Model Boat Mayhem
The Shipyard ( Dry Dock ): Builds & Questions => Pleasure boats, Sports, Race, Power and Leisure Boats: => Topic started by: SailorGreg on January 25, 2014, 10:22:02 pm
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I recently purchased this kit from a fellow Mayhemer (thanks Mark) who had decided he was never going to get around to putting it together. It is a few years old, and I don’t know how it compares with the kit you buy today, so some of my comments as we go through the build might not apply to a modern kit. (But of course they might!)
I plan to build this pretty much out of the box, although there are a few mods I hope to make as I go along. I have read a lot of build threads elsewhere of this type of boat, although they are few and far between here on MBM. My only previous significant model boat building has been my steam launch (http://www.modelboatmayhem.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,41151.0.html) and I have never built a model boat kit before, so this is going to be an interesting ride. If there is anyone out there who has experience of Dumas kits, please feel free to chip in. O0
Having sorted through the box of bits (all present and correct), the first step is to produce a building board. Mine is from 20mm MDF and is marked out as instructed in the Dumas instructions.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/buildingboard_zpsf140979c.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/buildingboard_zpsf140979c.jpg.html)
Well, that was easy. Next is separating the diecut frame and keel parts from the plywood sheets. I have to say I have seen better quality ply in my time, and I picked up a few splinters during this process (including one down a finger nail – ouch! >:-o ) Other than that the pieces came out pretty easily with a sharp scalpel, although at this stage some are pretty fragile as I found out. Still, nothing a drop of CA can’t fix.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/fragile_zps534d0fa6.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/fragile_zps534d0fa6.jpg.html)
I also came across a potential issue with the frames. I put two marks on each of the frame position lines to allow me to get the frame central (something the Dumas instructions don’t suggest) and then found when I put the frames to these marks that the keel slot was off-centre.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/offcentre_zpscb26f5cd.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/offcentre_zpscb26f5cd.jpg.html)
You can see that the corners of the frame are on the pencil marks each side but the centre line is not in the centre of the slot. All the frames that slot on to the keel had a similar offset. The keel was also a loose fit in the slot, so some of the apparent offset could be lost by pushing the keel to one side of the slot. After thinking about this, I decided to press on and align the keel and frames as best I could within my marks and trust that the hull fairing would even out any discrepancies. I should point out to those unfamiliar with Dumas kits that the central keel only covers the forward half of thr boat. The rear half centreline is defined by a "butterfly keel" which is basically two flat strips of wood fixed over the aft frames. The keel you see in the next few pictures is only half the length of the finished boat. All will become clear later! :-))
The keel is a double thickness of ply. I glued the port and starboard halves of the keel together with a simple jig to make sure the edges were exactly aligned as I clamped the two halves together – just a few strips CA’ed onto a firm base.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/gluedkeel_zpsffd10344.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/gluedkeel_zpsffd10344.jpg.html)
At the next stage of erecting the keel and first 6 frames I did favour getting the keel along the centre line over getting the frames exactly centred. It remains to be seen if I regret this in the future! Actually once the frames and keel were glued together and to the building board, there didn’t seem to be any huge discrepancies (but then I don’t know at this stage what is significant and what isn’t! :embarrassed:
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/firstsix_zps7e1f1cd6.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/firstsix_zps7e1f1cd6.jpg.html)
Well, that’s it for the moment. I am already a little more advanced than this, so the next few posts will catch up to where I am. I've just realised I haven't posted any piccies of the kit contents, which seems to be a favoured starting point. I'll see what I can do on that front for the next post.
Greg
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Hello Greg,
Those frames look awfully fragile at the moment, should become more rigid as you progress though and things tighten up.
Never built one of those myself but still find it an interesting subject O0
Looking forward to your progress :-))
Regards,
Ray.
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Nice start Greg! :-))
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I recently purchased this kit from a fellow Mayhemer (thanks Mark) who had decided he was never going to get around to putting it together.
Good luck with it Greg - I've too many projects and I'll be interested to see the progress.
Thoroughly enjoyed your steam launch build (http://www.modelboatmayhem.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,41151.0.html) - I've been inspired to get on with my MHB Topaz...
Mark
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First, as promised, a couple of piccies of the box and its contents.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/box_zps80909d55.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/box_zps80909d55.jpg.html)
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/contents_zpscc24c90e.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/contents_zpscc24c90e.jpg.html)
At the top are the vacuum moulded seats – I will probably use these initially but I rather fancy some vinyl (or even real leather) ones, so will keep copies of all the cockpit pieces to allow me to make replacements sometime later. Under these is a bundle of mahogany planks which will form the outer planking of the hull and deck. The cardboard tube contains styrene strips which will be the caulking between the deck planks. Under the tube are some mahogany sheets for sheer planks and other trim pieces. In the box proper are other wood sheets, mainly birch ply, to build the internal structure. By the time I took the photo the sheets of nasty ply for the frames had already gone to be used. The small box on the left contains a piece of plastic for the windscreen, the rudder, propeller, dowel for flagstaffs and a few other bits and bobs. A prop shaft is also provided but I plan to fit a replacement with a metric thread (as I also plan to replace the propeller). In the middle is a plastic bag of chromed fittings. These are of rather average quality and I suspect will be the cause of great indecision when the time comes to fit them – use, modify or replace? On the right are the “decorations” – name, home port and self adhesive flags
OK, on to the real business. The next step is to erect the rest of the frames along with the sheers and chines, which lock everything together. All these parts have to be slotted together and put in place before anything is glued, so having a third (and fourth) hand is a distinct advantage. O0 Unfortunately I am not so blessed, so I just cursed, swore, picked everything of the floor a few times, and eventually got to this stage.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/allframes_zps6be724a3.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/allframes_zps6be724a3.jpg.html)
All the joints now get a drop of CA and a squirt of kicker, as do the legs of the frames where they rest on the building board. Everything then becomes a lot more solid. :-))
Next come some stringers and for some reason those supplied were a little short.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/shortstringers_zps3b171299.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/shortstringers_zps3b171299.jpg.html)
You can see the cutout in frame 2 where the stringers should reach, but they don’t. :o Not to worry, I made up replacements from some Douglas fir I had and pressed on. Next problem – one of my replacements was too short but I didn’t find out until I had started gluing it in place. :embarrassed: (The first person to say “measure twice, cut once” can leave now!) Rather than rip out the glued joints, which I thought might damage the fragile frames, I CA-tacked a second piece of wood alongside the stringer, tacked this to a large block which I braced against the frames then planed a scarph joint in situ. I popped the two pieces apart, turned one round and glued them together – instant longer stringer! Here’s the joint being cut.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/insituscarph_zpsded00b63.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/insituscarph_zpsded00b63.jpg.html)
Having got over that little wrinkle, the other bits and pieces needed before planking begins were added. The next picture shows the curved transom piece and the end of the “butterfly keel”.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/transomfitted_zps4b001b4b.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/transomfitted_zps4b001b4b.jpg.html)
and then the balsa blocks that form the bow. Here they are with shaping underway -
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/carvingbalsa_zpsf715fa06.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/carvingbalsa_zpsf715fa06.jpg.html)
and finished –
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/balsabow_zps5680c9a7.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/balsabow_zps5680c9a7.jpg.html)
Next was a bit of fairing and I made up a board for the larger, flatter areas (80 grit as you can see).
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/fairingboard_zps8feafdd7.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/fairingboard_zps8feafdd7.jpg.html)
I made sure all edges had been touched with the abrasive and that the bevel formed along the edge of the chine was even all around, then stopped. Next was the first planks, and here they are.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/firstplanks_zpsbe161464.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/firstplanks_zpsbe161464.jpg.html)
Next time will be the first layer of planking and separating from the building board, Can’t wait to see her right way up!
Greg
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The first layer of planking all went fairly smoothly, although there were one or two points where I had to stop and ponder, and a few adjustments to the frames were made as I’ll explain as we go along. Starting on the flat stern area is great because it is all easy there, and things roll along pretty quickly. Just one short session gets me here -
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/gettingthere_zps249f4831.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/gettingthere_zps249f4831.jpg.html)
As I was using kicker on the CA I found I did need to clean the glue away from each joint – the corner of a steel rule worked pretty well as a scraper.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/scrapingglue_zps332762be.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/scrapingglue_zps332762be.jpg.html)
(Yes, I know it’s not the right tool but it works! :embarrassed: )
Although I tried to keep the centre join central, I did wander off at one point so corrected myself –
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/realigncentre_zps07760797.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/realigncentre_zps07760797.jpg.html)
Not sure if that will really matter once the fairing is done, but it keeps me happy. Sorry for the blurred picture.
One area where the instructions are silent and I slowed down for a long think is the point near the bow where the chine washes out into the bow profile - how should I join the two runs of planking? Along the main part of the hull there is a simple overlap joint at something close to right angles.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/planedchine_zps0df868ea.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/planedchine_zps0df868ea.jpg.html)
At the bow, the two runs of planking have to form a butt joint. This is how I made the transition, although those with more experience than me might be able to offer better ways.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/chinetransition_zps5a11ff91.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/chinetransition_zps5a11ff91.jpg.html)
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/transitionplanked_zps56ca40ed.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/transitionplanked_zps56ca40ed.jpg.html)
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/transitionfaired_zpsd185d566.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/transitionfaired_zpsd185d566.jpg.html)
I hope the pictures are self-explanatory. However, this is getting a little ahead of things. After I had completed the bottom planking and planed it flush with the chines I tried measuring the frames from the centre line to make sure everything was going to turn out symmetrical. This proved very tricky so I built myself a jig to slide along the building board to allow me to check offsets from the centreline at each frame.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/measuringframe_zpsc87f624e.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/measuringframe_zpsc87f624e.jpg.html)
The jig runs on two short lengths of brass angle and the building board does need to be parallel-sided for this to work. I measured the hull each side from the inside faces of the uprights, and these obviously need to be identical distances from the centreline of the building board and hull. I spent some time making sure this was the case (and shimming one side because my centreline wasn’t exactly in the centre of the board) but after that I could take measurements from each side with confidence. Mostly the hull was symmetrical give or take a shaving or two with the plane. There were two areas that seemed noticeably wrong. Firstly at the transom where the ends of the sheers were about 3mm different (probably because I wasn’t careful enough when I glued them in place as the interlocking slots were pretty sloppy here), and around frames 4 and 5 where the two sides were noticeably different. I wasn’t sure whether to sand away one side or add material to the other to make them the same. The “fuller” side did seem fair when I viewed it and ran battens along it, so I eventually decided to add some material to the “thinner” side.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/stringerpadding_zps8260629e.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/stringerpadding_zps8260629e.jpg.html)
I added thin strips to frames 4 and 5 and a piece to the stringer, then faired everything in until the measurements were the same port and starboard. I then pressed on with the planking. I found the stern area to be quite tricky this time, and eventually decided to leave the triangular area at the transom (that’s the area just above the pencil in the picture below) until I had the hull the right way up, when I will also fix the sheer measurements.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/sterntriangle_zps0f7169f2.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/sterntriangle_zps0f7169f2.jpg.html)
Once I had all the planking in place, I faired the hull with my fairing board, a small palm sander and a little help from a friend… %)
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/littlehelper_zps9518b0e7.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/littlehelper_zps9518b0e7.jpg.html)
I found it very helpful to scribble lightly all over the surface when fairing so I could see where I still needed to work. I renewed the scribbling several times as I did this and with a small amount of filling as well I ended up with a hull that looked and felt smooth, and was beginning to show some of the elegance of the finished boat –
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/fairedbow_zps039aadcb.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/fairedbow_zps039aadcb.jpg.html)
Once I was happy with the fairing I cut the hull off the building board and turned it over – first view of the inside -
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/firstviewinside_zps2f91e0a0.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/firstviewinside_zps2f91e0a0.jpg.html)
Oh I do like that herring bone pattern :-)) :-)) This is pretty well where I am now, so things might slow down a little from here on. Really enjoying this build!
