Model Boat Mayhem
The Shipyard ( Dry Dock ): Builds & Questions => Pleasure boats, Sports, Race, Power and Leisure Boats: => Topic started by: hpergm on May 19, 2016, 05:04:28 pm
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Just thought about starting my first thread on Mayhem - hi to everybody! :-))
A bit of backgound: I am a long(?)-time modeller (since the ~mid 80's), but have been active on cars initially and planes for the past 25 years.
My first boat was a Kyosho Seawind which I sailed in the Round Pond of Hyde Park during my studies in London (that's about 15 years ago... ). Good times.
Just recently, I decided to give power boating a try. I came across some beautiful wooden boat builds and was looking for a kit to build. The Aeronaut line of kits is excellent value for money and is very well engineered for a rookie boat builder like myself. The Princess was duly chosen, being the larger scale kit.
Surprisingly, I found no thread on this forum about this model, so here goes - let the build begin!
Hector.
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Parts and materials quality is great, laser cutting is crisp and everything is included to complete the kit, apart from glue, paint, motor and electronics. Even the leather covers of the seats are laser cut..! :-))
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Framing up the hull takes about 3min. Aeronaut gives a Depron sheet with slots to serve as an alignment jig for the formers. Cleaning up the burnt edges of the parts is highly recommended to obtain a good glue joint. OK, this takes another 10 min...!
I used an aliphatic/PVA glue (white wood glue) and let the whole thing set for 24hrs before continuing.
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Next up, glueing some pine stringers... Here, there is a triple strip which later on marks the "step" between the bottom hull planks and the mahogany sides.
Manual is excellent (for... German speakers only!) but does give out some tips to complete the more difficult steps successfuly.
Motor and shaft has also been trial-fitted.
I opted for a Speed 650 - basically a Johnson HC 683 LG - 6421 coupled to a 40A speed controller. This choice was made for longer run times, scale speed and cost effectiveness (i.e. vs. a BL "rocket" setup)..
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All stringers attached - "planking" to begin (essentially the sides & bottom are one piece)
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Time for the mahogany sides...
Care was taken not to pollute the mahogany finish with any glue - as this will show later on under the varnish...
Part design is so good, the whole sequence requires absolutely no sanding/fitting.
I also employed UHU Hart, due to its nice gap-filling/no-shrinking properties to fill small gaps between stringes and the inside surfaces of the panels. All joints were filleted with this glue to ensure a sturdy construction.
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Bottom plywood panels we treated with a sealer before glueing, again to a avoid risking runs on the mahogany once glued on.
[size=78%]Then the sides were protected before any glue was spread on the mating surfaces.[/size]
Despite the fact that the manual calls for simultaneous glueing of both bottom panels - obviously to avoid warps, I opted for a step-wise installation, mainly to make sure everything underneath was aligned.
Care was taken to sand the mating edges of the keel so as to achieve a perfect edge of the V.
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The other half...
Weights were used sparingly to ensure there was no warping. Once in place, the first half acted as a perfect alignment adge for the second half. Only trick is to succeed glueing the first half right... ;D
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Perfect edge... :-)) The pinholes will be faired over by filler at a later stage.
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Looks more like a boat now...
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excellent build keep up the excellent work ill be following this with interest
Dave
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Thanks Dave!
Plodding on - the rudder mount. The kit gives a nice brass tube and shaft, but - inexplicably- the rudder slab was plywood. I ditched that lot for a Radio Active part. To make sure there would be no leaks from the modified mating of the Radio Active plastic tube to the hull bottom, I fitted an aluminum tube from my spares box over the Radio-Active assembly and epoxied that to the hull botom for double water-proofing.
Pics say it all..
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Looks a great build and one I'll watch with interest, thank you for taking the time to post :-))
Mark
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One thing that does concern me in this build and it NOT your fault at all....seems to me a large part of the shaft is unsupported and will allow the shaft to occilate a bit ...in my opinion it needs some sort of support between the hull and shaft
Dave
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I would think there is a supporting "skeg" fitted between the hull and the shaft tube, that's what I would do.
