'Nuther question:

Did all the tugboats of Mr. Darby vintage have steel decks, or were any of them planked?

I don't want to stray too far from realism. I like the planked effect, and already have material that, scale-wise, would represent planks ~6" wide. But, I don't want to display something that will look ridiculous to other builders!

There will be other departures from the Darby drawings, such as deck fittings and hardware, etc. And, as a favor to my 3 grandchildren who were born in Germany, the project will be known as "HERR SCHLEPPER" (Mr. Tugboat).

Any thoughts?