Nine

Laying the deck on this build was a little out of the ordinary. I had incorporated a false deck to stiffen everything and minimize the chances of introducing a twist to the hull while the planking went on. Even with the deck and the shear strakes installed I was constantly checking the trueness until there were five or six strakes on both sides. Even then I'd check occasionally just to be sure.
Once the hull was planked and the outside sanded, filled, sanded again, and 'glassed, the false deck had to be cut off so the inside could be tended to.
'Glassing part of the inside and epoxying the rest was un-eventful. Placing the mounts for the electronics, motor, and battery followed.
After the house size was determined, the coaming built and installed, the false deck was cut to fit the coaming and reinstalled.
The waterways were soaked, bent to shape and glued in.
Next the timberheads were placed inside the bulwarks, then all of it was sealed and painted before the deck and cap rails were built and added so the paint cutting in wasn't so tedious.
Rather than waterproof the false deck with epoxy I cut and laid a layer of .018 styrene plastic over the entire area to be planked with decking. My theory (and perhaps flawed,) was/is that if I ever wanted to add, repair, or modify anything on deck the epoxy under the deck would make everything from the deck planks all the way through to the sub-deck one solid piece. The styrene would waterproof the false deck, but would serve as a good barrier should any water ever get under the deck boards.
The decking wasn't nibbed as I told myself this was a working tug, not a yacht. Using poplar for the planks provided a good base for painting which I had intended to do, but after scraping and sanding thought what could go wrong with staining? Intending to paint it anyway, if the stain didn't work nothing was lost.
I had a stash of Rit fabric dye in gray, brown, and black which I used to stain the dock piles on a couple of previous builds which although water based didn't raise the grain to an alarming rate so why not try it here?
A couple of coats of stain allowed to dry, then followed up with a scrubbing with a bronze-wool pad provided (to me anyway,) a plausible work deck color. Adding copious amounts of sealer, and a couple coats of MinWax dead flat coating has provided what I think I'll go with at least for the time being. Should the deck get boring, there's still the paint option.😊

Photo's:

1-4 Laying the deck with poplar wood, onto styrene, with
CA.

5,6, and 7 the deck after the stain, scrubbing with the
bronze wool, and the sealer/finish coats.

Ten

Just a short update this time.
The timberheads are all in, the bulwarks painted, deck laid and sealed, so it's on to the cap rails.
There was no way to bend a flat piece of wood sideways to the curve of the hull, and knowing these would be painted, I opted for a lamination.
To scale, the caps are 2" thick, and a foot wide.
Ripping down miles (?) of 3/16 square poplar and soaking several pieces at a time, I wanted to establish the shape before they were glued together to eliminate any built-in stresses that may cause splits or failed joins later.
Laying waxed paper over the top of the bulwarks and clamping up the wet strips then gluing once dried provided the curved pieces required. This was particularly critical around the radius of the stern.
After the cap rail itself was built, the outside edge and inside fashion piece were added. Sanding everything, sealing and painting then brought it all together.

Photos:

1. The soaker tube is a 5' length of 2" plastic piping with
a cap glued to the bottom. I occasionally use ammonia
added to the water. After the soaking process is
completed I dump the water (66 oz) and leave the pipe
empty so nothing grows in it.

2 & 3. Clamping the wetted pieces to shape until they dry
completely.

4.& 5 Strips waiting to be soaked and a scarf joint.

6. thru 9. Different perspectives of the installation.

10. The finished look that the interior fashion piece
provides. (the vertical strake just under the cap rail
covering the timberhead tops.)

11. Cap rail installed and sanded standing by for paint.

12 & 13. The bow with the breast hook included, and the
stern before the drying rack.

Eleven

Apologies, I seem to have made a hash of this blog by changing the "Subject" line. Originally this thread was "Phantom Tug", then I settled on a name and continued with that which I suspect has the site believing that it's two different blogs and going back to the original name hasn't reconnected the thread.
I've submitted a request to admin to consolidate the two as I'm surely not clever enough to do it.