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Indeed there is, the kit includes such a piece. It just needs sanding on one side to get rid of the laser ash, a light pass with a Dremel sanding drum on the other to profile it for 100% fit with the shaft's curvature and a final light pass over the belt sander to form a sharp trailing edge.
The prop shown here is a Raboesch 35mm x 26.7mm pitch 160-series. I will start with this and go larger if the motor temps behave during long runs.
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Next step - glueing the shaft. Here, 2hr epoxy was used, filled with microfibers for strength. The shaft was sanded with 150 grit paper to roughen it up first.
Since it is very difficult to physically "push" the glue with a stick under the shaft so that it floods all mating areas to provide a water seal before it starts curing, I went for a little trick; heating the epoxy with a hair dryer reduces its viscosity and allows it to flow with gravity, while removing the heat returns its surface tension much faster than viscosity. The end result is that it flows easily with heat application and fillets great upon heat retraction. The only thing here is to apply just the right amount so that there is enough to seal the shaft but not too much so that it runs out (also ruins the fillets)...
The pic on the bottom shows just how nicely the whole thing worked.. Glue is just visible - filler will be uncecessary. %%
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Nice build and lovely neat work. This is clearly not the first time you have stuck two bits of wood together. One question - are the hull sides veneered ply or is there a plywood piece which has mahogany planks glued to that? From your description it seems the sides come ready prepared with a mahogany face. Also, I don't know if you plan to seal all the internal woodwork but I certainly would, and it's much easier to do at this stage than when the decks are on. Tricky bits like the underside of your rudder support can be got at now but may be inaccessible later.
I'll be following closely because I think this will turn out to be a real gem. :-))
Greg
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I know it's trite (compared to the whole quality of the build) but that's probably the neatest shaft exit I've ever seen! :-))
(http://www.modelboatmayhem.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=54858.0;attach=161210;image) (http://www.modelboatmayhem.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=54858.0;attach=161212;image)
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Nice build and lovely neat work. This is clearly not the first time you have stuck two bits of wood together. One question - are the hull sides veneered ply or is there a plywood piece which has mahogany planks glued to that? From your description it seems the sides come ready prepared with a mahogany face. Also, I don't know if you plan to seal all the internal woodwork but I certainly would, and it's much easier to do at this stage than when the decks are on. Tricky bits like the underside of your rudder support can be got at now but may be inaccessible later.
I'll be following closely because I think this will turn out to be a real gem. :-))
Greg
Thank you Greg. I have been building scale airplanes for some time now, so some miles are indeed under the belt. The novelty for me is the absence of weight-consiousness in boat building - for aircraft this is a constant headache... For example, PVA glue is strictly off limits due to its weight penalty. But here, I can align stuff taking my time - lets me enjoy every step more.
Now, the side comes ready made and it is indeed some sort of poplar veneered with mahogany. I cannot make -for the life of me- whether the veneer is one piece or tightly stuck planks. I see some lines running through the grain but on the other hand the grain does not looks disrupted in any way. Go figure...
As for treating all the internal woodwork - see the next posts (Note: the postings are somewhat lagging behind the actual progress)
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Martin, thanks - truth be told, it is my first and I am also quite proud of it. Either that or.. begginer's luck! But, let's see what happens in the bathtub test.
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Next step is the internal sealing of the woodwork, as pointed out by Greg above - before the deck is glued and no access will be possible. To get to that point, I glued all remaining reinforcing strips and proceeded to brush everything with 2 coats of sealer.
Care was taken not to seal wooden surfaces where the deck would be glued on, since sealing the pores of the wood will yield a much weaker glue joint...
Then, I decided that the interior looked a bit bland and took some inspiration from restoration pics of Riva Aquaramas - the grey/blue paint inside looked quite nice, so why not give it a coat or two? All mating surfaces with the deck were duly masked and the closest enamel color I had at hand was sprayed with an airbrush..
