No cheating, it was made from birch plywood. I could not get my nephew to build it at his school welding shop. So, there is a bin of birch plywood off cuts waiting to be used. Wanted to weight naturally without needing to ballast with other material. It did a good bathtub float test.

Thanks, Doug, be safe, be well.

Ron

Nice one Ron, GREAT rusting👍
Or did you cheat? Build it from mild steel and leave outside for a few days😁
Super job of a real working boat.
I'd raise my hat - if it wasn't so cold😮
Cheers, Doug 😎

I rummaged through some model car kits out in the garage storage bins looking for extra rubber tires, as many of them offer various ways to build the model, so extra tires. I found enough to do the barge and 6 for the tugboat. Being that I am using one hull and switch out the wheelhouse between Loganville, Beamsville and soon Miss Jenna, I can be flexible with tires mounted on the rub rail.

I am waiting to get some chain for attaching the tires to the tug and for the tow chains on the barge. Marcel sent me a drawing that shows the towing bridles on the Bow and Stern. The stern bridle is removed when not in use, while the front one is left set up. Then he told me about cutting a hole in the bulwark to attach the chain to the bridle. A chain link is welded to the deck, I used a eye screw secured with CA.

Very nicely done Ron. AND a fitting tribute to Schooner.

That was a lame comment about the hydraulics...😊👍

Gotta find about 30 tires, 22 go on Beamsville alone.

No leaks, all seams are fibreglassed and sealed before painting.

Marcel and I talked earlier this week, he explained how the barge is secured to the tug when working and depending upon the situation from which end it is towed. Some times water will wash over the deck. It is used mostly for inner harbour work, though it is being used for an off coast tow in January.

I will be interested to see how the model reacts when towing the barge. Currently, when not towing there is a fair bit of rolling which Marcel says is normal as the tug has no keel exposed.

No leaks or anything...looks good Ron!

Hydraulics are done, Doug.

The barge looks good Ron. You do nice work.
Rick

SFSG Ron 👍
Looking forward to the black spaghetti😉
Sad about Schooner but good that you're giving him a suitable memorial👍
Doug 😎

All done except for chains on the ramp, and hydraulic hoses for Doug!🤨😉

Marcel’s dog, Schooner died this week on December 15th, it had been with them for 13 yrs; thus a tribute to the dog seen here in the last photo.

The deck looks just like the prototype.👍👍
Looking forward to the hydraulics and fittings!

It will be wicked nice!

Keep It Simple Silly is the plan. Plan to add hydraulic hoses using 14 gauge black coated electrical wire. Regarding the other detail, like you said kiss. Not meant to be 100% accurate. Marcel’s information is not complete and I do not like to bug him for it either. He is a busy fella, he is one of the Tofino Harbour Directors, he has a salvage business, towing, and recovery working in conjunction with the Coast Guard.

Really nice Ron.
A bit of weathering to the deck will do it. Are you planning to animate the ramp?
Or KISS principle?
What are you cranes planes?

I like the way the deck is turning out. The square side rails will be stained a dark brown another day when it is warmer.

A fair approximation Ron 👍
Have fun with the hydraulic 'spaghetti' 😮
Apropos the deck-
Looks like the original had steel deck plates.
So I would give it a light coat of matt or satin medium gray or gunmetal (after sealing and priming😉) and then use either ochre, brown and orange oil paint applied sporadically with a flat dry brush. Then seal with matt varnish spray. Alternatively, LifeColor do an acrylic Rust/Weathering kit.
This is a UK source but I'm sure you can find them in Canada too.
https://airbrushes.com/product_info.php?products_id=2845
Cheers, Doug 😎

Nicely done Ron. Would you distress the deck and paint it flat black. Sand the black in spots to show wear.
Rick

Looking good so far Ron.

JB

I ask Marcel what colour to paint the deck? He said he does not paint it as it is a waste of money, the deck gets so much use, the paint scraps off. Also, the deck is replaced every 10-15 years.

So, I can’t leave the model as it is now, birch, I will need to come up with a finish. Probably a gray. Any ideas?

