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[Merlin]

Having built GRP and plastic hull boats and never a wooden hull plank construction decided to have a go at the Amati Riva Aquarama.
Turned out to be quite a challenge with many hours spent on the first planking stage, a bit more sanding and scraping required and I have been at it for two days on and off!!
Not looking forward to the mahogany planking as this will be the finished hull with no scope for gaps.
Have now spent about 2 months on the build and despite a few worrying parts of the build certainly is enjoying the challenges....

[Shipmate60]

She is looking good.


Bob

[Mark T]

That is a lovely job that you have done there     On this forum there are some fantastic Riva builders and I'm sure that they will help if you need any!

[SteamboatPhil]

Excellent work you are doing so far, long hours, lots of patience (Mark T knows this well) but the end result.....   well worth it, proud you should be 

[Mark T]

Excellent work you are doing so far, long hours, lots of patience (Mark T knows this well) but the end result.....   well worth it, proud you should be 

Phil spot on mate - look at David's or Andy's build of these beautiful boats.  There's very little room for error when you are showing your finished work with no filler at all.  It seems to me that Riva's are all or nothing and I admire anyone who takes these builds on.


They may be the most beautiful boat ever and if you get it right...........WOW     I have to say that so far it looks amazing     Keep us updated!

[DJW]

Great to see another Aquarama in build..!  Progress looking really good, the drill and hole saw have been put to good use..! I can see a pair of brushless motors in the pics, can I ask which you've gone for..?

Look forward to seeing more pics and updates as you make progress.

The mahogany planks are great to work with. They take an edge really well. Can I ask what glue you're using..? Main issue I recall was trimming the edges of the planks. Undercutting them so that there's no gap left when they're on a curved part of the hull, and its all curved..! . (Not sure if Undercutting is the correct term...) this avoids need for filler and gives a better varnish result. Also, Great care needed with the mahogany ply as the mahogany outer layer is soooo thin, excess sanding will expose the lighter core. I used the veritas mini plane a lot at the planking stage.

Just been charging mine for an outing at the lake tomorrow.

Best regards
David.

[Martin (Admin)]

Very nice! ... Just two days?!   

[Merlin]

Used the Krick 25035 set which has the MAX Marine P-358 brushless motor driven by SEAKING 30A ESC. Only issue was the prop shafts supplied consisted of a brass tube and steel shaft and no bearings. Decided to go with Raboesch maintenance free shafts which were expensive but I hope worth the investment...

[Merlin]

On the glue front have been using Titebond 3 Ultimate wood Glue.
Have used it before on wooden built topsides, it grabs fairly quickly but long enough to position and nail the planks.

[DJW]

Looks like a nice motor and ESC pairing for the build. Mine are similar size but 1100Kv, plenty of power. Never need to go to full throttle on mine. In fact I've limited them to about 80% in the radio setup. The Krick shafts sound a bit odd, agree the Raboesch shafts should be a better quality option.  I used Titebond 3 as well, very pleased with how it behaves, using it for my current build too. Planning to use 3S LiPos with those motors..?

Very nice looking work.

Best regards
David.

[Merlin]

Yes will be using 3S LiPos, have powered up one of the motors and impressed with its running. This is the first time I have used brushless and happy with the decision if not at least with the weight saving over brushed.
I can see the mahogany planking will take some time to fit correctly without having to fill and I would like to avoid pinning the planks if at all possible. Thanks for the warning about the thin outer layer on the ply, thought it looked at bit thin

[DJW]

I think everyone has a different approach to planking. Mine is detailed out on page 7 of my build log.
https://www.modelboatmayhem.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,64276.150.html
Some very useful comments on there too from folks who know  more about planking than I do..!
It's a great stage of the build, very rewarding. When the classic lines of the Aquarama start to emerge. I recall buying some finer 0.5mm brass pins from CMB as like you I didn't want to use pins, but couldn't do without them in the end. Then when finished I used soapy water to expand the grain, most holes disappeared. Those that didn't I mixed some mahogany sawdust with titebond and pushed it into the pinholes. They disappeared after the  inevitable hours and days of sanding....
David.