At any rate, here's another excursion into the unnecessary. I suspect this boat being a harbor tug may have been called on to perform all sorts of tasks even perhaps hauling a garbage scow out to sea from a major city. The scow couldn't be towed on a hawser because control in the harbor would be paramount, so the tug would be made up on the scow's hip. Being that close to the refuse must have been a trial, particularly for the cook. (I'm not suggesting the scow was his/her source of sustenance!! 😊)

At any rate, screens for windows were invented in the middle/late 1800's, so it would be possible that a version could have found it's way shipboard and consequently into the galley windows of this tug. I anticipate a screen door for the galley, but won't outfit the entire boat for the fore-seeable future.

The material for these (keeping in mind this build is 1:18 scale,) is the gossamer - looking ribbon that may be found on a bouquet of flowers, or perhaps a fabric store like JoAnn's here in the US.

Very simple although tedious.... Making a frame out of 1/16" styrene strips that is a very slight interference fit with the window frame will keep the screen in place. (I didn't want to glue in the frame in case the screen got damaged and didn't want to deal with cutting out the frame - the interference provides the friction to hold it in place.)
Making sure the "screen" is dead flat on some waxed paper, a couple of tiny drops of glue are placed on the bottom corners of the inside face of the frame, then the frame laid on the screen being certain the screen weave is vertical and horizontal, not on a bias. Turning the frame and screen over a couple of tiny drops of glue are placed on the top of the frame. The screen wants to be just taught, but no strain. Then the sides glued in a couple of places - this material is so light a continuous bead of glue isn't necessary. After the glue cures the screen is trimmed to exactly the frame's size. I found that painting the frame was problematic because of the thickness of the paint. What did work was using a "Magic Marker" pen. These come in all colors, are easy to use, and in most cases indelible.

The photos:

1 - 3 Gives the idea of how light and thin the material is.

4 & 5 The screen in the window frame.

6. Deciding if it's worth the effort.

Eleven (a)

The window screens seemed to work out and Ms Maud the cook insisted she get a couple of screen doors for her galley as well. Everybody that's ever been to sea knows that second only to the Captain the cook is the most important person in the crew. They are a prime source of morale - or lack of it - they are the source of news both real and rumor (hence the term "Galley News" being a rumor.) They hear things said at the Captain's table and may or may not share it.
Anyway, when Ms Maud "asked" for door screens the request may as well have come from the skipper!
The construction methods are the same as the window screens.

Photos;

1 & 2 Maud showing off her new screen door. (There is
one coming for the starboard side.)

3. What she has to do with passing judgment on the
drying deck, I don't know, but the deck hands seem to
be waiting for the verdict.

Twelve...

The weather has finally broken in the NE US and a lot of time has gone into spring clean up and getting ready for the new season. During the winter there's no incentive to go outside at all, so the tug building can progress at a steady albeit slow pace. (I'm not very fast, but I sure am slow....).
The smoker relocation was done in anticipation of this season's running.

There were a couple of factors leading up to the new mount for the smoker. One was to eliminate a nuisance, another was to take a little heat out of the "engine room" (although in the space it was in and the volume of fresh air circulating through, heat wasn't a real issue. Potential leakage and visibility around the unit was an issue to me, and this modification helps in that aspect.)

The unit was originally mounted adjacent to the main motor with a pipe extending from the top of the unit towards the centerline at a slight angle then vertical to penetrate the 01 deck and engage the stack. This seemed a little cumbersome. Every time the smoker needed fuel, or the fuel level checked, the deckhouse had to be removed and set aside to accomplish this. Once completed, resetting the house while lining up the stack and doing this all while the tug was waterborne was sometimes a troublesome proposition particularly if there were wakes, a light breeze, or any wave action. (before I hauled the 50 lb boat out of the water just to check the fuel I would turn off the smoker and claim the engineers were burning anthracite coal in harbor mode!)