"I may just do a stand-off made of wood in two parts"
Aw shucks🤔
I was so looking forward to seeing how you'd make the hydraulics Ron☹️
I've seen that some of our trucker brothers use miniature hydraulics for their tipper trucks and excavators. Lots of micro tubing, manifolds and valves😎 So the 'stuff' is out there!!
Cheers, Doug 😎
PS Looks like a HIAB to me😁

Working from photos again, and some measurements sent by Marcel. It is a HIAG 345 knuckle crane vintage 1980. Love to get someone to do the crane as a 3-D model but, I may just do a stand-off made of wood in two parts. Cut out the centre frame and add the lower arm. Paint it orange and call it good. Make the base separately of course. Also add the motor stand, and such behind the crane.

Sorry Ron no more from me.🤔

Hi, Nerys, I wish I had followed what was going on in those days but as you said it was disappearing by the time the sixties/seventies arrived for me. Just read a book about the black sailed Norfolk Wherries and going see Albion next summer hopefully. Sorry Ron to take over your Blog.

Cheers Jon.

Neyrs…your area of the world.

Yes, off topic…not on the Thames River, but Tofino, Vancouver Island, on the Pacific side. Far away from the London scene.

Marcel said the barge hauls garbage from beach clean-up, plus it can carry a 3/4 ton pickup truck, lumber and building supplies. So it is very versatile. Plus see tonight’s post about anchor towing.

Marcel said about this picture… Picture of 3 ton anchor block hanging off bow of barge. Chain between fwd bits and sacrificial line used. Block is placed at water line, chained to barge then dragged into deeper water with tug. We can tow this anywhere in the inlets making 4.5 knots.

Hi, Nerys, I wish I had followed what was going on in those days but as you said it was disappearing by the time the sixties/seventies arrived for me. Just read a book about the black sailed Norfolk Wherries and going see Albion next summer hopefully. Sorry Ron to take over your Blog.

Cheers Jon.

Hi Jon,
Pleased to hear that you saw a Thames Barge undergoing restoration in Battersea recently, there are, I guess 50 or 60 in some sort of preservation and many of them in sailing condition. As you say, some of the smaller river barges were engaged in carrying London refuse, 'rough stuff' as it was called, away to dump in some of the creeks of the Medway, I suppose that trade fizzled out in the thirties. Although lots of barges were engaged in carrying local cargoes, such as bricks from Kent to London, grain from Essex and Suffolk many barges were engaged in carrying all sorts of cargoes all around the Thames Estuary, right up north for coal and other goods, all down the South Coast and the near continent. There were still a few of us trading under sail alone into the sixties, and a couple even carried on later than that. Just because they were called Thames Barges, the bigger ones were really fine coasting vessels.
As far as the London 'dumb barge' the lighter is concerned, they swarmed on the river for many years, there were thousands of them. London was a port where cargo ships came into the docks or river wharves and off loaded their cargoes onto the quayside and into smaller vessels such as lighters and barges for distribution anywhere on the Thames, but once the container ship came into use, they were finished and with them went a breed of man who was born to the river and could handle their lighters in the tideway with genius. Just imagine a 300 ton lighter, being manoeuvered into position with the use of a couple of sweeps and an intimate knowledge of the set of the tide. Cheers, Nerys

Super detailed pictures and as you say plenty of detail to add.👍

Hi Ron Your barge looks sturdy. Will you be building loads to go on the barge.
Rick

Hi Ron, When I was about twenty years old i lived in London and crossed Battersea bridge every day going to work, I used to see all the barges on the Thames moored up and the fuel powered Tugboats taking them to from their moorings every day but they all long gone know. I do not get down there much now but i was down there a couple of years ago just sight seeing and walking over Battersea bridge i noticed in the old dry dock someone was restoring an old Thames sailing Barge and it looked well in advance, nice to see but not close enough to take photo's unfortunately. I think towards the end of the barge use they shipped all London refuge to the Estuary and tipped it on waste land.

Cheers Jon.

I received an email from the owner/skipper of the Beamsville which included photos of his barge , "Memere", which is the name of his 98 year old grandmother.

Notes about a couple photos. It is used often to collect garbage from the beaches washed ashore along the west coast of Vancouver Island in the Tofino area.
Another photo shows it upside down when he added six skid plates.
Currently the deck is being replaced as seen in one photo.

Study the first photo closely, lots of deck details here.

Barge is 30'LOA x 10' beam, 25' from ramp to crane, and 9' between inner "walls".

Barge in from Tiller Marine . Pete Spencer made two units to be attached by 18 rods giving him 20’-6” width by 30’ LOA.