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Background Information[]
Warrior is a fictional tugboat created by David Mitton and Robert D. Cardona.
He first appeared in Sunshine (Episode), the first episode of TUGS, and continued to appear in the rest of the series.
He was based off the 1920 San Francisco fleet of tugs.
Behind The Scenes[]
Gauge 1 Model[]
Warrior's model was scratch built with a fiberglass and plastic upper deck, along with a brass smokestack. He was designed by Chris Tulloch and built by Chris Lloyd, with additional concept art of him having been drawn by Paul Knight.
Warrior (as well as all the other tugs) used specially-constructed wheeled trolley chassis clamped to the hulls to move on the set. An external tube was stuck inside his hull and connected to a fog generator, this is how his stack "produces" smoke.
The eye mechanism had two servos, one for up and down movement and one for left and right movement. It was remote controlled and often controlled by David Mitton and Chris Tulloch.
Reference Sheets[]
Faces[]
13 different facial expressions were sculpted for Warrior, but only 12 of them appeared on-screen and one of which was a depressed face was left unused. The faces were first sculpted in clay and from that resin casts were made using a silicone mold. These were seemingly based off of modelmaker Jeremy King's face.
Usage and Evolution[]
Present Day[]
After production on TUGS ended, Warrior' model was kept in storage at Shepperton Studios. In 2012, the models were cleared out into a skip without Cardona's permission and rescued by an builder, who sold all that he could salvage to Richard, a model boat enthusiast. Richard restored the models to their former glory and, unable to keep them, sold them off on eBay. Warrior's model and happy face are now owned by the TUGS: The Exhibition, an organization which aims to restore and preserve the models. It is currently unknown if his other faces still exist.
Closeup Model[]
Warrior also had a closeup model of his whistle, although it was never used onscreen, it was also used for all Star Tugs (except for Ten Cents, O.J., Hercules, Sunshine, and Grampus).
