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A couple of months ago I did a scratchbuild tug. It certainly had some character but ended up looking pretty cartoonish and while I like it it doesn't fit the diorama I'm doing. So I decided to do one from some plans. Built originally in 1907 I'm not building this particular boat but using the plans to get something that looks more accurate than my "by eye" earlier attempt. She will be up alongside the much larger Sunderland Steamer from my other build log - which in turn will up against HMS Prince of Wales. I'm not even sure if a tug this small would have the grunt to move a 10,000 merchant ship but for the sake of artistic license she will emphasise the size of the other two ships in the diorama. In 1/350 she's not very big, just 47mm bow to stern. But here goes. The scaled hull formers from the plans, these are just in thick printer friendly paper. Hull form assembled I stuffed the hull form with foam core to bulk it out, then trimmed down to fit. More so the putty would be thinner and not require as much curing time as anything else. roughly covered in Milliput, finger prints and all. Sanded down and with a deck made of scored card glued in place.

Finished this with a few parts missing ☹️. Very fiddly painting and sticking all the clear parts round the cockpit.

I saw this on the Revell stand at Telford and couldn't resist it....... A so called friend has already called it a soap dish Need to finish the PBR but I had to put together the hull. Great fit I hope its an indicator of the rest of the kit. Gotta love that ugly duckling shape.......... Kev Kit review here http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234967912-harbour-tug-boat-fairplay-1144-revell/?hl=%2Brevell+%2Bfairplay

Hi, I finished this one a couple of weeks back. Finally got her into the photo booth. Xtradecals leave a lot to be desired, with mis numbering, brittleness etc to deal with, but gentle coaxing with X-20A did the trick... 1:48 Airfix meteor F8 NEW TOOL Paints used: Gunze Light Aircraft Grey, Tamiya XF-3 Flat yellow, XF-69 NATO Black Extras: Pavla Mk 4 Seat, Albion Alloys telescopic Aluminium tube for Pitot Decals: Xtradecal X48160 Cheers Chris

Harbour Tug Boat "Fairplay" 1:144 Revell When large ocean going ships arrive, or depart ports they require the assistance of Tug Boats. Fairplay Towage of Hamburg have been providing this service since 1905. The Fairplay I, III, & X are Harbour tugs which can also assist with costal Towage and Salvage. Built by Astilleros Armon Navia in 2007 they are 308 Gross Tonnes with a 5000 Hp engine driving two rudder propellers in Kort nozzles. They have a bollard pull of 70 Tonnes. The Fairplay I is based in Antwerp, III in Rotterdam and X in Hamburg. The Kit This is a new tool from Revell for 2014 and a welcome one I would think for maritime modellers. Tugs are by no means sexy ships, but without them world shipping would grind to a halt. 1/144 is a nice scale for this size of ship. The kit arrives in Revell's standard open ended box. Inside are four sprues of white plastic and one clear sprue. Construction begins with the main hull. This is two part affair with two internal bulkheads to give it strength. Following this the two propeller arrangements and their Kort shrouds are made up and attached to the hull. The Hull has its anchors fitted, and then can then be mounted on its stand which will help the rest of the build. Various fittings (bollards, deck plates etc) are then attached to the main deck. The deck edging is added and the completed part can be added to the hull. The front rubber bumper (used for pushing ships) is then installed. The anchor winch is then assembled. Construction then moves on to the main deck house. The four side are made up and then attached to the main deck. All of the railings and fittings are in plastic, and at this scale they look good, with no need to resort to photo etch. The engine exhausts are also added at this stage. Its then time to add what would be called the bridge, but these days with modern tugs its much more like a control room. The Captain sits in a central chair with all the tug controls which gives him a 360 degree view, with the chair also able to move in 360 degrees. The main panels are all in clear plastic with the bottom parts and the roof needing to be painted. Once the control room is attached there is a plethora of parts to add on. Railings, the mast, radars, navigation lights, a ships boat, life raft canisters, and the anchor winch. Decals Decals are provided for three different tug boats. Fairplay I - Antwerp 2013 Fairplay III - Rotterdam 2013 Fairplay X - Hamburg 2013 Conclusion This is a welcome release for Revell and the kind of new release we like to see. This should build up to a good looking model which while a nice size will not take up masses of room. Highly recommended. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit

