Roy,
I was looking for something else and came across these taken photos of my Korts and rudders about 10 - 11 years ago.
Lew

Added:
The rudders are actually about 3/4 inch wider. The boat suffered cavitation in reverse as the Korts/props were too close to the transom. So I added 3/4" to the transom as well as the rudders.

I had a few personal emails to and fro with Joe. He was telling me that he was ill and the cost of medication was quite a problem for him. It is a shame I do not have the emails as they died with a previous computer.
One of the things he said was that going back to his time the propellors were a close fitting type sculptured to fit in the Kort nozzle. Experience was not so good though as the logs rarely seen in time would jam up the props and that put the towboat in dock.
They reverted to a round blade propellor as this would chew up the wood and spit it out.
On the web site is the building of Bootsie B and there is a photo of the props in the nozzles, 5 bladed and round shaped
Also on the model web site there is a diagram of all the lights and where they are.

Cheers
Roy

Hi I have had this video for some years now and I have never seen a better video of a ship prototype before or since.

Going back to operating the rudders. I have had in mind all sorts of options but I think the best, is one I read about.

Connect up the stern rudders as you would normally. Assuming you have both motors on one stick the left hand up/down stick.
Then connect up the forward (nearest the bow) rudders to another servo but operated by the left/right part of the throttle stick.

Note the comment that they operate in the opposite direction!

Here you are entering a new learning curve!!! The mind gets used to the right hand stick operating the rudder without thinking very hard.
However if you use the left hand to operate the forward rudders you will have to re-train your brain. I have tried it and it is difficult!

Good Luck

Roy

That should be "towboatjoe" - link: https://towboatjoe.tripod.com/
(I believe Joe passed on a few years ago but his site is still up as of now).
Lew

https://towboatjoe.tripod.com/

🔗

I just did a search on "towboat" and a few posts came up including yours. First off, I recently saw the real "American Beauty" going through Mississippi Lock 19 on YouTube live streaming. I know several who have built the model including one scratch build using the Dumas drawings.

Don't know if this is too late: As for the rudders, each of the two drives (fixed Kort nozzles) has two barn door rudders aft of the props, one each. Forward of the props there are two flanking rudders per shaft, one on each side. They are fairly close to the shafts but far enough to turn, and they really work well on the model.

I scratch built a towboat (no specific real boat, it is 1/35 scale and about 28 inches long) with flanking rudders (check out my harbor for photos: https://model-boats.com/harbour/110651). Actually they are all connected together to one servo (unlike the real boats).

The photo is superimposed with indicators to show the parts and movements (for a right turn). Note that the flanking rudders turn in the opposite direction of the main rudders. Check out this video to see how well this towboat turns: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSUH3PX5QMY

B.T.W., any updates on this build?

Lew

harbour/110651).

🔗

AKA the Robbe Dusseldorf also available ready built

The kit is by Dumas and gives scale of 7/32 to 1".
37" in length x 12" in width.
Goggle search on line shows build logs for the kit.
Write in Dumas American Beauty build.
Hope this helps a bit.
Rick

Hi Martin that is the video I have on my laptop, excellent!
There are 15 barges in the "Tow" and each can carry 1500 tons so over 20,000 tons of cargo. The length of the barges and the towboat is nearly 1200 feet long, so a bit big as a model.

The Mississippi transport system is the largest maritime set up in USA.
regards
Roy

Hi I think the scale is on the box maybe 1:50. I expect the hull is a bit flexible, do make sure you get it square when putting in the bulkheads.
I think there are just 6 rudders. There are 2 schools of thought:
1, make all 3 rudders work together for each prop.
2, link stern rudders together and link flanking rudders together.

These suggestions came from the late "ToyboatJoe" who was a towboat captain on the Ohio River (I think) and then made models for museums.
He usually had radio in his boats and had tried both.

I hope the wood is better than my (older) kit but the windows were diecut out unless you mean the ones lowdown?
The deck with the funnels on in the kit is angled on a centre line but full size it is a steady curve.
Check all of the cast fittings carefully as half of mine were little more than blobs, since replaced.

Engine power is whatever you need I suggest direct drive but the Dumas motors seem a tad expensive.
Probably looks better with some barges attached.
The hull colour is black by the way.

From videos I have watched the crew live aboard for their shift could be a month at a time and the boats were kept very clean and neat, no clutter. They have a pride in how the towboats look.

good luck with the build
Roy

Hi Bruce,
Here is a little motivation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFCpniWdv4w

Martin555.