Well my friends, I've gone and done it again.
Through some dumb luck I stumbled upon a reasonably priced discontinued bucket-list kit that I've always had my eyes on and took the plunge. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while! The Dumas Brooklyn Tug was one of their best kits and much to my surprise it came with a very strong set of directions...unusual for Dumas in my humble opinion.

Be that as it may, it's a large (40 inches) and quite a beautiful kit. The version I was lucky enough to find was the final version before Dumas dropped it. The first version (I understand) from way back in the day was meant to be a plank- on-frame build. But it seems Dumas felt it would not sell well, not to mention the wood production problems it would incur. So they engineered a fiberglass hull that became highly prized to builders. My version is the last version with a PVC hull.

The hull is nice, but the two hull molds come with a ton of excess PVC and feel like wobbly bathtub parts coming out of the box. Very worrisome to start, as cutting the mold flanges away was not a simple task, no to mention Bondo and a ton of sanding...yes, with mask on and vacuum at the ready.
Next came a heavy inner fiberglass keel inlay, an addition PVC skeg support. Then an outer long false keel is installed with the stuffing box installation...more Bondo and sanding. Uggh.

Worrisome or not, the instructions have a tongue-and-cheek feel about them as the writer and engineers slip in comments like "no need to worry" and "now don't panic!"
Sheesh!!!!

So, after a couple of days of bitching and worry I managed to get the two halves joined and on the stand.
The next issue is the PVC deck with the basswood supports. The joining of these two deck halves was not the "issue," but the total lack of wood decking aggravated me. I want a more scale appearance, so I have to have a planked deck! As a result of my own needs I lowered the deck supports 1/8th of an inch to accommodate my planking. I did a scale deck test shot to get an idea of what I'm after.

Believe or not, the PVC hull will not be fully "true" until you squeeze the deck halves with the bass cross-members into it.
I know, it's weird.
So I will trace the deck shape onto paper and do my planking as a side project to begin this weekend. Call me crazy, but my instinct is pushing me in that direction. I am going to give it a go.

My wife, Mary is like, "Where are you going to put that one?" "In the water!" I shoot back, "then on the mantle, because it's going to be a like museum scale!" Don't you get it?" I think she's glad I have this hobby...it keeps me from pestering her for other things.
😉 😂

Onwards and upwards and more to follow.

Best -- Guy

Good Morning Gang!
Fate would sequester me in my shop and with a sudden late day rush of adrenaline that carried me into the night I decided to tackle my own wood deck for the tug.

I used a rapid method that had always worked for me and was very much a trial and error experiment when I started building models way back in the day. Over time I found this type of work rewarding, especially when it is even moderately successful. I suspect it is not new to you all.
In the end the dimensions are pretty scale for a 1:32 boat, but the actual result is shall we say, stand-off scale. Sometimes the magic works, sometimes it doesn't. Let's see.

First I traced the deck plan onto some brown paper over foam core and put that on a board and set it aside. I then took a mountain of 1/8" x 1/8" x 36" balsa strip and tightly pinned them onto another piece of foam core. Out came the spray paint and I hit the exposed side of the balsa strips with a flat black. The hope being that it will mimic the tar/pitch seams of the deck boards.
Once dry I and got to pinning them on the plan; which now had wax paper over it.

And we're off to the races..every 4 or 5 boards I'd run some thin CA on the seams and move on. Once I got going I couldn't stop. Why you may ask? 1) because I was motivated to push through and 2) because my oldest daughter was using the main floor of the house (and all the wifi we had) doing a live radio play online. She's an actress.
In essence, I was banished to my shop not to be heard from for 2 hours.
😂

I used the time wisely, I think. I used every minute of that two hours.

When fully cured I will sand it smooth and scribe the deck with faux plank joins and nail holes and then stain it. I think the magic worked this time. I'll take a breather for a day and start to plan out my next moves. Well, actually I have to get my daughter back to New York City, cut the grass and watch the Masters.
👍😁

Hello Matey's!
Pushing ahead with the deck applied, the bulwarks installed and the cap rails glued down. She's starting to look like a real ship.
Rub rails await...
😉

Hello Friends!
Well, in addition to getting our lake cabin re-opened this weekend, with help from the young ones (for the first damn time!), I was able to get some positive work done on the tug.

I was able to move along and get the rub rails installed, which was fairly easy. Then the fantail, which was not so easy, but fun. And then I started the removable cabin rough-in, which was straight forward in the more traditional stick-build style. The cabin roof on the real boat was steel so I'll dispense with a planking there and figure out a rivet plan to scribe onto the PVC if I can find adequate documentation.

So far, I am enjoying this build. More to follow.
👍

Hello Me Hearties!

Moving along on the Brooklyn tug with a base coat on the hull and then I framed up and skinned the main cabin pilot house. Fairly straight forward builds, but as usual there were a few problems with fit, especially on the pilot house, but after all it's a Dumas kit. LOL!

However, I will most likely ditch the pilot house and replace it with a slightly different kit-bashed one from a NY Central railroad tug of the same time period. It's a tug I remembered from when I was young and my mom subjected me to going to see movie musicals. In this case I did remember Barbara Streisand taking a ride on a NY Central tug in "Funny Girl" (1968) while she belted out "Don't Rain On My Parade!" Pix attached.
Fortunately, I was able to find a set of old McCandless plans of a Moran tug with the same pilot house. I'll give it a shot.
😊

It's amazing the stuff that leaves an imprint on our brains when we are kids. In this case it was the tug and not Barbara. But, I laughed out loud when my wife suggested that I get someone to 3D print me a 1:32 (54mm) Streisand figure!
😉😂

Hello Gang!

Been scratching up a NY Central style pilot house for the Brooklyn Tug. After days of research and hours of measuring I cobbled this rough version together.
In my research I learned that the NY Central tugs had a super tall pilot house built with a full surround of windows. The NYC's pilot houses were over 11 feet tall, almost double the overall height of the main cabin. Hence, the large amount of greenhouse glass.
I am not sold on it yet, but with the right amount of detailing and a decent coat of white primer...it just might work.
More to follow.
😉

Moving along, albeit slowly on the wheel house.
Still much to do, but happy with the foundation work...I think.
🤔😉

Starting to look a bit more like a NY Central Wheel house that I am after.
😉

Vintage Teal matched up nicely with what I was looking for. 😀

Good Morning Gang!
Well, fear and loathing set-in with my scratch built wheel house as the more I looked at it, the less I liked the scale proportions. So, as is often the case, fate intervened, and on a jaunt to an Irish pub, "The Dead Rabbit" in the seaport district of NYC to scope it out as a wedding venue for my oldest daughter I walked over to see the old 1885 iron clipper Wavertree. (pic 3-4)
But, I also had a vague memory that they had an old NYCentral pilot house about the place; or I hoped they still did. Much to my joy it was still there, but falling into disrepair (pic 1). So I whipped out the tape measure app on the iphone and although things were moving along nicely back at the shop I chopped off the the roof and windows and got back to work. So I set aside my fear and loathing for my original attempt and got to work. Now it may not be perfect, but I managed to get pretty close! (pic 2).
Onwards and upwards!
😉