Greg
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I am following this thread with great interest Greg :-)) ....but when did you borrow my roll of 100% premium quality Australian 8 ply cotton string? >>:-( .....Derek
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Been following this one as I keep looking at the CC cobra 27 kit from Dumas.
What's your opinion on the quality of the kit, wood etc?
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Your string Derek? %) %)
Well, you are welcome to come and collect it in person! (As you know I used it originally in my steam boat (http://www.modelboatmayhem.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,41151.0.html) build -
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/stringlagging_zpscbdc9dbf.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/stringlagging_zpscbdc9dbf.jpg.html)
but it is amazing how often having a ball of string to hand comes in really useful! O0 )
essex2visuvesi - I haven't really done any kit building since my last Airfix Spitfire in 19** (assuming you don't count my steam engine - see above) so I am not really qualified to compare this to any other kit. Given that, I would say that if you are used to making things and can work to a reasonable level of precision then this should not pose too many problems. As to the quality of the wood, the birch ply is fine and I think the mahogany is OK although I haven't used any of that yet. The plywood provided for the frames and carcase is, frankly, rubbish and splinters easily. Here's what happens if you are a little careless -
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/splintery_zpsf4417bb5.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/splintery_zpsf4417bb5.jpg.html)
I realise that all kits make some concessions to price. I guess that is why this wood is used, and it is certainly useable with care, just slightly annoying (and painful!) when the splinters fly. The kit also contains a prop shaft which didn't impress, (it is really tight in its bearings and would need some serious bedding in to reduce the friction) and while it is really nice to have chromed metal fittings it would have been better if the moulding lines had been removed before chroming! A price thing again I suppose.
If this sounds like I am dissatisfied with the kit, I am not. I am really enjoying building it and the overall design goes together well. Although this is my first (recent) kit, I do make things in wood and have a fairly well equipped workshop. I would say that for anyone who has successfully completed a wood kit or two, this is well within their skill level (so far, at least %) - not sure how difficult it gets from here!).
Hope that helps.
Greg
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Now that the hull is right way up, a stand seemed a good idea.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/buildingstand_zps7220be84.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/buildingstand_zps7220be84.jpg.html)
This is purely for holding the hull during the building – I will make something a little prettier once she’s finished O0
First job was to finish off the corner at the stern I had left when the hull was upside down. I am glad I did it this way because I found this piece (the long untrimmed piece) a bit tricky.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/difficultcorner_zps35238a95.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/difficultcorner_zps35238a95.jpg.html)
I had to put a fair bit of twist into this before I attempted to glue it in place. Fortunately the birch ply takes this very well, and after being a bit brutal with the piece (just grip each end and twist hard!) it fitted fairly well. I then started trimming off the “feet” of the frames and the overhanging edges of the planking. At this point I wished I had spent a little more time cutting the individual pieces to size rather than leaving all sorts of odd angles and lengths hanging over the edges. Oh well, next time…. ;) A razor saw, small plane and chisel got rid of most of the surplus and then everything was sanded flat. I did find the chisel most useful as you can pare down almost flush without putting lots of strain on the glued joints.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/paringdown_zpsdfe2ec82.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/paringdown_zpsdfe2ec82.jpg.html)
All sanded flush now –
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/flushedwithsuccess_zps7b97668c.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/flushedwithsuccess_zps7b97668c.jpg.html)
I did leave the extended keel right at the bow because this holds a small screw that is my string centreline for taking measurements (making sure this boat is symmetrical seems to have become something of an obsession with me %% ). I plan to hang on to this as long as I can so I can keep checking.
At this stage I epoxied the inside of the hull while everything was still open and accessible. Builders of this sort of boat do seem very keen on thinning their epoxy. Although I have used epoxy quite a lot on full size boats, including building one, I had never thinned it. Indeed, at full scale this is discouraged as it can weaken the resin. However, the body of opinion made me wonder if this was a trick I should follow. I did a little experiment – I coated the starboard half of the hull in full strength epoxy and thinned (about 20% thinners) the epoxy for the port half. After all, if it turned out horrible at least it's on the inside %) Fairly soon after I had done this, it was obvious that the thinned epoxy had soaked into the wood much more than the unthinned. As I write it is all still wet, so I will have to wait until it’s all cured to see what my final verdict will be. It will be interesting to see if the thinned epoxy cures faster, slower or the same as the unthinned. Here’s the epoxied hull, although both sides look the same here!
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/insideepoxy_zps6a270550.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/insideepoxy_zps6a270550.jpg.html)
Stay tuned for the next exciting episode!
Greg
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It occurred to me that some reading here might not have a clear idea of what the finished product should look like, so I took the liberty of pinching this picture from a build log elsewhere by a much more competent modeller than me -
(http://static.rcgroups.net/forums/attachments/2/0/9/8/7/a1427118-162-res026.jpg)
I hope mine looks as good as that when it's done. O0
A quick update on the epoxy. Here is a shot of the unthinned coat –
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/unthinnedepoxyside_zpsebefe15c.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/unthinnedepoxyside_zpsebefe15c.jpg.html)
and the thinned side –
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/thinnedepoxyside_zps82fc88cb.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/thinnedepoxyside_zps82fc88cb.jpg.html)
The unthinned epoxy looks shiny and is “squeaky” if you rub a finger over it. The thinned epoxy soaked well in leaving most of the surface still with the texture of the wood. It is, however, waterproof (I’ve tested it! :-)) ). My feeling is that I actually want something between the two. The epoxy I am using (this (http://www.easycomposites.co.uk/products/epoxy-resin/epoxy-coating-resin.aspx)) is already fairly thin compared to the standard West or similar “full scale” products, so I think some very moderate thinning will make it easy to work but not too prone to just run into the corners.
I have also been thinking about the cockpits. The internal sides of the cockpits are just the “splintery” ply that the frames are made from. I admit that I haven’t tried finishing this to see what it looks like with some epoxy and/or varnish, but I would rather like the inside to be as smart as the outside (assuming I manage a decent finish on the outside of course {-) ). I had a small sheet of mahogany veneer that has been lying around for years, so I used this to cover the internal faces.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/veneeredcockpit_zpscc8f1d92.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/veneeredcockpit_zpscc8f1d92.jpg.html)
I didn’t have quite enough to do all the exposed areas, but I will fill in the gaps with some of the waste from the die-cut sheets after pushing that through the thickness sander. I also feel that the cockpits in the standard kit look a little bare and would prefer them to have some details to draw the eye. I’m not sure whether all these boats were identical or whether there was some customisation at or after build. But I’m not recreating a specific boat, so I think I’m allowed to have it like I want O0 O0 O0 . As a start I cut some storage holes in the rear cockpit sides. These will be backed with shallow boxes, although I haven’t yet decided how to finish the inside of these. I realised that these boxes would stop me sliding the whole cockpit side piece into place (it slips in vertically) and I will have to separate the veneered section in the picture below from the side coaming piece. Not a big drama though. I am also thinking about some grab rails. Anyone got any other ideas for furnishing the cockpits?
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/gloveboxes_zps67d5fc1a.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/gloveboxes_zps67d5fc1a.jpg.html)
I am probably going to pause on the cockpit construction and deviate from the build sequence next. I want to fit motor mounts that allow me to swap different motors in and out. I plan to have bearers each side of the centreline with embedded machine screws on which a motor plate will sit and be fixed in place. Each plate will be custom made for its motor, but I need to make sure that they all end up lined up with the prop shaft, so some careful measuring and fitting will be needed at this early stage. I think that will be easier before any more structure goes into the hull. I won’t fit any running gear permanently, but I will need to put it in place to make sure everything fits. That should be my next job.
Greg
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A quick update on the motor mount. As I said before I want to be able to swap motors reasonably easily so the basic mount needs to be adaptable. My first step was to temporarily install the prop shaft. I also put in a dummy rudder tube so I could make sure the propeller didn’t run into the rudder. Since I didn't have my prop (I'm not using the Dumas one and have an M4 shaft) I used a disc of card to fill the space.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/dummyprop_zpsf79f8bf4.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/dummyprop_zpsf79f8bf4.jpg.html)
Inside it looked like this.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/temprunninggear_zpsbe5713ab.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/temprunninggear_zpsbe5713ab.jpg.html)
I should say straight away that in this and all the subsequent pictures the prop shaft is much longer than is needed, but having it long at this stage is actually an advantage because you can measure where it meets the motor position more easily.
At this point I made up a dummy engine to let me play around with angles and distances. My prop shaft is 4mm and a 3/16” brass tube is a nice sliding fit over this. My dummy engine is shown below. The only critical things are to make sure the tube is fixed perpendicular to the wood block (I used a drill press to drill the hole) and the tube is centred in the motor mount – I scored the wood with a Forstner bit to mark a circle on its face which I could then centre in the mount’s opening.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/dummymotor_zpsbd48b4e9.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/dummymotor_zpsbd48b4e9.jpg.html)
Next step was to measure the shaft angle. I stood a scrap of ply on the centreline and extended the line of the shaft by eye – took a few goes to get it just right, and the best way to check was to take a photo from inside the boat – I couldn’t get my fat head that far down! :}
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/propshaftangle_zps765f0803.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/propshaftangle_zps765f0803.jpg.html)
At this point I had a couple of false starts trying to design a versatile mounting system. In the end I went for the straightforward solution – a flat bed with some mounting studs fixed in it. I started with a blank of Douglas fir (because I had it handy)
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/motorbedblank_zps6271a964.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/motorbedblank_zps6271a964.jpg.html)
I measured the athwartships angle of the hull bottom to the horizontal (is this the "deadrise" or is that a longitudinal measurement? {:-{ ). This is easy if you have one of these –
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/protractor_zps2895a045.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/protractor_zps2895a045.jpg.html)
then transferred that angle (11 degrees in my case) to the front and rear faces of the blank. A quick visit to the disc sander and the blank had a vee section that matched the inside of the hull. Except it didn’t because the butterfly keel was in the way. I didn’t really relish cutting out a channel to match this so I cheated and simple glued two keel offcuts to the edges.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/motorbasebottom_zps2d025048.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/motorbasebottom_zps2d025048.jpg.html)
That hole in the middle has no purpose whatsoever, it just happened to be in the piece of wood I picked up. :D
Next I transferred the shaft angle from my ply scrap to the side of the blank. I checked that the resulting motor shaft height would match the prop shaft and then cut and sanded the top of the blank down to the marked angle. Four M4 bolts epoxied in from underneath and the motor base is finished.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/motorinplace_zpse7541e03.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/motorinplace_zpse7541e03.jpg.html)
This motor is about as big as you can fit in the space. I also have a brushless that I plan to try, and am happy that I could fit anything smaller than this in with a baseplate made to fit the mounting studs.
