I'm jumping between 3 builds at the moment. I had started on the Tui after the Maui but Tui has progressed faster. The hull is starting to take shape.

The bulwarks went in better and easier than anticipated. The little supports are stronger than then they look.

I had planned to use several layers of thin styrene to build up the bulwarks because of the difficulty of sanding down the inboard bulwark side. The layered styrene was too flexible, even with 3 layers of 0.3mm or 2 layers of 0.5mm. In the end I used 0.8mm ply and it has worked out fine. Forms really easily when you use the bias, and is reasonably strong and rigid.

The capping rail is styrene and once the rubbing strip goes on the bulwarks should be pretty durable. Touch plywood.

FYI: a Tui is a native nectar eating song bird. They are bigger than a blackbird, very boisterous and melodious. I have half a dozen who turn up for sugar water every morning in my front yard. Tui is also the brand of local beer around here – I have half a dozen of those in my fridge.

Steve, tell me again; what are the dimensions of this little gem?

Bill

Bill: At 1/50 she is only 280mm/11 inches long and 65mm/2.5inches wide. Way too tiny for RC.

Not a lot to report this time – other than putting on about a kilo over the Christmas break.
The hull finish is about where I want it to be. Smooth as a baby's bum. The lines are looking quite good on this one.
The rubbing strip, cap rail, prop shaft and rudder are in place, the rudder comes out so the propellor/shaft can slide in. The propellor is home made from PE. It looks fine.
The latest job was to cut the scuppers out of the bulwarks. These scuppers are tiny, less than 1mm high – the thickness of a folded piece of sandpaper. Delicate work. In real life they'd be fine for a river boat but not so great for the open sea.
Only need to make the bilge pump outlet, a little more wet & dry and it'll be almost ready for some paint...

She looks good all one primer color.

Not much has happened at my end for the last few months – I've been getting the house ready for sale, clearing out years of accumulated 'treasure/junk', catching up on all of the deferred maintenance, and now that that is all finished I have my leg in plaster for 6 weeks. Wouldn't be so bad but it's my right leg so I can't drive.

It does mean that I can spend a bit more time on some of these builds, and the props that had been delayed in the post by the Covid problems have now all arrived.

The little Tui is the most advanced of the builds so I'll try and finish it off first. Then get back onto the Busby, then the Mahi, and then the Maui – fingers crossed.

The Tui's hull is completed and ready for some paint. The superstructure/cabins have been assembled. The base and bulkheads are ply with styrene trim and brass fittings. The port lights, funnel flange and wheel are PE brass. I especially like the 'starfish' spokes on the wheel as per the original boat.

The last photo is a dry fit to see how it will look. Now for a little filler and some paint.

Had my leg in plaster for the last 6 weeks so getting down to the basement to paint things has been a pain in the proverbial.

I did manage to get the hull painted without breaking my other leg on the stairs. It seemed to take forever to get it right. Working on the bigger boats is a bit easier – everything on this one is tiny – and fiddly.

Still a few little areas to tidy up but happy with the colours so far.

Looking some fine Steve.

Thanks Bill. Getting towards the finishing post, should be all done soon. This 'quick' little build I slotted in between projects has taken a bit more time than I'd bargained for.

Hi Steve,
Beautiful job as always. I can't imagine building that small and have that much detail....amazing!
Bob SF

Thanks Bob.

I haven't updated this build for a while and sadly there isn't much progress to report. The build took a back seat while I spent most of the summer getting the house ready for sale. The tools and the fleet are now in storage while we wait to sort out a new house which will be a couple more months at least.

Packing up the boats was mission in itself. The crates are 6mm ply with 25x25mm framing and the boats are held firmly in place on all 4 sides with 50mm foam rubber, so everything is quite robust. I can almost relax for the time that they'll be in storage.

I hadn't posted the last things that I'd done on the Tui before the move so here's a quick update.

All of the components are made and most of them have been painted. The engine room housing and aft cabin have had their little details added: brass handrails, portholes, nav light shutters, hatches, etc. The engine room has a large samson post that sticks up through the roof.

In the sepia photo of the Tui you can see a large anchor on the bow deck. It's a simple 'fisherman' type and I made one out of brass rod. Turned out OK.

The only things left to complete are the lamps for the nav lights and the display stand – the 2 things I least like making. Hopefully by the time I eventually get a new workroom set up I'll be enthusiastic enough to finish them quickly.

Well, it has been awhile since I last had any progress to report.

The fleet has been in storage for over 2 years and I've finally got a new workshop and a place to store all of the boats. It has taken awhile to set up the workspace and even though the boats were packed and padded securely some had minor damage from so much house moving. Unfortunately the Tika suffered some severe damage and will require major work.

The Tui had been almost finished when it was packed away and only needed its Nav lights made and attached, and a stand. Usually I make stained wood stands but black works better in the new display cabinet.

So, here it is, all completed. I'm quite happy with how it turned out. It has nice lines and I especially like the wiggly ship's wheel. I tried a new method for the hull construction and it was quick and easy. Also used parts from the spares box so I didn't have to buy too much. Win win all round.

Glad you are back on the scene Steve. Very nice build.

Thanks Bill, I've been following your builds during my time off but I'm glad to finally be able to get back to the bench.
Next up: a few repairs to ease my way back into it.

During the downtime on this build I found a few more photos of the Tui in her heyday.

First photo is Ngunguru now, it's a particularly nice part of the country. The main street is Shoebridge Road.

The next two photos show the Tui in the bay at the mouth of the Ngunguru River with some coastal scows waiting to load/unload. Photo 3 also shows the Kamo Lady off to the left towing a couple of scows upstream.

Photo 4 shows the Tui towing the scow ‘Alert’ out to sea. This photo was taken in 1916 by Capt Shoebridge’s son Alec, and sent as a postcard to his older brother George (junior) who was serving on the Western Front. Looks like it was taken in our summer – so, winter on the Western Front, at the peak of WWI. The photo must have made him feel very homesick. He didn’t make it back. According to NZArmy records he died in towards the end of the war in 1918.