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Martin, this pic for you.. :-))
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Having done that and with the images of Aquaramas still in mind, I decided that it would be cool to "Rivatise" a bit the model.
OK, its nothing like its curvaceous Italian brethren - more square and Teutonic. But still - it could be dressed up a bit.
So, before the deck is glued, one could take the opportunity to install a couple of headlights.
First up, cutting out the holes on the sides. Using the TLAR principle from photos and measuring twice before commiting (for symmetry's sake), I marked up everything and used the trusty Dremel with a carbide bit and a bit of filing at the end to round everything nicely.
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Next challenge, the light buckets. The flare of the bow is such that the LEDs can only look forward if mounted at an extreme angle. This means a highly assymetrical light bucket...
First off, a block of pine to serve as a female mould. A carbide bit was used to crease a cavity.
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0.2mm Aluminum plate (litho) was then pinned on top to create the first creases/outline of the mould cavity.. Then, using a rounded dowel as a burnishing tool, the cavity was formed. The material thinned out so much at the bottom that it ruptured - but that's no problem since the LED will be inserted there anyway.
One thing to note is that the Aluminum is really malleable but work hardens and needs frequent annealing with a micro torch to stay soft.
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After some trimming (and swearing)...
Note: the light surrounds are from the Amati Riva kit - I purchased a set of fittings to see what can be used on the Princess. Bit of a risk really, since the Amati is 1/10 and the Aeronaut is 1/8.5..
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The light buckes were simply aligned and CA'd on the inside..
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Installation of the wiring. I stole a couple of large straws from the kids' cupboard to act as cable conduits within the hull to keep the spaghetti out of sight once the deck is installed. A resistor of a few KΩ is used right before the red R/C plug, heat shrunk in white, to drop the BEC voltage from 5.6V to 3.3V for the LEDs.
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The lights were tested for good operation (they... work) - and the time came to "hit the deck" (pardon the pun).
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Now it looks like a boat!
The deck lid which contains the cockpit and sundeck was also quickly put together (more like a 3D puzzle) and placed on the hull as well as the supplied aluminum windscreen - we all need a bit of motivation boost sometimes.. %)
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One thing I previously forgot to touch upon was the installation of the cleats/spray rails. Those were trinagular-profiled hard wood and it was really difficult to pursuade them to take the bow curves without popping out the glue. I had to weigh them down at the bow until the glue dried - resulting in some innovative positioning of the boat so that gravity could be employed...
Also, it was necessary to sand them at one end to obtain a nice feather..
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In the end, a symmetrical result was luckily obtained.
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Some filling was required to get rid of various gaps. I used a mahogany-pigmented wood filler..
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One more thing to fit was the front bumper. This was decided in order to avoid nasty results from collisions with swimming pool edges (I will also be running the boat in pools).
This came in 2 parts, included in the Amati metal kit which required soldering together. I was not sure whether it could fit this larger model or that it would follow the bow curvatures. But some hand bending and minor trimming later, it seemed to fit nicely - lucky strike.
The pieces were put on the boat and spot soldered together before a full bead was laid. To avoid burning the wood, I dediced against silver soldering and went for soft soldering. Anyhow the part is not structural so not a biggie. The metal is stainless steel and took the 40/60 solder very well. I fluxed the parts before and used a micro torch with a soldering tip to apply lots of heat (stainless is a bad conductor) - worked wonders. I doubt this could be so easily done with an electrical soldering gun, though.
The solder bead was then sanded and the part polished with the Dremel and some cutting paste.
At this point I would like to thank Mayhem member UKMike for his Amati thread which actually was also my inspiration to try the Amati parts on the Aeronaut. Searchin for Amati pics in Google, was the reason I stumble across Mike's threa and basically how I discovered the Mayhem forum in the first place - Thanks mate..!! :-)) Time to give something back - thus this thread.
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Some pics of the 85% finished boat, then..