I have a question relating to the fittings - the chrome finish on these is not the best, and I know others who have passed this way have taken the trouble to remove the chrome, properly finish and polish the fittings then re-chrome with a kit like this (http://www.caswelleurope.co.uk/copycrom.htm). I'm not sure I am ready to go to those lengths, but has anyone tried this chrome paint (http://www.chromepaint.com/shop/liquid-chrome-aerosol/), or anything similar? If so, what is the verdict? Convincing? Durable? I did get a can of Halfords chrome paint and found it disappointing - looked just like a silver paint to me, and the finish rubbed off very easily. I'll probably post this question on the Paint section as well and see if Stavros wants to shout at me! {-) {-)
Looks like other jobs are going to interfere with the boatbuilding for a few days, :(( so it might be a while before the next episode appears – but I’ll be back!
Greg
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The Dumas kit provides a small container of mahogany stain and I wanted to have a play with this before committing to the boat itself. I made up a section of deck planking for my experiments. I also bought some walnut stain to use on the king plank and margin planks. I am not keen on the black-painted effect you can see in the picture of the finished boat a couple of posts back. I felt that the walnut would be a little more subtle but still give the nice contrast. I experimented on my dummy deck section and was quite pleased with the result - but didn't take a photo :embarrassed: .
I then made up a mix of epoxy as I was going to coat the underside of the planking of the foredeck before fitting it. I thinned the epoxy a little, put some on the planking then brushed a coat onto the deck section. Here is the result.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/badepoxy_zpsbc5625c0.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/badepoxy_zpsbc5625c0.jpg.html)
>:-o >:-o >:-o
Well that didn't go too well. After taking the picture I grabbed the thinners and wiped it all off. (I had the same effect on the decking material, but not to quite the same extent. And nobody is going to see that anyway :P
After letting the deck section dry off, and after a quick rub over with some fine wet'n'dry I coated it with unthinned epoxy -
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/betterepoxy_zps19342b7a.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/betterepoxy_zps19342b7a.jpg.html)
:-)) :-)) :-))
That's better. Both stains are water based and were thoroughly dry when I put the epoxy on. It looks like the surface was contaminated, but I'm not sure with what. I will need to be careful when I do the real thing.
I am back on track with the Dumas instructions now after my little detour with the engine mount and epoxy trials. The sides of the cockpits are fixed next – I had veneered these to match more closely with the final hull finish, and decided to score the veneer to represent planks.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/plankedcockpit_zps23e44485.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/plankedcockpit_zps23e44485.jpg.html)
I decided to do this after I had glued the rear cockpit sides in place, so had to do them in situ. Fortunately the aft cockpit is exactly 6” long! I scored either side of the steel rule which was just about the right spacing.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/scoringaft_zpsc4346050.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/scoringaft_zpsc4346050.jpg.html)
I moved on to planking the foredeck, which went pretty well until I got to the small triangles at the bow. Nobody warned me that the last little pieces can fall straight through the hole into the sealed bow compartment never to be seen again! >>:-( >>:-( Some support was needed, and if I had thought of this beforehand I would have glued a little shelf to the previous piece of decking to give that support to the final piece. As it was I had to insert a piece with some double sided tape wrapped around a piece of wire.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/pickuptab_zps1e8c8aac.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/pickuptab_zps1e8c8aac.jpg.html)
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/positiontab_zpsc5574b17.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/positiontab_zpsc5574b17.jpg.html)
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/tabinplace_zps7869e59e.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/tabinplace_zps7869e59e.jpg.html)
It took me forever to catch the loose piece and extract it through the small hole. %% That’ll teach me to think ahead.
When the deck was completed it was apparent that I hadn’t been nearly careful enough in getting everything faired nicely. The deck was rather uneven and I was resigned to a fair bit of filling and sanding. There was also a distinct dip in the deck just behind the bow (where those final pesky triangles were fitted). I didn't want to sand everything else down to the level of the dip as I thought that would make the bow profile odd so I attacked it with a small piece of ply –
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/bowfixed_zps780577b9.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/bowfixed_zps780577b9.jpg.html)
A fair bit of filling and sanding later and the deck was in a much better shape – although it looked like ... well, let's just say it isn't pretty %) %)
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/bowfiller_zpsb71dcaae.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/bowfiller_zpsb71dcaae.jpg.html)
Here is a general shot of progress to date.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/endFebprogress_zps8abe3abd.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/endFebprogress_zps8abe3abd.jpg.html)
It’s the hatches next and then I think I have to start worrying about the mahogany planking. I might sit and ponder on that for a while!
Greg
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Hi Greg, nice job, I am going to be back in business soon building a Dumas Chris Craft for my Niece I managed to get a Kit from the US at a good price, but then found I have to pay VAT and handling charge £36.25.t
Not that keen on building from kits but at least its a start.
I have built one of these 2 years ago, but recently sold it.
Regards
Mick
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Greg.....a few weeks ago we had a thread on clear gloss marine coatings & the product was Trigoginis?.........[totally incorrect spelling].......Stavros.......please correct me
It was a totally natural product ....I have never seen any similar result....suffice to say there was no imported for Australia >>:-( ......Derek
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Nice to see you back at the boatbuilding Mick. Will you let us follow your build here? Please ? Yes, importing stuff from the US (or anywhere!) can get pricy - witness Martin's experience with his imported jam! http://www.modelboatmayhem.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,46435.0.html
Nice job on your CC runabout, out of interest what motor did you install?
Derek - were you thinking of Tonkinois? I haven't used that myself although I know someone who used it on a 1:1 scale boat . Gorgeous finish! I haven't finally decided how to finish my boat but I do intend to end up with a nice shine :-))
Greg
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Now that is what a hull should look like :-)) -not plastic but all wood .
Looks like the Dumas instructions are not perfect on your kit neither ,solving some issues is kind of fun but not if you have glued your self to corner. Good call making the supports for front deck planks.
And the le tonkinois varnish ... I used that on the Diva and it sure makes stuff shiny, but wont use that anymore, it cures too slowly so dust WILL ruin the finish unless you have a sealed paint booth...
I will try to use epoxy as the finish coat and polish that on my Chris Craft, if you will epoxy the hull anyway? -then why not try and polish that.
-Pate
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Thanks Pate.........le tonkinois varnish ....that was the name I was trying to remember :embarrassed:.............Derek
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Hi Greg, the motor came with kit, it was a 6v dumas brushless, I don't think there included now, by the way I use 2 pack clear lacquer on all my boats
Regards
Mick
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I used Le Tonkinois on my Riva here:
http://www.modelboatmayhem.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,9714.0.html (http://www.modelboatmayhem.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,9714.0.html)
The results are superb, but it was a lot of work, 10 coats rubbed down with 1200 wet & dry between each coat. Each coat was allowed to dry for at least 3 to 4 days before rubbing down in order to ensure it had fully hardened.
Dust was a real problem, and I think it always will be unless you have a paint booth with dust extraction.
To minimise dust I:
1. Used a new good quality foam pad for each of the final coats in an attempt to cut down on debris carried over by the pad.
2. Ran the hoover in the workshop for a while before varnishing, well, the hoover was outside with the suction tube in the workshop.
3. I bought a new lightweight decorating sheet, supported it across the varnishing area and pulled it over the boat whilst it dried.
4. Left an open bucket of water in the workshop. Apparently it attracts dust, but the jury is out on that one.
5. Left the flouro lights on whilst the varnish dried. They create a little static and attract dust which falls off when turned off.
Despite all that I still got some dust on the varnish, but it was significantly reduced and I think was as good as I will get without a professional spray booth.
Ian
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I have a question relating to the fittings - the chrome finish on these is not the best, and I know others who have passed this way have taken the trouble to remove the chrome, properly finish and polish the fittings then re-chrome with a kit
Problem with Mazac is that it will always be Mazac. If you're wanting a top class finish, it has to be on a top class base material so you may have to think remaking the bits from Brass.
Regards Ian.
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Thanks for all the comments and advice guys. On the finishing front, I will probably put several coats of polyurethane varnish over an epoxy base then cut it back and polish. I know the traditional varnishes produce a superb finish but as Ian (boatmadman) says you do need to work pretty hard at it. Beautiful job on the Riva Ian :-)). Varnish is also a fairly soft finish compared to modern coatings and I have a tendency to bump into things! :} :}
No Mick, Dumas don't provide a motor any more. They do recommend their 6V one but I didn't realise it was a brushless one. I have bought a CEM 750 after a discussion with the folk at Cornwall Model Boats (very helpful that lot :-))). I also have a 1250 kv brushless sitting around that I will try at some stage. I don't want to break any records but I do want the boat to look like it will give its passengers an exciting ride ;)
As for the fittings, t'other Ian (Circlip) is, I fear, quite right. Reading other's accounts of trying to rejuvenate the Dumas fittings suggests it ain't straightforward. On balance I think that this time I will spruce up what I have as much as possible but I will avoid re-chroming or scratch building. If I get keen in that direction in the future, I can always refit the boat with better fittings.
Weather's getting better at last - but I still need the heater on in the workshop. Roll on summer! O0
Greg
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I seem to have had a bit of "modeller's block" just recently - I keep looking at the boat and doing a little sanding but I haven't made very much progress.
I did swear at the cheap plywood (again <*< ) when I tried to fit the curved capping piece across the transom.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/transomcap_zps460b6df0.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/transomcap_zps460b6df0.jpg.html)
>:-o >:-o I replaced it with two thicknesses of the 1/16” birch ply – much easier to bend into place, and so much nicer to work with. That's it in place and sanded to shape in the picture above. :-))
I have made the hatches as per the Dumas instructions. The jigs that the hatches are formed over go together easily, but you do need to take great care that they are square and flat - my engine hatch jig wasn't perfectly flat, and the hatch has a small twist in it which means it doesn't lay flat on the hull frames. I will try and fix this by building a framework under the hatch (as others have done to represent the full size hatch framework) and I hope that will pull it straight. Anyway, here are the hatches on their jigs -
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/forminghatches_zps50238f76.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/forminghatches_zps50238f76.jpg.html)
and here is the engine hatch with the surrounding pieces laid in place. Not glued just yet.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/hatchesfitting_zps4b195426.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/hatchesfitting_zps4b195426.jpg.html)
I have also been thinking ahead and pondering on water cooling. I'm not sure I need it (and Pat Matthews suggests in his book (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mahogany-Scale-Patrick-Matthews/dp/0615166954/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1394456199&sr=8-1&keywords=mahogany+in+scale) that boats like this don't really need it), but it is clear that fitting it after the boat is finished is going to be a heck of a lot harder than doing it during the build. I decided I would put the necessary plumbing in. If I don't need it, that's fine (and I can simply direct the water straight from the inlet to the outlet for scale effect!). If I do, then it's there. I plan to follow the example of others and have the outlet for the water through the exhaust pipes. The starting point is to drill a couple of small holes in the appropriate places on the transom -
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/exhaustpilotholes_zpsc01cc7b0.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/exhaustpilotholes_zpsc01cc7b0.jpg.html)
and that is as far as I have got at the moment. I won't actually fit any piping until the mahogany planking is finished, but I want to make sure I have some pilot holes in place before I do the planking.
Nothing for it - I am going to have to get those mahogany planks out of the box! :}
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Hi Greg, I made a mistake the motor was brushed.
I have had big problems with purchase of a kit from the US, it was listed as The box has been opened and there may be a few parts missing. When it arrived someone had started to build it, this is what was missing, all the hull frames, stem, keel
deck beams, birch hull planking, rudder kit, propeller, drive dogs & couplings and some chrome deck fittings.
After several messages going back and forth I put in the hands of ebay resolution centre they sorted it very quickly, sent me via emails labels for customs and returns to print off, given a full refund.
