Model-Maker Brings Towboats And Sculptures To Life

For a little more than 33 years, Randy Mayse, 74, has been a man of many talents when it comes to being an artist, a craftsman and a historian. His strong passion for towboats and being out on the water has led him to his now artistically peaceful retirement. His passion for creating goes beyond his own work experience in the towing industry, but it does play a key role in inspiring his many projects.

Mayse grew up along the river in Louisiana, Mo., where boats and barges were a way of life. His father was a door-to-door bread salesman while his mother stayed home to care for her three children. Like many kids growing up along the Mississippi River, Mayse became captivated by the constant movement of towboats and barges.

“I always ended up looking through the fence at the barges coming and going,” Mayse said.

That fascination never left him.

Later in life, Mayse joined the Air Force, serving eight years. Even while he was stationed away from home, he spent every chance he had to return on leave along the river. After leaving the military, he moved to Montana, where he built houses for 13 years before returning to Missouri to continue construction work. Throughout those years, the river kept calling him back. His love for towboats was matched only by his love for creating. Modeling was something he had done since he was a child, and it came naturally to him. During his time in the Air Force, he was also a member of the Air Force Artist Association, painting aircraft to commemorate anniversaries and new aircraft introductions, further developing the artistic skills that would later define his career.

The first of his many river-inspired projects was a series of 1/300-scale towboat and barge models, each only about the size of a thumb drive. Although Mayse loved building them, the tiny scale demanded incredible patience and attention to detail. Every piece was handcrafted, and his earliest castings required individually detailed parts that were layered and glued together before he later refined the process into one-piece castings with printed wraps.

In 1994, what started as a simple idea to make barge key rings quickly evolved into something much larger. Instead of producing only keychains, Mayse found himself creating toy towboats and barges for collectors and river enthusiasts. He designed every model, created the rubber molds and handled the casting process himself until demand became too great for one person.

He eventually founded Cherokee Barge & Boat, producing models for more than 80 towing companies, complete with different paint schemes, logos, barges and dry docks. By the time he sold the company in 2004, Mayse had produced nearly 1.5 million castings.

While continuing his artistic work, Mayse also spent years working on the river with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Beginning in 2000, he became one of the last people to operate steam-powered equipment on the inland waterways before the Corps phased out steam operations in 2006. Looking back on those years, Mayse said, “I was one of the last people to run steam on the rivers. (I) started that with the Corps of Engineers in 2000. By 2006, steam was gone. Good memories for me.”

Mayse recalled those years by saying, “This was everything that consumed me in that line for 15 years or so.”

Although he sold Cherokee Barge & Boat, his passion for the work never disappeared. He later bought the company back, improving the manufacturing process and refining the models even further. He also experimented with creating locks and dams to accompany the towboats, though the intricate pressure-casting process made those pieces difficult to produce on a larger scale. His standard towboat sets pushed a 15-barge tow, reflecting what people commonly see on America’s inland waterways.

For Mayse, creating has never been about simply selling a product.

“Most of this stuff came about from me wanting something for myself,” he said.

That philosophy would continue to shape every project that followed. Each new creation began with his own curiosity and desire to make something that didn’t already exist.

While towboats became his signature, Mayse rarely stayed with one idea for long. Over the years, he designed commemorative Lewis and Clark canoe sets, highly detailed digital boat illustrations, laser-cut wooden puzzles, collectible miniature smokestacks, deck fittings, concrete towboats and barges and, most recently, bronze sculptures honoring life on the river. Each project challenged him to learn a new skill while preserving the history and culture of the inland waterways.

His latest work, the “Working on the River” sculpture series, captures the people behind the industry, beginning with “The Deckhand” and “Meeting on the One.” He hopes to continue the series with “The Engineer” and “The Cook,” while also returning to one of his earliest artistic passions, acrylic painting.

Despite producing countless castings and works of art, Mayse said the greatest reward has never been the projects themselves. It has been the people and friendships they’ve created.

He is grateful to his son, Jeff, and his daughter, Lisa, for all of the help they provided on his many projects and to his wife, Sue, who has witnessed every new idea unfold. Mayse laughed as he admitted, “The worst thing she can hear me say is, ‘Susie, I’ll tell you what I’m thinking.’ ” Her usual response? “Oh, no. Not again.”

Even in retirement, Mayse isn’t finished creating. His mindset hasn’t changed in decades: “Just love to get on a project, just start with nothing, and keep on going until I’ve got something.”

Editor’s Note: Jessie Earley joined The Waterways Journal for an internship in the summer of 2026. She is a St. Louis native who recently graduated from Maryville University with her bachelor’s degree in English. Her four years at Maryville were filled with being a part of the field hockey team, MU Pawprint and Magnolia Literary and Arts magazine. She is excited to learn more about the maritime industry and the city she grew up in. The Waterways Journal is pleased to be introducing young aspiring editors and writers to the barge industry, and we hope to continue this practice in future summers.

Featured photo caption: A detailed illustration by Randy Mayse depicts the mv. Mary Evelyn, one of the many custom towboat drawings he has created using Adobe software to preserve the history of inland river vessels. (Photo courtesy of the artist’s collection)