[Merlin]

Thanks for the link and soapy water tip, looks a class A job you carried out. Looks like I'll be buying some 0.5mm pins...
Roger

[ChrisF]

I admire you guys who take on building Rivas as I don't have the patience or skill. They are lovely looking boats though.

I only use Raboesch maintenance free prop shafts in my builds as they are good quality and you don't have to worry about which oil or grease to use! They are expensive though and appear to have recently increased in price quite a bit.

Chris

[Martin (Admin)]

 
http://deansmarine.co.uk/shop/product_info.php/products_id/1138

https://www.cornwallmodelboats.co.uk/acatalog/Raboesch_Precision_Propshafts.html

[ChrisF]

I get all mine from CMB with most being 450mm M4 or M5, as I said expensive. I'll have to look up how much I paid for mine a year or so back. Fortunately I've got most of what I need for my builds.

Chris

[Merlin]

The shafts I purchased were from Deans and for two 301-00, with packing and admin costs, came to £76.65 not cheap!! Also had to be shortened slightly for the Aquarama..

[Merlin]

Some good progress made over the last few days, some more sanding to carry out and then it's on with the mahogany planking...

[DJW]

Good progress indeed..!  I see some mods extending the keel up and some posts in the mid section, is that for keeping batteries and hardware in place..?
Best regards
David.

[Merlin]

Correct the extension to the keel and nylon posts are for keeping the LiPos in place, also used Velcro for mounting the receiver and the ESC's.
Have also modified the exhausts by drilling and gluing in aluminium tube for water cooling the ESC's. The Krick data sheet for the motor set says that they don't need to be cooled but last thing I want is overheating ESC's and electronics are always more reliable when running cooler...

[Merlin]

Regarding the issues with sanding the mahogany ply any thoughts on replacing the ply with mahogany sheet. Having measured the ply at 1.2mm thickness there is sheet available at 1.5mm. Both CMB and Hobbies sell sheet, however CMB is out of stock. It is not expensive at Hobbies at £3.30 for a 100 x 457mm sheet.
https://www.hobbies.co.uk/mahogany-wood-panels?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaignid=18203540303&utm_campaign=&utm_term=&adid=&addisttype=xpla&matchtype=&gclid=CjwKCAjwvsqZBhAlEiwAqAHElc8eCSLeoflG_zEjpOgo-dOdIoo7KjY2zneah9kz2wYiABigol6j6hoC0XoQAvD_BwE

[DJW]

I think that's a good plan.  Despite being really careful on my Amati build I exposed some of the lighter ply core, it's really irritating every time I see it...  I'm planning to use sheet when it comes to that stage on my 1/5 build.  Incidentally, I still haven't found a Mahogany filler that isn't a very odd shade, usually has too much purple for some reason, or that takes vanish 'nicely'.  And when the aim is to varnish the whole boat to a high standard, there's no hiding place...  Best I managed was to keep the fine Mahogany sawdust and mix it with Titebond.

[Merlin]

Progress being made but very slowly, probably down to my lack of experience on planking. Rubbing down with coarse paper as I go to reduce the sanding workload when planking completed..

[DJW]

Looking good..! If its helpful, I got some good use out of a set of scrapers at this stage, great for levelling the planks rather than smoothing as the scrapers just remove the high spots. Also very useful to get any excess glue out of the 'side' of the plank before laying the next, so they lay tight together.


These are the scrapers I found / used.  https://amzn.eu/d/dtIfx5B


Best regards
David.

[Merlin]

David, thanks for the tip on the scrapers, purchased a set from Amazon and must say takes a lot of the elbow grease out of sanding level. Also the curved scraper looks like it will be very useful on the concave profile of the hull. Also noticed on your post that you used initial coats of Z-Poxy before the varnish stage. Think I will do the same with Le Tonkinois for the varnish stages..
Roger