This US trading centre has quite a few model kits with the same wording IE the box has been opened and there may be a few parts missing. the price looks attractive but beware.
I have now bought a kit from the UK, all present and correct
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Hooray! Back up and running again! Well done Martin :-)) :-)) :-))
Mick - sorry to hear about your bad experience. {:-{ Good that you got sorted and ended up with a proper kit. :-)
I mentioned before that my engine hatch had a small twist in it. I had hoped to correct this with a scale-like hatch frame, but in the end decided that a straightforward solution was best. I cut a diagonal beam that had a curve in the top that pulled the hatch straight, and it then fitted just fine.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/bracedhatch_zps824a5c73.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/bracedhatch_zps824a5c73.jpg.html)
(Before I started this, I did contemplate doing a proper hinged double hatch as in the full sized boat, and even bought some small piano hinges. In the end, I decided that was for my next boat, and that this one was presenting quite enough challenges without adding to them! :} )
Nothing else for it, got to start the mahogany planking. The very first plank goes along the centreline and ought to be entirely straightforward. The tricky bit is deciding how much to glue down at one go. Using CA it is virtually impossible to do the whole length at the same time (and using any other glue, how do you clamp the plank in place?), and the Dumas instructions suggest doing a 6” section at a time. What they don’t explain is, having got your plank partially stuck down, how you then get glue under the next section without snapping it off – like I did. >:-o Some who have done this before recommend using kicker on the CA to speed things along. I tried this on the very first section and managed to glue it crooked. >:-o >>:-(
In the end I didn’t use the kicker, and I put glue under the plank by squirting some CA under the plank as far as I could go while holding the boat vertical. The glue then ran down towards the previous glued section. I gently waggled the loose end of the plank to “pump” the glue into the joint. I then laid the boat down and held that section in place until the CA had grabbed. Here’s my first plank!
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/onedown_zpsd036a8fa.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/onedown_zpsd036a8fa.jpg.html)
When I got to the bow (I had started fixing at the stern as this looked nice and easy), the twist needed to get the plank to lie against the hull meant I did it in 2” sections rather than 6”. I did use the kicker here, and found the whole bow area quite difficult to get right. It really didn’t want to lie flat against the hull. In the end it did!
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/trickybow_zps7d8a4613.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/trickybow_zps7d8a4613.jpg.html)
And the next couple of planks were equally annoying. There is a fair bit of twist to get into these planks in the last 3 inches or so, and I wonder if wetting or steaming would have helped. Brute force won in the end. O0
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/firstmahogany_zpsa9c59b9a.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/firstmahogany_zpsa9c59b9a.jpg.html)
After this, the rest go pretty easily out to the chine. Here’s the first side completed and already with some filler in the gaps!
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/halfdone_zps71431be2.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/halfdone_zps71431be2.jpg.html)
On the subject of gaps between the planks, I was using the bottom as a trial to see how well I could butt the planks together. (The bottom will be painted in the finished boat so a little filler won’t notice %) ). I found that, firstly, I needed to scrape away any glue that had oozed out –
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/scratchingglue_zpsb6d78da3.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/scratchingglue_zpsb6d78da3.jpg.html)
and that planing a small undercut on the plank edge helped a lot. I made up a jig from scrap to hold a plank so I could run a block plane along the edge.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/planingjig_zpsf9f2dd61.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/planingjig_zpsf9f2dd61.jpg.html)
The process I don’t understand is how to cut the join between the bottom and side planking at the bow. The Dumas instructions and photos aren’t particularly helpful. The first photo appears to show the forward ends of the bottom planking sanded to a chamfered edge, but the second shows the side planking butting up to a square edge.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/chamferedplanks_zps2a1fcb68.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/chamferedplanks_zps2a1fcb68.jpg.html)
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/buttedplanks_zps06debf76.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/buttedplanks_zps06debf76.jpg.html)
Before I go any further, does anyone have any guidance to offer? Should the meeting of the planks be an overlapping joint or a butt joint? Help!!
Greg
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Hi Greg, its best to overlap the planks, and you would find it easier to use accelerator after you have lined the plank up,
6" is about right at a time.
Mick
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Thanks Mick - I am trying various ways to get the planks firmly attached just where I want them. At the moment I am just using the CA and lots of finger pressure to keep things in place until the glue grabs of its own accord. This gives me a short while to adjust the position of the plank and confidence that it isn't going to move just as the glue takes over. It also gives me aching fingers. {-)
Well, I decided to work at the side/bottom planking joint from both directions at once. At the bow, the two plank layers must obviously butt together to give a neat, straight join in line with the chine. Further aft the two layers overlap at approximately 90 degrees, the side planking covering the edge of the bottom. That long section is easy, and I sanded the bottom planking flush with the side up to the point where I felt a transition was going to begin. I then marked the line of the chine along the planking to the bow and started to cut the bottom planking along this line starting at the bow. Here is a picture of this process beginning.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/beginbowcut_zps939e779b.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/beginbowcut_zps939e779b.jpg.html)
You don’t have to know a lot about building this boat to see that there is a bit of an issue with that plank in the middle of the picture. It doesn’t lie flat on the hull and I have accidentally cut too much off leaving a nasty gap. :(( I fixed this by chamfering a piece of scrap and gluing it in the gap under the plank.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/gapfiller_zpsd457ff9d.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/gapfiller_zpsd457ff9d.jpg.html)
I then trimmed it off and carried on cutting the line back towards the point where butt joint becomes overlap joint. I crept up on this point from both directions and ended up with a transition that I think allows a reasonable run of the first side plank along the chine. It really doesn’t look very pretty at the moment, but I hope a little filler and a lot of sanding will leave a presentable finish. Time will tell.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/cutforwardjoint_zps08403b77.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/cutforwardjoint_zps08403b77.jpg.html)
While trimming the lower bow, I discovered another point where the gluing wasn’t too good, and I broke out a piece of planking >:-o
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/brokenbow_zps13ea54fe.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/brokenbow_zps13ea54fe.jpg.html)
Rather than try and glue the broken piece back in, I decided to just cut out the damaged area and glue a solid block of mahogany in to replace it.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/cutoutdamage_zps4fb1dfa5.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/cutoutdamage_zps4fb1dfa5.jpg.html)
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/planedbowblock_zps0063b141.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/planedbowblock_zps0063b141.jpg.html)
The bottom has had a preliminary scrape and sand and already looks slightly more presentable.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/scrapedbottom_zps4132e150.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/scrapedbottom_zps4132e150.jpg.html)
I seem to have spent a lot of time fixing little things I didn’t do right first time. :embarrassed: Having got past the tricky planking join at the bow I hope the sides will go on nice and smoothly – but I’m preparing to be surprised!
As a bit of a diversion from the trials of planking, I have been playing with my dummy section of deck to see what sort of finish I can achieve –
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/smoothdecktest_zps8c987ace.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/smoothdecktest_zps8c987ace.jpg.html)
That’s encouraging. :-)) If I can repeat that over the whole boat I’ll be happy. (It’s two coats of epoxy, five coats of yacht varnish, wet sanded to 1200 then polished with this (http://www.easycomposites.co.uk/products/polishing-and-finishing/mirka-polarshine-T10.aspx).)
I am happy with the progress so far – I always viewed this as a year’s project, although I hope to get to the final painting, varnishing and finishing while the weather is still good for outside work. Of course that could be any time from August to October!
Greg
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Just a quick update. I’ve just finished planking one side and here is the first plank in place –
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/firstsideplank_zps94ec70e7.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/firstsideplank_zps94ec70e7.jpg.html)
Once that was fixed in the right place the rest went pretty smoothly. Here is the finished side –
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/firstsideplanked_zpscb0394dd.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/firstsideplanked_zpscb0394dd.jpg.html)
I did take care to make the joints between the planks as tight as I could. Most of the planks weren’t entirely straight (remember this kit was some years old when I got it, and I guess the wood has moved a bit over time) so I took a shaving or two off both edges to give a reasonably flat surface. Then I put a small amount of chamfer on the edge that was to butt up to the plank already in place. This system worked pretty well and most of the joints are satisfactory (to me at least). There were still a few spots where some remedial surgery was needed, such as this broken edge –
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/brokenedge_zps6647dddb.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/brokenedge_zps6647dddb.jpg.html)
For these little holes I split small splinters off a scrap of the planking stock and kept trying them until I found one that, with a small amount of trimming, would fit the hole. Here’s the broken edge fixed –
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/fillededge_zpsef809470.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/fillededge_zpsef809470.jpg.html)
Whenever I find a place where the planking isn’t quite as good a fit as it might be (and there are quite a few of them! {:-{ ), I try and fill the gap with a piece of wood before resorting to filler. I think even a piece of shaving glued into a thin gap is better than all filler. I hope I’m right – it’ll be too late when all the finish is on and I discover all my little fixes stand out like the proverbial thumb. %%
When the planking was finished I planed the top edge flush with the sheer and chamfered the bow planking to receive the other side –
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/chamferedbowplanks_zps01221dd0.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/chamferedbowplanks_zps01221dd0.jpg.html)
and that’s about where I am at the moment. I hope the other side goes as smoothly. O0
Greg
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I’m back after a short break and picking scabs of glue off my fingers again. Not a huge amount to report other than that I have now put the mahogany on the hull and transom. When it came to planking the transom, I found the easiest way to approach it was like this –
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/plankingtranson_zps011ed486.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/plankingtranson_zps011ed486.jpg.html)
I found this was the only way I could apply pressure to the planks without the hull shooting off somewhere {-) .
All the hull planking is now complete.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/mahoganyhull_zps566dd542.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/mahoganyhull_zps566dd542.jpg.html)
The rather obvious filler at the forward end of the chine will, I think, be hidden under the bottom paint so overall I am pretty happy with how this has come out. Starting on the decks next.
Greg
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Wow, nearly 3 weeks since my last post. Doesn’t time fly when you’re having fun? :-)
Moving on to planking the decks, the first parts to attach are the sheer planks which run along the deck edge from bow to transom. I found I had chipped the internal corners of these pieces at the front, either when removing them from the sheet or by careless handling later. >:-o Either way, the two weren’t going to form a neat join at the bow.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/chippedcorners_zpsdb262820.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/chippedcorners_zpsdb262820.jpg.html)
To get around this I ended up doing the sheer planks and the centre plank on the foredeck like this –
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/modifiedkingplank_zps5b39959d.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/modifiedkingplank_zps5b39959d.jpg.html)
Then on to the planking and plastic caulking. This turned out to be pretty straightforward, the only tricky bit for me being the piece of plastic along the sheer plank where it rises above the side deck to meet where the windscreen will be. I had to have a couple of goes at that to get it right.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/deckplankingbegun_zpsf8e6726a.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/deckplankingbegun_zpsf8e6726a.jpg.html)
Then just cut and stick, cut and stick….. Once finished, rather than go straight to sanding, I used a utility knife blade as a scraper to bring the deck and caulking down to a common level.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/scrapingforedeck_zps79f54efe.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/scrapingforedeck_zps79f54efe.jpg.html)
I like scraping – it is somehow more satisfying than sanding, as with a sharp blade you take off shavings, not make dust. It also cuts the waste away more quickly. :-)) You do need to be careful not to let the corners of the blade dig in. And, of course, mind your fingers! %) (I think I got the bloodstains out OK)
I’ve also been looking at fixing the hatches. The rear hatch will be done as per the instructions with wood latches but I thought I would try magnets for the main hatch. Here is a picture of the two magnets at the fore end of the hatch – there is a similar pair at the aft end. When the hatch is in place the two magnets are opposite each other but separated by the hatch brace piece. I can hold the boat upside down and shake it without the hatch coming off so I think it will be OK on the water. The magnet on the hatch is just glued in place. The one in the boat is set into a 10mm hole drilled in the frame.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/hatchmagnets_zpsc3aacffa.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/hatchmagnets_zpsc3aacffa.jpg.html)
Planking the hatches next – if anyone can offer advice how to fit the plastic border around the hatch planking I would like to hear it. The instructions tell you to plank the hatch then cut away just enough of the planking (but not the hatch base) to fit the plastic surround. Sounds like you only get one go to do it right, so I’d hate to need two. What have others used to cut that thin sliver away? I have thought about simply reducing the size of the hatch all round then adding a full thickness plastic strip along the edges. That seems easier to me than cutting a rebate along the edges of the hatch. Any thoughts?