I built this a few years ago OOB apart from a little bit of jiggery pokery with the decals. It was a straightforward build, the only problems being caused by myself. Trying to sort out the horizontal seams on the cockpit I managed to over sand it and ended up with a plane that was sucking its cheeks in. I build it back out with milliput and it ended up ok.It represents XJ524 that operated as a tug with Flight Refuelling Ltd at Hurn in the 80s. Hope you like, best wishes Liam ps, yes the tank is wonky. I didn't notice at the time of photo, it doesn't look like that normally.

Been building this kit

Woban Class District Harbor Tug 1:700 Alliance Modelworks The Woban Class of harbour tugs were used throughout the United States as from the late 1930s until the early 1970s. They were compact vessels, measuring out at 100 feet long, 25 feet across the beam and displacing just 218 tonnes. Woban class tugs were present at Pearl Harbour during the Japanese attack in 1941. The kit comes in a very small plastic box with a black and white photograph of a Woban Class vessel on the front. The model is very well protected, with each part being taped inside a piece of foam into which spaces for the parts have been cut out. Inside are ten resin parts as well as a small sheet of photo etched brass and a small decal sheet. The small instruction sheet is pretty clear and easy to follow, but not all of the photo etch parts are covered in terms of placement. The model is quite cleverly designed, with the hull split longitudinally so that the kit can be finished as either a waterline or full hull model. The castings are nicely done, although there are a few small bubbles here and there. Once youve assembled the hull and bridge/deck house, most of the remaining details are catered for by the photo etched parts. Small details provided on the fret include ladders, doors, port holes, a wheel, cable reels, chains and railings. One clever touch is the provision of tyres to fix to the outside of the upper hull. These are made up of layers of photo etched rings, which when assembled will resemble the ribs and grooves of a tyre quite nicely. Conclusion Model like these are really handy to have around as they can be used to bring a naval diorama to life, although the option for a full hull version is welcome too. Resin kits of this type are also easy to assemble because of the low part count. Having said that, you can add as much or as little detail as you like with the comprehensive photo etch fret. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Woban Class District Tug Alliance Modelworks 1:350 The Woban Class of tugs were built in many shipyards and used throughout the US as dockyard tugs from the late 1930s till the 1970s. The length of service for these tugs makes this model very useful for those wishing to make a dockyard diorama. The kit comes in a small, but sturdy cardboard box with the contents printed on one side of the lid and a picture of the real thing on the other. On opening, the model is very well protected, each part being wrapped in bubblewrap and taped to foam inserts within zip lock bags. There is also a sheet of etched brass and a small decal sheet. The small instruction sheet, whilst simple, is quite clear and easy to follow for the most part, but, other than the rudder, they fail to indicate any parts for the full hull option. The hull of the tug is provided in two halves split longitudinally so that either a waterline or full hull model can be built. The moulded details are nicely done, from the large rubbing strakes, large bow fender, windlass to the bitts and bollards. Apart from the moulding plug, which shouldnt take much to remove and clean up, on the bottom of the parts there is now visible flash. This is equally true for all the resin parts which also include the bridge structure, two dinghies, cable reels and ventilators. The small etched sheet is pretty packed considering its size. The parts are finely etched with some beautiful detail. Parts included on the sheet are doors, doorframes, railings; lower rubbing strake outer sheaf, quarterdeck grating, portholes, fire monitors, optional cable reels, upper steering wheel and column, vertical and inclined ladders, upper deck derrick, and tyre fenders built up of multiple parts. Decals The small decal sheet provides black and white US Navy titles, plus the numbers of the particular tug being built can be made up from those provided. There are also nameplates for three tugs. Conclusion This is a great little kit of a very useful and extensively used tug. If the full hull model is to be built then the modeller will have to do some extensive research, or wing it a bit as there are no instructions on what goes where or how. Fortunately this is probably not going to be a problem as I imagine most will be built as a waterline model. Due to the fineness of the etch, care and patience will be required. Recommended for the modeller with at least a modicum of experience. Review sample courtesy of Harry at Battlefleet Models