Finished 5ton Atlas Crane, time to move on to the tug model itself!

A bit more work on the crane, connecting the hydraulic pipes and the expanded metal foot plate

 

Constructing with stainless steel micro nuts and bolts plus watchmaking screws

Silver plated 1.5mm crimp beads off eBay, (99p per 100), make ideal hydraulic hose ends

A bit more work on the jib, very fiddly

Slipway provide a paper template in their instruction book which I guess you are meant to cut out and use to mark the prop shaft hole on the left side of the GRP hull, then turn over and mark out the right side.

I want to keep the instruction book intact, so a quick visit to Staples and two photocopies, (one mirror image), was the order of the day. 

IT'S A FACE!

After cutting out I've positioned and stuck the templates on the hull using a quick spurt of Photomount. I also made a few extra extended marks for reference on the prop shaft holes since these will be slightly larger to account for the prop shaft sleeve mentioned earlier.

I know what you're thinking, when is he actually going to start the 'TUG' build?

Well I make no apologies for taking time out to thoroughly read the excellent Slipway Build manual, 'twice', consult other builders blogs and then reflect upon my approach to the build before actually starting; must be a sign of age, never did this as a kid!

One area of concern is the prop shaft, what if it ever needs replacing and I had bonded it securely to the hull? It could be very messy to remove.

A quick trip to B&Q solved the problem, on the small sections rack they had some plastic tube that provided a nice snug push fit for the propshaft, I'll bond this to the hull. Problem solved and no risk of corrosion from incompatible metals, result!

  
The tug build will start this weekend....just building up, (Dutch) courage to cut into the GRP hull, ha, ha