Another issue was this scenario; you've been operating the boat for a period of time. The boat is on the far side of the pond, and you've been running pretty good - not hard, but perhaps 2/3rds. The smoker manufacturer recommends wiring the unit in parallel to the motor so the ESC controls the smoker in concert with the main motor. You notice there's not much smoke coming from the stack and you're a pretty good run back to the landing. Decision: run hard to shorten the run in a potentially dry condition, or take twice the time idling back hoping to keep the smoker coil at a minimum temperature so it doesn't damage itself or the boat. (This particular unit has no failsafe and in the instructions in all caps "DO NOT RUN DRY!") Well, Cap' what'r'you gonna do?

Here's my solution after actually experiencing the above situation. (I did burn a hole through the bottom of the unit for this boat.)

Figuring the warranty was probably shot anyway,(😀) I cut and glued a metal plate to the underside of the smoker with "JB Weld". I have used this stuff in several situations and it has proven worthy of this sort of job. My dog and I shared a tin of sardines so I could claim the tin for a catch-can since the size was appropriate for the purpose.
I had a channel on my radio open that used an on/off toggle and a rheostat so incorporated a Pico switch and stand alone ESC to operate the smoke unit.
With this system I can lay at the dock with just a wisp of smoke and no turns on or increase the smoke to full capacity at will. If the boat is a long ways off and the smoke is declining, turn off the unit altogether and bring the boat back, or turn it off, carry on and service the unit later.

The mounting of the unit to the underside of the 01 deck has proved advantageous in that the deckhouse can remain in place, fuel can be checked/added easily, and there's plenty of air around the unit. If there is a failure it would be readily apparent and contained. In this build having the few extra ounces relatively high has had no effect whatsoever.

The photos:
1. The burned-out bottom of the unit.

2-6 The fitting fabricated to allow filling and checking the
smoke unit from above the 01 deck eliminating the
need to remove the entire deckhouse.

7-8 The smoke unit and the high-tech catch can.

9 The assembled unit.

10 The unit mounted to the underside of the 01 deck.

11-12 All that shows topside is the fabricated elongated
mounting studs and the fill pipe.

13 Fittings covered and disguised under the engine room
vent house.

Thirteen

Finally! Pilot house windows and the railings on the 01 deck (deckhouse roof).
The corner windows of the pilot house are curved and it took a little experimenting to get them to, then stay in the proper arc. Trying a couple different plastics and methods with several failures at least showed me what wouldn't work. Some had too much memory and would bend fine, but wouldn't stay curved, some was too brittle and resisted bending at all.
I usually use the plastic one finds in a blister pack that is the packaging for something found hanging on a peg in the hardware or big box stores. Sometimes these packs are already the proper shape and only need trimming to become their new purpose. (A small square or rectangle clear plastic bubble containing a half dozen #2 screws can be cut around the edge, painted, and be reincarnated as a galley sink. A small round one can become a radar dome. I am guilty of buying something that I "may use someday" just for the packaging which was perfect for the project at hand.😊)
I digress. What I ended up using was a "jewel case" that started out as the home for a CD or DVD. This plastic is crystal clear, cuts easily by scoring several times and snapping apart, and although a little thick for the scale of the tug, doesn't show once installed in the window frame. It will not bend in a cold state so building a buck with the proper arc was necessary then using a heat gun (hair dryer) gently warming the piece and forming it to the buck. Discovering the right amount of heat was trial and error. Too little and nothing happens, then all of a sudden there's too much and the plastic curls and deforms. Another issue was although the plastic looked clean, the heat brought out any fingerprints or imperfections. Cleaning thoroughly with alcohol was necessary. Fortunately I only needed two!