Happy modelling all,
Greg
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I seem to have spent a lot of time recently just fiddling with bits and pieces, mainly to fix the growing number of places where things hadn’t gone entirely to plan. I am happy now with where I am, which is pretty well finished with the mahogany cladding of the hull. One issue has cropped up, namely the different colours of the mahogany provided in the kit. For example, the dashboard is very pale compared to the rest. I cut a new one out of some of the spare sheet from the sheers so that it ends up a nice rich colour.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/dashboards_zpsb638b0a6.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/dashboards_zpsb638b0a6.jpg.html)
However, without thinking I glued in the piece that caps the end of the foredeck planking, which is also this pale wood. You can just see a corner of it in the picture above, just below the new dashboard. It looks a lot more obvious in real life. Not sure how to handle that. :(( I tried the kit’s mahogany stain on a spare piece but it doesn’t even come close to matching the colours. Hmmm…. Any ideas? {:-{
Another area where I needed to improvise was the capping along the edge of the front cockpit. The wood provided was also the very pale variety, but I thought that was easily fixed by using some spare planking stock. However, the curve up to the windscreen caused this to snap before it reached the full curve. I replaced this with two pieces sanded down to half thickness. Here’s the first piece glued in place –
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/firstcaplayer_zps99f7d205.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/firstcaplayer_zps99f7d205.jpg.html)
And the second –
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/secondcaplayer_zps2d68e4f2.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/secondcaplayer_zps2d68e4f2.jpg.html)
And after a preliminary sanding it all looks good.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/capsanded_zps6c80c79d.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/capsanded_zps6c80c79d.jpg.html)
I have also been planking the hatches. My query at the end of my last post about fitting the plastic strips turned out to be unnecessary – for the engine hatch at least. When finished, all the edges are covered with metal strips, so the plastic caulking strips would be hidden. I just left them out completely. The rear hatch is a different matter, and I started by fitting it to the space without any plastic surround. I added a couple of layers of masking tape to allow for the thickness of epoxy and varnish when the deck is finished.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/fittingrear_zps659f96be.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/fittingrear_zps659f96be.jpg.html)
I then marked the hatch with the thickness of the plastic, and planed that off each edge. Glue the plastic in place and –
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/rearhatch_zps3c257ee3.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/rearhatch_zps3c257ee3.jpg.html)
The plastic you see in the picture I actually cut from a styrene sheet to cover the edge of the hatch completely. Incidentally, the instructions suggest you glue the planks and plastic together into a sheet before fixing to the plywood hatches. I chose to plank the hatches as I had the deck, one plank at a time, as that way I felt I could make sure the joints were tight.
A couple of final details to finish off then it’s on to the cockpits and the seats. It’s beginning to look like a boat rather than a construction project now! :} :}
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/Mayprogress_zps259bfa2f.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/Mayprogress_zps259bfa2f.jpg.html)
Happy sailing
Greg
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Things have slowed a bit in the boatyard with summer breaking out all over and the opportunity to go and do things in the great outdoors. :} But I haven’t been entirely idle.
The mahogany sheet that forms the backs of the front seats had taken on quite a wavy shape – looked as though it had got wet at some point, but as the rest of the kit was fine I guess it was just a poor quality piece of wood. I tried wetting it and clamping it flat with some limited success, so I added some pieces of ply to flatten it out –
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/bracingback_zpsfdde6e55.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/bracingback_zpsfdde6e55.jpg.html)
Together with the bracing pieces down the back, this got rid of the waviness. I made a small modification to the brace pieces following my aim of putting some more detail into the cockpits. I thought that some seat pockets would be handy for those sitting in the back, so shaped the braces differently to the plan –
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/seatbackpockets_zps19b29c73.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/seatbackpockets_zps19b29c73.jpg.html)
then added some mahogany sheet (not from the kit) to produce the pockets.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/frontseatsframe_zpsfcc68e84.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/frontseatsframe_zpsfcc68e84.jpg.html)
The plastic seats provided are OK but I plan to have a go at doing some proper upholstered seats at some point, so I have kept patterns of all the cockpit parts. However, I’ll use the kit parts initially, so I cut them out and started fitting them. The instructions say to sand the edges to fit, but the plastic is so flimsy I had problems with that. In the end I did most of my trimming with a small block plane well sharpened and set fine. You need to support the plastic as you cut it but I found this to be an effective and precise way of getting the seats nicely trimmed.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/shavingseats_zps439d8155.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/shavingseats_zps439d8155.jpg.html)
I have also painted the cockpit floors, so this is where I am at the moment – final fitting of the seats to be done, seats sprayed (I am going for a nice pale cream leather in my boat!) then on to the final cockpit details such as the dashboard. Then it’s staining and glassing the hull. Please don’t expect too much progress over the next few weeks – I seem to have quite a busy summer coming up – but I will certainly post progress as it happens.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/seatsnearlyin_zpsa696450b.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/seatsnearlyin_zpsa696450b.jpg.html)
Greg
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Looking Good! :-))
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/seatsnearlyin_zpsa696450b.jpg)
-
Thanks for that Martin (sorry, should have said thanks a little sooner! :embarrassed: )
It’s been a little while since I posted but I haven’t been entirely idle. I finished off the seats, glued them in place on the cockpit floors and then sprayed them pale cream. I also stained the hull with the mahogany stain supplied in the Dumas kit. As the weather was good, I took the boat outside to have her picture taken.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/stainedandseats_zpsba7b3178.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/stainedandseats_zpsba7b3178.jpg.html)
I then stained the sheers and centre planks. Although most others building this boat seem to go for a black paint or stain, I wanted something a little less stark, so I used a sepia watercolour paint to give a very dark brown rather than pure black. This went on well, although by the time I had scraped the white caulking clean there were a few spots that had gone through to the mahogany, so I’ll probably need to touch this up before coating.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/sepiastain_zps820a4835.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/sepiastain_zps820a4835.jpg.html)
The next job was glass coating the hull. My workbench is against a wall so I can really only work on one side of the hull at a time. For the glass sheathing I wanted to do the hull in one go, so I made a frame that holds the hull upside down which I can then clamp in a workmate and work all round the hull. The frame is just two blocks of wood with saw kerfs in them that are a tight fit over the 1/8” ply frames inside the cockpit, and a bracket that joins them together. It’s not pretty but it works well.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/upsidedownsupport_zpscd27c1b9.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/upsidedownsupport_zpscd27c1b9.jpg.html)
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/updownsupportinplace_zpsc7106849.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/updownsupportinplace_zpsc7106849.jpg.html)
I then clamped the hull upside down and draped a piece of the cloth over it to check it would lay flat over the whole hull without needing cutting or folding. I used 100 gm/sq metre cloth (http://www.easycomposites.co.uk/products/woven-glass-fabric/light-weight-100g-woven-glass-fabric.aspx (http://www.easycomposites.co.uk/products/woven-glass-fabric/light-weight-100g-woven-glass-fabric.aspx)). It draped easily over the hull so I was happy to go ahead and mix the epoxy. I used West System epoxy, unthinned, and a roller to wet out the cloth and make sure it was fully in contact with the hull. Here it is half way through –
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/halfglassed_zps3673d441.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/halfglassed_zps3673d441.jpg.html)
And the completed job.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/fullyglassed_zps4d4d61f9.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/fullyglassed_zps4d4d61f9.jpg.html)
After I had finished I ran the edge of an old credit card over the surface to remove the worst of the roller’s ripples and stipples. The finish is still nothing to write home about, but the cloth is nicely on the hull and I’m happy with this first coat. This all went much more smoothly than I feared, and I am now a lot more confident about tackling the nooks and crannies of the deck. The cloth really does conform well to compound curves and I can’t see any reason to glass the hull in sections as some suggest. My only problem was doing it in the garden and a breeze kept blowing the cloth off the boat until I pinned it down with a good dollop of epoxy. :-))
I hope to be posting a little more frequently now, so hopefully you won’t have to wait until September for the next instalment!
Happy building (for those still building) and happy sailing (for those who have finished!)
Greg
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A quick update –
The second coat of epoxy went on fine, again rolled on then smoothed with the gentle application of a brush. I also glassed the transom at this point.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/secondepoxycoat_zpsa3e8e0fd.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/secondepoxycoat_zpsa3e8e0fd.jpg.html)
All looking good – except that when the epoxy had cured and I turned the hull over I found a number of runs like this –
{:-{
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/epoxyrun_zps9bb2dfd7.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/epoxyrun_zps9bb2dfd7.jpg.html)
Careless! >:-o Getting rid of these rather spoiled the sepia painting I had done, although I wasn’t entirely happy with how that had turned out anyway. So I rubbed down all the painted areas and remasked ready for painting again –
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/maskeddeck_zps61c8e09c.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/maskeddeck_zps61c8e09c.jpg.html)
I put on two coats this time to make sure there were no thin patches.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/painteddeck_zpsf5078e19.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/painteddeck_zpsf5078e19.jpg.html)
Interestingly, the painted planks are a very similar shade to the epoxied hull, although a lot darker than the bare deck planks. It will be interesting to see what contrast I have when I epoxy the deck. Which is the next job.
It feels like I must be nearly finished, then I look at all the fittings and finishing I need to do and I guess I’m probably only half way through. The start of this seems ages ago, and the end is somewhere over my horizon. Still, I’m enjoying it all and I hope you are too! ;)
Greg
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Still with you Greg - and she's looking good O0
Regards,
Ray.
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Thanks Ray - all encouragement welcome! :-))
Greg
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I have laid the glass cloth on the decks and hatches. I tested how well the cloth would conform to the various angles and curves while it was still dry and was pretty satisfied that I could do the whole lot with one piece of cloth. %)
Here is the deck after applying the epoxy.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/sheatheddeck_zpscf8d8671.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/sheatheddeck_zpscf8d8671.jpg.html)
I used a roller on the foredeck as I had on the hull, and that went well. I couldn’t get the roller into the corners along the sides so used various cards, mixing sticks and anything I could lay my hands on to push the wet cloth into the corners. This went sort of OK – I couldn’t get the cloth to lay as close to the wood as I could with the roller but most of it was pretty close. The hatches were dead easy.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/glassedhatches_zps0cfc3264.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/glassedhatches_zps0cfc3264.jpg.html)
If you look at the first picture you can see that there is a very uneven spread of epoxy along the side decks. >:-o I put too much on and when I tried to squeegee it along with a card I was pulling the glass cloth out of the corners, so I decided to leave it alone and fix it when the epoxy had set. I am now in the middle of a pretty tedious rubbing down to get the surface flat enough to take a second epoxy coat. This one will be brushed on.
