Frank's Covid 19.4 build- a boat!

[Frank v B]

The second half of the deck is on and the cockpit gunwales are in place drying.

[Frank v B]

- rear decking in place (clamped)
- rudder assembly drilled, blind nuts installed.  Found the rudder assembly in a dollar bin at a hobby store a few years ago.

Let dry over dinner.

Looking like a boat.

F.

[bweaver]

The real question is, will it float or not?    

[Frank v B]

Bruce,

Now you tell me.

My toy only has to float.  Yours* has to float and fly! 

Picky, picky.

Frank

* the Savoie Marchetti S55X

[bweaver]

Mine definitely will float because it is made of foam. (Naturally buoyant.)  Yours once wet may become water logged and sink.  Mine should float for ever, wether in one piece or multiple pieces. 

Will mine fly?  Hopefully it should, even off of terra firma.  However, time will tell.

I hope we can get out to some bodies of water to test them both out...

Keep well.

[Frank v B]

Bruce, you sure are covering all bases.

Decks finished on the Sk-Daddle jr..

Next steps: motor and RC installation.

Frank

ps: I had an e-mail exchange with Rudie Nagelmakers of Beeton today. Once Covid settles down we will get together at their pond.

[Frank v B]

- Motor is in
- Rudder is in so the servo can be located.  This is a 1" prop.  I have left clearance to increase the prop size.

Letting it cure overnight.

Frank

note: the coupling is a temporary piece of stiff plastic tubing so it will hold the motor in a straight line while the glue dries.  Once the glue has cured, the flexible coupling will take its rightful place.

[Gregor77]

looking at the 049 video, Franks boat will sink with all the fuel leaking out of one of those things.. better stick with a battery.   Nice build Frank.

[Frank v B]

Painting the hull.  Chose to paint it white for visibility.  The only oil-based paint I had was Trembclad rust paint.  This is the 3rd coat with sanding in-between (220 grit).  The sanding removed most of the paint to flatten out the brush marks and wood grain.  BTW, each coat has to dry 24 hours before it can be sanded.

Had to wait until this morning for Home Depot to open up.  Bought sandpaper and clear varnish.  Sanded the white bottom with 320 sandpaper before the last coat.  After this coat dries I will sand it with 320 grit and then polish it with 400 grit wet and dry sandpaper and water.

The latex paints at home would have worked but most good interior paint do not become scrubbable until after 30 days.  I ain't waiting that long!!

Have masked off the deck and am hoping none of the white paint has leeched onto the mahogany deck.  It will be clear varnished.  The inside will be waterproofed as well with clear varnish.

F.

[bweaver]

Re: Have masked off the deck and am hoping none of the white paint has leeched onto the mahogany deck.  It will be clear varnished.  The inside will be waterproofed as well with clear varnish.

F.
[/quote]

With that amount of masking it should be protected enough from a virus too! 

[Frank v B]

This is what 3 coats of white paint on the hull and 6 coats of water based urethane on the deck look like.
Sanding in-between coats was 220, then 320 and lastly 400 grit with water.

Now the electronics.

F.

[Frank v B]

Got the wiring done.  Wiring from the motor can be seen below the hatch in the photos.

Photo 72-  Built a frame to sit inside the hatch and glued plywood to it that covered half the hatch.  Letting it dry first.  The photo shows the underside of the hatch.
Photo 73-  The hatch view from the top side.  The second half of the hatch is to the left.

F.

[Frank v B]

Tried something new.

Two days ago I received a bundle of deck detail wood from Rudie Nagelmakers of the Beeton Club.  He bought a used tug from a friend and came with the wood to detail the deck.
The wood appears to be red Cedar and the yellow detail is to mimic the detail stripe on the decks of real boats.  See second photo.

Decided to detail a second hatch for show.  The first plywood one is for running the boat because it will be shut with hatch tape, not screws.

The photo shows the decking installation of the first phase.  It is drying in this position.  Once it is dry, I'll handle the fussy centre joint so the middle details won't move all the planks.  Note that the yellow detail strips stick up above the deck.  Once dry, it will be sanded down.

Looks neat.  A Covid benefit.  It soaked up 5 hours so far for a total cost of $0.00.   

Frank

[Frank v B]

Decking on the display hatch finished.  Needs to cure before sanding and varnishing.

The photo shows the plywood running hatch on the left and the simulated mahogany hatch in place on the right.

F.

[piker]

Looking awesome, Frank.

My plan is to one day start building full size boats like that.