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The Star Tugs Trust is the nickname of the movement established on the 26th of January 2013, when a group of fans of the TV Series – TUGS – were given the opportunity to purchase 18 of the models which featured on the show. in 2014, the Star Tugs Company Ltd was formed and we took this to the next level and officially preserved and protected the models for the future.
The core aims and objectives of the group are to exhibit, preserve and maintain the models for the fans to enjoy, as well as introducing a new generation to the series to keep the spirit of TUGS alive!
WHO ARE YOU GUYS?
We are a group of fans from across the United Kingdom, Canada and United States who were given the opportunity to purchase eighteen of the Tugs models by a model boat builder who had purchased the models as a restoration project.
Our collective group encompasses members with varying levels of experience in live events management, business management, people management, administration, model-making and repair, virtual design, animation, and media production.
6 of the original 10 members at the handover in Norfolk
WHICH MODELS DO YOU OWN?
The Star Tugs Company Ltd. own the original models for:
- Ten Cents, Big Mac, OJ, Warrior, Hercules and Sunshine from the Star fleet;
- Zorran, Zebedee, Zak, Zug and Zip from the Zero Fleet
- Burke, Blair, Fire Tug, Billy Shoepack, Lillie Lightship, Sea Rogue / Bluenose and The Old Man / Boomer
We also own the original face masks for Top Hat, Grampus and Sea Rogue – however, do not own the models for Top Hat and Grampus, whose whereabouts are currently unknown.
A selection of our models on display at the Leadhills Railway, in Scotland. One of many weekend displays we have done.
Humble beginnings: Our very first event at Market Bosworth in 2014!
WHAT ARE YOUR AIMS?
Since early 2014 we have been displaying the Tugs around various family events, such as Brighton Modelworld to share them with the public and to raise awareness for our cause.
Also in Spring 2014 we opened "The Star Tugs Exhibition" at the Midland Railway - Butterley (MR-B) in Derbyshire, thanks to a tremendous show of support via our kickstarter funding campaign. We have been developing it ever since. MR-B Have been supporters of our cause since almost the very beginning.​
THE FUTURE
As we look to the future, as above we want to continue to grow what we're currently doing. As each event passes we can see the improvements and it's very exciting! With the exhibition now open full time we can give everybody the opportunity to see the collection more and more. As the collection grows the exhibition will need to expand and improve, which is an ongoing (and expensive) project for us
We would like to eventually get the series on DVD, but since we don't own any of the rights to the show at present, that makes such an endeavour difficult! This has been proven by the multiple futile attempts to acheive this in the past. We do however wish to pursue this when practical.
We also wish to pursue the missing models from our collection. We have been chasing this since we started with no luck so far but there's nothing we like more than a good mystery!
We have all sorts of plans, but at the same time we need to give the collection the maintenance and improved storage it deserves, so a certain amount of consolidation is also necessary.
It has been a long and difficult road to this stage, with all sorts of acheivements, problems, headaches and successes. The journey has only just started and we are excited to take it with all of you!
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We want to thank each and every one of you for your support. Without it we could not do what we do and the collection would sit in storage where no could see them.
Please consider making a donation to us using the button below, so we can continue to invest in this great project, and make all our very exciting plans a reality!
The inside of our newly overhauled exhibition coach. head over to the exhibition page for more pictures. Better yet, come and visit!
In mid 2016 we completely overhauled the exhibition space to a brand new, high quality museum space, with temperature control, UV Protection, CCTV and protective locked display cases which now allows the exhibition to be open most of the year, something we have been unable to do before now.
This was a tremendous undertaking and took alot of money (raised largely through donations & merchandise sales) and months of hard work by a small team. The results speak for themselves. We are by no means finished however, and with more donations and merchandise sales we will be able to do so much more in the future!
In mid 2017 we reach another milestone when we, thanks to some very generous public funding and digging deep into our own pockets, managed to have a replica built of a long lost character!
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The character was Sally Seaplane! She looks unusual at the moment because she is in "as delivered" condition. The studio modified the original after delivery, something we will mirror with the replica in future. Hopefully more lost characters can be re-created too!
Project Sally: Stage 1 is complete!
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