Lesson learnt – don’t try and do it all at once. The deck would have been easier if I had done the foredeck with one piece of cloth, the sides with two strips and then filled in on the hatch surrounds with a few small pieces. The cloth is thin enough that overlaps wouldn’t have been a problem. Oh well, next time… ;)
I’ll be back when I have smooth decks!
Greg
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Greg - it's looking very nice!
You're a brave man covering all that beautiful work in glass and epoxy... :-))
Mark
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Thanks Mark.
I pondered long and hard about glassing the hull, but decided that as she will be a working boat that a good hard shell would take the inevitable knocks better than varnished wood. I also had a bad experience with the foredeck on my steam launch which was planked and varnished - then lifted and split. I really don't want that to happen with this boat! Belt, braces and a good strong piece of string :}
Greg
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Greg
A bit late, I know, but I've recently started using ZAP Finishing resin and glass cloth and you might be interested in my experiences with it.
I found that a very light spray of 3M Spray Mount onto the bare hull will hold the cloth in place, as long as you take great care to smooth it out before you apply the resin. I thinned the resin down by a third ( i.e. two parts resin mix to one part thinners) with isopropyl alcohol and applied it with a cheap 1" brush, working outwards from a notional centre point on each face and waiting about two hours before trimming off the excess cloth around the edges with 240 grit silicon-carbide paper. Rub down with 120 grit and then apply one more thinned coat. After that, hit it with the 240 and 400 grit and then go to the primer stage. BTW I've used 0.6oz cloth but the new model will be done with 2oz, just to see what difference it makes. This new model is also from a Dumas kit - and the less said about it the better!
I've tried the aeromodellers' method with no thinners and a used credit card but found it was an absolute pig on compound surfaces like boat hulls - and it wasted a lot of resin which, at sixteen quid a pack, went against the Yorkshire in me.
Yours is looking pretty darned good.
Dave M
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Greg
I started reading your posts about the Runabout 3 weeks ago and was reminded about my early days building the old keilkraft aeroplanes. When I saw a kit of the Runabout on evil bay I decided to give buy it and have a go. Thanks to your inspiration and invaluable step by step photos I now have the first layer of planking almost complete and will shortly be removing it from the building board. I have to agree that the plywood used for the frames is very questionable but the rest of the wood parts seem pretty good. Thankfully the epoxy covering holds no terrors for me as I used to make epoxy fuselages. The only part I don't understand yet is the power side of things. What size motor and batteries etc, but there are plenty of forum posts to browse through to find the best solution. I am looking forward to seeing your finished boat now
regards
John
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Dave, thanks for the advice. As you say, a little late for me but others will welcome your experience. Wish I'd thought of the spray mount trick, it might have saved me a few frantic moments. I would have been grateful for it when things didn't go exactly to plan and I was pushing folds of soggy, sticky glass back into the corners they were escaping from, and worrying that the epoxy was about to go off. %% Still, things are getting back into shape now.
Welcome John. I hope you're enjoying your build and I'm happy that I've been able to provide some encouragement. Are you planning to post a build log? If not, you are welcome to post a few pictures here especially if you are looking for advice. Sorry, can't add much to your store of knowledge on motors and batteries as I am also a relative novice at this. I took some advice from Cornwall Model Boats which I'm sure is good, although of course I am someway from putting it into practice!
Happy modelling all :-))
Greg
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Greg
Thanks for the welcome. I don't think I will have time to do a build log and in any case I doubt if I can add anything more over and above your log which pretty much says it all. I may take up your offer to post a piccie occasionally and especially if I need a question answering. I will make sure I stay a step or two behind you ok2 . I should be turning over the hull this weekend, I just traced out some plywood to make a temporary build stand which I will assemble tomorrow.
Cheers
John
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I will make sure I stay a step or two behind you ok2 .
You'll have to go at a snail's pace then and take regular holidays - I'm not the fastest builder on the block! {-) And I certainly don't think I am offering the last word in building this or any other boat - if you come up with a technique, modification or anything that works for you, let us know.
On to the progress - one thing I forgot to mention when I did my hull was that it is worth spending some time smoothing the cloth over the hull. An area that at first seems reluctant to conform will fall into place with some encouragement, as the weave of the cloth distorts to fit. Lots of smoothing with the hands is the way to go – keep brushing those wrinkles out towards the edges and they will disappear!
After a few half-hearted attempts to fix the various pinholes, open weave and lumpy epoxy along the side decks I decided the most straightforward way was simply to sand it all back to the bare wood and start again. I was perfectly happy with the foredeck and the areas around the hatches, so I limited the attack on the decks to the areas next to the cockpits and engine hatch. I’m not going to try and replace the glass cloth, just put a couple of coats of epoxy over this. Grab a piece of 120 grit, and here we go…. %%
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/sandingprogress_zpsa4821aa0.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/sandingprogress_zpsa4821aa0.jpg.html)
And here’s what it looks like after the sanding was done and the re-application of the mahogany stain and the black/brown sepia paint.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/restaineddecks_zpsadd848da.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/restaineddecks_zpsadd848da.jpg.html)
I then put a coat of epoxy over the whole top surface, which came out fine – except for one or two very small areas where I got some very small scale fish-eyes. {:-{
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/littlefisheyes_zps027070e0.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/littlefisheyes_zps027070e0.jpg.html)
Nearly everywhere else is good, so I’m not sure what contamination caused this. No big deal, it is small enough for a quick rub down to remove it and that will do as a basis for the varnishing. I’ve had enough of epoxy for a while!
The bottom of the hull has had a good wet sand to prepare it for varnish and paint
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/wetsanding_zpsaab85547.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/wetsanding_zpsaab85547.jpg.html)
I won’t get on to finishing yet. I want to fit the running gear and water pickup first, and that will be the next step. I am also working on the dash panel, the steering wheel and a few other little bits as I go along. I’ll post something on them next time.
Happy modelling one and all :}
Greg
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Hi Greg
I'm sure the epoxy skinning will turn out fine. It's looking good so far. I have almost finished the final planking on mine now. Just working on the front mahogany and plastic bow section. Like you I tried to minimise any damage and defects so that I don't have to use any filler but if I have to I will make some with the shavings and dust that accumulates. I acquired some wing skinning resin and cloth ready for the big coverup when I get back from holiday in a week or two. I prefer to use a very thin resin to begin with as trying to thin West 205 can be be difficult. I use German aviation grade epoxy and .7 cloth. My method will be to paint the wood with a very light coat of resin well worked in to act as a sealer. Then before it dries completely lay on the cloth and pull the resin up through the cloth aided by an additional light coat to make sure the cloth is covered and melts into the epoxy. When I used to make the aircraft fuselages I removed more resin than I left in for lightness so its a habit I find hard to break. Anyway I made the 2 hatches also and will be making the final fit when I return from fishing. I suppose then its on to the detail. Haven't got a clue where to start with motors and batteries yet but I suppose it can't be that difficult.
all the best
John
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Thanks for the update John. Nice to know you are progressing well. Pictures always welcome! There are plenty of people more qualified than me to advise on motors etc. You could try a question on the motors pages here, or call a reputable supplier (I phoned Cornwall Model boats and took their advice).
I have cracked on (rather slowly) with the running gear installation. I first fitted the outlets for my cooling water.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/coolingoutlets_zps051f9227.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/coolingoutlets_zps051f9227.jpg.html)
These are fitted where the model’s exhaust ports will be on the transom so the water will appear to come out of the exhausts. I fancied having this as a scale feature as well as a practical cooling system, so bought a cheap pump from Ebay to keep the flow going when the boat was slow or stopped. Here is the pump fitted to a block of wood glued in place. (It occurs to me that this is almost certainly unsuppressed, so might cause a bit of an issue with the radio side of things, but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. {:-{ )
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/waterpump_zps501b6717.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/waterpump_zps501b6717.jpg.html)
I then cut a hole for the water inlet, which is simply a piece of brass tube set at an angle to encourage the flow of water into it when the boat is moving. I then epoxied it and the prop shaft into the hull after thoroughly taping up the outside to stop the epoxy dribbling through.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/motorandpumpfixed_zps218b04c8.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/motorandpumpfixed_zps218b04c8.jpg.html)
The underside of the hull looks like this (still needs a little fettling – the small dobs of epoxy are filling a couple of voids).
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/waterinlet_zps338a7f30.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/waterinlet_zps338a7f30.jpg.html)
I moved on to the rudder. I silver soldered the kit’s rudder to the shaft but I also plan to experiment a bit with rudders so I made up a rather more modern shape from wood as well.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/rudders_zps15c09015.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/rudders_zps15c09015.jpg.html)
The soldering looks a bit messy :embarrassed: but should be OK with a good clean and polish. And yes, I did solder the shaft to the wrong end of the blade before getting it right second time :embarrassed: :embarrassed: . The wooden blade includes a piece of stainless rod in a drilled hole in the shaft to stop any unwanted rotation and will be shaped to a more efficient section before being put to use.
The Dumas plans suggest you should set up the rudder servo like this –
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/Dumasruddercontrol_zps88c3eca8.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/Dumasruddercontrol_zps88c3eca8.jpg.html)
But as you can see it looks as though the tiller arm will hit the rear of the hull at near full deflection. I made up another servo support so that it now looks like this –
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/Myruddercontrol_zpsa0ddd03f.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/Myruddercontrol_zpsa0ddd03f.jpg.html)
That should allow full throw in both directions without any problem. (I suppose I could have used a shorter tiller arm, but I’m not sure how much throw I am going to need, so am playing safe!)
That’s all for the moment. Happy modelling one and all. :-))
Greg
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The second servo position looks much neater IMO
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Greg
Like your rudder solution also. Good idea to turn it round.
Nearly got the last of the bow planking in place. I didn't clear the bench before taking the photo but here goes
(http://www.scalewarship.com/forumimages/Runabout2.jpg)
I think another couple of evenings and I shall be ready for a massive scraping and sanding session.
Cheers
John
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Well really John - not clearing the bench before taking a photo. What is the world coming to? You only have to scan the pictures here to see how neatly I work %) %) %) {-) {-)
Just a quick update as other things have kept me from boatbuilding for a while. >:-o Over the last couple of weeks I have been mostly varnishing. The decks and cockpits now have a few (four I think) coats and I have four or five on the hull now. I will keep going with a few more then leave it to harden off before cutting back, adding a final coat or two if necessary (it probably will be), cutting back again and polishing.
I used my hull-holding device and a bracket I screwed together from scrap to hold the hull on its side for varnishing. This means there is less likelihood of runs in the varnish. Yes, I know I didn’t really need to varnish the bottom as it’s going to be painted but I couldn’t resist seeing how all that mahogany looked with the varnish on it! :-))
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/hullheldforvarnishing_zps90b9dd7d.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/hullheldforvarnishing_zps90b9dd7d.jpg.html)
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/varnishedbottom_zps02632071.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/varnishedbottom_zps02632071.jpg.html)
That’s it for the moment. I still have some final fitting of the cockpit floors and seats and the hatches, as I originally made them a very snug fit. With the epoxy and varnish added they no longer slip neatly into place so I will have to attack them with some 80 grit and show them who’s boss! Then the electrical stuff to fit and I might even try for a maiden voyage before Christmas!
