A paddle-propelled vessel is just an interesting subject, and these tugs were probably the final development of paddle propulsion. This will be a 'scratch' build, but the hull is from the Kingston Mouldings range, and many of the fittings will be from Mobile Marine Models. The superstructure and other scratch-built parts will be styrene, with the odd piece of brass. I have a windshield washer pump to supply one of the monitors, and plan to fit a sound system.
Having purchased the hull, the first task was to assemble and test the drive train, and at the same time fit some frames to the hull. The main structure of the drive train is 0.080" styrene, with .125" plywood added under the base for stiffness. Each rotating train is double reduction using toothed belts and pulleys, powered by Electronize 365-14 motors. (Belt drive is not as compact as gears, but definitely quieter.) The servo operates a clutch which engages both paddles. The clutch is a gear on a swinging link which is pushed into (or out of) engagement with port and starboard drive trains. A test on the water with just the bare hull was succesful, although probably overpowered on 12V.

The forward main deck is on its way. The formers were shaped to give the correct deck camber and fastened down to a building board. Stringers and stiffeners were added below deck level between formers. A layer of 1/16" thick balsa planks, ¼" wide have been laid diagonally on top, and on top of that is the planking of 2mm thick basswod, 4mm wide. The caulking is simulated by strips of 0.5mm black styrene; the whole glued together using CA glue. The pads for the bollards and the windlass were cut and inserted after planking; the mitre joints were simply marked with pencil. A removable square hatch was cut after planking, and another pad will be inserted into it under the fire monitor stand. A coat of 'natural' wood stain was applied to tone down the whiteness of the basswood and the whole given several coats of acrylic satin varnish.

The forward deck has been removed from the building board and trimmed ready for fixing into the hull. The hull itself has had all the openings cut: anchor recesses, freeing ports, mooring eyes, and holes for paddle box supports and paddle shaft. Generally these were centre-marked with a pin drill, drilled through 3mm dia, and then opened out with a step drill to the final size. A junior hacksaw blade was used to cut between the two holes forming the ends of the freeing ports, and then filed to size. Photos of these vessels (unfortunately checked after drilling) show no sign of the freeing ports; not sure whether that means they weren't fitted or they had close-fitting doors. So I may yet cover them in again.

The forward deck has been glued in. I make it a practice that mechanical and electrical components must be removable without cutting anything, so the aftermost 7 inches of the planked deck were cut off for later fitting as removable pieces. The remaining deck could only be fitted by dropping it in and then pushing forwards into position, a process requiring 3 steps. First the forward-most curving deck edge was coated with a paste-type epoxy, and the mating part of the hull interior was similarly coated. The deck was slid into position and then held at the correct height by bridge pieces and spacers made from scrap material. After that had set a more liquid epoxy was used to seal the straight deck edge on one side to the hull. This step was repeated for the other side. The main supports for the paddle boxes are ¼ inch square brass tube angled to suit and epoxied. One support had to be made with a removable centre section so that the drive mechanism can be fitted and removed. The after deck has been made with camber but not sheer so it has been made from a single piece of styrene. The rudder tube was fitted and leak-tested before glueing the after deck into place.

After more study of the available photos, it seems clear that the freeing ports were never fitted, even though they are shown on both plans I have. Holes in the bulwarks only let water in so if the prototype didn't have them, a scale model definitely should not. So the freeing ports have been filled in again and primed. The sponson decks have been made up and glued into place. These wooden decks are sheets of basswood with the caulking marked using pencil, a technique I learnt from '4clubs'. The bulwark supports have been fitted and those and the after deck primed. The removable portions of the forward decks have been fitted, although this photo shows them removed while painting.

The paddle boxes have almost been completed and painted. The outer faces are temporary construction pieces. Their construction began with the side walls being glued to styrene strips taped to a piece of glass. Trials on the water will determine whether the boxes will be glued in place and the outer faces made removable, or whether the the boxes will be complete units which are fastened in place as a removable whole. The after deck has been painted and the tow bars made from 1/8 by 1/4 brass tube heated and bent around a former.

The chocks along the rubbing strake have been fitted, the hull painted and depth markings applied. A final coat of matt varnish has still to be applied, hence the painting supports are still in place. I've repainted the superstructure colours to a shade I believe is more accurate. Work is now proceeding on the after deck fixtures and fittings, and rudder.

The aft deck is almost complete. The forward towing beam is only trial fitted at present and the bulwark capping won't be done until that is glued in place. The towing beams and supports are brass, as are the guard rails over the capstan motor. The motor is a casting from Mobile Marine Models. The capstan drum is a piece of 0.5" steel tube built up with Tamiya epoxy putty. The bollard tops are buttons; everything else is made from styrene.

Most of the superstructure has been constructed, only the roof of the wheelhouse to be completed. Shaping the funnels proved to be more difficult and time-consuming than expected. The towhooks are from the Aeronaut range; one has been modified and can be released remotely.

Construction is proceeding along 3 'avenues' at present. The larger installed bits have been fitted into the hull: the fire monitor pump, the SLA battery, the drive train, and the towhooks with release servo. Various deck fittings are being constructed and painted. The stand for the fire monitor and radar tower are also in work. Hoping to give it a tryout this month, now that we have liquid water again.

A couple of trial runs went well except for the fact that a small amount of water is getting into the hull. I suspect it was entering through the open ends of the aft sponson support. That's been plugged and we'll see how the next sail goes.
Most wiring has been completed. The picture shows the underside of the deck panel under the fire monitor, and the drives for the radar scanner, and for the fire monitor, the water pump and the supply hose to the monitor.

The model has now been completed, is watertight, and 'in service'. Some additional details will still be added as time permits. These will be things like cable reels, lockers, ropes and gratings, etc.