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Some finishing touches - e.g. edge strips for the deck lid..
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A bit of filling under the deck...
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Edge planks on the bow deck...
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Rear bumpers...
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And its time to start the finishing. I decided to try the Owatrol line of products, the Deks Olje D1 being an oil-based saturation agent/wood preserver and the D2 being the gloss varnish.
I also used some pine sticks to build up an enclosure to avoid dust speckles on the mirror finish I intended to produce..
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3 coats of D1 and 2 coats of D2 later, this is the current status...
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Some attention to the interior was duly paid while the varnish was drying - starting with the dashboard. The Aeronaut dash seemed a bit plain and I decided to make it look a bit more like the real thing. The Amati fitting kit also helped - this includes some nicely turned instrument bezels.
First step was to extend the dash with a piece of mahogany from the kit's blanks. Then the positions of the extra bezels werre marked. The holes were opened by hand with a conical reamer to control the dimension precisely but also make a relly clean cut.
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Amati also includes the small switches in nicely turned aluminium pieces, as well as the transmission levers...
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OK, the dash is not 100% true to the scale layout, but neither is the boat itself... 8)
One nice touch from Amati is the micro-routed Aquarama logo.
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OK, everything back to pieces for varnishing...
The bezels needed some backing surface to allow the instrument fascias to be stuck on. Those were made from thin polystyrene sheet, turned on the Dremel for close shape and size control.
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One more little touch to improve the instruments was to put some glazing on top of the stickers. This was done by using "liquid glass", which is nothing other than a slow-setting, low-viscocity epoxy resin (to allow enough time for bubble extraction and easy self-leveling) which nevertheless possesses almost perfect transparency.
A small spatula was used as a mini-spoon to fill the instruments.
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In the meantime, wet & dry sanding to remove the orange peel surface as much as possible between successive coats of varnish...
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The elbow grease pays back - the surface improves each time.
Good, but not perfect yet...
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Wow!.... :-))
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Looking good. The elbow grease and the multiple coats are worth the effort - keep going until you really have the glass-like result. Everyone will marvel at your finish and want to stroke it. Look forward to lots of sticky finger marks! Those who think that a couple of coats of varnish will produce a mirror shine haven't served their apprenticeship - we know it's patience and wet-and-dry that deliver the goods! :-)) :-))
Greg
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Wow!.... :-))
All appreciation is much appreciated - helps maintain motivation. Thanks.
Looking good. The elbow grease and the multiple coats are worth the effort - keep going until you really have the glass-like result. Everyone will marvel at your finish and want to stroke it. Look forward to lots of sticky finger marks! Those who think that a couple of coats of varnish will produce a mirror shine haven't served their apprenticeship - we know it's patience and wet-and-dry that deliver the goods!
Dear Greg - aplty said. Exactly my feelings (after 3 coats of non-mirror finish). {-)
Hector.
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OK, and after all components are dry (liquid glass, varnish on the dash) one more trial assy to visualise the end result.
The glass really sets off the realistic illiusion of the instruments, due to the 3D depth it adds to those parts - Which, unfortunately, cannot be captured with the camera (looks better in real life..) {:-{
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Every coat of varnish seems to take more and more to dry properly to allow a nice flat sanding.. To accelerate the whole process (summer is upon us), I resorted to the employment of some of the freely available solar energy round here - about 33deg these days outside %% . So, out the boat goes to bask in the verandah.
This seems to pursuade the latest coat to harden faster - but only after the first day where the boat stays under the makeshift "spray booth" to avoid dust contamination on the tacky surface.. Also shows pretty clear any contamination (speckles, etc) which helps concentrate the next wet&dry attack.
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:-)) :-))
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Great build Hector, I particularly like the gauges on the instrument panel. Looking forward to seeing your progress. I'm in the process of finishing my own Princess, I enjoy the build but I'm thoroughly fed up with sanding it .....
Regards,
Arjan
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Hi Arjan,
Thanks - best of luck with your own build.