Greg
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My humblest apologies for not clearing the bench. I will make sure that I clean everything before I attempt another photo. :embarrassed:
You have produced a great finish on your hull and I hope mine comes out at least half as nice as yours. I haven't been able to start final sanding and stuff yet but should be able to get on with it in the next couple of weeks. Is there any particular brand of yacht varnish to use or avoid for that matter?
Embarrased
New Milton
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Apology accepted. We like to keep things shipshape around here. %) %)
Varnish - I use this -
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/ronsealvarnish_zps44adae95.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/ronsealvarnish_zps44adae95.jpg.html)
I would avoid anything made for interior use or anything that seems remarkably cheap - you normally get what you pay for. There are some extremely good and extremely pricey varnishes around (such as this (http://www.letonkinoisvarnish.uk/varprices.html)) which will do a grand job if you want to go that way. There are the more normal marine varnishes (such as this (http://www.mailspeedmarine.com/marine-paint-varnish/international-paints/original2568-2569-1217193.bhtml)) but you probably need to go to a chandlers to find it. I have used the Ronseal varnish on model boats and it seems to be fine. I aim to get around half a dozen coats on (with a gentle rub down between coats to remove dust and any dribbles) and then leave it for a week or two to harden properly. Then I go at it with 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1200 (and maybe 1500) wet and dry before polishing with a car polishing compound to get a nice deep, lustrous shine. Well, that's the plan anyway!
Good luck
Greg
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Another progress report just to show I haven’t ground to a complete stop. Firstly, I have put in the plumbing for the water cooling.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/plumbinginplace_zps57e1a5c2.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/plumbinginplace_zps57e1a5c2.jpg.html)
As you can see, the inlet goes through my little pump and straight to the outlet. I have a copper tube coil to go round the motor but haven’t got it in place at the moment. Haven’t tested it as the boat hasn’t been anywhere near water yet.
Other than that I have been turning my mind to displaying the finished model. I saw a very attractive “wave” display stand here (http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=637017&page=4) and thought it looked so effective I decided to try and copy the idea (thanks to Pat Matthews for his clever design!). My boat is rather bigger than the one Pat’s stand supports, so my design is a little different. Here it is.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/displaystandbuilt_zpsc05c4e5b.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/displaystandbuilt_zpsc05c4e5b.jpg.html)
The two supporting rails were made from a single thick piece of timber then sliced in half on the band saw to give two identical parts. Here are a few shots of the hull sitting on the stand.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/hulldisplayed_zps03798c3a.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/hulldisplayed_zps03798c3a.jpg.html)
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/hulldisplayed3_zpsd267ae89.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/hulldisplayed3_zpsd267ae89.jpg.html)
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/hulldisplayed2_zps9334a61c.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/hulldisplayed2_zps9334a61c.jpg.html)
I have to admit to including the last one because it shows the shiny hull! :} I will probably paint the stand a light green-blue rather than varnish it. I am sure it would look lovely varnished but I think it might be too similar to the hull if I did that. The stand needs a little fine tuning to fit the hull properly and I will need to add some padding along the rails when it is painted.
The weather here has finally decided it’s autumn (wet and windy) {:-{ so it’s back inside for painting and varnishing, which tends to slow me down. What, even slower? Is that possible without going backwards in time?? {-)
Happy modelling
Greg
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Greg,
What a truly magnificent job of the re-furb, how I admire the skills that you have, comparable to the late Mick Brown (PATTERNMAKER )
Working with timber and trying to get a good finish is beyond me, I just don't have the patience to wait for paint and varnish to dry, plus my workshop is set up for butchering metal and saw dust doesn't go well with machinery.
Well done I look forward to the completed model.
What batteries are you going to use ?
George.
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Greg - it's looking fabulous!
The stand looks superb, what a great idea to incorporate a wave design. I'd be tempted to try a blue wood stain and then varnish it so that you retain the organic natural wood grain look.
Can't wait to see the finished boat.
Mark
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Thanks George and Mark, glad you are enjoying this. As I said, I can't take credit for the stand design, but I do think it sets off the boat rather well. :} The hull finish is just a matter of patience rather than skill. Don't believe what you read on the tin - it takes a lot more than 2 or 3 coats to get a nice smooth finish whatever make of paint or varnish you are using. 7, 8, 9 or more are really needed, and an acceptance that any significant blemish needs a rub down and another coat.
As for colour - it's quite a dark wood and I'm not sure a light blue stain would work - I will have a go on some scrap because I agree keeping the wood grain would be nice.
I will start off with a standard 7.2v NiMH battery, as I have some of them. I'll see how that goes and push up the voltage if the performance is a little pedestrian. I also have a brushless outrunner that I plan to try at some point, and that might need something with a little more ooomph - but that will be a bit of an experiment for later.
And George - calling what you do "butchering metal" is a very poor description of your fine skills!
Greg
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Time for another update on progress – and something of a milestone. She floats! Tried her in the bathroom test tank and everything seems fine. :}
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/shefloats_zpsd8703d09.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/shefloats_zpsd8703d09.jpg.html)
I connected up everything temporarily and it all works. Here’s my cooling system running with the pump –
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/coolingwater_zps525e9450.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/coolingwater_zps525e9450.jpg.html)
Not sure why these pictures haven’t focussed properly – sorry, but they are the genuine records of first contact with water, so are of historical significance! :D The prop really stirs the bath water with the motor running on a 2S LiPo, so a few more volts will probably see her take off. %%
I then fitted out the “engine room” so that nothing was flopping around loose. The switch marked “ON” is for the speed controller which is velcroed to the hull side – it (Mtroniks Viper) is waterproof, but I still prefer the electronics to sit out of any dribbles that find their way into the hull. You can also just see the end of the toggle switch in the bottom left of the picture which turns the water pump on and off.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/engineroom_zps826e12b4.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/engineroom_zps826e12b4.jpg.html)
I have finished varnishing the decks and hatches but haven’t polished them yet. I have also fitted out the dashboard.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/dashboarddials_zpsd73a142b.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/dashboarddials_zpsd73a142b.jpg.html)
It is not glued in place just yet as I want to polish the cockpit insides without this in the way. I scrapped the kit’s instrument panel as it had too rough a finish for me. This one is just a piece of plasticard sprayed chrome and with vinyl instrument stickers and bezels from BECC stuck in place. The knobs are dolls house brass door knobs filed flat and sprayed chrome. I know this isn’t a true Chris Craft dashboard layout, but I like it. I thought the gear stick looked a little strange just sticking out of a slot in the floor so I added the gaiter from a short piece of heat shrink with just the top shrunk onto the stick. Overall, at this point this is what I had –
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/Octoberprogress_zps0864edb1.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/Octoberprogress_zps0864edb1.jpg.html)
Next I moved on to painting the hull. I am going to try and make the varnished topsides, the boot topping and the bottom paint all the same level so there are no ridges where one is applied on top of the other. I started this process by wet-rubbing down the topsides with 400 grit. I then taped a piece of twine along the top of the boot topping. As the hull is essentially slab-sided, this provides a good, fair line from bow to stern.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/twineline_zps210a86cb.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/twineline_zps210a86cb.jpg.html)
I laid 6mm Tamiya masking tape along this line and across the transom.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/tapedboottop_zpsf56c0a94.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/tapedboottop_zpsf56c0a94.jpg.html)
then varnished the topsides down to the masking tape. The very last coat of varnish – I hope! Once this is dry, I will mask off the topsides and spray the bottom paint. When that is dry, I will put masking tape each side of the boot topping tape, then peel that off. Spray the boot topping on between the two new lines of masking tape and I end up with all the paint at roughly the same level ready for final cutting back and polishing. Well ,that’s the theory. Watch this space! :-))
Happy modelling
Greg
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Greg,
Great job of the boat , may I ask why do you need a cooling water pump electrically operated when the boat is stationary ?
In all the fast electric boats that I have seen, including my small K7 , none have had water cooling when the boat is stationary, or am I missing something?
George.
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Greg,
Great job of the boat , may I ask why do you need a cooling water pump electrically operated when the boat is stationary ?
In all the fast electric boats that I have seen, including my small K7 , none have had water cooling when the boat is stationary, or am I missing something?
George.
I have a similar setup on my brushless huntsman, as the flow at low speeds was inadequate. Also it looks realistic as the boat would have water flowing from the outlets at idle..... I was looking at having mine pulse for added realism
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Yes, the main reason for the pump is a touch of realism. The water flow carries on when the boat slows or stops in the water. A small conceit on my part. :} I am not entirely convinced I even need the cooling, but it is a heck of a lot easier to fit it during the build than discover after I have finished that I need to cut into my lovely freshly painted and varnished hull to put the plumbing in. %%
I bought a nice metallic copper for the hull bottom but have just realised that this paint probably won't take cutting and polishing very well. I will go and buy a standard colour to make sure I only have to paint the bottom once. O0. I am also wondering if I have chosen the wrong upholstery colour. I might change that as well. We'll see.
Greg
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Firstly, I decided to leave the seat colour alone. I still plan to make some soft seats to replace the kit’s plastic moulded ones, so I can make a colour change then if I want to. Way back in March the late Patternmaker posted a picture of his build of this kit, and he had a similar colour for his upholstery. If it's good enough for Mick.... O0
On to the painting. Here is the bottom getting its red paint –
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/redbottom_zpsa3498b71.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/redbottom_zpsa3498b71.jpg.html)
And here is everything except the waterline boot topping masked off, waterline sprayed on. I did this as I described previously, masking each area in turn to try and keep all the paint and varnish at the same level.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/waterlinepainted_zps1d3e8db4.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/waterlinepainted_zps1d3e8db4.jpg.html)
I was a little too keen to pull the masking tape off and some of the waterline paint came away with it. However, some touching up will fix that before I cut back and polish everything. Here’s how the boat looks at the moment.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/paintedhull1_zpsa4c34198.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/paintedhull1_zpsa4c34198.jpg.html)
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/paintedhull2_zpsef2e4508.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/paintedhull2_zpsef2e4508.jpg.html)
As I had a fully functioning boat, albeit without fittings, I couldn’t resist the lovely weather we are enjoying to pop down to the lake with her and try a first run. A few posts ago, George (ooyah2) asked what batteries I was going to use. I said 7.2v NiMH but since then I have splashed out on a 3s LiPo to give something close to the 12v nominal voltage of my CEM 750 motor without loading the boat down with battery weight. I also fitted a shiny 35mm Prop Shop propeller, so of I went. I have to say I was delighted with how she ran, up on the plane in a trice, a good turn of speed, nice carving turns and everything looking superb. :} :} :} OK, I hear you say, where’s the photos, where’s the video?
Well…..
I had my camera with me, all nicely charged and ready to go. :-)) But you know that locking nut you are supposed to tighten against the propeller to make sure it doesn’t unscrew when you go into reverse? It seems it should have been a little tighter than I actually did it. I think I probably only did it finger tight, and that, it transpires, isn’t quite enough. I tried a couple of astern manoeuvres to see how she handles astern steering (very well, actually) and then all motive power seemed to vanish. I thought at first that one of my connections between motor and shaft was slipping, but when I recovered the boat there was no shiny Prop Shop propeller any more. <:( <:( So no piccies, no video. Sorry folks.
I do have a spare prop and I will use something more than finger tips to tighten the nut next time. But now I know she will perform, I plan to finish her properly before trying again. Hopefully within the next month or so we will all see a proper maiden voyage captured on film (well, electronic film) for all to see. Watch this space.
