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[Tug-Kenny RIP]

Ooh er !!        Hadn't noticed that.

Thanks for reminding me.  Keep em coming.   

Ken

[Tug-Kenny RIP]

Another interesting week in the boat yard.  

I've made a curved deck to go on top of the the funnel deck and made and chamfered the cabin for this deck to match.  

I then set about making a funnel. What a shape this one is. It's quite large but it's also a deep oval shape.  I started of with the regulation drain pipe which was heated and squashed. This did not come out very well  (the black one in the picture). It was was all lumpy and out of true,  and also didn't come up to the size required.

I then glued 4 pieces of wood together and when dry, I shaped it with a lot of sanding to the exact size required.  It does look the part but it's very heavy so I thought I would use it as a mould.  I then heated up a sheet of plastic card in a bowl of very hot water and wrapped it around the wooden mould and taped it until it was formed.  (see the white funnel picture). This looked a bit better than the drainpie but it came out oversize and was also not a true curved surface and very flimsy as well.

I am in limbo at what to do so more thought required here methinks. I have a choice of fibre glassing one or drilling out the wooden version to make it lighter.

The top cabin was positioned wrong so this was hacked off and will be re glued next time.

I then got on with covering the cabin frames with shiny new plastic and she's beginning to look more like it now. The bandages come off tomorrow .





  

[tugmad]

Hi  Ken The way that I make my funnels is to make an former ouy of balsa wood ,( the funnel on the Avenger is a definate oval no flat sides at all )  once the former is satisfactory  I use 2x 1/32nd ply sheets cut to size and soak in very hot wate until it becomes soft ,then  wrap both sheets around the former and either tie or tape in place until dry about 24 hours normally,  then remove from the former and carefully mark the vertical centre line on the inside of one of them, then stick the edge of the second one to this centre line (just the edge at this stage,) when dry apply glue to the sides to be stuck and wrap around the former tightly and tape up tight until the glue is dry.

when dry remove the wrapping and take out the former, hey presto a perfectly formed strong light funnel all you have to do now is put a top and bottom in and fit it to the boat.

the two seams from the edges of the ply should be opposit sides.   Geo

[Tug-Kenny RIP]

Brilliant. I do have the thin ply and will have a go.

A bit alarmed about the dimensions I'm following. The drawings I'm following appear to be sketched out by the designers dog.    

Just one question at the moment.  Have I got the recess correct for the rear of the cabin to accept the funnel. ?

ken

[tugmad]

Yes spot on ken.    once again the drawing to follow is the real one from Cochranes  NOT the other one that is only any good for placement of bits and pieces.  but I think the old dog did a fairly good job considering he cant hold a pen        Geo

[farrow]

That Avenger is a real beauty, really like it. Nice to see a Gravesend tug, especially when you think how many where based there in the past.

[tugmad]

Thanks old dodes  here is a link to a bit of video of her under way .       http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHxa9HAfTIQ

[farrow]

Superb model of the Avenger, shame that there is not few more kits of tugs from this area considering the number of and diversity of London river tugs and craft.

[Tug-Kenny RIP]

Finally cut out the windows and doors. Just need to fit the window sills and edges to finish them off.

[Tug-Kenny RIP]

I've made the flying deck surround out of wood and glued it in place. You may notice the stairways, as these have been individually cut and glued into place.


A candidate for water ingress methinks.  I shall enclose underneath with screens to guide the water out of the doors.     

[DickyD]

That looks a lot better Ken, how's the hull getting on ?

[Tug-Kenny RIP]

Thanks Dicky.  I've been putting it off long enough so it will be restarted soon.

The plan is to re sand it and thin out the stiffeners inside to make it a complete craft. I'm holding off on the pug and mould idea for the time being. I shall see how much of the thin plywood is used before cutting up the funnel shape. 

Ken

 

[Tug-Kenny RIP]

Started on the engine house top today.  I have the covers in place and need to drill out the portholes.