Mind you, the process of achieving a "mirror" finish on Mahogany verges on the edge of fetishism. Sure needs a mental leap to destroy a fine looking (but not perfect) finish with sanding before banking on high hopes for the next one. I found out I have to leave each coat to cure for 3 weeks before attacking the next. 6 coats in (and several months into the build), I am still not satisfied...
This makes for an interesting read: http://www.defender.com/html/varnish.html (http://www.defender.com/html/varnish.html)
Just to revitalise the thread a bit, I attach a few shots with trial placement of the fittings (aka the "bling") from the 1/10 Amati kit so as to visualise the final result (the varnish experience calls for a moral need a boost now and then... ;) )
BR,
Hector.
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Hi Hector, that Amati bling really does look nice ! I think I will try to get my hands on some of those as well, the Aeronaut fittings are very basic and some parts even have mould seams. I wonder if you have thought about a crew already. I found that there are very few 1/8 scale figures around (apart from some outdated 9 inch dolls in Startrek uniforms :-) ). I opted for these two 9" action figures, they are quite heavy but I think they look the part :
(http://i655.photobucket.com/albums/uu279/ArjanWiskerke/Annapolis/IMG_0714_zpsvawen67g.jpg) (http://s655.photobucket.com/user/ArjanWiskerke/media/Annapolis/IMG_0714_zpsvawen67g.jpg.html)
(http://i655.photobucket.com/albums/uu279/ArjanWiskerke/Annapolis/IMG_0702_zpsa9bkg91n.jpg) (http://s655.photobucket.com/user/ArjanWiskerke/media/Annapolis/IMG_0702_zpsa9bkg91n.jpg.html)
I also don't like the artificial leather supplied by Aeronaut, perhaps I will use real leather instead. I also used balsa wood for the seats instead of the useless foam rubber included in the kit.
Regards,
Arjan
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Hi Arjan,
Having been a modeler for the better part of 3 decades, I understand well the leeway this hobby affords to a man seeking to play with dolls. :D
My solution - a raid to the local toy store for a suitably dressed Ken @ 9Eur. After all, the Princess is modelled after an Italian runabout, and you only see those in "expensive" northern lakes. Way I see it, the white tux fits the bill and goes well with the white leather. Maybe also a Barbie with bikini on the sundeck later on just for the laugh of it.
The Mattel figure is about 28cm tall, which would make it about 1/7 scale (OK, this pushes it to a 2m tal full size man, but you are Dutch..). So, a 1/8 scale boat with 1/10 fittings and a 1/7 scale figure... yeah, life ain't perfect but we gotta work with what we have! %% .
Hope it will not look too rediculous in the end. If it does, then I hand the doll over to my 6yr old daughter and live with a "Ghost" boat (no driver) - no harm done.
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Hi Hector, perhaps I do have a fetish for figures ;) . Still, I have always liked figures in all scales and I feel they greatly enhance a model. They add life to a model and give a sense of its scale. "Ghost" boats on the water, especially runabouts look strange to me. A pic of my Lindberg Constellation to illustrate my point, after this one I will stop polluting your thread with my pics :police: :
(http://i655.photobucket.com/albums/uu279/ArjanWiskerke/Annapolis/IMG_0609-001_zpshpiv8r7a.jpg) (http://s655.photobucket.com/user/ArjanWiskerke/media/Annapolis/IMG_0609-001_zpshpiv8r7a.jpg.html)
Regards,
Arjan
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It would be nice to know that you are OK and your boat is completed?
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Hi Andy. Thanks for the message and apologies to the thread for letting it go dormant for the better part of 3(!?) years. I am ok but the boat still rests uncompleted; life got in the way (change of job, move, travels) and poor princess got dusty. Still, I was not happy with the finish and bought another finishing system to re-varnish it. I intend to get into it this winter - and will update the thread as appropriate.
Again apologies.
Happy boating to all.
Hector.
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Thanks for replying it’s good to know you are ok :-)