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[lgosdset]

well i have designed my boat, a 42" power boat.

and today i was planning to buy some materials for it, then i suddenly thourght, what am i going to make it from? I want it to be wood, thats easy, but can i just go down my local DIY shop and buy some ply wood and make it out of that or should i buy something special? having never built a boat before i don't really know what to do. the bulkheads are going to be 1/8 ply, and the transom 1/4 ply and 1/8 ply glued togther, but what about the other stuff? will regular ply do?

[toesupwa]

well i have designed my boat, a 42" power boat.

and today i was planning to buy some materials for it, then i suddenly thourght, what am i going to make it from?

It depends on the shape of the boat..
Is it physically possible to use plywood for its construction?.. or is it full of compound curves and angles?...

Build the boat in you mind first and see if its possible in ply..

By the way, two things..
Ply from the DIY store isnt generally of the best quality.. Ply from a model shop is better.
Ply may be difficult to find at 42" long and you may have to splice a few joints.

[banjo]

Did you not read any of the "how to" threads or any of the model building books available?
You are certainly setting yourself a task.
The last guy I heard of doing this was using the bible as his manual and getting the measurements in cubits.  He did quite well as I recall!
I would try modeling from a "popular" plan first of all to give yourself a feel for the materials and an idea of the range of "stuff" available.

Best of luck

 

[Philipsparker]

logosdset - I'd steer clear of the DIY store. The plywood there will be of indifferent quality and probably too thick for your purpose. If you go a decent model shop, see if you can get "liteply", a very flexible plywood which cuts nicely with a sharp knife and is easy to work. Alternativly, work in plasticard.

However I have to agree with others when they say you need to dig out some articles or books devoted to the beginner. It's difficult to explain how much your question tells us about your lack of modelling experience. At least take a look at some plans, Glyn Guest does some nice basic models in Model Boats magazine, before comitting anything to wood.

Good luck with your project though. We're all here to help but you'll need to help yourself a bit as well.

Phil
http://philsworkbench.blogspot.com/

[lgosdset]

cheers guys,

I have had my eye out for modeling books, but now i feel i really need to buy one or two. ok I will stay away from the DIY shop, hopefully my local model shop will have some usefull information too. I have looked at some plans before, the angles arn't too complex, I made it easy on myself by tring to make my first plan as simple as possible. I have built a scale tug before, however this was made from a plastic kit, and i used to race 1/10 touring cars, but i have never designed something and then built it completely from scratch.

whatever happens I am sure It will be good experience to learn from.

[cos918]

hi there if your local model shop doesn't have the ply wood in the size you require. Try your local timber merchant. My local one has loads of top quality ply in all thickness and diffrent grade ply. He even does 1mm 3 layer ply in big sheets. Because you buy a big sheet you get a better deal than the A4 size sheets most model shops supply.
john

[Bryan Young]

cheers guys,

I have had my eye out for modeling books, but now i feel i really need to buy one or two. ok I will stay away from the DIY shop, hopefully my local model shop will have some usefull information too. I have looked at some plans before, the angles arn't too complex, I made it easy on myself by tring to make my first plan as simple as possible. I have built a scale tug before, however this was made from a plastic kit, and i used to race 1/10 touring cars, but i have never designed something and then built it completely from scratch.

whatever happens I am sure It will be good experience to learn from.

DIY shops are very useful. My local one stocks 1.5mm ply because modellers need(want) it. DIY shops also have a better range of glues and other fixatives than the average Model Shop. When you are building a "plug" for a mould then finesse is not the answer. Industrial strength is required, and Model Shops are not always the best sources, DIY shops tend to be cheaper than Model Shops. For other timbers why not try outfits that cater to the Dolls House brigade? Many useful bits in there.

[w3bby]

You want a decent aircraft birch ply to start with, 6mm (1/4") is OK for the transom and stringers, 3mm (1/8") for the formers and hull, you can go to 1,5mm (1/16") for the deck if you so wish.
Hopefully you can build most of it bending the ply and glueing to the frames. On your other thread you were sent copies of a well used plan built by many around the world if you are similar to that you will be OK, I would recommend building that before your own design though as it is a known entity.
Ply in larger sheets you can find at specialists, there are some links in the "WOOD" section here
http://www.modelboatmayhem.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=7158.0
http://www.modelboatmayhem.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=6403.0

If you want to see a lot of wooden power boats then go to RCU and search, lots of construction threads all with their own little twist.
Here's mine built a few years ago, high 40īs, low 50's (mph)