The first version had a flat roof so that had to be done again in a curve. There are some extra boxes on the sides to be made. All I have to do is think in 3D.   

ken

[Tug-Kenny RIP]

Today I returned to 'that hull'

Had to cut out all of the insides which is proving a bigger job than I thought. Started off with a hacksaw and then moved on to a portable fret saw and finally down to a circular sander.

Well what a mess I've made of the workshop. The sawdust was so bad that I moved out into the garden, much to the displeasure of my good lady. I had ear defenders and breathing mask and have only done half of it so far. I then made a start on cleaning the hull of bits of plastic so that I can plate it with wood this time.

I was covered in sawdust and had to change clothing before being allowed back into the house.   What fun          (sorry no pictures !!)

[DickyD]

Bloomin eck Ken, death watch beetle or wood worm ?

[Tug-Kenny RIP]

        Shark attack   

ken

[DickyD]

Have you thought about plating with paper and PVA like Tugmad Ken, might be easier.

[boat captain]

I have used brown gummed tape stuck on with pva on my Puffer.  Rivets made with a ponce wheel commonly known as a dress makers wheel and sealed with several coats of varnish, then painted.

Joe

[Tug-Kenny RIP]

I have already bought the ply Dicky, so I'll see how it is to work around the curves. There won't be any more chances, as  'Er indoors'  is getting ruffled. She has promised me a complete kit in a box next time as it saves on messy jobs.

Luckily there are no rivets, Boat Captain, so that simplifies things a bit. The hull is still quite rigid so I have a bit of tolerance on smoothing out the Shark bites.   

Ken

[Tug-Kenny RIP]

I've been quiet on the building reports lately because it's been going so bad. My Wife suggested filling it with earth and displaying it in the garden as a feature.  

Ever hopeful and looking towards the future, I have plodded on with the recovery by severe sanding and shaping of the hull innards.  (it wasn't meant to be sailed, only acting as a sturdy mould !!)

   Disaster  

The bulwarks, which were made of plastic have dissolved with the heat of the sanding disk and fell apart in pieces. I now do not have anything above the deck line.

Not to be put off I shall make some new ones from plywood and fit the deck first  (never been done before)  and then glue the new bulwarks to the top of the deck. That  way I shall have a good surface on both sides.

Picture 1  shows the extra supports glued inside at deck level for good adhesion to the deck when fitted.

Picture 2  shows the smoothed out interior and nice deck line edging

As you will notice, I have fitted the Prop shaft and padded it down with epoxy. I also drilled out the rudder post hole in readiness.

[Tug-Kenny RIP]

I have under coated the cabins and picture 1 shows them placed on the frame for effect.  I then made the curved supports for the deck and lined them up.  Pictures 2 and 3

[Tug-Kenny RIP]

I have roughly cut out the decking from plywood a bit oversize and laid it on for the general effect. It should be fun bending it to fit whilst glueing it down.  A set of giant clamps spring to mind.  Yes I know it's a bit short but hey,  this ship is problems at every turn of clock.  Keeps me alive.   

The cabin has gone up another floor with the water system above now measured out and dry fitted.  We're on our way up 

[Tug-Kenny RIP]

You don't think it's this blokes fault,  do you.     

[Tug-Kenny RIP]

Had a very busy time in the last 6 days. We have fitted the rudder into a lovely 'bushed' tube and made the blade from two pieces of plywood. These were clamped around the down bar which was bent into a circle inside. The insides were epoxied and the whole assembly was clamped overnight

A lower support bar was then fitted and the shaft was lined up and epoxied into place.


 

[Tug-Kenny RIP]

Our thoughts then moved to the servo control of the rudder.

A board was made to fit under the rear hatch to accommodate the servo and fitted centre of the boat.  To this was added some switches and an LED to indicate live battery.  One switch is to be for general on/off whilst the other is to switch on static things like lights to show when the boat is on the stand.