Hi y’all. I like to keep my bench busy, as building a few hours during the week and sometimes on the weekend helps relax me…at 62 I’m still pushing 45-50 hrs a week at the dealership I work at. Anyway, this is an…interesting build. This started with a kit that was gifted to me by Steve O’Connell , one of our model boat club members. It’s an odd little Chinese kit of a Danish Tug that was spotted transporting a large gun mount on its aft deck. The kit is set up to carry the gun, and there’s a promotional video of the gun swiveling and “firing”. Anyway…the kit is well made but rather odd. The proportions are off, the model looks as if it’s a little bit of a caricature of the real boat. Also, there’s no instructions. Zilch. It makes a Billings kits instructions look like War and Peace. Finally, the entire superstructure is comprised of cut brass sheet. Apparently the builder is supposed to fold it into shape and either ca it or solder it together.😮
Well, she sat in my kit stash for a few months, and after I finished and maidened the Banckert I wanted something a little different, so I decided to customize this kit.
I decided to make her into a mooring/push tug. The kit is nice, fiberglass hull, laser cut and 3D printed plastic, etc., however, I’m only using the hull, deck, bulwarks and few odds and ends from the supplied parts. The brass is put away, and the comically tiny 4 blade brass prop and Kort nozzle are put aside for another day.
First thing I had to figure out was how much weight can this hull take before she’s sitting too low? I placed the hull in the sink, and proceeded to add weight till the water came up close to its upper edge, and we’re looking at around 38 ounces. I then proceeded to build up a custom stuffing box of brass tube and Traxxas 4 mm flanged oilite bushings. For power I went with a 36 mm 650kv Zippkits brushless motor, same unit that’s in my Taucher and Kalle…I know it’s overkill, but this boat is going to be useful, and I’m from Texas!! We have people who put V8 engines into riding lawnmowers, so there’s a precedent of sorts. Static test in the sink with an Astroflight Whattmeter hooked up shows a 2 amp draw at full chat. I like those Zippkits outrunners!!
Once everything under decks was done I added the deck, cut down the bulwarks and made short coamings for the hatch. I then scratched up a simple 2 person cabin from plasticard, and am now working on the push bumper. That will be a shoal buster front upright, with horizontal beams making a “T” up front, and will have rubber strip inlaid. Once that’s all done she gets primered and paint, details and the rubber strip laid in. I’m in this for about 2 and a half weeks of off and on building so far.
Cash

Hi y’all. I got the bumper built up and the bulwarks installed today. I was going to try to have her ready for primer, but I was up way too late Friday night, finally going to sleep around 130 am, so I slept in till about 745 or so. I got groceries in the morning, then hit the bench.
My first idea was to have the vertical part of the bumper uninterrupted and the horizontal parts added to each side with their own separate rubber strips. I had to stare at the thing a bit while eating a breakfast burrito with an addition of queso when it hit me. Why not have the horizontal strip intersect the vertical at the top, like a “t”? That would simplify the construction. I had to notch the upper part of the vertical bumper to allow for the horizontal strip to come across, and then I just built it up in place. The pics show what I came up with, the rubber bumper will be glued in place after painting. The kit came with pre cut bulwarks supports, so I used a few of them and called it a day. Hopefully I’ll have her primered by next weekend.
Cash

Hi y’all. Had a bit of time after Church and chores, so I got a bit more done. This kit comes with cap rails that are laser cut for the bulwarks, so I installed them..the fit was pretty good. After that I laid in a coat of primer..the first coat brings out in stark relief what I missed as far as sanding and filling. Now that I’m at this point, I can start messing about with details such as doors, a basic control panel, etc. my weight is looking really good so far, I might have to add ballast!! We’ll see how she turns out. I might even add working nav lights..
BTW, thanks for the comments and interest, I appreciate it!!

Hi y’all. I was going to build a little manual winch today, and started on it, but decided the best course of action was to get the boat mostly painted, so that’s what I worked on. All paints are from Tamiya’s TS line of spray lacquers except the gray on the deck, that’s a flat gray from their AS line. I did the bottom of the hull in Dull Red, and from the water line up I used French Blue. The deck and inner bulwarks are shot with Light Ghost Gray, and the cabin is a Base White. I’ll start using that white from now on. It’s a base coat, doesn’t have a lot of gloss, and covers better than any other white I’ve used. I painted the hull before the in er bulwarks and deck as it was easier to mask. I still need to touch up and spray a coat of clear semigloss on her, paint the roof to match the hull, and start details. I have a door cut out, started on a winch, and I want to build a simple wheel/throttle console for the cabin before it’s permanently glued down.
Cash

Hi y’all. So, I’ve been adding a few details to the tug. I built up a manual winch from a small spool and scrap pieces, added a door for the cabin, a ships wheel, windows and a crew! I decided to use 2 Lego characters from the Lego movie, Emmet Brickowski is the skipper, and the XO/Towmaster is Lucy, aka “Wyldstyle”. They’re characters from the Lego movie. I’ve also decided to name the boat “The Kragle “, which is an important plot point in the Lego movie. It would take a lot of typing to explain it if you haven’t seen the movie, but Kragle is a form of nickname for Krazy Glue. Anyway, ol’ Emmet is in the cabin at the wheel, and Lucy is forward at the bulwarks just keeping an eye on things. I also got the battery floor installed, and I’ve decided to mount the cabin to the deck with socket headed servo screws. I plan on adding nav lights to the boat, mounting the cabin with screws facilitate any repairs I might need to do in the future.
Need to build up my lights, a few more final details and it’s time for final ballast check!! Almost there!,
Cash

