Hi Siwi!
Yes, You are right, the electric power makes for a much smoother experinece – for the crew as well! I recommend two videos at YouTube, one showing
a canal crossing on the bridge of the old type, and one, being published by the canal authority, showing a prowd captain
taking her out for a ride (and showing lots of hidden parts (of the vessel!!) to the camera. He emphasizes, that she handles like a sportscar and reacts at once, compared to the wirecontrolled mechanical steering of the old generation. Comparing the videos, I do believe him.
And the plans – well actually, I really didn´t have any. Still, at wikipedia there was a link to lecture, the canal authority held in 2019 about the new type, providing lots of information and some nicely detailled drawings. Some things of course were changed after that, the bridge for instance has another shape today, but with scaled photos underlying my redrawn plans and comparing lots of further pictures, I came close enough to call this a model (instead of „A fantasy of…“, as a colleage once called another model he didn´t like too much) .
And – of course: now, that I am mostly done – the canal authority told me, that I might come to Brunsbüttel to watch the plans and even take photos of them, but that they don´t give scans away. I´m not sure, yet, if I will attend to that invitation, Warsaw in Poland is closer to my place than Brunsbüttel. Still, I hope to find a local colleage instead. We will see.
Release of the model (hopefully) is in November.