One of the main things that helps when building any model boat is having a good supply of reference material such as photographs. Therefore, having a river outside your window with tugs going by on a daily basis, as I do up here on the Tyne, was just too good an opportunity to miss. If you need a bit of help with a certain area then just point the camera out the window as the tug goes by and grab a quick snapshot. It was for this reason, as I mentioned in another article a few months ago, that I was drawn to Mobile Marine Models and their Eldergarth model when considering building an RC tug boat.

Eldergarth's sister ship Rowangarth is a daily sight out of my lounge window as it brings all manner of ships up and down the River Tyne so it's like a modeller's dream to have the actual vessel that you're building so readily to hand. Rowangarth also occasionaly ties up alongside the Fish Quay here in North Shields whilst waiting for a ship to arrive so a quick walk up the road allows me to get as up close and personal as you can get without actually being allowed on board. It really is the ideal scenario.

Eldergarth and Rowangarth were both built in Birkenhead in 1981 by the well-respected McTay Marine for service at an oil terminal in Cabinda in Angola as part of an ongoing contract. In 1984, two similar vessels, Oakgarth and Yewgarth, were also constructed at the McTay shipyard. All four vessels were common sights on the Mersey throughout the 80's and 90's though now only Oakgarth remains there. Eldergarth is now in Swansea under the name Shannon, Rowangarth, as I mentioned earlier, now operates on the Tyne, and Yewgarth has recently moved up to the Clyde.

Mobile Marine Models' Eldergarth is a 1:32 scale model (the most popular scale for the hobby of tug-towing) and measures in at 1015mm long (40 inches) with a beam of 280mm (11 inches). Theoretically, all four of the McTay tugs can be based on the Eldergarth model. Rowangarth is almost identical to Eldergarth so can be built with the information provided with the hull. Oakgarth and Yewgarth have some minor differences such as no winch control room on the boat deck, a slightly different wheelhouse roof, and a different mast. With a good supply of reference material though, Oakgarth and Yewgarth should be easy to construct.

As I mentioned though, Rowangarth was the tug for me so I put my order in with Mobile Marine Models. In my previous article I mentioned about their Budget Building System that allows you to buy certain parts of the model as and when you need them in order to spread out the cost, and I decided to take advantage of this. I ordered the hull, plans, template pack, wood pack, and running gear pack but decided to hold off from buying the fittings pack until the model had progressed a bit. I know from experience that I can often spend a month or so just working on the hull before even thinking about deck fittings, so this seemed to make sense to me.

Despite placing my order the first week of the new year, I was very impressed that the delivery time was only about a week. This is even more impressive when you consider that every hull is laminated to order. I'd spoken to Bryan at Mobile Marine Models before Christmas and he'd informed me that himself and his staff work very hard over the Christmas and New Year period to ensure that delivery times are kept to a minimum and that certainly seems to be the case.

As well as the plans, template pack, and colour photographs of the finished model, Mobile Marine Models also include handy tips sheets telling you such things as what types of paint and adhesive to use for different materials and even how to wire up the electrics! One such tip that I can definitely recommend is the one about cutting the templates out of cardboard and fine-tuning them before even thinking about cutting any wood. I personally made photocopies of the entire template pack so that I have a "master" set to keep and a set that I can cut up. I then paste the paper template onto a piece of card such as a cereal packet then cut the card out. This is definitely worth doing as I discovered after I'd cut out a cardboard template for the skeg. It was clear when holding it in place against the GRP hull that the moulding process had led to the angle of the hull being slightly different to the angle on the plans and the templates. As I was only using a cardboard template it was no big deal, but if I'd rushed ahead and cut it straight out of wood then it would've been wasted material. A vital lesson learnt early on!

Another good suggestion that I can highly recommend is creating a work plan. It goes without saying that there's a logical order in which to tackle tasks with the model. Once the deck goes on you restrict access inside the hull so it's a good idea to get everything in there sorted first (or become very good at keyhole surgery). There's nothing worse than putting your model in the water for the first time only to find a leak in a hard to reach place because you couldn't get in to seal it properly. Of course, if you're an experienced modeller then you probably have such things ingrained in your mind anyway, but it can still be a useful exercise to get things down in writing.

I've been working on my Rowangarth model for about a month now and am generally quite happy with the progress that I've made. Things were a little bit slow at the start due the fact that my "home away from home" up here on the Tyne doesn't have any of the tools that I need, and I didn't really want to bring them on the plane up from Southampton. So, a few shopping trips were needed before I finally got a decent temporary workshop up together.

Most of my recent tasks have been focussed on getting the hull sorted out. Cutting out scuppers, anchor recesses, and mounting holes for the Kort nozzles. I've also spent a bit of time sanding and smoothing the hull before applying a first coat of grey primer. To be honest, the quality of the finish on the hull is very good so not much smoothing was really required, just a little bit where the two halves of the hull join and create a seam. I now also have the wooden foredeck cut out, shaped, and ready to fit once I'm happy that the anchor recesses are totally complete and sealed.

Tasks that I have lined up for the next stage of the project include the fitting of the foredeck, Kort nozzles, propeller shafts and motor mounts. Certainly getting the nozzles and shafts installed and aligned correctly is a critical issue so it's not something that I'm going to rush. I've also decided that the time may soon be upon me where purchase of the fittings pack is neccesary. The portlights in the hull are fitted from the inside so I won't be able to fit the boat deck until these are in. Another situation where creating a work plan has helped avoid a problem.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of Project: Rowangarth Model Tug Boat to see how I get on.

For more information on Mobile Marine Models' Eldergarth Tug or to make a purchase, please click here.

Jason Webb

NOTE: All prices and specifications are correct at time of writing but are subject to change at the manufacturer's discretion.