This model sails well but lists slightly to one side or the other when the paddle wheels start turning. I have been told this was not uncommon on full size paddlers, a phenomenon known as “digging in”. The only improvement I can think of for this is to fit feathering wheels. After waiting many months for the one remaining supplier who lists them to have them available for purchase, I concluded I'd have to make my own. So I prepared artwork for the parts using inkscape, and had PPD in Scotland photo-etch the pieces in 0.9mm thick nickel silver. The only parts not included were the paddles which I planned to make from styrene to save some weight. (The big pointy part is for something else).

The holes in etched parts are not always as accurate as drilled holes, so some holes had to be opened out with a reamer. The pivots for the moving links were to be held together with nuts and bolts, all in stainless steel. The bolts fit through a 4.5mm length of 1/8” brass tube which acts as a bushing. The links were bent slightly to ensure that the bolt heads and nuts cleared other parts. One side wheel was assembled with its associated links and set up temporarily, using styrene fixtures made to suit, to check that it operated as planned.

The two side wheels are held together by 5/32” outside diameter brass spacer tubes. Seven tubes were cut to the same length, one for each paddle pivot location. There is an additional central tube of 7/32” OD to fit over the drive shaft. The assembly was placed on a drill press with a 7/32” size drill through the centre to align the two wheels, and hold them at right angles to the centre shaft/drill. The pair of side wheels were first soldered to three brass spacer tubes. A drill or a piece of steel rod was used as a mandrel to align them. Unfortunately I used the wrong flux and the rods and drill were soldered in, so had to be de-soldered. They were re-soldered using a different flux and aluminum tube to align the wheels. The remaining tubes were soldered in the same way. Some of the solder found its way into the clearance space inside the brass tubes, making the aluminum tubes a tight fit. After they were pulled out this solder was cleaned out with a reamer.
Dave, Stephen says the only way (other than Youtube) to display a video was as I did.

The paddles were cut from 0.050” styrene, the attachment points for the support arms drilled, and the support arms fitted and glued in with epoxy.
The paddles and the side wheel assembly were painted black, with small pieces of masking tape over the pivot holes in the paddle support arms, where the pivot tubes were glued to them, and painted over later. When it came to assembling the parts, the sequence was as follows:
- Fastened one end of the links to the inside face of the master rod (looks like a banjo); using #2-56 UNC bolts with the bolt heads on the outside face, a 4.5mm length of 1/8” brass tube as a bushing, and two #4 washers, and a #2-56 nyloc nut.
- Inserted a #4-40 UNC bolt and washer in the centre of the master rod from the inside, secured it with a 5/32” brass tube bushing, lock washer and nut
- Fastened the outer end of the links to the paddle arms, with the links on the outside of the paddle arms, with the bolt heads on the inside face, otherwise same as inner end of the links.
The next step is to make the support for the pivot of the feathering mechanism.

A beam was needed to support the pivot for the feathering mechanism. it was made to straddle the gap between the two sponson supports. There’s even less information available about this than there was for the feathering mechanism. My second attempt was the best solution and comprised the following parts.
- Two 3/8” lengths of ¼” brass angle; with a clearance hole drilled in the top flange near one end, to suit the small sheet metal screws I had on hand
- A length of 1/8” x ¼” rectangular brass tube to span the gap between the sponsons.
- Approx 2” length of ¼” x 0.030” thick brass strip
- A ½” length of ½” wide by 0.030”thick brass strip
- A 7mm length of 3/16” brass tube as a bushing for the pivot.
The rectangular tube was cut to length to fit across the sponson supports and inside the paddle boxes. The two pieces of ¼” angle were soldered at right angles under the ends of the 1/8” x ¼” tube. The paddle wheel and the beam were placed in position. The paddle wheel was set up while stationary to position the paddles so that one was on bottom dead centre and vertical. The axial position of the pivot point centre was marked on the beam, and the distance below the edge of the beam measured. The top edge of the ½” square strip was intended to be flush with the top of the beam, and a 3/16” hole was drilled through the former at the pivot point centre. This was soldered to the ¼” wide brass strip, and then the 3/16” tube soldered into the hole. The drill press was used to set it at right angles to the strip for soldering. The strip was joggled, to ensure the rotating paddles cleared the support beam, and with the 3/16” tube on the side nearest the hull. The brass strip was clamped to the support beam, with the complete assembly in place, and the pivot position adjusted to give the optimum motion of the mechanism. The brass strip was soldered to the support beam, and then removed and painted.

Screw holes for holding the support beam in position were marked in the sponson supports and drilled.
At this point the assembly could be installed permanently.
- Removed the nut and washer from the centre of the master rod and attached the support beam to it; replaced and tightened the lock washer and nut.
- Slid the wheel onto the shaft until the locating holes for the support beam lined up with the screw holes in the sponson supports and fitted the screws.
- Final check of rotation on the shaft.(see video)
- Tightened the wheel drive collar onto the paddle shaft. This was a 3/16” collar drilled for a short length of 1/16” brass rod, which was soldered in and then bent to fit into one of the drive holes near the centre of the inner side wheel.
The video shows the motion for the starboard wheel. it has been operated under radio control, but even at its lowest speed it goes too fast unloaded to see the motion clearly. All that is required now is some liquid water to try it out and learn whether the objective has been achieved.

I was able to test the new paddle wheels on the water today and they have proved to be the solution to the old wheels digging in. She no longer develops a list when under way. The other advantage is that there's no longer a big wave from the paddles, and it's possible to get up to a realistic maximum speed.
Hope to have some video to post in the near future.

Video of the finished feathering wheels in action can be seen at: .
Roy