Make up an end unit (1 Barge End, 1 Crosspiece, and a Stern or Bow Former) and attach it to the Base.
Add a side to stop it falling over!
Add the other side, and attach a Bow or Stern plate.
If it is to be towed, add a bit of reinforcement where the Crosspiece goes over the Plate. This is not shown here, but will hold an 'H' bitt later...
The side deck goes on next. This can be 1/16" on all sizes - it is supported on all sides. You don'r even need a rebate on the coaming - a butt join seems to be quite strong enough.
Here is the other end of the barge being done. On this prototype I hadn't designed the 'fin' end for the stern, so there are two bows. It was only later in floating tests that I realised the need for the stern fin!
On the Barge End Former, add a few strips of scrap to give a rebate for attaching the end skins, as shown.
The pieces are simple to cut out.
Extend (or shrink!) the base and sides as required to make a longer or shorter Lighter. The 16" one shown will carry a 30oz. load. It can be filled with water, and will still float...
On go the bow and stern decks...
Now we add the coaming.
For the 16" barge, a srtip of 1/16" is fine, but for longer barges, or for more robustness, a strip of 3/32" or 1/8" is better.
These were a common craft on the Thames in years past, and a few still survive as can be seen here.
The Lighter is intended as an accessory to the Beaver Tug. It can be built at any length, simply by extending the centre floor and walls. The plan provided gives a 16" barge, and can be just built from one sheet of 4" wide 1/8 balsa (plus a little 1/16"). I prefer a 20" long barge, but that requires part of an extra sheet...
The lighter can also be scaled up easily to provide a load for the big tugs - you will probably want to make it out of ply in this case...
And finally the end skins are bent round and attached. Cut across the grain, they will bend easily.