Greg
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Greg
Love the pictures of the finished scheme. Looks fantastic on the stylised mount. Regrettably I haven't been able to do anything on my boat lately but I hope to get back to it next week. I am in the process of deciding what motor and batteries I need and it looks like you are very pleased with your choices. I might well follow suit unless you have any particular reservations. Look forward to the video when you sort out the new prop.
regards
John
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I might well follow suit unless you have any particular reservations. Look forward to the video when you sort out the new prop.
No John, no reservations at the moment - based on a full 5 minutes running! But as I said, she ran very well and I have no plans to change anything for the proper maiden voyage. Other than a new prop of course O0
Glad you can get back to your build - that magic slow transformation of a bundle of timber into a graceful and shiny boat is a hugely satisfying process. Enjoy!
Greg
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Hi Greg, what a beautiful job you have done on her, a real credit to you, and will no doubt look even better with all her fittings in place, I expect these include a steering wheel, what type dose she have, I've seen them with the more modern ivory colour two spoke wheel and the twenties style sprung rod spokes, :-)) :-))
Joe
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Well, it’s been a while. Despite appearances to the contrary, neither I nor the Chris Craft have vanished down that hole in the workshop floor (you know the one, it’s invisible but it’s a portal to the 6th dimension and swallows small fittings, little screws and any other important piece you drop on the floor). Other things have got in the way this year (including starting another build) but recently I applied myself to getting all the final details finished.
Picking up from my last post, I finished off the wet sanding and polishing the hull (including having to re-mask and re-paint the waterline), then set about adding the fittings. Despite my lingering dissatisfaction with the quality of the Dumas fittings, I went ahead with them, and in the end they didn’t look too bad. I used a mixture of epoxy glue and CA to fix them in place, and learnt quickly that even when placed on a relatively flat surface, the ones glued with epoxy needed some tape to keep them in place – the polished varnish is a very slippery surface!
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/stboard%20finished_zps03dkobwg.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/stboard%20finished_zps03dkobwg.jpg.html)
The one really tricky bit was fitting the windscreen supports. This requires the carefully finished cockpit sides to be cut away to recess these supports flush, and needless to say I made a bit of a mess of that. You also need to ensure that these supports are upright, parallel (fore and aft) and exactly the same height to make sure the windscreen fits properly between them. When you are also trying to protect your shiny finish, you (meaning ME) are bound to end up with gaps, scratches and a grumpy disposition. With hindsight, I should have cut these housings before adding any finish, and then I could have made good any small defects without having to refinish parts I had already completed. Grrrr!
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/happy%20owner_zpsis2uoazt.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/happy%20owner_zpsis2uoazt.jpg.html)
(The other side was much worse than this one!)
Other than that, it was pretty much a case of just measuring carefully, drilling any locating holes needed and sticking in place. The two places where I went my own way were the chromed rubbing strips along the sides and the metal surround for the hatch. For the strips I used this (http://tinyurl.com/pohjel6), and am very happy with it (although I still need to touch up the cut ends with some chrome paint). For the hatch surround I scavenged some metal strips from windscreen wipers – if you pull the rubber out of the frame, there is a springy strip the length of the rubber moulding which was pretty much the right width and which looks much better (to my eyes at least) than the sticky aluminium foil provided.
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/port%20bow%20finished_zpsxsjjqfh4.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/port%20bow%20finished_zpsxsjjqfh4.jpg.html)
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/deck%20finished_zpsgvppmapo.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/deck%20finished_zpsgvppmapo.jpg.html)
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/transom%20finished_zpsur9xe39e.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/transom%20finished_zpsur9xe39e.jpg.html)
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/port%20side%20finished%202_zpsjz1jss4v.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/port%20side%20finished%202_zpsjz1jss4v.jpg.html)
Well, that’s about it. There are STILL a couple of details, like the bow light, which need finishing off, but I am pretty much done with this one. I hope for a proper maiden voyage of the finished boat in a couple of weeks, so might even get some video!
Happy modelling
Greg
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Ooops! Just scanned back and realised I never answered Joe's quesions about the steering wheel from eight (!) months ago. You can't really see it in the photos, so here it is -
(http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b596/Greggyp99/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/steering%20wheel_zpsamxkmlfo.jpg) (http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Greggyp99/media/Chris%20Craft%20Runabout/steering%20wheel_zpsamxkmlfo.jpg.html)
Sorry it took so long Joe, but perhaps you'll see it in the flesh soon!
Greg
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Yes that's the wheel I had in mind, Your surely not thinking of putting that beautiful craft in our grubby lake, %% bring a mop and bucket with you, {-) {-) {-)
see you at the lake :-))
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I just discovered your build and it's fantastic,
A great boat and a great result !
I hope to see that video soon
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When I wrote this log, I hosted most of the pictures on Photobucket and they were displayed here via that site. Photobucket have now decided they will not allow that unless I pay them $400 a year. (http://www.modelboatmayhem.co.uk/forum/Smileys/Tug/angry2.gif) I am not about to do that, so I can only apologise for the lack of pictures. If there is a particular aspect of this build you want to follow up, PM me and I will try and send you the relevant pictures.
Sorry - and steer clear of Photobucket!
Greg
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HI
BUILDING The same boat. problems with the dashboard, and location,
also the shelf that glues to it.
do you have any pictures of dash?
could used someones help, dumas has not answer this question.
samc
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Sorry for the delay. I have got some photos and can take a few more. Watch this space! (I might need a little while to resize them to post here so bear with me. Tomorrow or Sunday should see me getting off my ;D and sorting it out.)
Love to see a few pictures of your build if you fancy showing off :-))
Greg
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OK, let's see if this works.
For reasons I can't explain, I never actually glued my dashboard into place, it was just a push fit in place. This is handy because it means I can take it out and photograph it. So here are some shots of the dashboard separate from the boat, a photo of the location in the boat (doesn't that look messy!) and a couple of the dashboard in place. I hope these help.
If there are still specific issues you want clarified, just shout (and if anyone else who has built this model wants to chip in, then feel free :-)) )
Happy building
Greg
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Gosh, this picture resizing is a doddle isn't it? Once you know how to do it! %)
(I use IrfanView, free to download. When viewing the picture you want to resize, click "Image", "Resize/Resample", select "640x480", "OK" then save the image. Seems to work for me.)
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OK, let's see if this works.
For reasons I can't explain, I never actually glued my dashboard into place, it was just a push fit in place. This is handy because it means I can take it out and photograph it. So here are some shots of the dashboard separate from the boat, a photo of the location in the boat (doesn't that look messy!) and a couple of the dashboard in place. I hope these help.
If there are still specific issues you want clarified, just shout (and if anyone else who has built this model wants to chip in, then feel free :-)) )
Happy building
Greg
OK, let's see if this works.
For reasons I can't explain, I never actually glued my dashboard into place, it was just a push fit in place. This is handy because it means I can take it out and photograph it. So here are some shots of the dashboard separate from the boat, a photo of the location in the boat (doesn't that look messy!) and a couple of the dashboard in place. I hope these help.
If there are still specific issues you want clarified, just shout (and if anyone else who has built this model wants to chip in, then feel free :-)) )
Happy building
Greg
THANK YOU
now i know what it should look like.
i had the shelf backwards and nothing seem to fit, looked all wrong.
was not sure where or how high it should be. also.
thank you, now on to the next step
trying to do the hatch covers.
seems like they are another problem.
do you have any pictures of them.??? and the side pieces that
they mate to...???
not sure how much overlay i should leave...
i know i will figure it out some time,,, but if i got someone
who has all ready been thru this, let me pit you brain.... if you would....
thank you again for the pic....
samc
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Yes, I have some pictures of the hatches. Here we go -
I assume you have reached the stage of the hatch framing shown in the first picture. You then laminate two pieces of the birch ply over the jigs provided in the kit to make the two hatches, picture 2. The centre hatch piece then needs to be cut to provide the hatch surround pieces, pictures 3 and 4. These are then glued to the framing to provide a neat border to the remaining hatch piece, picture 5, and are covered with the mahogany pieces supplied in the kit, picture 6. My hatch was a little twisted and "sprung back" when I took it off the jig, so I put some bracing under it to make it the correct shape, picture 7. I also did not use the Dumas fixings for the hatch, but used small magnets at each end as shown in picture 8. This has proved to be simple and effective.
As I am running out of picture space on this post, I'll say a bit about the aft hatch in the next post....
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On to the aft hatch. This is a little more straightforward, although I needed to add a bit of mahogany to the edges of the surround as shown in picture 1. Not sure if this was because the piece was the wrong shape or I cut too much off somewhere - probably the latter %) . I used the Dumas wooden latch system to hold this one in place, and other than some patient sanding and filing, there isn't much to do to get the piece to fit. Picture 2 is what mine looked like when I had finished (but before epoxy, varnish etc.).
Does that provide what you need?
Also, is anyone else interested in this or should Sam and I go to PMs for any future advice? (Can you attach pictures to PMs??)
Greg
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I'm very interested Greg, I read your original build start to finish and picked up many tips. Am enjoying your detailed pics and info for Sam so please keep it on here :-))
Dale.
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I'm very interested Greg, I read your original build start to finish and picked up many tips. Am enjoying your detailed pics and info for Sam so please keep it on here :-))
Dale.
:-) :-))
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thank you GREG, :-))
i'm just up to this part, cut the eng hatch out yesterday, and was trying to figure
how things fit together. not sure if some of the wood, was to fit over the side pieces. or??
but with you pictures, and thank you for so many, they are a blessing
making things alot easier. how i have some pictures and a plan on how to finish this
part off.......
now i guess i will start on the front deck next week. that look like a fun job.
will be using you picts a lot
got them on a memory stick and plug it into the TV in my room, so its just great to see a big
picture and know what to do, or look for.
will have more questions next week, when i start the front deck, and side pieces,
samc
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Glad to be of help - and it's great that you saved the pictures! I do hope to reinstate them here at some point, but that will probably take a bit of time.
Happy modelling!
Greg
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THANK YOU for your information. i did finish, the wood part, now the finishing the sides and bottom are not going very well, getting alot of little pot marks, (fisheye). have tried every, cleaning before with several chemicals, sanding a lot, still not a good finish, not smooth, tried foam brushing, auto body spreader like a credit card,
help anyone out there
using zpoxy, with no fiberglass, is that the problem,,, no glass.... help
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Well done, looks a good job. Your problem with the epoxy is common and nothing to do with not using glass cloth. I had some fish-eyes even though I thought I had cleaned everything thoroughly. Ultimately, you just have to polish them out. How many coats of epoxy have you put on? You will need two or three to get enough depth to allow rubbing down those imperfections. You could try thinning the epoxy slightly with epoxy thinners or acetone, this might stop the fisheyes forming. The other important thing is to make sure any previous coat of epoxy is cleaned of amine blush, which can form when it is cold and damp - like now! Washing will do that and a gentle rubbing down will do no harm. At this stage I used a roller to apply the epoxy. The finish is nothing to write home about but you get a good, even coat with less chance of runs.
Persevere and it will come good. Once you have a fair finish to the epoxy, lots of coats of varnish followed by cutting back and polishing will give you that mirror finish your model deserves. Have fun! :-))
Greg
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Your issue with the finish is z poxy its the wrong stuff to use imo,what you need is finishing or ordinary laminating epoxy which is thinner and more suitable .Apply with brush then use an old credit card to scrape most of it off,this gives you a thinner coat and less to sand down between coats,i do 4 coats and finish is usually good if you do it right you wont need to varnish .