The stanchions needed to be 55mm tall to have the correct height for the top rail. When they came in the mail they were in fact 55mm tall, but that included the threaded mounting stud on the bottom. I ended up using some .043 ID tubing cut to length that would allow a 6mm taller stanchion. After cutting the lower section of the stanchion in two and inserting the cut pieces in either end of the tube and soldering, the top rail was the required height to scale. After drilling and tapping all of the holes, the stanchions were screwed into the deck and checked to be certain the railing holes were lined up. All that remained was inserting the railings then painting the installation.

The photos:

1 & 2. The curved corner windows. This vintage tug had
windows that slid down in a track. They were lifted
and secured with a leather strap.

3 - 5 The railing installed and painted

6 The over all state of the build to date.

7 Although only a slight difference, the shorter
stanchion would have made the figures look too
tall for the scale.

Fourteen,

Not exactly any building, but more of a proving what's been built.
Fort Valley went overboard today for the first run of the season. She did well without making a drop of water with all of the systems working and nothing got hot. The only place smoke was let out was through the stack 😊

I use "bean bags" of lead shot (diver's weights) for ballast and have decided I need to build cribs to place them consistently. I know "two red, one blue forward of the battery, and "two red, one blue, and a yellow aft of the shaft log oiler". Even though they don't shift underway, the correct placement is important for trim and list. There's no way this old man is going to ballast the boat on the hard then launch it, so ballasting afloat is mandatory and it's discouraging to get her all set, and head her out with a four degree list only to bring her back and move a yellow bag an inch inboard towards the centerline.

A few of images from today.....

With the good weather and the gardens to tend, bench time has been scarce. Nonetheless, I have been able to get a little time here and there.
All of the changes/additions have been subtle, but I like to think add to the whole.

Images:

1. Checking out the distressed vessel.

2. Engine room ventilators under construction. The "ears"
are grab handles to allow turning the ventilators to best
advantage.

3 & 4. Boarding ladders. One new, one with a little
weather on it.

5. Everyone was complaining the step into the pilot house
was too high so now there's a couple steps.

6 & 7. The emergency steering block and tackle. The tiller
will be mounted on brackets fastened to the after
house bulkhead.

8. Certainly some need for a little house-keeping here,
but the steering tackle, tiller, hawser, heaving line, and
messenger are all visible.

A quick update on the engine room ventilators.

The main tube is just plastic water pipe with the bell being a resin cast from a custom made master.
The screens would have been galvanized and removable.
ToraDog asked me how many birds did I anticipate encountering while out at sea. Picky, picky, picky. 😊
Actually, it wasn't birds that I was concerned with, it was the candy wrappers and empty beer cans from the deckies that became a nuisance.
I have rarely seen these screens, but they seemed like a good idea and another unusual attribute to add to "Fort Valley".
The plenum boxes were made up of scrap material and provide a firm base allowing the vents to rotate which will indeed funnel air to the "engine room" spaces.

Where does the time go?

I've added a few details here and there on Fort Valley. None of them are super sophisticated, just adding what I suspect may be found on a tug of this vintage.

1. The dory is a temporary expedient. There should probably be a Whitehall or peapod type of boat up there, but until one of them happens the dory will do.

2. The oil drum with a hand pump.

3. Aft stbd corner of the deck house roof.

4. Aft port corner of the deckhouse. If davits and another boat go here, the chains will be removed. Also apparent in this photo is the mounting and stay of the aft mast.

5. Some of the deck clutter. A pallet with a few fathoms of wire, and a couple five gallon cans.

6. A shot of the deck downspouts. A lot of the early boats had a raised perimeter around the roof of the deck houses and pilot house to direct rain water so it didn't just wash over the edge and down the bulkheads. There were downspouts fitted to carry the rain water off to the next lower deck and ultimately to the main deck and the scuppers. There will be downspouts fitted aft of the skipper's house, and two places on each side of the main house.

7. The galley stack. Since the smoker is on it's own ESC, I'm contemplating a valving affair to shunt a little smoke to this stack as well. (Too bad I couldn't make it smell like bacon, eggs, and biscuits!😊)