Construction - Hull Finishing

Part of construction starts out quite boring as it involves a lot of sanding.

1) The End Keels were cut out o f a solid piece of 1/2" Maple and screwed from the inside and coated with long hair fiberglass bondo to make a very strong bond.

2) Again I used finishing bondo to fix any large imperfections in the hull.

3) I cut out the end portion of the rubbing strake from a piece of 1/2" plywood and gave it a quick bondo and sanding job to give it its approximate final shape.  The entire forward end rear parts will be solid for extra strength and will pass through the fiberglass hull.

4) I then laid the plans out on the floor and checked to see that the hull and parts lined up.

5) Then a zip-disk on an angle grinder was used to cut out the area of the rubbing strake from the hull.

6) I again laid the hull and forward Rubbing strakes out on the floor and epoxied it all together.

7) Once I had the forward rubbing strakes on I put the model aside to allow time to build a proper shop.  Me and my dad had been planning this addition to our house for a couple of years.  We finally got a Building Permit and went to work.  When we finally finished I was awarded a nice big work bench, only problem is when I put the ship on it it takes up 80% of my bench.

8) At this stage the forward and aft sections of the hull were blocked of by a 1/2" pine bulkhead fiber glassed directly to the inside of the hull.  I added blue Styrofoam to the void space this created.  This is unnecessary but it will stop the space from filling with water if I hit something hard enough to puncture 3 layers of fiberglass mat.

9) Next I added a 1/4" plywood deck tot he inside of the hull, this will act as a nice flat surface to mount everything on as well as a little area to add lead later.  It is completely enclosed below with caps on the ends to make it airtight.

  10) Solid 1/2" pine side rubbing strakes were cut and routered to allow for the scale 1/4" thick strakes and hangover.  They were routered to allow for the hull to sit inside of a dado to make a very strong connection.  I again used long hair fiberglass bondo to attach the pieces to the hull.  I had to use 3 20 litre jugs of water to force the thick mixture into the dado and hold it there.

11) Two 1/2" plywood boards were cut to fit over the forward and stern bulkheads to make it completely watertight.  I epoxied the boards in place and this made a solid bow/stern mounting plates.  As well I cut a cover out of 1/4" plywood.

12) Hot Tub Trial.

13) I then went back to finishing bondo and sanding the new deck and hull.

14) Once I had her fairly clean I sprayed her with sandable primer to finish it up for now.

  15) I then fiber glassed in the battery holders, a mount for the water pump and a few little touchups.

16) The holes for the water intake/outflow as well as the RADs were drilled and the fittings were glued in and then reinforced with long hair fiberglass bondo.