Topic: Choupette (Read 31037 times)

Sandy · « **Reply #25 on:** December 23, 2010, 11:13:20 pm »

Quote from: gwa84 on December 23, 2010, 04:34:23 pm

could you tell me where you got the clamps with the soft rubber orange ends from seriously need some of them and cant seem to fined them

Our local B&Q. They were in the 'everything for a pound skip'. I bought two sets, each had about 12 clamps of various sizes. Quite useful as the rubber ends are quite 'grippy'.

Sandy · « **Reply #26 on:** December 23, 2010, 11:28:26 pm »

Quote from: Aeronut4 on December 23, 2010, 01:20:28 pm

It's looking good Sandy! I'm just about to start fitting the bottom skins to mine. Can I ask how you clamped the skins to the keel stringers while the glue dried? Having trouble trying to think of a way to do this that doesn't involve holes!

Hi,
I used lots of clamps.
I have attached one photo of how I did the first bottom 'plate' and two of the second.
I found it easy to use larger clamps to hold the aft end in place to the stringers, the largest clamps I had to hold the plate to the front and rear formers, and the tight little clamps to hold between the bow and the front former.
The first snag I had was holding the part by the keel in place while 'twisting' the front section. As you can see, I used quite a few of the rubber nosed clamps to push down on the hull bottom plate and jam in against the little stringers I glued to the keel.
The second snag was that the second hull floor plate needed a huge ammount of bending to get it to fit, hence even more clips ... plus, while trial fitting the stringer split off from the stem piece and had to be re-glued.
Hope that helps.

All the best

Sandy · « **Reply #27 on:** December 24, 2010, 12:00:20 am »

Getting the sides on was more problematic, especially the second side (no pictures unfortunately) as the deck seemed twisted and I needed one of the big blue clamps to pull it in to shape. Even then, I maybe should have applied more 'pull' as there is a gap at the top between sid eplate and deck. However, the teak rubbing strip should cover that.

Hope these help as well.

Aeronut4 · « **Reply #28 on:** December 24, 2010, 10:08:50 am »

Thanks for the pics Sandy. I'd just about figured out that lots of clamps were going to be needed. I'll have to try and find some like yours, with the soft grips, before I fit the skins. I use tape wherever I can, too, but sometimes only a clamp will do! I do plan to soak those bottom skins toward the bow, where they curve the most - ought to help a bit. Won't be doing any more on mine until next week now. Happy Christmas!

derekwarner · « **Reply #29 on:** December 26, 2010, 11:13:42 pm »

Sandy.......the hull shape of Choupette would lend itself perfectly for 'diagonal planking'..

....in the search box....just type 'diagonal planking'

You will find a number of threads ....some by member Bluebird where he displays some beautiful work .....happy building ....Derek

Sandy · « **Reply #30 on:** January 04, 2011, 02:45:46 pm »

Hi,

Some progress (both forwards and backwards) over the holiday.

Thanks for the advice in this thread:- http://www.modelboatmayhem.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=27957.0

I investigated using thin veneer, but what I was told was that going too thin could end up with glue soaked veneer which would look like wet cardboard. Spoke to Colin and Ronnie? at the Richmond Club in Glasgow (now a member), and planking was recommended.

Hot foot down to local model shop (Paisley Model Centre - helpful guys) and bought some 15mm x 2mm mahogany. Perhaps should have gone for 1.6mm, but they did not have enough in stock. Also, I bought enough planks to do the whole hull, but, when doing some mockups, there was just no way that I could get the planks to shape around the front with the clamps I have. Then remembered that Colin at the club had talked about painting the bottom of the hull. So, that is the current plan of action ... to paint it the lower hull black. If I had thought this all through a bit earlier, I could have bought less of the thinner mahogany 'planks' for the sides, but I am going to use the extras for the decking ... so it is going to be a very mahogany boat.

Just put a little filler on the lower hull. (nearly asphixiated by filler fumes) then will sand and slap on some undercoat/primer.

Still enjoying it, although the 'planking' was getting frustrating, but the CinCFleet was surprisingly unconcerned at her beloved bath becoming a sanding dock.

All the best

P.S. The diagonal planking would have been ideal, but it was vetoed ....

gingyer · « **Reply #31 on:** January 04, 2011, 06:01:37 pm »

looking good there Sandy
ready to sail when the Ice disappears

Aeronut4 · « **Reply #32 on:** January 05, 2011, 11:29:33 am »

Looking good Sandy! Mine's come on a bit, but not as far as yours. I've got bottom and side skins now fitted, but am leaving the deck off for now, until I get some of the interior fixings sorted out. My plan is to paint all the inside woodwork with thinned West Systems epoxy resin before fitting the deck, so I want to get wooden blocks etc. all in place before doing that. Planning to paint my hull white sides with red below the waterline and plank the deck areas with mahogany. I'll take some pics this afternoon when I go to the workshop.

Sandy · « **Reply #33 on:** January 05, 2011, 04:30:37 pm »

Looking forward to seeing the photos.

I seem to be doing mine backwards, as your plan of attack seems more logical (and is, I think, the same as how the original was done in the old MMI magazine by the designer of the Choupette). I could have planned interior locations better/sooner, although, I have left off the half formers to allow very bendy, flexible wrist/hand/paintbrush access .... possibly

Can I ask how you 'thin' the epoxy? I see that there is a West Systems agent in Glasgow. I was going to use yacht varnish for the interior, but maybe an epoxy resin wash would be better.