Hi y’all. I spent a few hours this week learning how to set up LEDs for nave lights. I usually use 6v incandescents, but when I received this kit from a friend, there was a pack of LEDs and light housings from Mobile Model Marine in the box,so I decided to give that a shot. There is a learning curve but it’s not steep. A resistor needs to be installed on the positive side of the LED depending on what voltage and size you have. The documentation for this pack stated you need one resistor for every 2 LEDs, so my green and red lights share a resistor, and the aft white light has its own. They all share a common ground. I’m using an old Dymond 5 amp brushed esc to power my lights, as I have no other use for it and I had it in my stash parts for years. Using a small esc for lights works well, but you need to make sure you disable the positive lead on the esc you’re using for lights, or you’ll wind up with 2 escs feeding power into your receiver, and that can let the magic smoke out.🤣 An interesting byproduct of the aft white light is that it bleeds a little light into the cabin, so when I fire up the nave lights the cabin is dimly lit. Bonus!!!
I made up an adapter plug to hook up the drive battery and the lights, so I run everything off one pack.
I then proceeded to add a few more details, and called it a day. Last float test shows I still need to add 5-6 ounces of ballast. That, and the waterline stripe and naming, and she’s ready to maiden.
Cash

Hi y’all. Took a little time today to give the boat her name. As stated earlier, I named her “The Kragle” after the super weapon in the Lego movie. Since the Kragle turns out to be ca, and the boat was built with quite a bit of ca, and she has a Lego crew, I thought it was appropriate. Oh…the captain, Emmet Brickowski, is from Bricksburg, so that’s her home port.😂
Cash

Hi y’all. Well..the Kragle hit the water last Sunday. I had to put her in under duress. My buddy Steve and hi traded paint between my old IMEX Taurus and his vintage Kyosho Jetstream. My superstructure was knocked off, and the Jetstream was floating upside down. I immediately grabbed the Kragle to try to recover both Steve’s boat and my cabin. The Kragle did her job…once I got lined up broadside, I eased a little throttle in and she pushed the stricken boat to shore with no drama. However, getting a good shot at my superstructure was a little difficult, as the 20 inch cabin was being held up by an air bubble near the aft section. I was getting impatient and worried I’d lose my chance to save it when I noticed the Kragle was listing a bit and a little bow down. I made for shore, but she broached and went under.I seriously considered wading out to retrieve her, but the water in that lake is 4-5 feet deep in places, and Lord knows what I’d be walking on, so we regretfully left her in the bottom. However, Fred, our salvage master and I went out this morning with a fishing rod, a line and a hook, and after about 30 minutes of work Fred’s hook and line brought her to the shore, where she slipped of the hook and went down again!! Undeterred, Fred held on to my legs as I leaned over the side, grabbed her and brought her up. She had very little damage from her misadventure save a few scratches and the loss of one of the Lego crew members, Lucy…she’s MIA and assumed lost at sea.
From what I can tell, 2 things were attributable to the sinking. There’s a large hole dead center of the forward bulwarks. I did t fill it as it was part of the kit, so I thought it would be ok…and, I truly think I just mishandled the boat. I think hitting full throttle, turning to get a bit on my superstructure, and the fact it was a little windy helped push water up to the bulwarks, thru the hole, onto the deck, and since I have a very short coaming, into the hull. This a barrel chested boat, the hull shape is very Springer like, and it is tiny, so what any other boat in my fleet would shrug off was fatal to her.
I got her home and cleaned her up. The lipo was hooked up for the whole week and while not swollen, is drained flat. It’s done. There was a very little corrosion at the receiver connections, but that cleaned off. The motor was cleaned up, oiled, and checked and it’s fine. After spraying the receiver board with Corrosion X then wiping it down, it powered up. Now, I’ve not checked it for functionality, nor the esc, but I think it’ll be ok. I’ll find out more this week.
Cash

So…upon further inspection and a good drying out, everything except battery, receiver and servo checks out. As reported before, the lipo is dead flat…finito, done, sayonara. It’s not swollen, but has 0 charge. The steering servo wants to drive to its extremes, but I think it’s still damp. Going to tackle the bottom of the case off and let it air dry before I condemn it. Both escs are fine, and the motor is good too. However, the receiver is more than likely toast. Just…toast. No jam, marmalade, peanut butter, bacon or avocado. When I got it dried off, I plugged it in and got a light. Tried to rebind it, no dice. Then, I noticed that 2 of the center (hot) pins were gone, one totally, the other a tiny corroded sliver. Since the battery was hooked up it was still getting power from the escs bec, sooo…..electrolysis!! Explains the green corrosion I found. Anyway, she’s back together, used a spare receiver and servo from my stash. I also filled the holes in the bulwarks. I’m thinking any bow wave at full chat was not coming over the bulwarks, but thru that hole. I had thought about filling them before the maiden but decided not to. This weekend I’ll try her again, near the bank, and I’ll give her the throttle and closely watch what happens. She shows any sign of duress she’ll be in arms reach.
Cash