Hello
This Tug was built by Larry Bulduc & Jocelyn Taylor from Lewiston Maine.
We built this tug at our kitchen table. It was the first kit we've done
like this. We've done other boats in the past such as fast offshore
electrics, nitro boats and 2 stroke gas boats but never a build like this.
The Amsterdam is an Artesania Latina 1:50 Scale kit, balsa with an ABS
hull.
It was given to us by a friend. He started the ribbing for the hull and
did it wrong so we had to fix that. Also there were parts missing,
including the whole front deck. We made a new one from 1/4" balsa with
polymer resin to harden the soft wood. It made it easier to work with.
We covered the deck with polymer resin and painted it grey. We then used
1/8" thick foam padding to cover the deck on the superstructure.
The kit was put together with CA, 6 minute epoxy and auto goop. Yes...auto
goop. The stuff is great and bonds just about anything. A rubber hose was
used on the edge of the boat for a bumper. The tires were donated by our
17 year old. (1:24 scale cast-off's from his car models).
42 LED mini lights were used. 21 white and 21 multi coloured. Believe it
or not, we got these lights from Shaw's Supermarket in the Christmas
section. (2) 9 volt spot lights were used. These were from a Corsair
retractable landing gear package. They are very bright and do the job
well.
The rope we used is actually 1.8mm wire core candlewick. We had a hard
time finding rope to scale. This worked out well. It came very white so we
soaked them in a cup of black coffee to give them a darker colour. You can
soak them for as long or a little as you want, depending on the colour you
wish to achieve.
The Tug is running a 550 20 turn single motor on a Futaba ESC. The prop is
an Octura 3 blade prop. We are using a standard Futaba s303 Servo but we
will be upgrading to a high torque 1/4 scale servo for steering.
The Amsterdam is great on the water. She steers good but could be better.
She is also not sitting low enough in the water. We have already added 12
lbs. of rolled steel to the very bottom, but we obviously need to add
more.
As soon as the weather gets a little warmer, we will put her in the water
and update you with some photo's.
We still have more to do with the Tug but we wanted to get her out in the
public hoping someone would give us some criticism and tips. Be
gentle...our first tug. :-)
Thank you very much.
Larry Bulduc and Jocelyn Taylor |