Is it pricey?

All the best

derekwarner · « **Reply #34 on:** January 05, 2011, 07:25:16 pm »

Sandy...West Systems market a low viscious epoxt resin range........not much thicker than water

...it is not inexpensive....but is a quality adhesive

Some builders use white or yellow PVA for the actual planking....this has the advantage of not needing to mix very small quantity of resin & hardner as planking should be performed in mirror images....& sometimes only two planks per days work

Then an internal coat of epoxy for strength + regitdity + water tight uintegrity

This then leaves a number of options for sealing the external surface whilst displaying the wooden plank colours & tones....

....Derek

Aeronut4 · « **Reply #35 on:** January 06, 2011, 12:23:39 pm »

Sandy - don't know about my logic being any better than yours, I just wanted to get the main mounting parts glued in before waterproofing the interior! West systems do several resins, but I bought their repair kit from Axminster tools http://www.axminster.co.uk/west-system-west-system-mini-repair-kit-prod364830/. The resin seems quite thin but I'll thin the first coat with around 10% isopropyl alcohol. You have to be careful not to add too much alcohol! For the decking finish, I'm considering using Rustins plastic coating - http://www.axminster.co.uk/rustins-clear-plastic-coating-prod23018/, though I may still just use a conventional gloss varnish. Got the steam engine finished and running today - it's a PM research V twin. Seems to run quite nicely, even though it's not yet run in! I've attached a few pics to show progress so far.

kno3 · « **Reply #36 on:** January 06, 2011, 02:43:46 pm »

The painted engine looks very nice.

Aeronut4 · « **Reply #37 on:** January 06, 2011, 03:19:56 pm »

kno3 - thanks for that! Just awaiting the arrival of some hex-headed bolts to give it that 'finished' look. I'll post a short video of the engine running in the 'steam' forum later - it's rendering right now.

Aeronut4 · « **Reply #38 on:** January 16, 2011, 06:02:20 pm »

Hey Sandy - How are you getting on with your Choupette? I've been a busy bee - here's a pic with progress so far. I've been planking the deck today (tedious!) and ran out of the limewood, hence it's not quite finished. I had it in the test tank the other day, mainly to check for leaks before I fitted the deck - it floats!

Sandy · « **Reply #39 on:** January 17, 2011, 09:54:10 am »

Wow, that looks great.

Not much done last week as I was busy with work, but I am hoping to get the last side plank on.

I haven't enough skill to plank the lower hull so it was going to get painted. Put on the first coat of primer and then decided it may have looked better stained. Ho hum.

I did get my 40mm propeller and I like how you have done your rudder. I don't have brass skills so I may try and modify a commercial rudder.

Unfortunately, seeing your planking has also made me realise that my idea was rubbish ...

All the best

Aeronut4 · « **Reply #40 on:** January 17, 2011, 06:33:12 pm »

Sandy - thanks for the compliment. I don't have much in the way of brass skills either, but there's only one way to get them! The worst you can lose is a bit of brass and some time. The planking is really easy to do, it just takes some time - what you see is the result of two afternoons' work, about 4 hours in total.

Sandy · « **Reply #41 on:** January 19, 2011, 07:01:26 pm »

What glue did you use to attach the deck planking? And what wood did you use for the 'splash shield' ?

Here is where I am this evening.

Stuck on the last plank. I had to go 20mm wide to cover the deepest part of the side, and so, the mahogany is slightly different from the other planks ... drat.

But hoping that it is close to the waterline so it should be okay. And we have decided to paint the bottom brown.

All the best

Aeronut4 · « **Reply #42 on:** January 19, 2011, 08:39:27 pm »

Sandy - that's looking good! Using Titebond III to attach the planking - seems to work very well. The 'splash shield' is 0.8mm ply, cut into strips and glued on - I'm planning to cover that with mahogany on the outside.

Aeronut4 · « **Reply #43 on:** January 20, 2011, 06:55:56 pm »

Finished the deck planking today - not quite symmetrical, but close enough for a first attempt! Now adding more mahogany strips to the 'splash shield', or is it called 'the coaming'?

Sandy · « **Reply #44 on:** January 24, 2011, 09:39:14 am »

Suffered a somewhat disheartening 'disaster' with the last mahogany plank at the front.

Ignoring advice from the club, I thought I could sand it in to a nice smooth shape, and failed. Now ended up with a rather 'unique' hull form up front and a rather blunt bow.

But I bought a commercial rudder and some wood for the decking so I will press on with that.

Aeronut4 · « **Reply #45 on:** January 24, 2011, 03:10:32 pm »

Sandy - We all make mistakes, some admit to them and some don't. At least yours will be different from all the rest!

Sandy · « **Reply #46 on:** January 24, 2011, 09:57:35 pm »

Here are this evenings endeavours ...

Aeronut4 · « **Reply #47 on:** January 25, 2011, 08:15:10 pm »

Sandy - you have nothing to be ashamed of there - it's looking great!

Sandy · « **Reply #48 on:** January 25, 2011, 08:56:06 pm »

Thanks very much.

Finished the deck planks today and sanded off the edges this evening. Stopped now. There is only so much sawdust the nose can inhale.

Quite pleased though. Spirits revived.

All the best

Tug-Kenny RIP · « **Reply #49 on:** January 26, 2011, 10:44:01 am »

Good result. Very pleasing on the eye.

Ken

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Author Topic: Choupette (Read 31037 times)

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