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Live Steam Salvage Tug Kit


Screwy Nick
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  Sean, while not liking the look of the screw, but still wanting access to it for mast adjustment I made a sleeve from a piece of brass tubing.  I thought I was finished with the running lights until I was informed about the real meaning of the 3 fwd mast lamps.  Almost finished with that, stay tuned.  LG

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Mike, thank you for the proper name of the lens, Fresnel, did not know that.
Stalktalk: following the lighting protocol you posted,  I installed 3 switches. 1: is the normal running lights. 2: is for the center fwd mast lamp and 3 operates the lower lamp. I will use a simple slide connector for power rather than locking incase I have to lift off the structure in a hurry. The bulbs are rated at 6V but ill last longer if using less. Three AA batteries will be stored under the rear most hatch where the R/C gear will be. As you can see, even at 4V with the Fresnel lens it projects plenty of light. 
The bare Cu wire will stretch between the masts and is a real antenna for the R/C system. LG

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The rigging is complete accept for the fwd mast to the bow, that will be done after the deck is planked and the associated equip is installed. It will be configured to be easily disconnected when the deck house is lifted for access to the steam running gear. That finished this portion of the build. The Last PIC: The year is 1965, SA Nick Jr learned about ships rigging hands on. That will be all about this for a while, Thank You Life is Good

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  • 2 weeks later...

This is the next complete section. it is the engine cover with hatches. Hatches have port holes with bars. I made a simple little jig to be able to align the bars and make them all the same, I was surprised how well it worked. The hatches are hinged with a bar but with no provisions to keep them centered over the hole. I used washers made from wire insulation sliced thin. In the mean time I installed the Guide wires from the fwd mast to the bow, they are on an open hook so the deck house can still be removed. Also completed the rigging on the lift boom. Still having fun. Thank You

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From a posting on another forum, I learned so much more about the tug I am building. One of several points that i noticed in pics was the lack of detail on the Ballards supplied with the kit.  I bought some #6 brass washers, drilled them close to what I wanted and pressed them on the ends as needed.  I think they look so much better with that tiny little end added  It seems the deeper I go into detail, the more I find. LiG

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 Sean, thank you.  This is the next part of the build: I didn't know what the bar across the beam till advised it is a 'chaffing bar'. Also shown is one of the painted modified Ballards. In one photo you can see what the directions and pieces provided at the fantail represents a Drying Rack. After seeing the pics  posted elsewhere I am totally re-doing that assembly to more represent the real thing.  As I was advised finer detail. LiG

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  • 2 weeks later...

I liked one of the pics posted on another form and tried to emulate as much as possible.  The very plain platform on the fan tail is really supposed to be a drying rack for the lines.  The drying rack was easy and really enhanced the boat.  I used bottle caps that vaguely resemble the shapes under the rack that are part of the rudder control. Found some very nice scale 'line' at a craft store. With more patience than I thought I had, and using a tooth pic for a Marlin Spike, i was able to make eye splices in the white and brown line that will ultimately be faked down on deck and grace the drying deck. Still havin' fun. LiG

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Sean, thank you once more.  Since I have 'eye spliced' 3 more lines and found something that looks like 'spring lay' which is 6 strand.  Going to try and splice that, although I'm not sure they had anything like that when this tug was in service, need to do more research.   LiG

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Sean, neither can I, but I can ASSURE you it will not be in a murky lake or somewhere I can not get to it in a hurry.  One person posted a rectangular box about 9" deep, lined with plastic as something like a kiddy pool.   He was testing the running gear and had a device attached to the box and the fan tail that measured the pulling power of his boat.  Now THAT I'd surely try, but betting won't be ready for something like that till spring.  I still have all the hull work, deck work, R/C installation and to install and balance the running gear in the hull.  Of course that leaves out any detail suggestions others come up with, that I do appreciate and have complied with in the past.  That's how I learned about the lights and the drying deck.  Oh yea almost forgot, ordered a steam valve to connect to the whistle provided in the kit.  The kit operates the whistle only with the throttle fully opened, which also causes the engine to over rev.  So I will make another attachment to the boiler for the valve and the whistle so I can activate it without changing the speed.   Ya can see the smile on my face if you were standing behind me.    Life is Good 

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To Date: this is just a test fit as I still need to finish the hull before making it permanent. Placement of the running gear is correct when the boiler exhaust lines up with the aft stack.Wasn't happy with the stack ending 20mm below and all that wet steam gathering below deck so I extended it. I was glad to find the flat ends milled on the transmission shafts and joining attachments had enough lateral adjustment so I had some 10mm to play with. I am happy with the way it all fits together. LiG

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Sean, thank you for that link, gives me somewhere to start on my research for size etc.  This boat was put in service mid 30's to 40's.  I would go later and have it retired from ocean going work to inland water way  task's say in the 50's.   If I wanted to make it the same scale (of course) i will have to make it 1:40, which may mean I'd also have to build the cars.  As you can see, ya got my mind spinning already.   Any other input will be greatly appreciated.   LIFE IS GOOD

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   Being satisfied with the position of the propulsion gear I adhered wood blocks to the hull so I could put it back in the exact location and use Epoxy to permanently secure.  The temp blocks can be easily removed.  In the future if I want to remove the gear I can just remove the 5 screws holding the platform to the strips that are adhered to the hull.

    Sanded the hull to prepare for painting.  Not knowing how or where to base the water line, I leveled the keel and went from there. The laser level is marking where the lower color will be and marks the water line.  A black is applied above that.  I haven't started to spray, going to wait and see if those that have more experience will advise me.  Thank You

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 Latest:  Yesterday I took it outside so I could use the compressor to blow it off. I did give it a good sanding with 600 paper, got all the gloss off. I was lucky as my hull had no irregularities that needed to be filled. This morning gave it several coats of the below water line red, it is now curing. This is my first attempt at painting anything this big. and as we all know the camera can hide small goofs, but over all I am happy with it so far. the can states Wine, so it is more burgundy than the pic shows. LiG

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The hull was painted indoors. Yesterday morning I brought it out in the day light and saw two areas where there was an over spray run. Using 600 paper brought the high part down and gave the whole hull two more coats. Now it looks good in the sunshine.
My next paint part will be the area above the red, which calls for black but I'm leaning towards grey.  Having never painted two colors on the same surface I don't know how to make a crisp and yet smooth line of the colors. Any suggestions or directions where I can find instructions will be appreciated. LiG

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