everything up to this stage only took an afternoon’s work, with no cock-ups. Either I’m starting to get the hang of this or it’s my lucky day. I probably should buy a Lotto ticket before I get too carried away.

[steve mahoney]

The next step was pretty easy – attaching the hull sides.

With the deck and bottom plates attached, the frame is quite solid so attaching the hull side was quite easy. Some of the thin 5ply I used on the sides delaminated during handling so it’s had a quick skim of filler. I’m hoping it was an isolated incident.

It’s a strange little boat – more like a motorised pontoon than a tug. With such a flat bottom it would’ve needed a skeg to keep it facing forward while underway. Reminds me of a friend’s old boat, the ‘Rough-Cut Punt’ – good for duck shooting but not much else.

After a coat of primer it’s not looking to bad – although it does look a lot like an old bar of soap. A few more fill and sand sessions to go yet.

[mikelimajuliet]

https://youtu.be/OdaLRgPG6QE

[steve mahoney]

As Confusious says: Couple who goes on camping holiday has naughty intent.

[steve mahoney]

The hull has had an undercoat and a couple of sand and filler sessions.

Now the welding lines (1mm half round styrene) can be added along the chine line and centreline. As on the Kaitoa they are quite pronounced.

Then the moulded fender (5mm half round styrene) and the small kickboard along the sides.  The moulded fender took a little bit of lining up with spacers clamped in place to keep the distances consistent. Same for the kickboard.

The skeg/rudder heel is pinned in place – it’s not going anywhere. The prop for this one looks tiny, although in scale it would be 500mm diameter.

So far, so good. I might have to paint the hull before installing the push knees. Too much complicated masking otherwise.

[steve mahoney]

Now for some colour...

My last build was another Roose boat, the Kaitoa, and that hull was mid green. In black & white photos of other Roose boats, the Opoutia and Wainui have very similarly coloured hulls, much lighter than the mid green of the Kaitoa and Kowhai which were built several years later.

A few days after I finished the Kaitoa model, by pure chance, I found an early 1980s TV commercial that showed the old, battered and faded Opuatia in the background (pics 1 & 2). It was green, but not the green I had imagined, it’s what is known in NZ as Perano Green, after the colour of the Perano whaling boats of the early 20th century. It’s a much paler whiter/greyer green, with a pale, very faded red/tan deck. My lucky day. 

These photos of the Perano whaling boats are scans of old photos from the 1950s and 60s. Old Kodak colour prints like this have often faded in the lighter tones and darkened in the deeper ones. These images show the green as a much more saturated colour than in reality. It should be between the speeding Rorqual (pic 3) colour and the beached whaler colour (pic 4) – almost the colour of the model (pic 5). The recently restored whaler's colour is much too bright (pic 6).

Wainui’s superstructure is also slightly darker than the white of its lifebuoys. So, some sort of off-white for the topsides, and a pale Perano Green for the hull.

My father had a 1964 Ford Falcon in this same green. That was a good old family workhorse for many years, until I wrapped it around a lamp post in the '70s.

[steve mahoney]

These 2 photos are the hull colour I’m happy with – same as in the first Opuatia photo. It’s a slightly lighter version of Perano Green. The grey deck has been since been replaced with rusty tan, as in the second Opuatia photo.

[steve mahoney]

The wheelhouse is all 1mm ply. Went together without any drama. Added the radiused front corners and the roof. Looks a bit like a truck or a train cab – or a dog.

Soap/dog? – I need to check if the lid on the tin of thinners is tightly closed.

[steve mahoney]

Not much else to the superstructure other than an engine-room hatch/cover, and some grab rails. No mast or navigation lights, they were added many years later. None of those at launch time – just the bare minimum. Easy peasy for me.

Just as well as I haven't had much spare time at the bench lately.

[steve mahoney]

OK, there isn’t much detail on the superstructure but it does have a louvre grill, front and centre.

Normally I would make this from PE brass, however as this project 'jumped the queue' and I'm trying to make it on a pretty tight budget – no PE brass this time round.

For the louvre grill I made a simple jig to make the grill spacings regular. Not the most elegant solution – they look pretty clumsy out in the open but look passable when recessed into the vent housing. The slats are 0.2mm styrene with 0.5mm spacers.

The final one used was the 10 slat grill on the right. Same number as the real boat.

The grab rails and life buoy brackets are also now in place. All ready for a final clean up, light sand, and top coat of paint.

Now it's back to the hull for a bit to finish off the deck equipment: samson post, and bollards, etc. The cable steering could be fun. In the meantime I’ll get cracking on the push knees.

The window frames are for later.

[steve mahoney]

Next up are the push knees. Unfortunately I forgot to take some progress shots of their construction – Doh!

The knees came together quite quickly and easily – surprisingly enough. They are basswood with styrene L angle for the bracing.

They are stronger than they look – they’ll need to be. These were painted before attaching to the hull. Still need to add the braces below the waterline.

The bracing isn’t glued to the deck yet, which is just as well as I needed to retouch the deck after I had attached the deck equipment, and then retouch the knees again. Easy to do by sliding a sheet of paper between the repainted deck and the loose bracing bases, and then retouching the green.

The deck details – the hatches and chain steering have all been added.

These are all styrene and the steering cable is 0.3mm brass. All simple things but small and fiddly. Didn’t help when I kept losing things in plain sight, or dropping tiny bits on the floor. Spent a lot of time on the garage floor, on my hands and knees, with the a bright light trying to find them – double Doh! Murder on the knees – my knees.

The chain steering is a bit of an educated guess based on the few photos that I have. There’s no quadrant and the rudder post doesn’t seem to line up with the actual rudder?!

As you can see I repainted the deck a rusty tan colour and the hull is now a touch paler. Not too much but enough to keep me satisfied, and much closer to the photo of the Opuatia. Did I mention that I was a bit fussy about colour?

OK, now for the glazing.